I didn't end up making it to my room, not that I'm complaining.

                "Hey, wanna hang out for a bit until that party?" Lunëne asked as we arrived and they opened up the curtain to their room.

                "I'd love that!" I replied with a crooked smile. We wandered in and they slid the curtain closed. I continued over to their bed and sat down with familiarity. They followed, vaulting over the foot of the bed to sit next to me.

                "It's been a rough week. I wanted to thank you for making it easier. A bit more normal." They began, resting their head gently against the wall. I sat back as well and looked at them intently.

                "I'm glad I can help. That's what I'm here for, to make things a bit more awesome." I turned back towards the wall for a moment before continuing, "Thank you, honestly. If you weren't here, I'd be holed up in my room the whole week just buried in a book."

                "Yeah, I could see that," they laughed, "We're good for each other. I just feel this sense of calm when I'm with you, like a tranquility."

                "That... is one of the kindest things anyone has said about me. I think we must balance each other out, because you have such an incredible, passionate energy. Like the life of the party kind of, you know?" I glanced over and met their gaze. They looked up to the left, batted their eyelashes, and giggled playfully. I returned a soft laugh.

                I laid my head back on their pillow, eyes closed and a wide smile on my face. The faint scent of Lunëne surrounded me.

                "One more week on this ship. I can't wait to have a cozy little home, a bedroom large enough to walk around in. No more communal bathroom. And I'm not going to miss the food on this ship." I meandered through my words idly. I propped myself up on my elbows just enough to see them. "Hey, it's a good thing you like hanging out with me because even on that big rock of a planet, we're gonna be hanging out constantly," I paused for a second, then laid back down, "I mean obviously we'll have a bunch of different people to hang out with, I'm just saying... with only one hundred and thirty people, you're kinda stuck with me."

                "Stuck with you?" they replied jokingly, "You're going to be giving me book recommendations weekly. Probably tripping over yourself daily. I'm never going to be bored with you. On the other hand, I'm keeping you company with a mountain of bad jokes and puns. You'll be sick of it within a month."

                "I could never. You are endlessly entertaining... and I actually love your puns." I protested.

                They shuffled up the bed and lay next to me on their side, facing me with their head resting on their hand. I turned my head to look at them, before rotating myself to fully face them as well.

                "Not only are you wrong, you're crazy. I'd say you need a brain transplant... but then you'd change your mind." They paused, looking at me expectantly with eyes wide, eye brows raised, and a goofy grin. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

                "You see, that's perfect. I could never take that for granted." I paused, eyes locked. My heart made a familiar flutter. They seemed to be paused too, lost perfectly in the moment that swelled like an ocean. I blinked nervously as I unconsciously shifted closer, their movements matching mine like a mirror. And then the wave broke over us as we met in the middle, eyes closed softly and lips meeting with a pleasant warmth.

                My heart slowed. The background murmur of conversations passing in the hall dissolved. The rest of my body disappeared, and all that remained were my lips and my soul soaring out of my body. I felt their hand glide through my hair and meet the back of my head, gently pulling me in closer. A tingle spiraled from where their hand rested, down throughout my near weightless body. All that existed in that moment was Lunëne. And the moment lasted forever, and for only a second.

                We pulled away slowly, eyes drifting open. My breaths were deep and rapid, rushing through my nose as I tried to catch it and compose myself. I blinked a few times, grounding my flighty head and focusing on their eyes once again.

                "... wow." I whispered breathily.

                "... yeah." They whispered back.

                "That was really, really... incredible." I continued just above a whisper, finding myself with a bit of confidence.

                "Yeah, I liked that... wanna do it again?" They asked blissfully, eyes still locked on mine. And I did. I really wanted to do that again. And again, and again. And we did.

                Everything after that is a blur. I know at some point later that evening I went to Bryn's party, and I know I was not even close to on time. I didn't eat any pizza as far as I remember. I do know that I was the second person to leave the party, and I went right back to Lunëne's room. And we stayed there together until it was the very end of the day, time to be frozen again for twelve short years.

                As I laid down on my own bed, soon to be a cryo-pod, I mindlessly followed my routine of changing into my turquoise suit and slipping on the cuff and mask. I barely heard the disembodied voice read me instructions and countdown as I drifted far away into nothing.