(no subject)
Wishing Stars
d/b
au
Disclaimer: This is fiction. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six Seven
They were coming for him. They wanted him alive so they could make him feel it every time they took something he loved. They would hurt and damage every beautiful thing and when he still loved it anyway they would destroy it. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he fought, or how many things he loved, they would never stop. There was no rest for him, no safe place, just a ceaseless scramble to avoid them, to get away. He’d never be able to stop running. They were coming.
He was in pain. He couldn’t have said where it hurt. It hurt everywhere, his skin, his eyes, his throat, his muscles, the air he breathed.
“Dom?”
Hide! They’re coming for you too, Bill.
He wanted to say it, shout it, but they’d taken his voice, locked it up somewhere. He opened his eyes and the light caused his head to pound. He smiled. He was glad they’d taken his voice, because all he wanted to use it for just then was to beg for death.
~*~
“I missed you.”
Justin nodded. He inspected the little spaceship Billy had brought him and put it on the shelf above his bed. Billy sighed.
“I’m sorry I was away so long. Miranda told you I was helping my friend?”
Justin nodded again. He reached into his bedside drawer and handed Billy a piece of paper. It was covered with multiplication and division problems. Someone had corrected it and wrote “100! A+” across the top.
“You did this?”
Justin shrugged.
“It’s brilliant. Who taught you?”
“Randa.”
“Wow! I’m proud of you.”
“Is he still alive?”
“Dom? Yes, he’ll be alive for a long time. He’s getting better. He smiled today.”
Justin closed his eyes and scrunched up his face into a wide smile.
“Monkey. I like it when you smile.”
“Dogs here?”
“Not today, love. I can’t stay long.”
“When he dies I’ll take care of you. I’ll make a gun and get the bad guys to bleed red. Then I’ll kick them. I’ll kick their heads in and you can smile.”
Billy stood up quickly and walked to the far side of the room, his hands clenched into fists at his side.
“Justin, I told you he’s getting better.”
“But after, Billy. Charlotte got better and then, bam! She dead. I’ll take care of you after he gets better.”
Billy wanted to scream at him. How was he to explain to this child that everyone wasn’t going to die in the immediate future when that’s what his life experience had taught him?
“Thank you, Justin. We’ll take care of each other. I’ll see you soon.”
Billy grabbed his keys and hurried to the door.
“I’ll let you be the doctor, Billy! You can make them bleed and bleed and I’ll hurt them when they’re naked!”
Billy closed the door behind him and ran down the hall. He took the stairs down two at a time and sprinted across the hospital grounds. Two streets over the town gave way to a grassy plain and Billy dove into it, slapping the waist-high grass out of his way, running and running. He’d run right up the fucking mountains, stand on the rocks and rip the sky down, bury everything in clouds and rain and thunder.
A root tripped him. He went down hard, sending one of his bottom teeth through his upper lip and tasting dirt. He pounded the ground with his fist and rolled over. He lay on his back and listened to his breathing.
The sun was warm on his face. Insects buzzed by him and the grass shivered in the breeze. It smelled good, like dirt and moss and warm stone. It smelled far away from the sterile hospital and the dark and sweaty bedroom he’d been cooped up in for far too long. He remembered Dom’s little house on Nola, the smell of the greenhouse after the plants had been watered. Weren’t they supposed to build a greenhouse? Hadn’t they planned on being happy here? When had his quiet life turned into dealing with addicts and little abused boys?
“You might be happier somewhere else.”
The sun dazzled Billy’s eyes as he sat up to look for the owner of the voice.
“Pardon?”
“A lot of people left when the famine hit. Chased their happiness across the galaxy, left their troubles here behind. Perhaps they found it, happiness, in a new place. I’ve always thought that repaired old things are stronger things. Or maybe we just appreciate them more.”
“Hello, Bean.”
“You were running.”
“Yes.”
“To something or from something?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s best to know, before you start running.”
“This place is sad, Bean. Everything about it. The air is sad.”
Bean inhaled the sad air deeply. “It is. It’s going to get better though.”
“What makes you think so?”
Bean shrugged. “Hope,” he laughed. “Hope and a shit load of hard work. But hope is necessary to begin the hard work. Or keep it going. I have a present for you.”
Bean reached into his knapsack and placed a smooth, brown pod in Billy’s hand.
“Your friend will know what they are I think. After he’s planted them, come see me.”
Bean walked away, off towards the mountains and Billy climbed to his feet, clutching the fragile seeds of hope delicately in his hands.
~*~
“Dommie, you’ve been so brave. Drink now. Some more. You can do it. That’s it. You’ve got to get your strength back. When you can drink a whole cup we’ll go sit on the porch. The fruit is ripening on the tree in the yard. You can smell it when you sit there, Dom. I’ll make jam tarts and we’ll drink tea. No, don’t try to talk. Shall I open the window a bit? It’s not cold.”
Dom blinked his eyes and his hand twitched on the sheets. The breeze came in through the window and ruffled his hair.
“Once upon a time, Dom. Once upon a time there were these two blokes who were hurt by the bad guys. One of them, the older, slightly more attractive one, vowed never to let himself be happy again.” Billy leaned close and whispered his tale, brushing back the soft hair from Dom’s forehead as he spoke. “But then he met the younger, braver bloke, and he was happy again, almost despite himself. They decided to go off together and save the world. They worked really, really hard. They worked so hard at saving the world that they forgot to save themselves. They forgot to look out for each other and their happiness. So, you see, they lost the very thing they were fighting so hard to keep.”
Tears were rolling down Dom’s cheeks.
“It was okay though, because happiness is not so hard a thing to find. It’s in the sunlight on the windowsill; it’s in your hair when the breeze blows it around, it flies all around the room when someone kisses your hand.”
Billy brought Dom’s hand to his lips and kissed the backs of Dom’s fingers.
“Do you see it?”
Tears streamed from Dom’s eyes, but he nodded, heaved a sigh, and smiled.
“Love you.” Billy bent his head and leaned it against Dom’s belly. He breathed in the smell of him. He smelled like powder, cotton pajamas, sweat, and tears. He smelled like warmth, like life. He smelled like Billy’s happiness.
~*~
“Did you know that the boy who hardly ever talks speaks ten languages?”
“Ten?”
“Yup. English, Spanish, Universal, Rhodian, Sylvan, Dalk, Tempik…I can’t remember them all. When he started with the Tempik I thought he’d gone over the edge and was speaking tongues. He laughed at me.”
“He did?”
“He has such a pretty laugh.”
Billy was quiet. Miranda came over and sat on the arm of his chair.
“How’s he been with you?”
“Angry. Not at me, at least, I don’t think so. Just really violent, in his play, you know. I got him these puppets and one is always being tortured by the other. His psychiatrist says he’s acting out his anger in a safe way. It’s really disturbing to watch though.”
“The children at the school are doing the same type of thing. The staff are…heartbroken by it really. They need more help out there. That’s why I resigned.”
“What? You’re leaving?”
“I’m going to work at the school. They want to send the rest of the children along but most of them still need medical care so they’re converting one of the buildings into a med center.”
“Miranda! I’ll miss you.”
“You don’t have to. They’re still looking for someone to run the center, a doctor. Fair warning, they’re going to ask you as soon as Dom is out of the woods.”
“He went outside this morning. We had tea in the sun.”
“That’s wonderful, Bill. Think about the position, okay? I’ve got to run.”
Billy did think about it. Dom grew stronger as the weeks passed and a new shuttle of evacuees arrived at the hospital. There were a lot of children on this one, orphans mostly, damaged in one way or another by the war. Billy supposed that all these children without a place to call home would end up at the school eventually.
~*~
Billy left Dom alone for the first time when Dom was able to walk to the bathroom and kitchen by himself. He clipped a phone to Dom’s pajama bottoms before he left.
“I’ll call every hour. Make sure you answer it.”
“I will.”
“I should stay. I’ll call the nurse to come.”
“Go, Bill. I’ll be fine.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise. I’ll answer the phone. I’ll eat my lunch, take my nap, read my book. I’ll be a good soldier.”
Billy kissed him goodbye.
The house was very quiet. Dom was nervous in spite of himself. He picked up a book, set it down. He thought about making a cup of tea, but he didn’t want it. Finally, he eased himself to his feet and shuffled into the living room. Billy had stowed his yoga mat in the hall closet and Dom got it out and laid it on the floor. The effort of this activity left him panting and he dropped to the mat. All he could do was sit there and breathe, but it felt good. It felt like a start.
~*~
He took his mat out every day after that. He tried a few simple poses and found his body remembered them. His arms trembled in the down dog pose and the sweat ran down his face in the chair pose. Once, he’d been able to lift himself into the crane pose, but his abused body wouldn’t even consider allowing him to do that now. Never mind, he told himself, it’s something to work towards.
After his yoga he would think about plants. He had an immense bureau in the corner of the living room with about a hundred little drawers in it. Inside each drawer were seeds. Most of them were from Earth plants but there were seeds from Nola too. Elijah had given them to Billy before they’d left.
“Just in case…things go wrong here. I’d feel better if…Keep them safe? Keep yourself safe.” Elijah had kissed Billy’s cheek then and hugged Dom and had hurried away. Billy and Dom had got on their transport.
Dom thought about this and about the smell of good soil, the feel of it beneath his fingers when it had been warmed by the sun. He thought about how rainbows would form in the spray of water in the evenings. He thought about Billy wishing on the tender little stars of daffodils.
The day he could stand in the tree pose was the day he opened the drawers. He took out the little packets and said their names. He picked up the phone and placed an order.
“Can you deliver it? I’ve been ill. I can’t get out much. Thank you.”
~*~
When Billy came home every conceivable surface of the living room was covered with pots of dirt.
“Dom?”
He found Dom in the kitchen, looking worn and dirty, but he was smiling.
“I’ve hired someone to start the greenhouse next week.” He tried to rise from his chair but sank back with a groan. “Think I might have overdone it a little today. Bill! What’s wrong?”
Billy had put his hands over his face and turned away. “Nothing! It’s…nothing. I don’t know why I’m…”
“Crying. Don’t hide it on my account, Bill. I think you’ve seen me break often enough.”
Billy turned back to look at Dom then. He wiped his face and smiled. “I think I’m happy. That’s why I’m…a fucking mess.” He hiccupped. “You look nearly well, Dom. You look like the boy who fed me tomatoes and gave me a puppy.”
Dom did get up then, to hell with his aching muscles, and put his arms around Billy. “It’s okay to cry, Bill. I like to see you cry because you’re happy.”
Dom leaned heavily against Billy, to worn to really support himself. Billy’s strong arms went around him and held him up. He put a kiss on Dom’s dirt-smeared cheek.
“We should get you in the bath, hmm? It will soothe your muscles.”
Dom allowed Billy to lead him to the bathroom and help into the tub.
“Come in with me.”
“In?”
“In here. Get your clothes off. I haven’t seen you naked in…oh, years and years.”
Billy just stood there.
“Come on. I’ll be a gentleman if that’s what you’re afraid of. I haven’t the strength to be anything but. I’ll only ogle you a little. Well, no, that’s a lie.”
Dom stopped because Billy was peeling off his clothes and stepping into the steaming water. He eased himself down between Dom and the back of the tub and pulled Dom back against his chest.
“Reminds me of those cold nights on Nola.”
“When I’d come home and find you star gazing in the fallen leaves. You always looked like a little sprite, like some treasure that’d blown into my garden. I wanted to keep you safe and warm, hide you away, keep you as my own forever.”
“I’m safe and warm. I’m yours forever.”
Dom turned his head to the side and smiled up into Billy’s face. They kissed.
“Dom, what if you had to wait for awhile to build the greenhouse?”
“Wait? Why?”
“What if we moved?”
“I don’t think they’re moving us, Bill. Don’t know if I’d be welcome along if they did go. I don’t know if I’d go even if I was welcome.”
“No,” Billy picked up the wash-cloth and ran it over Dom’s chest. “What if I wanted to move?”
“Do you?”
Billy shrugged. “I’ve been talking to Miranda and Bean. They need a doctor at the school. Bean’s built some greenhouses there. He wants to talk to you about them.”
“To me?”
“Well, if you decide not to go back to work…He wants to make it a sort of museum eventually, a sort of museum for orphaned plants. Plants without planets. Plants from around the galaxy.”
“We’d stay here? I thought you wanted to go back to Nola when…”
“I did. But I like this idea. Nola belongs to other people. We were visitors there, outsiders. Here, the planet’s so damaged, the people are gone. We could help rebuild it. I think if we did that, Dom, I think if we did, it would feel like home. It’d be a place where anyone who has felt this war could come, and work, and be made whole again. A planet of orphans, and worn soldiers, and the heartbroken all working to make something right again.”
“Bill, that’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
“It wasn’t my idea. You’ll think about it?”
“You’ve followed me around the galaxy, Bill. I think I can follow you to the seaside.”
Billy squeezed Dom tightly. It hurt a bit but Dom didn’t complain.
“I never want to let go of you.” Billy said into Dom’s ear. “I never want to let you go.”
d/b
au
Disclaimer: This is fiction. One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six Seven
They were coming for him. They wanted him alive so they could make him feel it every time they took something he loved. They would hurt and damage every beautiful thing and when he still loved it anyway they would destroy it. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he fought, or how many things he loved, they would never stop. There was no rest for him, no safe place, just a ceaseless scramble to avoid them, to get away. He’d never be able to stop running. They were coming.
He was in pain. He couldn’t have said where it hurt. It hurt everywhere, his skin, his eyes, his throat, his muscles, the air he breathed.
“Dom?”
Hide! They’re coming for you too, Bill.
He wanted to say it, shout it, but they’d taken his voice, locked it up somewhere. He opened his eyes and the light caused his head to pound. He smiled. He was glad they’d taken his voice, because all he wanted to use it for just then was to beg for death.
~*~
“I missed you.”
Justin nodded. He inspected the little spaceship Billy had brought him and put it on the shelf above his bed. Billy sighed.
“I’m sorry I was away so long. Miranda told you I was helping my friend?”
Justin nodded again. He reached into his bedside drawer and handed Billy a piece of paper. It was covered with multiplication and division problems. Someone had corrected it and wrote “100! A+” across the top.
“You did this?”
Justin shrugged.
“It’s brilliant. Who taught you?”
“Randa.”
“Wow! I’m proud of you.”
“Is he still alive?”
“Dom? Yes, he’ll be alive for a long time. He’s getting better. He smiled today.”
Justin closed his eyes and scrunched up his face into a wide smile.
“Monkey. I like it when you smile.”
“Dogs here?”
“Not today, love. I can’t stay long.”
“When he dies I’ll take care of you. I’ll make a gun and get the bad guys to bleed red. Then I’ll kick them. I’ll kick their heads in and you can smile.”
Billy stood up quickly and walked to the far side of the room, his hands clenched into fists at his side.
“Justin, I told you he’s getting better.”
“But after, Billy. Charlotte got better and then, bam! She dead. I’ll take care of you after he gets better.”
Billy wanted to scream at him. How was he to explain to this child that everyone wasn’t going to die in the immediate future when that’s what his life experience had taught him?
“Thank you, Justin. We’ll take care of each other. I’ll see you soon.”
Billy grabbed his keys and hurried to the door.
“I’ll let you be the doctor, Billy! You can make them bleed and bleed and I’ll hurt them when they’re naked!”
Billy closed the door behind him and ran down the hall. He took the stairs down two at a time and sprinted across the hospital grounds. Two streets over the town gave way to a grassy plain and Billy dove into it, slapping the waist-high grass out of his way, running and running. He’d run right up the fucking mountains, stand on the rocks and rip the sky down, bury everything in clouds and rain and thunder.
A root tripped him. He went down hard, sending one of his bottom teeth through his upper lip and tasting dirt. He pounded the ground with his fist and rolled over. He lay on his back and listened to his breathing.
The sun was warm on his face. Insects buzzed by him and the grass shivered in the breeze. It smelled good, like dirt and moss and warm stone. It smelled far away from the sterile hospital and the dark and sweaty bedroom he’d been cooped up in for far too long. He remembered Dom’s little house on Nola, the smell of the greenhouse after the plants had been watered. Weren’t they supposed to build a greenhouse? Hadn’t they planned on being happy here? When had his quiet life turned into dealing with addicts and little abused boys?
“You might be happier somewhere else.”
The sun dazzled Billy’s eyes as he sat up to look for the owner of the voice.
“Pardon?”
“A lot of people left when the famine hit. Chased their happiness across the galaxy, left their troubles here behind. Perhaps they found it, happiness, in a new place. I’ve always thought that repaired old things are stronger things. Or maybe we just appreciate them more.”
“Hello, Bean.”
“You were running.”
“Yes.”
“To something or from something?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s best to know, before you start running.”
“This place is sad, Bean. Everything about it. The air is sad.”
Bean inhaled the sad air deeply. “It is. It’s going to get better though.”
“What makes you think so?”
Bean shrugged. “Hope,” he laughed. “Hope and a shit load of hard work. But hope is necessary to begin the hard work. Or keep it going. I have a present for you.”
Bean reached into his knapsack and placed a smooth, brown pod in Billy’s hand.
“Your friend will know what they are I think. After he’s planted them, come see me.”
Bean walked away, off towards the mountains and Billy climbed to his feet, clutching the fragile seeds of hope delicately in his hands.
~*~
“Dommie, you’ve been so brave. Drink now. Some more. You can do it. That’s it. You’ve got to get your strength back. When you can drink a whole cup we’ll go sit on the porch. The fruit is ripening on the tree in the yard. You can smell it when you sit there, Dom. I’ll make jam tarts and we’ll drink tea. No, don’t try to talk. Shall I open the window a bit? It’s not cold.”
Dom blinked his eyes and his hand twitched on the sheets. The breeze came in through the window and ruffled his hair.
“Once upon a time, Dom. Once upon a time there were these two blokes who were hurt by the bad guys. One of them, the older, slightly more attractive one, vowed never to let himself be happy again.” Billy leaned close and whispered his tale, brushing back the soft hair from Dom’s forehead as he spoke. “But then he met the younger, braver bloke, and he was happy again, almost despite himself. They decided to go off together and save the world. They worked really, really hard. They worked so hard at saving the world that they forgot to save themselves. They forgot to look out for each other and their happiness. So, you see, they lost the very thing they were fighting so hard to keep.”
Tears were rolling down Dom’s cheeks.
“It was okay though, because happiness is not so hard a thing to find. It’s in the sunlight on the windowsill; it’s in your hair when the breeze blows it around, it flies all around the room when someone kisses your hand.”
Billy brought Dom’s hand to his lips and kissed the backs of Dom’s fingers.
“Do you see it?”
Tears streamed from Dom’s eyes, but he nodded, heaved a sigh, and smiled.
“Love you.” Billy bent his head and leaned it against Dom’s belly. He breathed in the smell of him. He smelled like powder, cotton pajamas, sweat, and tears. He smelled like warmth, like life. He smelled like Billy’s happiness.
~*~
“Did you know that the boy who hardly ever talks speaks ten languages?”
“Ten?”
“Yup. English, Spanish, Universal, Rhodian, Sylvan, Dalk, Tempik…I can’t remember them all. When he started with the Tempik I thought he’d gone over the edge and was speaking tongues. He laughed at me.”
“He did?”
“He has such a pretty laugh.”
Billy was quiet. Miranda came over and sat on the arm of his chair.
“How’s he been with you?”
“Angry. Not at me, at least, I don’t think so. Just really violent, in his play, you know. I got him these puppets and one is always being tortured by the other. His psychiatrist says he’s acting out his anger in a safe way. It’s really disturbing to watch though.”
“The children at the school are doing the same type of thing. The staff are…heartbroken by it really. They need more help out there. That’s why I resigned.”
“What? You’re leaving?”
“I’m going to work at the school. They want to send the rest of the children along but most of them still need medical care so they’re converting one of the buildings into a med center.”
“Miranda! I’ll miss you.”
“You don’t have to. They’re still looking for someone to run the center, a doctor. Fair warning, they’re going to ask you as soon as Dom is out of the woods.”
“He went outside this morning. We had tea in the sun.”
“That’s wonderful, Bill. Think about the position, okay? I’ve got to run.”
Billy did think about it. Dom grew stronger as the weeks passed and a new shuttle of evacuees arrived at the hospital. There were a lot of children on this one, orphans mostly, damaged in one way or another by the war. Billy supposed that all these children without a place to call home would end up at the school eventually.
~*~
Billy left Dom alone for the first time when Dom was able to walk to the bathroom and kitchen by himself. He clipped a phone to Dom’s pajama bottoms before he left.
“I’ll call every hour. Make sure you answer it.”
“I will.”
“I should stay. I’ll call the nurse to come.”
“Go, Bill. I’ll be fine.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise. I’ll answer the phone. I’ll eat my lunch, take my nap, read my book. I’ll be a good soldier.”
Billy kissed him goodbye.
The house was very quiet. Dom was nervous in spite of himself. He picked up a book, set it down. He thought about making a cup of tea, but he didn’t want it. Finally, he eased himself to his feet and shuffled into the living room. Billy had stowed his yoga mat in the hall closet and Dom got it out and laid it on the floor. The effort of this activity left him panting and he dropped to the mat. All he could do was sit there and breathe, but it felt good. It felt like a start.
~*~
He took his mat out every day after that. He tried a few simple poses and found his body remembered them. His arms trembled in the down dog pose and the sweat ran down his face in the chair pose. Once, he’d been able to lift himself into the crane pose, but his abused body wouldn’t even consider allowing him to do that now. Never mind, he told himself, it’s something to work towards.
After his yoga he would think about plants. He had an immense bureau in the corner of the living room with about a hundred little drawers in it. Inside each drawer were seeds. Most of them were from Earth plants but there were seeds from Nola too. Elijah had given them to Billy before they’d left.
“Just in case…things go wrong here. I’d feel better if…Keep them safe? Keep yourself safe.” Elijah had kissed Billy’s cheek then and hugged Dom and had hurried away. Billy and Dom had got on their transport.
Dom thought about this and about the smell of good soil, the feel of it beneath his fingers when it had been warmed by the sun. He thought about how rainbows would form in the spray of water in the evenings. He thought about Billy wishing on the tender little stars of daffodils.
The day he could stand in the tree pose was the day he opened the drawers. He took out the little packets and said their names. He picked up the phone and placed an order.
“Can you deliver it? I’ve been ill. I can’t get out much. Thank you.”
~*~
When Billy came home every conceivable surface of the living room was covered with pots of dirt.
“Dom?”
He found Dom in the kitchen, looking worn and dirty, but he was smiling.
“I’ve hired someone to start the greenhouse next week.” He tried to rise from his chair but sank back with a groan. “Think I might have overdone it a little today. Bill! What’s wrong?”
Billy had put his hands over his face and turned away. “Nothing! It’s…nothing. I don’t know why I’m…”
“Crying. Don’t hide it on my account, Bill. I think you’ve seen me break often enough.”
Billy turned back to look at Dom then. He wiped his face and smiled. “I think I’m happy. That’s why I’m…a fucking mess.” He hiccupped. “You look nearly well, Dom. You look like the boy who fed me tomatoes and gave me a puppy.”
Dom did get up then, to hell with his aching muscles, and put his arms around Billy. “It’s okay to cry, Bill. I like to see you cry because you’re happy.”
Dom leaned heavily against Billy, to worn to really support himself. Billy’s strong arms went around him and held him up. He put a kiss on Dom’s dirt-smeared cheek.
“We should get you in the bath, hmm? It will soothe your muscles.”
Dom allowed Billy to lead him to the bathroom and help into the tub.
“Come in with me.”
“In?”
“In here. Get your clothes off. I haven’t seen you naked in…oh, years and years.”
Billy just stood there.
“Come on. I’ll be a gentleman if that’s what you’re afraid of. I haven’t the strength to be anything but. I’ll only ogle you a little. Well, no, that’s a lie.”
Dom stopped because Billy was peeling off his clothes and stepping into the steaming water. He eased himself down between Dom and the back of the tub and pulled Dom back against his chest.
“Reminds me of those cold nights on Nola.”
“When I’d come home and find you star gazing in the fallen leaves. You always looked like a little sprite, like some treasure that’d blown into my garden. I wanted to keep you safe and warm, hide you away, keep you as my own forever.”
“I’m safe and warm. I’m yours forever.”
Dom turned his head to the side and smiled up into Billy’s face. They kissed.
“Dom, what if you had to wait for awhile to build the greenhouse?”
“Wait? Why?”
“What if we moved?”
“I don’t think they’re moving us, Bill. Don’t know if I’d be welcome along if they did go. I don’t know if I’d go even if I was welcome.”
“No,” Billy picked up the wash-cloth and ran it over Dom’s chest. “What if I wanted to move?”
“Do you?”
Billy shrugged. “I’ve been talking to Miranda and Bean. They need a doctor at the school. Bean’s built some greenhouses there. He wants to talk to you about them.”
“To me?”
“Well, if you decide not to go back to work…He wants to make it a sort of museum eventually, a sort of museum for orphaned plants. Plants without planets. Plants from around the galaxy.”
“We’d stay here? I thought you wanted to go back to Nola when…”
“I did. But I like this idea. Nola belongs to other people. We were visitors there, outsiders. Here, the planet’s so damaged, the people are gone. We could help rebuild it. I think if we did that, Dom, I think if we did, it would feel like home. It’d be a place where anyone who has felt this war could come, and work, and be made whole again. A planet of orphans, and worn soldiers, and the heartbroken all working to make something right again.”
“Bill, that’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
“It wasn’t my idea. You’ll think about it?”
“You’ve followed me around the galaxy, Bill. I think I can follow you to the seaside.”
Billy squeezed Dom tightly. It hurt a bit but Dom didn’t complain.
“I never want to let go of you.” Billy said into Dom’s ear. “I never want to let you go.”