They reached the end of their vacation faster than expected. Sun Fang sulked through the morning before they left, eating breakfast with a pout and then packing away the last of his things with an even bigger pout. Ivy had already done most of the packing, stacking the boxes up high for one of the resort’s androids to ship off to their home on Guillotine.
At almost eleven in the morning, they set out. Leaving the resort and the lovely pools and beaches and the ocean behind, a car from the resort picked them up and drove them to the shuttle port. It was almost a half-hour drive, along winding roads in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but green hills surrounding them. Sun Fang and Ivy sat in the back together, an unfamiliar android driving. The windows in the car were all revved down, and Sun Fang drank in the air greedily, knowing it would be awhile before he could come back.
It’d take some time to arrange everything, and find a good place.
At the spaceport—shuttleport, but who could keep all those names in order—Sun Fang was directed to a fancy VIP waiting area. It was only fitting; he was certainly Very Incredibly Pretty. Ivy chose to stand behind his chair while Sun Fang gracefully accepted a complimentary glass of wine from a waiter. He sipped at it slowly, savoring the taste on his tongue. Noting that it was a dark red wine, he then surreptitiously poked out his tongue and tried to look at it, his eyes crossing from effort.
But his tongue wasn’t long enough! He couldn’t see! Scowling, he turned to Ivy and asked, ”Is my tongue wine-colored now?” poking out his tongue again.
Ivy bent its head. After a moment, it said, ”Yes, slightly so. Your lips are as well.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Sun Fang grimaced, ”Did it ruin my lipstick?”
”Yes,” Ivy said.
”Fuck,” muttered Sun Fang, picking up a napkin and rubbing at his mouth. He put the glass down on the armrest and rubbed his mouth viciously, soon only left with a stinging sensation on his lips. He scowled harder, annoying that his perfect lipstick had been ruined so despicably. What a devious plan that waiter had enacted. Ivy, then, bent down and handed him a wet wipe. Sun Fang took it, eyes narrowing. Had Ivy held back on giving it to him?
”Thanks,” he muttered, deciding to be magnanimous and let it go. He wiped his lips until he was sure all the color was off, turning to Ivy again and pouting until Ivy confirmed that he had gotten it all.
Not long after that, they bordered the shuttle. It was a smaller one than the one they’d left Guillotine on. The windows were much smaller, the seating narrower. It was still ultimately a comfortable ride, though, so Sun Fang didn’t have any complaints. He leaned back with a loud sigh, his fingers tapping the armrest as the shuttle took off for the stars, the turbulence easing as they picked up speed. The inertial dampeners were pretty good.
Turning his head to look at Ivy, he asked, ”Will you miss the ocean?” just to be sure that he was making the right decision. That this would be good for Ivy, and hopefully him, too. But, fuck it, he wasn’t even fifty yet. He had time to make mistakes and figure things out.
Ivy nodded, its metallic gaze on the window’s view. The ocean from this high up was gorgeous; a behemoth swallowing up most of the planet. Sun Fang thought it was kind of funny, that they’d be going from living on a planet mostly made of sand to one mostly made of water.
Well, if Ivy agreed.
Rubbing his eyes, Sun Fang yawned. He mumbled something inaudible, not even remembering what he’d said two seconds later. Scooting back in the chair and pulling his blanket up to his chin, he closed his eyes. The sleep that was pulling at him was the restless, weak kind. The kind that couldn’t quite pull him under, but stubbornly attempted to anyway.
It was pretty annoying.
He heard a rustle beside him as Ivy moved. Peeking at his AI butler from under his long, pretty eyelashes, Sun Fang saw Ivy sitting still, staring straight at the seat ahead. Sun Fang was familiar with this—Ivy was reading or watching something in its head.
Wetting his lips, Sun Fang asked, ”What are you doing?”
After a slight delay, signifying that he didn’t have Ivy’s full attention, Ivy responded. ”A book about the ocean from Xingyi.”
Sun Fang rose an eyebrow. ”Ohoh…” he breathed, sitting up again. He nudged Ivy’s shoulder, Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, he asked, ”Do you like Xingyi?” a feeling of intense delight coursing through him and making his stomach tingle just as much as his fingers. He kind of wanted to take a picture of this moment, but he didn’t know how to properly convey how amazing this was.
Ivy, blowing through all of Sun Fang’s expectations, simply responded, ”I like Xingyi, yes. He’s kind.”
The tingling in his hands got worse. Sun Fang felt like he would burst—Ivy was too precious! Too adorable! The best Ivy in the world!
”I’m glad you like him,” Sun Fang said, nudging Ivy’s shoulder again. He grinned when Ivy glanced at him, senselessly declaring, ”I like him, too.”
Ivy smiled a little, a small smile but nevertheless one full of warmth. Sun Fang curled his arm around Ivy’s and settled down, yawning again. ”Tell me what you think of the book when you’re done,” he asked, pulling on the blanket again. He yawned once more. His eyelids slowly lowered, the burning sensation in them getting stronger. How annoying.
”I will,” Ivy said. It took a moment, but then Sun Fang felt stillness return to Ivy. He smiled, the pleasant feeling in his stomach expanding to his chest and filling it with warmth. And quietly, his breathing slowed down as slumber finally got a grip on him.
So…. He single till now Σ(っ°Д °; )っ
Im.. Im.. ▄︻̷̿┻̿═━一😉
Thanks for the chapter…
thanks for the chapter <3