It was dark.
That's how Up liked it.
This companion preferred the burning light of the alien sun, illuminating their flesh, showing just how beautiful and hard every inch of them was.
But Up liked the dark, so in the dark they were.
And when his companion reached over and flipped the light switch, pulling down the shades without a single whine of protest or an attempt at an argument, Up knew he was in love.
Even if was something he had never expected.
Even if he had someone waiting for him up on the Starship.
This was truer and realer than anything he had ever experienced.
So, his eyes meeting and never leaving those of his companion - No, his lover. No. The truest love he had ever experienced - Up broke away from the embrace. Tentatively, so slowly it was almost painful, he climbed off of the bed and walked over to the wall.
Where he turned on the light.