"Do you miss her?"
"Huh?"
"I said, do you miss her?"
The air was thick with smoke and the overly animated talk of drunken men. Opera and Bowman were sat on the corner of the bar, the blonde tetragene sipping on an apple cider and the young professor lighting a cigarette. Taking a lazy drag on the tobacco, Bowman sighed and turned his attention to an old man who had fallen asleep at the other end of the bar, his long nedian ears still visible beneath his folded arms. To be honest, he still wasn't used to being the 'strange' one on this planet, having people ask him why his ears were so small or looking thoroughly puzzled when he replied he was an 'Expellian'. He allowed his eyes to linger for a moment upon Opera's third eye, amber like the other two, yet never moving.
"Hey Opera, can you see out of that other eye of yours?" She laughed and fixed him with a sincere smile.
"Yes I can 'see' out of it, but what I see exactly, I can't tell you. An old secret of us tetragenes. But come on, you're avoiding my question." Bowman quickly dropped his humorous act and turned instead to the shot of vodka neatly lined up with the other empty glasses. He downed the liquid and took another drag on his cigarette.
"Of course I miss her. There's not a day goes by when I don't miss her" he replied hoarsely, running his thumb over the golden wedding ring on his left hand. "And what about you, do you miss him?"
"Yes" she replied sadly, swigging the last of her cider and gesturing to the barman for another. "Ernest, always the adventurer, always reckless, always such a free spirit. That's what I loved about him most, Bowman, his reckless streak, funny isn't it that that was what separated us in the end…" The two sat in silence for a long while, the occasional snores of the old man drifting over to their quiet corner. "Why did I choose Expel as our next destination? It's my fault he's gone, everything's my fault". A few tears rolled down her rosy cheeks and she hiccupped. Bowman stubbed his cigarette out and cracked his knuckles- a nervous habit he had picked up as a child from his father.
"It's not your fault Opera, and the sooner we defeat the Ten Wise Men, the sooner we'll get to see them again. Ernest might not have even been on Expel when…what happened, happened. At least you can still cling to that small ray of hope…" Opera brushed the tears away from her eyes and cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry Bowman, I didn't mean to say-"
"No, no, It's alright. I know Nineh's dead, I've made my peace with it. But I won't give up my one chance of ever seeing her again. I mean to win against Indalecio when the time comes, but even if the worst happens and we're unable to stop him, well," Bowman ruffled the back of his hair "it seems selfish to admit it, but I honestly wouldn't care if I died because at least then, we could be together…" He downed another vodka and frowned as the burning sensation crept up his throat. Opera's eyes had grown wide and she seemed to have sobered up slightly. "It's just the waiting that's unbearable. Counting down the days until the whole final showdown thing, you know? Don't get me wrong, the group's great company and you've all become my best friends," Opera raised her newest bottle of cider in a toast and Bowman smiled sadly. "It's just- I miss my home planet and I miss my wife. And some days it can just all get a bit too much." Opera patted his back and pulled a cigarette from the carton sitting in his front pocket. He pulled out a lighter and held the flame beneath the thin white stick. She inhaled deeply, breathing out a cloud of purple smoke, coloured by the neon lights of the bar.
"And on those days my friend, when it all just gets too much, I'll be here. And we can come and have a drink. Well, many drinks. And we can count down the days together until we're back with the people we love most."
"I'll drink to that" Bowman said, passing a shot of vodka to Opera and holding his own in the air.
"To Expel"
"And to Tetragenes"
"To winning this war" he stated a little louder.
"To saving the Universe" she replied, even louder.
"To returning home" he cried.
"TO NINEH" Opera shouted, standing up (and swaying slightly)
"AND TO ERNEST" Bowman replied, the two downing their shots and laughing loudly. The old man on the other corner jerked awake and surveyed the two with an annoyed gaze.
"Bloody foreigners" he mumbled.
Yay another one written. Sorry about the ending, it's kind of lame and crazy but I wanted it like that. I reckon Bowman and Opera would be mean drinking partners, don't you? TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY READS THIS SERIES, PLEASE REVIEW! I'm sad when no one reviews!!!