I

Tieria did not particularly trust civilian transports. For one, they were not as calibrated for efficiency as military vessels were and their lack of ammunition made him considerably nervous. Few things were more daunting than stepping into a fragile looking shuttle that hovered in starry darkness with all the security of a cork set adrift on wide open seas.

"Come on Tieria, hurry!"

Regene tugged at his sleeve and basically dragged him along the causeway. Tieria rethought his premises, being one on one with Regene like this was considerably more daunting because he had no idea whatsoever as how to act. Regene was already floating ahead, a trail of a blue skirt drifting on his wake. Tieria was very aware that people were staring at the purple haired twins and it upset him considerably that he should be blushing like this.

"We're within schedule. There's really no need to-"

"Oh look, candy."

Regene stepped off the causeway with dexterous ease and Tieria was dragged along, somehow ending up in a candy store. Artificial gravity kicked in immediately, causing Tieria to totter and nearly fall flat on his face. Regene landed gracefully while a rather worried employer rushed to Tieria's aid.

"Miss, are you alright?"

At this point Tieria had regained his balance but he nearly lost it out of sheer chagrin. He was dressed as a male, from the dark blue shirt to the equally blue pair of pants- Regene wanted them to match- and being mistaken for a girl was not particularly pleasant. Normally Tieria would discard it as utterly spurious but not when Regene was standing by with that borderline wicked smile of his and certainly not when a human civilian was offering him her help- as if he was not Tieria Erde, Gundam Meister, Innovator.

"-Fine. No need to worry."

A purple lollipop dangled in front of Tieria's eyes and he followed it to find Regene.

"This is tasty. Want to try?"

Regene licked it tentatively, the smile only half hidden by the hard candy and Tieria found himself blushing anew. This time intensely. He cursed his mind for making connections it should not at all make and then he cursed Regene for deliberately boycotting his already frayed control in social situations.

"Erm, no- if you want we can get one…but we should get going."

"I thought we were within schedule."

Regene proceeded to desultorily lick the lollipop. Tieria adjusted his glasses and prepared to say something that would sound very no nonsense. But before he could get to it the girl interrupted.

"Oh, you're twin sisters! Are you going to Earth?"

Tieria's eyebrows twitched. He randomly picked some candy and shoved it in a plastic bag. His tactic of engaging in activity to avoid outbursts was greatly frustrated in this civilian environment. Regene added a generous portion of lollipops to the bag.

"Yes. We're on a holiday."

"Woah, you really look exactly the same! Can your parents tell you apart?"

Tieria had half a mind to report this girl to her employer, her job was to sell candy- Tieria thrust the bag in her direction so that she would get the point- and not interrogate the costumers. Not to mention that she could not be particularly intelligent not to have noticed the most definitely different haircut, and never had Tieria thought that he would care so much about such an irrelevant detail before meeting Regene- but what could be said for humans that managed to mistake his very gender.

"At times."

"Our elevator is going to leave. How much do we owe you?"

Tieria firmly believed on staying on a budget, after all that was the reason why he had at all bothered to buy the cardigans in bulk, and buying candy was at all part of the planned expenditure.

"Twenty. Say, can I take a picture of you two? Twins are so cool!"

"Sure."

And with this Regene took his arm and flashed a surprisingly non-snarky smile that had Tieria rolling his eyes. Still, he had to admit that feeling Regene's light weight on his arm like this and even this careless jollity were enjoyable. It was something that Tieria could get used to, he thought, and maybe find a way of feeling alright about it all. Regene held the bag of sweet stuff to the camera that the girl was now wielding. Before Tieria could object a click announced that the picture was taken and Regene was bouncing to the girl to see it. It was against Celestial Being, this divulging his image but he supposed it was too late to do anything about it. Instead he merely added,

"By the way, I'm not a girl. If you want to chitchat with your costumers at least get their gender right."

Tieria delivered this tirade and paid for the candy that he did not particularly like. Regene copied the photo to a portable device that he had somehow found at the Ptolomeios and stored in a purse that like the dress was borrowed from Miss Sumeragi.

They left the store, Regene happily waving at the girl as if they were now best friends for life. It was now Tieria that dragged Regene along and took him aside before they reached the barricade of officials that announced the elevator's entrance.

"Now look, I know you're playful and all that but keep in mind we're both using forged passports. There hasn't been any problem mingling with civilians so far but Celestial Being's members are wanted men and even though you're not part of the organization I doubt that would mean much if you're found with me. Especially since we're-"

So alike that if I go down so will you

Tieria held his breath at this thought that was strangely familiar even though he had never worded it in so many words, not even to himself. He halted unsure of whether Regene had caught this from his mind as only Regene was capable of doing.

"I know that. But I've told you already, haven't I? We're together. No matter what."

Tieria fumbled for a reply. Regene adjusted his glasses and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"That's to make sure you don't get scared of those ever so unreliable and vulnerable space elevators."

Normally Tieria would at least feign anger. Instead he smiled wanly.

"How is kissing going to help with that?"

"Oh, I don't know. I guess that's just the way it goes."

"That is terribly unscientific of you."

"What can I say, that's just the way I am."

Speakers announced that the elevator was about to leave and Tieria was grateful for the mood change. Because for a split second, in the sobriety of the moment and without any hormonal or Veda interference, he was aware of what could very well be love.

Other
"Let's go to a colony!"

Regene announced this as soon as the costumes' formalities were over. There was no point in freaking out Tieria without a purpose and Regene was at his best behavior as his passport was scanned. Not that it could not very amusing in itself.

"That's not the plan-"

"I don't like the Earth. And neither do you. So why don't we check out the new colony that was just settled?"

Regene was more curious about a space colony than anything the blue planet had to offer but what he wanted from this was to get Tieria to make a decision that benefited himself without any Celestial Being related considerations. After all, as grateful to the female human commander as Regene was for having suggested this journey, fact remained that Tieria had accepted it because it emanated from the chain of command and not because he wanted to.

"We can't do that. We should be within reach of the Ptolomeios."

Tieria switched to telepathy and Regene approved. Not because he was paranoid about there being some constant surveillance system out to get him but simply because this was something special to the two of them that confirmed them as Innovators, as non-human yet very much worthy of claiming a place in this world.

"Just report it. The technology involved in these new colonies is topnotch. I'm sure you could even learn something relevant to employ with Celestial Being."

Regene had not planned to bring the organization into it but he was bent on getting Tieria to agree to this deviation from a plan. Few things sounded better to Regene than going against well-established planning that destroyed all spontaneity.

"I suppose. I'm interested in experiencing the rotating system for myself and to gather data on the oxygen production system."

This information was all stored in Veda's databank and Tieria could now freely access it. But Regene said nothing about it.

I
As soon as they settled in the shuttle Tieria dutifully strapped on while Regene was glad to float along with the swish of blue skirt.

"You should put on your seatbelt."

Regene shook his head without showing much concern. It was remarkably typical, Tieria thought.

"Now, now, Tieria. You're here as a civilian so you have no authority to boss me about."

Tieria had the distinct impression that no one could ever do such a thing.

"That's not it. You know that these shuttles have a seatbelt policy that is mandatory."

At this point the speakers confirmed Tieria's point by addressing the issue directly and commanding all passengers to buckle up as the shuttle was about to take off. It was not as peremptory a command as Tieria would have liked, as far as he could tell there was no point in adding so many "please"s and it was utterly preposterous to actually thank mindless civilians- not that all non-military personnel was devoid of intellect but it clearly lacked discipline and focus- for simply obeying as they should do for their own sake. But it was better than nothing.

Regene seemed to be seriously contemplating this obviously rational option. What there was to contemplate Tieria would never understand and he was tempted to inform his twin-like companion about some basic facts of physics that explained exactly what happened to bodies once a sudden impact happens to strike them. Tieria did not say anything, though, partially because it was useless but also because he enjoyed Regene's thoughtful moments. They were a bridge between them.

Tieria did not have much time to watch him because Regene saw fit to unbuckle his seatbelt, sit on his lap and refasten in around the two of them. Tieria blinked in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm being very obedient. See? I am following the rules. I do hope you are proud of me now."

Tieria sighed silently but smiled.

"You really are hopeless."

Regene replied by nibbling an earlobe and increasing his grip of his legs around Tieria. Because the shuttle was revving up to launch, engine vibrations reached the two of them, and the excitement of being about to be hurtled into space infected the two of them. This particular thrill was not new to Tieria. He experienced it whenever returning to space after some tedious stay down on Earth and it was something he had never been quite ready to admit. Not even to Neil who would surely not understand. It was not precisely sexual but as Regene made sure to grind against him and the speed of motion brought their bodies even closer, a sweep of stars gliding madly along the window, Tieria was forced to rethink this last premise. Which after all was a desirable conduct in the face of unknown data. And there was something quite outside the realm of his experience to feel Regene's lips working on his, knees firmly planted on the seat, fingers exploring, while they sped into unfathomable distances.

Here was another facet to their worship of space. Apart from solemn contemplation in fascinated tranquility, it was a secret rush of speed and calculated chaos that meshed naturally- and Tieria hardly understood how that particular term applied to them who were other than human- with the feeling of skin brushing skin and flesh reaching out for flesh.

"I'm sure there are rules against this kind of behavior in a cabin."

Tieria spoke with only mock remonstrance.

"Maybe. But they didn't exactly say it and I cannot be expected to guess, now can I?"