Episode 7: Love Me Forever

"Rei...could I talk to you a moment?" I took a deep breath before continuing. "I know this sounds weird, since I've known you for a few days, but...well...I feel connected to you somehow. I don't know how you feel. Of course, I'd be happy if you felt the same way. I guess I just wanted to say..." I bit my lip, forcing me to blurt out the next words. "I think I kinda like you."

Silence hung in the air for a moment.

"Well?" I said hopefully.

"Dekkoid!"

"Really!" I clapped my hands together. "You mean it?"

"D-dekkoid." The gyroid shuffled back a step. Despite its lack of feet, I didn't question the move.

"Great," I replied, letting out a heavy sigh just to hear myself do it. "If Rei rejects me, I always have a future with a gyroid. Wonderful." The six a.m. bell sounded and Pelly's chipper voice came over the megaphone to wish everyone a good morning. Sprawled out over my desk was a series of Dogstar technical readouts and military deployments, courtesy of K.K. Slider, the last person on Earth I ever thought would possess such things. Laid out to the side of all this was a crude drawing labeled "Defense of Fluffytown, version beta 2." It was mostly stick figures. I was quite proud of it.

"So you think it works, huh?" I asked, and got no response. "It's kind of corny, but I like it. I especially like the part where I go-"

"...I think I kinda like you," I heard echoed behind me.

"Whaaaa?" I turned and saw Bluebear leaning on the desk, her elbows crushing my drawing and her eyes carrying a wistful look. "When did you come in?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Bluebear said, blinking.

"You didn't, uhh, happen to hear anything, did you?"

"No," Bluebear said, crossing over to move closer to me, "nothing but the pounding of my own heart when I think about you, that is."

"Oh, good." I said. "Wait...what?"

"Oh, Edgar," Bluebear said in a wispy, entranced voice, "stay with me forever, and love me forever and ever, until the sky rains black with comets and the ocean, well...does what oceans do." She finished and wrapped her arms around me. Doing what any male would do after having a strikingly beautiful, albeit ursine, female pine for me in such a way, I pushed her away and ran out the door. Stopping outside for a moment, I opened the door and looked at the befuddled Bluebear.

"Please don't take anything while I'm gone," I said, and ran away for a considerable distance until I found an inviting oak tree. I laid against it, panting, and suddenly felt like a jerk. Maybe she was just being nice. Really, really nice.

"There you are!" shouted a female voice, and I turned to my right just in time to find myself buried in a coat of white fur, vibrating in tune with purring.

"H-hi, Olivia..." I stammered as I felt the oxygen slowly leaving my brain. Wow, everyone's "really nice" today...

"Darling," Olivia said, gazing up at me, "you really shouldn't hide from me like that. You don't know what it does to my delicate psyche when I can't find my Fluffykins."

"Sorry, Olivia, I-Fluffykins?" My eyes darted around for any possible distraction.

"Why, of course," she cooed back, running her paw across my chin. "My Fluffykins is the best. He even found us a nice oak tree under which to be alone."

"That's great!" I squeaked. "Unfortunately, I seem to have some pressing business with, uhh...err...that rock over there. Bye!"

"I know where you live!" I heard Olivia shout as I ran off, the venom in her voice well-deserved for my sleep-deprived blunder. That rock over there. Smooth one, Edgar. I kept running until Nook's store came into view, dashing toward it and lunging through the automatic doors as if they were an airlock on an intergalactic cruiser. Tucking and rolling, I came up on my knees right in front of the proprietor, who at this moment had his head cocked to one side and was staring at me with wide eyes. Wide, unlonging eyes.

"Might I be able to help you with anything?" Tom Nook said slowly.

"Oh, nothing much," I said nervously, "just asylum."

Nook blinked a few times. "Asylum, you say." He steepled his fingers, snickering under his breath. "Well, if it's asylum you need, then it'll have to come with a price, you see? Perhaps, say--"

"Did I say asylum?" I said, smiling weakly. "I meant 'wander around looking like I'm buying something.' Yeah...that. Because, you see, I'm really interested in, uhh..." I grabbed the nearest item. "Axes. Yeah, axes."

"You know," Nook said, narrowing his eyes at me, "I offer fee-based counseling, too, if you ever need to talk."

"Did I say axes?" I threw down the axe, narrowly missing my own foot. "I meant, uhh..." I grabbed for another object. "Timing...things?"

"Curses!" Nook muttered. "Well, I suppose you can look all you want. For free. Just don't steal anything, of course."

"You have no idea how thankful I am," I said, bowing fervently.

"And don't ask me for complimentary smiles either," added Nook.

Under the protective umbrella of Nook's grace, something I hadn't yet realized he possessed, I paced back and forth, trying to find the perfect words for Rei, or at least an opportunity to use the imperfect words. Every now and then, I peeked out the window and saw one of the town's girls passing by, but there was no sign of the one I wanted to see. It was a little past three when I checked outside and saw Olivia passing by with her sisters. As I hastily drew back the curtain, Monique looked in my direction.

I don't remember much after that, except that Tom Nook later swore that a meteor had hit the place and was trying to get insurance money out of it any way possible. I found myself in the clearing outside Nook's with the four cats towering over me.

"We've got you now!" Monique squealed with a devilish grin on her face, one that evaporated when she realized the implications of what she'd just said.

"'We?'" Olivia said, placing her paws on her hips. "What do you mean 'We'?"

"Yeah, sis," Tangy said, bringing out her claws, "I thought you of all people would want him for yourself."

"Do you mean 'we' as in 'wee?'" Kiki had a blank look on her face. "'Cause...'cause I have to wee."

"Just go home, Kiki." Monique rolled her eyes.

"Or do you mean 'we' as in 'Wii?' B-because I like Wii too. It has a remote and it's shiny and-hey!" Kiki stopped and contorted her face in thought. "I have a sudden, unexplained crush on Edgar too! Don't tell me what to do!" She, too, brought out her claws. "Wiiii!" she screamed as she jumped at Monique. I spare the details; only those with strong stomachs can fully appreciate the magnitude of a full-blown catfight. At one point, as a huge tuft black fur hit me in the head, I realized that I could exploit this opportunity to go and find Rei. Fortunately, I found her only a short distance away, standing close to Tom's house.

"Hi, Edgar!" she said as she waved at me and smiled.

"Rei!" I fell to the ground at her feet, panting heavily.

"Is something wrong?" she said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Unfortunately, there was. I felt the iron grip of the claws closing in on my feet just as I looked up to see that brief glimpse of Rei's smile.

"I have something important to tell you!" I said as they dragged me away from Rei. As her form began to shrink on the horizon, I could make out a confused, yet faintly amused, expression on her face.

That was the last I saw of her that day. As I sat cross-legged on the ground, watching the sun go down and the stars fill the night sky, the catfight went on, without any signs of interruption or even respect for the participants' needs to eat, sleep, or 'wee.' Even worse, Bluebear joined in sometime between eight and nine, and I think I saw my favorite house plant tucked into her pocket.

As abruptly as the whole thing started, it all ended at the ringing of the bells from town hall. Everyone craned their necks as the bells rang twelve times. As the final bell struck, I let out a sigh. Olivia, Kiki, Monique and Bluebear looked around at each other and then at me.

"Wait..." Olivia said, "we were fighting over him!" She turned up her chin and left. The others followed suit, Kiki muttering something about being hungry. Monique gave me an oddly sympathetic look before she followed her sisters.

On my way back to the house, I saw Rei unlocking the door to her own house to go back inside. "Hey!" she said as she opened her door.

"Hey," I managed.

"Did you still want to talk about something?"

I smiled and shook my head. "No, it can wait another day."

"If you say so..." Rei cocked her head at me, then shrugged and went inside. I trudged along to my own house and entered to the company of my gyroid.

"Dekkoid!" it screamed at me.

"Oh, just go to sleep," I wailed at it.

"Dekk...oid?"

"Oh, and another piece of advice," I said as I flicked off the light, "don't waste your time with love. It's foolish and all it does is lead to violence and disappointment."

"Dekk...oid..." As the lights went off, I noticed it had a downtrodden look on its freaky gyroid face. It repeated its lamenting...well, whatever sound it makes, as I stared at the ceiling, trying to lull myself to sleep.

Knock knock.

"Huh?" I sat up in bed and slipped my shoes back on. "Who's there?" As I pushed the door open, I rubbed my eyes in shock.

"Hi!" Rei said with a tentative smile on her face. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Disturbing me? Of course not."

"Okay!" She wrung her hands together. "It's just that, well, I was busy most of the day, so I didn't get to hear what was important that you had to say, and, well..." She looked away for a moment. "I have something I want to show you."

"Show me?" I said as Rei yanked my hand and dragged me into the early morning air.

"Come on!" she said, giggling. "It'll be fun!" As she pulled me through the dormant streets of Fluffytown, all I could think about was that her hand was touching mine. We reached the edge of the giant pond at the north end of town, and she released my hand. I felt a brief twinge of disappointment which flew away entirely when I caught the reflection of the moonlight over the water.

"I come here often when it's like this," Rei explained, removing her loafers. "The beauty of it helps ease my mind."

"It's beautiful..." I whispered.

"Isn't it?" Removing her socks and tucking them into her loafers, Rei slid her feet into the water and sat down on the bank. I settled down by her and crossed my legs at the water's edge. "Sorry about earlier," she said, staring up at the sky. "I was helping Tom write a letter to someone important to him."

"Who's that?"

"His wife." Rei smiled. "Didn't you know Tom had a family?"

"Not until recently, no." I cracked a smile thinking about it.

"I hope we were able to make the message cryptic enough," Rei said, swinging her legs and creating ripples on the water's surface. "If the Dogstar intercepted it, things could get really bad..."

"I take it the two of you have some kind of history with the Dogstar." She hugged herself with her arms as I said that, but nodded slowly anyway.

"That's what I wanted to tell you about," she said slowly. "Tom would have, too, but he couldn't stay up any longer. Anyway..." She let out a heavy sigh. "My father brought me along to Mars on a Galactic Nations diplomatic mission. There was no babysitter, but I was able to play outside while he was conducting his business. I had a lot of fun playing with other children, but then...there was a problem."

"Problem?"

"It's called Martian syndrome. Apparently, some of the dust on Mars interferes with respiratory systems of certain species. I had so much fun I forgot all about it, and too much of it got in through the equipment I had. I had to go to the hospital when I started coughing really badly, and the doctors gave me a five percent chance of survival. That's where the Dogstar came in."

At a loss for words, I simply looked at her, mouth wide open. Hard to think that could ever happen to someone in my line of work.

"The Dogstar offered the best cybernetic enhancements in the galaxy at the time. Most of it was military-based, but there were a lot of medical uses as well. My father and I consented to the operation, even knowing the consequence. They replaced my lungs with perfectly-functioning mechanical clones."

"Wow," I said, despite the situation. "But what was the cost?"

"I had to join the Dogstar military." She buried her face in her arms. "They wanted me to be a scout, since my lungs enabled me to be in abnormal conditions longer. I had to find important installations for them, so that if there was resistance when they moved in, they could..." Her voice broke and I instantly shuffled closer to her. She looked over and smiled a little.

"When did you meet Tom?" I asked.

"About two months in," she replied. "He saw what I was going through, and shared my feelings about it. He helped me escape them without detection from anyone. Including my father, who's probably still got my face on Martian milk cartons." She chuckled.

"Wow," I repeated. "I'm definitely thanking Tom next time I see him." I felt something against my shoulder, thought about swatting it away with my hand, and was very glad I didn't when I realized it was Rei's head.

"That would be nice," she murmured. The water churned lightly in tune to the chirping of the crickets. I thought about what I would say next as I listened to it.

"It's pretty late," I finally said.

Good one.

"Yeah," Rei said back, slowly getting up. As she was putting her shoes back on, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, didn't you have something important to tell me?"

"Oh, yeah! Uhh..." A wicked smile came to my face. "It's not that important after all. It can wait."

"If you say so," Rei said flatly, her eyebrow arching. "Thanks for everything!" She started to lean forward.

"Oh, it's my-"

She kissed me on the cheek.

"Wow. I mean, uhh, pleasure."

"Good night, Edgar!" With a devious smile of her own, she departed. I think I eventually found my way back home, sometime between the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth times I said "wow." Flipping the light on, I saw the house plant returned to its proper position and the sketch of the defense of Fluffytown still on the desk.

The defense of Fluffytown. A lump grew in my throat as I thought about what my little stick figures represented for the future of everyone here, all the people I had come to care about. Even the future of the whole planet was a more distant thought.

"Hey, Dekky," I said, at which the gyroid's face lit up, "You seen my magic markers?"

"Dek-koid!" it exclaimed, and cocked its head in the direction of my bed. I reached under and found them.

"Thanks!" I said, flashing it a thumbs-up. "Time to get working. Oh, and forget what I said about love..."