title is fron a song under the same name by rx bandits, theyre super good go give them a listen
~o:O:o~
The Alpha-Khaenri system was desolate.
Albedo did not remember his time on Khaenri'ah. He had left when he was only a child, whisked away to the stars by the woman he later came to call his mother. The news of the system's destruction left little impact on him — perhaps he mourned for the lost civilization, for a life he never knew, but its destruction was inevitable.
For Lumine, however, things were much more real. No one commented on the silent disappearance of their passenger as they neared the scarred planet. They knew well enough not to rub salt into an already festering wound.
Commander Jean was silent. She maintained a look of composure despite her worries, her white knuckles as she gripped the armrests of her seat being the only hint of her discomfort.
"All systems green, Commander." Yanfei's voice was strong as usual, but lacked the confident tone that always made its way into her words. "The jump was successful with no damage to the vessel. We'll be within orbit in about 6 hours."
"Affirmative," Jean replied, her jaw set. "Chart a course to land the rover within a hundred kilometers of the Spire."
Yanfei gave a stiff salute in response before she began to head back towards navigation. She gently elbowed Albedo in passing, her lips thinly pressed in a line.
"Go check on her," she whispered, her worry etched into every corner of her face. Her back straightened immediately, and she left the command center as if nothing had happened.
Albedo's lips twisted into a frown in consideration as Yanfei left. Lumine had been the figurative backbone of the crew and their morale ever since she had been hired as an on-board mercenary. Surely she didn't need his assistance. Besides, he was wholly unfamiliar with the content of her dilemma. Attempting to help without the proper foreknowledge would only hurt her more.
His heart tugged at him as his fingers flew across the holo keypad. With a silent sigh, he closed the document and headed towards the barracks.
~o:O:o~
Lumine liked to keep her walls translucent, even while she slept. She liked watching the stars, she'd say. Her roommate, a navigator by the name of Mona, didn't seem to mind.
Albedo had only been in her quarters once before, but even so, the lack of starlight in the room was startling.
Lumine was laying stomach-side-down on her mattress, her ears plugged with a retro pair of earbuds. Her blanket was haphazardly wrapped around her legs and her face was buried into her small pillow. She didn't look at him as he tugged aside the privacy curtain around her bed.
"Lumine."
He could hear the muffled sound of her music, something old and loud. Like the music she would play while dancing down the corridors.
She didn't respond. Albedo tugged her curtain open the rest of the way. "Lumine," he said again.
She tilted her head up towards him but said nothing.
"...Move over," he said with a sigh. Lumine shifted onto her side as he slipped onto her bed.
He took care not to sit on the wire connected to her earbuds before he focused his attention on the girl before him. She was, in all honesty, a mess. Her hair was rumpled and messy, and her eyes were red and swollen with tears. She wore only a simple black tank and a pair of cargos, with one strap going rogue off of her shoulder. Thin lines were pressed into her cheeks where she had laid atop the wires. Her pillow was damp.
Albedo sighed upon seeing her. It was off-putting, almost, seeing someone that was usually so full of bubbly happiness suddenly so reserved and melancholic. "Come here," he said, before slipping her into his arms and holding her close.
"Sorry," she mumbled into his chest as they leaned against the wall.
"It's okay. It's a lot to take in."
Lumine laid silently for several minutes in his lap. Her fingers gripped the fabric of his uniform tightly, but she made no move to press any closer. Albedo could feel her hands shaking ever so slightly.
He ran his fingers through her hair gently, pulling the strands out of their loose knots and smoothing them against her neck. She hummed quietly into his thigh.
"Do you want to be somewhere else right now?" Albedo whispered. He felt her muscles seize up before she nodded slowly.
"Do you have anywhere in mind?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Alright."
The built-in interface for her walls was across the room on her desk. Not wanting to get up and disturb her, Albedo instead decided to use his own interface. He had access to most ship functions, as second commanding officer.
He briefly scanned the list of available stations before settling on one he was personally familiar with. Within moments, the room lit up with shades of blue and orange, the walls suddenly littered with an ocean of stars.
Lumine peeked at the scene after a moment of hesitation. He felt her breath catch as her eyes widened in awe.
"The Crab Nebula, as the Council calls it," he says. "An odd name, don't you think?"
"Yes," she said as she removed an earbud.
Her voice was hoarse. The sound of it pained him, just a little.
"The astronomer who is credited with naming it supposedly tried to draw what he saw and ended up with a sketch that somewhat resembled a crab. Funny, isn't it?"
Lumine sat up as he spoke and pushed the curtain away fully before she leaned into his shoulder. She cocked her head to the side, in silent observation of the celestial body.
"...I can see a small resemblance between the two," she said after a moment, her voice only a hair louder than a whisper. "They must have had some very strange crabs back then."
Albedo chuckled lightly. "Perhaps."
They sat in silence for a moment afterward. Lumine watched the nebula with an almost childlike sense of curiosity but remained seated in her position beside him.
"It looks different from other nebulae I've seen," she said after a moment.
Albedo nodded. "It's the remains of a supernova," he said.
Lumine was silent. "A grave," she whispered.
"In a sense, yes."
Her grip tightening once again on the fabric of his uniform before she buried her face into his chest. A grave was an accurate description of the supernova remnant, with its bright yet dying core and shattered remains surrounding it, whipped around by ferocious pulsar winds. The scene was a melancholic sort of beautiful, like ruins overgrown with plant life or a shipwreck deep in the ocean.
The pulsar core still shone brightly, a final goodbye to the universe that birthed it.
Albedo and Lumine sat in reverent silence, for the memory of a star whose light never reached their faces.
