"Did you come to join the gathering, Haruo?"

"No, just a…change of pace."

"It doesn't look like that though."

"I think I'm lost."

"Come in."

"I talked to Galu-gu and he made this into my personal workshop."

"What are you working on?"

"It's just a broken sacred stone. I'm using Bilusaludo tech to fix it."

"The excess cultural inheritance, huh?"

"You feel lost, is that right? Haruo?"

"Do you think that it's right for me to be commanding this mission?"

"Everyone chose you."

"This is the Bilusaludo's fort. And our only hope. And yet I still can't help but feel that this nanometal is something dreadful."

"I find it…to be a sinister thing."

"The powerful and destructive name that we Exif keep secret."

"But…why tell me?"

"Remember it when you are in battle and about to be swallowed in fear. There is a far greater destructive power lurking somewhere in space. Compared to that, Godzilla wouldn't even be worth the fear."

"Hey…Hey!" …

… "Keep it with you in the corner of your memories, but listen, you must never say it in the presence of others."

For the first time in their dealings, Haruo felt uncomfortable with Metphies' proximity. His height, usually a source of reassurance and protection for him, became menacing. His green eyes, malevolent.

"METPHIES!"

The Exif took an involuntary step back.

"You do not need to shout at me, Haruo."

"What is wrong with you!? It's like…. for a minute there, it was like I was talking to someone else. Like you weren't even there."

"Oh." Metphies straightened, looking about himself curiously. "I'm sorry, Haruo. I didn't notice any change."

"It's this place." Haruo spat. "Martin said that a number of the others weren't doing very well, probably because of the nanometal. Maybe it's affecting you too."

"Hm." The Exif stilled thoughtfully. "It's possible, I suppose. But…I feel alright."

Haruo groaned and irritably clutched at the pain once more radiating through his chest. It did not go unnoticed.

"Haruo? What's wrong?"

"Ugh, nothing. My short-speeder got taken down in the firestorm and it…I don't know. Ever since we made camp in this city, it's been starting to hurt again."

Metphies stepped forward and raised his hand to gingerly touch the area where Haruo seemed most injured. He did not immediately detect anything out of the ordinary but Haruo's averted gaze and pained breathing concerned him.

"Come." The Exif ordered. "Sit here."

Haruo eyed the high laboratory table suspiciously but decided against arguing for the moment. As he climbed onto the cool, metal, surface and swung his legs off the side he watched as Metphies retrieved a small case from his workshop console and began rummaging through it.

"It's not much." He explained. "But Bilusaludo medical kits used to contain Esthesio-Balm. It's not a very good substitute for real medicine but it will help. Ah! Here it is."

Haruo sat pensively as Metphies uncapped the misshapen metal tube and approached him.

"Take off your shirt."

Haruo sighed but did as instructed. He then sat still, if sullenly, as the Exif squeezed the clear gel out onto the tips of his fingers and gently began to massage the ointment into the bruises on his chest.

"Metphies?"

"Yes, Haruo?"

"Tell me about your vision."

The Exif paused and looked up. "What?"

"Back in the lab, you said that your people require three things to…. you know…do it."

Metphies smiled. Deep down, he found Haruo's easy willingness to discuss intimacy, combined with his constant inability to put it into actual words, obnoxiously cute. He didn't dare reveal that fact, of course, because if he did, Haruo would likely never speak to him again.

"I mean, the first two I get. Attraction and bonding and all that." Haruo continued. "It's pretty much the same thing for humans. Well, more or less. But we don't have anything like the third one. So, I'm curious. What did you see?"

Haruo met his gaze as Metphies continued to patiently administer the salve.

"I was meditating in the ship's chapel one night." Metphies began. "It was very late but I hadn't been sleeping well for quite some time and I thought that I might gain some insight into what was troubling me."

Haruo visibly perked. He had never actually heard Metphies talk about himself in this way. He usually just recited sermonic aphorisms at times like this.

"I entered into the Gammatron space, the immaterial realm of thought mediated through our crystal links, and began to explore my uneasiness. At first, there was very little to see. The computations of the Gammatron sometimes appear and disappear like mist or wisps of smoke. But then I heard voices in the distance, like someone calling out and another answering but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I felt drawn to their calls, though, and I remember trying to move towards them. When I couldn't, I remember the feeling of being choked and smothered. As though I were trying to swim across the bottom of an ocean. All around me, the world was…shrouded. Hidden. Then, it was if I were surfacing out of a great depth, rising up out of impenetrable darkness. And I saw you, Haruo."

"Me?"

"Yes." Metphies added more of the gel to his hand and began to knead it into Haruo's shoulder. "You were standing on a ledge above me, looking down and calling my name. Then, you knelt and reached out your hand towards me. You were reassuring me, I think. You seemed to believe I was frightened because you kept telling me to take your hand, begging me to go with you. Over and over again, you said, 'I'm not leaving you. Just don't let go.' I remember thinking how strange it was and you were showing me a path, carved in a rock high above us. I reached out to take your hand and then, I awoke. I have felt you with me ever since."

The tension of the moment settled with the dust. The easy playfulness of their previous encounter had evaporated into a breathless silence stretching out between them. The heavy air of the workshop crowded close about Haruo's ears, filling his senses with a dull ringing. The room seemed to dilate; every sensation taking on a heightened significance. He could feel the movement of Metphies' hand in time with his breath; his breathing itself in a turbulent wake buffeting the sound of his own heart. Haruo appraised his companion from an aesthetic view: his slender waist and hips, the fragile-looking wrists, the delicate curve of his abdomen. How deceiving his bearing was. Metphies could break ribs with his bare hands if it came to it. Golden lantern light played softly across the Exif's lean features, combining with the shadows to transform the red haze of the reflected nanometal into a pagan mask of power and spite.

Haruo swallowed once and licked ineffectually at his lips. Metphies drew his hand away from Haruo's chest to look him over. The primitive mask slipped, and Metphies was once again mortal; solid, unguarded. Haruo saw the longing, the quickly concealed desire, flicker across the Exif's green eyes. He felt himself responding to the yearning he saw there, in that inexplicable mien. He sat back, momentarily retreating from the intense rush of his own desires. Haruo's heart began to pound. He wasn't aware he had been holding his breath until his lungs suddenly filled in an explosive, dizzying flood of air.

"What do you think it means?" Haruo asked.

"Means?" Metphies replied. "Hm. It's hard to say. The Gammatron space is a complex intersection of voices, memories, foresight, and inspiration. How much of what I saw is dependent upon me, versus that which may have come from you, is unknown. But the vision was clear enough. My bond is to you."

Metphies reached a long hand up to tenderly wipe away some of the remaining salve from Haruo's chest but that simple touch was almost more than the troubled young Captain could bear. He released another slow breath as burning fingers traced his collarbone, releasing a tremor through his body. His pulse hammered in his temples, and he didn't think he could stand upright on his own two feet at that moment even if his life literally depended on it.

Haruo broke the resulting silence first. "Metphies?" The steadiness of his voice belied the slight trembling in his hands. "Metphies, what do you want?" The Exif's name was heavy on his tongue.

Metphies looked down again, still unsure as to how much he should tell the impetuous human, but not seeing many alternatives given their current situation. He had already spoken the name he had not intended to, already revealed something about the destruction of his homeworld he had not wanted to revisit yet. But Haruo needed the words, and in a way, so did he. Metphies exhaled once, heavily, gathering his thoughts, giving shape to his desires in a way that he had not been willing to before.

"There is much we may forfeit in this endeavor. Much we have already forfeit. Even if we retake the planet, we may pay a price beyond what any can imagine."

"You think we're going to die."

"I think that we are on a path with a very predictable end. An end that we Exif have seen played out on countless worlds and each time, for the same reason. The folly of our avarice, of our insatiable excesses, has brought into being a universe which no longer has a place for us. A universe that is trying very hard to forget we ever existed at all."

"You haven't answered my question."

"No, I'm sorry, I haven't." Metphies sighed. "Haruo." The Exif stepped back to look the smaller man in the eyes. "The answer to your question is one you already know. I am yours. I belong to you. Whatever you ask of me, I will do. I will be with you to the very end. That is my intent. That is what I want. It is all that I want."

Haruo went very still, his gaze fiery. The golden light reflected briefly off of the side of Metphies' face before the shadows moved possessively over him again. In this moment he both was and was not Metphies, the friend and confessor coming to visit him in his cell or sharing in an evening meal. The sage and counselor, whose offerings of knowledge and philosophical wisdom were never withheld. The figure before him was the same, but infused now with a keen awareness of his considerable age, of his terrible loneliness. The Exif had finally become a truly strange and alien being to him now; not given to cruelty but inhuman, enigmatic but plain, distant but supplicating. It was easy to want him this way.

Haruo held out his hands, beckoning Metphies to step into him. When he did, Haruo pushed the images of terror and death from his mind and pulled Metphies into his arms, despite the fact that the other was still clad in his flight suit and Haruo had only his pants and boots remaining. "Yes." He finally responded. He meant the promise he was making.

For the second time that night, Haruo reached up to unlock and unclasp Metphies' flight suit. In some ways, he wondered why the other had even bothered to put it completely back on. Surely, he knew by now that Haruo's need for him was voracious and despite their coupling only a few hours before, Haruo was ready to feel him again. A single finger stroked across Metphies' lips to silence the rebuke forming there as Haruo carefully stripped the suit from the Exif's upper body.

Haruo then turned to the cinch at Metphies' midsection and began to undo the rest of his clothes, including the thermal shirt and bodysuit. Metphies could feel Haruo's eyes on him as he worked, but he made no objection as Haruo followed the baring of his skin with his fingers, and then his mouth, slowly stepping up the intensity of the touch. Metphies gently sifted his fingers through Haruo's hair as the younger man trailed wet kisses across the Exif's pale chest and up along his throat. Haruo's hands then found Metphies' face and the pattern was repeated: caress, taste, kiss. It started along his jaw, then to his cheek, forehead, and on to the sensitive curve of his ear. Then softly, ever so softly, over his closed eyes and down the bridge of his nose to linger, hovering, over his lips.

Metphies was so much like the crystals his people revered, simultaneously strong and fragile. Haruo continued to lightly brush his bottom lip against the Exif's, sampling his breath and the heat of his skin together. The whole image of his lover, so responsive to his touch, was just too much. Undoubtedly, an incautious look would have shattered Haruo to pieces.

Metphies' eyes were still closed as Haruo worked open the last few buttons at his side and let the Exif's clothing and gear drop to the floor, leaving him standing nude in the titian glow of the workshop. Haruo chanced a look down their bodies and gasped in quiet delight. Metphies was like a work of art; an avant-garde masterpiece of delicate lines and idealized forms rendered in dry-brushed light.

This portion of the ritual completed, Haruo moved very slowly so as not to upset the moment, and set about undoing his belt and pants, though he stopped short of actually attempting to maneuver himself on the table to get them off. Metphies would certainly see to that shortly. Rather, Haruo took a breath to steady himself, noting his lover's tense posture, the rapid rise and fall of his chest, and his eyes still closed... waiting. Haruo reached out with both hands to take Metphies' face between his palms and to flit a feathery kiss against his lips.

Metphies sighed and relaxed again under the exquisitely gentle touch, tipping his head slightly this way and that, freely exposing the sensitive places of his throat. His pulse throbbed firm and steady under Haruo's questioning hands and appeared to follow wherever the younger man set about to inquisitively stroke. He seemed to want to know every last inch of the Exif, every scented hollow and contour, every muscular rise or taut cord. He needed to know him.

And then Haruo leaned forward to kiss Metphies in earnest.

The sweet tastes of honey and lemongrass overtook Haruo as he leisurely explored Metphies' mouth, stroking the full lips with his teeth and tongue, savoring the wonderful, dizzy, sensations he always seemed to experience when kissing the Exif. Haruo tugged at the other's lower lip with his thumb, encouraging his lover to open his mouth and allow him to deepen the kiss.

Metphies' hands were cool as they wandered over the spare framework of Haruo's shoulders, testing the sturdy interlocking bones beneath the golden skin, lingering at the surprisingly hard plane of muscle that joined them to the slim neck. Haruo sighed and leaned forward into the

touch. The Exif's hands roamed down his back, shyly skirting the band of Haruo's pants to circle around and hold the narrow waist. Haruo caught his breath as his lover moved down to grip his hips and he sat up a little taller as deft fingers twisted into the heavy fabric.

The slow, easy pace of their exploration belied years of experience with the other that neither of them had. It was also making Haruo crazy with desire. He wanted to crawl inside the Exif's presence like a sanctuary, to pull his lover around him and keep him there. He wanted to immerse himself, to drown in those impenetrable green eyes, and to plunder every secret Metphies still kept from him until he was laid completely bare. It required every ounce of his control to keep from indelicately flinging the both of them to the floor. But instead, Haruo decided to channel his frustrations by helping Metphies to finally pull his pants and flight suit off of his legs and drop them over the edge of the table. Haruo then excitedly wrapped his legs around his lover's waist, pulling them roughly together, his desperate need clearly indicated in the short, involuntary, thrust of his hips.

Metphies' hands tightened around Haruo's backside, clutching the smaller man to him as their mouths met again. This kiss was no hesitant caress but an urgent communication of hunger. The rising need to touch, to proclaim bodily, to be part of the give and take of pleasure quickly eclipsed everything else.

"Haruo?"

"What?" Came the breathless, impatient, reply.

"Should we move somewhere else, or are you content for me to take you here?"

"I don't have a lot of time, Metphies. I need you. Right now. So, stop teasing me and get on with it, will you?"

Haruo felt Metphies smile into his hair as he drew closer, sliding him to the edge of the table with a firm grip on his hips. Haruo squirmed restlessly; every subtle movement bringing the heady, silken glide of skin on skin and the muted complaint of the table beneath their weight. Metphies kissed Haruo again, briefly, unable to fully sate his hunger for the human's exquisite mouth but neither were content to remain there anymore. Other, deeper, desires clamored for attention.

"Do you remember what to do?" Metphies whispered into Haruo's ear while nibbling along the delicate outer ridge.

Haruo swallowed and nodded before reaching between them to stroke his lover's organ. As he did so, careful to pull the skin of the other's shaft just far enough towards the head to extract more of the oils produced by the gland near the tip, he took another moment to admire the Exif. Haruo had never before truly appreciated the spare utility of Metphies' body. The long lines and smooth muscles were all pared down, distilled to the bare essences of strength and fortitude. In a flash of insight, Haruo realized just how he had managed to survive the destruction of his homeworld along with his people's endless exile in space. Metphies was like the spiritual Gammatron calculations of his priestly caste: without excess or frivolous decoration, just a slim, modest summation and singularity of purpose. The beauty of the purely functional design relatively incidental.

But Metphies was beautiful. And Haruo wanted him.

It was a long moment before either of them could do anything but breathe as Haruo continued to stroke his lover until his palm was slick with natural lubrication and the Exif's organ slid easily between his fingers. Haruo then released Metphies to prepare himself, his impatience showing in the quick movements of his hand and the drops of sweat forming along his brow.

Metphies pulled back, silent, his eyes unreadable as he searched Haruo's face, examining the uncertainty there, the fear, the need. It amazed him that Haruo could crave his touch so strongly, just as it amazed him that he had so much of it to give. Metphies knew in that moment that what Haruo truly wanted of him was his love. And he knew that he did, that he loved Haruo, and that there was nothing the younger man could ask of him that he was not willing to grant him. The pleasures of his body were small in relation to the whole of what Metphies knew he might offer.

Metphies willed himself to further patience as he watched Haruo work the warm oil into himself, pleasuring and preparing his body for what was to come. Metphies leaned in to encourage him with soft murmurs and whispered instructions until Haruo was thrusting back against the rhythmic pace of his own fingers. Metphies took note of the speed and angle Haruo used to ready himself before gently removing his hand. It was time.

They merged slowly, easily. Metphies held Haruo's hand in a secure grip, not quite uncomfortable, communicating wordlessly the depth and intensity of his responses. Haruo held himself still as the connection was completed, savoring the sensations of his lover embracing him and filling him. The gentle way that Metphies took him bringing a gratified smile to his lips. He laced his fingers into Metphies', returning the grip, lending comfort without the need for asking. Haruo was surprised at the overwhelming wave of tenderness he suddenly felt for the slender Exif in his arms, and wrapped himself closer against the pale form, enfolding him with the whole of his body.

Haruo was never quite sure who began to move first. All he could later recall was becoming aware of the easy rocking motion of their bodies, and the steady undertone of Metphies' voice whispering his name like a mantra. He remembered how Metphies had pressed forward against him, tipping them both back on the table as their movements increased. How Metphies had moved inside of him with persistent determination and a keen intuition as to just how fast and deep Haruo wanted him. He kept his thrusts firm but disciplined, so as not to unduly upset their careful balance. Moments later, Haruo pulled their joined hands down to his neglected erection, both he Metphies stroking it in time to the tempo of their coupling.

The Exif kept up a steady rhythm, letting the oil and Haruo's own excitement ease his way. Time slowed, exploding out into infinity, as their world shrank to the soft hum of Bilusaludo tech and Haruo's muffled cries. To the caress of unnaturally warm air, and the hot clenching heat of Haruo's body. Metphies pulled his lover closer as he gradually lost his battle with instinct and began to drive into the other's yielding sheath with impassioned urgency.

Metphies felt the smaller man tense in his embrace, curling forward slightly around their mutual caress and simultaneously grinding his hips back, driving the Exif deep. When Haruo began to moan brokenly, Metphies did not let up, dropping his opposite hand down to Haruo's hip to hold him steady. He could only have guessed how on edge Haruo must already have been when he approached him in the cavern because his orgasm came on quickly and brutally. Metphies held tight against the shudder of Haruo's release, pulling the trembling body of his lover to him, protective and tender and passionate all at once. Haruo cried out, a single exclamation not in any language but the one spoken between lovers, and spilled himself into their clasped hands.

Happily, Metphies pressed his face into the juncture of Haruo's neck and followed him over the edge with a shaking gasp.

Haruo held Metphies close as the other rode out the last pulses of his own orgasm, resting his chin on the Exif's shoulder. A glimmer from the far side of the workshop caught his eye and he irritably glanced over towards the control column illuminating the center of the room. The Garbetrium bead was abnormally bright; sparkling cross-hatches of orange light forming over its outer surface. Haruo moaned as Metphies bucked into him several times in rapid succession, seemingly oblivious to the luminous play going on behind him. Haruo turned his face possessively into the Exif's neck and held him tighter, instinctively trying to shield him in these last moments of vulnerability. Metphies finally stilled, resting against the smaller man as he calmed his breathing.

Haruo felt suddenly uneasy, as though he were witnessing something ominous. An omen of misfortune he couldn't quite decipher. When Metphies made to pull away, Haruo only hugged him closer; unwilling to separate from his lover just yet and, if he were being honest with himself, not wanting the Exif to return to whatever it was he was doing in repairing the old ritual stone.

"Metphies?" He whispered tentatively.

"Yes, Haruo?" Came the easygoing response.

Haruo glared at the bead, still not quite understanding his visceral response to its baleful glow.

"Metphies. I love you."

He spoke the words almost without meaning to. Without considering the full weight of their implications, especially as it might affect their current situation and prospects for the future. Haruo entwined his fingers into Metphies' hair and set his mouth to the other's ear with stern trepidation.

"I love you."

Metphies reached up and began to stroke Haruo's back in broad, soothing, sweeps. He did not attempt to pull away again but opted instead to allow Haruo to continue sheltering beneath him.

"And I love you, Haruo."

It was some time before they willingly parted again.