Promt: "Shh, c'mere…"
As far as Zero could tell, Emeraldas didn't get drunk like anyone else he'd ever seen. In fact, he would have thought she couldn't get drunk if not for the question she asked after the two of them had gone through more bottles of wine than were really necessary.
"Zero, do you still have your parents?" The usual calmness of her voice remained, smooth with hints of light tones. Zero was often happy to just listen to the sweetness of it, but the question threw him. He turned from frowning at the last empty wine bottle to face her, but she was staring ahead, her face as pleasantly calm as her voice. Her legs were stretched out down the length of her bed, framed by the red suit that Zero had always found unreasonably attractive.
"I have them…yes," he said with heavy hesitation. "You don't want to meet them, do you? You…can, but they're a bit-," he chewed on an idea for the right word "-overbearing." Yes, that would work.
She smiled, just that hint of a curve at the corners of her lips, and Zero could only feel confused. Family had always been a subject completely off the table for them. He'd asked her one time, just trying to get to know her better, and it became clear when she immediately changed the subject that it wasn't a topic they would discuss. Clearly, since she'd brought it up, the alcohol was getting to her in some way.
She pulled her hair around her shoulder to fall down her chest to her legs and began to run her fingers through it. It seemed to Zero that she was avoiding facing him. "No, that's not what I meant, though I would be happy to meet your parents at some point," she said. "What are they like? Are they loving?"
"A bit too much," he sighed, stretching out his legs to mirror hers. "Only with me though. They're not together anymore. Honestly, they were never really together, but…" He shook his head. "My mom is really protective, and my dad is, er, way too proud of me." Though she still didn't look his way, he could see confusion filling her face. They were still a foot apart on the oversized bed, but it was Zero's first time in her room, and it had taken all her wine to calm him down enough to even lie back on her bed. It was a nice room, very…red.
"I no longer have my parents as they once were," she confessed.
Zero's brows shot up. Her wording was clearly off, and the idea of machine men sprung to mind, but he didn't want to ask. If she was going to tell him anything on this subject that she'd so purposefully avoided, it would be completely of her own volition.
"But they were loving as well. My sister inherited that much from them. I suppose I inherited my mother's stubbornness and her drive, but she was also very naïve. She trusted in those around her far too much. My father was more intelligent in that sense. He was very kind, an innocent to the end." Her eyelids fell heavy with sadness, so Zero reached over and took hold of her hand.
Finally, she looked at him. He offered her a smile. "I'm sorry I don't understand all of what happened, so I can't offer you much to help. But I do know that they raised you to be so amazing, and I'm thankful for that much."
She smiled in return with a slow nod. "I suppose I should tell you, since I don't think you've figured it out, but my bloodline is not from Earth."
Zero squinted as he tried to understand how that could possibly work, glancing down at her clearly human hand and then back up at her clearly human face. "Do what now?"
Her smile widened to a genuine amusement. "Ah, Zero. I'm of the royal bloodline of La Metal."
From the many history lessons he'd been forced to sit through, Zero recalled that La Metal had nearly collided with Earth hundreds of years before. The residents were also structurally similar to humans, but he couldn't bring himself to remember what the actual differences were. "Royal bloodline," he murmured as he shoved all the pieces together in his head. "So you're a princess?" He was dating a princess. He suddenly felt horribly underdressed for the part.
But she shook her head, her calm façade back in place. "No, I broke my ties with the monarchy there. I'm just Emeraldas. Though if I had stayed, I would be queen."
"That does explain the name of your ship," he frowned.
"That is entirely unrelated."
Zero was starting to feel a bit lost. "So La Metalians, what exactly is non human about you?"
She looked down to his hand, still holding hers, before she brought the other over to place over his. "Technically speaking, we're more intelligent than humans. We've evolved beyond you. Our lifespan is much longer than yours, our aging slowed." She didn't want to look in his eyes, but she found herself watching them as the realization and sadness sunk in. "I am so sorry, Zero."
She hated that false smile, but she couldn't hate his simple words. "Shh," he breathed as he shook his head. "Come here."
She so rarely allowed herself close contact that it was strange when his arm circled her middle. But his side was so warm as it pressed up against her. His breath against her skin was sweet as he kissed her temple. So she leaned in to rest her head against his shoulder. "I just wish I could see you more," she murmured, reaching up to place her hand on his cheek. "But I know you can't divert from your path just as I cannot mine."
"But I'll see you as much as I can and more. You shouldn't worry."
"It's impossible not to worry about you," she smiled. "You attract nothing but trouble."
"Oh?" He leaned his cheek against her hair. "Is that how I managed to be caught by you?"
She laughed, a quiet, almost invisible sound. "I suppose it is, but I think the wine helped."
