1:5:6 Agreements (Part 7)

The flash of white burned a little brighter but they still safely made it to the desert. Lore had pre-programmed their second jump so that the moment they exited their first Breach, their second was waiting for them. Their stomach felt as though it had been left behind on Quatarr but they were still alive by the time they returned to The Destiny.
“All power to the engines, we’re heading back to The Razor.” Lore’s voice preceded them as they exited their Breach.
“Quatarr on board then?” Ace waited until they could actually see who they were talking to.
“For the most part.” Char began. “Transition’s going to be hard but two out of three ain’t bad.”
The course to The Razor appeared on the viewscreen with an estimated time for arrival. “This okay?” Lore nodded. “If you wanted we can speed things up a bit?” The armrest on Lore’s chair activated, the cradle for their Breacher emerged.
“You’re alright Destiny. We’ve got enough time.” Char rolled her eyes at Lore’s bad attempt at a joke. “Plus it gives us a moment to talk about what happens next.” Lore smirked to Char.
“We’ll be in our quarters if anything happens.” She led the way.
“I won’t be calling you.” Destiny made sure Lore wasn’t looking and gave her a thumbs up.

Although it had only been a matter of days since they last entered their quarters, looking at their bed, Lore could have sworn they hadn’t seen it in a millennia. They were tempted to just flop onto it but remembered where they had been. They would normally have felt too self conscious to strip in front of her but in their head, it was more important that they shed the second skin their clothes had become. Wordlessly, they agreed with Char that they would use the shower first; they wasted no time. As soon as the water started down their back, it was as though they had been transported to paradise. The warmth and the cleanliness of it all tickled every last part of them. The floor of the shower pod was thick with the gunk from their adventures but their body rose above, stripped of it all and ready to start anew. Before getting out of the shower entirely, they rinsed their mess down the drain and ensured the pod was as clean, if not cleaner than when they entered for Char. They bundled themselves in a towel and returned to the bedroom. Char was waiting for them with a peck on the cheek. She smiled, having successfully kissed them before passing them and entering the bathroom herself. Lore turned around and scoffed at her cheek. Their heart melted a little when they turned back to the bed and saw that she had laid out their clothes, ready for them. They reciprocated the favour before getting dressed themselves. They remained in their underwear and got comfortable on the bed while they waited.
“I’ll be through in a moment.” Char giggled.
Lore smiled. They realised immediately that she couldn’t see them so chuckled to themselves. Char came through shortly after.
“What’s got you laughing?” She squeezed her towel around her hair.
“Nothing.” Lore smiled. “You look ready to relax.”
“I’m ready for anything that doesn’t require me being on my feet.” Char gave a cheeky wink that went completely over Lore’s head.
“Come on then, the bed’s so comfy.” Lore patted the mattress beside them.
She jumped at the chance, pouncing at Lore. “Don’t mind if I do.”
As soon as she landed, her hands were all over them; her fingers touched places Lore had never been touched in before and a part of them liked it. Every touch sent a shiver down their spine, not quite pain, not quite pleasure. Discomfort.
Lore broke away. “Why don’t we…” They scrambled.
“I’m sorry.” Lore and Char apologised simultaneously.
“No. I’m sorry.” Char was adamant. “I should have asked first or at the very least waited for a non verbal cue.”
“It was a little too much too soon.” Lore sighed. “How about we start slow and see where the three hours takes us?” Char nodded.
She was warm. Lore snuggled into her. The universe melted away leaving just the two of them; time ceased as space did, an empty void with just two occupants and a bed. Initially, neither of them noticed, they were both enthralled by one another, enraptured by the other’s attention.
Lore moved their hand to itch their wounded eye. “Whoa… Where are we?”
Char chuckled. “Same place we were when we started.” She broke her connection to look around. “Oh…”
“Welcome to The Frame.” Time materialised at the foot of their bed. “A time between times. A space without space.”
“Very poetic.” Char smiled. “But what does it mean?”
Time took a seat in the air, resting its feet on the footboard of the bed. “Each Cornerstone has their own realm. A space to call their own, or in my case, a time. Life has The Eternal, Death The Darkness, Space has The Relativity, and I… We obviously have The Frame. It’s somewhen you can call your own. A time you can conjure for yourself… As long as there is time around you; be cautioned though, depending on your entrance, there may be very little space.”
“Entrance?” Lore looked around them. They could faintly see their room and the walls.
“As you brought yourselves here, you may note that you are limited to the four walls of the original space. You cannot interact with anything else but any objects you are attached to. Your bed contains some of the only non-you particles that exist in this state.” Time slid down onto the bed. “If you entered this state in space, you would have a much further reach but it depends on what you need at the time.”
“How do we get back, we didn’t mean to come here.” Lore looked around. Still, the only thing that they could see clearly, apart from Time and Char was their bed.
“You just choose to leave. To come here, you must have both wished for a moment of reprieve. To leave, you must accept that moment is over.” Time stood then vanished.
Char looked to Lore, she moved in closer and was about to kiss them but stopped. “No… I think it’s passed.”
Lore nodded and with the shake of their head, time resumed. “So it was being literal. Good to know.”
“Looks like we’ve still got three hours to go… Fancy trying again?” Char smirked.
“You want to go back to The Frame?” Lore tried to keep a straight face as they moved in to kiss her. “Maybe we should talk about what happens next?”
“Boring… But I suppose we should.” Char sat back in their bed. “I guess our next move is to prepare the team for Quatarr.”
“I was thinking about after that… I would hope, after twenty-five attempts, The Council would have that bit covered but the universe we’re going to create… That’s going to take some serious effort to sort out and I doubt the others have even considered it.” Lore took Char’s hand. “It’s so hard to believe that they’d spend so long on act one without even thinking about act two.”
“Maybe they never assumed they’d reach it.” Char moved in closer. “So… What do we need to do?”
A glimmer of blue crossed their cloudy eye. “Well… Humanity’s been oppressing almost everyone so we’ll need to sort that out; I doubt we’ll be able to but we should at least try to settle the score… Quatarr’s allies will likely form a new republic with the renewed Quatarr with more planets, linked by their distrust of humanity… Quatarr will advocate for us but it won’t be enough.” The light left Lore’s eye. “I don’t think it’s going to be easy.”
Char pecked their cheek. “Never thought it would be. Perhaps… Perhaps we could go live on Quatarr…” Char paused and thought about the ramifications of her statement. “Maybe not... But I promise to be at your side no matter what.” She tried to lean over the side of the bed without breaking her connection to Lore; after struggling, she temporarily left them. She reached into her pockets and removed a small, crushed velvet bag. She slipped it under her leg so Lore couldn’t see before returning to them. “I’d like to make that promise official.” Char removed the bag from its hiding place and emptied its contents. “Close your eyes… Eye?” She chuckled. Lore obliged. Char took the hand she was holding, she placed the bag’s contents into it. “Open.”
“But this is yours?” Lore looked at their hand. A small, black ring with a purple band running along it’s equator sat there; it was slightly warm but seeing it filled their heart with a much greater warmth.
“I would have offered you yours but you’re wearing it already. So I suppose I’m proposing with my own ring.” Char chuckled. “Will you?”
A familiar feeling crossed Lore as they took Char’s ring from her. “Will I?” Lore froze. “Of course I will.” They slipped the ring onto her middle finger where it belonged. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you nor what I’d do by myself...” They felt her pull, her warm and inviting embrace stopped them mid thought. Their rings connected, emitting a spark of light. A vision of their past flitted past. “Char, I love you and I want to spend whatever I have left of my life with you.” She was all that dominated their mind. Lore broke their connection. “I hate to spoil the magic…”
“You could see everything I was doing couldn’t you?” Char looked them dead in their wounded eye.
Lore gave a slight nod. “Still got the job done.” She tightened her grasp.
“Again…” Lore smirked.
“On Quatarr, it’s typical that both partners propose… Though usually, they exchange different rings not the same one twice…” Char shrugged. “Now…”
“To business.” Lore sighed. “As much as I’m enjoying this… Better to get act one over.”
Reluctantly, Char started to get dressed. Lore continued to the door.
“Clothes?” Char threw her shirt at them.
“Clothes!” Lore shrank into themselves before skittering to their wardrobe. Knowing what they faced, they readied themselves for combat. Their under-armour felt like a reassuring second skin, before they grabbed their jacket, they paused; under it, a fresh set of armour plating. “It’s the end of act one…” They whispered to themselves as if to justify their actions. It was tight and restrictive but they considered it a necessary evil as they strapped the armour across their chest and torso. The colour wheel appeared on their wrist allowing them to customise their gear again; they kept their armour’s colour scheme the same, Aegean blue and pale grey. They continued this to their new jacket, dyeing the leatherette in the same colours. Looking in the mirror, they couldn’t help but feel a tad overdressed. Nevertheless, they finished armouring up and looked over to their partner. “Just a shoulder pad?”
“I’m Quatarrian… What doesn’t kill me mildly inconveniences me for a bit.” She shrugged. “Let’s get going.” Her robes whipped around her.

Lore burst onto the bridge. “Destiny! Change of plans. We need to get back to The Razor as soon as possible.”
“Fair enough. Course plotted.” The cradle rose from their chair. Lore slammed themselves down and activated their Breacher.
The space around The Razor was filled with ships. For a moment, Lore was afraid but they found their fears assuaged with the appearance of a familiar, golden topsail; The Vengeance crossed their view and joined the Rexian fleet as they swarmed the various hangar bays of The Razor. Preparing for the end. Descent.