I choked.
"Wait!" V exclaimed in shock.
As I coughed up for my life, he got on his feet and rushed to the kitchen counter. He came back a split second later with a cup of water for me.
"cough!-T-Thank-cough!" I managed to utter after taking a sip.
"I didn't even know you could choke!" he said, looking sorry at my teary eyes and sniffy nose. "Is it because it's spicy?" he asked, giving an accusatory look to the pizza.
I couldn't answer, but even if I could, the spicy half of the pizza had nothing to do with it. I coughed some more and pushed the cup in his direction, asking for more water.
"I'll get more!" he ran back.
I had no idea if a Love Machina could choke or not, but right now, my only focus was to breathe again.
"Ohmygodthemachinaisgoingtodiebecauseofme-"
V rushed back with more water, panic all over his face.
"Are you sure you're OK?! Should I call someone for help?!" he asked, seeming at a loss for what more he could do to help me.
I nodded, sniffing a little.
"I'm sorry-cough-I scared you-cough!"
He released a long sigh of relief and brushed his hair in the back before going back behind the counter again.
He came back with a jug of water and one other cup for himself. My cough had finally calmed down, and I was drying the tears in my eyes as he poured more water for both of us.
"You seem to know this place well," I sniffed, still tapping a napkin on my cheeks and peeking at the counter behind us. "Do you come here often?"
I couldn't find the courage to comment on what he had just asked.
Teach him? Teach him love?
"I used to. When I was a kid," he took a sip of his water, "with my parents."
He looked around at the entrance, the counter, and the large panels behind us.
"Nothing has changed," he said with a small pout on his lips. "Actually... I wonder..."
He got on his feet and walked to a door I had not noticed yet. He shook the handle a few times, and the door frame opened in a cloud of dust. It was his time to cough a little, and I got up too, in case he might need help.
He stepped through the door, and I stayed behind, not sure what to do.
"I can't believe this is still here..." I heard him say behind the door.
The next second, his head popped through the doorframe again.
"Come! I'll show you something."
I pushed the door and felt the evening breeze on my face. The door led to a small patio, suspended on the side of the tall building. The thousands lit-up windows of Piao Aasman blinked at us on the horizon. The place would be quiet, if not for the steady hum of the electric generators below.
"Let's see if they still work..."
V fiddled inside a cupboard. On the deck, there were three dusty lounge chairs and a large sunshade, as if it used to be a privileged spot for sunbathing during the day.
"Here. Try this-Actually, no," V turned back to me with what seemed like sunglasses in his hands, looking through the shades of one of them towards the sky. "Lie down first-No, wait."
I smiled, just a bit confused. It was nice to see him look relaxed.
He grabbed an old rag from the same cupboard and vigorously scrubbed two of the sunbeds, cleaning them of the dust that had accumulated there.
He then lay down on the middle one, showing the other to me.
"Put these on and look at the sky," he said, handing me some sunglasses with a smile before pushing some up his nose too.
I felt a warm feeling spread over my chest. For the first time, we were sharing something from his initiative.
I sat on the sunbed, still a bit confused as to what we were doing here.
I put the dark sunglasses on, expecting to see even less of the beautiful night.
Instead, my vision slowly adjusted, as well as the glasses themselves.
I blinked a few times, and one by one, the stars began to appear.
"It shows the night sky," V spoke next to me. "No matter the weather. Or light pollution."
His tone of voice seemed to have lowered as if to pay respect to the spectacle in front of us.
I couldn't believe it.
My eyes widened in awe, taking in the infinity in front of me. I had heard of the stars. I had seen pictures of incredible night skies.
But nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of seeing them in front of me. Everywhere I looked, the infinite starry night was expanding in all directions. Even turning my head to the wall of the building, I could still see the constellations speckling on that side of the planet.
"Look, Cepheus!" V pointed at the sky.
I had no idea what he was showing, and I just went along with it. I rose up and down the glasses a few times, only to make sure of what I was witnessing.
"Is this... real?" I heard myself speak out without even thinking.
"It's real-time, yes," V answered, his fingers interlaced together on his stomach, his stare looking in front of him with a small smile on his lips.
"Are these, like... screens?" I asked, even more curious now, tapping with my nail the side of the glasses.
"Yes. It's augmented reality. It knows your geolocation and feels your head movements."
My lips opened in awe.
"Look!" V called for my attention again.
Out of nowhere, some stars began to fall from the sky. I straightened up, an audible gasp coming from my lips.
"Meteor showers," V explained.
The radiant trails remained in the dark sky for a few seconds before fading away. My wide eyes followed the trails, my mouth still hanging low.
"This is... so wonderful!"
"I know a way to make it even better," he said, disappearing back inside for a quick moment.
He came back with the pizza and our drinks, setting it all between us on a low table he found in a corner.
"Aaah," he sighed in contentment, holding a slice of pizza in one hand and his glass of red in the other. "Now, it's truly perfect."
He bit a piece of his slice, smiling at me, and I smiled back, taking a slice for myself too.
"Is this a good birthday?" I genuinely asked, having never experienced one before.
"An amazing one," he chuckled, but his eyes looked sincere.
We stayed in silence, both admiring the dark sky and the stars, our sunglasses on, quietly munching on our pizza slices.
I felt so small. Now, watching this infinite black sea, all my ups and downs from the week felt so insignificant.
Already, I knew this moment was one of the best moments I had ever lived.
Still, I had to remind myself of my mission to get to know V better. Even if he had said he wouldn't send me back, I wanted to secure that decision.
"You said... You used to come here often with your parents?" I asked, trying to find something to talk about.
"Just once, with my parents," V replied, taking the last sip of his wine glass before pouring another cup for himself. "I must have been like... five or six."
"Wow, you were so young. And you remember it so well, still."
"Ah... I came many times again after that," he took more sips of his wine. "Alone."
I slowly nodded. He did seem to enjoy time alone then.
"Do you have any siblings?" I asked.
It was the kind of question I knew people would ask each other when trying to get to know about each other's lives.
"No," he answered right away. "Well..."
He crossed his arms on his chest, still holding his glass in his hand. He swirled the dark red liquid in it a few times before continuing.
"I had a brother."
I turned my face to look at him fully.
"He died when he was six," he mentioned without any emotion in his voice.
I pushed the sunglasses above my forehead, immediately regretting asking this question.
"I'm sorry—"
"It's okay," V interrupted right away, shaking his head. "He died a year before I was born. I never met him. I only... heard about him."
I frowned, looking down at the ground between us, not sure what to make of this new information.
"Plus... if he had not died," he paused, "I wouldn't be here."
I looked back up, knowing my face would show my confusion. V glanced in my direction too, his eyes still hidden behind the dark sunglasses.
"What do you mean?" I encouraged him to talk more, removing the glasses to show he had my full attention.
V sniffed, taking a big sip of his wine before leaning his head back, looking up to the sky.
"My parents decided to have me after their first and only child died."
I remained quiet for some time, pondering on his answer. If he was willing to open himself up on such a subject, I had to encourage him to do so.
That was what the Love Machinas recommended me to do.
"I'm sorry you feel this way," I began, leaning forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of his eyes behind the sunglasses. "But I'm sure your parents wanted you—"
V chuckled, two fingers coming to rub his eyes behind the sunglasses.
"Oh, yeah, they wanted me, that's for sure," he laughed some more before finishing his glass. "They wanted me so much... They went against Nature itself to have me."
He poured himself another glass already, finishing the bottle he had opened. His head turned slightly in my direction, as if expecting something from me that would push him to talk more.
"Against nature?"
He paused for a long moment, considering me behind the dark glasses.
"Sade... What I'm about to tell you...", he swallowed with difficulty, licking his red lips, "You can't tell anyone."
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