off the kiss to introduced me to Ryla. And then...Well, keep in mind I could only hear Nera
because of the telepathy. "
Agent O'Flannery looked up at Ulysses and nodded reassuringly.
"We were making some chitchat. Just like, 'we should get a drink to celebrate'. And, 'we
should tell Giles about this'. It was pretty amazing moment. The four of us standing there were
pretty happy. But then, Nera got this really sad, faraway look on her face." Ulysses voice caught.
"Take a moment, if you need to," said O'Flannery.
"Sorry. I know it's been a month, but I'm still kind of raw about it," said Ulysses.
"Anyway, it was then that she started talking about going home, like back to where she came
from. She was saying that she needed to try to rescue the rest of her people, and that leaving
Earth would ensure that the parasites wouldn't come looking for her. Nera said she could do it
with Ryla's ship, since it was intact despite falling out of the sky."
"You weren't okay with that plan. You tried to reason with her and get them both to stay,
but then she choked you out."
"That's right," said the agent, giving Ulysses a thumbs up. "What did she say to you after
I was unconscious?"
"Nera said she loved me, and that she would never forget me. I begged her to stay. I cried
and pleaded, but it didn't work. Then I begged to go with her instead, but she wouldn't take me
with her. She said it was too dangerous and that she wouldn't be able to go on if something
happened to me."
"I kissed her and held her and cried. We said goodbye when you started to wake up. Then
her and Ryla went into the ship and took off. I haven't seen her since."
"You will, of course, notify me immediately if she contacts you?"
"I will. I seriously doubt that she will, though."
"Thank you, Ulysses," said O'Flannery. "On a personal note, thank you for helping to get
me back inside afterwards, to receive medical attention."
"Not a problem."
*
*
*
Ulysses stared at the mountains in the distance. There were still a few hours of daylight
left. It wasn't too warm standing outside his apartment building. Not that he'd have noticed if it
was too hot.
I'm going to need to find a job, he thought. Probably ought to move out of this place
when the lease is up in the spring. Going to need groceries soon too, and rent will be due in a
week. He distracted himself with thoughts like these because each was something concrete that
he needed to deal with. They were all true. It was easier to deal with the material elements of his
life than the emotional ones. This was how he avoided all the unpleasant things he felt. Then he
caught himself.
"I can't keep doing this," Ulysses said. Realizing just how much and how often he didn't
deal with his feelings had sneaked up on him. It had made him externalize his internal