"I like you."

Kyan had stepped around the corner of the facility building as he headed towards the main gate when those words reached his ears.  His eyes were drawn over to wear the nervous girl stood next to one of the tables just outside the second cafeteria confessing to the boy she liked.  He shouldn't have heard at all, but he'd been asking the astronomy professor about a few things he wasn't quite grasping, so was late leaving the campus. 

He'd already sent a message to his friends to go on without him, as they usually stopped off for coffee or cake once a week, before returning to their homeworlds or returning to the dorms.  That day just happened to be today.  But he'd catch up with them tomorrow, maybe spoil their taste buds by bringing them a real cake rather and coffee rather than replicated products.

"Please go out with me."

Kyan slowed his pace, unable to stop himself from wondering how that boy would answer.  He recalled with a wry smile how he had sloppily confessed to Aidan or rather Dominic that first time.  He'd been so confused, not understanding how his heart beat for the man until he tasted the bitterness of jealousy.  And even then, he had not the words to express himself clearly.  Well, in a way, it was understandable.  Not in his sixteen years before his incarceration by the System nor in the many lives before he took on the role of Warren did he understand the feelings of Eros between two people.  Not to mention that it never would occur to him before then that he would actually fall for a man. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but the first example of a loving relationship he had grown up with was between his mum and his dad.

It was common, in their era for a man to love a woman, for a woman to love a woman or for a man to love a man.  Concepts of what was considered 'right' in marital terms were lines drawn in sands of the distant past and had nothing to do with the generations of now.  Break ups, divorce, affairs and such still plagued the rollercoaster of any partnership or marriage no matter the sex of those involved.  And there were still those that looked as if they would make it though as they weathered all that life threw at them.  He believed, had it not been for the accident, his parents would have been such a couple.  And of course, there was an even better example in Orion and Damien, who had loved and struggled through many lifetimes only to meet again in reality and dive right back into their timeless relationship.

When he had found out that Dominic was from his reality and not just a program that had awakened sentience, he had hoped that they would have been able to do the same, that he would be able to continue to love and to receive love from the man who had chased him with such fervour through worlds.  But not every love had a happy ending.

"I'm sorry..."

Ah the rejection.  Kyan felt for the young woman whose feelings would not be returned, he sympathised.  He even hope she would be able to move on and find her own happiness in the future.  Unlike him.  He loved Dominic too much.

Ah I wonder if this was how she.. Destiny felt when chasing Dominic in the Archive.

He shook his head.  No, that woman's feelings felt more like obsession than love.  Or perhaps they had been love once and just morphed into something sinister as he stole away Dominic's affections.  Kyan loved Dominic and if there was any slither of a chance that Dominic showed that he recalled their time together, he probably would have rushed over to his side and said to him; "I like you."

"...I can't accept your feelings."

And if Dominic replied with that, then Kyan would let him go, but he couldn't imagine that he would be able to move on and love someone else.  He sighed, heavily.  It was a mute point.  Dominic did not remember him.

Lost in his musings, he almost didn't notice the sound of footsteps running towards him.  However, his well tuned senses did not allow him to be startled either and he turned to glance at the person who had jogged towards him.  He caught a glimpse of the unhappy woman just before that person was blocked by the tall figure of the approaching man.

"Hey, Ryu," he greeted.  The man with five colours in his hair and numerous clips and dangling feathers returned his greeting with a nod.  "So I am safe to assume that you didn't go with the others either."

The youth glanced over his shoulder for a brief moment before shaking his head.  "No."

Kyan couldn't help but follow his line of sight to where the girl had confessed, although she was no longer there.  "Haven't you been called out three times this month?" He asked his friend.

"Four," Ryu replied. 

"Ah, I won't tell Drake," he teased.  The smaller boy always felt as if Ryu was challenging his status as a man by attracting so many young women, whereas he, who would like a girlfriend, had not had a confession in his life. 

Ryu shrugged.  "Nor Amiya."  An image of his gloomy female friend flashed in Kyan's mind.

He tilted his head and looked at Ryu with knowing eyes until the tall, willowy man blushed.  "I understand."

They bid goodbye in the parking lot where Ryu jumped into his tiny two seater smart vehicle and Kyan was ushered into the back of the mercury benz by his driver.  Kyan flopped against the faux leather seats and sighed wearily.

"Long day, young Master?" The driver enquired.

"Just a bit," Kyan agreed before buckling his safety harness as they made their way to the space port.  While the driver gained the all clear to begin take off proceedings, Kyan glanced through the notes on his hand held device. 

The Advanced Technologies class would have a project to begin and hand in soon, but before that, they had to write a report on what it was they wished to try and create.  It didn't have to be anything that didn't already exist, meaning they did not need to go above board and invent things, they simply needed to provide proof that they did indeed build their project from scratch.  Most settled with time lapse holographic videos and notes.  Kyan had yet to decide what he wished to reproduce, but was leaning towards making a musical synthesiser that played numerous lullabies from his travels.  There were many things from his time in the Archive that remained firmly etched upon his mind, especially during those lives he had spent with Dominic.  Certain songs, certain meals, certain fashion items... but he was only human.  There could indeed come a time when his memory faltered and he wished to not to forget, so replicating them had become somewhat of a dream.

During his rehabilitation, he had even repainted a few of his pieces from his time as Kez, such as the painting that Dominic had brought from his school website without knowing it was his.  He wasn't sure that they were as good though, his hand not as practiced and steady as that child's.

The vehicle broke through the atmosphere and switched to thrusters to clear the gravitation pull of the planet before heading to a jump point.  Not a few seconds after the ship left Shang-hi space did another ship fly from the shadow of its second satellite and head straight for them.  Alarms began to sound upon the dashboard and the driver clicked his tongue in distaste before flicking a few switches and announcing calmly that Kyan ought to brace for impact.

Barely had he done as instructed that the ship rocked, the explosive force of a missile shattering against their shields.  "Is it the protesters again?" Kyan asked nervously. 

This had not been the first time since they had returned from the Empire, where he had had his surgery and rehabilitation, far from the prying eyes of the Union, that his life had been targeted.  Orion had also been threatened as the 'owner' of the Archive.  Each time had caused him nightmares.  It was far worse than the threats on his life in the Archive, when he mostly knew that he would still wake up somewhere.  Still, the protesters had been quiet for around nine months and the whole Archive thing was no longer relevant as far as the politicals were concerned.  He had thought he was safe again.

"I'm not sure, young Master," the driver replied, using the thrusters along to flank to dodge another missile.  "However, I have informed the local authorities that we are being targeted.  They should arrive in the next minute.  So the following thirty seconds will be a bit rough.  Please bear with it."

Sure enough, the ambushers were clearly aware of the time limitations that they were under and launched missile after missile at the smaller vehicle.  Had they been any other space faring car, it would be likely that they would have been destroyed completely, only identifiable by their ship's automatic distress signal before explosion.  However, this ship, like many others in Damien's garage, had been modified by Orion.  It's shields were beyond top of the line or state of the art, for they had never been released to either the military or the open markets.  It didn't have weapons, for Orion's weapons would cause interplanetary panic should they be detected, but had it, their unknown enemy would be dust.

Kyan counted for exactly thirty seconds and sure enough, the assassins ceased their futile attack and fled to the jump point before disappearing.  They could be tracked through the jump point, however, they would likely flee to an unauthorised jump point hidden close to their exit point and the authorities would lose their trail... if the assassins were professionals at least.

His ears ringing and feeling slightly shaken, Kyan watched as his driver spoke to Orion before dealing with the authorities.  "Are you alright, Kyan!" Orion cried out after automatically connecting with his hand held.  Kyan frowned, he really ought to remodify the device so Orion couldn't link communications without his permission, but this notion was also buried beneath the relief of seeing Orion's concerned face.

"Will you be home for dinner tonight?" Kyan found himself asking, a small pleading note in his tone.

"Yes, love," Orion reassured him without hesitation.  "Damien and I both will."