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Turning my head after having rummaged through the cupboards for a while, I looked at him. "Oh, what is it?" I had found rice crackers and mostly canned food. Sadly, there was no blender because that would be a nice recipe for molotov cocktail. I put the rice crackers on the counter, leaving the drawer open, expecting him to show me what he had found but he didn't! In this situation, there really was only one logical thing I could do, which was trying to reach around his back and try to grab whatever he was holding, but he wasn't only taller, he was also stronger than me, so what could've been a valorous rescue mission for whatever was behind his back amounted to little more than me flailing my arms behind his back trying to get it.

This performance became so vigorous that at one point I almost lost footing and fell on my ass. Laughing, I gave up on my futile efforts. "Fiiine," I intoned in faux-offence. "We do it on your terms. What is it?"

The playful struggle for the potato wedges had left me a little winded. I wasn't the most enduring person, and so this was almost like sport for me. After he finally showed me what was behind his back, I gave him a small shove. "This really is never going to leave me alone, is it?" Holding the little bag in hands, I turned it around. I wondered if we should make these with the oven. Probably would be nice and not so greasy that Ezrael would get mad about muh grease. Turning around to put my thought to task, I didn't get far as he put his arms around me from behind, just holding me. Oh please, God, I hope I hadn't started sweating during that potato fight.

While I honestly feel like the memory of our first date where we ate these wedges was hazy, there was still some charme to it. I just felt like, the more we waited with these in hand, the less likely we would be to actually eat them. Yes. "Y'know, I actually do feel a little hungry," I told him, and this time actually meaning the potatoes, although I was aware that I probably should've worded it differently. And I do think he understood it differently.

We stood like that in the canteen, his arms still around me, keeping me in place. It had something tender about it that was rare for him. I did get the impression that men would rather keep things bottled up inside them than actually carry it to the outside, but the times when Ezrael really was letting that show were rare. I believe that, since I was a relatively recent addition to his life, he was probably more easily confiding in Leon, or someone else he knew way longer. I didn't mind. We stood like that in the Hoffnungsschimmer's canteen. Through the great window seeped in the light of the dismal star of Omicron Lost, and the refracted, purplish light of Moros. We stood there and watched.

Then it was dark outside.

While Ezrael was working on putting the warmed-up wedges on the plates, I was looking out the window. "Love," I said, looking between him and the window repeatedly. He didn't seem to have noticed yet. He was pretty preoccupied. "Love," I said with a bit more force, and finally he looked up. I pointed at the window, where just a moment before, we could've seen Moros.

It was gone. In fact, there wasn't anything on the outside except utter darkness. I was about to ask whether he had in some way fiddled with the window controls, as the blinds could keep out any lights from the outside, but that was across the room. "We," I started, though I got interrupted by a slight tremor that went through the ship, noticable only through it breaking the silence that had been reigning supreme over the vessel. "We've been moved."

It was more than a little concerning to see him act this way. Was he scared? Usually, I would think he was used to being in dangerous situations, so him now clinging to me as though he was going to die was something I hadn't expected. Was he that afraid of this ragtag Nomad tribe? Truth probably was that I had no idea how deeply Aphrodite had scarred him mentally. "We need to go to the bridge to find out where we are," I stated, silently agreeing with his last statement. If they had meant ill, we'd be dead. Of course, they wouldn't dare harm me. I was about two-thirds sure of that.

Slowly, he let go of me, and I grabbed his hand to pull him along. It had the added benefit of still being in contact with him while we hurried to get back to where we wouldn't be effectively blind. While we went, there didn't seem to be anything visible on the outside of other windows we passed as well. It was as though someone had flipped a switch and turned off the light of the surrounding stars. Arriving at the bridge again, I let go of his hand to be able to use the consoles. "Usually the computer uses the surrounding stars to pinpoint where we are," I said, more to myself than anyone else. If there were no stars, trying to find out where we were would be a problem. "There's gravity here," I continued, blinking slightly in disbelief. "Surface gravity is ten point three seven, slightly higher than your average planet. That was the lurching we felt earlier. The ship entered this gravitational well and needed a moment to compensate." The more I read the more I began to understand just what had happened. "I think I know where we are," I finally stated, "and I think I can make us see again."

Hesitating for a moment, I moved my hand and told the console to activate all outer floodlights of the Corvo. Two extremely radiant cones of light to the front of the vessel allowed us to see again, banishing the darkness. In front of us, there was rock. We were underground, floating in the middle of an enormous cavern that had been hewn out of the stone.

While he was talking, I continued working on the console. It was slower than before as apparently he didn't really want to let go of my hand, but alright, I could work with just one. Around us, there seemed to be nothing. The bottom of this 'cave' seemed to be filled with water. The scanners picked up more and more holes in the walls of the cavern that appeared to lead elsewhere. I even registered an air current, suggesting that there must be an exit that would lead to the surface.

How did we get here, however? He was right when he said they couldn't have jumped. This also wasn't an asteroid, as there wouldn't be an air current in that case. It would also mean that this asteroid would have needed to move to envelop us, and if that was the case, why hadn't we shattered on the rock already? I flew over more text on the screen. The atmosphere was thin. Not entirely inhospitable, but not something that you would want to breathe. There were also trace amounts of argon and other noble gasses in the air. "We're underground," I stated, putting the pieces together. "Uh, what did you say?" He repeated what he'd said for me. "Uhm, we were most likely jumped here. Valery has the same perception of reality we do. One can't really question it or ascertain whether it is real or not." He thought this was an illusion? It did seem pretty believable to me.

"If we were jumped, though, where is the ship that did it?" The sensors didn't pick up any other signatures. "There is an air current here. If we follow it, we can reach the surface." I figured that would likely be the best way to proceed here. Waiting was likely a bad idea.