Epilogue
Candy
Brooklyn felt much colder this winter–or maybe Candy was so used to being so warm back on Veterok-III that it made New York feel like an arctic tundra.
Votra didn’t seem terribly bothered by it.
She’d chosen to leave her coat at the Murdock house, despite Candy’s dad’s nagging.
He’d loved Votra from the second she walked through the door, and the thought of his new favorite daughter walking the streets of Brooklyn in December without a coat nearly did his head in.
“Sorry about them,” Candy said as they walked down the snowy street. Pillow-soft snow fluttered around them, the snow salt crunching under their boots as they walked. “Especially Dad. He’s trying to impress you, in his dorky way.”
“I like him.” Votra looped her arm through Candy’s, providing her a little more support in the unforgiving terrain. “Sometimes, it is nice to be fussed over by a parent.”
Candy leaned her head against Votra’s upper arm. “You’re practically his daughter now. You know that, right? He’s gonna be calling you 24/7, so get ready for that.”
“I would not mind that.” Votra’s eyes sparkled with genuine fondness, and Candy was pretty sure that, if her heart swelled any more, it would just explode out of her chest. She’d had no doubt in her mind that her parents would love Votra, but seeing it filled her with a joy that she didn’t know existed.
Their target for the day was a coffee shop that Candy had frequented during college called Brewed Awakening.
The shop shone brightly on the corner of her street, its yellow awning and twinkling fairy lights laced around the fence beckoning them.
Candy couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into one of their cardamom cinnamon rolls.
The bell hanging above the door chimed as they walked in, the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans and warm spices welcoming them. It was just as cozy as Candy remembered it.
Midday was always the best time to come; the morning rush of impatient New York businessmen was far behind them, and now the only people who lingered were NYU students and the occasional gaggle of older women.
They had their pick of the mismatched collection of sofas and armchairs in the dining area.
Candy clung to Votra as they waited in line, her alien girlfriend’s eyes wide as saucers as they raked over the display case of glimmering, fat pastries.
She’d definitely adjusted to eating the food on Veterok-III, and had actually started to prefer some of it to Earth food, but she was excited to return to something that had been a creature comfort for her.
After a barrage of ‘what is that?’s from Votra as she pointed out different pastries in the case, they approached the register. A familiar face peered at them through wide tortoise shell glasses. “Candy?”
Candy immediately peeled away from Votra, all of her breath leaving her body in a surprised gasp. “Oh my God! Clement! You still work here?” He rounded the counter and scooped Candy into a tight hug.
Honestly, the only way she even knew it was Clement was because he was the only person who worked here that would recognize her.
He’d changed so much in the probably two years since she’d seen him–she’d pulled back a little when things with Ross started to get bad, and she hadn’t really told many people when she moved to Veterok-III.
His hair wasn’t clipped short to his head anymore; it fell about his round, kind face in waves, dusting his shoulders.
His features had become much more pronounced, his brow stronger, his jaw, while still soft, much more angular now than it was before.
And he had facial hair! “Please don’t remind me,” he said in a deadpan, pulling back and resting his hands on her shoulders. He was still a victim to cable knit sweaters, Candy noticed. Only Clement Hall would pull them off as well as he did. “How have you been? I mean, gosh, you look incredible.”
“I’m good! I, uh, moved out of the galaxy.” She gave a sheepish grin. “And I have a girlfriend.”
Clement’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Thank God you got rid of him. No offense.”
Clement was one of the few friends Candy had that wasn’t silent about his opinion about Ross–she hadn’t appreciated it at the time, but he had been infuriatingly right.
She just wished she’d listened to him sooner.
His big brown eyes moved over to Votra, whose eyes were still glued to the pastry case. “That’s her? With the horns?”
“Yep. Isn’t she hot?” Candy grinned so hard her cheeks hurt.
“For a girl, sure.” Clement winked. “Hey, I should get this line down a little, but if you’re still around in an hour or two, I’m gonna take my break and we can catch up a little.”
Judging by the way Votra was eye fucking the display case, Candy was pretty sure they weren’t going anywhere any time soon. “Trust me, we’ll be here.”
Clement returned to the register and Candy proceeded to order one of everything Votra laid her eyes on for even a second.
She ordered a mocha for herself and a coffee and a hot chocolate for Votra–she couldn’t decide which one she wanted more–and recruited her much stronger girlfriend to carry their tray of spoils to a plush leather couch in the corner of the shop.
“That was Clement,” Candy said as Votra settled the tray of goodies on the coffee table in front of them. “We were really good friends in college. I haven’t seen him in years. He’s gonna come over here in a little bit and I’ll properly introduce you to him. I think you’d like him.”
“I apologize that I did not introduce myself while you were talking,” Votra said. “I was… a bit distracted.”
“Cupcake, I know you were.” Candy placed her hand lovingly on Votra’s knee. “That’s why I just spent, like, a hundred dollars on pastries.”
“You say that as if you are not going to partake in them as well.”
“Oh, I will be. I love partaking.”
Votra smiled, taking Candy’s hand from her knee and drawing it to her lips. “Thank you for taking the time to show me around your planet. Earth is… very different from what I have seen in vids.”
“You mean dirtier?” Candy snorted, letting Votra take her slice of chocolate cake before grabbing a ham and cheese croissant for herself.
Votra wasn’t so interested in the savory ones.
“New York has its gross parts, but it’s also really pretty sometimes.
Like right now. I’m glad you got to see the snow. ”
“It reminds me of Alqen, in a way,” Votra said through a mouthful of cake. Candy didn’t think she’d ever met someone who loved chocolate quite as much as Votra did. “The way the sun reflects off the snow. It is quite lovely.”
Warmth blossomed in Candy’s chest, and it wasn’t from the sip of mocha she took.
“Thank you for coming with me. I know you’ve gotten kind of a lot from me lately, between meeting my uncles and now my parents and my sister.
But they all loved you. Especially my sister.
” Cori had practically trapped Votra in conversation, asking her about Kratos, about colleges–she’d just made up her mind to go to college in space, and she figured, who better to ask than a native? –and Votra had taken it in stride.
“I enjoyed it. I promise.”
They gradually made their way through maybe half of the pastries, Votra taking on more of them than Candy, and Candy let herself bask in the warm glow of the dim coffee shop lighting.
The homesickness had certainly gotten easier to handle the longer she was in Kratos, but she also found herself wishing this moment would never end.
Votra was here, she was only a few blocks away from her family, and she was surrounded by pastries.
Clement came over about half an hour later, giving the two a little wave. “Is it still okay if I join you for a bit?” he asked.
“Of course!” Candy chirped, patting the couch next to her. “Hungry? We have so many pastries left.”
“Oh, I’m good, thanks. I’ve had all of these things so many times, I can hardly look at them.”
Candy shifted a little, taking one of Votra’s hands in hers. “Clement, this is my girlfriend, Votra. Votra, this is Clement.”
Clement’s eyes went wide as he took Votra in. “Wow. Sorry, you’re just… really pretty,” he said, a blush creeping onto Votra’s cheeks. “It’s really nice to meet you.”
“You as well,” Votra said shyly, burying her face in her mug of hot chocolate.
Clement leaned in closer to Candy. “Does she have a single brother?” he stage-whispered, and Candy snorted.
Votra answered before Candy could. “Oh, I do, actually–”
“No, no. Do not set my sweet Clement up with Qaed. He’s a menace,” Candy interjected, and Votra laughed. “He probably would be your type though.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He’s kind of a whore. But like, a nice one. He’s not the type to like, ditch you in the middle of the night, but he’s probably gonna send you that ‘thanks for last night but let’s not do it again’ text.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Exactly my type.” Clement huffed, snatching the almond croissant from Candy’s hand and taking a bite.
“Some things never change.” Candy gave Clement’s back a gentle rub. “So how are things with you, anyway? How’s your mom?”
She felt Clement stiffen under her hand. “She… passed away last month.”
Shit. “Clem, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He stuffed entirely too much of the croissant into his mouth, and Candy could just barely make out the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes behind his glasses.
Clement wasn’t always very upfront about his life, but the one thing Candy knew was that he was his mom’s caretaker and had been for as long as she’d known him.
Votra looked viscerally uncomfortable, and Candy immediately felt bad for dragging her into this.
The poor thing was probably never gonna want to come back to Earth again.
“I think the thing that’s been the hardest to adjust to is that I have no fucking clue what to do with myself anymore.
” He leaned into Candy’s touch a little, and she continued rubbing soothing circles on his back, despite the fact that his warm sweater was practically giving her rug burn.
“I just come here, and… go home. To no one. Cecily moved out, so it’s literally just me in that big ol’ house. ”
“Cecily moved out?” Cecily was Clement’s twin sister, the more spontaneous, outgoing one of the two.
“Yeah. Her career took off and she’s going on tours now. She’s a whole adult now.” Votra wordlessly offered him a chocolate glazed donut, and he took it, jamming it into his mouth. “And I still work here.”
Woof. She’d hit a nerve for sure. “What do you want to do?” Votra asked gently.
“I don’t know. I never really had the time to think about it.” His words were muffled by donut, his mouth smeared with frosting. Votra handed him a napkin.
Candy pursed her lips. “You know, a very wise person once told me that if you’re feeling stuck, you should just move out to space.”
“You mean you?”
“Duh. I’m a very wise person. And as you can see, it has worked out amazingly for me.”
Clement swallowed hard, choking a little around the too-large bite he’d taken. Votra offered him her coffee, and Candy couldn’t help but smile at how kind her girlfriend was. Clement took a hearty sip to wash down the donut that threatened to choke him.
“I dunno, Candy. I’d be away from Cecily, and what if she needs me?” Clement reached for another pastry, but Candy smacked his hand away. The last thing she needed was to do the Heimlich on him.
Candy stopped her motions on Clement’s back, resting a hand on his shoulder instead. “She’s out there traveling the world. You just said that. She is more than fine. I can guarantee she has a million people here looking out for her.”
Clement seemed to mull that over for a moment. “I guess you’re right….”
“Oh! Qaed needs a roommate now that you’ve moved out, right, sweetie?” Candy clapped her hands together excitedly.
“I thought you just said Qaed was a menace and I should stay away from him.”
“Well, he is a good roommate,” Votra said. “He is a very tidy person. And it helps that he is almost never home.”
Candy could practically see Clement’s mind churning. She’d never known Clement to do anything for himself, and if there was anything Candy had learned about sending herself out into space, it was that it was the best thing she could have possibly done for herself.
“Think about it. You need a change, babe. You deserve one.” Candy placed a hand on one side of Clement’s head and pulled his head closer to her, planting a kiss on his temple. “Just shoot me a message and I’ll get you into space ASAP.”
Clement chewed his thumbnail thoughtfully. His nails were painted a cute, sunshine yellow color that really suited him. “I… should go for it, shouldn’t I?”
Yes. Candy was so good at this. She deserved some kind of award for coming back to Earth and changing lives, one barista at a time. “I think you should. But if you need to take some time to think–”
“If I take any time to think about it, I’ll back out.” Clement’s back straightened. “I wanna move to space.”
Candy squealed, throwing her arms around him. “Yay! Okay, we’re still here for a few days but I’m gonna get some stuff together. We’ll figure this out, okay?”
“Please tell me I’m not gonna regret this,” Clement muttered into Candy’s sleeve.
“I promise, you’re not.” She pulled away, practically hopping to her feet. “I’m gonna get with Qaed about you moving in with him, and I’ll text you later?”
Clement stood too, passing Candy the nearly empty box of pastries. “Sounds good. I’m off in four hours, so… if you need to call me, you can.”
“Amazing!” Candy sang. “This is gonna be so great! Okay, I’ll call you!” She threw her free arm around him again and squeezed.
This was going to be good for him, she could tell. She reached her hand out to Votra. “Ready to go, honey?”
Votra placed her hand in Candy’s and stood, dusting the crumbs from her pants. “Yes.” She glanced at Clement, who had scurried back to his place behind the register. “Are you certain this is a good idea? He and Qaed are… very different.”
“Like you said, Qaed’s never home. They’ll be fine.” Candy brushed a smear of powdered sugar from the corner of Votra’s lips. “Let’s go break the news to him that he’s got a roommate.”