4
Pulse kept a few steps behind Leo and Quark as they walked.
"So what do you do?" He asked. "What's your life like? Are you familiar with these dreams?"
Leo answered, aloof. "Oh, I'm not terribly interesting outside of these dreams. A boring job in a boring apartment. I spend whatever free moment I have napping."
"You must get a lot of sleep then," Quark noted, making Leo laugh.
"I wish. I don't feel like it when I wake up most times. But honestly, why talk all about me? Tell me about yourselves!"
Quark tapped on his lip, thinking. "Me, personally? I'm a wandering star. I'm not part of any system. So I travel a lot."
"A whole galaxy to yourself, huh?"
"For sure. I never have to stay bored with the sights. But really, the interesting one here is Pulse."
Pulse instinctively started rubbing their neck. The sudden topic switch to them made them unusually bashful. Leo was giving them such a strange look.
Poor Pulse felt like squirming under that smile of hers. They could feel a fluttering in their gut, a tickle to their voice, but they remained calm on the exterior. A challenge to say the least.
"Oh? How so?" She inquired.
"They're a pulsar--" Quark began.
"Pulsar? I know those! Those are some pretty violently energetic stars. I listened to the sound they made just the other day on YouTube."
"You heard them sing?"
Leo tilted her head. "Sing? Well, it was more of a rapid metronome to me. Lotta' thumpthumpthumpthump, you know?"
Quark deflated. "That's what stars sound like to you?"
"I mean, yeah?" She looked at Pulse, holding her gaze when their eyes met. Her expression was undoubtedly curious. "What are they supposed to sound like?"
"Well, the Cosmic Choir is a universal marvel," Quark gushed. "They all sound so beautiful, so ethereal... Pulse became the lead of the choir not too long ago! You have to listen to them, they are beautiful. The best, actually. It's my favorite thing to listen to on my travels."
Pulse shot Quark a proud and sly smile. Admittedly, Pulse was flattered, but mindful of Quark’s reaction. Quickly turning his face away, his hair whipping to hide. Whatever exuberant energy he had seconds ago was replaced by embarrassment.
"Cosmic Choir..." Leo said slowly. They were passing a wrought iron bench when she motioned for all of them to sit. Quark took up one end, Leo on the other. It left Pulse squeezing in the middle.
She faced the Pulsar, crossing her legs and leaning on the back. "You've been awfully quiet," she teased. "Why don't you tell me: What is this Cosmic Choir?"
Pulse twirled a cigarette between their fingers. "I mean, I have to think about it. I didn't think much about how we sound to carbon creatures. But we are the voices of the universe, I guess? We are supposed to sing the hymns of galactic truths."
'Maybe this is what Quark is feeling right now for me.' Leo held Pulse's gaze so unabashedly, they found that the words were harder to muster. Those eyes were so piercing too—there was no light, but they glimmered like they should.
"Like a church?"
"I mean, maybe? What are those?"
Quark chimed in: "Places of worship. For carbon creatures. I've seen them on a few planets."
"Gotcha. Yeah, like that then." Pulse slid their unlit smoke into their jacket.
"I've been part of the choir for a little bit now. When Black Star decided to embark on some spiritual journey–well, he called it that. It was time for his body to rejoin the nebula."
He corrected the course because there was no need to get somber and nostalgic on the first day of the job.
"I was left to lead the hymns. It's been an honor. But I still have to get used to all the attention I get sometimes."
She had one finger lightly pressed on her temple, chewing on her lip before asking: "Just one thing: you two keep calling me a 'carbon creature.' Is that some slur or something?"
Pulse and Quark's faces fall, horrified.
"Oh no, is it?" Quark sputtered. "I never thought—it's just what the stars call carbon-creatures! I mean, mortals. I mean... Oh, what else do we call them?"
"We didn't want to offend you," Pulse rushed in, taking Leo's hand, making a physical apology.. 'By Nebula's light, how is she so warm?' "If we did, we are sorry. We are still new to all this, neither of us ever met anyone other than other stars and-"
Leo let out a bright and amused laugh. "It's okay! Really, I'm teasing you two a little. I’ve just never been called a carbon creature before. I thought it was funny."
She brushed her thumb over Pulse's knuckles, causing them to go still.
Pulse felt like a stray bird that had landed in her palm, picking seeds out of it.
"We are sorry." Pulse restated. "Honestly, we are."
Leo got onto their level, sitting on her knees, one leg on either side of Pulse's hips, and leaned close to their face. Pulse's breath caught in their throat in surprise, and Quark caught Pulse when the star suddenly leaned back.
"It is okay," Leo purred. It was a soft sound. Pulse was quickly becoming aware of what that look in her eyes was. Her irises speckled like peridot, touches of emerald with that nickel-flame sheen, her eyelids hooded.
"But, you know, I wouldn't mind a little something to 'break even,' maybe?" She pressed her palms against the bare parts of Pulse's chest. 'I am a plasma ball of energy. Why is she so warm?' "A little something for me, and a little something for you. Both of you."
Pulse could feel her breath on their lips. They could taste sweetness and mint. A cold spike on the skin. It tingled and invigorated their sense of touch. For the slightest second, they felt a brush of softness.
Poof.
Pulse was left leaning on Quark, who held them up while also being crushed by the seven-foot star. They were frozen in their awkward position, staring into the empty air Leo once was. Seconds had gone by when panic set in.
"Fuck, Leo!" Quark cried out. He grabbed Pulse by the arm and ran them back to Seret's office. Pulse was dragged for a few feet before they took charge, letting their long legs carry themselves down the sidewalks, through the alley, and bursting down the door like a nuclear blast.
It looked like she was ready to close up when the two stars rushed in. Gamal was getting a stack of papers neatly in place and paused when Quark and Pulse started spouting off.
"Leo's gone!" Quark yelled, nearly pulling out his hair.
"She vanished!" Pulse added. "We were sitting, and she was... She vanished in thin air!"
"We don't know what happened! We didn't even see where she went! We were in an open park!"
"Then she was gone! Right before our eyes!"
Gamal snapped her fingers repeatedly. "Hush! Hush hush." She grabbed Pulse by their cheeks, giving their face a tight squeeze, puckering their lips. She smelled their breath and gave their body a once-over. "Yep, yep, I see."
"What?" Quark nearly leaped over her desk. "What happened?"
"She woke up. Relax. She got excited, and she woke up."
Gamal let go of Pulse, and the two stars looked at each other in bewilderment.
"She's mortal," she explained. "They only sleep for a short time. They are only allowed in this realm in 8-hour chunks. How much of the booklet did you two read?"
"I—I guess I didn't get to that part..." Quark picked at his sleeve sheepishly.
Seret let out a hefty sigh. "It's fine. She woke up from sleeping and is safe and sound in her bed. Sexually frustrated as sin, but she's okay. She'll be back at least every night."
Gamal re-organized the papers Pulse and Quark knocked over in their charge to her desk. Her sharp, cat-like nails clicked as they tapped on the table and then on a whiskey glass full of wine. She took a long sip.
"It happens even to the most experienced of Lucids'," She told them. "
Not even Ms. McCarthy is immune to getting over-excited.
We will be going through the transitive state, then we can rinse and repeat tomorrow."
She gave them a side glance. "The field you both woke up in is the neutral state between dreams.
I can see at least one of you dying to ask what I meant."
Quark nodded, satisfaction on his face. Pulse was puffing away at their smoke, hand stiff, holding each breath of smoke in their lungs for a touch too long.
"We do have housing for Stars," Seret said. "It won't be much for tonight. Everything is so damn behind I haven't had time to prep your apartment. But there will be beds at least to rest in."
"Thank you," Quark told her. "I may spend the night in the field if that's okay."
Gamal gave him a stern and confused squint, then shrugged. "And you?" She turned to Pulse.
"I'll stick with him," they said, finishing off the cigarette to the butt.
"Alright. No harm. Though I can't fathom why anyone would lay in grass and dirt. Oh well. Please finish your reading before McCarthy returns, so we don't have to repeat this moment.”
"Yes, Ma'am."