Today is mine...
I can't tell whether to laugh ironically or thank the Pulse for... this?

By the time I got home, there was a commotion as our neighbors gathered around to see... whatever was going on inside. I thought for a moment Yaviri might take my damn arm off or drag my face along the ground as she ushered me in by the wrist at breakneck speed. I had to roll my shoulder to adjust it after that.

But that doesn't matter anymore. I have a million questions swarming in my mind right now and there's an arm-wrenching gremlin giving me the smuggest look. I push her aside by the face and she teeters away with a rainfall of giggles as I step closer to my bed... and the stranger now occupying it.
Long, raven hair with that signature blue shimmer; delicate, androgynous features; and likely an entire head taller than me. I can see why she was giving me that look. They're... beautiful.

"He should wake up pretty soon." Yaviri had settled hirself and returned to lean against my shoulder while I was lost in thought. "He's been unconscious for a while and I can feel his mind stirring."

Aruli pokes their head in with their ears pricked up for a moment before approaching, obscuring themself behind the two of us and peeking around me to see. They're oddly interested today... and more anxious than usual, I sense.
"He?"

Yaviri's violet eyes bloom with bioresonance as shi peers back at Aruli, signaling hir nature as an Esper.

"Oh..."

I can feel Aruli's weight shift, pressing against my back nervously, and as I curl my tail around them to settle their nerves, I notice Yaviri's is already there. They've never been good with people, especially strangers, so they've always kept to the sidelines and been keen to explore the megastructure outside our biosphere and look for secluded places. Even Nel barely gets a pass by virtue of our denmateship - which I always remind them makes her their cousin by wedlock, as futile as it seems. Someday, perhaps. It's really only Yaviri and I they get close to, so naturally this all means that the two of us have the honor of being their exploration buddies and salvage partners. It pays the bills and we have fun, so what's to complain about?
But in light of that, I can't help wonder what has them so drawn to this stranger. Did something happen? Actually... I think I can guess...

As the stranger's eyes begin to open, Aruli shifts to peek between Yaviri and I, obscuring themself behind us as much as they possibly can. I can't help but smile a bit at how familiar it feels.

"Where... am I?" the stranger asks as he looks around, his voice struggling to be heard. His irises bloom slightly just like Yaviri's had a moment ago, their lavender hue gleaming in the room's light as that bioresonance subsides.

Yaviri's maternal spark shows through as shi kneels by him, offering him the end of a sports bottle's straw and carefully pressing out some of the sweet saline liquid once he has hold of it. Glucose, electrolytes, and a bit of flavor just to make it palatable.
"Kul Tribe coastal village," she answers gently. "A cabin my sisters and I share."
Somehow I always feel warm when she calls Nel her sister.
"What's your name?"

He coughs a bit and opens his mouth before closing it again. His eyes bloom softly, and Yaviri's mimic them in reflex. I can almost hear his name in the resonance, but I can't quite make it out. She'll have better luck, I'm sure.

"Shir...ulk...?" she attempts.

I can almost feel the quizzical look from Aruli behind me as they blurt out, "Silk?" and sharply retract behind me as if startled by their own voice.

The stranger smiles a bit and Yaviri reflects it with a smile of her own. Accurate or not, it seems he likes it.
"Silk it is, then," she says.

It took a couple weeks to nurse him back to health, during which time we found out more. His name was Virla Schyrulk - surname first, apparently - and he'd been wandering through the strata for months by himself, searching for settlements and compiling maps to share with them as he went. As proof of how treacherous the strata could be, he'd wound up running out of food and collapsing from hunger. Just as I suspected, Aruli found him injured and unconscious and managed to carry him back here. I guessed that was the real reason they'd been looking for me. They must have gotten overwhelmed and sent a "happy birthday" with Nel instead.

Nel and I orbit each other in the artificial moonlight, sharing in song and something akin to dance as we wander toward the lake, mist-like Pulse resonance trailing from the corners of our eyes. It's a moment of intimacy for us, but also a honing of shared skills. Our hearts are joined, beating as one, the intent of our movements each an extension of the other. It's as martial as it is marital.

We stop as we notice a figure break the water's surface - a familiar stature and the hair to go with it, only it's the first time we've seen the rest. Thin and graceful curves that once hid under baggy clothes are now adorned with a familiar bandeau and sarong far more suited to them than I would've dared to imagine.
I feel Nel's fanged beak against the back of my hip, urging me forward before she proceeds ahead of me.

Silk drops back down the instant he sees us, covering himself with his arms and obscuring everything below the shoulder in water. I can just barely make out the blush in the soft illumination. "Fray! Nel!" he yelps.

Nel settles on her haunches at the water's edge, giving a playfully quizzical tilt of her head. "Come now, it's much too nice a night to hide, don't you think?"

His blush deepens and he looks away. I can make out a procession of bubbles as he lowers himself further and exhales into the water.

"More's the pity," Nel responds, closing her eyes and giving a gesture akin to a shrug. "You look quite elegant in that garment my sister loaned you."
There's that warm little sense of familial pride again.
"You'll find our feelings won't differ from Yaviri's. You're safe with us. None here will judge, nor misunderstand."

Silk nods tentatively, then rises back up with his arms still covering his bust and midriff. "Alright... I'm just... not used to showing off. It's just... simpler if I don't."

"We understand," Nel says as she stands again and makes her way into the water, much to Silk's visible surprise. You would think a mechanoid would short circuit or sink to the bottom. Instead, she flits around like it's the most natural thing in the strata.

I'd rather not strip down or get my clothes wet, so I simply take a seat in the grass and relax as I watch them dart around, swimming and playing. It's nice to see how quickly Silk opens up and forgets himself - all the awkward, complicated worries he had mere minutes ago. It's nice to see this new kindred spirit settling in, quickly shedding his status as a "stranger".
Even Aruli has been warmed up to him since he arrived. I suppose being an Esper doesn't hurt - no need for messy, complicated words when he can intuit them in resonance.

It won't be nice when he leaves. But 'all things must come to an end'...
Or do they?