Guillotine was suffocating, the sunlight harsh and never-ending. The air was dry and too hot, attempting to suck the water out of his very bones. The sky didn’t have a cloud in sight, something that made him click his tongue. He pulled the sunglasses down over his eyes the moment he stepped off the shuttle, walking down the stairs to reach the steaming, blurry ground.

Already, he could feel the heat settling in. 

He cracked his neck and began to walk, Ivy a patch of coolness beside him—both literally and figuratively. Ivy was both really cool, walking with its back straight and dressed in a form-fitting dark blur suit Sun Fang had bought it as a birthday gift four years ago, as well just literally a cool temperature. Ivy wore the suit almost every day; it was probably time for him to buy Ivy some new things, actually. 

It would be really fun to go shopping with Ivy and only buy things for Ivy, that Ivy wanted. He didn’t… know when he’d last done that, if ever. It actually felt kind of wrong, now that he thought about it. Ivy did order things online for itself, but going shopping for things in person was a different experience. One that Sun Fang greatly enjoyed and wanted to share with the person he loved the most in the universe.

”Do you want to go shopping for new clothes?” he asked as they walked through the spaceport to get to their car, not letting a moment go to waste. He was bouncing a little in his steps now, excitement starting to stir within him. Humming somewhat, he glanced at Ivy.

Ivy responded, ”Yes. What kind of clothes are you looking to buy this time?”

Sun Fang waved an elegant hand, with elegantly painted blue nails, and said, ”No, I meant for you. We’ll go to stores and you’ll pick out whatever clothes you want.”

Ivy looked at him in silence for a long second, and Sun Fang’s heart skipped a beat. (He wondered, vaguely, if he’d done something unwanted. Something unneeded. Or if it had been needed all along, and he’d been the one at fault for not noticing. For not remembering.) Licking his lips, he was just about to say something to justify himself when Ivy at last spoke, ”Okay.”

It was just a simple okay, but it still managed to make Sun Fang feel a strange miss of shame and excitement. He decided to throw those feelings away, though, locking them up in a remote corner of his mind. They didn’t matter—he was going to do better. He was going to be better. Both for Ivy and himself. 

Grinning, he said, ”Let’s hurry!” 

They went home first, of course. They had piles of stuff with them that needed to be dropped off, and Sun Fang was kind of hungry, too. So they put everything away and ate a quick snack before they set off. Luckily, Sun Fang had gotten plenty of sleep on the ride back to Guillotine, and was quick on his feet again. 

The shopping district looked just like he remembered. Nothing really changed here; it was old, and built to last. The city planning in a dome like this was complicated and involved lots of different areas of expertise—everything on Guillotine had been thoroughly thought out. Everything had a purpose. Everything had a place.

Compared to the lush hills and wide oceans of Firelight, it was pretty boring. 

Yeah, he was making the right decision.

Walking through the streets, they approached a high-class shop on the main street. Sun Fang entered first, waving away an employee, and Ivy followed him silently. ”Let’s start easy; do you want skirts, or pants?” Sun Fang asked, turning to Ivy and looking at it with wide, curious eyes. He watched Ivy’s eyes go distant as the android seriously considered the question.

Finally, Ivy said, ”I like pants.”

”Okay,” Sun Fang said, holding out his hand. Ivy took it without a moment’s hesitation, and Sun Fang smiled beautifully at it. Then he lead the way to the shop’s pants section. 

The next two hours was spent picking and choosing between different pants, shirts, and socks. Socks were of utmost importance to Ivy, the android spending almost fifteen minutes choosing the perfect ones. Sun Fang amused himself by talking with the shop’s cashier while they waited, a lovely beta women who agreed with him that the video of the baby lion-moose was adorable and totally worth cooing over. 

Ivy eventually made up its mind, and they left the shop with four large bags full to the brim with clothing. Most the clothes were light colors, pale pinks, beige, greens and blues. There were suits in there, as well as softer and more casual clothing. Ivy had even picked up a couple of hairbands that it’d liked. So Sun Fang was, all in all, perfectly happy with the result.

”Want to go back now or is it okay to stop somewhere for dinner?” Sun Fang asked as they made their way out the shop. It was nearing evening now, but one couldn’t tell it from the sun’s position. The five moons orbiting the planet were high up in the sky in a neat row, one after the other. Sun Fang had the urge to take a picture, but he was too tired to. Besides, he already had like two-hundred photos of this exact same view, he didn’t need any more.

”We can go for dinner,” said Ivy. Sun Fang grinned at it, and Ivy smiled back.

So Sun Fang took charge, leading to one of his favorite restaurants on this street. It wasn’t big, but that just made it cozier. While they walked, he saw Ivy periodically peek into the bags it was carrying, as if checking to see they were still there. Such illogicality made Sun Fang’s lips twitch, something he kept remorselessly hidden from Ivy. Ivy was just so cute!