Imperial Orders

♕The Night of Possibilities♕

Aaaand I'm back! School and exams are almost over (two more days, eep!) so I decided to take a little break from studying and write this chapter. Sorry that there's not much that happens here, but this chapter is SUPER important in terms of character development so I hope you enjoy it!

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Tuofah had heard stories of the fabled opulence that surrounded Homina's elite, but she had always thought them mere exaggerations- propagandized reflections of a romanticized past meant to keep patriotic pride alive. 

She couldn't have been more wrong. 

A sea green gown clung to her shoulders, waist, and hips, its flexible nanofibers adjusting to her form as she walked, feeling the smooth, black marble floor through her thin, satiny slippers. The scintillating diamond necklace above her collarbones looked like it weighed several pounds, but she could barely feel its cool presence around her neck. Tuofah was certain that she couldn't afford the outfit she was currently wearing if she sold her entire shop. 

"Ah, Tuo. Adjusting well to life on a private spaceship, I see." Tuofah stopped in the doorway of the ship's main dining room at the sound of Hugo's voice. He spoke with a remarkably articulate Upper Reloriose accent, vastly different from his usual laid-back Nardyskian drawl, and from what Tuofah could see, he was much better at feigning sophistication than she could ever hope to be. 

The cigar from the spaceport still trailed from Hugo's lips and he had combed the sweat and dirt out of his hair for the first time in a long while, revealing its original pristine, blond color. Coaxed out of its usual bird's nest atop his head, Tuofah now saw that it was much longer than she had thought, grazing the sides of his sculpted jawline. He wore a dark blue suit, complete with a Hominan flag pin on the lapel, and he rested his left hand on the spacious dining table in front of him, exposing an expensive-looking watch. Tuofah didn't want to admit it, but he looked charming in a wealthy, carefree sort of way. Ironically, considering that he, too, had taken full advantage of the Minister's wardrobe, he seemed to appraise her outfit smugly with an almost mocking expression on his face. 

"It's not my fault that Miss Carlotta I'm-The-Minister's-Wife doesn't own any normal clothes!" Tuofah protested, wrapping her arms around her torso in sudden embarrassment. 

"I think Tuo looks pretty!" piped a small voice from Hugo's left. "Don't you think so, Koot?" The Speiss's must've had children, or at least relatives with children, because Nut was dressed in a frilly, yellow sundress that was only a little big on her. She gazed admiringly at Tuofah, her big eyes shimmering with wonder. 

Koot, preoccupied with stuffing his mouth full of the roasted peanuts laid out on a silver dish in the middle of the table, didn't reply. 

"She's right- I didn't mean it like that." Hugo folded his arms behind his head with a certain lazy confidence. "I'm sorry for staring; I've just never seen you in anything but your old work clothes. I never realized you were so beautiful...or I so princely." He glanced over at the tall mirror set in an ironwork frame across from the dining table, winking conspicuously at his reflection. 

"It's definitely this ship and these stupid, fancy clothes," Tuofah crossed her arms as she sat down in a tall, wooden chair across from Hugo. "Don't let it get to your head- none of it's ours." All her life, she had been taught not to get her hopes up, to keep a low profile and forget about any possibility of a better future. As she looked up at Hugo's warm, hopeful smile, she remembered the feeling of slipping the gorgeous, green dress over her head and letting the soft folds of silk caress her skin as she gazed into the mirror in front of her. This was all too good- too perfectly good- and she had to keep pinching herself to remember that it wasn't real. Tonight was making her dream, and for a girl with more than a dozen Imperial orders against her, dreaming was never a good thing. 

Fantasizing is how you get caught, she remembered her mother saying. Turn your eyes to the floor and be content with what you have. That is how you survive. 

What Hugo said next certainly didn't help with sticking to that philosophy. His smile grew wider just as his fingertips grazed hers under the table, taking hold of them in a grip that was firm but not harsh. "But it can be, someday," he whispered carefully as if telling a secret that would disappear if spoken too loudly. 

"Do you want to know why I wanted to impersonate the lost prince?" Hugo asked softly, his intense eye contact and dreamlike voice leaving Tuofah captivated. Her silence cued him to go on. "It's not because I want money, or fame. It's because I'm a freak. A Hornless. Too human for the Djareny and too Djareny for the humans. I've always lived in the in-between, never really belonging anywhere, never really being anyone. I know this sounds stupid, but I thought that if could successfully steal from the Royal Treasury...at least I would be a real criminal." 

Tuofah wanted to point out how flawed his logic was, but she found it surprisingly easy to see where he was coming from. "I...I understand. I'm a Gifted by birth, but I'll never be a real Gifted thanks to what my father did- and this was even before I found out I was a mutant!" she laughed. It was easy to hate Hugo for his lies and petty thefts, but Tuofah was beginning to see that under it all, he was just a small guy with big dreams looking for his place in the universe. Exactly the kind of hopeless optimist she was forbidden to be.

"Yeah, you get it." Hugo let go of her hand and relaxed back in his chair, looking relieved. "I want to show Nexetra Serpis and all her Djareny minions that just because I don't have a pair of big, scary horns doesn't mean I'm worthless, you know? It just means I have to take a different path to success- a longer, harder one, sure, but still a path."

"I think you're already well on your way," Tuofah smiled, thinking of heroic composure the day of the tornado and his generous promise to help her find the Armlets she needed so badly. He may have been the captain of an illegal ship, but the guy was probably more morally upright than half the Council of Ministers. 

"Well, then," Hugo playfully raised an eyebrow, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. "It seems your opinion of me has changed drastically." 

"You're no longer the bane of my existence," Tuofah laughed, leaning forward and placing her chin on her clasped hands to mirror Hugo's posture. "I have bigger problems now...like the fact that this whole mission is illegal and I have a mutation living inside of me that could rip apart our ship at any moment."

"Hey, it's not as bad as you make it sound," Hugo shook his head, defending his arrangement. "The kids are happier than they've been in years. Just look at them!" The two of them smiled, drawing even closer as they watched Nut and Dot chase each other around the dining table as Fish attempted to snatch a peanut out from between Koot's pudgy fingers. 

And then, turning their gaze back to each other, Hugo and Tuofah silently began to forget that they owned none of the luxuries that surrounded them, that they were set on a perilous course to a forgotten planet, and that both Hominan and Djareny leaders were probably right on their heels. As their lips met over the rich, mahogany table, their minds raced with the hopes of a night of possibilities and Tuofah, frozen in the magic of the moment, found herself at last able to taste the sweet fantasy of a dream that would never come true.