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Low, smokey jazz fills the air as Nenet works, the music almost inaudible. In the middle of an adjustment, she can feel a veritable shift in the air and the heavy feeling of eyes upon her as her hands move over dials and knobs.
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She's fully intent on ignoring whatever staff has dared to disturb her until a familiar voice cuts through the skeins of music. Hands stilling, she does not jerk nor move rapidly; instead, she carefully pulls her body back from the telescope and, once sure she's clear of bumping any of the machinery, turns in her chair and is met with a sight nothing could have prepared her for.
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Golden eyes flit instantly between Zev's exhausted figure and the shard of Necrozma; it was smaller than she imagined, or perhaps bigger? How did the Devourer of the Suns fit in her workroom?
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What a terrifying thought that it could.
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"What have you done?" Nenet asks, a question once posed outside a rift leading to the Ultra Crater when she first witnessed Zev's avatar-like abilities. Her voice is soft, hushed as if concerned about breaking the stillness of the room.
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She already has a feeling she knows what he's done.

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In response to Nenet's question, Zev only laughed. Despite his weary state, the chuckle that filled the chamber was feverish, full of thrill and danger. His blue eyes shone with a deep satisfaction, a lingering delight.[break][break]

"What haven't we done?" he asked. Then, because he knew Nenet actually wanted an answer, he added: "I met Necrozma. Not this thing," he tilted his head at the shard behind him, "but the real thing. It made me its Avatar."[break][break]

Crystals rippled, unbidden, across his jaw and cheeks. He raised a hand to touch them, as if surprised by their sudden appearance. But then his hand dropped to his lap, and the crystals remained, mottling his skin with their terrible beauty.[break][break]

The man sighed and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "Come here, wife. I'm too tired to stand." A weakness he'd never admit to anyone, except her.

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Wife.
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Nenet does not move - at least not immediately. Instead she observes her husband for a long moment. She cannot recall the last time Zev admitted to any sort of shortcoming; perhaps a few half-admitted when he had been stabbed.
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She hums thoughtfully.
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"What is this, then?" she asks as she finally moves, her chip pointing towards Necrozma by way of explanation. "Some sort of echo?" Jazz continues to filter thought the air.
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Standing beside Zev like a sentinel, Nenet continues to watch before she finally kneels onto the ground. She wraps her fingers around Zev's wrist, feeling for his pulse betwixt the jagged spikes of crystal while her free hand lifts to touch one of the crystals on his cheek before it disappears beneath her fingers.
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Vivid flashes of Zev consumed by black crystals, grinning into her hair, holding her, flash in her mind and are gone as quickly as they came. She drops his wrist, brow furrowed, and cups his cheek instead.
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"What did you see?" Her voice is soft, a low murmur able to easily blend in with the syncopated notes of music filling the silence.

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"A shard," Zev said, as if that explained anything. "An echo is a good analogy, I guess. It's less powerful, much smaller. A tool, more or less."[break][break]

He opened his eyes and looked at the shard of Necrozma, silently conveying a desire for it to give him and Nenet space. Without a moment's hesitation, the creature rose up toward the domed ceiling of the observatory, as if intrigued by the giant telescope in its center.[break][break]

Zev turned back to Nenet as she took his wrist and touched her fingers against the smooth crystal on his cheek. Her touch was as electrifying as ever, stoking the passion in him despite his fatigue.[break][break]

Reaching out, he gently pulled her toward him, easing her onto his lap. He folded his arms around her, his large hands resting on her waist and thigh.[break][break]

"We saw a city," Zev said, leaning in to kiss the delicate slope of Nenet's jaw. His voice matched hers, low and soft. "A vast Megalopolan city in another universe, filled with light. They tried to kill us, but we didn't let them."[break][break]

He nuzzled her neck with his nose before planting another kiss there.

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Nenet watches Necrozma's movement with distraction; a certain protectiveness of her equipment rises as the pokemon nears the delicate instruments, but she manages to keep it in check and instead focus on Zev as he presses a kiss to her jaw.
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Another world. Death. His voice is soft and low, mingling perfectly with the quiet music. Some would find it jarring.
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"When," she asks instead, her hand lifting once more to lightly caress Zev's cheek. Nenet has a feeling the already knows the answer.

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Zev paused, his mouth pressed against Nenet's skin. The question of when felt so nebulous all of a sudden, as if his understanding of time was a gulf as vast and unfathomable as the void of space.[break][break]

He breathed deeply, inhaling the sensual notes of the perfume he'd bought her last winter. That she still wore it so many months later pleased him immensely—the part of him that was still human. That still possessed and craved and lusted.[break][break]

For a moment, his patron's alien presence felt farther away, but only by a fraction.[break][break]

"Earlier tonight," Zev said at last, pulling back to look her in the eyes. "We just got back."[break][break]

Above them, the shard of Necrozma lost interest in the telescope. It roamed around the observatory, its multicolored eyes revealing nothing as it absorbed every detail of its surroundings.[break][break]

As Zev watched its slow traversal through the space, a thought occurred to him. Turning his attention to Nenet once more, he asked her, "What do you know about the Fermi Paradox?"

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"I see," she answers. Her gaze tracks up towards the Necrozma shard again, a low hum sounding at the back of her throat. Zev seeking her immediately after such an important event was practically a love confession from the man; an unspoken declaration of trust.
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A certain pride swells in her heart.
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Her thoughts are then interrupted and Nenet snorts in amusement at Zev's question. Glancing over to him again, she arches an eyebrow as she seems to realise all of a sudden he is quite serious in his question.
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"It asked why, if there's intelligent alien life in the universe, we haven't encountered it. We knew extraterrestrial life existed and have for years - decades - several pokemon aren't native to this planet. But for the whole this planet's existence we never had contact with another source of truly intelligent life until recently. There were several theories as to why: we're too early in the history of the universe, life's too unique, we're too late..."
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But now we've had contact with Megalopolans and it's considered resolved."
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Her expression curious as she searches Zev's features, Nenet presses, "Did you speak with someone while there? In that universe?"

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"I did," Zev confirmed, even as his hand absently caressed the curve of Nenet's waist and hip. "A woman with white hair, dressed in black. She didn't introduce herself, but I recognized her as a member of an interdimensional group called the DRK Triad."[break][break]

In all their months together, he'd never spoken about them with Nenet. Perhaps she already knew of them through her connections with the League's Rangers. Or maybe she'd done her own digging in the wake of the METENO 99943 meteoroid, the original reason for her transfer to Hoenn.[break][break]

He wouldn't put it past her to already know of their existence. They were the ones who'd summoned the meteoroid to destroy the region, after all.[break][break]

"She and her associates have been destroying worlds, Nenet. They're the reason for the Fermi Paradox in other universes. And they're trying to destroy ours, too."[break][break]

Looking her in the eye, Zev's grip on his wife tightened in possessive defiance. His expression was gravely serious, and when he spoke next, his voice was deep and low, a warning as much as a promise.[break][break]

"I won't let them. I'll kill every last one of them before I let them take you from me."[break][break]

More crystals bloomed across his skin. Carefully, so as not to prick her flesh, he placed a clawed hand on her neck and drew her in for a heated kiss.

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Nenet's eyes narrowed in thought. Zev's words were certainly pieces of a puzzle she had been assembling for over a year, but she wasn't wholly certain where they fit in the larger picture. Bits here and there, however, clarified her understanding.
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How fascinating.
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"You can destroy worlds too," is Nenet's answer, calm and fierce. Necrozma was a force unto itself - one that paired with Zev was as horrifying as it was intriguing.
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The kiss is returned, her hand lifting to cup Zev's cheek, the crystal-upon-skin rippling beneath her touch like waves on the beach. When she pulls back, Nenet murmurs against his lips, "Fifteen minutes," and then draws away from his lap; her touch lingers, fingertips tracing along his jaw and neck before all that's left is the lingering scent of perfume accented by lilting notes of jazz.
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Nenet wraps up her work for the night.

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"You can destroy worlds too."[break][break]

The recent memory of the Megalopolan city, reduced to ruin at his hands, flashed in Zev's mind. A smirk pulled at his lips, smug and proud.[break][break]

This was why he adored Nenet so much: her quick mind, her calm acceptance, her fierce devotion. Though he had not spoken a word of the acts he'd committed, she understood the implications of his Avatarship. His power. And still, she kissed him back with equal passion.[break][break]

The Necrozma shard, realizing there was nothing for it in the observatory, disappeared into a wormhole. Zev knew at once that it would return to his side as soon as he needed it.[break][break]

Tonight was not one of those nights.[break][break]

Fifteen minutes was enough time for him to recover his energy. After Nenet finished her work, they returned to her apartment, locked the door, and drew together like two stars caught in each other's orbit.[break][break]

Some time later, Zev lay in her bed, his chest pressed against her back, his arms folded around her body. Sweat cooled on bare skin. Slowly, lazily, he pressed soft kisses against her shoulder and neck as he came down from the euphoria of their lovemaking.[break][break]

"I changed my mind, by the way," he murmured into her hair. "I'm moving in with you."[break][break]

Previously, he and Nenet had agreed to live apart despite their relationship. But upon his return from Ultra Space, Zev saw no need for the carefully crafted lies that made him palatable to the rest of human society.[break][break]

That meant no bar. No Slateport apartment. But he was still, regrettably, human; he had to live somewhere. Where else but with his wife?

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A drowsy noise sounds from Nenet as the touch of Zev's lips draw her awake; hand outstretched, his entwined with hers, she is quietly admiring the contrast of texture and skin when her husband suddenly announces he will be living with her after all.
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She has half a mind to tease him for his about face, but instead she turns in his arms to face him, her fingertips lightly tracing the curve of his cheek and cut of his jaw.
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"I had a dream like this once," she says, her voice low and languid. "But we were in your room. I was singing, I think. Or had been... I don't really remember it all, only a few impressions."
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Lightly she draws over the slope of Zev's nose as she murmurs distantly, "I had wings." Her attention slowly shifts into focus upon her husband's features before her, it seeming odd all of a sudden that the entirety of his body is soft and warm as opposed to brutal and crystalline before the impression is gone as quickly as it came.
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"Find somewhere else for most of those guns," is what Nenet says instead.

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Zev's fingers idly traced the length of Nenet's spine as she shared fragments of her dream. The details meant little to him; it was enough that it was a positive memory for her, no matter how hazy.[break][break]

The mention of dreams did remind him, however, of recent ones he'd had. Dreams of a conquered Hoenn, with him at the throne of power and Nenet at his side. Dreams not just of Necrozma's blessing, but of Solgaleo and Lunala under its yoke.[break][break]

"Wings, hmm?" Zev murmured. His eyes closed of their own accord, Nenet's tender caresses along his face lulling him into peaceful contentment. "So you could fly to the stars?"[break][break]

Upon hearing her command, he opened his eyes again. Anyone telling him what to do would normally earn his contempt, but such a request was so small and irrelevant in the grand scheme of all the universes.[break][break]

So Zev pulled Nenet closer and tucked her head under his chin in a gesture of possessive affection. "Whatever you want."

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"Yes, I think so," Nenet murmurs, hazy thoughts of stars streaming by and a veritable sea of pokemon all around her winding through her mind before retreating as a wave returns to the ocean.
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"I remember the moon."
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She hums contentedly when she's pulled closer and Zev tucks his head over hers, the news he will be relocating the bulk of his weaponry a pleasant acquiescence. Sagging comfortably against him, her arm shifts to wrap around Zev's waist.
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"Stay for the rest of the night," she mumbles against his skin. "You've had a long trip."

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