"Have you been acting weird?" Piper stared at Trish as she chewed on a mouthful of sandwich, a look of confusion on her face. "Auntie Trish, you always act weird."

  "Ha ha," Trish said, rolling her eyes and staring up at the curving horizon. The park wasn't far from Scoparia's, and it made a decent enough pce for Piper to keep the mobile hab parked. If it weren't for the fact that they were aboard an alien space station, it might have been any other day sitting in fold-out wn chairs appreciating the natural beauty of the world around them. "You know what I mean. Sudden changes in behavior, anything like that?"

  "Mmm... nope." Piper shrugged and took another bite of her sandwich almost before she'd finished swallowing. "Wow, this is good. You want a bite?" She held out the sandwich, which looked (and smelled) like some kind of tuna melt on brown bread.

  "I'm good, thanks," Trish said, waving it off. "Where'd you get that, anyway?"

  "Oh! There's this pce Lay recommended!" She chewed and swallowed. "It's out on Ring Three but it's totally worth the trip! Apparently the guys who run it have been doing it for like, sixty years."

  Something tickled in the back of Trish's mind. "Cliff's?"

  Piper brightened. "Oh, you know it? That's awesome! You sure you don't want a bite?"

  "I do not, in fact, want a bite." Trish grumbled.

  "You're missing out," Piper said, taking another bite of the sandwich and letting out a sound that was almost a moan. "Oh, I'm gonna miss this pce when I head back down to the pnet. I'm gonna have to try a bunch more of their sandwiches before I do."

  "You're heading back?" For the first time in days, Trish felt a little hope. Maybe she could extract Piper from this nest of vipers retively unscathed after all.

  "Well, eventually," Piper said, "but not yet, I mean, I want to be here and give you moral support, you know?" She paused. "Dirt. That reminds me, I need to get in touch with Miss Sicaria and let her know about all this. I told her I'd be back in Beacon in like, a month or so, and I don't know how long this is going to run for."

  Trish's fingers were slowly going white at the knuckle as she clutched at the wn-chair's arms. "You're talking to that thing?!" Her voice came out choked, as if as invisible hand was clutching at her throat.

  Piper froze, eyes darting over to Trish as her face went sck. She looked away after a heartbeat. "Mulch," she muttered, "I hadn't figured out how I was gonna tell you about it."

  "Why in world are you talking to the thing that did that to your parents, Piper?!" She was on her feet now, heart pounding again. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It's worse than I thought. Even back in Beacon they're trying to get at her.

  "This is why I hadn't said anything yet," Piper said, shaking her head. "I knew you'd blow up about it."

  "I am not blowing up," Trish growled, consciously unclenching her fists. "But you and I both know you shouldn't be talking to it, there's no reason-"

  "Yeah, Auntie Trish, yeah there is," Piper said, looking back up at her, an annoyed look on her face. "It's called my parents are her florets. I know you and Grandma have this weird no-contact thing you're doing but I'm not going to just cut my parents off because they got domesticated!"

  Trish's stomach clenched, and she felt as if she might be sick. "They're not your parents, anymore, Piper. I know that's hard to accept, but that thing... it cored out their minds, it turned them into fucking toddlers."

  "Did you not love Mom when she was a toddler? Because the way I hear it, you were practically her second mom when she was little! How can you bring yourself to just pretend she doesn't exist just because she's little again?"

  "Seeing what became of them once was too much," Trish said. "You wouldn't understand."

  Piper's eyebrows furrowed the same way Maggie's did. "Oh, rot completely off, Auntie Trish! They're my parents! You think I didn't have a problem with it when it happened? I barely slept for a week! But unlike you, I got over it."

  "This isn't the sort of thing you just get over!"

  "Look," Piper said, setting her sandwich down on the folding table in front of her, "I was messed up about it too at first, okay? But they're still my parents and I want to be a part of their lives, and if babysitting them-"

  "Babysitting?!"

  "-is the only way for me to do that, then yeah, I'm gonna do that! Think how heartbroken they'd be if I just mulching vanished on them. You think I want to do that?"

  Stars, Trish thought, that's it. She can't accept that they're gone. "Piper, honey-" Her voice caught in her throat as she searched for the right words. "They're not in there anymore. I know you want them to be. I get that." She broke off. If she tried to push her voice any further, it might just break.

  Piper stared up at Trish for a long moment. "Yeah, they were pretty spaced out that first time," she said quietly. "You want to know why? It was because Sabine & Selenipedium was on. They never miss an episode. If you'd bothered to see them more than just that once, you'd never say they're not in there."

  "I know you want them to be, but-"

  "They know who I am, Auntie Trish." Piper was giving her a hard, unflinching stare. "They know I'm their daughter. And, yeah, it's weird that I'm older than them now, but, dirt, we live in the Compact. That's not even the weirdest thing I've ever seen happen, and I'm sure you've seen way weirder." After a heartbeat's pause, she added, "You know, they miss you and Grandma."

  "Bullshit," Trish said, looking away and fixing her gaze on an agglomeration of buildings halfway up the curve of the cylinder. The light from the sunline glinted off them in a prismatic array of colors that seemed to slowly shift, even if the sunline and the surface were perfectly still retive to one another.

  "Miss Sicaria didn't take any of their memories, or at least, not many of them. She just made them little. They're still Mom and Dad." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a pack of gum, retrieving and unwrapping the foil from a single stick before jamming it into her mouth and beginning to chew. "Frost, I should never have tried to have this conversation sober."

  Trish's stomach clenched around those words. She crossed her arms and let her thumbs dig in. It kept her focused. "No wonder you've taken to getting high all the damned time."

  "No, Auntie Trish, I'm just not weird about it like everyone your age is." The chair squeaked as she got up, and a moment ter Trish felt Piper's arms around her from behind. "Look, I know you're mad, but I wasn't gonna just shun Mom and Dad because they're little. Miss Sicaria might let them grow up again one day, you know?"

  "It should never have happened," Trish whispered, squeezing her eyes shut against the burning.

  "They're way happier this way. I get to hear Dad ugh. When was the st time you ever heard him ugh?"

  Trish shuddered. Rod had always been a good man, a man of impeccable self-control. On first gnce, he could seem cold and unyielding, but he had a warmth to him that became quite apparent the longer one knew him. He had studied countless texts on how to cope with the presence of the Affini, from fsh-in-the-pan self-help courses like "Independence is Easy!" to Trish's own Freedom's Ember — that was how he'd met Meg to begin with, and how sparks had flown, and now...

  Now the Affini had made a giggling dolt out of him. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and reached up to wipe the corners of her eyes dry. "I'm sorry, Piper," she said. "I understand why you believe this. I want to believe it too, I really do."

  "Then go see them." Piper rested her chin on Trish's shoulder. "I wasn't kidding when I said they miss you. They ask about you and Grandma."

  "And what do you tell them?"

  "That you're on a big important trip for a book thing, going all over the Compact and meeting lots of interesting sophonts. They're little enough they don't put two and two together and ask why you don't send vidmail via the overnet. I dunno how long that's gonna work though," she added, sighing, "so maybe put together some good fibs for when you get over being so weird about it."

  "I'm not going to get over it." It would be too much to just give in now, after all this time.

  "You're going to get over it." Piper gave her a squeeze. "You miss them too."

  "Or they'll do the same to me," Trish grumbled.

  Another pause. "Well, if they do," Piper said, "I'll babysit you, too, okay?"

  The grocery had been a revetion, a building the size of a convention hall devoted entirely to storing every variety of foodstuff and ingredient imaginable, from spices from a dozen worlds to proteins of every kind. The butcher counter had meat from animals Haven had never heard of and which likely came from worlds hundreds or even thousands of light years away. It was a multistory monument to the culinary arts, filled with sophonts going too and fro chatting, smiling, talking about this and that. A million different scents washed across the sarcotesta's scent receptors, and Haven could swear she could actually taste some of the things she smelled.

  It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. She and Tara were walking back to Anix's hab now, three bags between then; Tara, ever gentlethemly, had taken the two heavier ones, leaving the retively lightweight one with the spices and fruits for her. This left her one arm to tch onto one of Tara's, and the bag bumping into her thigh with every step was a price she happily paid.

  This wasn't going to st forever, Haven knew that, but she was going to enjoy what would probably be the only time anyone was ever likely to express an interest in her for as long as she could. It was horrible to use someone as amazing as Tara like this, but Haven knew this was probably the happiest she would ever be.

  They were nearly home, passing through the park near Anix's hab, when Haven spotted the mobile hab with the two women sitting outside. One, she recognized. "Oh, hey, it's Trish."

  "Oh, the famous Trish?" Tara gnced over at the mobile hab, transferring the bag on her left to her right hand and putting the now-free hand around Haven's shoulder. "Want to go say hello?"

  "Uhm, is that okay?"

  "Well, the guy at the grocery said the stasis bags would keep everything fresh," Tara said, shrugging, "so why not?"

  Because it's an unreasonable thing to ask, Haven thought but didn't say. She hadn't seen Trish since the meeting, and she did kind of want to check in with her and see how it went. "I guess?"

  "Then let's go." With gentle pressure on her shoulder that Haven was rapidly growing used to (which she knew she shouldn't, because this wasn't going to st), Tara steered her off the path and onto the soft, springy grass where the mobile hab was parked. "Hey there, strangers!" she called out cheerfully.

  When Trish looked up, Haven could see the strain in her eyes. She was miserable about something, that much Haven could tell instantly, and it was almost certainly having to be in her presence. Stars, the mouth really does ruin it, she thought. They can't pretend I'm not in here. The woman she was sitting with was obviously tall, even though she was sitting down, and built like she worked out a lot. She had wavy auburn hair, a smattering of freckles, and wore a flower-print t-shirt that hugged her ample curves. She looked as though she was feeling just as disgusted that Haven had arrived as Trish did, but she immediately put on a bright smile and shouted "Hey!" right back at Tara, giving what looked like an enthusiastic wave (and which Haven was sure was thoroughly fake for the sake of politeness).

  "Mmm," Trish grunted. "Piper, this is Haven. I've been running into her here and there, she's new around here so go easy on her. And this is, unless my memory is starting to go...Tara, right?"

  "Got in in one." Tara gave Trish a wink, and Haven felt a whisper of butterflies swarm inside her. It was unfair how amazing and gorgeous and drop-dead sexy Tara was.

  "And this is Piper Raeburn. She's the granddaughter of a friend."

  "She/her! Nice ta meetcha!" Her fake smile grew even wider, showing off her big, white teeth.

  "O-oh, right, uhm, she/her," Haven muttered.

  "They/them, but honestly, I'll take any and all, I collect pronouns for fun," Tara said. Haven could hear the grin in their voice, and the butterflies swarmed with even more excitement.

  "Ooooh, cssy!" Piper said, cpping her hands with obvious excitement. Haven could hardly bme her. "I pyed with that for a while, but nope! Boring old she/her after all! You new to Solstice too? Where ya from?"

  "We came in on the same ship, yeah," Tara said, setting their bags down and pulling Haven close with the arm she was clinging to. "And we're from Terra, by way of-" They paused, and gnced down at Haven. "Where did that ship depart from? I genuinely can't remember the system's name."

  "I don't even think it had one," Haven agreed. "Dad was probably going to name it something awful anyway." He'd always been obsessed with names, to a degree that even when she privately gave herself a name she'd still stuck with the stupid alliterative naming scheme he'd enforced on all of his children. "But the Tilndsia picked us up from there. That's how we got here."

  "No way, you were on Lay's ship? That's so cool!" Piper cpped excitedly again. "Oh, you've gotta tell me all about it! I've been meaning to ask Lay but like, there's so much to talk to her about, I haven't even gotten there yet!"

  "What do you think, hon?" Tara said, giving Haven a gentle hipcheck. "Catch up with Trish while I feed the curiosity beast?" Haven looked up at them, and they winked back at her.

  "Okay," she agreed instantly, completely unable to stand up to the sheer force of how hot Tara was. She felt Tara's arm slip from her grasp and instantly regretted it. All she had to cling to now was the bag she held in her other hand, and that was a poor substitute.

  "Looks like you two are hitting it off, hm?" Trish gave Haven a subtle little smile, and Haven had no idea what to make of it — but the idea that she and Tara were visibly a couple both gave her butterflies and made her feel ashamed of how she was taking advantage of her secretary-turned-boss once again. "What's in the bags?"

  "O-oh, well-" Haven paused and looked over her shoulder to make sure Tara was far enough away not to overhear, then leaned in and whispered, "Actually, I wanted to cook something for them. To sort of, y'know, say thank you." For putting up with her. For breathing the same air as her. For not seeing her for what she really was. For not hating her like she deserved to be hated.

  "Well aren't you sweet," Trish said, the smile growing just a little wider. "That tonight?"

  "Well, no. I, uhm. I have a therapy thing in a little while." Haven shuffled nervously from foot to foot. Trish probably didn't want to hear about this. "Just something they want me to do for the wardship. So I'll probably do it tomorrow."

  "Mmm." Trish nodded, her face turning serious. "Same rules apply. Watch where you look, mind what you say, don't let them in your head. Be polite, they like that. It sounds like you're doing alright, though — if they were worried, they'd be doing a lot more than just sending you to a therapist. Good job, kid. Keep it up, and they'll turn you loose in no time. Well. Whenever your recovery is up, at least. How's that going, by the way? Can't help but notice there's been some pretty big changes."

  Her eyes were focused on Haven's lips, no doubt out of disgust for the way they revealed that she was hiding beneath the sarcotesta. "Y-yeah, that's uhm...well, they're trying to get my digestive system up and running again. Which is why all the learning to cook and stuff. Please don't tell Tara this is for them, though, I want to make it a surprise." That seemed like the thing to do. Surprises made things nicer. No expectations to manage.

  "You are definitely very sweet," Trish said, not knowing that she was talking about. Her statement was punctuated by Tara's clear, high ugh, and Haven tried to make her gnce back at Tara as subtle as possible. The two of them, Tara and Piper, were smiling and ughing with each other. They made such a better couple than she and Tara did, Haven knew, but she couldn't help but feel something unpleasant clench in her gut.

  I have to make that dinner the best I can. I have to absolutely knock it out of the park.

  Anything less, and she might lose the best thing that had ever happened to her.