Xiao Douya, sleeping beside her, was accidentally flung to the foot of the bed when she threw off the covers. It woke up, looked at her with hazy, sleepy eyes, its tiny sprout on top twitched once, then drooped weakly into a Z-shape.

Ziye ignored whether it was still asleep, scooped it up, and clipped it to her waist before heading out for a run.

The planet's air was infinitely fresher than the vacuum of space. No one else was stirring yet; the surroundings were vast and quiet. Ziye took a deep breath and started running. After two laps, she felt refreshed and invigorated. Xiao Douya was also quite happy, though a little melancholic: "It would be great if Douzai were here; it would definitely love to wander around this place."

Ziye suggested, "Why don't you go back and fetch it?"

Xiao Douya shot Ziye a look of contempt. With someone else carrying it, there was no need for it to act itself! It smirked internally but said nothing, quietly sending a message to An Junlie before nonchalantly flying back toward the hotel.

Back at the hotel, Ziye booted up her light-computer to start working. Xiao Douya resumed its duties as actuary and mentor.

Having finished the bulk of the work the day before, Ziye spent an hour on the final touches. Once Xiao Douya had checked it again and confirmed there were no errors, she saved the files, ready to study them further back in space.

The sky was just beginning to lighten. With plenty of time before the team assembly, she threw herself back into the ** and rolled over. "Doudou, let me sleep a little longer. Wake me up later."

She had barely snuggled under the covers, the bed still cold, when the hotel communicator chimed. Too lazy to get up, Ziye waved a hand at Xiao Douya: "Go get it."

Xiao Douya grumbled, "Don't treat me like a robot."

Ziye didn't argue: "Fine, then help me get the actual robot out."

Furious, Xiao Douya leaped onto her face, flattening her three-dimensional features into a two-dimensional plane—a moment of satisfying revenge. It then hopped onto the nightstand to answer the priority call.

It was the hotel service robot. "Distinguished guest in room 1278, hello. You have a visitor wishing to call upon you. May we permit them entry?"

Ziye blinked, sat up in the **, and asked, "A visitor? Who would come here looking for me?"

Xiao Douya knew it had to be An Junlie. It completely bypassed asking for the visitor's name: "Yes, yes!"

The robot smiled: "Very well. The visitor will arrive at your room in three minutes."

Ziye questioned, "Xiao Douya, why didn't you ask who it was?"

Xiao Douya flapped its wings, gliding happily through the air, "No need to ask."

Ziye countered, "But I still want to sleep."

Xiao Douya shook its head: "He's here; you can keep sleeping."

Ziye caught the subtext: "You know who the visitor is?"

Xiao Douya just flapped its wings and remained silent.

Ziye gave it a sidelong glance, pulled the covers over her head, and went back to sleep.

The visitor arrived with unnerving precision. Three minutes after Ziye settled back down, the doorbell rang. Xiao Douya shot excitedly to the door, stretched its little sprout high, tapped lightly on the lock, and the door opened. An Junlie stood at the threshold, smiling, holding Douzai and a bouquet of flowers.

Xiao Douya rushed into An Junlie's arms as if greeting a long-lost relative, rubbing against him, "Alien, you finally made it, yiiing~" As it finished, it gave the clumsy little Douzai a swift kick.

Douzai chirped, rolled over, and pinned Xiao Douya underneath it. Poor Xiao Douya instantly flattened from a three-dimensional sphere into a two-dimensional circle.

Xiao Douya struggled, pushing its little sprout out from under Douzai’s backside, bending it into an S-shape, signaling An Junlie for rescue.

An Junlie smiled gently: "Where is Ziye?"

Xiao Douya sulked: "Doesn't anyone miss your great self?"

An Junlie, balancing Douzai in one arm and the flowers in the other, couldn't attend to it immediately. Upon entering, he set Douzai down on the floor before liberating Xiao Douya from its compression.

Having regained freedom, Xiao Douya immediately hopped onto Douzai’s back and started pounding it repeatedly, venting the frustration of being squashed.

An Junlie let them carry on their roughhousing. He closed the door and walked inside, holding the flowers.

He could guess even with his toes that Ziye was definitely asleep.

Every time he visited her after leaving the Silver Rune, she was either constructing mecha warships or sleeping.

He was used to it by now!

The hotel suite was a one-bedroom layout. He walked through the living area into the bedroom and, just as expected, found Ziye sleeping.

An Junlie hated to disturb her. He tiptoed to the bedside. Just as he was about to place the bouquet on the table, the covers suddenly flipped open from the inside.

Their eyes met instantly, and Ziye sprang up with a whoosh.

A person lying down managing to jump up was truly a spectacular sight.

An Junlie put the flowers aside and reached out to catch her, affectionately pinching her cheek. "Did I wake you?"

Ziye naturally found a comfortable spot in his embrace. His chest was solid, his warmth just right—nestling there was wonderfully cozy. Instantly, Ziye tossed all her pressure and warship worries to the distant reaches, wrapped her arms around his neck, and asked petulantly, "What gifts did you bring me?"

An Junlie sat down on the edge of the bed, still holding her face. "What do you think?"

Ziye puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction and bumped her head against his chest, making a thump-thump sound. "I told you to bring flowers, I told you to bring flowers!"

—Although they weren't all roses, the majority were!

An Junlie freed one hand, brought the flowers up, and said, "These flowers are quite good."

Ziye’s eyes blinked: "You mean they smell good?"

An Junlie, for some reason, felt a strong urge to shake his head when he saw her eyes light up, but he had to admit Ziye guessed correctly: they smelled good.

If they tasted bad, he wouldn't have dared bring them to her.

He smiled thinly: "They are for you."

Ziye wrinkled her nose and reached out to take the bouquet.

The arrangement was meticulously wrapped. In the center were dazzling, vibrant blue roses, accented by two lilies on the side. Surrounding them was a large circle of yellowish-green, ruffled roses that looked somewhat like vegetables, framed by rose leaves. Towering above them were large, pale yellow mutant roses.

She sniffed them; they were quite fragrant.

Ziye carefully plucked a petal from one of the large yellow roses, placed it in her mouth, tasted it, and nodded when she felt the gentle sweetness linger on her palate: "They really are good." Saying this, she plucked another petal and offered it to An Junlie's mouth.

An Junlie opened his mouth, bit down, and laughed, "This is the latest hybrid from that pervert. They’re very rare. The whole bouquet costs nine hundred and ninety-nine credits, but he gave me a discount; it's only a thousand."

Ziye, having just swallowed the petal, choked and coughed hard three or four times when she heard the price, almost bringing tears to her eyes. Damn that pervert, don't overdo it!

An Junlie patted her back reassuringly. "It's fine. At most, I just won't tell him about the new rose recipes I've been developing lately."

Ziye finally caught her breath, wiped away the tears welling in the corners of her eyes, pulled out one of the ruffled, yellow-green roses, opened her mouth, and started munching it down loudly like a cow eating grass, her cheeks bulging: "Dare to choke me? Watch me eat them all!" -RS