In my palm, it was wet and still a bit warm. Dark red liquid droplets floated around, reflecting the still-blazing firelight. The artificial gravity hadn't been fixed, and I couldn't even feel his weight. It was as if we could float eternally in the void.

"L'existence précède l'essence." His once deep blue eyes were now cloudy and white, his pristine white fur stained completely red, matching the color of the Admiral’s uniform coat. "Luther..." he called to me, as if using up all his remaining strength. "The rest... I leave it to you." The white wolf coughed a few more times, breathing out his last breath beside my ear.

"No..." I shouted desperately. "No, Richter, you bastard!"

In the emptiness of space, I cried out, but there was no echo.

The touch of silk was truly soothing. I continued to force myself to feel the sheets beneath me, futilely seeking some comfort—an expected failure.

"Maybe we should take off our clothes first." The light brown German shepherd—Maya—my spouse said. This concept still confused me, and I couldn’t quite grasp the reality.

"Uh… okay." I figured she had more experience in this area. Even though I was reluctant, nothing could be more awkward than staring at each other like this.

I folded my removed clothes and placed them aside, glanced at Maya, and immediately realized how serious a mistake it was, instinctively looking away.

"Am I repulsive to you?" She moved a bit closer and spoke, at least not sounding insulted.

"No, ma'am." I felt myself shaking and clenched my fists tightly. "You’re perfect." I tried with all my might to turn my head back, but it was impossible.

"Hey, don’t be so formal with me." Maya actually smiled. "Richter had the same expression back then, almost identical." She gently patted my cheek. "And then he vomited on me."

"What, really?" The vivid image made me laugh.

"That dinner had a lot of seafood, and he drank a lot to get drunk. So that smell… it was like a mix of all three major logical fallacies." Maya laughed as she continued to gently caress my cheek.

"I remember our first meeting was pretty similar," the image of orange liquid dripping from his pure white fur came to mind. "I still occasionally think about it." For some reason, this memory made my nose feel a bit sour.

"Richter sacrificed so much for me and Arthur, but we rarely had heart-to-heart conversations, so I always felt I didn’t understand this wolf, didn’t understand my spouse." Maya wiped away a tear from my eye. "Maybe you’d be willing to share more?"

"Maybe there’s nothing too special," I said slowly, reviewing my memories. "An outstanding leader, the Empire's Premier Swordsman, a brilliant tactician—oh, you should see how he commands drone swarms." It was like directing turbulent waves, commanding storms. "Very spectacular."

"No," she lightly tapped my cheek a few times. "Not the image others talk about. I mean, his real self."

Something in her tone touched me, making me turn to Maya, meeting her gaze. I saw my reflection looking back from those amber irises.

Taking a deep breath, I sifted through my memories. Those blue eyes would occasionally show a lonely expression when we were alone. I noticed many gaps in the memories that weren’t originally there, but the feelings remained unchanged.

"Like I said earlier, our first meeting wasn’t smooth." Although, to be honest, neither were the following ones. "At the time, I thought Richter was a nitpicking, neurotic noble, so I used to play little pranks on him to vent my dissatisfaction with the upper class." Just ruining his coffee and messing up the amount of sugar was enough to make Richter angry all day. "He would continually come up with creative punishments, but I wasn’t the kind of mutt who would obey easily, so the pranks just kept escalating. The time I ruined his treasured civet coffee beans, I’m sure he really meant to throw me into the air lock and eject me into space, if it weren’t for Captain Arthur intervening in time." Thinking about it, Arthur seemed to have saved my life many times.

"He always said, 'Private Luther, I should really find something else for your tongue to do, like cleaning the deck.'" I quoted Richter directly. "I think it’s because he couldn’t stand my 'arrogant, slick, and glib mouth.' However, during our all-night talks where he claimed he couldn’t sleep because of too much coffee, Richter rarely complained." That moment seemed to stretch indefinitely. "But apparently, he eventually found another area where my tongue excelled." I shrugged, and Maya softly laughed.

"What exactly is that?" she asked with curiosity.

"Well…" It was quite embarrassing to talk about these things with someone not very familiar. I scratched my ear, trying to ease the heat. "If I wasn’t trying to annoy or tease him, and if time permitted," I closed my eyes, trying to recall the details. "I liked to slowly lick his nose first. That always seemed to quickly pique his interest."

I felt Maya’s movement coming closer, and the unexpected wet, ticklish sensation on my nose made me shiver.

"And then…" The colors in the memory seemed less vivid, but the scent remained. "He would usually respond by sniffing my face a few times, maybe a gesture only a gray wolf would understand." The wet sensation lightly brushed against my lips.

"Richter would never admit it, but I know he loved having his right ear scratched. It always made him so comfortable that his ear twitched continuously." The warmth of his embrace, the gentle caress on my head, moving slowly to scratch behind my ear. It was so ticklish. "His adorable ear-flapping always made me want to keep teasing him. Licking the tips of his ears had especially noticeable effects. When stimulated so much, he would usually bite me." The sharp pain of his canine teeth sinking into my shoulder made me shudder.

"But I know that’s just his way of being reserved or maybe an invitation." Some signals from the gray wolf are hard to understand, but others are easy to read. "Because of Richter’s bushy tail, it could create its own little whirlwind with its back-and-forth motion." I seemed to hear the rustling sound of fur on his tail rubbing against the bed sheet.

"During these moments, if I could touch the fur near the base of his tail, he would go wild and make adorable noises." The warm sensation moved down my spine, gently pressing at the base of his tail, like an electric shock spreading through my body. "Sometimes even making the helpless whimpering sounds of a pup, which gave me a sense of accomplishment." This kind of contrasting cuteness was hard to resist.

"But the real key is his eyes." Amid uncontrollable shivering, I reached out, exploring the fine white fur, feeling his warmth. "Those incredibly beautiful eyes."

I noticed the wetness sliding off my cheek, turned my head, and gently rubbed the tears on his fur.

Gently, he cupped my chin, wiping a few times at the corner of my eye with his thumb. Sniffling, I slowly opened my eyes, meeting those deep eyes. In this weightless void, I saw my most genuine self, seeing the infinite blue that could encompass everything.

I heard Maya tiptoeing as she dressed and left the bed.

"What? Are you here to supervise or inspect something? Should I take off my pants and spread my legs for you to check?" Perhaps thinking I was still asleep and separated by a door, she didn’t lower her voice too much. The ensuing silence made me curious about who Maya was talking to.

"Are you okay?" Captain Arthur’s voice was recognizable, filled with helplessness.

"Oh, I’m as good as I can be." Maya sounded very angry. "I basically just raped a pup, let alone he’s my spouse’s..." Maya stopped, not finishing her sentence, clearly unsure of what words to use. "…and then you ask me if I’m okay? Thank you for your concern, truly charitable of you." I’m twenty-one, you know, but her tone of crying made me feel a bit guilty.

This seemed a bit strange, but perhaps it was what’s called my male chauvinistic part? I carefully reviewed the touch of the sheets, the smooth fibers clearly defined under my fingertips.

"Okay, I understand." The muffled sound of crying came from behind the door; it must have been Maya burying her head in Arthur’s embrace.

"You know nothing!" Maya shouted intermittently, sounding like she was hitting Arthur’s chest.

"Yes, I know nothing." Arthur’s deep voice said, while Maya sobbed quietly. "It’s okay, it will be okay."

For the rest of the time, the captain continued to comfort Maya, while I remained lying on the bed, feeling the residual warmth on the sheets. Among the silk and down, I sensed that very faint but distinct familiar scent, making me wet the pillow again.

I stood up and went to the wardrobe, finding the Admiral’s red uniform coat. From its worn areas, I recognized it as the one Richter had worn—the one without pockets.

They had thoroughly cleaned it, so clean that it seemed as if it had never been stained with blood, and naturally, no scent remained. I tightly grasped the large collar of the red coat, burying my head in it to comfort myself, continually trying in vain until my whole body shook with unbearable pain.

I adjusted a few buttons on the collar to ease the tight discomfort. This red uniform always made a certain part of me itch.

“Black alert, entering Gaia Buffer Zone…”

After the artificial gravity was deactivated, I did not activate my magnetic boots but instead relaxed my body and allowed myself to float aimlessly. The terminal displayed an order issued personally by the Emperor, instructing the Empire’s Heart fleet to proceed to the Lunar Starport. The mission was absurd, but I wasn’t in the mood to care; I let the terminal slowly drift away.

I stood before the malfunctioning glass window, gazing at our home planet.

The fine sand of deserts or the droplets of oceans are not adequate to describe this scene. Between the grains of sand, there are more grains; between the droplets of water, there are more droplets. This, however, seems more like a speck of dust in space.

Emerald green lands, azure seas, pure white poles, and swirling, ever-changing clouds. Even at this distance, everything is still clearly visible. It contains all living beings, embracing everything. And Gaia itself floats in the vast void.

In the void, we are each isolated, infinitely distant; in the void, we are one, so close.

Floating in the endless void, it’s not loneliness that fills me but the lingering warmth with a slightly damp touch from the palm.

I tapped the spot on the window where Gaia was located, watching the crystalline tears in my reflection’s eyes grow larger and respond to the dim planet. It is the most beautiful blue dust in our eyes.