Chapter 39: A date under the cosmos (1/2)
Hand-in-hand, the couple made their way back to Hermes' mansion and entered the lonely place they now called 'home'.
The halls were dark and only illuminated by the radiant moon.
”I'll show you something.” Alex told Crista.
”Lead the way.”
He took her to their home's balcony, but this time, they didn't sit on any of the chairs.
Alex climbed up the pillars supporting the weight of the roof and hinted at Crista to do the same. He was leading her to a hidden spot he recently discovered.
The roof of the mansion was mostly uneven, but one place, in particular, was flat and would allow for an incredible view of the night sky.
Back on Earth, the light pollution of urban centers rendered observing the stars almost impossible, but here, where the pitch darkness of the night still dominated, the celestial objects that could be seen were incredible.
And tonight, the night sky was particularly bright and colorful.
When they sat down and leaned on each other's heads, Alex softly whispered, ”Back in my home, all of these stars in the sky had names, and we separated them into various constellations.”
Crista whispered back to him, ”What's that one there?”
She was pointing to a particularly visible constellation that shaped into a triangle.
Alex chuckled and replied, ”That one is literally...Triangulum.”
”That one?”
”Ursa Major, the biggest constellation of the northern hemisphere.”
”This one?”
This time, she was pointing to an unusual celestial object.
If one observed with keen eyes, one could see a colorful spiral oval in the sky.
”I think that one is...Andromeda, our neighbor galaxy.”
”Galaxy? What's that?” She asked him with a confused expression.
'My bad, I forgot astronomy knowledge in this era didn't stretch as far as galaxies and the fundamental structures of the universe.' Alex murmured internally.
”Basically, can you see the Sun? In the entire world, there is an enormous number of similar objects that together, form a structure we call a galaxy. Ours is the Milky Way, and Andromeda is the closest one.” Alex tried to explain it the best way he could.
He wasn't an astronomy expert, but with Crista around, he felt like he could be one.
”You're telling me there is a f**king infinite number of worlds like ours, with people and gods and landscapes? That's a bit hypnotizing.” She laughed.
Alex laughed back, even for him, who had access to knowledge about outer space, looking up to the night sky and trying to picture the fact that every single star he could see maybe had planets that hosted intelligent life, he still felt disoriented.
The world was way too big for his brain to visualize, but with the people he loved around him, he only needed to focus on this small world of his.
As they kept observing the sky, they fell silent, and suddenly, he felt an extra weight on his shoulder.
Looking around, he was surprised to see that Crista had fallen asleep. Her long eyelashes were still and her breathing was calm.
He too yawned and felt drowsy and comfortable.
'Good days.'