The Artist’s Crush

La Cupola Rossa

14 August 2300 — Pioneer-12, La Cupola Rossa Italian Restaurant

After the first stage of the Resonance Gown adjustment is completed, Evie returns to her cabin carrying the warmth of being seen. She had meant to rest. But sitting at the edge of her bed, looking at the silver-white fitting gown inside the low-temperature protection case — its delicate fibers along the shoulder line and waist still faintly visible — her heart begins to beat softly again. One shoulder line remains open, allowing the Sagittarius 2100 tattoo on her shoulder to stay visible. It does not feel like an ordinary gown. It feels like a quiet piece of light lent to her for the night.

She goes alone to La Cupola Rossa, the Italian restaurant in the Culture Ring. The amber lighting is warm. She orders something small and sits quietly. Firo is already there. They end up at the same table — not by arrangement, simply because it happens that way on a ship carrying three thousand people through deep space.

They talk in a way they have not talked before. Firo is more honest than usual. When Evie asks about music and what it means to him, he says the saxophone is more honest than he is. When she asks if he includes himself in that, he is quiet for a moment, then says: “Perhaps.”

The Resonance Gown’s fibers register what is happening — a faint pink-purple glow appears at the waist, the fabric translating what Evie cannot quite say aloud. Neither of them mentions it. When they leave La Cupola Rossa, Firo offers his hand. Evie looks at it for just a moment. Then she places her hand in his. Ahead lies the long corridor toward the Residential Ring. Outside the windows, deep space moves past in silence.