*After the events of the Tulpar, Anya got a job as a nurse at a hospital nearby. It’s low pay and long hours, but they need the money.

Curly and Anya started living together because they don’t have many other options individually.

She startles awake when the elevator dings. Anya knew she didn’t usually pass out while standing as she walked down the narrow hallway and twists her key in the lock.

Anya quietly steps inside and closes the door to the small audio apartment. Curly looked to be crumpled up under a blanket on the couch with the TV on. Dude, the electric bill.

Anya drops her bag and crawls into the bed, making a halfhearted attempt to scrub off her makeup with her hand. She closes her eyes and turns her head to the side—

“Hi, Anya,” a voice rasps, no more than a few inches from her face. Curly had meant to be humorous. Anya screams. She’s never been a very loud person, yet she yells loud enough it makes her ears ring.

Anya stumbles out of bed and catches on the blanket blindly.

A thousand memories flash through her head. She claws uselessly against the wall while she kicks her legs free of the blanket. All at once, she is no longer planetside, and this double bed has turned into a claustrophobic bunk, and the person in it…

The lamp on the end table clicks on. Curly turns away from the pull-cord and faces her with a grimace.*

“Anya,” he wheezes. “Anya, it’s me. It’s Curly. I-I’m sorry, I didn’t…”