[i]Another small story. I love the off-kilter...[/i]

It’s a curious little thing. Tetro Dextra stood with amazing poise, one set of arms folded over his chest while the others rested just upon his hips. His countenance was grim, of silent abandon, and ultimately could not unfrown itself. The vast night sky loomed upon him through the window of the ship, blanketing the refuge with complete darkness from the outside. He stared past his faint reflection of incredibly yellowed eyes, head of faint dark hair, and pellucid skin. It would take at least another hour or so to reach their destination now, as one of the ship’s thrusters had given out -- and that was not time that Tetro had to spare. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed one of his companions sneaking up behind him, even through the reflection that stared back at him.

Tetro felt an arm rest on his shoulder. He flinched, and reached back to hit the presence with an arm that had been set on his hip.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

Tetro turned around and realized that it was just Excita. His frown momentarily deepened, and he rested both sets of arms down at his sides. Excita was rubbing his nose when Tetro added a simple, “don’t sneak up on me like that! You scared me. You know what it was for.”

Excita wasn’t thrilled to be met with this response. He couldn’t help but wonder why Tetro was so angry. It was only an hour delay they were dealing with. Only an hour until the ship would be fixed. Only an hour until they got to Atlas-Magnificus. 

“Why are you in such a bad mood?” Excita asked, feeling the pain in his nose dwindle.

“We’re running out of time,” Tetro answered with a scowl, turning his back to Excita. He stared out the window, still.

“What time?! We have nothing BUT time! We have time to KILL! I don’t know what has you so worked up, but I don’t think it’s that. From the second I got on this ship, it’s been lightyear this, millisecond that. Do you realize how INSANE it is that you can travel UNIVERSES in MINUTES? You know, on Earth--”

“--Earth this. Earth that. Since you got on this ship, it’s been nothing but Earth. Forget about it. You’re here for a reason but you just don’t want to admit it.” Tetro answered, crossing both sets of arms.

“--On Earth,” Excita continued anyway, “an hour’s a short time. You can barely get across state lines in an hour!”

Tetro sighed. “Why are you here?” he asked with an indispensable gloom.

“Well, I came here to tell you that the captain asked for you. About five minutes ago. Is that too much time for you?”

No answer came from Tetro. Instead, he shook his head and wandered off, finally leaving that spot by the window with an evident reluctance. Excita glanced at it, bobbing his head to the side. He never understood why Tetro spent so much time here. It wasn’t even the best view on the ship.

Excito leaned in and stared through the glass. His heart stopped as he noticed a growing crack within.