(( !Gwah He finally admitted it!!))<br/><br/>Listening to Ryan's confession, Uriel's mind went blank for a minute.<span style="font-style: italic">He's mentally ill..?</span>she thought blankly. Ryan rolled up his sleeves and showed her the scars from where he'd cut himself, but she was slow to process it.<br/><br/>She saw the halfbreed smile weakly: "You hate me now, don't you?" he said.<br/><br/>Uriel stared quietly for a moment more as the pieces finally melded together in her head.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"Hate you?"</span></span>she shook her head.<span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"Ryan, I don't hate you. I admit that you can be pretty antagonizing, but you haven't done anything that could make me hate you... This depression you have; if it can be treated, then we'll treat it. No big deal."</span></span><br/><br/>Although she said that so simply, she doubted it would really be that easy.<br/><br/>Part of her was actually happy, though. Obviously she had noticed that Ryan sometimes had a terrible attitude. He would hide things, look guilty, try to harm himself, and just generally infuriate her. She had figured that that was just how he was--or maybe that was how all humans were if you stuck around them long enough. Finding out that it was actually a mental illness that could be treated... that was a relief.<br/><br/>Perhaps Ryan couldn't understand her current expression, but it was the Vortian equivalent of trying to hide one's smile.<br/><br/>Soon they had arrived at Iira City. Uriel guided Ryan as they utilized several other advanced transportation methods to make their way to the neighborhood where she lived.<br/><br/>Even though the whole floating city was made of metal, in most places it was transparent or iridescent. There were plenty of gardens filled with beautiful flowers. The feeling it gave off was of an alien utopia. Certainly, though, the thing that made this place different from everywhere else they had been on their journey was all the Vortians walking around. Most were Violets, but there were also some Indigos here and there. It was very obviously a different world. Ryan obviously stood out, but people would at most stare for a bit. Nobody really seemed to mind him being there.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"This is my house,"</span></span>Uriel told him. It was identical to most of the other houses nearby. The general trend seemed to be that they were built into the sides of the city's support beams. The open areas were for public works and farmlands.<br/><br/>The inside of the house was simple and uncluttered. To be blunt, the city had a weight limit, so residents weren't allowed to fill their homes up with useless junk. Basic, but attractive, furniture, useful appliances, necessary amenities, and a few important sentimental items were what sat neatly inside. There were also some flower plants in tasteful locations that seemed to have some symbolic value. Either that or they were just super convenient, because this kind of blossom was all over the city. They had brown stems and white blossoms with two long fibers rising from the center of each flower.<br/><br/>Uriel explained to Ryan about the city's weight limit, but assured him that Iira was nowhere near surpassing it. She explained a little bit about the city's average political and military importance, and how no one else from her family lived here.<br/><br/>The house had two stories, and the bedroom was upstairs. There was only one bed, but it was plenty big for a few extra people. Uriel liked a comfortable sleep, so that was one of the few things she'd splurged on.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"You can sleep in the bed with me,"</span></span>she told him,<span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"But intercourse is physically impossible until I've accepted you as my mate. So try not to let your thoughts wander too much."</span></span><br/><br/>She then proceeded to give him a brief tour of the rest of the house. Her forehead creased and she started to feel like she was missing something.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BF40FF"><span style="font-style: italic">"Oh, that's what I was forgetting. Vortians don't need things like a kitchen or a bathroom, so there isn't any here... Well, we'll figure something out."</span></span>she shrugged a bit dismissively. She was probably planning to have him go in a bucket or something, not at all comprehending what an embarrassment that would be. But, if he could wait, there was a bathroom in the public areas, for alien visitors with different needs. Similarly, the public areas had places that sold solid foods. They would manage somehow.