Art by   glenthefossa
Editing by   fzygal

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A gentle mid-Spring breeze caressed the grass and gently rustled the leaves and branches of the few trees within the green, recreational area nestled behind the security of old warehouse and commercial buildings. Gemini Park was the result of community initiative amongst the symbionts, and while spearheaded by Gemini Hive, many other symbionts and even asyms had contributed to the effort. The area between the industrial buildings had been cleared, cleaned, and revitalized into a peaceful refuge over the course of a year. And although the area was legally a public space, its location made it nearly exclusive to the symbiont community.

While Vy had only come-in to the project near its end, they had made an effort to assist where they could. They felt fortunate to be able to enjoy something so absolutely pleasant and peaceful. Life was good.

It wasn’t perfect; life still had many of the same struggles and pain--as well as new ones, especially now that Vy found themself in opposition to the very asym society they, not so long ago, had so casually been a part of themself.

As a result, Vy had felt a few of their friendships strained—if not already dissolved or dissolving—by those who couldn’t or simply would not attempt to understand. Many acquaintances almost feared Vy now, seeing them as some misguided, twisted soul at best, or some perverse, deviant walking-symptom of an epidemic of societal collapse at worst.

But while it hurt Vy deeply to feel that others let Vy’s newfound contentment and meaning derail the relationships so readily, Vy knew how they had once seen things themself. As long as the ignorance wasn’t willful, there was an opportunity to change others’ hearts and minds. Much like their own had been, well-before they had paired with a succubat symbiote.

…

Sitting back to back on a stone bench, Vy could feel Ne-chan quietly wrap around their tailmaw, Davyd, and proceed to squeeze affectionately; the tailmaw chirped in joy, hurgling happily as Vy blushed slightly, their lower-back wings fluttering.

“I love you, hun-pai,” said NeAnne, softly.

“I love you, too, hun,” Vy replied, blushing even more as they smiled. It felt both earnest and instinctive now, whereas before it had always seemed choked and uncertain to say it, even though it had always been true.

He had kept so many people at arm's length or beyond—even NeAnne they’d for so-long referred to as “a friend” though she had quite clearly been so much more. Now, though, Vy felt a wealth of love within themself, not just for NeAnne—though that was a unique and enduring affection—but also for others; a pure, selfless empathy and vast compassion that had replaced the gaping emptiness they had never previously been able to fill. Now when Vy said “I love you,” they felt and knew that it was always deeply sincere.

While their old job had acclimated to Vy’s sudden change rather admirably, Vy found that there was a greater calling for them among the symbiont community. With the increase in the number of symbionts and those interested in becoming one, a call for additional counselors had been made through Gemini Hive. Vy left their old position behind for a small, dusty office in a renovated warehouse, where they counseled newly-transformed and potential symbionts alike.

Vy had even managed to be selected as part of a diplomatic outreach group, acting as an emissary to both asym delegations as well as other pockets of symbiont populations; the latter allowing for those groups to strengthen each other by enhancing their personal networks, with all the knowledge, support, and shared resources such relationships would bring. The coming weekend would see Vy visiting an enclave of symbionts that had congregated around their newly-formed Hive Queen and taken-up refuge in an abandoned university campus outside of town. They were very much looking forward to it.

It seemed that despite whatever strife that their life as a symbiont would bring, Vy’s heart had been unburdened by the dissolution of whatever darkness it was that had possessed them for so long. Among these new friends and family, they felt that they were finally able to be who they were without expectation, or judgment. And as a result, they found that they had now had so much more room in their heart to care for others.

Perhaps that was because for the first time as far as they could remember, that—just maybe— Vy finally felt capable of loving themself, too.