Petal Skin, Steel Bone

The war against an alien species is long over, battlefields overgrown with decades of plants and flowers. But the ruins of their starships remain, and inside the bones is marrow, a coveted crystalline fuel harvested by miners operating huge mechanical golems.

Inside their golem, the Miner is whole. It’s an extension of themself, capable of hard labor that their fragile and disabled body can’t do on its own. But when their golem breaks and no one knows how to repair it, they’re desperate to find a solution. Not only does it leave them without the ability to earn their keep, it isn’t just their golem—it’s Nox’s. He might be dead, but the golem’s cockpit is still filled with his scent of grease and warm leather. It still echoes with his rich laughter. It still holds their dreams of running away together.

If the Miner gives up on the golem, it means accepting that Nox is gone. They can’t bear to let grief fill the empty spaces his love used to occupy, and they’ll do whatever it takes to restart their golem’s stony heart, no matter the consequences.

Rep: queer, trans, non-binary, asexual

CWs: mentions of death of a partner, blood, grief

Length: 13 pages

Publisher and publishing date: self-published, Sept 23, 2023