Kent/Feldspar

[videointhenoise]

"Just once more," they had said when Ellie's team petitioned for it. She was busy with Palmer, falling in love with science while he fell in love with God, and Kent was left to pick up the pieces. He wanted another damn go at it. The Machine had a pricetag in the billions; it was begging to be used again.

But they wouldn't let Ellie go. They wouldn't let just anyone go. They wanted someone who knew how it worked, who had been there from the beginning, but someone who isn't completely taken in by Ellie's words.

That leads them to a dozen people and they end up with Kent. He's blind, but that's not what decides it. They claim that he wouldn't hallucinate the way Ellie did. That he has a unique perspective.

And, he's already proven himself steady and loyal.

He experiences it all the way that Ellie does, but something goes wrong on the other end. Maybe another terrorist attack. Maybe not. All he knows is that he's in the sphere and then, suddenly, he's floating, unable to find his footing until a great crash and he slams into the bottom of the machine.

He groans, pulling his helmet on with a grunt and a wince.

"Fuck this," he mutters, finding the edge of the sphere with his hands. There was a door there somewhere. He just - has to find it.

Comments

[videointhenoise]

Kent teaches them the basics, how to play and then they're off. Kent, naturally, is first, and he catches Chert in quick time. They're next, and Kent laughs as they trip over Gabbro, who got distracted by a mushroom.

By the end of it, the hatchlings fall together, panting, in front of the fire.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar watches the shenanigans with a growing ache in their chest. Kent is…Kent is just so good. He fits in so perfectly, loves and is loved in turn by all of them. They’re not sure what their life would have looked like if Kent wasn’t in it - they definitely wouldn’t have been this happy.

Before they even realize it both Hal and Lapis are sleeping away in their arms. Tektite takes Hal and leaves Lapis to Feldspar, who then tucks them away against their chest.

[videointhenoise]

Kent finds his place beside Feldspar again and leans on their shoulder. He can tell the little ones - or one, it seems - is asleep, and so he keeps his voice quiet.

"I don't suppose you roasted my marshmallow for me?" he teases.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar tries to nuzzle back against Kent’s head, smiling to themselves. “Didn’t have a third arm, else I would have.”

Lapis lets out a quiet little sigh. “Lapis is out cold. Ready to head home?”

[videointhenoise]

"Oh my god, yes," he laughs, standing up again and reaching down a hand for them. "Are they staying with us tonight?"

He doesn't mind now as much as he did before, but he's mindful of what Gossan and Hornfels said to him before. What they explained.

[getfeldsparred]

“Mmhm. I’ve missed them, and I know you have too.”

They take his hand and gets up, shifting Lapis slightly so they’re leaning on their shoulder.

“Besides, I can keep quiet if you can.”

[videointhenoise]

"Bullshit," he laughs, taking his cane from where he had set it on the tree before starting up the path to their cabin. "You couldn't keep quiet if I bribed you."

He would love to make really challenge it, though.

[getfeldsparred]

“Pfft, I can keep quiet just fine!” they argue, walking close to him as they leave the campfire. “No bribe necessary. It’s you that’s gonna have the problem.”

[videointhenoise]

"Want to bet on it?" he teases. "Is that something that you do? Gamble?"

He reaches over and keeps one hand in theirs, the other on his cane.

[getfeldsparred]

“Do we gamble,” they snort, squeezing his hand. “Of course we do. What’re the stakes?”

[videointhenoise]

"Whoever makes the noise first has to get up with Lapis the rest of the night," he decides.

[getfeldsparred]

“Evil. I like it.” Feldspar grins and nudges against him. “You’re on. First to make a noise gets hatchling duty.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent grins and lets go of their hand, bounding off into the cabin to prep an actual supper for them.

[getfeldsparred]

Kent leaves Feldspar to trek up to the cabin with Lapis in their arms and put the little hatchling to bed in their crib. For the first time since coming home they stop to look at the hand-carved crib - they think they might have slept in it when they were still little.

[videointhenoise]

Kent makes a quick fish and vegetable fry up, silently plating it before setting it on the table.

Apparently the silence starts now.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar joins Kent just in time for supper, sitting at the table with a grateful little hum. They aren’t aware that anything’s started - this just looks too good not to comment.

“You’re a great cook, you know. I miss it when I’m in space.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent chuckles. "Good," he says with a laugh, deciding not to press the matter. "It's because I have to taste everything as I go."

[getfeldsparred]

“A novel concept,” they grin, already tucking into the meal. They start fish-first and then move onto the vegetables, pausing to fetch a bottle of sapwine Granite had made the year of their first launch.

“Here, try this. It’s a good stuff,” they tell him, pouring generously.

[videointhenoise]

He brings the glass over and gives it a sniff, shaking his head. "Is that sapwine?" he asks, skeptical.

"Are you sure?"

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar takes a sip with a soft huff through their nose. “Like I said,” they grin, sipping again without a wince, “it’s the good stuff. Trust me.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent tries to listen for a stutter of a breath and doesn't hear it, so he deems it safe to drink. "What makes this one palatable? Do you deliberately give hatchlings the harsh stuff?"

[getfeldsparred]

“The age and the barrels, I think. I dunno, but it’s the good stuff. The special occasion stuff.”

They take another sip and feel it immediately head right up to their head.

“But yeah, the hatchlings need to prove their iron stomachs.”

[videointhenoise]

"Have any had to do it over again?" he wonders. "The ceremony?" He's only been around for one and it went spectacularly. He can't imagine what a failure might look like.

[getfeldsparred]

Do the ceremony a second time? Feldspar shakes their head. “Nah, it doesn’t really work like that. The elders of the village decide when a hatchling is ready, and if said hatchling doesn’t take well to the sapwine we’ll water it down. It’s more…passing on responsibility, I guess.”

They chuckle to themselves. “Hatchlings don’t realize what’s going on until they’re older and actually in that older circle making the decisions. But to be honest, most hatchlings can handle it. Our stomachs are designed to eat all kinds of rough things.”

[videointhenoise]

"Huh. Makes sense." So no one is ever left out. "And - I've seen what you eat. I have to be picky about what I cook because humans were not designed that way. Too many stomachaches."