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

[getfeldsparred]

It didn’t feel right not to fight, even if they were resigned to never going home.

Feldspar hesitates before stepping under the water with Kent, looking at his body with curiosity and regret. Time’s been good to him, but it’s still time that was lost between them.

“I’m glad I didn’t,” they reassure him quietly, closing their eyes as the warm water falls around them. “I got to see the Hearthian Lapis grew to be. You did that.”

[videointhenoise]

"We all did," he says and moves aside, against the wall, letting Feldspar have the water so he can stay out of the way.

"And - I'm glad you didn't, either. I'm glad to have been right," he adds with a hesitant smile.

[getfeldsparred]

No, Kent did the majority of the work. Kent made Lapis a good person, curious and generous and funny, and deeply kind. That was all Kent’s doing.

Feldspar raises their hands up to the water and lets it run over their fingers.

“Me too,” they smile.

[videointhenoise]

Kent hears that smile in their voice and it relaxes him.

"Can I touch you?" he wonders, his hands politely down at his sides.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar raises their gaze to where Kent is standing by the wall, tracing the gentle wrinkles in his forehead and around his eyes and at the corner of his lips with their eyes. They nod softly first, then answer, “of course you can.”

[videointhenoise]

He doesn't want to do anything but embrace them, and so he does, sliding his arms around their waist and resting his forehead on their shoulder. "I love you."

[getfeldsparred]

They sigh as Kent wraps around them, as warm and soothing as the water from the shower. Their hands come up to wrap around Kent’s and hold him tightly against them.

It feels so nice just to hold someone again, but it’s a miracle that it’s Kent in their arms. They’d played a song for him every single day while he was in the Bramble.

“I’ll be better soon. I’ll get us back to where we were.”

[videointhenoise]

He presses a kiss to his shoulder. "Where we were?" he wonders, clarifying. Kent missed them, too. So much, but he doesn't want to go back to how things were. That was years ago.

HE needs them as they are now.

[getfeldsparred]

They shudder softly as Kent’s lips touch one of the scars on their shoulder.

“Together,” Feldspar says, as if it wasn’t clear as day. “All of us, together again like it used to be.”

[videointhenoise]

He stands straighter and, though he can't see them, he knows their face. Knows how to map it. Wants to know it now.

"Together," he agrees. "But you don't need to shoulder the entire burden of that on your shoulders, Felds. That's for all of us to do. Also together."

[getfeldsparred]

But the others weren’t the ones who left. It was Feldspar who left, Feldspar who had to chase the stars and leave them all behind.

It isn’t worth it to argue though, because the sentiment is enough. Kent knows that they’re going to try to make amends.

“We’ve got a lot more to rebuild than just a family though.”

[videointhenoise]

"We have a whole way of life," he agrees and feels his chest clenching a little. "But we'll do it. It'll be something we all can do. And you'll help with that, too."

[getfeldsparred]

Once they’re feeling better they’re going to chip in with everyone else to rebuilt their village. Hearthians have been through a lot, but they’ll be okay. They’re tough.

Feldspar tucks their head against Kent’s chest and nods. “Yeah. It’ll be good to help out and feel useful.”

Because their days of flying and exploring are over.

[videointhenoise]

He holds them close. "We have so much to see and do," he mutters. "Well, you have so much to see."

It's never a bad time for a bit of a blind joke.

[getfeldsparred]

They tip their head back and chuckle as they look up at him.

“You have a lot to do, so it makes us even.”

[videointhenoise]

"I have nothing to do but sit by the river and listen to everyone else," he teases and presses a kiss to his neck.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar’s eyes widen as Kent’s lips find their neck and they shiver. “You can watch over the hatchlings.”

They pause. “Are there new hatchlings?”

They assume so, it had been long enough that a cycle would have come and gone.

[videointhenoise]

"There are," he confirms. "You'll like them. They're feisty.

He lets out a breath and steps away, the water turning a little cold the longer it's on.

[getfeldsparred]

They stay under the spray for a while longer, the cold water feeling as nice as the hot water, though lonely now that Kent’s stepped away. When they finish they turn off the shower and reach for one of the towels, handing one to Kent and keeping one for themselves.

“Tell me about them?”

[videointhenoise]

Kent blinks the water out of his face, wrapping the towel around himself and drying his hair. He gives them a rundown of the hatchlings, of Mica and the rest. He tells them about how rambunctious they are, how adventurous and lovely...

Kent adores them.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar honestly and truly can’t wait to see them, though it’s a bittersweet feeling. They missed their own hatchling’s childhood and adolescence.

“I like this Arkrose. I hope you’ve told them all kinds of stories about me.”

[videointhenoise]

"Everyone knows your stories," he says softly. "They tell them at the bonfires sometimes."

He searches for his clothes again, throwing them back over his damp skin.

[getfeldsparred]

They’d be joking, but Kent’s sincerity quiets them down. Disappearing for years probably didn’t do anything to help their reputation as the legendary pilot of Timber Hearth.

Feldspar picks up their own clothes and shrugs them on, the shirt and trousers hanging off their lean frame.

[videointhenoise]

Kent reaches for their hand again. "Come on. You must be exhausted."

Kent is.

[getfeldsparred]

Fledspar takes his hand, their grip tight despite their limited strength. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Bed is sounding really comfortable, and Kent will be there beside them as they sleep. It’ll keep the nightmares at bay, that much they’re sure of.