openmisc | Kent/Feldspar

Kent/Feldspar

"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.

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Feldspar shifts a little to make them both more comfortable, then sort of drape their arms over his chest as best they can.

“I needed you,” they echo quietly. More than they realized, they needed Kent to be complete again.

"Did you?"

He knows it. There's a part of him that knows how much they mean to them. But there's another part of him that feels like he should have been forgotten all those years in the abyss. Maybe he should have been left for nothing.

Oh. They know that tone. Their own heart sinks and they pull one of their hands back to rest in the middle of his chest, fingers curling protectively.

“I need you to believe me when I say that I did.”

He takes a breath.

He takes their hand and kisses it.

"I believe you," he assures him. "I - I really do, baby."

Feldspar hopes he does. All he can do is trust in Kent.

They cup Kent’s face and gently stroke his cheek with their thumb. “I love you.”

He nods and holds them tightly. "There have been...a lot of changes . I lost everything. You came back. We lost everything together. Now we have our hatchling again to protect. It's...a lot for me. I know it's a lot for you."

They don’t know why it suddenly hits them just what Kent’s gone through - just what they put them through - right then and there with his words. They knew he’d been through something terrible, but hearing it like that…

Feldspar lays their forehead on the center of his chest. “I’m sorry,” they whisper. “I’m so sorry I did that to you. I’m sorry you had to go through it again and again.”

"I know you are. And - Felds, I've forgiven you already. The only person who can't forgive you is - you, baby," he mutters, draping a hand over them and gently rubbing their back.

“More than that,” they say, sitting up slightly. “More than disappearing into the Dark Bramble. You were so a part of our lives that I forgot you lost your home and your people. I forgot how much…”

They just forgot, and they’re ashamed of it. They exhale softly and slide out of bed. “Give me a second, I’ll be right back.”

Kent frowns but lets them go. "Alright, honey. I'll be here." Probably asleep, but in the bed.

It doesn’t take long for Feldspar to find what they’re looking for, though it was purposely buried and hidden away. They return to the bed and sit down beside Kent, exhaling and then wetting their lips with the tip of their tongue.

They bring the harmonica up to their mouth and begin to softly play.

Kent settles in the bed and closes his eyes, getting comfortable and expecting another late night. He moves over in happy surprise when Feldspar joins him again and then - freezes.

He hasn't heard that music in so long that he immediately chokes up, tears springing to his eyes in a rush of warmth and adoration. He doesn't dare interrupt, but he turns to face him, reaching out one hand to place on their leg.

It’s just the quiet melody that places under the traveler’s song, but it’s the same tune they’d play from the top of the waterfall at night. It brings them back to those days when they’d sit together and talk, slowly falling in love.

Just two aliens underneath the stars together.

They play for a while, letting themselves get lost in the music and the feeling it always gives them, like the universe is embracing them. They lower the harmonica and wipe the tears from their own eyes, glancing down at Kent with a warm smile.

Their head finds their way onto his shoulder and they bring the harmonica back up to their mouth, ready to idly play the night away.

Kent settles into the music, hearing the waterfall himself, how it flows and falls. He hears how it brings him back to something so primal and beautiful.

He holds them when they're finished. "I love you," he says. "I am so happy you're home."

Feldspar knows this one thing for certain: the stars may have their allure, but Kent is home. They smile and turn their head to kiss his chin.

“Happy to be home. Do you want to sleep and I’ll keep playing a while?”

"Yeah," he agrees. "It reminds me of listening to the radio at night. Remember? When you and I would stay up too late? Hornfels would get so annoyed," he mutters, curling up beside him.

They laugh and the harmonica hums along. “And Esker was so nosy! They loved listening to us, that perv.”

Feldspar sighs quietly. “I’d sit up there in my chair and wait until I saw Timber Hearth spinning in the distance.”

"We gave them a thrill," Kent acknowledges, yawning. "That's all they wanted."

And Kent wouldn't move from that radio until he was forced. Every day he got to talk to Feldspar was a good day.

“Mhm. They eventually got bored with us and just came to accept that we were going to take over the airwaves every night.”

They smile to themselves and blow into the harmonica again, starting on a low and lazy melody.

And Kent slowly falls asleep, dreaming of waterfalls and loves, waking only in the middle of the "night" to return to Feldspar's side and curling up against them.

The next day brings a very panicked Slate to the door, though, They bang loudly on it, calling for Feldspar and Kent.

Feldspar plays for a while longer, thinking of the cyclones of Giant’s Deep and the ruins of Brittle Hollow and the tall pines of Timber Hearth. Their song fades, softer and softer, until they set it aside and fall asleep.

The urgent knocking jolts them awake. They blink all four eyes rapidly and try to scramble out from underneath the blankets. “Wha…Slate? Is that you?”

Feldspar throws their clothes on as they hurry to the door and pull it open. “What’s going on?”

Kent sits up, bare chested, to listen as Slate tries frantically to explain.

"Power surge," they say, pointing behind them. "It's knocking out systems left and right. We need all hands out."

All four of Feldspar’s eyes widen. “Keeeent!”

They turn and race into the room, grabbing a shirt and tossing it to Kent. “Kent, you have to find the power supply to the dream. You have to save them!”

"I heard, I heard." He takes the shirt and throws it on, finding his pants and reaching out a hand. Slate takes it. "Felds, you and Gabbro need to link across the river. Kent, come on. We'll go get in the guts of this thing."

And they pull Kent behind them and out.

When the time came to strap that jetpack on Feldspar was sure they’d be panicking, but they’re oddly serene as the very tall Riebeck helps them into the harness. “We’ll be in the middle canyon,” they tell him, meaning Gabbro and themselves.

“Gossan’s coming from one side, I’m coming from the other,” they repeat back. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”

Everyone’s practically rushing around to be of some help, but they all pause every time the lights begin to flicker. They’re losing time.

“Come on, Felds,” they hear Gossan shout - from where Feldspar couldn’t possibly say, “take the raft and get into position!”

“Right, right,” they call back, leaving Riebeck with a wink and then taking a good leap to get onto one of the rafts.

Kent/Feldspar

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