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]

"I'll meet you at the bonfire," Kent tells them and leaves no room for argument.

He clears the rest of the dishes before he starts out, leaving Lapis with Gneiss again so that he can work with Fels.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar nods obediently and then heads out for the day, eager to work on those retro rockets with Slate. If Slate could get them to work then traveling would be so much easier!

But they’re still just as finicky as ever, and Feldspar crashes far enough outside of the village that there’s only a column of smoke visible from the crater. And it’s a good thing, because Feldspar really isn’t all that hurt, just a little battered in the usual ways.

“Better luck next time,” they say as Slate pries them out of the cockpit with a large pair of two-handed pliers. The metal’s all twisted and they have to wriggle to free their legs, but again, not that hurt this time.

“Yeah, yeah,” Slate grumbles. “They didn’t even fire this time.”

Slate hauls Feldspar up and walks them over to a fallen log, giving them the standard recovery kit of water, some roots to chew, and some gauze on their open wounds.

“Kind of a step backwards, sure, but you’ll figure it out. You always do,” they grin, then close their eyes for a little nap before the bonfire.

[videointhenoise]

Kent and Fels work throughout the morning and the afternoon, though Kent is noticeably lagging behind his normal work effort. He takes several breaks to simply sit and listen, rubbing his forehead as he does. "If we mount it on the side, it might skew the trajectory. We'll have to compensate with a different triangulation," Kent mutters. "But - if we mount it at the top, it's going to be way too close to the oxygen tanks."

He groans.

[getfeldsparred]

“And we know Slate’s already finicky about moving any of their pieces around,” Hornfels mutters, flopping down on a chair beside Kent. “We can mount it underneath the cockpit. I know Slate’s been wanting to work on an auto-pilot system, but we’re years away from that kind of technology and-”

Hornfels pauses and looks at Kent as though finally actually seeing them for the first time that day. “You look exhausted. Surely Lapis isn’t that needy still.”

[videointhenoise]

"Auto pilot!" Kent laughs. "They've gotta get the ship to work with the pilot they've got."

He scrubs his hands down his face.

"And no, they aren't. They were with Gneiss last night anyway. It was just me and Feldspar."

[getfeldsparred]

“Just you and ‘spar? And what’s the matter with them? Did you get into a fight?” calls a voice from behind them. Gossan comes causally strolling up the stairs, food in hand to feed the busy (and forgetful) pair.

“And I heard that thing about the auto pilot. Slate’s gotta stop trying to explode us before they can think about an automatic guiding system.”

Gossan gives Hornfels a cup and slides one into Kent’s hand. “So, what’s going on with you and Feldspar? Do I need to beat ‘em up?”

[videointhenoise]

Kent hears the gentle clatter of bowls and turns back to the table properly, reaching out to pull one closer. It smells delicious and he's remembered that he has to eat. So. That's a good sign.

"Nothing, no. We're fine. Better than fine," he remarks. "But uh - " He blushes a little and shakes his head. "Nevermind. It's probably nothing."

[getfeldsparred]

Hornfels picks their head up from their bowl, which they had already been happily munching on, to share a look with Gossan.

“What is it? You can tell us,” Gossan presses, joining them at the table. “It’ll stay between us, promise.”

Hornfels nods in agreement. “Absolutely. If there’s anything you need to ask about you probably should. You haven’t lived with us for all that long and Feldspar…is…uh…”

“They’re Feldspar,” Gossan nods.

[videointhenoise]

Kent can practically hear the two of them conspiring and he just laughs.

"No, no. Like I said. It's nothing. We just - uh - missed each other a lot, I guess."

[getfeldsparred]

The little light clicks on over Gossan’s head before it does Hornfels.

“Ooooooooh. You mean Feldspar’s been…energetic lately, right?”

“What’s the difference?” asks Hornfels. “They’re always energetic and…oh. Oooh. Right. Yeah. That’s…”

“That’s normal, is what Fels and I are implying.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent grumbles at that. "That's normal? What's normal?"

[getfeldsparred]

Hornfels is clearly struggling, but they press in anyway. “The..um…oh, stars, it feels like having the talk with the hatchlings…it’s a surge of hormones. It happens more often when we’re younger, but when we’re still of mating age we have these cycles…”

“Feldspar’s wanting sex because they’re in a mating frenzy,” Gossan says, bluntly cutting them off. “Sorry, we should have warned you. I’m guessing it doesn’t happen for your species?”

[videointhenoise]

Kent chokes on the broth, though he's laughing. "Yeah, we dom generally the females of the species, though. Not males. We are...generally always ready for it."

He runs his fingers through his hair. "They didn't tell me that."

[getfeldsparred]

“Oof. Then be glad Feldspar’s not a male, or you’d never get any rest,” grins Gossan, clearly glad that Kent doesn’t seem upset at the lack of prior Information.

“But it makes sense though,” Hornfels adds, a little lost in thought. They tap their spoon against their chin and squint their eyes. “Feldspar not telling you. We don’t really tend to realize it’s happening until we see a pattern in our behavior. And Feldspar, as smart as they are, can be dense when it comes to this sort of thing.”

“Yeah,” Gossan nods. “Not to mention they’re usually in space for it, and they really haven’t been interested in anyone in a long time.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent groans. "Probably because they gets their hit from being out in space," he mutters, not quite upset about it. "I'm sure Slate knows exactly when it's going to happen.'

[getfeldsparred]

“Yeaaah,” Gossan grins. “They’re our friend and all, but we’re definitely timing when we shoot them into space. Slate thinks they’re sneaky that way.”

[videointhenoise]

"They aren't," he laughs. "But I would do the same thing."

He finishes his broth and sits up. "Well, I'm going to go take a nap before bonfire tonight."

[getfeldsparred]

“You’re gonna neeeeeeed iiiiit,” Hornfels sings cheekily, and Gossan snorts.

“We’ll be seeing you later, Kent.”

When Kent’s out of earshot, Hornfels leans over to Gossan again, mumbling out of the side of their mouth, “should we have warned him that Feldspar bites?”

“Nah,” Gossan says with a shake of their head, “he’s probably already figured that out for himself.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent sighs, but he enjoys the teasing as he wanders back to his cabin. He falls asleep face first on the bed, but he does manage to wake up with the sounds of a few hatchlings whooping and chasing each other around the waterfall before the bonfire.

He stands and gets ready before hurrying off.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar also has themselves a nice little nap, waking as the wind shifts and brings the cold air along. They can hear Slate still tinkering on the ship behind them, and they sit up with a careful stretch of their arms over their head.

“It’s late. We need to head back to the village before they send people out after us.”

Feldspar helps Slate with their supplies and they start back towards the village, happily chatting about the controls and the various successes and failures of the day.

“Is Kent gonna be angry about all those new cuts and bruises?”

“Nah. He knows that I’m testing things for you, it ain’t a surprise that sometimes I get hurt.”

At the thought of Kent though they start to grin a little excitedly.

[videointhenoise]

Kent is pulled into the bonfire proper by Gabbro, who wants to sit and chatter with him. Fortunately, Kent is very much in the mood for it. And when Gneiss decided to bring the littlest clutch, Kent straightens up. "How's Lapis?" he mutters to Gabbro, who laughs.

"They're fine. Just - staring at the stars."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar and Slate arrive not long after, their appearance heralded by the excited cries of the older hatchlings, including Gabbro.

“Feldspar! Do you have any stories for us?” Chert asks, followed quickly by an equally as eager Riebeck.

“We-we want a story, Feldspar!” they agree, though somewhat softer. “Tell us about Brittle Hollow?”

“No, Giant’s Deep!” Chert argues.

“No, tell us about the time you flew by the Interloper!” Marl interjects, grinning from where they’re seated with little Hal on their lap.

“No,” Gneiss says, “you need to tell us about the time you flung yourself around the sun. Now that was a dozy.”

“Yeesh,” Feldspar says through some laughter. They eye Kent and then Lapis, and suddenly feel a lot more embarrassed than they have in the past about all this. “You’ve already heard all these a hundred times, do you really want me to tell them all again?”

“Yeah!!!!”

“Yes, of course!”

“It’s the way you tell them,” Tektite chimes in, having taken off their prosthetic and rubbing at their stump. “You might as well pick something, Feldspar, or this group ain’t gonna leave you alone.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent brings Lapis over, humming softly as he finds his way to sit beside Feldspar. He sits close and turns, speaking softly to them.

"They love hearing your stories," he says in a murmur. "Pretend you're telling it just to Lapis."

[getfeldsparred]

The pressure has been a lot these last few years, but they know they’ve done this to themselves. All that posturing and grand-standing had solidified them into some sort of village entertainer, a legend even.

But talking just to Lapis, and their big, searching eyes is easy.

“Okay, okay,” they laugh, holding their arms out. “Let me tell you the one about the Hourglass Twins and how I nearly got caught in that massive sand pillar. It goes like this-”

They grow more animated as they dive into the story, imaging one day that they’d tell it to an older Lapis who would watch them in awe just like Riebeck and Chert and Gabbro do now.

[videointhenoise]

Kent leans against them slightly, listening to the story with a chuckle. And when he finishes and the hatchlings demand more, Kent leans forward.

"Look, Feldspar has some big tales, but they've never flown....in a helicopter," he says, trying to draw their attention away.