openmisc | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

videointhenoise

"Never, my love," he says over his shoulder and holds his arm out for Lapis to take. He's aching to be some kind of outside, even if it's a fake outside.

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar’s smile fades as Kent and Lapis leave the room. They sigh quietly and close their eyes, letting thoughts of the stars in the sky lull them to sleep.

From:

videointhenoise

It's not a long tour as everyone is getting ready to find places to sleep, but they do have a bit of a bonfire going. It's not as loud and it's not as boisterous, but it is a community.

And Lapis returns Kent to Feldspar smelling of smoke.

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar is sure they can hear music, distant and a little melancholy, but still music. They dream of playing the harmonica while the jaws of the anglerfish slowly close around them.

The bed dips and they smell smoke and feel warmth in the space beside them. Kent’s returned.

From:

videointhenoise

Kent stripes out of his outer clothes and slides into the bed beside them, sliding an arm around their waist gently. He doesn't want to wake them or startle them.

From:

getfeldsparred

Already awake, though eager to fall back to sleep with Kent beside them, Feldspar tucks themselves into Kent’s chest and slides a thin arm around his waist. He smells good, like the woods. Like pine. Like home.

From:

videointhenoise

He kisses their forehead and closes his eyes, falling asleep properly for the first time in a long time.

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar smiles and waits until Kent’s breath evens before falling back asleep themself.

When they wake they feel more energized than they had in days. They get up and look for some tins for breakfast, eager for some protein that wasn’t of the many-legged variety.

From:

videointhenoise

He feels him move and he wakes slowly, yawning. "Hey, did you sleep?"

He had hoped that they would, but he's never sure. Not when they've had so many awful things happen to them.

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar smiles when they hear Kent begin to stir. They’d forgotten how good he looked when he was just waking, rumpled and relaxed as he stretches out. And now, of course, he has that pretty silver hair.

“Slept pretty good,” they say, bringing a tin over to the bed and sitting back down with it in hand. “Smoked fish?”

From:

videointhenoise

"No. I'm not hungry," he smiles and sits up, reaching out for them. "Eat all you want."

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar has another bite from the tinned of the fish in oil, grinning a little as they settle against Kent’s chest. “I finally have a proper appetite. Crazy. I used to dream of eating a fresh fish or a mallow, but when I saw them again it made me feel sick.”

From:

videointhenoise

"I'm not surprised," he mutters, covering his yawn. "It's a lot to take in."

He pauses, chuckling.

"Literally."

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar rolls their eyes. “You’re annoying.”

They set the tin down onto the floor and lean back against him.

“How was the tour?”

From:

videointhenoise

"Interesting. I still can't get used to the fact that they're so advanced. I took my shoes off and walked on the grass. In space," he explains, rubbing his face.

From:

getfeldsparred

“Grass, huh?” It sounds so exotic, and that in itself is kind of funny…but also kind of sad.

“I can’t believe there was a giant space station floating in the middle of our star system and we had no idea.”

From:

videointhenoise

"Space is huge, Felds. Bigger than anything else. You can hide a lot of stuff in the space between planets."

He nudges them. "Even you can miss something big."

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar snorts. “I mean, chances are slim I’d ever crash into it, but not zero. I almost clipped the Interloper twice with my ship.”

From:

videointhenoise

He sighs. "It's a fucking comet, love. How did you manage that? You weren't trying to land on it, were you?"

He laughs, though, because he knows.

From:

getfeldsparred

Love. Love. Oh. “Only the first time,” they chuckle, “the second time I was flying around the sun.”

From:

videointhenoise

"Flying around the sun," he repeats and shakes his head in disbelief. Happy, loving disbelief. "How close does it get to the sun?"

From:

getfeldsparred

Flying around the sun isn’t the craziest stunt they’ve ever done, but it feels nice to talk about doing anything but sitting in the Dark Bramble for years. They grin a little. “Close enough that you would have killed me if you knew. This was before we met though.”

From:

videointhenoise

"Which was before Slate knew anything about basic safety!" he reminds them with a laugh, reaching over and taking their hand. "You're an asshole."

From:

getfeldsparred

They take Kent’s hand in theirs and bring it up to their lips, idly kissing his knuckles and counting them in his head. Four knuckles.

“Yeah, well, that wasn’t gonna change.”