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]

Feldspar waves back out of habit, watching as Kent walks up the steps of the porch and into the cabin as if he’d been there forever. They smile a little more fondly - their alien is fitting in well, despite their own homesickness and grief.

They root for the harmonica in their pocket and sit on the lowest step on their porch, playing him one final song goodnight.

[videointhenoise]

Kent hears them playing outside of his porch, and as he gets settled for sleep, he gets an idea.

For the next few days, he practically lives at the observatory with Hornfels. They are even able to loop in Slate as Kent starts to set up their radios.

The planets are closer which makes it simple to start to bounce radio waves off of them, and there's the sound of actual cheering late ine night when they are finally able to listen to the wind and radio waves of Giant's Deep.

He sits with the hatchlings at the next campfire, telling them all about what they heard and promising to show them all the next day as long as they finished their chores.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar typically doesn’t spend too much time hanging around ground control, but they hear murmurings from Gossan and even Slate about Hornfels and Kent’s latest project. It seems hush-hush, or maybe that’s because as a rule the scientists are less noisy than the engineers or pilots, until one day Gossan comes running to find Feldspar. They excitedly, even breathlessly talk about hearing the wind and water on Giant’s Deep, and Feldspar can’t help but gape in astonishment.

That night they play with the orchestra, their harmonica quietly humming in the background of the melody. When it’s time for a break they find Kent with the hatchlings, and they pick up Gabbro by the back of the shirt and fling them up into the air, the little hatchling squealing in delight.

“Hiya, Kent. Hear you’ve been busy.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent jerks at the squeal, but Feldspar's voice assures him that there is no emergency.

"What are you doing to them?" he laughs, leaning on his stick. "You interrupted my story."

[getfeldsparred]

"Throwin' 'em," replies Feldspar, who is indeed tossing Gabbro around like a toy. The hatchling continues to giggle as Feldspar catches and then throws them back up into the air. "What are you telling them? I want to listen in!"

[videointhenoise]

"Mm, sorry. I have a one-retelling only policy," he explains to them with a playful little grin. "So you missed it."

[getfeldsparred]

"Then tell another one! You can't just have the only story to tell." Feldspar grins right back at Kent, even if he can't see it, and sets Gabbro back onto the ground.

"Kent has lots of stories!" Riebeck suddenly yells. They'd been practically buried in Kent's leg, refusing to untangle themselves, but their big eyes peer out from behind his trousers.

[videointhenoise]

Kent reaches down and puts a hand on Riebeck's shoulder. "I'll tell you a story later," he promises Feldspar with a grin. "After this. It's not fit for hatchling ears."

[getfeldsparred]

The hatchlings are too little to catch onto any of the back-and-forth grinning between the two adults, but all three do whine about being denied this particular story.

"I'm very mature for my age!" Chert argues. "You can ask anyone!"

"You're still a little pebble," Feldspar argues back, picking them up and setting them onto their knee as they sit down beside Kent. "Do you want to try my harmonica?"

"I do!" Gabbro yells, popping up beside them and holding their little hand out. Feldspar sets the instrument down into the palm with a chuckle.

"Have at."

[videointhenoise]

Kent sits back, trying not to wince as Gabbro gives that damn harmonica all he's got. He doesn't reach to plug his ears, at least.

But when Gabbro wanders away, he relaxes and leans over closer to Feldspar. "I suppose I have to think up a story, huh?"

[getfeldsparred]

"Nah," Feldspar laughs, scooting a little closer themselves, "you don't need to entertain me. I wanted to talk about that project you were doing with Hornfels. You heard Giant's Deep?"

[videointhenoise]

"Yeah," he answers, much more enthusiastic about that. "Do you want to take a listen? I have the prototype in my cabin."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar nods enthusiastically, setting Chert back down onto the ground and waving both them and Reibeck off to where Gabbro had wandered off. "Yeah, of course I want to listen!"

[videointhenoise]

Kent pushes himself up and takes his stick in one hand, reaching over for Feldspar's arm to help guide the way. He's more confident now, but that doesn't mean that he is particularly keen on falling off the path.

[getfeldsparred]

They take his arm with ease, used to walking with him in this way now. "You don't mind that we're leaving the campfire early, do you? We can wait until tomorrow if you want to stay."

[videointhenoise]

"There's always the next one. And I'm taking it out tomorrow night to listen and take notes," he explains softly, slipping into a comfortable walk with him.

"I'd rather do this with you," he adds, then realizes he sounds like a fucking crazy person.

"I mean, you make it fun."

[getfeldsparred]

They grin again, this time a little more bashful than the outright cheek of their earlier back-and-forth. "I'd rather listen to space with you too," they admit. "Don't get me wrong, campfires are nice and all, but sometimes I just want a little peace and quiet."

Everyone always wants a story, their attention. Kent must know how that feels by now, to have someone always want a piece of you.

[videointhenoise]

"Yeah. It's - hard. I was never the celebrity. That's what Ellie was for. She liked to showboat a little. But me? I would rather just do my listening."

He smiles. "What do you do to escape?"

[getfeldsparred]

“You‘ve been hearing it.” Those nightly trips to the top of the waterfalls to watch the stars do a lot to ease some of the pressures they’re facing. Being the first to orbit Timber Hearth and the first to land on the Attlerock and then Brittle Hollow…

It’s hokey, but they weren’t doing any of this for the notoriety. They just wanted to explore the stars.

“And when I can I go to space.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent can appreciate that. The music, the stargazing, the flights. It's a rush, yes, but there's something serene in it. When he lost gravity in the sphere, he could feel it.

"I get it. If you ever want company, I'm on the way, you know," he ventures.

[getfeldsparred]

They believe him. If anyone was going to understand what it’s like to be in the spotlight constantly, it’d be Kent.

“I’d never turn down your company,” they tell him honestly, sincerely. “You mean just the waterfall though, right? Because of the seat belts?”

Feldspar laughs.

[videointhenoise]

He laughs and it's warm and bright and true. "Yeah. Because of the seat belts. But I think I'm getting Slate to come around to the idea."

[getfeldsparred]

“You just gotta keep nagging at them, you’ll get there. I’m hoping that getting ejected from the window will help argue in favor of them too, but Slate is nuts so.”

They lean against Kent playfully.

[videointhenoise]

Kent leans back against them before they reach his cabin. "Let's go inside. I'll let you listen. And you let me worry about Slate."

[getfeldsparred]

It’s been some time since they’ve been back in Kent’s cabin - not since they’ve gained more independence and ease in navigating the village. It’s not an open cabin anymore, it’s his cabin, and Feldspar steps in searching for changes, signs that he’s started to make it home.

“Oh, I don’t worry about Slate. That’s Gossan and Hornfels’ job…and yours too now, huh?