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 doesn’t…” Feldspar stares openly as the hair falls around Kent’s face. “It doesn’t hurt?”

They touch the hair, bending and twisting, and look to his face for a change in expression. No register of pain.

From behind them they can hear Rutile laugh in relief. “Like fingernails! Oh, oh Kent, thank the stars, we were so worried!”

[videointhenoise]

Kent just smiles, letting Feldspar take his hair. "And I get fur on my face if I don't shave it. I've just been doing it where no one can see, I guess."

He hums a little. "Oh hell. Poor Gabbro. I'll need to talk to them. No wonder they haven't left me. Wait. Is that why you had the hatchlings sleep with me these past two nights?"

Rutile nods solemnly. "We wanted to keep an eye on you. In case you really did need help."

Kent reaches out and takes Feldspar's hand. "I'm alright," he assures them.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar can’t help themselves; they reach up to cup Kent’s face, trying to feel the hair on his skin for themselves.

“I’ll go find Gabbro and explain, though they’re probably right outside the door,” Rutile says, already walking to the door. They put a hand on Kent’s shoulder and squeeze. “We’re here for you, always.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent nods. "I know. And same to you" he tells Rutile, and cups his hand over Feldspar's on his cheek. He waits until he hears the door close, and then let's out a breath.

"If I missed you that much, I'd just stowaway on the ship next time," he says with a smile, fingers wrapping around Feldspar's.

[getfeldsparred]

“That’d probably be a bigger act of self-harm than using a knife on yourself,” they chuckle. But they wouldn’t have chalked any of it up to Kent missing them - instead it would have been that they weren’t around to see Kent hurt themselves and stop him.

“Stars, Kent, that…you really scared me.”

They brushed their thumb up and down their cheek, feeling the little pinpricks of hair underneath his skin. “Huh. I never noticed.”

[videointhenoise]

"I never looked good with the scraggly beard. At least that's what my friends told me. Maybe I should spare everyone the shock and just let it grow."

Kent smiles against his hand. "Well, it's not how I wanted to be reunited, but - I'm glad you're back."

[getfeldsparred]

“Yeah, not my best landing, honestly, but I’m glad to be back too.”

Their thumb almost brushes against the corner of Kent’s lips before they stop themselves - or rather, are stopped when Gabbro rushes back into the cabin and nearly bowls Feldspar over as they run straight to Kent.

“Kent! Kent!”

It’s the most emotional they’ve ever seen out of the little hatchling. Almost to the point of tears, they grab and hold onto Kent tightly again.

[videointhenoise]

"Hey," he smiles, kneeling down to wrap his arms around Gabbro in return.

"Thanks for looking out for me, bud," he says genuinely. "You are a very, very good friend." And Gabbro gets another little squeeze.

[getfeldsparred]

Gabbro sniffs softly and buries their head into Kent’s shirt, not willing to let go just yet. Feldspar smiles and gently puts a hand on Gabbro’s head.

Sometimes those hormones are particularly strong, and this is one of those times. They can get their hatchling fix with little Reibeck later when they show them all the artifacts they brought back.

“I’m going to tell some stories at the fire tonight, but first - I need a shower. I’ll see you later.”

[videointhenoise]

"Alright," Kent tells them with a smile. "I'll be there."

But not for the stories. He lets Feldspar do what he needs to. Gabbro leaves and Kent readies himself for the campfire.

The stories are fine, yes, but Kent doesn't stay for the whole thing. He walks up to the waterfall and waits for him there.

[getfeldsparred]

They’re a natural storyteller, and most of the evening’s entertainment - aside from Gneiss’ music - is their stories from Giant’s Deep. They give all the right flourishes and embellish just a little here and there, but when the attention finally falls away from them they’re relieved.

They help Marl round up the hatchlings and put them to bed, then climb the path up the newly-installed ramp and through the woods to get to the top of the waterfall.

Feldspar sits down unceremoniously beside Kent on their log.

[videointhenoise]

Kent leans against them as a greeting.

He says nothing at first, waiting to see if Feldspar wants to play or talk. Kent is happy either way. He's a guest here now, with Feldspar, and so he follows what he wants.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar leans back.

“Did you really miss me, or was I just projecting?”

Play, definitely play. This is the only time they feel like they can be themselves.

[videointhenoise]

"Your ego is showing," he laughs. "But yeah. Of course I miss you, asshole. You're my biggest source of entertainment around here."

He leans forward, arms dangling on his knees a bit. "Not the same without you, but - I'm glad you get to go."

[getfeldsparred]

“My ego is always showing!”

They chuckle and sit back, eyes back up on the stars.

“There’s still so much out there, y’know?”

[videointhenoise]

"Yeah," he agrees. "I do know. I hope you get to see it all."

He digs his cane into the dirt. "And we will keep making sure you don't explode in the process." Kent reaches over and takes their hand. "Come on. I want to show you something. In my cabin."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar feels a knot growing in their stomach - a familiar feeling by now thanks to Kent.

“As if I could resist,” they laugh, getting to their feet. “I’ll tell ya, Kent, I was surprised I made it outta this one alive! Those islands were getting tossed around like they weighed nothing.”

[videointhenoise]

"Yeah, and you weren't anything but a flea on its ass." He lets the flutter in his chest take him over for now. He's been feeling it for a long time. He's been feeling it worse when Feldspar's been gone. And he's been here for months and months, learning and being accepted and integrating here as easily as he can.

It's not such a hard leap to realize that he'd fallen for one of them.

He doesn't know, though, if the feeling is mutual.

He leads him down to the cabin and opens the door, revealing a record player in the middle of the main room.

[getfeldsparred]

Kent’s got a helpful bank of all sorts of delightful sayings - ‘but a flea on its ass’ is going directly into their own vocabulary.

They keep talking about the islands the heavy gravity, the ruins they saw, the raging cyclones. There’s a big ocean that hasn’t been touched yet, and that’d be the next mission. But they shut up very suddenly when they see the device in the middle of the room, the product of months of work for Kent.

“Woah! You finished it! It’s…it’s so nice.” They let go of Kent in favor of looking over the machine, all slick and well-designed. “Now are you going to finally tell me what’s in the case?”

[videointhenoise]

The islands are fascinating, the ocean below even more. But there's always going to be another story. Another adventure. And Kent is here to hear them all.

He nods. "I am."

He takes out the briefcase and opens it, revealing a large, golden disc that he pulls from a black sleeve.

"This is a record."

He feels the edges of the disc and places it on the player. "Ellie and I put the photos of the world in the books, but this is the sounds."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar thinks they’re starting to understand. “And this device is going to play the recording!”

They whistle, low and impressed. All the sounds of his world - no wonder he spent so long working on this.

[videointhenoise]

"Exactly."

He starts to set it up. "We sent one into space decades ago with the hopes that someone would find it and pick it up. But this is specifically for me to show others directly."

He starts the first bit, which is just the sound of different greetings in different languages.

"That's all the languages we have. Native speakers."

[getfeldsparred]

It’s overwhelming, actually, hearing all the various languages of just one single planet. “And they’re all just saying hello?”

Woah.

Feldspar finds a chair and pulls it up to the record player.

“That’s a smart idea though, having something like this and sending it out into space.” The odds are astronomically small that it would ever reach anyone, but still, good idea.

[videointhenoise]

"We do what we can," he says with a smile, then reaches over, knocking the needle up a little more. He takes him through different animal sounds and binary code and then, at the end, there's music. Each song, classical and pop, is played through.

Kent just listens, a tear streaming down his face. It's a happy thing, a happy tear. He's just glad to hear music.

[getfeldsparred]

The music is particularly moving. Some of the songs sound familiar, as though they could easily replicate them around the fire, but some are so strange and other-worldly that Feldspar can’t help but sit in awe.

Every time they turn to say something they catch the expression on Kent’s face and quickly shut themselves back up. This is a moment, and it’s important for Kent.

There’s a song with a harmonica and Feldspar finds themselves laughing softly. Not so strange after all. They get up and sit down on the floor beside Kent’s legs, laying their head against their thigh.

“Thanks for this.”