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Author Topic: Into the Abyss [Draco!]  (Read 1007 times)

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Offline Lion

Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« on: October 15, 2017, 10:56:05 am »
It had been hell in a handbasket trying to get Harley up here. Sure the trip was almost forever and a day, and scorpion hunting was what brought him down there to begin with but a promise had been a promise and Grisham wanted to take Quin up to the Stellarium. The places that were open to the public were nice, but that which required special access, exhibits that detailed a greater aspect for more prominent research were as equally breathtaking.

Grisham had let Harley stay with him, rest up and the moment they had free together, he took him to the Stellarium. Walking the Astrosphere, and taking a look through the observatory sector to view the stars through one of the many satellites that orbited this world.

Adstreia was the City of Stars. Built more up than wide, and with levels less stringent than Haviah. If you had a mind to be here, it was a mind being put to use, with solar panels lining the sides of every building, skyscrapers, tram systems, and something very distinctly non-Solartan. It was much much cooler.

When they were settled in, Grisham looked down at Harley, smiling as they passed through clearance and Grisham led the way through corridor after corridor toward directories where the Astrosphere was. It wasn’t a long walk and Grisham wore his jumpsuit for the day, black form-fitting coveralls with the ends tucked into laced up boots, and the zipper halfway up his chest. A white shirt underneath was set against his dog tags and as they jingled with every movement, Grisham’s left hand idly held one of them.

“Are you excited?” he asked gently. “The Astrosphere is pretty great. It’s like you’re walking amongst the stars. For real. Star maps projected everywhere. It’s a real sight to see.”

He took his hand out to Quin. “I’m real glad you decided to come up here. What changed your mind?”  Except now that he said it, he regretted it. One thing could very well make Quin change his mind and turn around and decide to walk right out. Of course, there was the little fact that he’d have to get through Grisham first, and it wasn’t like he was going to let him walk away. And there was also the little facet of having to ride the rails for another 12 hours to go back home.

Home. Did Quin think of Solarta as home? Maybe not in the way Grisham called Adstreia home. It was where he lived because his dragon wanted him there and that was where he worked because it was a job he was paid to do. Grisham at that moment, no longer questioned dragging him up here, if for just a day. They’d make the most of it.

Quin deserved that much.

Offline Draconian

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2017, 11:21:16 pm »
It was really strange.

He'd been reading the bodylanguage. Unspoken cues. The quiet little things so he didn't go making a fool of himself and... Grisham had no interest in fucking.

Harley had been suspicious at first. Wanting him all the way in adstreia.So far from his... Home? Was Solarta home? Was he allowed to have a home? Harley had slept fitfully when they finally got to Grisham's place and had been hesitant and suspicious. The only older guy he was remotely comfortable to be around was Yavul. Harley was convinced the man would rather eat a fetus than see him all the way naked.

A bruise to the ego but it helped with the trust thing. Sort of.  Not that Harley trusted him. Or anyone. Once doors were closed and blinds were shut was when the monsters reared their ugly heads.

"As excited as I'll ever be," Harley hadn't really wanted to come here. It seemed interesting but nothing he was all that interested in - what was he interested in though? He wore civilian clothes - if anyone had said he had to wear something else he missed the memo. Today, instead of the slicked back PR Pilot he looked like a kid. Small frame, loose shirt. Jeans and "sneakers". He glanced and Grisham and held back a sigh.

He was being friendly. Showing a new Pilot the ropes.

Harley knew he wasn't important. He wasn't being brought up here because he meamt anything.

"So am I just looking at the sky? Stars? I can't say I've ever paid attention to them before," he admitted, ears pinning back in silent apology. "I was always too concerned by what was going on in front of me."

Offline Lion

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2017, 11:50:01 am »
Grisham resisted the temptation to put his arm around Harley, mainly because he was pretty positive the small moocow kulshedra didn't want to be here. He seemed reluctant to do anything with anyone that didn't involve the horizontal tango.  He wanted  nothing of the sort from Quin. It seemed to be rather point tradition that he only fucked garbage fires.

But despite that resistance the temptation fell through and he reached his arm out and put a hand on Harley's shoulder, giving it a firm pat and a squeeze. Grisham actually smiled, his eyes remaining narrowed and brow low as it was wont to do. It was just his way of looking at things, but he was smiling more and more these days.

He liked Quin. And showing the Astrosphere was definitely something a person had to see at least once in their lives.

"It's like a star walk. There's a raised dais in the middle and a translucent flooring. Projecting pieces of the stars and space outside. Really, though, me explaining it pales in comparison to just witnessing it," he nodded to him. Grisham led the way through the corridor and kept close to Quin.

Even now he could still feel that wine bottle, and all the sensations that came with that memory. He could cast it way from him, put it into a marble and destroy it, but he didn't want to. Not when it was ever present, still lingering on the mind. He'd hoped that bottle would make for a pretty accessory, and he'd hoped that the work he'd put into it didn't go unnoticed, but also...he hoped that Quin could look at that bottle and see a gift from a friend, rather than an obligation from family.

The wine inside couldn't have been more sour.

"Okay this way," he directed and led them to a wide spherical room. The door behind them closed as they entered and the raised dais at the center had railing all around it. Grisham stood with Quin on the center of that dais and right then and there did he put his arm around the smaller man, keeping him steady when Grisham spoke aloud.

"Disengage, Authorization: Alberich," he called out. Just as he did so the dais broke apart from the platform and it receded into the wall at the base of the doorway, into a slit, and a covering covered the exit. And an antigrav pad underneath the dais kept them raised at the center of the spherical room just as it began to darken and dim.

"I hope you're not scared of heights," he murmured to Quin. And just then projected stars began to appear around them as the entire room turned to empty black and the room got colder.

Offline Draconian

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2017, 12:21:03 am »
It was jarring.

Harlequin Kingschilde had never counted on having anyone sort of decide they were looking out for him. In the span of a few months since becoming a Pilot, since being ported to desert hell. He'd gained himself a strange ragtag family that he wasn't all that sure he wanted. Having people close meant being able to lose them. Harley played with his finger tips nervously while they walked, glanced at Grisham when he pat his shoulder.

If it were anyone else he'd have probably offered a quick blowie in a closet but... No. Grisham wasn't like that. Of course Harley had subtly tried. Pushing boundries. Trying to see if Grisham was just shy and didn't want to look like a total pig. Something. Nope. Nothing. Harley had even fallen asleep on the guy like a child and nothing.

He supposed this was what it felt like to have a dad.

Harley kept his eyes down casted while they walked. Half listening to Grisham talk about where they were going and how amazing it was. Or something. Harley stared down at his weird feet and shifted his stance wider so he could keep his balance. The arm helped and he tensed for a moment before relaxing. Right. This was Grisham.

The guy who made him a fucking nightlight of all things. Something that Harlequin would never admit to using when he slept alone - which was as infrequently as possible.

"I'm not scared of much," He said softly, voice echoing ever so slightly in the large empty room. He cast his strange eyes up and shivered at the cold - real cold! - and just stared. Eyes wide, mouth falling open ever so slightly. He pushed his hair from his face and did a small spin, looking around the room at all the stars. "Wow," He breathed. Then he paused glancing at Grisham before turning away.  "So... Why are you showing me this? 'Cause it's pretty?" He took a deep breath and frowned, "You feel pity? Do we go play catch after this? Grab a burger and talk about sports?"

Offline Lion

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2017, 01:12:06 am »
Anyone that had the opportunity to walk the Astrosphere needed to take it before it was too late. It was something that person just had to see at least once in a lifetime. It was as close to the real thing as most people would get in their lifetime, and even now Grisham was amazed at it's close resemblance to being out in the black, when you could see little more than the glittering of stars.

Here you could walk among them without fear of death, and could watch in wonder the movement of planetary rings and meteor showers to their own delight.

Grisham directed the platform forward and as darkness surrounded them. The stars were moving, swirling and exposed to them the lights of quasars, pulsars, nebulas, and the collected embrace of emptiness, smothering you, but at the same time reveal all of its wonder and terror in a continuous expanse.

"I'm showing you this because I think you'd like it. I like it. And there's something coming up in a second, real close up that I wanted to show you. Remember that meteor shower? Burning so brightly in the sky? You can see them up close now.  Just...watch," he murmured, and gestured to the display in front of them.

The stars that emanated a blue glow from their left was dwarfed as a beam of light shot across the horizon. One, the another, and another, and they were all falling together, burning so hotly and brightly and Grisham found himself smiling at the brilliant display. It never failed to amaze him. Slowly his hand reached up to grip the dog tags that lay around his neck.

"So, Quin, what do you think?"

Offline Draconian

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2017, 12:55:13 am »
Harley regretted his snarky attitude almost instantly.

His ears displayed his discomfort by turning down and pinning back. Head lead down slightly. His mismatched eyes turned to Grisham after a moment and he watched and listened, blinking slowly before turning to where his gaze was guided to. Harley's eyes widened though, his stance shifted and he blinked widely at the scene before him.

It was something.

Harley's mouth opened slightly and it snapped shut and he watched and it just felt... Sad.

Like he'd let everyone down. The light burned his eyes and he wanted to look away, but he felt tears prick at them and he figured burning eyes was a good excuse as any. Harley pressed a hand to his chest, looking confused because he felt heavy and breathing was hard. He didn't see something beautiful. Well, they were. But they were dying. They were shooting across the sky and being snuffed up. Burning into nothing in the atmosphere.

"I don't know," He whispered, glancing to Grisham, using the other hand to try to subtly brush away the tears that had gotten stuck on his cheeks.  Harley noticed Grisham clutching the dog tags and he took in a deep shaky breath. What was he doing here? He just turned away to look at the scene before him. The display of the meteor shower. All those things burning up into nothing.

He didn't deserve this. When he'd been shoved into Solarta the last thing he'd expected from it was to be ... Here. The last thing Harley had expected from anything of this was to have some... Pseudo family that just reminded him that his own was terrible. How awful was it that people that had been complete strangers less than a year ago already seemed to love him more than his own family. Harley stared ahead, not noticing that he was full on crying. Too wrapped up in his thoughts.

Breath hitched and Harley finally crumpled. His knees wobbled and he slipped to the floor, hands moving to his face. This was embarrassing. Grisham didn't bring him here to cry on the floor, he brought him here to show him something pretty! To share something he liked with... Him. Of all people. He didn't deserve this. He'd done nothing to deserve this. It was wrong.

"I think it's really pretty," he finally choked out from the floor, the backs of his hands pressed to his eyes, head down, black and white hair covering his face. "I'm sorry," Harley tried to choke out through sobs of breath but the dam was broken and he could only do his best to not make too many awful noises.  "I don't know what's w-w-wrong," Harley swallowed thickly, hands still on his face, "But I c-can't stop." Harley knew what was wrong. But he couldn't say.

Harley didn't want to tell Grisham that his family was terrible. That after he didn't end up like a big scary WhateverHeWas his adopted family didn't want him. Candidacy had only been a blessing because it got him away but ... He still craved their acknowledgement. Still craved being needed and wanted and loved by them. They were his family. They raised him. He owed them for all they'd done. Harley sucked in breaths while trying to calm himself down, his cries soft between hiccuped breaths.

"I'm re-really sorry."

Offline Lion

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2017, 12:31:38 am »
It wasn't like Harley hadn't warned him. It wasn't like taking him out here to the Astrosphere and seeing everything beyond, what the universe had to offer, could possibly backfire in his mind. If there was one thing in his mind at all of what he intended, this was not it. Grisham felt it wash over him like a chilling rain.

The empty sorrow and the guilt that promptly followed. Grisham felt that lurch in his chest before he saw Harley suddenly slump over to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. His breath hitch, holding it mid-exhalation. "Quin?" he asked abruptly, a sound that escaped him second only to the movement of cloth and boots screeching to lean down beside him.

"Quin, don't be sorry," he whispered.  Crying here, like this. Those tendrils of emotion seeping in deep and that pang in his chest worsened and his own eyes prickled with tears. He blinked them away, because Quin didn't need to see him cry. Quin didn't need to see him breaking down. How on earth could he help Quin if he couldn't even keep himself together.

It didn't stop the heat from forming there, it certainly didn't stop him from swooping down and instinctively wrapping arms up and around Harley's small frame. Everything radiating on him, against him, made him tremble and twitch. "Don't be sorry Quin. You got nothing to be sorry for," he murmured loud enough for him to hear. His heart was hammering in his ears, pulse racing and he cradled Harley's head against the crook of his shoulder.

"You were raised into a family that appreciates you with little more than what it is you can offer them," he spoke gently. "You don't need them, Quin. You owe them nothing. You're a Pilot and you're surrounded by people that give more of a damn about you than your other family every will. Me included, Quin." The lump in Grisham's throat refused to abate and a tear slid down his cheek, and he just wrapped Harley all the tighter against him.

"The meteor shower, so bright and they burn so beautifully while they do. They don't die. They keep going on their trajectory, out into the vast unknown. But they're not alone, always together, surrounded by those burning as hotly and as brightly beside them. You're not alone Quin. I'm right here with you."

Offline Draconian

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #7 on: December 03, 2017, 11:38:25 pm »
The pure anxiety and sorrow he felt burning in his gut confused him. Harlequin Kingschilde half listened. Confused and taken aback by the arms around him. The comforting movements. Being held so close and like he was something precious and loved. Harley sighed, hiccuping and giving a sniffle. Sure he was a Pilot.

For what? Harley let his arms loosely move around Grisham's torso and he snuggled into the hug, relishing the feeling of a heartbeat against his. The feeling of someone breathing. It felt so nice to be so close for something so innocent as a hug. The crying wasn't done. The tears wouldn't stop and Harley did his best to keep them at bay, but still they went, like infection from a lanced wound.

Sure the lancing hadn't been well calculated but there was someone here to help and comfort while he released the pain. What was going on though? Broke down because of some pretty lights? Those weren't even real comets or asteroids or whatever. It was then he remembered. He'd never told Grisham anything and he jerked back, looking up at the giant of a man with wide mismatched eyes. "You know everything," He whispered, pale, eyes turning down, ashamed.

He loosed his arms and he pulled away, sitting on his butt on the platform and looking away. "How...?" He whispered before remembering the nightlight, "The wine bottles. The..." Harley looked up, ears pinned down and back. He'd always done his best to not emote with his ears, a practice in self control because it just felt so natural to do so, but now, feeling raw and lonely, they pinned back into his black and white hair and his eyes were wide and watery.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean to give that to you. That's... Shameful and..." When it was his, he owned it. Someone else to judge though? How much had Grisham seen? "Do you... Know everything everything?" Harley's voice was small, terrified that Grisham did and if he did, if he'd known what Harley had done and what he'd let happen to himself Grisham wouldn't... Want him anymore. 

Offline Lion

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2017, 07:44:49 pm »
The need to embrace him was a basic instinct for Grisham. He didn't even question it, no possible second guessing, and it was remarkable how natural it felt for him to tuck Harley's smaller frame against him. He couldn't say what it was, if maybe Isaak had been gone for a reason, and that if he was gone that he should hold someone else the same way he'd once held him. Isaak had been so small then. The last time he got to hug him. So lanky.

He'd fill out, he was sure. He'd hit that growth spurt and ....

Grisham hadn't realized his own eyes had been watering, and he blinked away the blurry tears that blinded him and elongated the light of the projected stars along the room's spherical walls. Grisham sniffed and leaned back on his knee, leaning to the side with one hand down on the cold platform.  That sensation kept him grounded and he blinked away at the heat from his cheeks.

"Yeah," he admitted, and reached up to wipe his eyes. "The bottles... Pretty much saw everything. Quin...I'm sorry that happened to you. When I saw...it, it made me so angry. I fucking saw red Quin...  If anyone ever touched my son like that, or if he was stuck in a place where they made him believe it was okay to do just that....I'd go insane."

The truth was, deep down, he already was. And maybe this was his attempt to cling to the last dregs of what sanity he could. Maybe the loneliness would ebb away if he showed someone else that he cared. Even if it didn't give him anything in return, at least he hoped it could make a difference for someone else.

"You don't have to be ashamed anymore. It's in the past Quin. It doesn't have to be that way. I care about you, a great deal. I think you're a good man, maybe not perfect. Shit knows I ain't, but you don't have to be alone either. The walls seem a lot smaller that way. Like they're closing in."

Grisham reached a hand out to Harley, to hold it, to lift him up, to stand. But whatever Quin wanted to do, Grisham would be right beside him. He had nowhere else to be.

Offline Draconian

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2017, 11:38:00 pm »
It was a little crushing, Harley thought. The weight of knowing someone knew. He felt small and weak and dirty. A large part in because Grisham had known since the wine bottle. That was... Harley looked at him, eyes wide in an attempt to not cry but all it did was make his eyes watery. A quiet hiccup and Harley looked down and away.

"I don't..." he sighed and he wanted to be comforted by Grisham seeing red on his behalf. Grisham could have been unmoved. He could have not cared. But he did care which meant Harley was important to him... Right? A great deal of effort was put into keeping his large ears neutral but, the dam broke and they pinned back harshly, back into his flippy black and white hair.

"I don't deserve that," He whispered, turning his head away from Grisham's out stretched hand. Sure he was a Pilot but he wasn't anything special. Just a shitty cardinal. Shitty desk job. The job Pilots dreaded getting. Harley didn't deserve to be part of some real family. A watery sigh and he reached up slowly to take one of Grisham's hands.

Didn't get up though. Ears pinned back, Harley just looked at Grisham. The gruff looking green haired human. "Why do you care about me?" He whimpered out, unable to keep his voice level in his distress. "I haven't done anything to deserve that."

Offline Lion

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2017, 09:16:36 pm »
Grisham wasn't sure he understood the question. He wasn't sure that kind of question even warranted a response. Because at the end of the day if people had to earn someone caring about them, he sure as shit didn't want to live in a world like that. That was not Grisham's way, that was not how he knew to love. As if there ever would be any manual on that.  Grisham slowly retracted his hand and frowned so deeply the scars on his face were drawn down.

"I care because you don't have to do jack shit to have it. I know that don't make sense... Shit. I have never been good at this....feelings discussion thing," he nodded to him. Grisham reached up and pushed strands of green hair out of his face. "What I'm saying is, I thought you could use a friend. Shit, I know I ain't the best guy out there to make that judgment call. I saw someone that needed...someone, so I reached out.  I was alone too. I guess I figured together we didn't have to be so alone, either of us."

It was a shit answer but it was the one Grisham could think explained best what he was feeling right then and there. He didn't wait for Quin to respond to him.  He reached down and took the small thing by his shoulders and helped him up and forced him into another hug.

"And what have I done then? I don't deserve much of anything either," he shrugged. "Sometimes you just need a friend. Sometimes you can't find the words that explain that kinda thing, Quin. Words can't express how much i care about you. Just that I do. Now, did you still wanna get some ice cream?" Grisham parted fingers through his hair and released him enough to let the small kulshedra stand on his own.

"Quin, you do deserve it. Definitely."

Offline Draconian

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2017, 11:11:22 pm »
Harley finally managed to fix his ears.

Well, put them where they should be. Beside his head. Level and not up or down or pinned back. Harley took a slow deep breath and closed his eyes, rolling his shoulders and letting his head tip back. It was nice. The Valkyries all wanted to be his friend. Grisham wanted to be his friend.  Harley let himself be stood up, his awkward feet and no counter balance on obvious display as he teetered ever so gently.

A heavy sigh and he looked down, moving his hand again to brush at his eyes.

He was drained. Despite Grisham's attempts to calm him, he was still... Ashamed. Would this make everything different now?  "I'd like ice cream," He said softly, head ducked down before he reached out a hand to hold Grisham's sleeve while he regained his balance. Harley had to ask though, if he was anything he was blunt. "Does this change everything? Now that.... You know? Am I still just me?"

Offline Lion

Re: Into the Abyss [Draco!]
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2018, 11:24:36 am »
A father didn't have all the answers. No parent ever did. All they could do was hope they raised their children right before they sent them out into the wide wide universe. Isaak had wanted to be a pilot, he wanted to fly jets, he said. Grisham had never told anyone but when he was still just a wee child, he'd taken him up in one on evening. Swooped once around the dome and then back into the flight bay before anyone missed them.

Grisham remembered what the stars looked like that night. For once it was clear and for once he hoped Isaak would never have to see them. He hoped there wouldn't be another call to war, hoped he didn't have to feel the heat of his control panel when his ship was falling into the atmosphere, hoped he wouldn't see the red alarm lights of the second they had to drop into enemy territory, hoped he wouldn't have to lose an arm or a leg trying to save his friend. And in a way, all those hopes came true. Isaak never would see those things.

Grisham's arm pulled instinctively tighter around Harley, as the pod came back into extended bridge, the hydraulics locking it back into place. Harley did see the stars. He saw them burning brightly, He had people that loved him, and no matter what Grisham lost, it didn't change what he did have. Nothing that should have happened rarely ever did.

"You're still just you, Quin," he answered softly, leaning down to kiss his small head, brushing his hair back and changing his position let the smaller Kulshedra lean against him as he guided them out of the Astrosphere. "Just as wee and adorable as ever. You got people that care about you, there's little else that matters in this life huh.  So, you can't have dairy. Right. I remember. So, I know there's some good vegan places that still make great ice cream. Let's go check 'em out."

Grisham let them out of the Stellarium and out down the street just passed Malhame, talking idly from time to time, pointing up toward things, points of interest around Adstreia as they went down to do just what Grisham had intended. Getting ice cream. Made the thought of 'what should have been' not so bad after all.

 

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