Chapter Text
“Hey, boy toy!”
“Feliks, you know I hate when you call me that,” Tolys laughed as he sat back, looking at his computer’s video call with his boyfriend, “can’t we be some sort of cheesy couple who calls each other “honey” and “dear or some other stupid nickname?”
“No, no, I like boy toy better,” Feliks teased, “but besides all that, what do you think about us being able to visit? Exciting huh?”
Tolys smiled, “Yeah, duh. But I mean I only briefly heard the captain and her co-captain’s conversation, but from what I heard you guys have a guest or something. Not anyone too invasive I assume, they seemed pretty calm about it all.”
“Oh, yeah! So all the juice in a short story is this naked dude appeared and went like, crazy on Abel, but not like in a sexy way and stuff, but he calmed down and now he apparently knows English and is nice and all.”
“Huh, interesting. Eduard would really like him, his sciencey side really comes out with stuff like him.”
Feliks suddenly perked up, “Well I know someone who for sure likes him more than Eduard would!”
“Uhm...Boris?”
“Well rumor has it Abel is getting a little fancy towards our new passenger. I mean he stuttered while talking to him, and everyone knows he never stutters,” Feliks gossipped.
“Wow, valid,” Tolys nodded and sat up, “you think he likes him? But I thought he was straight?”
The other huffed, “I mean, I’ve never seen him date anyone, man or woman. But he doesn’t give off the queer vibe, but I swear the way he looked at him, hesitated at shooting him, it was something, you know.”
“Yeah, something. I don’t know much, but the one thing I know is that I’m super excited to see you, but for now I have to go, battery is getting low and I am tired,” Tolys said with a smile.
“You’re no fun!” Feliks whispered before he laughed and blew a kiss, “I’ll see you soon, boy toy,” he teased.
“Goodbye, love. See you soon,” Tolys laughed back and blew a kiss back to his boyfriend as he ended the call.
And so Feliks plugged in his laptop and flopped down on his bed. As he turned to his side he furrowed his brows. His expression softened and he shut his eyes.
When morning came for the ship crew they were on the route towards their twin ship, Castor, and then towards their administration ship, Astrosystem. The whole crew woke up early to set these preparations. While Feliks and Matthew were there on the deck for medical reasons, the rest of the crew were on deck at their respective stations. Mattias tapped his fingers and swiveled his seat to face Abel.
“Hey, don’t you think it’s strange that this dude broke into our ship the day before we got back to Astrosystem? I mean, what if this is all a decoy for an attack? Isn’t the Canus ships on bad relations with us?” Mattias pointed out.
The captain stared at him for a moment before nodding, “You do have a point, a very good one in fact,” he went on, “This is one of the only times in the calendar year that our two ships connect, and the only annual time we go to Astrosystem. For the gala.”
“There will be many ambassadors there, celebrities, captains, big political names too,” Kat added on.
“The perfect place to stage an attack,” Carlos now added on.
Abel stood from his chair, “I’ll go get Feliks back up here, I need to have a talk with Matthew. Monitor the med bay.”
They all watched as Abel walked out of the main deck, an aura of alarmence surrounding him. Carlos pulled up a live screen of the med bay and they watched as Abel walked in, to their surprise not gritting his teeth, yet waking in with a calm demeanor.
“Feliks, get back up to the deck, I need to have a talk with our guest.”
“But the blood tests-”
“No questions,” Abel stopped him, taking a further step into the room as Feliks grudgingly packed up his first-aid kit and headed out. The captain pulled a chair from the side of the room, sitting down in it next to Matthew’s bedside where he was sitting. “Now, Matthew, who sent you here?”
Matthew looked at him blankly, his eyes holding no sclera, instead replaced by a mix of blacks, purples, and hues of fuschia. It personally creeped Abel out. “Sent here by nobody. Appeared.”
Abel huffed, leaning back, “What is your last memory?”
Again, the other looked at him blankly before answering, this time more useful, “I heard someone scream the name you call me.”
“You used “I” and “me”. You didn’t do that before. Why?”
“I’m not sure,” Matthew took a pause as he held put his hands, looking down at them, “I remember the stars. I remember planets. I remember feeling nothing.”
Abel sat up and leaned towards Matthew, “What’s coming back to you?”
Matthew looked up at him, face now twisted in distress, “When I materialized here I felt scared...enraged.”
“Why?”
Silence. For a moment Abel thought that was all he was going to get out of him, seeing his expression fade again. He watched him turn to the lab computer, Matthew pointing at it as the screen went black, then flashing through all the documents and files within it at an incredible speed. Then Matthew spoke, “Each moment I know more, I understand the universe, history, particles. I feel it, neutrons twisting, gravity fighting, chemicals in and out of balance,” he looked at Abel, dead in the eyes as the computer screen stopped, “I have an understanding of how to be human, how to be a being, but I know I have evolved beyond that at the expense of that very humanity.”
Abel stared back at him, scared for the both of them, “Are...are you saying you were human at one point?”
“Being human is the only thing I remember before the knowledge. Though I cannot detect details, I know I was a human. I was someone. Your blood only confirms this, I know it’s bioledgy.”
“This is a lot to be going through. Let’s just recap, for my sake. You remember someone screaming your name and you remember being human, then after that all you know is well...everything there is to know about the universe?” Abel asked, getting a silent nod from Matthew, “Well, that’s all I wanted to know. I had to ask because we’re connecting with-”
“Castor, your sister ship. Both created in 2085. Your administration ship is Astrosystem. Your younger sister and brother are captain and co-captain of Castor. Their names are Emma and Lux Vanderheid. You were born in 2060, Emma 2061, and Lux in 2063. You are attracted to the male gender-”
“Stop! Just...stop,” Abel retracted and crossed his arms, “How did you even know this?”
“The blood. When our neurons connected for a very brief millisecond I was able to skim over prominent thoughts and common knowledge,” Matthew explained.
“Yeah...okay. Just don’t tell anyone else this information, okay? Especially the last one,” Abel spoke in a hushed tone.
Matthew nodded, “I understand. But why are humans ashamed of attraction?”
The captain tilted his head and sighed, “Things have been done, many things have been said. Overall sometimes attraction can get you hurt, whether that be by others or by the person you’re attracted to.”
He nodded again and scootched forwards, as close as he could get in front of Abel without falling off the bed and he hugged him. It was a light, hesitant hug, but a hug nonetheless, “My inclanition told me to do this.”
For once through the whole encounter, Abel, captain of the sister ship Pollux smiled, and hugged back, “Your inclination is very knowledgeable.”
Suddenly, their fond moment was interrupted by the beep of the intercom switching on, “Captain, five minutes before we approach Castor!”
Abel looked up as they let go of each other. T Minus Five Minutes.