Chapter Text
Nekawa islet, near the base of the Flow bridge for the planet known as Source.
These islets are all that remain of the planet’s surface: fractured fragments that are suspended in a semi-stable orbit high above the core. This particular islet contains a massive crater churning with molten rust, a volatile substance heated beyond hundreds of degrees.
Getting too close would be a foolish death, where even taking a breath could scorch the lungs.
Yu insists that it’s still worth that risk to sever the interplanetary bridge and eliminate future hostile encounters, but Kay is resolute: it is far too dangerous.
YU: The question isn’t whether or not we’re going. It’s whether or not you’re coming with me.
KAY: I won’t let you go.
YU: Like, you’ll stand in my way?
KAY: I’m not saying I’ll manage to do it, but I’ll try.
YU: Oh yeah? How?
KAY: By telling you I love you, and I don’t want to live my life without you… But I can even less imagine a world in which you are not there.
Kay's throat goes tight at the thought of losing everything they've built here, that the Apiary would destroy the very memories of this love. And yet, they could still find each other again. They would always find each other. But not if there was nobody left to find.
KAY: If you fall into this rust… I will have absolutely nothing left. And there’s nothing worse than nothing. So I beg of you to change your mind. At least for my sake. And if that’s not enough, I’ll grab on to your boots with all my might and put all my weight into holding you down until you give up..!
Yu gasps, and chokes back a sob.
YU: Ok. You win, just. Leave my boots alone… But what will we do when Ozias shows up?
KAY: We’ll kick his ass.
YU: Ok? And then? They’ll come back. Send more Hornets. You know they will eventually catch us…
KAY: Maybe. But until that time arrives, we’ll be alive. Together. Be it for one month, one week, one day… Even one more minute I get to spend with you, I consider a win! So you can count on me to fight for every blootin’ minute, until the last.
YU: ...until the last minute, then?
KAY: Until the last minute.
There isn’t much more to say beyond that.
They return to the Nest and hold each other close for some long and dreamless hours. Any actual sleep is fleeting, and smothered in dread. The anxiety of what could happen next weighs heavily over the two lovers, and it’s almost too much to bear.
Finally, Yu pushes up from the bed with a groan, and starts to gear up with a restless sort of urgency.
KAY: “… babe?”
YU: “Actually. I’ve been thinking. You know what? Bloot this.”
KAY: “Hmm, mmhm… …wait, wait! What? You’re not going back there, right??”
YU: “Whaaaat? Pfft, nah. I can’t win in a fight against thermodynamics. But what I CAN win… is against Hornets.”
KAY: “Yu, we can barely manage to take out just a patrol of three of them, and that’s with both of us. You must know Ozias is going to be bringing a lot more firepower with him.”
YU: “Right. So I think it’s time we even up the odds, y’know?”
KAY: “What.”
YU: “Come on, I’ll plate some leftovers while you get up. And then, we’ve got some work to do out at that heap of hornet scrap…”
Chogedon islet, hornet graveyard site.
This is where Yu & Kay first encountered a trio of enforcement automatons, sent to forcibly return the two lovers to their previous lives without each other. They had managed to defeat those three hornets, but only barely. Hopefully these vacant robot shells can be useful in preparing for the next encounter.
Yu is busy, frantically weaving a loose web of wiring and expletives. Kay sits to the side a ways, relaxing in the shade of an abandoned building and giving nice scritchies to Oink, their adopted alien-lizard-mushroom-creature. Oink chitters with a comfortable delight and leans against Kay.
Oink is a very good dog.
YU: “Uuuugh. So an internal restart ain't an option either, huh? It’s probably since we first wrecked these balding bloot-bots by overloading them with flow… Buuuut, if I can augment this intake with a slice of hyper-rust, maaaaaaaaaybe I could flush their system and initiate a factory reset sequence…?”
KAY: “But what if the Hornets just try to attack us again after being re-activated? Is it possible to change the parameters it references? Why can’t we, I don’t know, re-direct their targeting or something?”
YU: “Oh come on, Kay. I’m an engineer, not a prgrammer, alright? I can tinker with hardware, but I can’t just wire up some new AI code! I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got to work with.”
KAY: “And I’M a SCIENTIST, not a blooting SOLDIER! How do you expect us to succeed in warfare against the forces of the entire lum-forsaken APIARY? The very same Apiary that will colonize entire worlds full of hostile fauna??”
YU: “ … ”
KAY: “ … ”
YU: “ … ”
KAY: “ … ”
YU: “Because we have to.”
KAY: “… … Yeah.”
YU: “But maybe for this first test, we can break its weapons first.”
KAY: “Um. YES, please!!”
Many hours later.
The night has already come and gone, and Yu has only paused her tinkering twice, to eat and cuddle up with Kay, briefly.
Despite the hard work and long hours, little progress has been made. Yu shrieks as a hornet wakes and thrashes against makeshift restraints, but its movements quickly cease. It utters a jumbled mix of synthesized words, and then lies still once more. Frustrated, sparks flash as Yu kicks the chassis of another failed attempt.
YU: “Ah, bloot! Bloot, bloot, balding BLOOT!”
KAY: “Not having much luck with those bug-brains, huh?”
YU: “No, it’s fine, going juuuuuuust FINE, really! I’m sure that I’m getting real close to accidentally shorting the right circuit by pure magic happenstance, and POOF! Then we’ll all totally be besties, real blooting soon!!”
KAY: “I think you need to take a breather, Yu. Come help me with something nearby?”
YU: “Hrmfh. Ozias and his fellow borons won’t be taking any breaks, so I can’t afford to.”
KAY: “Come onnnnnn, Yu, it’ll be super quick! You know this stuff flows better after getting your eyes off the terminals, anyways. And, also! What are we even fighting for if I can’t even kiss my lover every now and then, huuuh?”
Yu looks away and sighs dramatically, but can’t help but reveal a wide and welcoming smile.
YU: “Yeah yeah, alright alright alright. You got me, you win! These lips are yours for the taking.”
Kay smiles back, and then pounces. They share an indulgent, messy kiss. Lips meet and tongues clash in an explosion of desperate, yearning force. Yu eventually breaks away with a small gasp and a flushed expression, as Kay watches with pleading eyes, barely holding back from pouncing once more.
YU: “So, what did you want my helping hands for? Apart from biting your lip and grabbing your butt, of course.”
KAY: “Hehe! Those were very important tasks, yes, but, also, I need you to help me find Oink and then-- ”
YU: “Oink? Really now, Kay?! I love him and I love you very dearly, but this really isn’t the time to-- ”
KAY: “You didn’t let me finish!! Our relationship with Oink has demonstrated that Salamesh have the capacity to form familial bonds, even outside their own species! With a high social intelligence like that, they likely also have strategies to protect others that share a bond. What I’m saying is that we might be able to get Oink and his pals to help us push back Ozias!”
YU: “I’m not sure how I feel about involving Oink and the native wildlife in our conflict that we’ve brought into their home. It wouldn’t be fair if they got hurt because of us!”
KAY: “Just look around, Yu. You’ve seen plenty of how ExaNova has already devastated this planet. This is how we help them get a little revenge!”
YU: “Ah... Ok, I’m still skeptical, but you’re my bio person, and I trust you. Just know that I’ll be SUPER sad forever if Oink gets hurt!!”
KAY: “Trust me, I promise that we’ll still be able to give Oink all the good scratchins he deserves. I just think we should give these good critters a chance to join us, and fight back against the Council.”
Guyame islet, resting grounds for the Shelly Nest TX4.
Containing a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and multiple workspaces, Yu’s ship has been a good home, even if it felt a bit cramped at times. The most important part, of course, was its big and squishy bed, a perfect fit for two lovers to share.
Utterly exhausted after many anxious hours of work, it wasn’t difficult for Kay to convince Yu that they should snuggle up in a real bed tonight. Oink is curled up and resting on the floor, now inseperable from Kay after a full day of training and treats.
KAY: “Hey, Yu…”
YU: “Hey, yourself. What’s up?”
KAY: “Remember a little while ago, when you said you would even go so far as to, well, kill somebody to keep us safe? Do you… do you still feel that way?”
YU: “Abso-blooting-lutely.”
KAY: “Right. Yeah. And so, if, um, somebody shows up, like, say, Ozias…”
YU: “… oh.”
KAY: “… mmHMMM.”
YU: “He’ll be given a warning, a fair chance to-- ”
KAY: “Yu--?!”
YU: “Kay. I love you. And I will do anything to anyone who tries to destroy that love.”
KAY: “… I love you too. …And I love you so much that I even agree with you! But, also… Also that’s really, really scary. I don’t want to think about having to live with that weighing on you. I don’t want to think about what could happen to us afterwards.”
YU: “What happens to us is that we’ll be together.”
Yu rolls over and takes position above Kay, taking a moment to admire the body lying beneath some simple sleepwear. Kay returns the gaze with an alluring intensity, silently begging to taste Yu once more.
And then their bodies meet and fingers entangle and lips part for insistent tongues and legs open wide to welcome smooth hips, and then…
They’re a bit too busy playing with each other to get much sleep that night.
But it’s a needed distraction from thinking about what would arrive in the next days.