Chapter Text
Arc 1 — There’s no easy way from the earth to the stars
The sound of the wrench clanking against a metal pipe and the click heard after he reaches for a switch is comforting—for Cheng Xiaoshi at least. It twists smoothly under his hold, his hand steady as he adjusts it just right.
It’s not the big kind of repair, but Cheng Xiaoshi has had it on hold for a long while, just until he got the perfect part to replace. He will not falter with his ship, not when it was his most prized possession, not when it was the one thing he actively cared for.
He grins and drops the wrench into the toolbox by his feet, pulling it up with one hand and humming a song that only he remembers under his breath as he climbs the ladder out of the engine room and into the top deck, kicking the hatch shut with his foot and dropping the toolbox down by his feet.
Cheng Xiaoshi orders the tools back in place, slipping one earphone in from around his neck and humming along to the song that was already playing before.
He doesn’t think he’s met anyone who cares more about their ship than him, not even the universe’s richest collectors who had hundreds of ships on display—Those don’t even fly their ships so that they can have any kind of repairs done!
Cheng Xiaoshi thought it was a waste of good ships.
Clicking the toolbox shut, Cheng Xiaoshi kicks it to the side so that he won’t trip over it when moving around. He stretches his arms over his head, yawning as he moves to pop his back before he steps over to the cockpit, ducking his head slightly, not even to avoid the low entrance frame anymore, but purely out of habit.
(He’d probably still duck down if he gets the chance to enter the cockpit of a ship bigger than his own.)
The engine comes to life under the movements of his key, the familiar humming and slight vibrations fill the space around him, and it brings him the feeling of comfort he craves when away from his ship for too long. That was his favourite sound—The clanking wrench comes second to this.
To Cheng Xiaoshi, his ship was more than just a machine for transport. To Cheng Xiaoshi, his ship was more than just something that his parents left for him before they vanished. To Cheng Xiaoshi, his ship was the one constant thing in his life. To Cheng Xiaoshi, his ship was his partner, his life, the one thing he can trust to not leave him behind.
His fingers find the keys across the control panel, flicking a few before pressing a button, grinning at the gush of cold air that hits him from the vents above, the slight smell of dust lingering within, but it isn’t noticeable enough to bother him or actually have him sneeze, just a familiar scent he inhales with delight.
Finally, the air conditioning was working again.
“Look at you, so hard working in the morning.” Qiao Ling whistles as she steps onto the open hatch of the ship, holding two mugs in hand as she steps forward and into the cockpit. She speaks with a teasing tone, though it sounds like she’s a little impressed with him too.
“You know me, always productive!” Cheng Xiaoshi beams back, accepting the offered mug and pulling down his earphone before taking a long sip, sighing in delight at the taste—extra sweet, just how he enjoys his coffee. Qiao Ling only looks at him with a raised eyebrow as she settles into the copilot seat, crossing one leg over the other.
“You? Productive?” Qiao Ling snorts into her own mug, almost in disbelief at his words before she moves the seat to look around the cockpit, glancing up at the vents with a sudden grin. “Hey! You finally fixed the air-con!”
“I’ve been telling him to do so for the past month.” A third voice joins in, making Cheng Xiaoshi turn in his seat to meet the familiar pair of blue-grey eyes—tired, looking like he’d only just woken up. Lu Guang was usually an early riser, but Cheng Xiaoshi had gotten up extra early to work on his ship again.
Lu Guang sighed as he stepped into the cockpit to join the other two, ducking his head slightly as he did so, then reaching a hand out to feel the air leaving the vents, humming slightly as he felt the cold air slip past his sleeve.
Cheng Xiaoshi will take that as approval.
“What’s important is that I finally got it done!” Cheng Xiaoshi announces, reclining in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest proudly after his mug was taken from him—Wait? Taken from him?
“How the hell do you even drink this stuff?” Lu Guang grumbles as he moves the mug away from his mouth, face curled slightly, almost in disgust as he puts his free hand over his mouth. Qiao Ling snickers somewhere behind him, aware of how wild Cheng Xiaoshi’s preferences were. “What do you even put in this?”
“Coffee, milk, sugar, cocoa powder, caramel—” Cheng Xiaoshi starts to list out on his fingers, trying to recall the majority of the things he puts in his morning coffee. It was extra everything he could possibly find really, the only thing stopping him from adding every sweet thing in their kitchenette was the budget he was on. “—whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate syrup—”
“Okay. Stop.” Lu Guang stares in disbelief, putting a hand out to signal Cheng Xiaoshi to stop talking. He hands the mug back to the other like he didn’t want to be near the drink any longer. “You’re a disgrace to coffee.”
“He likes everything extra sweet.” Qiao Ling nods as she smiles into her own mug—iced coffee for her.
“Just like me!”
“Yeah right.” Lu Guang scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the wall beside him, an eyebrow raised as he eyes Cheng Xiaoshi, who takes another long sip of the drink he claims to be coffee.
“I’m super sweet! Dare I say, sweetest boy across the galaxies!” Cheng Xiaoshi gestures with his hands, loud and dramatic with stars in his eyes, brighter than the nearest sun, earning an eye roll from Qiao Ling and a fed up sigh from Lu Guang.
“I’m still surprised they haven’t kicked you out of the Academy yet,” Qiao Ling deadpans, twirling a strand of her hair around one finger before returning to cradle her mug, earning a splutter of sounds in return.
“Hey—What!? I’ll have you know, I’m an absolute delight to everyone in this Academy! I’m wondering why you are still here when you do nothing—!” Cheng Xiaoshi declares with a scoff, almost spilling his drink if it weren’t for Lu Guang grabbing it out of his hold in the middle of his frantic gesturing, then cutting him off by whacking the back of his head.
“I’m the reason you’re even here!” Qiao Ling exclaims, slamming one of her hands down against the armrest of the seat she’s in, only to receive a whack to the back of her head too.
“You’re both children,” Lu Guang squints, taking hold of Qiao Ling’s empty mug and stepping back a little as they both shout in unison “you’re literally younger!”
“Sure. Well… clean up, okay? They sent me another assignment request,” Lu Guang motions around the space of the top deck—the toolbox still kicked aside, a few boxes in the back, a bunch of blankets scattered across the seats. “Which I accepted, by the way!”
“Assignment, assignment. Why’s everything about assignments in this stupid Academy?” Cheng Xiaoshi grumbles, turning off the engine with a flick of his wrist. He pockets the keys, stepping out of the cockpit with his head dropped in defeat, leaning down and picking up the toolbox he’d kicked aside earlier. He places it in one for the storage cabinets, huffing under his breath. “You’re always accepting them, even though I’m the pilot!”
“It’s almost like that’s what you should do to keep your position.” Lu Guang muses, stepping down the hatch to set the mugs on a desk in the garage, just a few steps away from where the ship was parked before he’s poking his head back in. “And I only accept them because I know what’s good for you—Sure, they’re only C ranked, but they aren’t so bad.”
“They’re all super boring, though! Why can’t we go on missions like Dong Yi, or even—” Cheng Xiaoshi complains out loud as he pushes the boxes over to the open entrance of the ship, letting them slide down the hatch until they drop onto the floor with a light thump.
“Because they finished their courses, unlike you!” Qiao Ling speaks up, hands on her hips as she shifts to help Lu Guang with the folding of the blankets, setting them in one neat stack, where they wouldn’t topple over or get in the way of anything.
“I already told you I’m working on it!” Cheng Xiaoshi huffs out between clenched teeth, clearly not pleased with the situation he’d been put in. He flops down on the edge of the entrance, letting his legs drop in front of him down the hatch. “The last project is just so frustrating.”
“Hey,” Lu Guang sighs, stepping over to where Cheng Xiaoshi had dropped, crouching down beside him with a hand to his upper back. “It’s fine to be a little late about it, the project is for expressing the truth and comparing it to assumptions, not to be impressive.”
“Lu Guang’s right, it’s not like you can get a full score by wooing them with looks and charm,” Qiao Ling teases, poking the back of his head as she crouches by his other side, her arms folded over her knees, looking out into the empty garage.
“Oh yeah? Try me,” Cheng Xiaoshi grins, putting a hand up to his chin with a slight wiggle of his eyebrows, only to be whacked on the backside of his head once again. “Ow! Lu Guang! Stop!”
“Stop being an idiot.” Lu Guang rises once again, stepping back to pick up all of the folded blankets and taking them to the upper deck, one hand on the ladder while the other holds the blankets under his arm. He sets them in a corner, clicking off the fairy lights that had been left on. “I’ll go pick up the file while you pack for it, the message says it’ll be a two week trip.”
“Ah… almost like a honeymoon,” Cheng Xiaoshi sighs, dropping back on the floor of the ship, arms spread out as he stares up at the ceiling, tracing little details all over it that only he would ever notice.
“If your idea of a honeymoon is making deliveries to a planet hundreds of light years away, then sure, I hope you’re up for it.” Lu Guang mutters, flipping his commlink on as he steps around Cheng Xiaoshi’s spread out form and down the hatch completely.
“I hate deliveries so much,” Cheng Xiaoshi fake sobs, rolling onto his side and curling up into fetal position, hands pressed into his face, earning a snicker from Qiao Ling as she rises and follows after Lu Guang.
“Maybe that’s why they assign them to you,” she muses as she grabs the mugs Lu Guang had put away earlier, the porcelain clicking against each other as she steps out. Her words are only met with a grumble from a fed up Cheng Xiaoshi.
“They aren’t that bad, quit the act, you sleep through half of the trip.” Lu Guang mutters as he steps around the clutter of the garage, digging through the drawers of the desk until he finds his and Cheng Xiaoshi’s IDs. “Get to work, Cheng Xiaoshi.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Cheng Xiaoshi replies with no enthusiasm, sitting up with a huff as he watches Lu Guang leave the garage as well, letting him settle back into the silence of him and his ship once again.
“And I didn’t even finish my coffee.” He sighs.
—
Cheng Xiaoshi throws his suitcase open onto the bottom bunk of the bed, opening his drawers with a grumble before grabbing a bunch of shirts and trousers, then tossing them into the duffel carelessly—What’s the point of folding them neatly if he was going to mess it all up later when he searches for a change of clothes?
He spends the next thirty minutes taking out clothes, then shifting over to the restroom and collecting his toiletries, save for his shampoo, which he leaves on the side since he’d shower before leaving anyway.
Cheng Xiaoshi whistles to himself as he grabs a change of clothes, tucking them under his arm before he takes a towel and drapes it over his shoulder, shampoo and body wash in his free hand. He grabs his room key, tucking it into his pocket before flicking the light switch off and closing the door after him.
The showers were on the lower floors, away from the office and cafeteria floors, but also close enough to the dorms. The Academy ship was huge, Cheng Xiaoshi compared it to a small town back on earth, but it was in the form of floors instead of districts. Facilities was a more accurate term.
He clicks the elevator button with every slow beat of a song playing in his head, bobbing his head slightly and keeping an eye on the digital numbers blinking above the doors. Cheng Xiaoshi steps aside once he hears the elevator ding, watching other students and cadets filter out.
Cheng Xiaoshi steps into the elevator after the crowd leaves, watching the doors close and he lets out a sigh as he leans back against the wall, elbows resting against the handles as he stares up at the ceiling.
“Floor S.” He calls out, and relaxes a little further when he feels the slight vibration of the elevator movement beneath him.
The showers are as busy as ever. Cheng Xiaoshi makes a beeline towards the locker room, his eyes scanning the space until he finds his own, key already in hand to unlock it and toss his clean clothes and shoes in.
He makes his way over to the shower rooms, poking his head around until he spots an empty one, hanging his towel and shutting the curtain behind him.
He likes the Academy’s showers, they’re a bit fancier than the one on his own ship, at least. There was hot water all the time, and that alone was a luxury—He had tried in the past to get a water heater for his ship, but it was just way too out of his budget, not to mention how pricey the repair for it was.
Cheng Xiaoshi relaxes under the shower, scrubbing himself squeaky clean and shampooing his hair thoroughly before simply standing under the shower for a few minutes longer to allow himself to rest, turning up the heat ever so slightly. Just because he can. Just so he can enjoy the feeling a little bit longer before he’s forced to shower in the ice cold water of the shower on his ship.
(Lu Guang showers in that just fine and it makes Cheng Xiaoshi rethink everything about his life when he sees how relaxed the other seems after stepping out.)
On the way back to his room, he drops his discarded clothes by the laundry, keeping a towel around his neck as he scrolls through his commlink. There’s a text from Lu Guang, asking him to buy some food for the trip, which is overall a wrong idea because Cheng Xiaoshi might just indulge and buy his budget’s worth of snacks. But he decides otherwise and settles on the packaged foods instead, dropping just a few packs on instant noodles for himself—He likes to think he deserves it.
By the time he returns back to the dorm, Lu Guang is settled onto his lower bunk by the suitcase he’d left open, folding the clothes Cheng Xiaoshi had been too lazy to even look back at—and suddenly, the stack of clothes that was piled over the duffel bag had been neatly arranged into just one side of it and zipped up neatly, leaving plenty of space for more.
“Got food!” Cheng Xiaoshi announced, placing the bag of food down onto the desk by the window, staring outside the circular glass, where thousands of stars shone brightly in the void of the galaxy surrounding them.
“Your hair is still wet,” Lu Guang comments, shifting to gather his own clothes in the empty side of the suitcase, his own toiletries already packed neatly into a zipped bag. Cheng Xiaoshi hums quietly, using the same towel around his neck to wipe away the little droplets of water that had dripped down his forehead and temples. “You’ll catch a cold.”
“I’ll be fine,” Cheng Xiaoshi grins, draping the towel over his head and ruffling it through the locks. Lu Guang sighs with a slight shake of his head, moving his focus back to the clothes he was folding and neatly arranging. “We could invest in separate bags.”
“We’re broke.” Lu Guang deadpans in return, closing the suitcase and zipping it up, then pulling it down to set it on the ground with a huff. Cheng Xiaoshi steps away from the window, stretching his arms over his head before he takes the bag away from Lu Guang.
“I know, I know…” Cheng Xiaoshi sighs, dragging a hand through his hair as he places the bag down next to the door. He watches Lu Guang look through the bag of food he’d brought, almost as if checking if Cheng Xiaoshi was responsible enough to handle a food run. “Can’t a guy dream?”
“Dreams are false hope.”
“Dreams are the only way to live!”
“You’re a lost cause.”
.𖥔 ݁ ˖☾𖤓☽.𖥔 ݁ ˖
Cheng Xiaoshi’s Interstellar Journey #1:
The first time he flew his ship was for an F ranked assignment—he’d gone through a hundred simulations with Qiao Ling hours before then, and even managed to not miserably fail in at least fifty-percent of them.
Cheng Xiaoshi was sure he would be able to pass the exam, his confidence gave him a great boost, and in the end, he ended up excelling in almost everything. Almost.
(No, the last part when he crashed into a desk while parking back into the garage doesn’t count as something major.)
From then, he grew an addiction to flying. He grew an addiction to his ship in general. He doesn’t go past a day where he doesn’t stop by garage number C24, doesn’t go past a day where he doesn’t tweak around the with machinery of the ship—repairing pieces that were worn out with age, decorating the upper deck to his liking, since that was his personal space and his alone, even adjusting the cockpit to his own comfort, because if he’s going to be flying the ship for hours at a time, then he might as well do it comfortably without something bothering him.
The E ranked assignments weren’t so bad, he found them easy to go through during his first year at the Academy. They were simple things like sudden runs for repair parts or applications to his flying classes. He didn’t mind it, they were fun for the most of it—When he got to mess around with his classmates, at least.
Then he was moved up to D rank assignment; parcel deliveries between planets and large space headquarters, or just pretending to be a public transport driver where he has to pick up people from place to place, and it’s oh so boring!
Transport was his least favourite type of assignments—the passengers always messed up the top deck, dropping litter around or just ruining the furniture. It is always a pain to clean up and repair after reaching the Academy once again.
(Cheng Xiaoshi swears he found tears in the seats once… something about species with claws made him shudder every time he looked back to them.)
He wasn’t allowed to move up to C rank assignments until he earned a partner, which alone was a struggle, because things like that weren’t easy to adapt to—and they never will be.
Having a partner means trusting someone with his life. Having a partner means starting a bond with someone, one that reaches deep levels of emotion and understanding, so that they’re able to read him when he doesn’t say anything, so that they can take control if something were to happen to him. Having a partner means allowing someone to enter the cockpit of his ship, to trust them with his ship—the one thing his parents left behind for him.
Cheng Xiaoshi first thought of Qiao Ling as his partner, hesitated for a long week before he finally did ask her, even made it sound as a joke because he had suspicions that she would refuse, and he simply couldn’t handle the embarrassment of that.
“I feel bad for your future partner, Cheng Xiaoshi… I’ll have to teach them how to deal with you.” Qiao Ling sighed over the call, the sound of a hairdryer turning on in the background.
Cheng Xiaoshi was on the return from a repair parts assignment, reclined in his pilot seat and fiddling with a rubix cube since the call was on his commlink, displayed on the viewport.
He’d turned on autopilot for the calm part of the route, deciding to call Qiao Ling to let time fly faster.
“What if you’re my partner?” Cheng Xiaoshi grinned back at her, cocking an eyebrow as he glanced up to the camera feed, watching Qiao Ling’s face focus on something that wasn’t in the camera view.
“Aww… does Cheng Xiaoshi miss me that much when he’s away for assignments?” Qiao Ling teases, picking up a packet and tearing it open, fiddling something all too moist for his ears, making him shudder and lower the audio of the call until she finishes.
“No, I don’t—What the hell is that!?” Cheng Xiaoshi squints, sitting up with his legs crossed underneath him and leaning over to focus on the viewport, watching Qiao Ling place a damp sheet over her face and adjust it around with a pair of sewing scissors.
Was she seriously putting on a face mask right now? At two in the morning in standard time?
“Er, none of your business. Anyway, you’ve got to find yourself a partner soon. I’ve signed up with Xu Shanshan for partnership last week, so you’re out of options here.” Qiao Ling shrugged at him as she leaned back in her seat, pushing away all the skincare products she’d been putting on for the past thirty minutes since the call with him had started.
She had partnered up… with Xu Shanshan… right before he ever got the chance to ask her, and she was right. He was indeed out of options now.
“How hard can finding a partner be?” Cheng Xiaoshi shrugs back, tossing the rubix cube in the copilot seat across from him like it was nothing, but his gaze lingered, imagining someone else in the seat beside him, someone else to keep him company on long trips when he wasn’t able to call Qiao Ling for hours at a time, someone else to stay around with him and share meals to make things feel lighter.
“Knowing you… people get overwhelmed pretty fast,” Qiao Ling comments, spinning in her chair once as she thought about the group of people Cheng Xiaoshi usually spoke to—most of them already had partners, or simply wouldn’t fit well with Cheng Xiaoshi on the long term run. “It’s okay to take your time on it, I spent a year before I finally decided on a partner!”
“You say it like it’s so easy,” Cheng Xiaoshi sighed, slumping back in his seat, kicking one leg up and over the armrest, disconnecting his commlink from the viewport and fiddling with it as he reclined his seat far enough to be laying down.
“It’ll be easy when you find the right person,”
“Unless your luck ends you up with a ‘Right Person, Wrong Time’ trope.” A third voice joins in, Xu Shanshan’s face popping into the camera view, with her own ridiculous looking face mask, matching Qiao Ling.
“I don’t have that much bad luck,” Cheng Xiaoshi scoffs, turning onto his side as he watches them on the screen of his commlink—and yeah, he understands why they partnered up. Xu Shanshan and Qiao Ling had been linked together since they first met. Xu Shanshan and Qiao Ling were like two peas in a pod, platonic soulmates that the stars had worked hard on bringing the two together.
The call ends not too long after, both girls bidding him good night before hanging up. He drops his commlink when it's suddenly quiet, sighing as he drops onto his back once again, one arm falling over his eyes.
Fuck him. He will find himself a partner. He will prove to Xu Shanshan and Qiao Ling that he can do it.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖☾𖤓☽.𖥔 ݁ ˖
“Cheng Xiaoshi. Wake up, the path coming doesn’t look too clear until Myroh.” Lu Guang shakes him awake, crouched in the low space of the upper deck, fairy lights blinking around the cramped up space.
“We're almost there already? Did I sleep for thirty hours or something?” Cheng Xiaoshi murmured, moving to sit up through his sleepy haze, only to find a hand stopping him from bumping his head into the low ceiling, nudging him to move back down a little bit.
“No, idiot. It’s only been six hours, but I got an alert on the radar,” Lu Guang shakes his head, sitting back on his knees, head ducked down slightly, pale hair brushing against the top of the deck, sending the strands into random directions above his head. He lightly pats Cheng Xiaoshi’s thigh, “Time for work, Captain.”
“Right, right. I’m the pilot.” Cheng Xiaoshi blinks with a slow nod, rolling onto his side and getting up slower now, careful not to bump his head as he shifts after Lu Guang down the ladder to the top deck. He yawns as his feet find the ground again, socked feet sliding along it lazily. “How far is the threat?”
“Just ten minutes,” Lu Guang tilts his head slightly as he stands near the cockpit, tugging the sleeve of his sweater up his forearms as he ducks into the space, dropping onto the copilot seat and checking through the pop-up alerts that had appeared all over the viewport.
Cheng Xiaoshi doesn’t take too long to wake up—just washing his face with the ice cold water that leaves the tap is enough to have him jolting back and wide awake. He shifts around the back of the top deck, grabbing a cold muffin from the mini-fridge.
He returns to the cockpit right after, tearing up the wrapping from around the muffin and taking a bite as he drops into the pilot seat, eyeing the radar signal as he chews.
Asteroids, it seems like—the autopilot route must’ve settled too close to a planet’s orbit.
“Nirvon, huh?” Cheng Xiaoshi speaks up through a mouthful, reaching for the radar screen and zooming in on the planet that they’ve drifted close to. He pushes the rest of his muffin into his mouth, dropping the paper cup into his lap to throw away later and shifts his seat forward, switching all of the controls over to manual, taking command of the ship.
“I read somewhere that it’s been abandoned,” Lu Guang mutters back, flipping through his commlink, probably to send an update message back to Qiao Ling—he always does so when something goes slightly wrong with their path, most likely to make sure at least one person is aware of their location, just in case of an emergency. “A star went supernova close by not too long ago, killing off most resources on it.”
“This is gonna be fun,” a grin tugs at Cheng Xiaoshi’s lips, pushing against the throttle ahead and all too suddenly, jerking them both forward in their seats. He manages to pass by a chunk of asteroids, ones that were roughly the size of a small space shuttle—one hit from those and his ship could get seriously damaged.
“Creators, Cheng Xiaoshi if you don’t drive carefully through this—” Lu Guang starts, hands tightening on the armrests by his sides, keeping an eye on the radars and tightening his seatbelts ever so slightly. Cheng Xiaoshi was reckless at times, he especially knew, and when given the opportunity, he will act on it. “You’re going to kill us both at this rate.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Cheng Xiaoshi brushes him off, left hand moving to grab the gearshift by his side, pulling it back and sending them into reverse, barely moving past a slowly spinning asteroid that shifts beside them. He bites his lip, eyes travelling across the viewport, mentally calculating his next moves as he swerves around pieces of debris and pulsating waves from nearby suns.
“I don’t got this.” Cheng Xiaoshi hisses, his hold on the controls tightening as he pushes through the orbit of debris, sucking in a deep breath as he barely manages to dodge two pieces of asteroid colliding into one another. His hands were starting to get sweaty—Did the AC he fixed before leaving for the assignment break down again?
Adrenaline is coursing through his veins, it feels like lightening, and he tries so hard not to shake with the pressure of it all, even as he feels every single hair on his body stand up on end, his heart is beating in his ears, as if trying to deafen the alarms ringing over his head.
“Move down, then left.” Lu Guang bites out, not looking up from the pop up messages that had appeared on the viewport, minimizing the majority of them to allow Cheng Xiaoshi a clear view of the void ahead of them, hissing when yet another alarm starts blaring—they’ve been hit.
Cheng Xiaoshi had barely managed to escape the crash of a flying asteroid, just brushing past it—enough to probably land a nasty scratch against the side of the ship and send hundreds of alarms blaring through the cockpit.
“Down. Left.” Cheng Xiaoshi hisses out, jerking the throttle around harshly, trying so hard to focus but everything seems to be working against him today, and it isn’t like they haven’t been through a route like this before—they have, and Lu Guang was able to get them out last minute.
He keeps his hands steady on the controls, biting his inner cheeks hard and telling himself that he can do this—because he can, and he will prove that, all he needs is a little peace so he can think, without all these alarms screaming in his ears, without alerts popping up and telling him that his ship’s health was going down by the second, because Cheng Xiaoshi really did not need that right now.
“Calm down, being frustrated won’t do us any good.” Lu Guang speaks up, as if hearing the gears turning loudly in Cheng Xiaoshi’s head, as if sensing the heat of frustration waving off Cheng Xiaoshi. “I’ll guide you, as always, just follow my lead.”
Nirvon is impossibly close now, they might as well crash there and get some repairs done before they get moving again. But Cheng Xiaoshi trusts Lu Guang’s words, his partner said they wouldn’t be able to survive there, his partner knows better than to give him false hope on things, and Cheng Xiaoshi had ended up learning that the hard way.
The engines continue to rumble around him, and that’s one of the two things that give Cheng Xiaoshi a little bit of comfort in all of this panic and rush. The machinery was still working—maybe not well, but it’s nothing some repairs can’t fix—and that’s one thing that gives him a peace of mind.
Lu Guang’s words are slightly muffled when they reach his ears—his heart is beating too fast in them, the feeling grounding enough to remind himself that he is still alive—but he manages through, trying his best to follow through them as he curls his toes into his shoes.
In no time they seem to pass through the majority of the debris, and Cheng Xiaoshi allows himself to relax a little, letting out a long breath he didn’t know he was holding as Lu Guang manages to turn down majority of the alarms, sending them into a moment of silence that has Cheng Xiaoshi almost wanting to relax back in his seat and wipe the sweat that has built up at his temples.
“Back up, you’re entering Vertil’s field—it’s still sending out waves of energy since it went supernova,” Lu Guang looks up from the holo-screens before him, typing in a new coordinate and sending it over to Cheng Xiaoshi’s radar. It is a planetoid not too far away, a reasonable place to crash for a few hours and have some serious repairs done.
“Shit!” Cheng Xiaoshi hisses, biting his lip as he pushes against the controls again, dipping back through the orbit of debris, following the route that Lu Guang had set, and he thinks it’s the only thing he can actually trust at the moment—other than his beloved ship. “What’s the planet's name?”
“Crestir?” Lu Guang tilts his head to the side, zooming into the map of planets surrounding their location. He squits, not sure why exactly the name of the planet he’d assigned safest to land on mattered, but he knew how Cheng Xiaoshi had knowledge of planets outside of the books.
“Crestir… Crestir—oh! Crestir, yes! I’ve crashed there before,” Cheng Xiaoshi nods, approving the choice Lu Guang had made and holding his breath as he focuses onto the route ahead of him.
“That’s assuring.” Lu Guang mutters in return, noticing just how tense Cheng Xiaoshi had gotten, but he doesn’t comment on it—voicing out worries should be the last of either of their priorities right now, so he stays quiet.
Cheng Xiaoshi fiddles slightly in his place, sucking his lower lip between his teeth as his eyes dart between the space debris that surrounds them now—it’s smaller, harder to dodge. The most he can do is manage to get them out without being hit by any asteroids.
“I’m a good pilot. I can do this. I can do this, yeah? I’m a good pilot.” Cheng Xiaoshi tells no one but himself, earning a glance from Lu Guang, one he felt but doesn’t return. He needs the self assurance, he needs to convince himself it’s true, even if it’s a lie, he needs to be in control of this situation and not vice versa, he needs to—
“Yes. You are.” Lu Guang nods, turning back to look at the viewport before him, focusing on mental calculations that run through his head at light speed. To guide Cheng Xiaoshi through, he needs to be precise. To guide Cheng Xiaoshi through, he needs to be alert and aware. “Cheng Xiaoshi is the best pilot I’ve met.”
“Ha—you clearly haven’t met that many pilots.” Cheng Xiaoshi breathes, trying to joke around, trying to make himself feel lighter, despite the clenching and contracting of every single muscle, despite the fact that his heart was beating so hard against his rib cage.
“I’ve met enough to know that you’re the right companion.” Lu Guang looks away, turning his seat into a slight angle to avoid the wide eyed stare Cheng Xiaoshi sends him, biting his inner cheek as he feels dark eyes boring holes into the side of his head, but he doesn’t look back to meet the piercing gaze. “You should focus.”
“Right.” Cheng Xiaoshi sucks in a shaky breath, darting his eyes back to the viewport and tightening his hold onto the controls even more. He bites his lip, following the route Lu Guang had set out for him to follow and he complies, suddenly feeling another rush of adrenaline running through him, and this time it has him excited.
Lu Guang didn’t say things like that often, ever since they first met and he’d just been his own being, not that Cheng Xiaoshi minds, he enjoys his company, he doesn’t think Lu Guang is that bothered by being in his presence, but it’s usually all guesses to try and convince himself that things were alright—so when Lu Guang does confirm things like that… it sends a pang in his chest that shuts him up longer than he can usually stay quiet for.
He’s starting once again, ignoring the amount of alarms that pop up in the viewport. One hand reaches out and swipes them over to Lu Guang’s side, trusting him to handle those while he takes care of avoiding the amount of surrounding threats.
One alarm catches his eyes, overheating.
(So much for fixing the air conditioning.)
He dismisses that one with a flick of his wrist, jaw clenching at the sound that leaves the engine of his ship when he pushes it just a bit further. It makes Cheng Xiaoshi’s heart ache for it, and he mentally apologises to his ship, asks it to last just a little bit longer with him, pleads it to stay in one piece and keep them safe… just a little bit longer, please.
His ship is a good one, an excellent one even, and it makes up for any faults that Cheng Xiaoshi might have in his position as a pilot. They’re able to pass through the threat all around, barely managing to escape from a wave of energy leaving Vertil and burning up everything around it to crisp.
“You said you’ve been here before?” Lu Guang asks as they enter Crestir’s atmosphere with a jolt, sending them both slightly forward against their seatbelts, the gravity of the planet doing its work and letting them in slowly as Cheng Xiaoshi makes it his mission to find a place to land.
“Yeah, I was sent here to get some repair parts, they got some real goods” Cheng Xiaoshi nods as he adjusts himself a little. His body is more relaxed now, resting back in his seat and shifting his hands over the controls with ease, despite the way he flinches when the ship creaks loudly when they finally make contact with the spaceport. “Only got shot once… and pickpocketed thrice… but it’s fine!”
“Im starting to doubt that we’re ever safe,” Lu Guang mutters as Cheng Xiaoshi finally kills the engine, slumping back in his seat and finally wiping off the sweat that has piled up at his temples and in his hair—he really wants a cold shower now.
“It’s fine, you’ve got me with you.” Cheng Xiaoshi grins proudly, slumping back in his seat all the way and patting his chest. They settle in a comfortable silence, letting the last of the adrenaline pass through, and when he finally turns in his seat to look back at Lu Guang—he glares.
Lu Guang—Cheng Xiaoshi’s partner and companion, the one who had just gone through exactly everything as he had—looks like he’d never even stepped out of his house. There wasn’t a single hair misplaced, unlike Cheng Xiaoshi, whose hair was all over the place. There wasn’t even a drop of sweat on him, unlike Cheng Xiaoshi, who was absolutely drenched from his head down to his chest, shirt soaked.
Lu Guang looked ethereal.
Stars above. How was that even possible?
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Lu Guang deadpans, dismissing the last of the pop up holo-screens before him with a flick of his wrist, stalling for a moment before his eyebrows knit together, clearly feeling Cheng Xiaoshi’s glare on him, and he moved his head up to lock eyes with his partner. “What’s wrong?”
“You… you aren’t even sweaty…” Cheng Xiaoshi mutters, almost in accusation as he shakily puts a single finger out to point, his jaw dropping while his other hand moves up to cover his mouth. That only makes Lu Guang furrow his eyebrows further.
“I don’t sweat.” Lu Guang states in a matter-of-fact tone, shrugging with a sigh as he moves his hands to undo his seatbelt. His shoulders relaxed, almost in relief—he’d thought something more serious had happened, but thankfully, it was just Cheng Xiaoshi being Cheng Xiaoshi.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖☾𖤓☽.𖥔 ݁ ˖
Cheng Xiaoshi’s Interstellar Journey #2:
When Cheng Xiaoshi was sent on his first research assignment, it was during his second year at the academy—a project made to be studied over the next years spread at the academy until it reaches perfection.
Cheng Xiaoshi’s group had been given specific species, to study their behaviours and note down the way they live, a long process that he wasn’t very excited about. Simply because it felt like stalking more than anything, but he figures that it’s slightly better than holding one of those species in a cage and studying them up close.
Qiao Ling’s group had been given planets, which was far more interesting to Cheng Xiaoshi, and the photos would definitely be prettier than clicking random shots of ‘Aliens in their Natural Habitat’ like it was a documentary. That was uglier, and boring to wait for the right moment until the shot could get taken.
(He’s not racist towards aliens—simply jealous.)
The Interstellar Academy held many species as members, cadets and students. The population of them all made Cheng Xiaoshi think there were barely any Humans on there in the first place—not that he cares, getting to know different species with various cultures and beliefs was insanely interesting to him!
Just not when it was… homework. A long, extended, assignment that would be in his graduation project.
He wonders who would even pay attention to a singular topic for multiple years without getting bored.
(Cheng Xiaoshi personally gets exhausted when a group task is assigned for more than a week.)
The planet where his target species is located is light years away from the academy ship, and he prepares his ship for a whole week before making any move to go there. Vorien was at least 126 hours away, including the time cut off by a ship’s light-speed. He really didn’t have the patience and energy.
Cheng Xiaoshi doesn’t have a partner to keep him company either—that was still something he’s been working on, trust like that takes time, and he doesn’t think the current people surrounding him would bother being around him for that long.
Popularity was only temporary. Including the people that came. with it, because those would only stay if the spotlight was on him, and once Cheng Xiaoshi got bored enough, they’d find someone else to be around.
The first few hours of his trip were fine. He drove through the traffic surrounding the academy ship and clicked through his first light-speed of the trip, waiting until the path became clear in the radar before turning on autopilot and relaxing back in the seats of his ship.
He scrolled through his commlink until it ran out of charge, making him put it on the charging port in frustration before deciding he’d eat and check up on the radar once again. Then he napped for a few hours, relaxed in his makeshift bed in the upper deck.
Then the boredom started to hit. Cheng Xiaoshi played around with the settings of his ship a few times, switching the drive to manual just to keep himself busy for most of it. He clicked through three light-speeds in the first 54 hours, meaning he only had three more to go before he finally reached Vorien.
Cheng Xiaoshi had even gone through the guide he’d been given about the species he would be dealing with for the time being of his stay on Vorien.
They were called Asteri, a quiet species known for their ability to blend within aliens of different types, no matter how the species they were portraying looked. When in reality, they were extremely unique for how pale they were—that was what has been told through history books, at the very least, because no one has met an Asterian in centuries, ever since the war that had occurred on their home planet.
When his radar alerts him that Vorien was close enough to switch back to manual mode, he relaxes back in his seat out of pure relief—Cheng Xiaoshi’s stomach was starting to complain from all the cold sandwiches and the dry instant noodles he’d been eating. He really hopes the Asteri species ate more exciting things.
Cheng Xiaoshi’s hand subconsciously shifts over his commlink, scrolling through his assignment file one last time, just to make sure he’s got all of the details in while his free hand lazily stays on the thrusters, keeping them stable as the ship approaches slowly.
“Collect atmospheric samples, take pictures of any remaining life forms, investigate resources… this is boring,” Cheng Xiaoshi complains with a dramatic sigh, dropping his commlink into the empty copilot seat beside him, deciding to finally focus on his landing.
“Okay…” Cheng Xiaoshi mutters, driving further through parting clouds, only to blink back in surprise at the sight before him. There weren't any forests or wilderness stretched over the horizon like his files had described, not a single trace of destruction from an interstellar war—instead, polished lands that sparkled in the lights like crystals, things that basically spat out the word ‘broke’ at Cheng Xiaoshi from every direction. “This is… much prettier than the guide.”
His viewport suddenly flicked off, all the screens across his display go black, but his engine was still working, his ship wasn’t malfunctioning, the controls were still responsive.
“Unauthorised vessel detected. You have entered restricted planetary spaces. State your reason or face the consequences,” A heavily accented voice comes through the speakers of the cockpit, and Cheng Xiaoshi immediately clicks over his files as soon as he sees an alert asking for information.
“Restricted?” Cheng Xiaoshi knits his eyebrows together, glancing over to his radar, then switching to the navigation map he’d been sent. Nothing from what he’s read had stated anything about Vorien being restricted to visitors, none of the academy charts have mentioned a protective territory or an exclusive zone. “What the hell?”
“Vessel registered to Interstellar Academy. Explain your unauthorized entry.” The voice speaks again, calmer this time, but it still sends a chill down Cheng Xiaoshi’s spine.
“W-wait! I’m here on an assignment-!” Cheng Xiaoshi barely manages to answer before the viewport turns back on, making him squint through the sudden light as he tries to focus back onto the alerts spread across the holo-screens.
“Assignment?” The voice replies, it sounds dull, void of emotion really, but Cheng Xiaoshi figures they could be suspicious of him. Considering they were speaking to him in standard language, he figures they're already aware of his identity. There are living species on this planet.
“Wait- so someone’s talking to me.” Cheng Xiaoshi speaks up again, leaning forward in his seat, a sudden wave of adrenaline rushing through him as a grin tugs on his lips.
“Correct.”
“And there’s people on here?” Cheng Xiaoshi leans even further, looking outside the viewport in pure excitement.
“Also correct.” The voice replies after a long pause.
Cheng Xiaoshi’s heart nearly stops. There were actual people on Vorien, living species, and actual aliens. Everything that proved his files false, every lecture and conspiracy theory proven wrong. And he only found out because of a stupid assignment.
He should be universally famous for this discovery.
“This is going to be the coolest presentation ever.” Cheng Xiaoshi mutters out as he leans back in his seat once again.
“Presentation?” The voice speaks again, startling Cheng Xiaoshi out of his head and making him sit up. “Who are you, exactly?”
“Oh! Right. My name is Cheng Xiaoshi, I’m a second-year cadet at the Interstellar Academy” Cheng Xiaoshi shifts closer to the viewport in his chair, flicking through the holo-screens before him and opening the file for his assignment and sending it over the transmission request. “I was sent here for a research project on the traces left behind Asterian species—Wait! Are you guys Asteri?”
“You were sent here without being informed that this planet had been under restriction for thousands of solar cycles?” The voice replies after an extended pause.
“Apparently…”
“And this mission is authorised?”
“I mean… the academy did?” Cheng Xiaoshi scratches his cheek before shrugs, and the silence following after makes him feel judged.
—
“Do they truly not know, or is this a trick to fool us?” The elder speaks up, luminescent skin flickering with a silent kind of rage that makes Lu Guang dart his eyes away and stare back towards the screen before him that is connected to the foreign ship’s transmitter.
“The vessel’s negotiation records confirm it. Their charts do list our home as uninhabited.” Another voice replies from across the chamber, the sound of hands clicking over the keypad of the HUD, causing murmurs to spread around.
“That is a Human.”
Though they aren’t angry, but concerned.
It seems like misinformation has been spread about Vorien across the galaxies surrounding it—that, or the information was severely incomplete. Which means this intrusion of this cadet could truly have been an accident.
The elder shifted his gaze, until it fell towards the youngest of the room.
“Lu Guang.” His voice is stern and rough, making Lu Guang look away from the HUD before him, turning slightly in his chair to meet pale eyes. “You’ve completed the most extensive study of Human language and culture. What is your assessment?”
“Yes…” Lu Guang nods, turning back to the camera feed playing on the holographic screen. The Human sits there, talking to his ship and making exaggerated expressions. There were no signs of deception, no military behaviour of any sort—he was just a student. “He seems… sincere.”
“And?”
Lu Guang pauses, pushing back pale strands of hair as he stares further into the holo-screen.
“He’s not behaving as the literature predicted,” Lu Guang leans forward, opening a new holographic screen with a flick of his wrist, swiping through titles before loading up multiple reports and handmade notes about Humans. “These reports describe Humans as cautious during first contact…”
Lu Guang knits his eyebrows together, keeping a close eye on every movement and sound that leaves the Human on the screen in front of him.
“Hello? Are you actually an Asterian? I think that's really cool…”
“So… how many of your species are really left? All the reports I was given said you guys were extinct, luckily I didn’t believe them, ha-!”
“Your planet is really beautiful… Are those really crystals?”
“Shit… I should probably write this stuff down”
He really did seem harmless, legs kicked up and over the side of his chair, the ship controls turned to park from where he’d landed onto the spaceport Lu Guang had sent him towards.
“Perhaps… the literature was incomplete.” Lu Guang finalises, turning back to his elder for just a split second before staring back to the holographic image of the endlessly expressive Human cadet.
It feels like everything he had studied about Humanity had been filtered through reports and distant observations—none of them actually mentioned this. The energy beaming out of the Human, the hundreds of micro-expressions he’d noticed just ten minutes into this broadcast, the lack of fear and suspicion, so different from other species that have landed onto Vorien before, so much wonder and excitement.
Lu Guang felt the need to figure out just exactly who Cheng Xiaoshi was.
.𖥔 ݁ ˖☾𖤓☽.𖥔 ݁ ˖
Crestir isn’t the safest planet Cheng Xiaoshi has been on through his experience as a pilot, and the spaceport was just one of the many places where a hundred accidents could happen—not that Cheng Xiaoshi wasn’t used to it. He’s used to these types of places, he can manage to fit it with how he looks, blending in wouldn’t be that hard with his academy uniform and the way it’s covered in space grim.
But Lu Guang, he really wouldn’t. Not with the way his existence just catches people’s attention.
(Cheng Xiaoshi doesn’t blame them, he was the same when he first met Lu Guang.)
“Okay, I need your jewellery out, and wear something that’s mine,” Cheng Xiaoshi speaks up as he pushes their suitcase onto the floor, unzipping it and digging through his clothes for his spare academy jacket. He should have a second one here, he could’ve sworn he brought it along in case something happened to the one he was currently wearing.
“Why?” Lu Guang mutters as he watches Cheng Xiaoshi move around the back of the top deck, hands tucked into his pockets as he leans against the wall of the ship. He looks down to his current clothes—a simple blue sweater and black jeans—and he really doesn’t see what the issue is with them. “I think my clothes look fine.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem, Lu Guang!” Cheng Xiaoshi huffs, pulling out a jacket and pushing it into his partner’s arms, a plain shirt following after. He closes the suitcase and pushes it aside, loosing around with a hand to his chin, as if searching for something else to adjust Lu Guang’s outfit with. “We’re going to get mugged at this rate.”
“Now why would we be?” Lu Guang puts one hand reaching out to catch the cap Cheng Xiaoshi tossed his way. His question goes unheard, leaving him to watch his companion talk to himself about blasters and mutter about weapons and staying safe.
In the end, Lu Guang does change into the clothes he’d been given, sighing lightly as he allows Cheng Xiaoshi to adjust the holster straps around him, because he was insisting that Lu Guang wouldn’t be able to do it on his own as fast as him.
“This is so unnecessary, you know?” Lu Guang speaks up, putting a hand out and over Cheng Xiaoshi’s head in front of him, hesitating for a second before he tugs on his hair lightly.
“Better be safe than sorry, Lu Guang!” Cheng Xiaoshi hissed, looking up to meet pale blue eyes, ones that stared down at him with a look he couldn’t quite decipher. Lu Guang’s emotions were always a mystery, something about his Asterian biology made them harder to express out loud, he was still studying it at his own pace, he has been since they first met and Lu Guang actually agreed to help him out with his research.
“I can just… alter how I look to match you?” Lu Guang suggests, tilting his head to the side, biting back another remark as he watches Cheng Xiaoshi rise up to his feet once again and process the words spoken to him, a million micro-emotions crossing his face before his eyes actually widen enough that his eyeballs become more pronounced.
“You can do that?!” Cheng Xiaoshi screams, eyes wide and staring at Lu Guang like he had just revealed the true secrets of the universe, hands finding the Asterian’s shoulders and shaking him slightly, only earning a sound in return.
“You wrote it in your report, didn't you?” Lu Guang mumbled, pulling away from the shaking and stepping back a few.
“I mentioned that in the theories written about Asterians in the literature, I never got to ask you if it was true!” Cheng Xiaoshi exclaims, putting a hand on his chin as he tried to recall what he’d written into his research paper as of recently.
“Well now you know,” Lu Guang sighs, staring at Cheng Xiaoshi for a long moment, his skin tone specifically, as if trying to mimic it—his own pale skin slowly colouring under the focus, almost copying the function of Human melanin.
“That’s… that’s crazy good” Cheng Xiaoshi stares, leaning down a little and rounding Lu Guang slowly, as if to take all of him in. He truly did look Human like this, with additional changes; hiding the slight point of the tips of his ears within his hair, joints aligning together enough to look almost Human. “Is it uncomfortable?”
“I can manage,” Lu Guang nods, reaching for one of the blasters and tucking it into his holster. He doesn’t look back to Cheng Xiaoshi, already feeling the grin that had spread across his face once he had turned around.
“Alright Lu Guang,” Cheng Xiaoshi says as he grabs his own blaster, tucking it to his side securely as he unlocks the hatch to his ship, letting in the light of the spaceport they’d landed in, a sudden wave of heat meeting them right away, only making the Human sigh. “Welcome to Crestir.”