A
Alex Hart
On, 188604, 四月 12, after the Kuvexian raid.
Alex had been called in to talk to Uso, but he didn't know why. He approached the entrance of the Queen's Slave and walked up the cargo ramp.
"You wanted to see me?" He called out.
"How are you doing after the raid?" Uso asked, putting down her datapad and moving over to Alex, putting her hands on his shoulder.
"I'm not so great." Alex said. "I got really messed up when I deactivated the power balancers.
"Not super familiar with the whole... not just being healthy again. Didn't the doctors put you back together?" Uso asked.
"Yeah, but it took a while. There were a lot of ruptured blood vessels in my head."
"An easy fix. You good then?" Uso asked, "I can't have you getting killed each time you go out on your own."
"I'm better now, but I don't know if I'm ready to do much fighting yet."
"Vacation then?..." Uso said, looking at Alex as she leaned back against the table, the neko dressed in a tight fitting pink tank top and black yoga pants. Her hair pulled back into a ponytail. "... What do your kind do for fun?"
"I usually just fly."
"Well, then relax maybe. You can take a fly break for a little while.... I am proud of what you did with the Skyguard. You guys were able to conduct this without Vier running the show."
"Err... Thanks? So why did you want to talk to me?"
"I don't know... I'm supposed to be doing mother-stuff and you're off killing people. I feel like I'm supposed to not approve... or be worried.... or something," Uso said.
"I suppose that's natural." Alex replied.
"So what do you think of your squad mates?" Uso asked, "... or... are they squad mates? You fly... so you're like... wingmen I suppose..."
"I like them. I chose them because they didn't seem like they'd fit in with the rest of the sky guard regulars, and judging by their perfromance during the raid, I think they have potential."
"Potential?... I will differ to your judgement there. While you did pull off that raid, the excecution was a mess. Candon's FSC trying to pull off another attack like that won't be easy for him... not to mention we still have our own set of local problems.... So you and that birb are getting pretty close?"
Alex blushed profusely. "Erhmmm... You know about that?"
"Oh hunny, I know about everything," Uso said, a wide grin coming to her face as she leaned in, "Besides, I get to take an interest in your love life now. It is adorable!"
Alex just blushed more.
"Just starting out huh? Well if you need some time to get away for a bit just ask. And also, Birth control... seriously... That'll just be a huge mess if you let that happen." Uso replied
"We're not... it isn't like that yet."
"Yeah ok. Do you know how to please a woman yet?" Uso asked.
"Umm... no?" At this point Alex was staring straight down at the floor.
"Well I can't show you everything... though... I actually got a few girls on the payroll that could..." Uso said thoughtfully, ".... but in all seriousness. You're going to want to try and impress her but just calm yourself. Be gentle, go slow, and don't force anything. You'll be just fine.... and use lube... like, for serious... it is a simple thing and it'll go a long way towards improving everyone's feelings."
Alex tried to change the topic. "So, the reason for calling me here?"
"That's it for now Alex. Dinner a bit later tonight if you want to invite wings."
"I'll ask her to come."
======== Later =======
Alex was just getting back to the Queen's slave at the time he had estimated that Araxie was going to be waking up. He entered the ship and knocked on the door to their room.
"Araxie, you awake?"
"Mmm? Yeah, I'm up, I'm up. What do you need?" Her voice still slightly drunk with fatigue, Birdy was clearly not yet fully awake. There was a small ruffling noise from within.
"Uso wants to have dinner with us," Alex said. "She was talking earlier about you and I..."
"Huh. Alright then... I'm assuming formal then?" there was a slight intensification of the scuffle on the door's other side, which faded after a moment before the door hissed open directly in front of Alex, bringing forth an angel wearing a black dress, complete with a skirt reaching halfway to her knees.
Alex did a double take. "Umm... You look nice. I don't think I have anything that looks half as good as that. I mean, I have a coat and some nicer pants, but that's about it." He felt dumb for not anticipating something like this.
"Thhhhhanks... Yeah, if I've learned anything about your mom she likes to dress for an occasion. Do we have anyplace in particular?"
"Uso just gave me an address, so I've got no idea what to expect." Alex said, "But knowing her it'll likely be something... interesting."
"...Fair enough, I guess. You should probably change then, yeah." Birdy slid around Alex, pecking him on the cheek lightly as she did so before walking back to the main hold of the ship.
Alex entered the room, and searched through his clothes for a moment before finding what he was searching for. He took off his normal ones, tossing them into a corner full of dirty laundry, and slipped them on before exiting the room and walking out to join Araxie.
"Should we take my fighter or get a ride with one of the trains?"
"Fighter would be faster but uh, where would we park it?"
"I can have it drop us off nearby and pick us up afterwards, remember?" Alex said, as he tapped the back of his neck.
"...Rrrright. I keep forgetting about that detail... But I think it would just be a bit... easier if we rode the train. Less obvious that one of the most-discussed couples on the planet is going there. Yeah, people will notice us on the train, but it's not like we're throwing a party, heh." She shrugged a little.
"Ok. I'm fine with that." Alex said. "Wait, are we a couple now?" Alex hadn't been expecting something like that without at least a little warning.
"Well I think they pulled it from the way you always seem to act around me, heh... And giving a girl a ride in your military-grade aircraft when people have suspicions of romance kinda seals the deal." Arx tweaked Tasuki's nose lightly and chuckled. "Besides, according to some we HAVE been on a date already... Not like they're particularly incorrect with that fact."
Alex chuckled as well, though a little uncertainly. "Eheheheheh... I guess we have." He looked around for a moment before asking, "Should we go to the starport's train station now?"
"Yyyyyyes. Let's not keep her waiting." Birdy pecked Alex again, with a "Chu~" as she did so.
======= At the restaraunt =======
"Iced.... tea?" The waited asked.
Uso nodded, "It is like normal tea, but you have ice in it.... you know, just go tell the chief... or Vier, or whoever is back there and they will know. Trust me on this, you can totally ice your tea."
The waiter nodded, and then excused himself to go check it out.
The resturant itself was at Nath Tower... and it looked nice. There were table cloths, large windows well covered with various fabrics, and a deep blue and white color pattern that filled the room. The people that worked there, however, were locals and not all of them quite were ready for off world food after having spent their lives eating algaeia.
Luckily, they were quite good at pointing people to the right table.
"Alex. Wings. Uso is waiting for you in the main dining area," The hostess said, giving them a smile as they approached the front entrance, and offering to show them to their table.
Alex looked to Araxie. "Why can't they just call you by your name?"
"I appologize. What do you prefer to be called? Ms. Uso informed us that your name was Wings." The hostess responded.
Wings shrugged, "Well, my name is Araxie. If you're the sort of person who likes to use surnames, you can call me Miss Serai as well. And don't fret about it, I'm clearly not some Yamataian." As she spoke, Birdy followed the hostess to their table.
"I suppose it's not that bad, it just seems a little disrespectful to call me by my name but not you by yours." Alex remarked. "It just bothered me a little."
"In her defense, you're her son and I'm just someone she hired to help run the planet."
As the two approached the table Alex walked ahead slightly and pulled out a chair for Araxie.
The birb sat in a simple way, with a "thank you" and a smile. "I was told you wanted to talk about things, Miss Uso?"
"Well I wanted to see how the two of you were doing," Uso said, "And test this place out... Do we need to get you two seperate beds yet? or you two going to be sharing for the forseeable future?"
Alex blushed. "We sleep at different times."
"So I've been told, it sounds like an arrangement that you two are quite happy with." Uso said.
"It's more like an arrangement we just never bothered to change the terms of. It's kind of like the main hold, I guess you could say. Sometime soon we should probably clean it up, but at the moment it really isn't a problem, per sae." Arx gestured for Alex to sit down, as she herself readjusted her feathery limbs to drape loosely on the seat behind her.
Uso nodded, and opened her mouth to speak only to get cut off by the waiter, "Can I get you two something to eat? Or drink?.... And here are some menus..." He said, setting out the single card menus infront of the two of them before then setting down a glass of entirely frozen tea infront of Uso. The local trying his best to get it right.
"We probably should move up to a larger ship soon too... but I like the QS. It feels homey," Uso added.
"Thank you." Serai smirked at the attempt of iced tea. I mean, they're not wrong, she thought, but they missed the mark a little. She browsed the available options as she spoke to her employer, "I guess that's up to you. I think you're the only person who lives there capable of actually buying a new ship. Although if you're planning to keep it as a mobile home of sorts, modified freighters do seem to still be a popular choice for filling that role. Not really sure why."
"From what the old man says, building ships isn't hard. Off the shelf engines, shields, ect are pretty easy to come by. Its why Vier was able to pump out those drones so fast. Filling those ships with habitable space is time consuming... and those F6 freighters are just big enough to handle all of the stuff we need to do in 'em." Uso explained. "Though, I mean... we can afford some luxuries now I think."
Araxie shrugged again, "Most I learned about ships on a technical level was the occasional repair job I would get. Y'know, keeping things from falling apart and killing everyone even when we weren't trying to cut through a low security area to save time. Colonies and cities and such just came easier to me I guess. Anyways... I don't think housing was the reason you invited both of us to dinner, though."
"I... don't understand much about why we'd need another ship. " Alex said. "The Queen's slave is fine."
"Can't I just want to see you two and hang out for a bit?" Uso asked.
"I mean, I suppose, but you never seem to just want to hang out. There's always something else." Alex said.
"Agreed."
"Why does there always have to be something else?" Uso asked flatly, her attention laser-focused on Alex, the neko leaning forward in her chair, "We don't have to be buisness all the time."
"Because usually there is something else."
"Which is why I wanted a night off. Do you know they don't have real tea here? The amount of effort required even for minor comforts here..."
"I suppose that wanting a night off is fair enough." Alex said. "What is tea?"
"Hot water with plant-stuff in it. The water leeches out the flavorings then you remove the plant stuff." Uso said, looking at the frozen cup of tea in front of her for a moment, "You... right... I forget not everyone has pre-downloaded memories of the important stuff."
"Yeah, but apparently the natives took the iced part a bit literally... I don't blame them, though. Why heat something up to boiling just to cool it off again to near freezing? Not only that, but the added water dilutes the solution further." Serai gestured to the open seat again, "Aren't you going to sit with us, Alex?"
Alex sat down, feeling a little silly. "So what do we eat at a place like this?"
"Just... you know... whatever. We're aiming for 'upscale resturant' here though we want it to be run by locals so there is a bit of a learning curve." Uso replied.
"I'll have a burger, I guess. Keep it simple when going somewhere new." The birb shrugged, knowing from her experience that eating simple also helped lower the risk of some sort of infection from variations health and safety standards.
Alex looked at the menu, frankly unknowlegable when it came to what each of the items were. "I guess I'll just have the same. I don't really know what most of the things on here are."
"What do humans like to eat?" Uso asked, pausing for a moment before turning towards the waiter , "He'll have the chicken and waffles... I'll have special number 5."
She'd then turn her attention to Alex,
"The old man loves the lighter, fluffier meats. I'm pretty sure I remember him liking that and he is as human as they come.... nowdays anyways. Not everyone can eat Neko-Food."
Araxie made a silent gagging motion at the mention of neko/food.
"What do Nekos eat?" Alex asked curiously.
"Same thing as most people I suppose. But I'm a penny-eater... I tend to go through a lot of heavy-metals.... LIKE THIS!" Uso grabbed a knife off the table and stabbed it through the palm of her hand before quickly withdrawing it. Blood would seep out in a thick red glob... not soaking into the tablecloth at all... instead of beaded together tightly and started to elongate... the deep red turning a bit brown, and then to a polished silver as the liquid turned itself into a pair of metal chop sticks.
"Plus I get bored so I've been eating things that you people can't. Mercury milkshakes are nice and heavy... really covers up the taste of the metal. Plus I've tried Tabun as a spice in curry and that's a bit spicery than you could handle."
Alex almost leapt out of his seat. "What in the...!"
"I'm not doing that HERE," Uso said, "Not the Tabun anyways... I'm completely immune to the stuff."
"I meant, why did you stab yourself?!?"
Arx shook herself, "What the hell... Okay, note to self: nekos are immune to stabbing, apparently. But seriously, that's... Terrifying actually."
"And how are you doing that thing with your blood?"
"My vote's on Yamatai biological shit."
"Well I can't make chopsticks inside my hand!" Uso said, as if Alex should already have known that, "I'm filled with nanomachines and they do a lot more than just fixing broken bones. My blood can eat through metals, form objects, break water down into rocketfuel... My bones didn't grow naturally either..." Uso held up her hand and let them see the wound had already closed, "In there is high end ceramics... "
"I know that there's some weird tech inside me, but this goes far beyond weird." Alex said, his eyes wide in wonderment.
Serai simply nodded to herself, giving off an air of haughtiness like she had been correct the whole time-in a way she was.
"You just have cybernetic bits. All of me is artificial... Sorta... Designed maybe? Intentional? Near invulnerabilty, fight, digital mind and a 25 year shelf life." Uso replied.
"Only 25 years?" Alex asked, "Why would someone design a person to die after that long?"
"Afraid that nekos would take over I suppose. Another measure of control that is difficult to break." She responded
"Hmph. With as many as they churn out I'm not surprised at least someone in Yamatai realizes there might be a problem with their nekos." Araxie's voice just thinly coated its bitter core as she spoke, not even attempting to conceal her distaste as she almost hissed the word Yamatai out.
"Do you... Not like them?"
"Let's say it like that, yeah."
"Why?" Alex asked innocently.
"Hahaaaa... " Uso laughed, "We killed a loooot of elysians."
"But... why?" Alex asked.
Alex's questions were met by further silence from the only Elysian in the room; a brooding, dark lack of activity.
"How can you just say something like that so casually? That's horrible!"
With a whoosh, Araxie wordlessly made it to her feet and absconded from the restaurant's interior with a sprint, disappearing into the busy streets outside.
Alex just looked at Uso a moment before shaking his head and rushing outside to follow Araxie. As he entered the streets, he thought he caught a glimpse of her flying off above a collection of buildings, something falling from her body that caught the light.
Something in Alex's chest tightened. He began to chase after her, and attempted to scale one of the buildings with a few hops and continued to follow.
"ARAXIE!" Try as he might, Tasuki's cries were lost in the wind or ignored, their speeding target becoming ever smaller as she beelined... Somewhere in a roughly northern direction, getting as far away from the Neko as she could.
Alex sighed and leapt off of a taller building, having his mecha swoop in from outside the city, where he had called it to after Araxie started to fly, and didn't even bother getting into the cockpit before beginning to chase her.
As he closed in behind her, he balanced on the hand of his craft, which was at this point oustretched while the rest of the body was in plane form.
"ARAXIE" He shouted over the wind "PLEASE... I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU!"
The angel stopped mid-air abruptly, dropping a few meters to avoid being cut in two by the jet's wing as she turned to face its pilot, face glowing a deep red. "With what? What do you expect to do? This isn't some company that we can avenge you against, this is YAMATAI! They just grow and grow and don't have any sense of compassion for anyone and they believe anything they're told without question! They would gladly die to wipe everything from the sector, if only because to them death is trivial! LOOK AT WHAT USO SAID! SHE TOOK IT LIKE A JOKE! A FUCKING JOKE!"
Alex stopped the jet, and transformed it fully into mecha mode.
"I... I don't know for a fact if I can help anyone, but that's never stopped me trying to help before and it won't stop me now." He held out his hands. "I'm here for you, whatever you need."
Wings's voice cracked, fighting fatigue and wind and stress, "And why should you bother to help me? To what goal would you be working for? I wouldn't be surprised if she would just try this all over again, since clearly to her two more bodies means nothing!" She wavered in the air, heaving and gasping like some great weight had been thrown onto her from above, the elysian's face turning from a crimson to an unhealthy maroon.
Alex moved himself to a location from which he would be able to catch Araxie if, or when she fell.
"Don't you remember what I told you at the reservoir? I love you, that's reason enough for me."
Serai seemed to stall for what felt like hours, staring at Tasuki as she slowly seemed to lower herself downwards. After she was nearly level with him, they spoke again, "and what makes me so special, then? Why do you love me, rather than a girl who you would find it easier to work with? One who you can spend a long while with, one who can easily fly with you...?"
Alex was without answer. "I don't know, maybe it's the way that you make me feel, or that you seem to care more about me than anyone else has. But none of that is what matters to me." Alex said fervently.
The silver-eyed girl sighed audiably, "There's plenty of people who would want to care for you if you opened up to them... In fact, they probably could find a better way to make you feel better. Let's just... Ugh." The birb's droning mixed dissonantly with the mecha's engines in the air. "I need some time away, I think. Away from her."
"Do you want me to leave you alone as well?"
"I..." Another year fell from the birb's cheek, disappearing into the fading light. "I don't know..."
"It's okay." Alex said, looking down slightly. "I just... I wanted to help somehow. I thought I could help somehow." He was, at this point, beginning to tear up.
"Yeah, I figured you're think that. But you can't trust a Neko nearly as far as they let you throw them, and there's no sense crying for me either. I'm just some bitch that survived their little purge, a pest they'd remove as soon as they found a reason to." Seeming to gain a form of momentum from her self-loathing of sorts, Araxie hovered up, slowly circling around the mecha nervously and angrily. "So there's really no reason to try and work with her, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she's already putting out a new contract as we speak to replace me!"
Teara began to overflow from Alex's eyes. "No! You're not just some replaceable tool or employe. You aren't just some 'bitch that survived', you're kind, and beautiful and no one else can do your job!"
"Vier seemed to do just damn fine without me."
"I won't be fine without you..." Alex said just loudly enough to be heard.
Serai went silent, or as silent as an oversized hummingbird could be in flight, staring Alex in the eye across the air. A gust of wind broke their connection as she gasped, seeming to throw herself at him through the air, catching herself on him with an embrace of sorts, her skin hot to the touch and slick with perspiration.
Alex caught Araxie in his arms, his cheeks flushing when he felt her skin. He pulled the angel up onto the hand he stood upon.
"A-are you alright? Araxie?"
There was no response save for a sob, the poor girl virtually collapsing when faced with her own miniscule mass, hiding her face using Alex's shoulder. Her tears slowly soaked his shirt, darkening the fabric.
Alex wraped Araxie in a gentle embrace. He knew he needed to do something. "I-its okay Araxie, I'm here for you, if there's anything I can do to help..." Alex shook his head. "God I must sound corny."
The crying female seemed to settle if but slightly, leaning against Alex as she was, dress shifting with the breeze as her feathery appendages drooped furthen downwards, only shifting when she herself did. As if some contract had bound her tongue, Arx commented not on Alex's assistance, nor his humor.
Alex held her a little tighter, but still not so tight that it would be uncomfortable. He began to gently stroke her chocolate and honey colored hair softly. "Please, don't scare me like that again. I remember you asked the same of me when I had woken up in the hospital. I don't know what I'd do without you, I don't know how I lasted so long without you." Alex then leaned back slightly, worried by Araxie's silence. "Araxie..." He didn't really know what to do, but maybe... He began to kiss her on the mouth, hoping it would bring her back to reality.
The subtle movement of her lips in contact with his own was but a light in the darkness, a sign Araxie had not left forever within herself, despite how her body was limp and weak in his arms.
Alex, when he got no response, simply lifted the two of them into the cockpit of his mecha, the hand carrying him, and him carrying Araxie in his arms before sitting down with her resting on his lap. He began to fly towards the Sybio airbase, planning to stay the night there with Araxie until they could figure out what to do next. Since he didn't need to use his hands or eyes to pilot, his link with the mecha providing sensory input suitable for the task, and since kissing Araxie seemed to help, even if only a little, he waited for a while and then gave her another kiss.
The angel's body curled up as it was carried, sobbing slightly still as they flew. Her body was slowly beginning to cool again, her chest beginning to ease back and forth as she breathed. At some point, she seemed to fall asleep during the flight, her face relaxing to something much less worrisome to observe.
After landing, Alex quietly picked Araxie up in a princess style carry, and carried her down to his room, the one place he could be sure that she could get peace and quiet. After entering, He laid down Araxie on his bed and pulled out a clean shirt for her to put on when she felt like it, laid a blanket over her sleeping body, and then lay down on the couch of the room, attempting, and failing to stay awake to make sure that the angel was okay.
====== The next day ======
Alex woke up to weight on top of him, in the form of a sleeping Araxie. She must have woken up by herself overnight, but she was unconscious again at the moment, her face quite close to his. Her body felt warm to the touch, and one wing was almost lazily draped across them both.
Alex tried to get up without waking her, but when that proved unable to be done, he instead just relaxed himself on the couch, stroking Araxie's hair and the wing that was wrapped around the two of them.
Although his partner hasn't apparently woken up still, the blush covering her face was quite adorable.
Alex observed the blush. Was he doing something right, or wrong? Unsure, he began to massage the ridges of the wing.
Araxie's blush had come with full force, and there was an audible quickening of her breath as Alex's hands kneaded the surprisingly soft feathers. Her heart started to beat a bit harder, he could feel the force through his chest.
At this point Alex, who was driven by some unknown instinct, began to kiss her again.
Unlike the end of the previous night, Araxie's lips moved with Alex's, and her whole body seemed to readjust so their faces were nearly perfectly together, her shining silver eyes slowly cracking open. The angel hummed lightly, bringing her arms to be more around Alex than they were previously.
Alex pulled back from the kiss slightly, taking a moderately deep breath before speaking. "Err... good morning Araxie."
The glistening eyes blinked. "Mmm.... G'morning, Alex... S-sorry..." The slowly fading blush returned, and her eyes shifted down for a moment before locking with Alex's once again.
Alex gave a small smile. "It's okay. I can't be mad at you." He blushed too. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I was giving your wings a massage since they looked like they hurt but I didn't think to ask you first."
"It-it's fine..." The light female smiled again. "I'm really sorry on running away from you guys... That was really quite impolite..."
"I don't blame you." Alex said, "It was much more impolite and insensitive of Uso to talk so casually about killing others like you."
Araxie remained silent for several minutes.
"Do you want to talk or should I kiss you again?" Alex asked.
She blushed again, answering his question with a kiss of her own.
Alex returned it, moving his mouth around and opening it slightly to try and maximize the amount of contact their lips had, giving the couple a brief intimate moment before Arx pulled herself away.
"U-uh... I should really go let Miss Uso know we're not dead or running away or something."
"Oh... Yeah, that's a good idea." Alex said, "Though I could send a message if you'd rather not talk to her."
"Please... Yeah, please do..." Serai pulled herself up, her significantly wrinkled dress being somewhat lazily adjusted as she made to sit on the couch, not the man laying upon it.
Alex sat down next to her and began composing a message with his mindware.
At some point during Alex's message composition Araxie had gone back to leaning against him, breathing evenly and gently. She did indeed seem to be relaxing again, seemingly just by being in contact with her partner. She never bothered to ask Alex about what he had sent to Uso, simply taking silence for comfort.
Alex rubbed Araxie on the shoulder, attempting to comfort her. "I've asked Uso to think about how what she said was hurtful. I don't know how much good it'll do though. From what I gather, she's fine with being a weapon, and honestly I don't know if she really cares too much about how she was used in the past."
Alex had been called in to talk to Uso, but he didn't know why. He approached the entrance of the Queen's Slave and walked up the cargo ramp.
"You wanted to see me?" He called out.
"How are you doing after the raid?" Uso asked, putting down her datapad and moving over to Alex, putting her hands on his shoulder.
"I'm not so great." Alex said. "I got really messed up when I deactivated the power balancers.
"Not super familiar with the whole... not just being healthy again. Didn't the doctors put you back together?" Uso asked.
"Yeah, but it took a while. There were a lot of ruptured blood vessels in my head."
"An easy fix. You good then?" Uso asked, "I can't have you getting killed each time you go out on your own."
"I'm better now, but I don't know if I'm ready to do much fighting yet."
"Vacation then?..." Uso said, looking at Alex as she leaned back against the table, the neko dressed in a tight fitting pink tank top and black yoga pants. Her hair pulled back into a ponytail. "... What do your kind do for fun?"
"I usually just fly."
"Well, then relax maybe. You can take a fly break for a little while.... I am proud of what you did with the Skyguard. You guys were able to conduct this without Vier running the show."
"Err... Thanks? So why did you want to talk to me?"
"I don't know... I'm supposed to be doing mother-stuff and you're off killing people. I feel like I'm supposed to not approve... or be worried.... or something," Uso said.
"I suppose that's natural." Alex replied.
"So what do you think of your squad mates?" Uso asked, "... or... are they squad mates? You fly... so you're like... wingmen I suppose..."
"I like them. I chose them because they didn't seem like they'd fit in with the rest of the sky guard regulars, and judging by their perfromance during the raid, I think they have potential."
"Potential?... I will differ to your judgement there. While you did pull off that raid, the excecution was a mess. Candon's FSC trying to pull off another attack like that won't be easy for him... not to mention we still have our own set of local problems.... So you and that birb are getting pretty close?"
Alex blushed profusely. "Erhmmm... You know about that?"
"Oh hunny, I know about everything," Uso said, a wide grin coming to her face as she leaned in, "Besides, I get to take an interest in your love life now. It is adorable!"
Alex just blushed more.
"Just starting out huh? Well if you need some time to get away for a bit just ask. And also, Birth control... seriously... That'll just be a huge mess if you let that happen." Uso replied
"We're not... it isn't like that yet."
"Yeah ok. Do you know how to please a woman yet?" Uso asked.
"Umm... no?" At this point Alex was staring straight down at the floor.
"Well I can't show you everything... though... I actually got a few girls on the payroll that could..." Uso said thoughtfully, ".... but in all seriousness. You're going to want to try and impress her but just calm yourself. Be gentle, go slow, and don't force anything. You'll be just fine.... and use lube... like, for serious... it is a simple thing and it'll go a long way towards improving everyone's feelings."
Alex tried to change the topic. "So, the reason for calling me here?"
"That's it for now Alex. Dinner a bit later tonight if you want to invite wings."
"I'll ask her to come."
======== Later =======
Alex was just getting back to the Queen's slave at the time he had estimated that Araxie was going to be waking up. He entered the ship and knocked on the door to their room.
"Araxie, you awake?"
"Mmm? Yeah, I'm up, I'm up. What do you need?" Her voice still slightly drunk with fatigue, Birdy was clearly not yet fully awake. There was a small ruffling noise from within.
"Uso wants to have dinner with us," Alex said. "She was talking earlier about you and I..."
"Huh. Alright then... I'm assuming formal then?" there was a slight intensification of the scuffle on the door's other side, which faded after a moment before the door hissed open directly in front of Alex, bringing forth an angel wearing a black dress, complete with a skirt reaching halfway to her knees.
Alex did a double take. "Umm... You look nice. I don't think I have anything that looks half as good as that. I mean, I have a coat and some nicer pants, but that's about it." He felt dumb for not anticipating something like this.
"Thhhhhanks... Yeah, if I've learned anything about your mom she likes to dress for an occasion. Do we have anyplace in particular?"
"Uso just gave me an address, so I've got no idea what to expect." Alex said, "But knowing her it'll likely be something... interesting."
"...Fair enough, I guess. You should probably change then, yeah." Birdy slid around Alex, pecking him on the cheek lightly as she did so before walking back to the main hold of the ship.
Alex entered the room, and searched through his clothes for a moment before finding what he was searching for. He took off his normal ones, tossing them into a corner full of dirty laundry, and slipped them on before exiting the room and walking out to join Araxie.
"Should we take my fighter or get a ride with one of the trains?"
"Fighter would be faster but uh, where would we park it?"
"I can have it drop us off nearby and pick us up afterwards, remember?" Alex said, as he tapped the back of his neck.
"...Rrrright. I keep forgetting about that detail... But I think it would just be a bit... easier if we rode the train. Less obvious that one of the most-discussed couples on the planet is going there. Yeah, people will notice us on the train, but it's not like we're throwing a party, heh." She shrugged a little.
"Ok. I'm fine with that." Alex said. "Wait, are we a couple now?" Alex hadn't been expecting something like that without at least a little warning.
"Well I think they pulled it from the way you always seem to act around me, heh... And giving a girl a ride in your military-grade aircraft when people have suspicions of romance kinda seals the deal." Arx tweaked Tasuki's nose lightly and chuckled. "Besides, according to some we HAVE been on a date already... Not like they're particularly incorrect with that fact."
Alex chuckled as well, though a little uncertainly. "Eheheheheh... I guess we have." He looked around for a moment before asking, "Should we go to the starport's train station now?"
"Yyyyyyes. Let's not keep her waiting." Birdy pecked Alex again, with a "Chu~" as she did so.
======= At the restaraunt =======
"Iced.... tea?" The waited asked.
Uso nodded, "It is like normal tea, but you have ice in it.... you know, just go tell the chief... or Vier, or whoever is back there and they will know. Trust me on this, you can totally ice your tea."
The waiter nodded, and then excused himself to go check it out.
The resturant itself was at Nath Tower... and it looked nice. There were table cloths, large windows well covered with various fabrics, and a deep blue and white color pattern that filled the room. The people that worked there, however, were locals and not all of them quite were ready for off world food after having spent their lives eating algaeia.
Luckily, they were quite good at pointing people to the right table.
"Alex. Wings. Uso is waiting for you in the main dining area," The hostess said, giving them a smile as they approached the front entrance, and offering to show them to their table.
Alex looked to Araxie. "Why can't they just call you by your name?"
"I appologize. What do you prefer to be called? Ms. Uso informed us that your name was Wings." The hostess responded.
Wings shrugged, "Well, my name is Araxie. If you're the sort of person who likes to use surnames, you can call me Miss Serai as well. And don't fret about it, I'm clearly not some Yamataian." As she spoke, Birdy followed the hostess to their table.
"I suppose it's not that bad, it just seems a little disrespectful to call me by my name but not you by yours." Alex remarked. "It just bothered me a little."
"In her defense, you're her son and I'm just someone she hired to help run the planet."
As the two approached the table Alex walked ahead slightly and pulled out a chair for Araxie.
The birb sat in a simple way, with a "thank you" and a smile. "I was told you wanted to talk about things, Miss Uso?"
"Well I wanted to see how the two of you were doing," Uso said, "And test this place out... Do we need to get you two seperate beds yet? or you two going to be sharing for the forseeable future?"
Alex blushed. "We sleep at different times."
"So I've been told, it sounds like an arrangement that you two are quite happy with." Uso said.
"It's more like an arrangement we just never bothered to change the terms of. It's kind of like the main hold, I guess you could say. Sometime soon we should probably clean it up, but at the moment it really isn't a problem, per sae." Arx gestured for Alex to sit down, as she herself readjusted her feathery limbs to drape loosely on the seat behind her.
Uso nodded, and opened her mouth to speak only to get cut off by the waiter, "Can I get you two something to eat? Or drink?.... And here are some menus..." He said, setting out the single card menus infront of the two of them before then setting down a glass of entirely frozen tea infront of Uso. The local trying his best to get it right.
"We probably should move up to a larger ship soon too... but I like the QS. It feels homey," Uso added.
"Thank you." Serai smirked at the attempt of iced tea. I mean, they're not wrong, she thought, but they missed the mark a little. She browsed the available options as she spoke to her employer, "I guess that's up to you. I think you're the only person who lives there capable of actually buying a new ship. Although if you're planning to keep it as a mobile home of sorts, modified freighters do seem to still be a popular choice for filling that role. Not really sure why."
"From what the old man says, building ships isn't hard. Off the shelf engines, shields, ect are pretty easy to come by. Its why Vier was able to pump out those drones so fast. Filling those ships with habitable space is time consuming... and those F6 freighters are just big enough to handle all of the stuff we need to do in 'em." Uso explained. "Though, I mean... we can afford some luxuries now I think."
Araxie shrugged again, "Most I learned about ships on a technical level was the occasional repair job I would get. Y'know, keeping things from falling apart and killing everyone even when we weren't trying to cut through a low security area to save time. Colonies and cities and such just came easier to me I guess. Anyways... I don't think housing was the reason you invited both of us to dinner, though."
"I... don't understand much about why we'd need another ship. " Alex said. "The Queen's slave is fine."
"Can't I just want to see you two and hang out for a bit?" Uso asked.
"I mean, I suppose, but you never seem to just want to hang out. There's always something else." Alex said.
"Agreed."
"Why does there always have to be something else?" Uso asked flatly, her attention laser-focused on Alex, the neko leaning forward in her chair, "We don't have to be buisness all the time."
"Because usually there is something else."
"Which is why I wanted a night off. Do you know they don't have real tea here? The amount of effort required even for minor comforts here..."
"I suppose that wanting a night off is fair enough." Alex said. "What is tea?"
"Hot water with plant-stuff in it. The water leeches out the flavorings then you remove the plant stuff." Uso said, looking at the frozen cup of tea in front of her for a moment, "You... right... I forget not everyone has pre-downloaded memories of the important stuff."
"Yeah, but apparently the natives took the iced part a bit literally... I don't blame them, though. Why heat something up to boiling just to cool it off again to near freezing? Not only that, but the added water dilutes the solution further." Serai gestured to the open seat again, "Aren't you going to sit with us, Alex?"
Alex sat down, feeling a little silly. "So what do we eat at a place like this?"
"Just... you know... whatever. We're aiming for 'upscale resturant' here though we want it to be run by locals so there is a bit of a learning curve." Uso replied.
"I'll have a burger, I guess. Keep it simple when going somewhere new." The birb shrugged, knowing from her experience that eating simple also helped lower the risk of some sort of infection from variations health and safety standards.
Alex looked at the menu, frankly unknowlegable when it came to what each of the items were. "I guess I'll just have the same. I don't really know what most of the things on here are."
"What do humans like to eat?" Uso asked, pausing for a moment before turning towards the waiter , "He'll have the chicken and waffles... I'll have special number 5."
She'd then turn her attention to Alex,
"The old man loves the lighter, fluffier meats. I'm pretty sure I remember him liking that and he is as human as they come.... nowdays anyways. Not everyone can eat Neko-Food."
Araxie made a silent gagging motion at the mention of neko/food.
"What do Nekos eat?" Alex asked curiously.
"Same thing as most people I suppose. But I'm a penny-eater... I tend to go through a lot of heavy-metals.... LIKE THIS!" Uso grabbed a knife off the table and stabbed it through the palm of her hand before quickly withdrawing it. Blood would seep out in a thick red glob... not soaking into the tablecloth at all... instead of beaded together tightly and started to elongate... the deep red turning a bit brown, and then to a polished silver as the liquid turned itself into a pair of metal chop sticks.
"Plus I get bored so I've been eating things that you people can't. Mercury milkshakes are nice and heavy... really covers up the taste of the metal. Plus I've tried Tabun as a spice in curry and that's a bit spicery than you could handle."
Alex almost leapt out of his seat. "What in the...!"
"I'm not doing that HERE," Uso said, "Not the Tabun anyways... I'm completely immune to the stuff."
"I meant, why did you stab yourself?!?"
Arx shook herself, "What the hell... Okay, note to self: nekos are immune to stabbing, apparently. But seriously, that's... Terrifying actually."
"And how are you doing that thing with your blood?"
"My vote's on Yamatai biological shit."
"Well I can't make chopsticks inside my hand!" Uso said, as if Alex should already have known that, "I'm filled with nanomachines and they do a lot more than just fixing broken bones. My blood can eat through metals, form objects, break water down into rocketfuel... My bones didn't grow naturally either..." Uso held up her hand and let them see the wound had already closed, "In there is high end ceramics... "
"I know that there's some weird tech inside me, but this goes far beyond weird." Alex said, his eyes wide in wonderment.
Serai simply nodded to herself, giving off an air of haughtiness like she had been correct the whole time-in a way she was.
"You just have cybernetic bits. All of me is artificial... Sorta... Designed maybe? Intentional? Near invulnerabilty, fight, digital mind and a 25 year shelf life." Uso replied.
"Only 25 years?" Alex asked, "Why would someone design a person to die after that long?"
"Afraid that nekos would take over I suppose. Another measure of control that is difficult to break." She responded
"Hmph. With as many as they churn out I'm not surprised at least someone in Yamatai realizes there might be a problem with their nekos." Araxie's voice just thinly coated its bitter core as she spoke, not even attempting to conceal her distaste as she almost hissed the word Yamatai out.
"Do you... Not like them?"
"Let's say it like that, yeah."
"Why?" Alex asked innocently.
"Hahaaaa... " Uso laughed, "We killed a loooot of elysians."
"But... why?" Alex asked.
Alex's questions were met by further silence from the only Elysian in the room; a brooding, dark lack of activity.
"How can you just say something like that so casually? That's horrible!"
With a whoosh, Araxie wordlessly made it to her feet and absconded from the restaurant's interior with a sprint, disappearing into the busy streets outside.
Alex just looked at Uso a moment before shaking his head and rushing outside to follow Araxie. As he entered the streets, he thought he caught a glimpse of her flying off above a collection of buildings, something falling from her body that caught the light.
Something in Alex's chest tightened. He began to chase after her, and attempted to scale one of the buildings with a few hops and continued to follow.
"ARAXIE!" Try as he might, Tasuki's cries were lost in the wind or ignored, their speeding target becoming ever smaller as she beelined... Somewhere in a roughly northern direction, getting as far away from the Neko as she could.
Alex sighed and leapt off of a taller building, having his mecha swoop in from outside the city, where he had called it to after Araxie started to fly, and didn't even bother getting into the cockpit before beginning to chase her.
As he closed in behind her, he balanced on the hand of his craft, which was at this point oustretched while the rest of the body was in plane form.
"ARAXIE" He shouted over the wind "PLEASE... I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU!"
The angel stopped mid-air abruptly, dropping a few meters to avoid being cut in two by the jet's wing as she turned to face its pilot, face glowing a deep red. "With what? What do you expect to do? This isn't some company that we can avenge you against, this is YAMATAI! They just grow and grow and don't have any sense of compassion for anyone and they believe anything they're told without question! They would gladly die to wipe everything from the sector, if only because to them death is trivial! LOOK AT WHAT USO SAID! SHE TOOK IT LIKE A JOKE! A FUCKING JOKE!"
Alex stopped the jet, and transformed it fully into mecha mode.
"I... I don't know for a fact if I can help anyone, but that's never stopped me trying to help before and it won't stop me now." He held out his hands. "I'm here for you, whatever you need."
Wings's voice cracked, fighting fatigue and wind and stress, "And why should you bother to help me? To what goal would you be working for? I wouldn't be surprised if she would just try this all over again, since clearly to her two more bodies means nothing!" She wavered in the air, heaving and gasping like some great weight had been thrown onto her from above, the elysian's face turning from a crimson to an unhealthy maroon.
Alex moved himself to a location from which he would be able to catch Araxie if, or when she fell.
"Don't you remember what I told you at the reservoir? I love you, that's reason enough for me."
Serai seemed to stall for what felt like hours, staring at Tasuki as she slowly seemed to lower herself downwards. After she was nearly level with him, they spoke again, "and what makes me so special, then? Why do you love me, rather than a girl who you would find it easier to work with? One who you can spend a long while with, one who can easily fly with you...?"
Alex was without answer. "I don't know, maybe it's the way that you make me feel, or that you seem to care more about me than anyone else has. But none of that is what matters to me." Alex said fervently.
The silver-eyed girl sighed audiably, "There's plenty of people who would want to care for you if you opened up to them... In fact, they probably could find a better way to make you feel better. Let's just... Ugh." The birb's droning mixed dissonantly with the mecha's engines in the air. "I need some time away, I think. Away from her."
"Do you want me to leave you alone as well?"
"I..." Another year fell from the birb's cheek, disappearing into the fading light. "I don't know..."
"It's okay." Alex said, looking down slightly. "I just... I wanted to help somehow. I thought I could help somehow." He was, at this point, beginning to tear up.
"Yeah, I figured you're think that. But you can't trust a Neko nearly as far as they let you throw them, and there's no sense crying for me either. I'm just some bitch that survived their little purge, a pest they'd remove as soon as they found a reason to." Seeming to gain a form of momentum from her self-loathing of sorts, Araxie hovered up, slowly circling around the mecha nervously and angrily. "So there's really no reason to try and work with her, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she's already putting out a new contract as we speak to replace me!"
Teara began to overflow from Alex's eyes. "No! You're not just some replaceable tool or employe. You aren't just some 'bitch that survived', you're kind, and beautiful and no one else can do your job!"
"Vier seemed to do just damn fine without me."
"I won't be fine without you..." Alex said just loudly enough to be heard.
Serai went silent, or as silent as an oversized hummingbird could be in flight, staring Alex in the eye across the air. A gust of wind broke their connection as she gasped, seeming to throw herself at him through the air, catching herself on him with an embrace of sorts, her skin hot to the touch and slick with perspiration.
Alex caught Araxie in his arms, his cheeks flushing when he felt her skin. He pulled the angel up onto the hand he stood upon.
"A-are you alright? Araxie?"
There was no response save for a sob, the poor girl virtually collapsing when faced with her own miniscule mass, hiding her face using Alex's shoulder. Her tears slowly soaked his shirt, darkening the fabric.
Alex wraped Araxie in a gentle embrace. He knew he needed to do something. "I-its okay Araxie, I'm here for you, if there's anything I can do to help..." Alex shook his head. "God I must sound corny."
The crying female seemed to settle if but slightly, leaning against Alex as she was, dress shifting with the breeze as her feathery appendages drooped furthen downwards, only shifting when she herself did. As if some contract had bound her tongue, Arx commented not on Alex's assistance, nor his humor.
Alex held her a little tighter, but still not so tight that it would be uncomfortable. He began to gently stroke her chocolate and honey colored hair softly. "Please, don't scare me like that again. I remember you asked the same of me when I had woken up in the hospital. I don't know what I'd do without you, I don't know how I lasted so long without you." Alex then leaned back slightly, worried by Araxie's silence. "Araxie..." He didn't really know what to do, but maybe... He began to kiss her on the mouth, hoping it would bring her back to reality.
The subtle movement of her lips in contact with his own was but a light in the darkness, a sign Araxie had not left forever within herself, despite how her body was limp and weak in his arms.
Alex, when he got no response, simply lifted the two of them into the cockpit of his mecha, the hand carrying him, and him carrying Araxie in his arms before sitting down with her resting on his lap. He began to fly towards the Sybio airbase, planning to stay the night there with Araxie until they could figure out what to do next. Since he didn't need to use his hands or eyes to pilot, his link with the mecha providing sensory input suitable for the task, and since kissing Araxie seemed to help, even if only a little, he waited for a while and then gave her another kiss.
The angel's body curled up as it was carried, sobbing slightly still as they flew. Her body was slowly beginning to cool again, her chest beginning to ease back and forth as she breathed. At some point, she seemed to fall asleep during the flight, her face relaxing to something much less worrisome to observe.
After landing, Alex quietly picked Araxie up in a princess style carry, and carried her down to his room, the one place he could be sure that she could get peace and quiet. After entering, He laid down Araxie on his bed and pulled out a clean shirt for her to put on when she felt like it, laid a blanket over her sleeping body, and then lay down on the couch of the room, attempting, and failing to stay awake to make sure that the angel was okay.
====== The next day ======
Alex woke up to weight on top of him, in the form of a sleeping Araxie. She must have woken up by herself overnight, but she was unconscious again at the moment, her face quite close to his. Her body felt warm to the touch, and one wing was almost lazily draped across them both.
Alex tried to get up without waking her, but when that proved unable to be done, he instead just relaxed himself on the couch, stroking Araxie's hair and the wing that was wrapped around the two of them.
Although his partner hasn't apparently woken up still, the blush covering her face was quite adorable.
Alex observed the blush. Was he doing something right, or wrong? Unsure, he began to massage the ridges of the wing.
Araxie's blush had come with full force, and there was an audible quickening of her breath as Alex's hands kneaded the surprisingly soft feathers. Her heart started to beat a bit harder, he could feel the force through his chest.
At this point Alex, who was driven by some unknown instinct, began to kiss her again.
Unlike the end of the previous night, Araxie's lips moved with Alex's, and her whole body seemed to readjust so their faces were nearly perfectly together, her shining silver eyes slowly cracking open. The angel hummed lightly, bringing her arms to be more around Alex than they were previously.
Alex pulled back from the kiss slightly, taking a moderately deep breath before speaking. "Err... good morning Araxie."
The glistening eyes blinked. "Mmm.... G'morning, Alex... S-sorry..." The slowly fading blush returned, and her eyes shifted down for a moment before locking with Alex's once again.
Alex gave a small smile. "It's okay. I can't be mad at you." He blushed too. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I was giving your wings a massage since they looked like they hurt but I didn't think to ask you first."
"It-it's fine..." The light female smiled again. "I'm really sorry on running away from you guys... That was really quite impolite..."
"I don't blame you." Alex said, "It was much more impolite and insensitive of Uso to talk so casually about killing others like you."
Araxie remained silent for several minutes.
"Do you want to talk or should I kiss you again?" Alex asked.
She blushed again, answering his question with a kiss of her own.
Alex returned it, moving his mouth around and opening it slightly to try and maximize the amount of contact their lips had, giving the couple a brief intimate moment before Arx pulled herself away.
"U-uh... I should really go let Miss Uso know we're not dead or running away or something."
"Oh... Yeah, that's a good idea." Alex said, "Though I could send a message if you'd rather not talk to her."
"Please... Yeah, please do..." Serai pulled herself up, her significantly wrinkled dress being somewhat lazily adjusted as she made to sit on the couch, not the man laying upon it.
Alex sat down next to her and began composing a message with his mindware.
At some point during Alex's message composition Araxie had gone back to leaning against him, breathing evenly and gently. She did indeed seem to be relaxing again, seemingly just by being in contact with her partner. She never bothered to ask Alex about what he had sent to Uso, simply taking silence for comfort.
Alex rubbed Araxie on the shoulder, attempting to comfort her. "I've asked Uso to think about how what she said was hurtful. I don't know how much good it'll do though. From what I gather, she's fine with being a weapon, and honestly I don't know if she really cares too much about how she was used in the past."
