A/N: Formershipping for Compy's contest, From Cyest to Memphis universe. Sorry it's so short! I ended up having way less time to write than I would have liked T.T Hope it stands by itself okay, even where it overlaps slightly.
The Liisen system was one of the few systems in the galaxy with a race that bred talents and none with the frequency of the Drakons. Thanks, however, to inter-system politics and strictly enforced Guardian policies of non-interference, they were rarely seen outside their home system and in the case that they were known or spoken of, they were referred to as the colorless people.
-
"Ryou, you never mentioned a sister."
"We were separated when we were ten, about eight years ago. The school's on Cyest, on all the planets I suppose, test for talents pretty regularly in children from age eight to thirteen. The first time I... displayed my ability, our parents panicked."
-
When he was ten, Ryou wanted a bird. He wanted to let it go,watch it fly, then, unlike a real bird, he wanted it to come back to him. He wanted it so bad that it took form in his mind. He could see exactly how to build one from beginning to end. He could see the design and hold it there, make it larger or smaller, see the whole thing or just a piece at a time. He could see each and every part and how they fit together, where to solder the connections, where to pin the joints so that they would move, part after part and piece after piece, he just knew.
Ryou didn't sleep that night and his sister covered for him, then snuck from their shared room after their parents fell asleep and stayed up that night as well because if one didn't sleep, neither did the other. She stayed up with him and and watched in awe as he moved excitedly around the small flat, gathering items that contained the parts he would need and taking them apart down to the very last screw. Two of their toys, one headset for school ("Mom's will be mad." "Don't worry, I can fix it."), and one of their father's tools met their fate at small, clumsy hands as they were rendered to their basic components before Ryou began to build.
"Dad's going to be mad too," Kisara had warned. She made no move to actually stop her brother, sharing in the excitement of his vision, but that he at least deserved proper warning.
"I can fix that too, but I need these right now." He pulled four long, thin, metal rods from the pile of parts on the floor and held one up between them to show her. "It's the only thing that will do for the wings."
"How? How do you know it's the only thing? How do you know you can put it back together?" Her own wonder at watching her brother combine mechanical workings in ways she would have never thought possible tempered the line of questioning. She was watching something larger than herself unfold and she knew it.
Ryou shrugged. "I just know." He stopped to think about it, hands still idly placing gears together and securing them as his eyes becoming slightly unfocused in finding the a proper answer to the question. "I think the same way you know when mom and dad are asleep. Or when I'm sad."
This made the girl smile brightly, happiness filling her heart and when her brother looked up at her and mirrored the expression, she knew it was the same thought making him happy as well.
They were both special now.
-
In the morning, when both parents stumbled out for coffee and entered the debris strewn living area in time to see the crude elegance of their son's first creation blink to life in the boy's hands, their hearts wept with fear and sadness for his fate.
-
"For three days our parents yelled at each other, mom wanted to try and get us both off the planet and out of the system entirely but dad wouldn't hear it. He worked for the temple and kept saying it wasn't any use, that they'd find us anyways. In the end, she only took me." Ryou nursed the warm drink that Mana handed him as he finished the story. They had all moved to the common area when they realized his explanation was going to be a long one, Atemu and Mana making for a rapt audience and Seth... not so much, but at least still listening attentively even if he emotionless blue eyes did unnerve Ryou a bit. Okay, a lot, but it was at least tempered by having his sister leaning against his arm with her head resting on his shoulder and their hands still wrapped tightly together as though trying to make up for the eight years apart all at once.
"So what happened then?" Mana asked, leaning forward so far in her chair that she was in danger of falling off. Ryou rubbed the back of his neck and thought that it figured Mana would be the one to ask for the part of the story he wasn't exactly ready to tell yet. Even less so under Seth's stare.
He shrugged. "She succeeded. Mostly. We made it to Cyest and then she also paid a smuggler to take us- um, to take me to the closest system. I ended up on Eisen where Atemu found me." He looked away and hoped the five year gap in the story hadn't sounded as obvious as he though it did. Fortunately, Mana didn't mention it, even if she did keep asking questions.
"And what happened to Kisara?"
Kisara looked slightly embarrassed at the question and hesitated before saying something briefly in Drakonic to Mana and then turning to Ryou and saying something decidedly longer. He asked a question back in confusion and she ducked her head, fiddling nervously with her hair as she answered. Comprehension dawned on his face and Kisara poked him and nodded in Mana's direction.
"Sorry! She understands because because it's part of her ability but she can't speak Common yet." He hesitated slightly before continuing until his sister poked him again and said something that sounded like encouragement. "Though, she says she was taken by the temple shortly after I left..." His voice turned thick and he whispered something to Kisara, quiet and desperate and the woman shook her head, shushing him and wrapping him tightly in her arms until he was able to look up again, offering apologies and wiping at his eyes.
"Sorry, she also promised to tell you everything you want to know when she learns."
-
"How did you ever..."
"After you left, there was nothing worth feeling."
-
There were times when her gift was a blessing, it had kept her from making a fool of herself, particularly when realizing that her tall priest with his striking eyes would never feel more than a mild tenderness for her, and there were times when it was a curse, often in the same instance when she could feel the deep respect he had for her ability that even translated, occasionally, into mild bits of tenderness.
And there were other times that were neither, just a sadness, and perhaps, mild irritation that she could see some things coming, but ethically, could provide no warning for any of the parties involved. Just had to wait and see how things resolved. It didn't mean, however, that she had to like the way that resolution happened.
Kisara barely had time to register the first two emotions before the third hit, so overpowering and strong that she wasn't sure there had been any before. No, there had been. Because underlying the third was a fourth and fifth. Twin sets of guilt.
Sometimes she just flat out hated her gift.
"Kisara?" Ryou asked as her eyes went blank and put a hand on her arm when she didn't respond right away. She felt his concern when she jumped and squeezed his hand.
"It's okay. Well, it's not okay not, but it will be, I'll make sure of it." She started out the door at a brisk pace before thinking that it might be important to say something to keep Ryou from looking for her later. Just in case.
"Um, don't wait up?"
It wouldn't have been hard to find the flaring emotions on a much larger vessel. On Atemu's impossibly small one, they were difficult to miss, and difficult to block. Seth already held Atemu's arm and seemed to be spouting some non-sense about respect. Really.
She stood in front of them both briefly. Oh she should have studied harder. Language had never been her strong suit, separating herself from her empathy long enough to learn words and pronunciation was extremely difficult and usually she was content with remaining silent but now, now she wished she had enough words to give both the boys the scolding they deserved.
It couldn't have waited until just three weeks when they would be off the ship and neither her, nor Mana would have to deal with it?
No, she supposed not. Not with the alcohol she could smell on them both.
She supposed she could go ahead and chew them out in Drakonic but what was the use. They'd know that she was angry but from the looks she was getting, they already knew that now. She settled on throwing all of her frustration into one, gigantic huff and turning her back on them, continuing down the hall toward the ball of hurt/pain/heartbreak.
She found the girl just as the restrained emotions finally overflowed and wished she could do more than hold her and whisper comfort in a language the girl didn't understand but it seemed to be enough and when Mana quieted, and she took a chance at admitting her own, highly similar predicament, Mana's response, the hug and words that spoke of forcible support whether their boys wanted it or not, made her fall against the girl laughing. And when she recovered and kissed the girl on the lips, besides the surprise, it received the responses she had hoped for, warmth and comfort and even a tenderness that made them both flush slightly and smile shyly at each other. And when she leaned back against the wall, Mana snuggling into her side and resting her head against her stomach, her fingers stroking through the girl's hair as the emotional drain of the evening caught up with them both, it was also warm and comfortably intimate in a way neither had expected.