Welcome back my glorious angels! I know the last chapter hurt a few people, and I had some questions as to why I forced Red through another relapse in this fic. Well, I don't wanna get too dark here, but I am speaking from experience. At such a liminal, irrational, and uncertain point in his life when it feels like it's falling apart again, he turned to the only substance he felt like he control at the moment, which happened to be drugs. He didn't do it intending to die, intending to harm Purple, Teem, Kez, or Lard Nar, but he did it because it's the only way he felt in control.
Chapter flashback inspired by an idea my friend Knock gave me on Instagram! Thank you lovely this was very fun to write!
WE'RE SO CLOSE TO BEING DONE WITH THIS FIC. ONLY A FEW CHAPTERS LEFT AHHHHHHH!
FOR READERS OF YOU PLUS ME EQUALS THREE: AN UPDATE TO THAT FIC IS COMING VERY SOON! I HAD TROUBLE COMING UP WITH ANOTHER THEME FOR THIS CHAPTER, AND DIDN'T LIKE HOW IT TURNED OUT SO I HAD TO REWRITE IT! LARRIMEME, THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON EVERYTHING AND I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOUR REQUEST! IT IS COMING, LOVE! :)
Chapter rated a soft M for mention and aftermath of drug use, mention of past suicide attempt, suggestive nudity, brief strong language, potential suggestive themes, and general adult themes.
An undefinable amount of time in the recent past
Red grinned eagerly to himself and snuck gingerly through the back door before gently tugging off his dusty work boots, immediately leaning into the incredibly rich scent of Purple's improving cooking further into their petite kitchen. It was late and his partner had called him a few times already to ask what was hanging him up in flight, growing progressively more irritated with each transmission message and making sure to loudly voice his annoyances through the mouthpiece at the bothersome thought of Red having forgotten their weekly dinner date. It had been Red's turn to pick up a nice sugar wine and cook something delicious for the two but, of course, duty to the planet had kept him out in the cosmos running last minute supply routes and fulfilling Lard Nar's wishes of nightly reconnaissance through the atmosphere for any foul play from neighboring empires. On his way back into orbit, Red's keen gaze had landed on something peculiar and fascinatingly bright in a distant star system, becoming wholly captivated by his own need to explore and evaluate the gorgeous flash of vivid color streaking across the sky and beckoning him on like a torch. What he found was immeasurable, incredibly vast, and more intensely beautiful than he and his team could have ever imagined.
He wanted to share it.
Hopefully, Purple wouldn't be too upset that he had missed their date to indulge him in his ethereal fantasies.
Red took a deep breath and tightened his already iron grip around the neck of the bottle slung behind his back, pumping himself up for the inevitable discomfort of frustrated looks and hands tugging away from his as he gained enough momentum to finally creep around the dull edge of the corner from the back corridor and into their kitchen. Almost immediately, Purple spun on his heel to meet him, accidentally flicking creamy cheese sauce from the tip of his ladle in the process.
"Excuse me, where the hell were you?" He snapped hotly and instantly went on the defensive, rolling his eyes when Red flashed him a tacky smile in a frantic apology and held up the bottle of cheap white wine Purple adored. He turned back to his pot, slamming the ladle down into the goopy, scrumptious mixture he had concocted and shying away when Red tried to sling an arm around his waist. "Stop it. We agreed on this, Red. Wednesdays are our nights only and I don't care what you and your team have to get done! They can drop you off or something but I had to sit here and wonder if you ran into trouble. How am I supposed to know that you're just out there running around like a bachelor doing Vort knows what and not being attacked by rebel factions in the stratosphere? Huh?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry. Lard Nar called and had me running recon for-" Red swallowed and set the still chilly bottle on the counter with a soft clink when Purple threw an overexaggerated huff back in his direction and immediately cut him off.
"Lard Nar sent you out there?" He shook his head and irritatedly flicked off the plasma burner simmering on their outdated range. "I don't care if the Great Universal Mother herself came down and asked you. You could have said no. He has a whole royal fleet of cruisers and pilots on high alert for stuff like that and he just had to choose you? I know Lard Nar and I know he gave you the option. I'm not an idiot."
"Come on, Pur!" Red wavered, finally giving in to the glare piercing his resolve and pouting through the decision he knew he shouldn't have made. "Alright, alright, I may have said yes. But I already said sorry! I picked up the wine on the way and you know stuff like this happens sometimes. I'm here now and…and I wanna show you something really cool I found." He mused with an almost sincere playfulness, trying to break through the nearly impenetrable, suffocating atmosphere radiating off of his partner's bristling shoulders and punching him repeatedly in the stomach. "Please? I promise it'll be great!"
Purple brought a finger to his lips and refused to make eye contact. "Shut up. Teem and Kez are trying to sleep. It's nearly midnight you know." He added as a flippant jab, slinging himself free from his deep violet apron and chucking it carelessly in Red's direction as he scrambled to restore his husband's irate attention. "If you really think something you found in, I'm assuming space, is going to make me feel better, you're sorely mistaken. I've been all over the cosmos and I can't imagine what would be amazing enough for you to blow me off like this."
"Baby, please I-"
"Nope."
"Can I at least-"
"No."
"You didn't even let me finish. I really think if we went for a fly you'd like-"
"No."
Purple watched closely as he poured a few hearty scoops of cheesy goodness over his cheap, stale nachos, blinking in obvious disinterest as Red eyed his improvised meal closely with a deep, animalistic craving when he realized he had neglected to eat for most of the day. He tossed the spoon hard in the sink and grabbed for the pan, dumping the rest of the contents greedily over his bowl in a heated display of untamed defiance and smirking when Red's already shaky smile dipped into a disappointed frown when he realized he wasn't going to be allowed even a single bite of delectable, velvety deliciousness. Purple let his glower turn into a sadistic grin as he dipped a single finger into the glob of molten cheese and brought it to his tongue with a brazenly loud, overdone moan at the taste, carefully holding the bowl out of his partner's way when he tried to lunge forward and grab for a crunchy chip with ravenous hands.
"That's not fair." Red narrowed his eyes and tried again with a hiss, grumbling when Purple leaned back over the counter and slammed a palm up into his husband's jaw to keep him at a distance. "Are you just gonna let me starve?"
Purple chuckled, warming into the hilarity of his partner's desperation and reaching for another salty chip with his teeth, accidentally letting it slip to the floor with a splat when Red resorted to his delicately shrouded plan b. He moved down with his free hand and raked his fingers up behind Purple's back, sending an electric shock rocketing up his spine as he giggled on instinct and clamped his mouth shut to keep from making the same noise again as Red beamed and continued his childish assault on his vulnerable senses. He had him cornered, backed dubiously against the edge of the metal countertop as he deliciously teased his body into submission, digging into all the right places to force happy, overstimulated tears to prick involuntarily at the corners of Purple's eyes as he fell into an overwhelming, boisterous laughing fit, trying to squirm away and slamming the bowl down as Red forgot about it completely and grew invested in his ticklish mate instead. Almost on impulse, Purple went limp as liquid and expertly evaded his partner's hands, ducking under his arm and tearing impishly through the kitchen to their main living quarters as Red gave chase. The two forgot why they were fighting completely, instead letting primitive, ancient emotion and the ingrained Irken need for competitive fun take over their once rational senses as they flew into a standoff. Purple had wiggled his way behind their plush loveseat, gripping lightly at the top of the spongy fabric as Red reached up with leisure hands to unhurriedly unbutton the front of his formal crimson jacket and toss it to the side for better ease of movement, not once breaking wide eye contact with his partner as he flicked his antennae forward into the exciting, delightfully challenging scent oozing from his chest and tinging the atmosphere with the musky smell of their primordial games.
Red felt a deep, low growl bubble up in the back of his throat as Purple crouched lower with a wide, cocky grin, obscuring half of his face behind the loveseat as he stared out longingly for the courtship fight that was to inevitably come. He grumbled in response, almost beckoning Red on as he dug his claws deeper into the already torn up top of their once pristine loveseat razed from their many animalistic love fights, raking along the fabric in smooth languid sweeps before yelping and disappearing completely as Red lunged forward and rocketed himself over the front, knocking aside cushions and inelegantly clamoring over the billowing top. He felt his feet hit the floor, immediately overtaken by a mess of tangled limbs and snarling laughs as Purple opened up fierce hand to hand combat, gracefully evading lighthearted punches and dipping underneath softened swings before pouncing forward and grabbing Red around the waist to knock the precious air from his lungs and slam him back against the far wall as he sunk his teeth delicately into the soft flesh of his neck to preserve his dominance in the moment, overturning a lamp with a deafening clatter and immediately freezing as someone further into the house banged irately on the inner walls and let loose a torrent of repetitive, screaming curses.
"Vort dammit, you idiots! I was having the best damn dream of my damn life and Vort dammit you ruined it, again! It's, like, the middle of the night so if you wanna get all damn handsy with your dumb ass play fighting then get your damn skinny assess outta the damn house and let me have my damn beauty rest! Dammit!"
Purple pulled his sharp teeth away and clamped a hand over his panting mouth as he snickered immaturely at the incredibly frustrated staccato to Teem's voice, letting up and grabbing for Red's hand to tug him along towards the back door. He smiled when his husband complied and followed, the two sneaking on their boots and throwing open the door to indulge in the bitter, sour smelling air they had come to cherish as Vort healed from its extensive damage. They raced each other across their wide lawn, laughing wildly at each other when they stumbled over newly forming saplings and greasy protruding roots, scattering tiny creatures in all directions as Red popped the main hatch to his rusted out Vortian Runner and effortlessly made the few foot jump to the main cockpit, extending down a generous hand to tug up his giddy partner.
"Ok, I'll bite," Purple teased, slinging himself meticulously over the center console and flopping down into the faded leather of the passenger seat before slinging his feet up on the dash. "What's so cool that you just have to show me?"
Red's crimson eyes lit up with an undeniable fire of excitement as he tugged the creaky hatch shut and flipped the ignition, fumbling around in between the seats for his cracked pilot's visor as the ship warmed. "Man, Pur, it's really cool. I promise it's something you've probably never even seen before! It blew my mind and you can feel it pouring through the ship when you get close!" He finally found what he was looking for, flipping the clear blue glass over his eyes and beginning his standard flight procedures.
Purple gripped at his arm rest as they idly ascended, blowing aside debris and trashcans alike and taking off in a leisure peddle through the night sky as the rest of the world undoubtedly slumbered below them. He leaned back with a soft smile at the twinkle in Red's eyes behind his mask, biting his lip in anticipation for whatever his idiot partner had let strike his difficult fancy. It wasn't every day that Red let himself become utterly captivated by something flittering about in the natural world; red giants? Boring. Supernovas? Seen it. Incredibly vast, glittering nebulas swirling with enough color to blind even the most rational of pilots? Been there, done that. Whatever anomaly was out there, whatever booming waves of raw power were shuddering off of its white hot core, Purple couldn't deny that he was thoroughly intrigued at this point.
They lazed through the idle atmosphere for a few long, drawn out minutes, Purple yawning intermittently in the tranquil peace of watching the planetary surface below as his husband hummed and manually checked every switch on his dash with careful cognition through the warming silence, only pulling away to meet his partner's hand when he reclined deeper into his seat and reached out for his gentle, wanted touch. Red sighed and toyed with his wedding ring a while, running the smooth silver under the pad of his finger as they leisurely watched the continents drift by below, speckled with millions of tiny, shimmering lights from the incredible progress Lard Nar had managed to make rebuilding their home's colossal infrastructure. Then, they gave up land altogether, drifting out amongst high forming, wispy cirrus clouds to trade craggy coastlines for smooth, glassy, obsidian seas reflecting the high blinking lights from Red's ship as it spread further than they could possibly imagine. Purple pressed his face to the glass, entwining his fingers with his partners as he watched tiny creatures skimming the pristine surface and causing barely seen ripples to glaze over the polished surface tension of the ocean he had yet to experience in person. It was so still, so calm, much unlike the turbulent oceans of Irk with their myriad of violent rip currents laughing at lost sailors and chewing naval ships to nothing. No, this was motherly in a way, cosmic and freeing as it reflected back every single star in existence and forced Purple to lose his bearings as to what was up and what was down.
"Is this what you wanted to show me? It's beautiful. I can't believe a place like this exists in a place that smells so sour." He breathed and let his feet slip back to the floor, fogging the glass with his warm breath as Red massaged a thumb back over his long fingers. "Can we come here sometime?"
"I keep forgetting you've never been to the ocean. It's really weird, actually. It's almost thick like jelly and I'm not really sure what makes it that way but it never gets cold. Sort of like a hot spring bubbling up from the mantle. We'll have to come down to the coast in the summer so you can see it." Red leaned over the console with a smile, letting it turn to a cheesy grin when Purple met him halfway and planted a slow, lingering kiss to the corner of his mouth. "And no, this isn't what I wanted to show you. I'm just getting us to the right coordinates for warp."
Purple giggled against his skin, pulling back and shivering when Red teasingly grazed the soft stalks of his antennae up over his. "What could be better than-" his voice was immediately cut off as the gravity of the cockpit slammed him down as his teasing partner dubiously punched in his discovered warp coordinates without warning, slingshotting them free of Vort's intense gravity and breaking out into the beautiful void of the cosmos.
Red planted both hands on the rickety clutch as he chuckled, enjoying the look of unwarranted shock and pale surprise on Purple's face as he guided them on past billions of streaking stars and icy comets shooting through the incredible burst of distance they had traversed in a mere few seconds. Red always enjoyed the speed, growing fanatically exuberant and laughing his way through the disorder and sweltering heat of friction slamming into his outer heating panels as the rush overtook his pounding bloodstream. It was in his DNA, a fervent need to move and jolt excitedly about through uncharted, dangerous territory and discover new peoples and planets, to map out exploding stars and rippling nebulas fluttering through his canons as he blasted through deadly asteroids in his shuddering wake. Purple adored watching Red fly and held his sizzling gaze from under the glass of his visor, forgiving his partner completely when he realized the look of glowing, absolutely radiant anticipation threatening to burst from his lips as he attempted to contain the gorgeous secret anomaly he had stumbled across with his team. It was thrilling, Red's fantastic scent of exploration mixed in with the smell of hot, electric thrusters and sweltering plasma and gripped at Purple's spooch as they neared their destination and struggled to keep the old, outdated ship level, fighting against the beautiful pull of intense gravity oozing from a nearby gas giant in the distance. They finally broke free and shuddered to a gentle, creaking stop, moving back into a leisure flutter as Red sighed in tender satisfaction and let go of the clutch completely to allow the ship to automatically stabilize, reaching over the console and motioning for Purple to climb back over and lay in his lap as he eagerly reclined the seat back. The ship took full control to keep them in position, letting hands wander and tug at leather belts as Purple struggled to sling himself over the myriad of now flashing buttons and carefully flipped switches, eventually flopping down against his partner's chest and grabbing for his hands to move them to the small of his back. He rested his head against Red's shoulder and let his jaw go slack in breathless awe when he realized the sheer enormity and rippling radiation of the cosmic, ancient behemoth that Red had expertly spotted from afar during his travels, letting himself become completely entranced with the throbbing, shuddering hues glittering through every powerful pulse jetted into the unforgiving lack of atmosphere around them. Purple felt his pulse slow as he went into a trance, moving a palm to rest against his partner's ribcage as he stared at every arching swell and rippling cascade of glowing, neon radiation arcing up from what looked like a central core before every thin tendril of luminous gas and bead of molten, formless plasma was sucked into two endless vacuums spewing pure light energy and warped time out for millions of near boundless lightcycles. He had never seen anything so powerful, so formidably potent. Not even the shuddering fear and agony of the Florpus stood up to the magnitude and heartbeat of amorphous, rhythmic emissions gently rocking their ship with every strum, halfway lulling away his joint pain and pacifying any remaining anger against his husband to dust.
"It's called a quasar." Red whispered against his stiff antennae, letting his spine melt and cradle into the backrest of his comforting seat as he purred into Purple's delicious body heat and slipped off his visor to throw it in the back seat. "My team researched it in the Inquisitorian database. That little black thing, there. See?"
He reached out with an affectionate finger and squinted with a half smile against the blinding light, swallowing lightly when Purple nodded at the fuzzy edged, circular disk in the center of the horrendously massive beast. "That's a black hole. They said it's sucking in billions of tons of gas and it's so hot that it has to release all of that potential energy and friction in the form of light energy and radiation, giving off those two weird looking streams shooting out from either end." He explained affectionately, resting his chin between his partner's antennae as they watched the gorgeous, indescribable lightshow. "I saw its light from afar and came to check it out because I thought it was an EMP explosion or a dogfight." He ran the length of Purple's PAK underneath his thin jacket as he gave himself over completely to the bewildering power of nature. "Beautiful, huh?"
"Yeah…beautiful."
They laid together for a long while, simply enjoying one another's presence and the feeling of warming fabric splayed over chests and shoulders as grips tightened and embraces developed into displays of overwhelming, tender adoration, intensified by the natural marvel continuing it's million cycle process and charming the two beyond words. They didn't need to speak, relying on the rise and fall of each other's delicate breathing and the occasional pull back to search for soft kisses and tiny smiles against cozy lips before settling back down and relinquishing all concept of Vortian time over to the loving caress of the universe shrouding them in evermoving dusk. When Red finally spoke back up his voice was hushed, mixing in with the gooey buzz of intimate tenderness and charming fingers lightly playing with the worn hem of his white undershirt.
"Sorry I missed our date night. I hope this was worth it."
Purple shook his head lightly against the familiar pulse throbbing lightly in his husband's chest, pressing his antennae to his cheek and drinking in every wavering resonance and shift in his body. "Red, you're the worst and you still have to make it up to me, but…you're also the best." He rolled his eyes at his own submission, playfully irritated with his own inability to stay mad at his partner for more than a few minutes. "I can't believe out of all of the things we've seen out here that this is one of the few we've never found." He paused, a sudden idea coming over him and making him feel cozily small. "What else do you think is out here that we haven't discovered yet? Think about it; if something this huge can hide in plain sight, what else is hiding out there waiting to be seen?"
Red thought a moment, overtaken by the weight of such a simple question as he pondered the deep, philosophical connotations behind it. "Huh. I've never thought about that." He mumbled, clinking his claws over the exoskeleton of his lover's PAK and tracing every ridge in the glossy metal. "That's kind of scary to think about, actually."
Purple blinked and frowned, unsure of what his husband meant. "Why's it scary? All it means is we'll never get bored exploring if new things this amazing keep showing up." He repositioned himself when his shoulder began to fall asleep. "I'd rather have the unknown then know everything in the universe. Our lives would be so dull."
"But what about all the bad stuff that could be out there? Sure, there's some beautiful forces at play around here, but there's also a lot that's waiting to kill us." Red pointed out, sighing in tender relief when an unbelievably potent beat of blistering cosmic dust rocked their ship once more. "If you could get rid of all the evil in the universe, Pur, would you?"
Purple immediately let a giggle slip past his lips at the absurd question, scrunching up his face when Red pushed him back just enough to glance down and meet the glowing lavender of his vibrant eyes. "Hell no. If we got rid of all of the evil in the universe, what purpose would we have anymore? The awful messes around us are what make us better somehow. They suck, yeah, but at least we can learn from them." He dialed his wide smile back a bit when Red didn't seem to understand. "Look at it this way, honey. Would we have ended up together if we didn't hate each other in the beginning? Would we have fallen in love if all of that awful shit didn't happen?"
"Probably not."
"Exactly. Evil, to me, shows me what I don't want and leaves behind exactly what I do want. Even if it's hard, doesn't the journey to overcome it count for something?"
"…You're scary smart sometimes."
"I know."
Red pressed another fleeting kiss to the base of his partner's antennae as they settled back down and watched the beautifully violent, gorgeously brutal energy ricochet through their neighboring star system, ignoring the ship when it went idle and turned off the light of the cockpit to leave them only with the gentle, rich spark of creamy light reflecting off of the dash and coating them in a generous heat that warmed them both to their toes. Purple reached back and blindly felt around the top compartment for the radio transmitter, smiling to himself when his fingers landed on the dial to flip it to life and hunt through the hazy, static ridden Vortian broadcasting they were somehow able to receive this far out. He turned down the volume to a low simmer and settled on something barely heard over the electronic disturbance, faintly recognizing a popular Irken singer bellowing out untamed notes in the background of their leisure, languid respite. Neither one of them wanted to return home just yet, idiotically singing together through the bad connection and snickering at the crack in each other's voices as they had little contests to try and hit the high notes neither one of them could seem to surmount.
Purple reached up and clamped a hand over his lover's mouth as he let loose an intentionally terrible cackle to the tempo of the music, going red in the face as he almost laughed himself to death. "S-Stop it! You're…y-you're ruining the song, dumbass! I actually like this one!" He stuttered, forcing his palm down when Red tried to continue his musical attack from beneath his fingers. "Irk, you're worse than-"
Purple paused, letting his voice fall flat and his eyes flutter shut when he realized what he had said, swallowing thickly and withdrawing his hand when Red also noticed and blinked, ceasing his barrage of teasing notes to instead glance idly out of the windshield.
"Um…sorry." Purple breathed, feeling his husband tense momentarily before once again relaxing completely under the soothing weight of his embrace. "I didn't mean to say it. It sorta slipped out."
"No, no, no. Don't be sorry." Red reassured hastily, noticing the growing unease on his partner's face in the bright light. "It's part of our past, Purple. We can't run away from it forever and we're still Irken. Even if we have Vortian citizenship, we can't change our race."
Purple gave a small nod. "I don't wanna change, Red, I just wish we could have gone back to Naphrus to live in your home region. I wanted to see where you grew up and have a home on the edge of the forest." He mumbled despondently, blinking in surprise when Red took him by the chin and drew him up to meet his gaze.
"Purple, who cares about Naphrus? I know it hurts, and I wanted to go home too, but that's not our home anymore. You're my home. Our home is where there are people who love us." Red reminded with a faint grin, letting it widen when Purple forgot his qualms and returned it. "Quit worrying and enjoy all this for once."
"Ok."
They returned to their star gazing, staring at the blistering heat of the never-ending quasar pumping out millions of degrees of glowing plasma.
"Hey, Red?"
"Yeah?"
"...Thanks."
Red and Purple's communal home on the outskirts of Hatalca
Red let his eyes flutter open, happy that he was met with the beauty of serene low light instead of the retina-searing blast from a medical headlamp probing through his eyes and turning his vision inside out. He rolled onto his side with a long, tame sigh, feeling his free arm flop over the edge of the loveseat and graze the chilly floor with his claws, immediately drawing it back up to tug the swathe of blankets he had been wrapped in over his chin. He felt disgusting, traces of lingering nausea pricking at his stomach as he closed his eyes once more and repositioned himself into the cradle of the pillow someone had retrieved from his bed. The faint noise of a transmitter rang out in the background, playing old Vortian comedies on a repeated loop and providing a comforting break to the whine and obnoxious beep of pulse monitors hooked to his fingers and stamped over his skin. Someone moved across the floor, padding lightly in fluffy socks against the chill hanging in the air as the scent of warming homeopathic tea flooded the room and a dim lamp was clicked on. Red didn't move, unwilling to talk and groggy from his long, medication induced sleep, wanting nothing more than to curl up and hibernate for cycles after the intense torture he had put himself through. His mind swam with sluggish thoughts he couldn't seem to pin and every extremity down to the pads of his long fingers carried a dull, frosty ache almost as if he had come down with a terrible case of the seasonal flu. He listened off and on to the clatter of dishes and the whistle of an old teapot being carefully removed from a plasma burner, flipping to the other side every so often when the puddle of drool under his slack chin became too large and disgusting to handle. He had begun to snore lightly, feeling himself jolt awake with every overly loud rumble escaping from his sore throat before immediately drifting back off into another hour or two of soporific, balmy harmony.
"Red? Sweetheart?"
Red scrunched up his face and grumbled something under his breath that not even he understood, clamping his jaw shut and reaching up to halfheartedly brush away a gentle touch grazing up over his still limp antennae and trailing down to gingerly turn his jaw to the side.
"Red? You should probably drink something."
The same voice flooded his senses like a cooling, refreshing liquid, drawing Red to finally open his eyes and blink away the sluggish feeling of a whole day's, much-needed recovery sleep. He took a deep inhale and stretched to the best of his ability as his PAK took quick inventory of his blood pressure and toxicity, immediately wincing at the feeling of a deep bruise in his forearm from the IV that had been forced into his vein the previous afternoon. He came to when his hardware deemed him healthy, finally recognizing his surroundings as his own home by the motif of pale crimson and lavenders dotting the walls and the impressive collage of photographs Purple had snapped of them around the capitol hanging up on the wall. His husband had been reworking it, inching in amorous wedding photos and tugging down frame after frame to rest them against the floorboards as his artistic vision took shape. His still bleary, excessively dry vision landed on the tall, devoted figure kneeling at his side over the edge of the couch, letting his eyes focus on the two wide violet orbs staring back at him through the morning light. Purple looked exhausted with deep rings under his eyes and chapped lips, hinting to his partner that he had probably stayed up through the whole of the night to make sure Red wasn't left alone and carefully monitor every twitch of his antennae and hands.
Purple grinned in affectionate releif, holding up a piping hot mug of mint tea he had brewed to soothe his husband's aching stomach, helping him to slowly sit up when he groaned and passing him the soothing cup of herby goodness. He made sure Red took a sip before nodding and pressing a quick kiss to the side of his cheek before standing and moving his palm to his forehead to test his temperature.
"Thank Vort you're not hot anymore. For a few hours there, you were like a furnace and we could have probably heated the whole house on your face alone. We brought you home last night and you were sorta out like a light so I set you up on the couch." Purple explained genially. "You drink that and I'll go make you something easy to eat." He suggested, turning and striding back towards the kitchen in his long fluttering cardigan before Red could find his voice and rustling through plastic packages and tin cans for just the right comfort food to make his ailing lover feel better.
Red sat in silence, staring down at his lap through his blankets as he grappled with what had actually happened over the noise of Purple rummaging about the kitchen like a packrat. He traced the lip of his steaming porcelain mug, taking another sip of the scalding, sweet concoction his other half had been kind enough to lovingly prepare for him and feeling it immediately help the dull discomfort in his abdomen and pacify some of the pain left in his back. How had he ended up here? He glanced back up, immediately noticing that Teem was snoozing in their joint armchair with Kez draped messily over her lap and her cane held expertly between her legs as she propped herself up on her elbow. He sighed, immediately feeling an incredible, blistering guilt sear through his chest when he noticed the sedatives had been removed completely from his PAK to prevent him from any kind of temptation. He felt profoundly unclean, drawing his arms in to his chest to grasp at the handle of his cup as he heard the stove warm once more and his husband call out to him from the other room.
"Red, that better be gone by the time I get back in there. You need to drink it whether you want to or not."
Red felt a tiny smile threaten the corners of his mouth but fade as his depression resurfaced in waves, bringing his tea to his lips and swishing it through his mouth to get rid of the awful metallic taste that lingered over his tongue and made him want to fervently brush his teeth. He had done the irreparable; he'd tarnished his image in the face of his closest friends and his partner, and there was no walking away from that kind of slip up. But, it wasn't just a slip up was it? Red could hazily remember sitting on the edge of their bed after Purple had left for work and crying at the thought of himself so worked up and low over something as trivial as losing someone from his life. He had lost thousands of friends in his ferocious, undomesticated lifetime to the horrors and toils of violent war, base transfers, and merely growing so different that they moved apart. He had absolutely detested Lard Nar in the beginning, labeling him as nothing more than a pathetic weasel and a failed terrorist bent on undermining the regime Red had worked so hard to build up under his authoritarian claws but now, he couldn't imagine himself without the little Vortian anxiously talking his way through his life. Lard Nar had failed as a terrorist because he was kind at his core, a philanthropist dedicated to providing everyone a place to call home with wide eyes gleaming behind his prescription goggles and a genuine smile twisted up over his face as he shook the hands of those he had saved from homelessness. He had a way about him that was amiable and cozy, radiating an anxious compassion that Red wanted more of and absolutely ached for now that he could no longer feel it near his grasp. They were immensely close, bonding over a mutual depression, love of delicious junk food, a zeal for exploration and wartime advancement, and clicking in ways that he had never expected. They had survived battle together, fended off whole regimes, and Lard Nar had given him and his beautiful mate a stable, accepting home to finally call their own and feel safe in for the first time in their long, desolate lives together. He couldn't lose that. No matter what Lard Nar had done or who he had brought back from the dead, no matter how many people hated him at the moment and wanted to burn down his mansion in a firefight, he was still his brother.
He was his brother through the blasphemy.
He was his friend through the misery.
He was his family through the abandonment.
Red was infinitely bothered by his friend's decisions and deeply unsettled that he had snuck behind their back to perform something so intensely murky and erroneous, but he was still family. There was no doubt in his drug-laden mind about that. Unfortunately, it would be a long while before he would be able to work up enough gall to face his brother in person. The hurt and pain of overpowering heartbreak was too great, tearing Red in two and reminding him of the callousness of the universe; he couldn't see him after that.
Not now.
He sunk deeper into the couch to finish off his tea, letting Purple take the mug from him in exchange for a bowl of hot soup instead, watching his partner closely as he made his way back into the kitchen for a third time and nearly tripped on the slick floor in his soft socks before resurfacing around the corner with a genuine smile and plopping down next to Red on the loveseat to flip mindlessly through transmission channels like all was normal in the world. Red stared at him in unsure silence for a long while as a characteristic boredom flooded over his features, flashing in the light of their wide transmission screen as he scrolled over horror films and romantic comedies, settling on a stupid, mind-numbing talk show with a host neither of them recognized interviewing an overinflated actor big on Vort at the time.
"Eat your soup, baby." Purple yawned, slinging an arm up around his shoulders and returning to his show as Red's frown deepened and he took a tentative, unconfident bite.
There was no anger, no yelling, no disheartening hopelessness thrown back in his face over the soul-crushing high he had itched to bring himself to like he had expected to receive. He had been terrified out of his mind the moment he swallowed his second thick sip of gooey sedatives that Purple would realize just how broken he was inside and callously regret their marriage, leaving him behind in his own pathetic dust to wallow out the rest of his days in drug dens as he slipped further and further from the straight edge he had walked for nearly two decades. Instead, he was met by a gorgeous, much-needed normalcy that had him returning to the beauty of daily domestic life. Purple had met his relapse with bottomless love and care, beautiful affection, and an overwhelming support that had Red unsure of what to think, folding desperately into the featherlight kindness of the gentle touch swiping over his shoulders as he held back his tears and continued to sip on his meal. He hadn't meant to take anything in the first place, unsure of how it had really happened through his overly emotional fog and discreet rage piling up inside his worn thin psyche at the dramatic, heartbreaking shift in his life. Usually, he could keep everything under control and breathe through the pain, working himself back down every time his fingertips twitched and his skin crawled with the undying need hovering in his PAK memories to swallow down everything that would keep his unbearable demons and traumatic beasts at bay.
This time…he just broke.
He just broke.
He could remember the urge becoming so unbearable that it had turned into a psychically excruciating stab through the back of his skull, clawing open the main panel of his PAK with his mechanical legs and digging through the internal medical compartment to pound back the damming sedatives that had made him so agonizingly sick for temporary relief from the insufferable hurt deep in his mind.
After that was pain.
White hot, searing, flesh melting pain when every muscle in his body tensed as he lay near comatose on a hospital bed with his partner sobbing hysterically over him and clutching at his hands as he writhed and cried out. He shook the horrendous memory from his mind when the same hollow fear overcame him like a tidal wave, crashing down and instantly receding when Purple leaned in and gently rested his head against Red's shoulder as he ate.
"Purple?" Red managed to mumble through his hoarse voice, feeling a single, scalding hot tear fall to land against his chilly cheek as his partner noticed and wiped it away with his lips. "I…I don't know. Never mind. Forget it. I-I don't know what I was going to say."
Purple reached out and took the half empty bowl from his partner's hands before snaking his arms down and leaning back, dragging Red down with him as he cried feebly in the low light and holding him close as he shuddered into his hold. He reached down with his free hand and retrieved the soft blanket from the floor, slinging it up over his partner's body and moving to wrap his hands around his abdomen to lightly massage soothing touches up under his shirt against his now flushed skin when the lucid feeling of woozy sickness in his stomach returned. Purple hushed him, tangling their feet together for warmth and smiling when Red took a deep, shuddering breath and attempted to calm himself.
"I didn't mean to, Purple. Fuck, I-I didn't mean to! I-I'm sorry!" He let another sob wrack his shoulders and sighed into the stark contrast of his partner's amorous, tender hold from behind slowly blotting away his agony. "I-I promise I didn't mean to! I-I was stupid and I completely fucked everything up! I tried not to take it but it just...it just happened!"
"You're not stupid." Purple hummed consolingly under his breath, creeping up to rub over his husband's spooch and exorcising some of the crushing weight sitting on his chest. "I'm not gonna lie, you scared me. I thought I was going to lose you but," he leaned in and brushed his chapped lips over the back of his partner's neck, "I don't blame you for anything. It's not your fault, Red."
Red couldn't believe what he was hearing, rolling over onto his side to face his partner as he searched his face for a long while, freezing a moment when Kez shifted slightly in her sleep and nearly fell from her wife's lap. "What?"
Purple frowned, confused at the sudden shock. "Um…what, what?" He repeated again with an airy chuckle when Red stared back in dumbfounded amazement. "Oh, you mean me saying it's not your fault? It's not. I don't want it to happen again, but I also know that addiction is an illness so-"
"You're not going to leave me?" Red breathed in teary disbelief, feeling every tendon in his excruciatingly strained body go slack into his partner's delicate arms when he drew him back in close for another embrace. "You wanna stay with me even if I'm messed up?"
Purple giggled and rolled his eyes playfully with a firm, resolute nod. "Oh my Vort, Red. You think I would leave you after all we've been through? We've been shot at, blown up, spat on, exiled, and," he paused and captured his partner's mouth to press his point, "we've built an entirely new, almost perfect life together. We have a house, good friends, eat good food, have a ton of amazing sex, and you make me happier than anyone I've ever met, so stop worrying about nothing. A bit of drugs won't keep me from loving you."
"W-What if it turns into a…um…a lot of drugs?"
"It won't."
"How do you know? What if I can't help myself in the future? What if I-"
"I know because you're strong. You're strong, you're loved, and you have me to keep you in check." Purple reminded teasingly, prodding Red lightly in the ribcage as he searched his face and followed every curve of his cheeks and sharp angle of his jawline. "I don't give up without a fight and I sure as hell won't let you beat me. I have a reputation to keep up."
Faith.
Purple had faith in him.
Red laughed through his tears at his husband's idiotic joking, letting his emotions flow freely against his chest as he bit his lip and tried to keep his shaking voice quiet. He had struck absolute gold in finding a husband like Purple, the gravity of his words shattering his insecurities like a wrecking ball and scattering the shards of his own internal struggles to the aether around them as they snuggled down together. It didn't matter to Purple if Red was fragmented like he claimed so fervently in his own panic that he was, pushing the very notion of him being anything but a gorgeously formidable, handsome commander from his mind. He was still shaken up from the entire ordeal, thinking for sure that Red had gotten through and recovered completely from his past addictions and shadowy demons, but realizing that this was just something else they would have to work through together as a couple. He wouldn't let Red do this alone, wouldn't let him suffer in complete silence, and wouldn't let him undergo another agonizing, unbelievably devastating high on the floor of their bedroom. He was so much more than a recovering addict; he was a powerful ace, a charitable relief pilot, a beloved member of the local community, an adored brother, an avid fiction reader, and the wonderfully angry nuisance that had captured Purple's beating heart within his claws and held it close to his.
He was Red; and if Purple knew one thing about his husband, it was that he was a fighter, and he could fight this.
"Ugh, you smell bad though." Purple scrunched up his face and giggled when Red flicked his antennae down to scent at his shirt, sticking his tongue out in disgust at the absolutely revolting scent clinging to his skin. "Probably all of that nasty stress sweat. Let's go shower."
Red tried to push himself up, finding his aching muscles straining to give out beneath him as Purple wiggled around from behind, standing and popping his back before helping Red to sling his arm up over his shoulders and slowly stand as he put his weight into his partner. Purple laughed again when Red threatened to drag them both down, slowly helping him trudge weakly across the floor and down the long corridor towards their cleansing room. He managed to work open the hatch with one arm, gingerly guiding his venerable mate over the tiny lip of the door and into their stark white, uplifting bathing chambers before propping him up against the wall and hurridly working off his warm knitted clothing before tossing it messily in the far corner.
"Why can't we take a bromine bath?" Red asked, careful not to slip against the tile as he tried to shuck his own undershirt to no avail.
Purple padded over, helping Red to carefully bend forward as he pulled him free of his reeking clothing and set to work on his fabric belt. "Are you kidding me? I'm not sitting in the bath with you and floating around in all of your grossness." He mocked almost too sincerely, working his partner free from his crimson slacks and tugging them down to his ankles to help him step away. "I'm scrubbing you clean, Red. I feel like as filthy as that hospital was and as much as you sweated last night you need to shed a whole layer of skin before you're back to normal."
Red went to protest, growing irritated when Purple removed the rest of his clothes and ushered him on to the edge of the cleansing pool before striding to the cabinet and throwing it open. He hunted about for a few seconds, halfway disappearing over the shelf as he searched and finally hummed to himself in delight, pulling out a detachable showerhead they all rarely used but kept regardless for when Lard Nar was over and was too picky to use the pool.
"What are you waiting for? Get in while I set it up." Purple halfway commanded with a chuckle, stooping to the edge of the pool and popping free a connection hose as he hooked the chrome plated head to the end. "Man, you'll probably feel good as new in a minute." He passed the hose down and slung himself over the edge of the chamber, slinking down and working the knobs to turn on the flow of warming, absolutely delectable bromine.
Red yelped in shock and shivered when the first icy burst hit his skin, Purple cackling at his suffering and immediately snatching back the hose to move away the stream and let the rust-colored liquid heat to a scalding, steamy deliciousness. "You awake yet?" He laughed obnoxiously at the dripping, trembling mess his other half had become, only picking up his mirth when Red shot him an annoyed look of shock and frigid exasperation. "Don't look at me like that I didn't mean to and you know it. Sit down, you big smeet."
"Yeah, yeah, give me a sec."
Purple tested the now perfect bromine with his fingers as Red sat on the porcelain bench at the edge of the bath, first running the cascading waterfall over his own form before gently turning it on his husband as he leaned back and wanted nothing more than to drown in the utterly scrumptious sensation of tropical ease hitting his freezing skin and waking up every sluggish cell in his body. Purple urged him to hold the jet, reaching over for a homemade bar of herbal soap Kez had figured out to how to melt down in her vast amounts of free time, lathering it generously between his hands and squishing Red's cheeks in between his palms without warning to harshly scrub him down. Red grumbled in irritation at the jarring treatment, knowing it was for his own good and hissing under his breath when Purple accidentally grazed his sharp claws down his shoulder and let up, continuing with a kinder tactic and unhurriedly working down the length of his body. It started to feel nice, every speck of sterile hospital scent and drop of sticky sweat flooding away at their feet as Purple preened every single one of his partner's claws, washing them throughout with his fingers and enthusiastically moving on to Red's antennae when he leaned forward and pressed his forehead into his lover's bare stomach. He let his eyes flutter shut, purring into the gorgeous weight of his horrendous mistake draining away to the Vortian sewer system to never be seen again, a proverbial cleansing of his weary soul as Purple gently rolled the feathered ends of his antennae between his skilled hands, soaping them with copious amounts of sweet smelling herbs and spices and reaching down to cup a palm under the sluggish jet before splashing his husband's feelers with liquid happiness. He felt it run down the sides of his bubbly face, two gentle hands moving away to smooth down the back of his neck and carefully wash the seam of his PAK. Everywhere Purple touched, Red felt himself coming back to life, easing into the gorgeous realization that he truly wasn't alone in this world and never had been. As soon as he met Purple on the Massive, they were destined to save one another; Purple had saved him from his soul-crushing depression and agonizingly sick drug fueled crash course, and Red had saved Purple from an inevitable life of shallow, cold loneliness and horrendous misunderstanding or even death for his concealed life living in the closet. They had saved each other then as soon as their first angry, hate-filled argument erupted in the belly of the ship, and they were continuing to perpetually save each other to this day. That's what Purple was...safe. He felt safe and protective, shrouding Red in a healing, non-judgmental light that brought him back to the reality he had missed.
"Mm…'s nice." Red managed to slur out through the warmth threatening to lull his tired eyes back to sleep before Purple gently raised him back up to work on his front.
"At least you'll smell better this way, you dork." Purple harassed affectionately, frowning when he noticed a deep bruise over his partner's chest he hadn't noticed before. "Geez, honey, what did you do?" He asked, grazing his fingertips lightly over the long, straight mark and pulling back to continue when Red glanced to the side in humiliation.
"I…fell on the corner of the mattress box when I passed out I think."
"We're getting a new one, then."
"What? Why? We've only had it for a few months and they're guaranteed a lifetime."
"No. We're getting a new one because I said so." Purple remained adamant, moving to his lover's shins and glaring up at him as he fervently nagged him about tiny things beyond his control. "If it's guaranteed a lifetime I don't wanna be old and decrepit one day and falling forward to smash my everything against that. That could kill one of us when we're in our 900s."
Red leaned back as Purple made his way back for the soap, working on his own body as he hovered protectively over his spent, but now completely clean, partner relaxing beneath him and watching him with keen interest. "You worry way too much about stupid stuff." He grumbled, letting his eyes trail instinctively down to Purple's closed slit, immediately turning away as his face flushed with color when his partner laughed and shook his head in amusement.
"Oh, no. None of that for you for a while." He leaned down and peppered a few quick kisses to the side of his partner's pouting face before tugging away the hose and showring himself off. "The doctor said no strenuous exercise for at least two weeks, so you'll just have to wait. It'll be incentive for you to be good."
Red smiled and opened his mouth to respond, immediately clamping it shut when a tiny knock sounded at the hatch followed by an angelic, sickly sweet voice had never heard before.
"Mr. Purple? C-Can I have some juice, please?"
Purple panicked, clamping a wet hand over Red's mouth before he could yell out to the unwanted intruder, eyeing him dangerously and mulling over how to deal with the situation he hadn't yet told his exhausted partner. He bit his lip and gave a slow blink of defeat before turning back and trying to muster up as much compassion as he could when he realized he couldn't hide the tiny Vortling running his home any longer.
"I'm in the bath! Mrs. Teem and Mrs. Kez are sleeping on the chair in the other room! You can wake them up and ask them to get you some!" He called back, freezing with a fake, nervous grin when Red stared him down in bewildered confusion from behind his fingers.
"Thank you! Oh. Mr. Red isn't on the couch anymore."
"I-I know! He's here with me!"
"Really?! Can I meet him?! Can I, can I, can I?!"
Purple was growing exasperated, pulling away from his husband's mouth and raking his hand over his eyes with a groan. "Nea, you can meet him when King….when King Lard Nar gets here." He squeaked out quickly, nearly setting Red up the wall as he shot forward and almost slipped against the bottom of the cleansing pool, stabilizing himself when Purple reached out to grab him by the elbow.
"What the hell do you mean when Lard Nar gets here?" He hissed under his breath, clutching hotly at Purple's shoulder as he remained silent and continued to frantically hush him.
"Go get your juice!" Purple called a final time, waiting for the telltale pitter of tiny, needlelike feet skittering against the chilly floor and Kez's excited voice waking up in the other room. "Ok, honey, listen. I called Lard Nar's team and he's allowed to come and talk with us as long as his guards are here with him." He explained hastily, hoping if he ripped off the bandaid, Red would be more apt to accept what he had done under his antennae.
He was wrong.
Red lowered himself back down and threw his head in his now unsteady hands with a long, low moan of unabridged disappointment. "I can't believe this. Is that a…kid?" He sighed in distain, shooting daggers back up at his jittery partner as he continued to clean himself off. "Pur, why the hell is there a kid in our house? I thought we agreed we weren't adopting for another 20 cycles! Even then, I'm not ready to be a dad! T-This is crazy!"
Purple hesitated, not wanting to stress out his already unwell husband but knowing it would only be worse if he remained silent. "She's not ours, Red! Ugh, fine. She found us in a public address book in the main Vort database or something and ran away from the children's home she was at to come and find us. It's a long story and I don't wanna get into the whole thing until Lard Nar is here." He paused, letting the strange, utterly bizarre information sink in as Red tried to deduce the significance of her presence and why her name sounded so disgustingly familiar. "She…eh…she's Pem's daughter, I think."
Red nearly choked on his own tongue, lurching forward and grabbing Purple by the wrist to drag him down to his level as he yelped and dropped the showerhead, looking him directly in the eye as he spoke slowly and methodically through the remaining fog lingering in his mind. "You mean to tell me we are giving the daughter of our worst enemy juice?" He growled irately, feeling his blood pressure spike. "You let her in here?!"
"She's his adopted daughter; they're not blood or anything." Purple corrected, yanking away and retrieving the sputtering hose before sitting next to his fuming husband and gripping lightly at his soaked knee. "I didn't have a choice, Red. I wanted to call the authorities in Hatalca to take her somewhere but every time I tried to she kept screaming that I was trying to hurt her. You know how bad that would have looked? Security always believes the kid." He flicked off the bromine with an irritated huff, no more excited about their predicament than Red. "I had to bring her back here because she's insisting we take her to Pem."
"How the hell does she even now Pem is her dad?" Red struggled to stand, again latching onto Purple's smooth shoulder for leverage as they cautiously ascended the shallow steps together. "I don't want her here! I'm not going to babysit some terrorist's long lost freak of a Vortling, and we sure as hell aren't taking her to Pem in prison! And I don't want Lard Nar here either! He's the one who caused this whole mess with my…problem." He trailed off, pacifying a bit of his anger as he remembered he needed to remain stable and keep himself from getting worked up.
"I guess some guard told her about him. Like I said, it's a long story and one I'm not really sure I believe. Don't worry, I'm planning on giving her over to one of Lard Nar's guards so they can take her back to the home she came from." Purple whispered, careful not to over speak in case tiny horns might be listening. "As for Lard Nar, I'm still incredibly pissed and will never forgive him for what he did but you two need to have a serious talk. I don't care if you make up, fight, whatever. You guys need closure because if you don't get it and he goes to prison, it'll eat you alive forever."
Purple padded back to the cabinet, to retrieve a towel before crossing back and slinging the plush fabric up over his partner's shoulders. "Please, Red? He needs to see what he's done to you and you need to tell him what you feel whether you like it or not. I know you, and you're never going to let this go unless you have this chance." He rubbed at his arms through the fluffy material, examining his lover's expression carefully as he grew incredibly nervous and distant to the unwanted idea. "Please do this for me?"
Red's gaze snapped back up to the captivating, bottomless lavender melting him into submission as another round of deep, bottomless sadness overcame him. Did he really have to face his friend now and try to mend the scars they had beaten into each other? He was barely out of the hospital and Purple thought it was a good idea to pit them against one another and force them to have a rational conversation? Well, maybe...maybe he had a point. Lard Nar would be more apt to listen if he knew that Red had experienced another nauseating, harrowing relapse, so maybe they could get their point across quickly and get him out of their house for the trial forever.
Would he want to talk?
Would he be willing to talk?
Did Red really want him...gone forever?
He returned his quickly wandering thoughts and deepest memories of the two back to Purple, feeling his hand land on his cheek and reaching up to meet him on instinct, clasping his fingers into his skin as they twitched against him and patiently waited for an answer.
"If you don't want him here, I can always tell him to go. It's not too late to do that. I just thought that you would be able to heal if you could say what was on your mind."
Red heaved another sigh, releasing all of the anxiety, inhibitions, and chilly, revolting anger bubbling up in his chest as he leaned back in and rested his chin against his partner's nude shoulder.
He was right.
Purple was always right.
"Ok…I'll...I'll talk to him. But after that I want him gone and out of my life forever."
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It was really fun to write because of all of the little cute fluffies sprinkled throughout, and I like that the infinite wounds between all of these characters are finally being allowed to heal. They've all come so far. Thank you guys so much! We're almost to 300 reviews and 13,000 (YES THAT MANY) views! It blows my mind every time I look at my stats. I…I can't thank you guys enough. Even if it seems superficial, it warms my heart to see you guys like my work and at least get some kind of enjoyment out of it. Thank you all so much and I love every single one of you!
Next update: Sunday, December 22, 2019 at 10:00 pm CDT (UTC -5)! See you then my angels!