Welcome back my lovelies to our next episode! I appreciate all of the comments and read throughs you guys have given this fic, and I'm really happy to hear more than one of you say this is the best RAPR fic you've ever read. That means so much to me and I hope that I can continue to deliver good top-notch content for you all! I love you all angels so much!
Chapter unbetaed. I still don't have a beta reader, so there may be minor spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes. I will be going back through and editing this chapter after it is posted. Thank you!
Chapter rated M for graphic depictions of blood/violence/body modification, brief heavy language, allusion to mental disorder/illness, allussion of past suicide, and general adult themes.
"I can't get it open!"
Lard Nar glanced over from where he had been flanked by two massive guards, each eyeing the shackled prisoner sitting in the tiny Vortian runner across from them all. Pem struggled a few seconds with the colorful package in his hands as his electronic handcuffs clinked against his skin, resorting to slicing it open with his now filthy claws with a victory smile before throwing his head back and dumping the contents in his mouth. Lard Nar had requested the ship be stocked with candy and snack foods for his own comfort, secretly hoping and excited when they had swung by to retrieve his partner from prison that his captors would let him rake his way through the delicious treats he wasn't allowed to have behind bars. It had only been a few days since Pem had been forcibly taken into custody three miles below the city of Hatalca, begging and pleading with Lard Nar to not let them take him back to the overwhelming terror of the unknown and the terrifying darkness of the padded room he had been wrangled into earlier in the week. Images of his arrest were splayed over the whole of the planet on every transmission screen and twinkling billboard, while Lard Nar's own was kept under pretty serious wraps until he was to appear in the Vortian High Court. It wasn't technically an arrest on his part; it was a subpoena, a request for him to appear without threat of a firm fight at the center of the Vortian justice system to evaluate his rule and his decisions to play God and attempt to revive the untamed, formless soul from the dead. Word had spread quickly of his impressive yet blasphemous actions, however, through the moist back alleyways of the capitol and travelled out like wildfire through every tiny town dotting grassy hills or craggily coastlines to alert everyone that their own King had defied the carefully shrouded laws of nature in favor of his own love interest. The majority continued to follow him, painting Pem as a brutal catalyst for change, almost like the big bang that had caused the violent chain reactions of swirling hot gases and flying debris that cooled and solidified into the very beauty they all called their homes. They adored him, painted his name on every graffitied corner as an unsung hero to the Vortian political system amidst the gorgeous colors of crimson and violet sprayed over gleaming metal street corners to celebrate the arrival of two other heroes, Red and Purple, as the commanders that had fought alongside Pem's ploy to take back Vort. Not quite, but what the public didn't know wouldn't hurt them; as long as the people were happy and healthy, and enjoying the company of his two brothers and his lover, that was all that mattered to Lard Nar. He thought it was a bit strange that society was taking such an incredible shine to his unstable partner to the point that they felt he needed a place painted next to his two tall brothers, tiny pinpricks of unease creeping into his abdomen at the thought of the three actually cohabitating together peacefully or even becoming friends one day. Pem was misguided, a proverbial chaotic maelstrom of undomesticated crashing waves of dogma and booming ideology ricocheting to this day through the still settling cosmos around them. He still had his moments of feral fanaticism, usually recognizing his train wreck of a mind spiraling out of control and resorting to clamping his jaw shut and cutting off his rambling ideas at the head, not feeding the media that came by his cell any damming information that could potentially harm his progress at trying to be moral. He was trying so infinitely hard to relearn social cues, taking his one allotted five minute call a day to ring Lard Nar in his stronghold underground and ask a slew of fast paced questions about how to properly address his guards, how to walk away from a prison fist fight without causing more trouble, and practiced how to dial back his wide, disturbing smile to something more genial and natural in the eyes of others. He had made a pretty decent chunk of continuous headway in the short time the two had been separated from one another, and was able to appropriately grin with his eyes rather than excessively flashing his two intimidating rows of incredibly sharp teeth.
He was trying, and that's what mattered.
Lard Nar just hoped that Pem's surprise visit to see his family wouldn't erupt in flames and thrashing claws. Purple had made the effort, quite reluctantly, to call him and request that his guard move him above ground for a few hours because they were finally ready to speak about the atrocities he had lied about and eventually committed under their antennae, stating that it was very urgent that he come and meet with Red specifically to try and rationalize some of the demons that had been swirling about in his brother's unsettled mind. Purple wouldn't feed him any further information when he panicked over the transmission, keeping his once jovial voice curt and firm and explaining that he simply needed to take it up with Red if he wanted to know the true nature of his requested visit. Lard Nar would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't absolutely horrified to see his powerful crimson brother and best friend again, knowing for sure that he had been given enough time to properly simmer and stew in his own irate feelings over the past few days and probably wanted to tear his horns clean from his skull. Still, part of him wanted to see them all again, a deep ache and hollow pit forming in his stomach at the excruciating thought of having caused his family the very pain he was trying to avoid by keeping his scientific ventures a well-guarded secret. He tried to formulate a plan early on as to how he wanted to explain to them that he had revived their greatest enemy but hadn't expected himself to get so lost to the process. He had neglected to adequately ease the situation into his loved ones' fingers, opting to work directly with his engineering team instead of taking his family's incredibly important feelings and thoughts into account and forgoing their opinions in the first place. If he had only spoken with them, if he had tried to rationalize his reasoning and the bottomless, unexplainable need for Pem to be back in his life, maybe they wouldn't be where they were now.
He had to apologize. Even if they didn't take it, he had to let them know how deeply sorry he was.
Pem was also going to apologize, even if he wasn't thrilled about it.
They had talked at length that morning around dawn about their future and what they both wanted, coming to some semblance of a consensus that neither of them wanted to die alone or die without the other again. They were two halves of the same explosive coin; one emotive and sensory and the other logical and anxious. Together they were still figuring things out for themselves, finding out little tics here and there as Lard Nar had Pem's favorite earl grey tea brewed for his enjoyment and watched as his partner ringed his cup with his finger three times before even making a sip. An old habit, he had said with a laugh, and one he hadn't really understood why or when he had picked up. Pem was softer than he had expected, enjoying talks about life and the wonders of the universe and every star cradled in it, reciting every theory about supernovas and flaming balls of molten plasma that he could remember as they reclined against the padded floor of his cell and prepared for the argument of a lifetime that was to come. Lard Nar had gingerly explained to his partner that he wanted his family in his life indefinitely, and Pem had visibly bristled at the very thought of having to talk with the four Irkens he had come to loathe more than anyone. They continued to bounce philosophical ideas about, discovering past traumas and quenching dastardly thirsts for vengeance when Lard Nar had gently prodded his lover for more information as to why he hated them all in the first place. Pem had thought long and hard, sinking further into the spongy floor and opening his mouth to snap back a sharp-tongued response, letting it die on his lips every time and resorting to the same ridiculously unfounded answer he always seemed to come up with when he was under duress.
Because I hate Irkens.
That's not an answer. You hated Miyuki and her administration, not Red and Purple. They got caught in the middle of the war you were waging against the old days.
No, no, they're just as bad. They've murdered millions in their time as the Tallest!
I know they've done some bad things, but so have you. They renounced their leadership and stepped away from everything it means to be part of the Irken Empire to come and live on Vort. Red runs supply runs for poor Vortian citizens and Purple has created a welfare program and stable housing for those in need.
…Oh. Why? What's in it for them? Irkens always have an ulterior motive.
They do it because they love this planet and all of our people. This is their home, now, and they love everyone equally regardless of their race, and I know they'll love you too if you give them a chance. They've changed, Pem. I forgive them for what they used to be, because it doesn't define who they are now. Will you apologize and give them a chance? Please?
I don't know, Lard Nar. This doesn't feel right.
But it is right. I know you'll be able to see it once you sit down and actually talk with them, love, because they're really good people who used to be just as misguided as you. If they can change and be happy, so can you. Let them see who you've shown me you can be.
…Ugh. Ok, I'll talk to them. But the moment one of them tries anything funny, I'm outta there.
Pem managed to chew through the gummy mess of candy turning to a massive ball of gooey goodness over his tongue as his partner watched with secret amusement from afar, immediately turning his gaze away when his own guards shot him a look of confused distain and shifted uncomfortably in their places. Lard Nar swallowed and leaned forward, resting his chin in his palm as he gazed longingly out at the gargantuan city they were pattering lazily over on their way to his first home and the home of his beloved family. He had one shot to make things right for them all and mend the dastardly canyon he had managed to splay between them, hoping his apology and heartfelt explanation would somehow bring justice to the terrible injustice he had caused.
"We're almost there, right?" Pem asked after swallowing thickly around his hundredth snack. "I think I'm stress eating or something." He clenched his jaw, reaching into the compartment behind him for another package of sour candy before fumbling nervously to tear it open. "I don't really wanna do this. Are you sure I have to talk to them myself? What if they…um…they try to kill me or something?"
Lard Nar sook his head and reached across the way, taking the half open package from his partner's trembling hands and setting it on the seat beside him. "You're going to give yourself a sugar high if you're not careful. I need your mind clear for this." He smiled faintly at his twitchy partner, letting it fade when Pem didn't return it. "All you have to do is show them how you are with me."
"That's harder than you know." Pem snapped suddenly, bringing his hands together and wringing them incessantly in his lap as he slumped back and began to rock slightly where he sat. "You keep me stable because I know you. You keep me clear because you're Vortian. When I see Irkens I go crazy and I want to hurt them. It's like some weird trigger in my brain or something." He toyed with the hem of the oversized winter sweater his partner had been kind enough to provide him with to get him out of his deep blue prison uniform.
"You're also taking the anti-psychotics now." Lard Nar reminded, feeling his smile return when Pem gave a tiny nod of agreeance. "It'll be just like having a conversation with anyone else. I'll go in and talk with them first and when they're ready to meet you I can bring you in and we can all sit down and work this out like adults." He took a deep breath and reached out for Pem's hand, happy when he immediately did the same but still refused to make eye contact.
"Don't the pills take a few weeks to kick in?" Pem mumbled, flopping forward and gripping at his partner's hand as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to find any excuse he could to not face the irreparable damage he had caused.
"No, medical technology has come pretty far."
"Oh, um…what if they don't wanna talk to me?"
"They'll be alright."
"What if they kick me out because they hate the Earth sweater you got me? It has a weird cat thing on it and they might find it intimidating or something and-"
"Now you're just being ridiculous. You look fine in the sweater and you're going in there and you're going to apologize."
"But the cat thing! The cat thing, Lard Nar!"
"Stop. You're being a Vortling and I'm still your King so I'm not giving you a choice. We're almost there, anyway."
Pem ripped his hands away and raked them up over his eyes with a long, high-pitched whine, slumping back hard in his seat and coming up short for any other feasible argument he could possibly find to weasel his way out of the regrets he desperately didn't want to voice. The very thought of standing small in the towering shadows of the two beings he had previously hunted was daunting and stomach-turning, even if he was well medicated and didn't feel the overpowering need to take on organs that weren't his own for his own obsessive innovations. Lard Nar was right; he felt surprisingly level and normal, pumped full of a whopping 150 mgs of antipsychotics coursing through his veins with every pump of his renewed heart and flushing his mind of the disquieting, unwelcome voices he had formerly followed like a wicked gospel. Still, he wasn't used to normalcy, running through in his thoughts how to smile and how to properly shake hands with someone after cycles upon cycles as living feral and untamed in the stars and traipsing through the Massive unsupervised and vicious. You shake with your dominant hand and keep your grip firm, look the other person warmly in the eye and don't hold on too long at the risk of it becoming uncomfortable. If you smile, you try to refrain from flashing teeth because it could be considered a threat, something Pem had become used to displaying on the daily, and instead rely on your lips and the geniality of your eyes to portray your emotions and warmhearted intentions. Easy as cake…or so it should be.
The ship shuddered as it made its final decent in the rolling hills outside of Hatalca, landing slowly in the now worn-down backyard next to Red's rusted personal Runner before throwing out its expensive landing gear and rumbling to a complete stop. Pem ducked down with a tiny yelp when he noticed Purple already standing at the back door ready to meet them with his arms crossed over his chest and his antennae flicked forward to show off his oozing dominance. He took a deep shuddering breath and clamped a hand over his mouth, wiggling down in his seat so his target couldn't see him through the windshield before shooting Lard Nar a look of sheer, unabridged terror rolled together with heart-pounding anxiety he couldn't seem to swallow.
Lard Nar merely gave him another smile of reassurance and grazed his knee with his gloved fingertips before standing and straightening the short caplet around his shoulders and closing his eyes for a few moments, attempting to pump himself up for what he knew was to come.
"Stay here, Pem." He instructed softly, waiting for his partner to nod behind his fingers before allowing himself to be encircled by his guard and fazing open the main hatch.
"Wait!" Pem hissed suddenly, flattening his horns over his face and attempting to smile back, immediately dialing back the uncanny flash of teeth he had accidentally showed. "I…I um…be careful and don't do anything stupid."
"Don't worry," Lard Nar took a step forward and out into the light of the late morning, following the trail of pale shadow casting down from his police ship, "they're my family."
The hatch closed behind him and he immediately felt cold, staring up into the smoldering lavender gaze of his friend from afar as he approached the home that had once been so infinitely welcoming and warm now laden with an eerie frost and callousness he hadn't prepared for. Purple was wrapped in several layers of soft knitted wool, glaring down wordlessly when they finally met and searching Lard Nar's face for any signs of distress only to let his antennae twitch ever so slightly when he noticed he was sweating. He turned and slung open the door, never once breaking eye contact as his friend grew twitchier by the second and tried to maintain his composure in front of his troop, failing drastically when Purple slammed the hatch shut with a resounding boom and nearly made him jump out of his skin.
"Officers, please make yourself at home." He said formally, burning holes into the back of his target's skull as he trembled and shook to take off his cape and sling it up over his arm. "I would like to have a word with the King in private."
No one objected, losing their wits as Purple strode past in long languid sweeps and nodded firmly for Lard Nar to follow, glancing back when he hesitated and continuing on when he averted his ashamed gaze to the tailing of the floor and trudged along after the knitted hem fluttering against the ground in front of him. He felt his pulse nearly pop free from his chest when they landed at the guest room that used to be his before he was officially moved to his palace within the neighboring city, wavering at the hatch before drowning his pride in nervousness and going in first to stand over the rug in the center of the room. He froze at the formidable echo of a firm lock clicking behind him and two powerful feet padding every so slowly to where he stood, yelping in terrified surprise when Purple slung his arms under his and hoisted him up to carry him to the edge of the pristinely made bed. He plopped him down and hovered silently over him, shaking his head when his brother struggled to maintain his composure and tried to stutter out a string of terrified, inelegant questions, flying up to shield his face as Purple reeled back with a shout and backhanded him hard across the cheek.
"That's for lying to us!" He yelled, flying down to Lard Nar's level as he tried to scramble away in shock to grip him harshly by the shoulder and force him back down, landing another dominating, openhanded smack to his other cheek. "That's for bringing back the bastard who shot me!"
"Ow! W-Wait! W-Wait I-I can explain everything if you could just-" He was cut off as a third strike landed on his jaw, this time a well-placed, pent up punch that nearly dislocated his bone and sent him careening back over the comforter.
"And that's for what you did to my husband!" He rolled up the fluffy sleeves of his cardigan and went to land another strike, missing as Lard Nar came to and deftly maneuvered out of the way, tossing pillows back in his infuriated brother's face as he vaulted over the side of the mattress and attempted to hightail his way out of the pain.
Purple gave chase, again scooping up his frenemy around the waist and holding him tight as he flailed and panicked, trying to shriek but finding a solid, authoritarian hand clutched over his now gory mouth as Purple forced the cherished air from his lungs and nearly choked him into compliance.
"Do you know what you did?" He whispered through the tiny agonized grunts and whines of his King's ribcage almost crumbling in his hold. "Do you know why I called you?" He didn't wait for Lard Nar to attempt to wheeze out a stutter of a response, continuing as he paced the room and chased his racing thoughts. "When you decided to lie to us and do everything you did, you hurt Red beyond repair. You hurt him so deeply that he couldn't handle the pain and nearly overdosed on sedatives in the middle of our bedroom floor! Teem, Kez, and I had to break down the door to get to him because he almost choked to death on his own spit at the thought of you betraying him like that!" Purple shouted furiously, immediately dropping his target to the ground with a hard thud and clenching his fists to keep up his hot, untamed rant. "He almost overdosed because of you! I almost lost my husband and the love of my fucking life because you had to bring back some dead terrorist you're suddenly all mushy over!"
Lard Nar groaned from where he had fallen on his chest, pushing up on shaky arms to try and prop himself back up and immediately crying out when Purple dug his sharp toes into the small of his back and slammed him back down. He tried to roll over, the weight of the soul-crushing confession bogging him down and causing tears to prick at the corners of his eyes when he realized the gravity of the instability he had wrought over his precious, beloved family against their will. He and Red had talked at length about his harrowing, nauseating addiction and he had been completely clean for over two decades. The very notion that Lard Nar had somehow caused a relapse in his friend was disgusting, erroneous, and utterly heartbreaking on a level that he had become all too familiar with, shattering his rational thought process as he pathetically writhed under the heel of his brother crushing him further into the floor.
"I-Is Red alive?!" He couldn't think of anything else, glancing about wildly when he realized Purple had been the only one to come out and meet him. Where were the others? Where was Red? Did Teem and Kez no longer want to see him? "Please, tell me he's alright! I didn't want any of this to happen! I-I'm sorry! I-I'm sorry, Purple, for everything I've put you through and anything you need I promise I'll get it for you no matter what it costs! I'll pay for all of the medical bills and-"
"Red's alive." Purple growled dangerously, cutting Lard Nar off as he peeped and threatened to burst into a round of hot, blistering tears at the feeling of what he had unfortunately rained down upon Red's psyche. "He's alive and well no thanks to you. We got home from the hospital yesterday and before that he was in so much pain he couldn't even see straight."
"I promise, Purple, I didn't mean to do that! I-I never wanted any of this to happen!" Lard Nar repeated, feeling his teeth hit the ground as he spoke. "I love all of you! Red, Teem, Kez, you, every single one of you! I-I don't want to lose the family we made because you all mean the world to me! I-I would give up everything and die for you if you asked, please, just don't leave me behind!"
Purple let up, moving back a few feet and striding angrily to the edge of the bed as his friend coughed and sputtered weakly from the assault. "Why? Why did you do what you did, then, huh?" He asked, desperation mounting in his cracking voice for an answer he was sure he didn't want to hear. "Why did you lie to us and why did you bring back the monster that tore us all apart?"
Lard Nar was finally able to hoist himself up to his unstable, erratic feet, swaying a bit as he trudged defeatedly to where his friend had lowered himself down on the mattress, pulling himself up to the edge and slinging to dangle his feet over the frame. "I told you a long time ago that I didn't know why I loved Pem, but that's the only reason. I love him." He whispered forlornly, wincing when Purple huffed and turned away in disbelief. "I saw so much potential in him to be good that I felt like I had failed in not trying to help him find it again. I saw it at the end, when he was dying in my arms and showing me who he once was, and I realized that we had been fighting against the same regime the entire time. He's a good man deep down, and he's done some bad things, but so have we all. You and Red blew up whole planets and annihilated hundreds of races to extinction just to show off your power. Those people are never coming back. You were the most hated beings in the universe at the peak of your reign and there's still races out there that want to behead you. Teem and Kez were trying to undermine the government and used the money they sold on drugs at their bar to buy assault weapons to plan a coup against the Control Brains and take back everything they held dear. And me…I tried to murder you! I tried to murder you more than once and you and Red shot me out of the sky and killed my whole crew! These are the conversations I've been having with Pem."
Purple folded back into himself with a brutal snort. "Oh, yeah, tell him all about how terrible we all are! How nice of you, that really helps your case." He rolled his eyes and allowed himself to fall back, rolling over when Lard Nar did the same.
"I didn't just tell him about all the bad. My point is, even though he's done some terrible things and he's hurt us all, we've all tried, or succeeded, in hurting each other before as well. You two hurt me pretty bad in the past and almost sentenced me to death on Judgementia, but I still forgave you because I realized that you were trying to be different and good for us all." Lard Nar was almost begging with his tone, blinking when he noticed his friend's stiff shoulders soften ever so slightly. "I didn't mean to lie…I know I did but I didn't mean to. I got so caught up in the excitement of finally being able to stop being a failure that I didn't say anything. I also thought I was protecting you from the pain at first…"
"All you did was cause more." Purple mumbled, the power gone from his voice as he shimmied away. "He shot me. He left permanent scars on my body and all you want is to be with him? He's a menace, Lard Nar, and he'll murder again if you give him the chance."
"Once again, you shot me down and killed my whole crew." Lard Nar pushed up and tugged at Purple's thin waist, ushering him to roll over and reluctantly meet his gaze. "I'm not saying I condone any of what he did and he's agreed to work a full cycle of community service without pay if he's let go in court for what he did to you. He's on medication and he's trying really hard to be better for…me."
Purple watched him a moment, admiring the bloody stream of spit trailing down his chin from the beating his friend definitely deserved before finally giving a long slow blink and melting back down into the mess of soft understanding and kindness he had somehow become in the past two cycles. Lard Nar had a point, as much as he hated to admit it. Everyone in the public already knew that without Pem to cause the turmoil and uproar he had, Vort would still be under the thumb of the Irken Empire and he and Red would still be ruling with a backwards, confused iron fist as puppets under the mechanical beasts that wanted to enslave them all. Sledhob would have eventually pulled out of Vort when their two empires clashed over dominance, and the whole of the planet would have crumbled to dust and the Vortian race would have gone extinct in the next hundred cycles. That still didn't change the fact that Red had lost two teeth, received a plasma burn scar on his cheek, another gunshot to his shoulder, Teem had gone blind, Kez had consistent nightmares and was battling insomnia like the rest of them, and Purple had constant twinges of pain in his ribcage. He had flashbacks about Pem, about his wiry, untamed smile and his cackle of a screeching laugh resounding in his mind as he faked his way through the night and tried to get a full eight hours of sleep next to his beloved. Purple swallowed as Lard Nar waited patiently for a response, thinking back through his time fighting with the then Resisty and realizing that he had horrific nightmares about Lard Nar back then as well. He used to fear his influence in the political field, fear what he could do to the delicate technology of the Massive, and fear what he could do should he get his hands on his partner. They were enemies; two fanatical dictators and a determined terrorist butting heads and causing horrendous, white hot sparks to fly as they picked off pilots and rebels one by one from either side in a consistent war of coldblooded murder. Lard Nar had been a menace, too, but now he was King of Vort and one of the kindest, most compassionate men Purple had ever had the privilege of meeting. He was smart beneath the surface, incredibly passionate about his cause to restore his planet to its former beauty and blinding glory, and dedicated to providing a place for all races to come and live in absolute, beautiful harmony.
If Lard Nar could change, and Purple could learn to trust him completely after everything he had done, could it be the same with Pem?
Purple traced his hands up through the thick knit of his sweater, palming lightly at his scar through the material and shuddering lightly at the sudden chill rocketing up his spine. He mumbled something incoherent under his breath and sat up, averting his gaze to the floor for a few quick moments before meeting his friend's expectant, pleading gaze once more.
"Tell me what you see in him. I want to hear it from your own mouth." Purple halfway demanded, watching closely as the fear in Lard Nar's eyes was masked almost instantaneously by a warmhearted twinkle of delight he couldn't hold back. "Convince me he's not a total piece of trash like I think he is."
"Well…He's incredibly intelligent and likes to solve problems. If you sit there and watch him work through things in his mind it's absolutely beautiful to see; every equation and solution pouring out of him like they were nothing. He thinks he's become stupid, but it's a total lie." He paused when a rogue grin threatened to appear on his face, reaching up and smoothing it away with his palm to smear his own bright blue blood over his lips before continuing. "I love his laugh, his real laugh, because he snorts a little when he gets himself going and he's great with words almost to a fault. He could probably talk his way out of anything if he tried hard enough. He's also," he leisurely waved his wrist, averting his gaze to the ceiling and trying to come up with a way to explain through his lovestruck feelings, "soft? Compassionate? No, I would say curious. Curious is a good word. Pem is so enthusiastic about learning new things and sees the world like it was painted with bright colors or something. It's refreshing to see someone who looks at things in such an amazing way. I love his mind even if everyone thinks it's broken, I love his hands and feeling them in mine and-" He stopped himself short when he noticed Purple was staring back at him in some kind of awe, trying his best to decipher the blank look across his friend's face as he averted his lingering gaze to the far closet across the room.
Lard Nar froze when he heard the door creak open, squeezing his eyes shut when three sets of footsteps resounded through the mind-numbing silence to invade his much-needed personal space and cause his cramped claustrophobia to set in. He didn't dare turn around, knowing for sure who was there from the telltale tap of a walking cane and the static of a communication's headset worn out of habit. Then there was the scent. He could smell it permeating every cell in his body and nearly making him nauseous; that spicy, exotic wafting of rich cologne Purple had fallen so madly in love with.
"He…he makes you that happy?"
Lard Nar let his silent tears fall freely when a familiar voice rang out in unexpected disbelief of the friend he hadn't known was listening the whole time, gripping at his knees and mustering a tiny nod when he heard a single set of footsteps cautiously approach from behind, stiffening and holding back a cry when a hand landed on his shoulder. He braced for impact, tightening every muscle in his body for the forceful, bone-shattering blow he was petrified to receive, letting his eyes slowly flutter open when he felt two arms wrap around him instead to pull him into a tight, desperate hug. Purple stood as Red fumbled to take his place on the bed, not once letting go of the profoundly deep friend he had come to miss terribly as Lard Nar instinctually folded into the embrace and hugged back, Purple hushing Teem and Kez from where they lit up and tried to coo out their overflowing excitement before ushering them out of the room and gently closing the hatch behind them with a soft smile.
Red couldn't contain himself, bursting into a fit of audible tears as all of his pent up pain came pouring out against his friend's petite shoulder to stain his undershirt, feeling Lard Nar do the same as he pulled his horns back and cried himself into submission at the thought of almost losing his dearest friend. They didn't move or speak for a long while, enjoying each other's presence and feeling the thump of steadily slowing pulses against jugulars as they silently flushed away every last drop of liquid animosity clinging to their skin and sloshing through their collectively regretful minds at the things that had gone unsaid.
"I'm sorry." Red sniffed, breaking the gooey silence and pulling back to wipe his cheeks hastily on the back of his hand and tried to frantically save face. "I didn't mean what I said, about you not being my brother anymore. You'll always be my family and I want you around, no matter how pissed off I am at you right now."
Lard Nar nodded and removed his goggles, cleaning away the horrendously tear stained lenses before replacing them over his raw cheeks. "And I'm sorry I lied to you. I-I should have asked for your opinion but I was selfish and I almost got you killed. I promise, Red, I never wanted any of this to happen! I-I never wanted to hurt you that bad, or see you fall victim to your addiction again all over what I did!"
"Shut up. We were both selfish, I guess." Red mumbled, voice thick with overwhelming remorse and shame for having been so unbearably cruel. "I…um…I didn't listen to your opinions, either. I still hate them, and I don't agree with you, but that doesn't mean I should have been an asshole." He forced a laugh to try and lighten the mood. "Pur keeps telling me I need to keep my anger in check, so I'm trying to breathe through it when it happens instead of exploding."
"I…I forgive you." Lard Nar whispered, averting his gaze to the floor. "Does this mean we're going to be alright, now?"
Red thought long and hard about the question, going back and forth with himself several times before settling on some semblance of a dark, unnerving answer that had Lard Nar squirming where he sat. "You and I will be ok. The rest of us and Pem, that's another story. If he wants to ever make it up to me, Pur, Teem, or Kez, he's going to have to do something pretty drastic to even earn a second chance at life on Vort. He shot my husband, indirectly took my tooth, and indirectly caused my oldest friend to go blind. He brought us all together, I'll actually give him that, but he's a monster and I can't trust someone who's stabbed me in the back already."
"I…I know. He's trying to be better, I promise. Will you give him a second chance to start over? Or at least talk to him and see for yourself?"
"Why? Is he here?"
"…Yes. He's outside in the police cruiser. I thought it would be the only way you would talk with him so I brought him along and he wants to apologize."
"And he really makes you this happy? You actually want to be with him?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"I've had a full cycle to make sure, so yes."
Lard Nar shuddered at the sudden weight their conversation had taken, going over possibilities for reparations in his mind and feeling everything fall to pieces when Red suddenly chimed back in and made a chilling, haunting proclamation that rocked his world and shook some of his terrifying, receding fears back to the surface.
"Ok. But he has to prove himself and if he backs out, I'm testifying against him in court. Why don't we follow the Vortian social custom of give and take? I want one of his teeth, I want him scarred over his ribcage, and I want him blinded in one eye. Only then will I trust him and give him a chance."
Outside in the Police Cruiser
Pem tried to wait as patiently as he could, peeking up from between his guards to nervously eye the back hatch to his partner's former home with keen interest in the renewed clarity in his frazzled mind. He had been gone for nearly half an hour without any sign that he was alright, Pem beginning to fear the worst and opening his mouth to ask if one of his guards could sneak in and check the progress his mate was making before a tiny, curious voice piped up outside the hatch.
"Hello? Hello? Your ship is really pretty!"
One of the guards blinked in annoyance when Pem's curiosity got the better of him, moving to stand and press his face against the side window before stumbling back when a tiny grin jumped up to meet his.
"Hello! What's your name?"
Pem curled his lip as the glass fogged under his breath, staring down at the tiny nubs of horns attempting to twitch forward to greet him and scent him for the first time. Two blue almond eyes beamed up at him from within an overly long, pink scarf shrouding most of the tiny body bouncing excitedly and waving gargantuan mittened hands back up at him to get his attention.
"Go away, kid. This is a police ship!" He called back in annoyance, trying to shew the curious Vortling on and yelping when she began to tug at the outside handle of the hatch, pulling it open and losing her balance as the two guards hopped to attention and brandished their plasma pistols.
The little Vortling giggled and struggled to roll herself back up from within the immense layers she had been covered with, adjusting her slipping gloves and finally hoisting herself to her pointed feet. "Mister, your friends are funny!" She pointed up at the two officers lowering their guard and slinging their pistols back into their black canvas belts in utter bewilderment at the lack of fear pouring off of the little creature. "I was told I have to play outside by Mr. Purple because I'm not allowed to meet King Lard Nar yet until he says so!"
Pem blinked and took a tentative step back when the girl lingered at the base of the hatch, almost beckoning him down but knowing he wasn't allowed to take his leave without threat of a hole to the back of his skull. "How do you know Lard Nar? Are you cousins or something?" He mused, leaning out over the steps teasingly and enjoying the look of warning complacency flashing over his captor's stern visages. "Tell me, short thing, is Vort really as nice now as everyone says?"
The girl spat scarf fluff from her mouth and tugged it away with a wide beam. "Yeah! There's ice cream shops and toy shops and all the cool things I've never seen! When I find Daddy I wanna go to the new toy store and buy a pretty doll that I can dress up. They have detachable horns now so you can pick the kind you like and I want them like yours!" She laughed and struggled to bend down, picking a single blade of grass and plopping down on the steps of the hatch. "I'm really bored out here. You wanna see something super cool I learned how to do?"
Pem went to shoo her away with an uninterested flick of the wrist as she rambled, groaning in jaded indifference when she patted the stoop and insisted that he sit down next to her. He hated this, sneering and impassively lowering himself down when she tugged off her mittens and began to fold the thick blade into something unknown. He didn't even know this kid, and yet here she was, getting into his business and snooping about the vehicle he was forced to remain captive in like she owned the place. At least it would be better than sitting and staring at the back of the pilot's seat for another hour and a half; he would probably lose his slowly clearing mind if he had to go through any more torture like that. He questioned a few seconds if he should have the intrusive tiny thing find him a wire since she was so enthusiastic and unafraid so he could pick the lock on his handcuffs and run, knowing that if he did that he would never have a chance at being with Lard Nar again and would definitely be shot. No thank you.
"Why are you sitting out here in those things?" The Vortling asked, gesturing to Pem's handcuffs as she stuck out her tongue and continued her sloppy, tedious work. "Did you do something you weren't supposed to?"
Pem hesitated, leaning back and staring up at the strip of stars streaking across the sky. "I did a lot I wasn't supposed to. You ever heard of a murderer?" He asked, trying to intimidate the nuisance away and narrowing his eyes in mounting irritation when she grinned once more and nodded. "I'm a murderer. I've killed hundreds of people with my own hands."
"Oh. Ok."
"Ok?"
"Yeah."
"Woah, woah, woah! Are you serious? You're not afraid of that? I've had blood on my face! I've had other people's organs in my hands! I've hunted Irkens and torn them to shreds, and you're not even scared?"
"No. Everyone on the planet has killed people. When we were all still in prison we had to kill people to survive."
"…Oh. Right."
There was an awkward silence as Pem watched her fold and twist the blade of grass into a tiny ring, holding it up to the light as she giggled before reaching out and snatching his hand against his will as he tried to tug away in involuntary surprise, quickly settling as she slipped the poorly fitting ring over his middle finger with a proud nod.
"See? I learned how to make those at the camp for all of my friends." She said in a matter of fact tone, retrieving her mittens as her new friend looked over the improvised gift she had so selflessly given him. "I ran away from the camp the guard took me to because I wanted to find my Daddy! Mr. Purple and Mr. Red know him and they said they were gonna help me find him so I can have a family again!"
"Huh." Pem glanced down to the chubby, rosy cheeks smiling wildly back up at him in bubbling excitement more powerful than sunshine. "That's neat. I mean, this thing you made. You ever think about becoming an engineer when you get older? They get to build lots of stuff and figure out how to solve problems for society, and you've already got the creativity it looks like."
The Vortling shrugged and pushed herself up, kicking at the chilly dirt and holding back a sneeze when the cold bit at the tips of her horns. "Daddy was an engineer!" She replied gleefully, sending a pang of unease rocketing through Pem's chest at the sudden comment and forcing him to lean forward. "He was an engineer before Mommy was gone is the story I got told by the guard who took care of me at the camp. He made sure that I wasn't bullied or taken away to the other planet because he liked me."
"Other planet? You mean Irk?" Pem prodded, fishing or more information as strange, uncanny puzzle pieces began to fall into place and his pulse began to escalate at the very thought he knew couldn't be true. "You were taken to a servant's camp, weren't you?"
The girl nodded with a petite shrug, bounding halfway across the yard and flopping down to uproot an ancient stick poking up from the soil, tugging it free and carving pictures into the earth as she lazed about and innocently played. "Yeah, but the guard who took me was nice and kept me safe for a long time since he said I was a baby and it wasn't fair if I was told I had to cook for Irkens." She didn't seem fazed by the peculiar, immense peril she was almost subjected to should she have been shipped off to Irk for the slave trade. "I got taken away from the camp and I was taken to a nice lady who made a home for Vortlings while the planet was all fixed and made better. But…" She dropped her stick and looked back up with her deep cerulean stare, unraveling Pem in a way he hadn't expected. "I saw on the news that Mr. Purple and Mr. Red had fought my Daddy in the war so I looked for their house in an address bank and ran away to find them. They said they were gonna take me to Daddy!" She repeated with eager enthusiasm as Pem froze where he stood between his guards and almost dropped to his knees as his jaw went slack and his heart shot up into his throat.
"What…" he breathed under his shaky breath, carefully lowering himself to the ground in stunned disbelief as the tiny girl resumed her lighthearted game, grabbing for her stick and kicking up soil in all directions with a wild giggle.
She broke the decrepit stick in half and passed it to Pem with an expectant bounce, watching as he took it through his restricted movement and stared blankly at every curve in her youthful face and every freckle dotting the bridge between her twinkling eyes. Blue…so blue. Her horns were tiny and undeveloped, hinting at her youthful age as she instructed him fervently on the rules of their new dirt flinging game, waving a hand in front of his face as a flood of incredible, blistering hot tears of pure, unabridged surprise threatened to overflow across his cheeks the more he looked her over and realized exactly who he was watching pick at diminutive rocks and laugh in slow motion through every peaceable laugh bouncing from her thin lips. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. She was gone. She was supposed to be completely displaced to the universe and scattered to the cosmos like the gorgeous, glittering burst of fire she had been from the moment his long-lost wife placed her in his trembling arms and her tiny hands roamed blindly up over his fingers as she cried feebly in that soft, melodious voice he could almost hear. She was an angel, a vision of sheer perfection and shuddering hope ripping and stripping away layers of disgusting, nauseating violence and melting him down to the core in an instant as she watched him go through an entire existential crisis in the grass and try to formulate a way to speak up and ask the damming question he was too scared to hear the answer to. What if this was a dream? What if it was all some medication induced vision he couldn't control, and he was still lying on his back in the padded room of his cell waiting for his white knight to come and rescue him? Would he be ok with that if his own mind was showing him such illustrious, radiant fantasies he could almost feel and smell as utterly real and indescribable? Her story was spot on. Her father was an engineer and her mother was dead. She had been sent away to a children's camp. His enemies had fought her father in the war, whatever war that could have been. But, how many other children out there shared the same family-fracturing story as his forgotten daughter? What if this girl was someone else bent on finding her true father and he was only getting his sensitive, overblown senses hyped up for nothing?
Name.
What was her name?
The little girl frowned in misunderstanding when she noticed a slow, gradual smile form up over Pem's features followed by a rush of deep, unwarranted color to his cheekbones as he dropped the stick and brought his hands to his face so sob.
"Mister? Are you ok?" The intriguing Vortling asked, reaching out to harmlessly trace the image of the sweet cat knitted into his foreign sweater with the tip of her muddy stick, smearing dirt over his clothing. "Did I make you sad?"
"N-No." Pem managed to halfway choke out, folding forward into the grass as his guards snickered at the pathetic display such a redoubtable former extremist had become. "What…What…" he tried a few times to ask for her name, reaching out with his cuffed hands for hers and feeling another body wracking, weak sob shudder down his back and steal whatever was left of his voice.
"You're kinda weird when you talk. Your voice sounds funny." She giggled simply, patting him lightly on top of the knuckles to try and reassure his perceived sadness away. "Are you sad because you're a murderer? Don't worry! Our planet is nice now so you don't have to do that again and everyone can be friends."
Pem couldn't contain himself, reaching up to sling his arms around the girl's shoulders as she squeaked in surprise, shuddering away from the cold metal of his handcuffs hitting the back of her neck as he folded forward and his guards reached out to forcibly tug him away at the sudden intrusion. She held tight, instinct taking over as she listened to his heartbeat radiate out through his sweater and wrapped her short arms around his waist, flicking off her mittens and digging her tiny claws into the material as she whined incessantly up at his harsh captors.
"Hey, stop it! Mister wants a hug and everyone needs a hug when they're sad!" She growled defensively, swatting at powerful gloved hands and staring up over Pem's shoulder as he bawled out his overwhelming, Vort-shattering happiness and ethereal relief against her apple-like cheek.
"Sir, you're violating your good standing by touching a civilian. We'll unfortunately have to report this back to the Vortian High Court in order to-"
Pem didn't listen, pulling back and searching the girl's now tear stained face with a wide-eyed gawk, trying to run his hand up the side of her jaw but finding his restraints overly restrictive of his movements. He took a deep, shuddering breath and finally mustered up enough courage to ask, slowly and cautiously, the question he had hanging on the tip of his tongue. "What…w-what…what's your name?" He whimpered, waiting with bated breath and almost losing his mind when the girl gifted him another naive, charming beam.
"I'm Nea Gen. What's your name?"
Pem yelled out his rapturous joy, tackling Nea back and rolling onto the grass when she shrieked again in dumbfounded surprise at the abrupt change in volume, finding herself completely trapped in his strong hold as he squeezed her and let loose a torrent of vibrant, wholly ecstatic laughs and kisses peppered to the side of her face as she struggled to pull back through her blindsided mystification.
"Mister! Y-You're squeezing me too hard! Ouchie!" She peeped in aggravation, pushing off of his chest as he sat back up and moved to tenderly cradle her in his arms, flipping back his long horns to see her properly and make sure he wasn't clutching onto some kind of mirage. "W-What's your name?"
No. She was here. She was here, she was whole, and she was everything he had dreamed of finding again one day and more. "Pem. My name is Pem Goor."
Nea blinked in jaw-slackening incredulity, rocketing completely stiff in his clutches as she attempted to mouth the name over her tongue before lighting up brighter than a supernova and reaching up to take him by the side of the face, eyes alight with a surge of untamable pride and uncut exhilaration rebounding between them as she threw her head back and let out a piercing scream that deafened Pem's guard and forced their hands up over their horns as they squinted.
"Daddy! Daddy! I knew I would find you, I just knew I would find you!" She giggled wildly, flying into another spine breaking hug as Pem slogged to his feet and twirled her as they laughed in tandem. "I wanted to find you for a long time and don't ever go away again! I want you to stay with me and be here forever and ever!"
"Nea, I can't believe you're alive! I-I thought about you every day for cycles and I'm sorry I never came to find you!" Pem breathed, holding her close and determined never to let go again. "Daddy won't ever leave you again! I-I'll always be here for you no matter what."
He was determined to be good, feeling the last nail of blissful, lawful diligence hammer into the coffin of his murderous, homicidal past self as he pulled back to look over his tiny daughter again. He had a purpose, a life, a family. His planet was completely restored and overtaken by the lush undergrowth of new life and whole cities were sprouting around them as Vortian Runners and Stingers zipped overhead and families played in the frozen streets of the quaint town his long lost puzzle piece had managed to find all on her own. He drug her back in, smoothing up over her horns with the tips of his fingers as best as he could manage to reach and letting his teary eyes flutter shut when he realized he truly did have a chance. He had to take it not only for himself or for Lard Nar, but for the petite, innocent hands clutching at his shoulders and reminding him of everything he once was and everything he could be again. He was wrong, erroneous, terrible, and destined for a life of disgustingly appalling karma surfacing from every delicate neck he had ever twisted and chest he had blown a grisly hole through, but his daughter had been right. Their planet had fallen into a time of undeniable, gorgeous peace and there was no need to fight anymore; the violence had been replaced with brotherhood, the streets were paved with ingenuity, and the job market had exploded with scientific advancement and research as Vortians, Irkens, and Inquisitorians alike hunted for medical cures and ways to prolong the life of food crops now sprouting in the sun kissed countryside.
He was wrong.
He was a monster, a renounced terrorist, and a walking case of dozens of mental issues. But, he was a father and he would do his best to provide a stable home if it meant he could always remain with his daughter.
"Does this mean I can stay with you?" Nea reached up and played with the tip of his now rigid horns, nuzzling into his shoulder as he carried her back to the ship and enjoyed the weight of his reclaimed loved one slung in his now protective arms. "I don't have to go back to the homeless girls' place?"
Pem immediately shook his head with a thick sniff. "No. You're never going back there and we're gonna have a good life together." He paused, glancing to the side as he wavered and thought over the dastardly mess he had unfortunately gotten himself into but knew he would have to face sooner or later in court. "As soon as Daddy clears up some bad things he did, I'm gonna take you to that toy store and get you that doll you want. A-And we'll have a home with King Lard Nar where we can be safe and happy together and never be apart again."
Nea went to say something, jolting when a voice called out to her father from across the lawn and caused him to turn on a dime, immediately narrowing his eyes to the tall, crimson Irken staring back at him from beyond the waving grass.
"Hey, tall guy." Pem mused dangerously, tightening his hold around Nea's waist before immediately remembering the progress he and Lard Nar had undergone over transmission, swallowing down his faint need for conflict in favor of stooping to set his clingy child to the ground before straightening the scarf Kez had given her and striding forward. He felt his pulse drop when Purple popped out from the backdoor with Lard Nar who had been pretty roughed up, panicking a bit but again letting it go when his partner shot him a look to warn him to behave.
Pem held his hot breath and looked up, meeting the harsh gaze of the domineering monster he had come to hate before tentatively extending his cuffed hands out and trying to usher Red into a horrified, reluctant handshake.
"I mean, hello, Red." He said gradually through his teeth, shaking the wide, disturbing grin from his face and instead dialing it back into a smooth, languid sweep of a tiny smile followed by an awkward blink as he tried to remember what little etiquette he had been taught. "My name is Pem Goor, but you can call me Pem. Or short guy since I called you…um…tall guy. I know you already know that, but I figured I would tell you again so we can, eh, start off on a better note or something?"
Red didn't know what to think through the thick mask of skepticism eating away at his rational judgement, glancing back at where Purple had emerged with tiny Kez blistering with powerful rage at the sight of her greatest enemy trying to be so unbelievably compassionate and moral and Teem who's stagnant antennae picked up a treacherous quiver at the salty sound of his squeaky voice.
"No! I take it back!" Kez yelled, stomping lightly on the ground and trying to turn to grab or her wife's hand and make for her escape back inside. "I don't like this, and I don't like him! He's mean and nasty, and I don't want him anywhere near my wife after what happened!"
Pem withdrew his hand at the sudden tenacity of the hiss pouring out of the petite Irken his mate had chosen to be his sister, instead bringing his hand down to the top of Nea's head when she skipped over and waved up at where Red still stared down with a beating, unforgiving intensity that made her father's skin crawl.
"Ah. Yes. What happened." Pem began with a cheesy, nervous smile. "Ah, ha. I was pretty bad back then, right? We all remember how scary I used to be." He trailed off, noticing he was rambling and glancing to Lard Nar for help, who rolled his eyes and strode around his brother's legs to take Pem by the hand.
"Love, let me officially introduce you to Commander Red of the Vortian Relief Mission, Commander Purple of my high cabinet, Mrs. Teem who runs a self-defense class for women downtown, and Mrs. Kez who is going to be starting a job in the Royal Armada as a communications specialist in three months." Lard Nar prodded, hoping to give his partner something to go off of as the other four continued to overly scrutinize him to a fault. "You came all the way here and-" He paused, noticing the tiny Vortling clinging to his leg and frowning. Nea stuck out her tongue teasingly with a giggle under her breath, hiding it under her palm when Lard Nar looked away and chose to ask questions later. "Isn't there something you wanted to say to everyone?"
"No." Pem immediately blurted out through his jittery nerves, moving to snatch at his daughter's hand and take her away with him before his partner grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him back in against his will. Pem lowered his voice to a hiss, moving his mate off to the side and throwing his free hand up at the look plastered over Red's domineering features. "Look at those idiots! They obviously don't wanna talk to me so we're leaving!"
"You and who?" Lard Nar argued, nodding down to the Vortling watching her father with great interest. "You can't just go off and steal the neighborhood children."
Pem groaned and rolled his eyes with an overdone sneer. "Ugh, listen to you! I'm not stealing her! She's mine!" He jabbed a thumb back at the others where they waited patiently. "Apparently they've been harboring my daughter for Vort knows how long without telling anyone! If they don't wanna hear me out then fine by me, but I'm taking Nea with me and getting outta this place."
Lard Nar froze in bewildered shock, looking back down to where Nea beamed innocently and played sweetly with the grass ring she had so compassionately made for her unstable father. "She…this is the one from the photograph?" He breathed in misunderstanding, reaching out and grabbing Pem by the shoulder. "If she's actually your daughter you can't just take her. You're still technically in prison until you've been released in court. If you try to leave now and violate the stipulations they gave you for coming out here, you'll never be able to give her a good home."
Pem wavered, glancing down at the bundle of joy clutching at his fingers before looking leisurely back over his shoulder to where his partner's family waited in rapidly diminishing fortitude for the carefully planned speech he was supposed to give. His partner was right; if he messed anything up, he could lose the one family member he had left forever and never see her again after all of the harrowing, mind-numbing time they had both spent trying to reunite with one another and finally be free again. Something boiled up in his chest as he thought, a feeling so sickeningly warm and horrifically pleasant that he couldn't overcome it. He'd felt it before with Lard Nar every time his lover took him by the hand or reassured him that everything would be alright in the end, and now he felt it for the defenseless, gullible life swaying playfully against him as she giggled and picked threads from his woolen sweater. Fine. He would do whatever it took to keep her out of harms way…and to keep her from having to return to a homeless shelter.
Pem gingerly instructed his daughter to take Lard Nar's hand, absolutely devastated and utterly reluctant to let her go so soon after finding her again and watching as the two made their way back inside and shut the door with a gentle click. He wasn't sure what was going to happen as he made his way back to where his enemies stood in a gaggle above him, wanting to preserve Nea's innocent eyes from the horrors of bloodshed should things turn south faster than he was expecting. He immediately felt infinitesimally small and gruesomely shamed, watching as his partner's family members each brandished a separate tool they had been hiding behind their back with the exception of little Kez, who hung back and watched from afar from between her fingers.
Pem tried to ignore the blatant attempt at intimidation, watching carefully as Purple held up a glittering kitchen knife and letting his eyes travel to the terrifying set of rusted pilers clutched firmly in Red's fist. Worst of all, that made him want to run for his life, was the plasma torch clicking blindly through Teem's firm claws as she ran the pad of her finger along the button and threatened to click it on.
"I…" Pem began, making sure his daughter wasn't peeking through the window behind them out of fear she would see him getting exactly what he knew he deserved. "I talked at length with my partner and I wanted to tell you, for his sake, that I'm…I'm sorry." The words stung his overbearing pride and deflated what was left of his ego, stomping him into the dust as Red nodded for him to continue. "Actually, I am sorry. I realized that we were all fighting for the same thing in the end and I wanted to express my sincere condolences for…" Pem rolled his eyes at the overly formal speech he and Lard Nar had practiced, shaking his head and instead looking up to meet Red's ferocious gaze once more. "Look, I'm terrible and I've done something to all of you but it's not like you didn't deserve it at the time. We were at war. People get hurt, people go blind, and people get shot. Was it right? Probably not. But I'm sorry, really, and if you wanna kill me just don't do it in front of my daughter or my life mate."
"You know I can't forgive you for what you did to my husband, right?" Red's voice was level as he slung his hand around Purple's waist and drew him in close against the chill hanging in the air, watching as his partner clutched at his tiny knife and swallowed.
Pem shrugged, giving in to his fate and chuckling when he realized karma had caught up to him quicker than he had expected. "Yeah, yeah. I don't wanna die alone, but I guess I won't now, will I?" He glanced back to his guards who had turned a blind eye to the imminent danger he was in, turning back and throwing his arms wide when he realized he was again at the end of the line. "Kill me. Just…don't hurt Lard Nar or Nea. Protect them for me and make sure she goes to a good school and gets the doll form the toyshop around here somewhere with the detachable horns like she likes. Also…don't let Lard Nar clone me again. He…he deserves better and I realize that now, so help him find a pretty girl who can give him whatever I couldn't."
He puffed out his chest and waited for the inevitable, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his breath for the first blow through his delicate skin that was to come, carefully peeling an eye back open when he was met with a surprising level of unforeseen peace and tranquility.
"Ok, that counts as an apology." Red chuckled, still obviously on edge as he let Purple go and extended a hand down, waiting for Pem to reach up through his cuffs and take it and pulling back with a smirk when he had frozen in place at the lack of terrifying blood-letting he was sure was to come. "I have an offer for you, since you like making deals, and I hope you take me up on it for your sake."
Pem didn't know what to say, petrified in time as he mulled over how to respond, feeling a pang of renewed terror creep up over his stomach as Red held up the set of pliers in the glinting sun. "What? You accept my apology?! It was that easy?!" He threw his hands out in front of him, olive eyes vaulting in shocked disbelief between the four. "You've gotta be kidding me, you actually accept my apology?!"
Red reached out for the plasma torch and knife, holding them carefully in his other hand before shrugging. "I'll believe it if you accept my deal." He mused, his voice taking a cold dip from the gracious enthusiasm that had once tinged his voice. "Pur, do you wanna stay for this or do you wanna go inside with Teem and Kez?"
"I'll stay." Purple crossed his arms over his chest and watched as his partner took a deep breath as his two sisters nodded him on and followed inside after his brother and the tiny Vortling they had been housing. He waited for them to go, crossing over to where Pem stood dumbfounded in the cold and began to grow uneasy at the sacrifice he was going to have to make as reparations for his terrible, body-razing wave of mass homicide. "Pem, you're welcome to stay, if you do something for us first."
"Stay?" Pem's horns craned forward into the beautifully delicious thought of having a home to return to with people who may eventually want him around. Nea could have contact with others who were battle hardened and play with the hundreds of other Vortlings in the neighborhood like a normal child, coming home each night to feast on delicious cooking, hopefully, and hear war stories from her uncles and aunts that would welcome her into their family with loving arms. Did…did he actually want that?
"You shot me, had your lackey Urb Yen take my partner's tooth, and your war made one of the most beautiful Irkens I know go completely blind." Purple explained, placing a hand on Red's shoulder in reassurance when he too seemed to grow a bit anxious for what was to come. "If you want to stay, and want us to give you a second chance, you have to let us take one of your teeth, scar you with the knife over your ribcage where you shot me, and we're going to take your sight in one of your eyes."
Pem scrambled back, clamping his hands over his mouth as Red straightened back up and clinked his pilers menacingly over his quivering form like Urb Yen had done to him nearly two cycles ago in the past, grinning and snaking his long tongue through the hole where his molar used to be. Purple reached down and lifted his sweater with an overly ominous grin, showing off the deep raised scar from Pem's plasma shot dug deep into his ribcage and staining him with the heavy reminders of warfare for the rest of his long life. Pem looked to them both, flinching when Red replaced the pilers in his pocket and instead tugged free the plasma torch, clicking it on and waving the bright orange flame through the frigid autumn air as he stared on in utter terror for the excruciating, white hot agony he was going to be put through.
No. Yes. No…yes? No! Yes!
Pem couldn't decide what to do, opening up an internal dialogue with himself as he bounced back and forth between the two damming, terrifying options he had been presented with against his weakening resolve. If he said no, he would lose Lard Nar and Nea and walk away unscathed to go to court, undoubtedly losing at that point and being thrown back in a maximum-security prison to live the rest of his disgusting life alone without love. But this, if he took the option of body modification and allowed his partner's blood brothers to mark him in the same way that he had marked them all, he would be disfigured for the remainder of his life, but he would have the opportunity to be there for his daughter and watch her grow up to be a healthy, happy woman stronger than steel and have the chance to fall asleep next to his chosen mate every night as they talked about sweet nothings and sipped herbal teas. Would Lard Nar still love him if he was covered in the literal manifestation of his darkest projects and horrific decisions come back to haunt him.
Yes.
Pem took a deep breath as the word immediately rang true over the fear, annihilating every agonizing, excruciating doubt in his mind as he stepped back forward and opened his mouth wide, squeezing his eyes shut as Red nodded in approval and stooped to his level. He heard Purple walk through the grass to position himself behind Pem's back should he writhe against the torture, holding him tight in his dominating hold as his husband reached back and grabbed for the rusted set of disturbing pliers, clinking them against each and every one of Pem's long, serrated teeth as he shivered and tried not to whimper in fear at the torment and mind-numbing anguish looming on his horizons. Red quickly selected a tooth in the front, clamping down over the tip and tugging lightly to make sure he had a firm hold against his saliva slicked bone, hesitating momentarily before piping up a final time.
"Are you sure this is what you want? You would give this all up, go through all this pain, just for Lard Nar?" He asked slowly, hammering the decision into his captive's brain as he began to pant and prematurely squirm in nauseating anticipation.
"Yeah, just do it already and be quick!" Pem managed to squeak out against the metallic intrusion in his mouth, eyes flying open and screaming in blinding, searing pain when Red yanked down hard and swiftly removed one of his two front teeth with a single motion as blood flowed freely from his now empty socket.
Purple held firm and scrunched up his face in horrendous discomfort to the reparations he knew they had to take to ensure their past enemy didn't continue on with his nasty, gut-wrenching ways, feeling his spooch beat faster in dread when Red hastily lowered him back and pulled up Pem's sweater, groaning in grisly discomfort as he raked the kitchen knife down the same spot as Purple's unfortunate gunshot wound and left an impressively deep gash that would turn to a disgusting, ugly scar. Pem cried out in heartbreaking pain at every rushed advance Red was trying to hurry through, moving on to the worst of the three and rearing back as Purple pressed down on Pem's shoulders and looked away with a terrified nod of approval, refusing to watch and shuddering violently as Red forced the flame down hard against their enemy's delicate socket, obliterating his valuable vision in his olive green left eye and feeling his back vault before he gave a last guttural cry of feral, unexpurgated agony and flailed, eventually going completely limp to the world as he passed out from the torture and his new family pulled back to flinch at the disgusting, gruesome work his face had become. Red had seared him into utter oblivion, hitting half of his face with the sweltering heat as a mixture of blood and cooling plasma oozed from the massive wound and coated the woven front of his once adorable Earthen sweater with the payment he was overdue for.
Purple let go and immediately stooped to scoop him up despite his own fears and reservations, feeling his body ragdoll in his arms as Red tossed the gory tool to the side and pushed himself free from the dirt, taking the lead in dumbfounded silence as his husband followed along.
"I…he did it." Purple breathed in stunned, shell-shocked bewilderment, staring down at the immeasurable, bloody sacrifice and appalling body modification Pem had decided to endure to prove his worth and sincerity to them all once and for all. He readjusted his hold when his limp body threatened to slip, glancing through the window to make sure Nea didn't catch sight of her brave father so low and brazenly destroyed in skin and mind as they neared the back entrance to their home.
Red nodded solemnly, wiping his blood-soaked hands on his slacks before reaching out for the door handle and whistling for the two guards to follow suit. "I didn't expect it either." He mumbled, holding open the hatch and letting his partner step through first. "I guess Lard Nar was right about him trying to be good...for once." He swallowed, clearing a spot on their kitchen table as Pem moaned and struggled violently to come to, thrashing a bit against the deep burn searing into the back of his skull and the taste of nauseating metallic blood flooding his mouth as he choked.
Purple gingerly laid down his feebly writhing body atop the table and called for Kez, watching as she popped up over the couch and gasped at the horrendous mess their target had become.
"Oh my Vort, this is so much worse than you said it was going to be!" She tried not to gag on the overwhelming amount of sticky, warm blood oozing onto the metal surface of the table and dripping to the floor in tiny puddles. "I learned basic first aid in the Academy, not…not this! This requires stitches and antibiotics! W-What if he needs surgery to remove his gross eye now?! You have to take him to a hospital!"
"We can't because he's technically still supposed to be in prison." Purple gripped at the edge of the table as his sister hopped up on top of a chair for a better look, shaking her head in appalled, sickened disgust as Pem tried to open his now swollen other eye and mouth something out through the agony. "I-I have some of Red's pain medication left that we can use! W-We didn't actually think he'd chose that option, ok?!" He stuttered as his anxiety spiked and shot through the roof. "We thought he was gonna walk away and never come back!"
"Damn, he smells disgusting!" Teem called from the other room, pulling her antennae back from the stench of charred flesh and iron reeking platelets bombarding her sensitive system. "How bad did you hurt him? It's times like this that I wish I could actually see because he probably looks wicked as hell. Someone describe him to me in detail, I wanna paint a mental portrait in my mind."
"Gross, Teem! That's just sick!"
"What? I like weird stuff, ok? You all know that by now!"
"Oh no! Oh no! I-I don't have any gloves to work on him with! H-he's gonna get his blood all over my hands!"
"Suck it up, Kez! You've touched way worse back a the bar!"
"I know but honey, this is a living person! What if...what if I dunno he bites me or something when I working on him?!"
"Why the absolute hell would he do that?! Geez, just stick your hands in there already!"
Red rolled his eyes and slammed his hands down on the edge of the table, staring everyone down and restoring order to the rapid chaos and disarray that was beginning to unfold in their kitchen. "Everyone shut up! He chose to have a clean slate with us and I gave it to him the way we all agreed! I've got my eye on him, but he's technically one of us now whether we like it or not according to Vortian social law so we're all even! Teem, go back to the back room and keep Nea and Lard Nar out of the way because if either one of them comes out here all hell is gonna break loose! Pur, find something for him to bite on and get my whiskey from the cabinet so we can start cleaning up this mess before it stains the floor! Kez, figure out what you can do and tell me what you need so I can have those idiots," he jabbed a finger at the guards who exchanged a look of unease, "find us some sedative or something from the medical kit they all keep stocked in their ship!"
Kez held up a hand with a sigh, collecting herself and shaking her head in sudden defiance. "No, I'll get it myself. I…I'll try my best to help him but if something goes wrong, you have to promise me you'll get him medical attention." She hopped down from her chair and bounded outside to where the police cruiser had been left carelessly open.
"Did I…um…." Pem slurred out, spitting blood to the side as Red hovered uncomfortably over the enemy he had never thought he would ever have to save. "D-do…you…b-believe me...n-now...? M-My apology…?"
Red glanced over his shoulder to where his partner had ducked behind the counter to hunt for what little alcohol they had left, popping back up with a tiny flask of amber whiskey Red kept hidden for chilly nights they wanted to spend together. He made sure no one was looking, internally kicking himself before hastily patting Pem on the shoulder as he squirmed incoherently and tried not to loose what little consciousness continued to slip through his quivering fingers.
"Yeah. I accept your apology, kid, but don't think I still don't hate your ass. I'll trust you when you prove it to me. But...welcome to the family."
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! This was also fun to write! This ended up being much longer than I expected! This chapter is also unbetaed, so there may be spelling mistakes or grammar issues purely because I don't have a beta reader yet, still!
PLEASE READ: Because our next update falls on Christmas, which is Wednesday, I will not be posting a new chapter on that day in order to spend that time with family and friends! I will be posting a new chapter on Thursday, December 26, 2019 at 10:00 pm CDT (UTC-5)! I hope all of you have a happy holiday if you celebrate Christmas, and I will see you soon! Thanks lovelies!