--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---
Chapter 19 - A Night-Time Surprise
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It is currently late evening of the prescribed light cycle aboard the Icebreaker, and most people have already turned in for the evening, leaving most systems to run themselves for a few hours, but the ever vigilant Frost still mans the controls, using all of his willpower to remain awake as the tedious repetition of his work takes hold. The young Neko Kat has long since retired, but the stoic Avery remains, seemingly close to falling asleep at his post despite himself.
An alarm sounds suddenly; despite being, by comparison to others the ship has made, relatively quiet, in the overwhelming silence currently on the bridge, the repetitive beeping coming from Frost's console sounds remarkably piercing. The sound has fully woken the Aisu, but the Tori nearby, annoyed at the intrusion, just growled tiredly, "Will you shut that thing off?"
Shooting Avery a wary glance, Frost pressed a button on his console, causing the offending sound to cease, and carefully began reading the display message before grimacing fully.
"That good huh?" The sarcasm in Avery's tone was so thick it was almost visible.
"Yes, that good. Guess what you get to do?" Frost mentioned with an attempt to hide his wolf-like grin; he nearly succeeded.
The birdman just muttered, "It's too late for guessing games."
"Yes, and most sane people sleep, thus I don't want to wake the whole ship with an intercom message, so go fetch Kaen for me will you? This concerns him."
A rare look of shock filled Avery's tired features as he nearly squeaked out, "Are you trying to get me killed?"
"I need to stay here and monitor this, so that leaves you to go get him. Beside," Frost added, a smirk starting to form despite extreme effort on his part to hide his amusement, "with all the shots you've put past my head with that hand-cannon of yours, consider this a taste of your own medicine."
Growling to himself tiredly, and muttering under his breath the many ways he'd make Frost pay should this not go well, he wandered of, praying to live out the night.
o-o-o
After their long training session, and equally long evening meal, Pi smiles as she contently rests against Kaen, as they lay in bed together. About this time, they usually did one of two things together, and, fortunately for the approaching Avery, tonight they were, at Pi's discretion, doing the safer-to-interrupt of the two activities: talking.
Smiling at her slightly, Kaen wraps an arm around her shoulders and just holds her, something he'd always secretly enjoyed when they used to sleep in the same bed, clothed, when they were younger. She twisted around a little in mock effort to free herself, like she always did back then, but in reality, she was shifting her weight to make them both more comfortable. Once she'd found the comfortable spot she was after she sighed contentedly, and began, "Kaen, did you ever end up asking Flute what the dragon balls are for?" She knew, through their bond, that they were important, but he'd made no motion to explain why to her, and her curiosity was starting to get the better of her.
He just nodded, his smile starting to form into a smirk as he replied, "Yup."
When he made no effort to elaborate it became obvious to her he was trying to be difficult, so, deciding it was best to get him talking, she gave him a decidedly even shot to the ribs, not enough to more than discomfort him, but enough to show him she wasn't going to take accept him dancing around the subject, prodding, "And?"
He took a moment to compose his answer, which made her think he was taking it seriously, but when he asked, "Would you believe me if I said they grant wishes?" she wasn't sure what to make of it. She felt confused at the seriousness she could feel through their bond, but she grew up with him, and was wary all the same.
"I'm not two years old anymore Kaen. Really, why are they so important?"
He raised an eyebrow, scratching his cheek as he replied, "You don't believe me? Huh, then this is going to be difficult..."
She blinked in shock; he had to be pulling her tail. "You're serious?"
He shrugged as best he could from his position, "That's what he said. He needs them to stop some killer storm back on Namek-Sei."
She was obviously very impressed, "Wow, they sound important... Imagine, being able to wish for anything."
He nodded sagely, "I know. I have no idea what I'll wish for..." There was a definite sense of consideration in his tone, showing that this wasn't just an idle thought.
She was surprised at this, very surprised, and sat up quickly, looking at him in shock, "You're going to make a wish? You're not going to kill Flute after we get the last ball are you?"
He snorted amusedly, replying, "No, that's my payment for services; I get to make a wish on them. Besides, I know what they do, not how they do it."
Blinking, she looked down at him, "So... how many wishes can the dragon balls grant then? Just two?"
He shrugged again, "Dunno. If he gave me a number I don't remember, but at least two."
She shifted, putting her hands on either side of his head and looming over him, her hair falling over one shoulder, "So, what have you thought about wishing for?"
Looking up directly into her eyes, he replied, "Nothing concrete. I was going to discuss it with you before making a decision."
"Oh? And when were we going to have this discussion?"
Grinning a bit, he shrugged, "Whenever it came up, which is, I assume, now. I knew you'd ask about them before we got them all; you always were extremely curious."
She grinned a little herself, "I see. Well then, what did you have in mind for a wish then?"
"Honestly? Well, outside of something to do with the safety of you and our family, I can't really think of anything. Immortality sounds nice, but I don't think I'd want to live forever, even if we both got it. I dunno, if possible, maybe bringing Korin back to life. Who knows?"
She smiled at him, very sweetly, both at his definite mention of 'our family' instead of 'my' and 'your', and when he mentioned Korin; she still remembered all too clearly the little boy who was so upset that his brother didn't come home. Leaning down, she kissed him lightly.
Unfortunately, before anything else could happen, a foreign ki appeared outside the door; Avery had finished his short trek. Kaen had to stifle a groan as a knock sounded on the door, and Pi muttered a curse in Saiya-Go as she shifted her gaze from her mate to glare at the door. Growling lowly, Kaen barked out, "What?"
"Frost wants you on the bridge Kaen," was the reply from the other side of the door.
Pi let out a short, annoyed sigh as she lay down against Kaen's chest again for a moment, "I'll go with you, and I can pluck Avery bald while you beat Frost with his own arms." Saying this, she got up and went in search of something to wear.
After taking a moment to admire her form Kaen got up as well, just chucking on the lower half of his body suit and his boots, leaving the top half hanging, and thus, leaving his chest bare. Pi wore much the same, also leaving her armour behind, but she had her body suit on all the way, much to his simultaneous relief and displeasure; he loved the way she looked, yet didn't want anyone else to see it.
As the door opened Avery had to fight fleeing in terror as a glare that could kill lesser beings was directed his way by the irate Saiyan male, who growled, "This had better be good birdman, or you won't live to see another of these crappy artificial sunrises."
Using all his willpower to regain as much of his composure as he could, and to force his vocal cords to work again, he replied, "Frost didn't say what it was about, just that it was important, and had to do with you."
Looking about as impatient as her mate, and wearing a near-identical glare, Pi interrupted, "Well, we won't find out what it's about standing here, so MOVE IT!" Her last comment was firmly directed at Avery, who just nodded, again having to suppress the urge to flee, and began walking as fast as he could without running in the direction of the bridge, both Saiyans easily keeping pace with him.
o-o-o
A short walk later the three of them arrived on the bridge, where Frost was waiting, almost appearing relaxed... As relaxed as one could be at the possibility of imminent death by disturbing resting Saiyans. Said Saiyans were still glaring when they walking in, but this time directing them at Frost as Kaen growled, "What you say in the next few minutes will determine whether you live or die, so make it good."
Frost kept his focus on the wall behind the enraged Saiyan male, in an attempt to avoid being cowed by his glare; it was the smartest thing he could have done, because not only could he avoid seeing the glare all together if he concentrated hard enough, he still appeared to be giving Kaen his utmost attention. "The Icebreaker intercepted a transmission that was being transmitted to somewhere on the ship itself. We have determined that location to be the docking bay; more specifically, your space pod."
Their glares slipped; Pi now wore an interested look, and Kaen a curious one. He mused out loud, "Someone was sending a message to my pod? But... the only one who'd know the signal would be..." His eyes widened as realisation hit him, "Dad!"
Frost maintained his calm; "The message didn't make much sense to me. Would you like it played back?" A raised eyebrow, and an expression that clearly said 'What do you think?' was his answer, and he coughed to cover a slight choke as he hit a button on his console.
-Start transmission-
Voice 1 (male): "...ey, that hurt!"
Voice 2 (female): "Well you weren't paying attention, not my fault you got knocked so far."
Voice 1: "Good thing I landed here, at least the landing was soft."
Voice 2: "Hey... was that light on before?"
Voice 1: "What light?"
Voice 2: "There, under your elbow."
Voice 1: "Uh oh... I hope it doesn't man we broke something."
Voice 2: "You broke something. You landed there, it's your fault."
Voice 1: "You knocked me in here, it's your fault!"
Voice 3 (female): "Oran... Lime... Where are you kids?"
Voice 1: "Uh oh, it's mum!"
Voice 2: "Hurry, press that button again, it might turn it off!"
Voice 1: "Oh man, it better wo..."
-End transmission-
Kaen's eyes seemed to light up for a moment as he said, "Hey, it was the pests. Wow, who thought it'd be this good to hear their voices again; at least that means they're okay..." He trailed off, unwilling to finish that thought, even in his own head, let alone in front of the others present
Pi smiled brightly, "Sounds like they haven't changed much."
Shaking it off, Kaen asked, "Where did the transmission come from?"
Looking over his console, Frost answered, "It was a short wave transmission. It's from a nearby system."
With a puzzled expression, Pi asked, "What would your mother, Oran, and Lime, be doing so far from home?"
Kaen seemed twice as shocked, as he exclaimed, "Nearby? What the hell are they doing off world?"
A dry look on his face, Frost answered, "You can ask them yourself. I plotted the course as soon as you confirmed who they were; I assumed that, if I didn't, pain would come into the equation. Since it's your family, you get to tell Flute."
He nodded, although whether it was to the 'inclusion of pain' or 'tell Flute' statements it wasn't clear; knowing him, both. Nodding to herself, Pi said, "We can go tell him now. Viola told me once that their race doesn't actually sleep."
Under his breath, Kaen replied darkly, "I know how they feel..."
She frowned at him slightly, taking a hold of his hand to reassure him; despite how much he'd changed, he still didn't tell her everything, but she doubted he ever would, because he was too stubborn and prideful to admit there was a problem, even to himself. However, she covered her reassurance in an act of dragging him towards the door, and he merely allowed himself to be dragged, not putting any real effort into resisting, but making a show of it for the others; after all, he had no reason to stay, and every reason to go.
Once they'd gone, Avery seemed to go limp, falling bonelessly into his chair, and sighing in relief. Frost, too, slouched down in his seat, letting out a long breath he hadn't realised he was holding. The Torian seemed too relieved he'd survived to even think of attempting to payback Frost for putting him in that situation in the first place, the two simply sharing a look that showed how glad they were to still be alive. Standing, Frost declared, "I think we earned whatever little rest we may receive tonight," and, as Avery nodded, he activated the autopilot, and the two walked off in silence.
o-o-o
In the elevator, Pi threw her arms around her mate, feeling a little more than excited at the prospect of seeing them again, and, while Kaen wouldn't allow himself to show it, he was just as excited as she was, probably more so. Punching him in the same place she had before, she said, "Stop acting like that stone that sits in your head sometimes. You're excited, act it out a little."
He just shrugged, his face quirking a little as though about to smile as he replied, his voice bland, "For one such as I, it's not as easy as you make it sound. However..." He sighed wistfully, the smile breaking through and his eagerness starting to filter into his voice as he added, "I will admit I missed the little creeps, even if they did wake me at the crack of dawn more times than I should've let them get away with."
Smirking a little, she commented, "Your mother is there too. I should tell her how stubborn you're being."
Not allowing her to goad him, he just nodded once and replied dryly, "You do that."
"I will." Her tone was just as dry as his, and he just shrugged, as if to say he didn't care either way. After all, he mother knew how stubborn he was; he got it from her!
They got off at the living quarters level, walking to where Flute's room was, the same room he shared with Viola, and always had, yet denied there was anything out of the ordinary about it at the time; after all, when they'd arrived on this ship there was 'apparently' nothing going on between them. Kaen just spiked his ki, knowing that it was as good as knocking as far as Flute was concerned, possibly better depending on how deep his meditation was.
The man himself appeared at the door within moments, looking the two over before asking, "How long will this detour be?" Kaen raised an eyebrow, asking in their silent language of gestures 'You know there's a detour, or was it just an educated guess?' before shrugging, his way of adding 'I don't know exactly, but no longer than necessary.' his expression remaining as flat as before, Flute answered the silent statements, "Educated guess; it can only happen so often before you start to recognise the signs. However, I'm used to it by now in a way; our detours never seem too much time. What reason this time?"
"Family." Kaen's reply was short, sharp, and to the point, and with a short nod, Flute disappeared back inside. Turning to Pi, Kaen said playfully, "You know, we should probably finish getting dressed, unless you want to meet them like this, of course."
She grinned back at him, replying, "He said nearby system, so I think we'll have more time than you might think. Besides, the night is young, and our... discussion, was interrupted, as I recall."
Rolling his eyes a bit he said, "Like I'm ever going to get to sleep after news like this." Grinning himself, he added, "However, I'm all for picking up our... discussion... where we left off." Picking her up, he finished, "Now, where was that exactly... Ah yes, I remember now..." Leaning down to the girl in his arms, he began to kiss her neck.
Giggling a little, to fight the moan rising in her throat, she quickly climbed out of his arms, saying hurriedly, "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not start this here..." before starting to drag him off again, but it was hard to tell whether she was dragging him back to their room, or he was pushing her; the end result was the same. And so, with this strange news, and a new destination, peace once again falls over the Icebreaker. At least, for now...
End Chapter 19
To be continued...