Till We Meet Again | Chapter One: Learning To Live
"From now on, he'll be one of us." The red wine-colored-haired woman spoke to the three people before her in what the Stellaron Hunters considered the living space of their hideout. "He can't do too much alone yet, but please remember that he doesn't know much. So, by all means, don't treat the poor boy too harshly." With a glance, the woman, Kafka, locked her eyes on a girl with an overly punkish outfit and her gray hair pulled up into a ponytail. Under the scrutinizing gaze, the girl continued playing a game on her phone while lying on a couch, seemingly unbothered by the conversation. "That's especially targeted at you, Wolfie."
An unamused gray eye met Kafka's light wine. "Oh, whatever, Kafka." She spoke with a bite to her tone, the girl's displeasure apparent. "It's not like I would even bother asking this dolt to play a game with me. It doesn't look like he has a single thought running in that head of his anyway." The girl pointed a finger toward the gray-haired man with a smug look on her face.
The man in question could only guess, based on his immediate introduction to this girl, that this was probably her usual behavior.
"I mean, you're not exactly wrong about that." The man's monotone voice slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He wasn't known to crack jokes. In fact, if you asked the few who knew the man, they would remark that nothing of the sort had ever remotely graced his lips. To him, this time was no different. He was simply stating the truth and saying what was on his mind.
His unknowing quip, however, managed to snag a laugh from the woman beside him. "You hear that, Wolfie? I told you, didn't I? Not nearly as boring as you thought, right?" Whatever thought the man had about whether what he had said was somehow inappropriate was snuffed out as he heard a short laugh escape the girl with the ponytail.
"Congratulations then." With all the vigor of a man on his deathbed, the girl slowly clapped her hands together. "You didn't pull a fast one on me this time." The girl looked at him again. Glancing at her perpetually uninterested eyes, there was no way he could tell what she was thinking. "Silver Wolf." Her delayed introduction was only met with a short nod from him. "Don't be too boring, okay? We already have Blade for that." With an audible click of a tongue from the man standing in the corner, the girl reclined back onto the couch to continue playing whatever game she had been a moment before on her phone.
"Interesting one, isn't she?" Kafka leaned over to him, speaking in the same sultry tone she always did.
"I hardly think that comment was necessary, Silver Wolf." The man who hadn't moved or bothered to feign interest in the previous conversation suddenly spoke before anyone else could. "So, a homunculus made to house a Stellaron… Just what is Elio thinking, Kafka?" His tone was deep and gravelly, as you would expect from looking at the man. The so-called homunculus could guess that this was Blade.
The only thing the man could think of was that the name fit him spectacularly.
"You know Elio, Bladie. Always scheming and plotting something. Just consider this kid one of the many steps to walk to get to that promised finale." Kafka patted him on the shoulder as she spoke. "If he ever has any trouble, you'd be doing me a favor if you could help him." With a wink from the woman and whatever answer could be construed from a scoff and apparent reluctance from the man, the conversation died. "Don't mind Bladie's attitude. He's a loner, but he's a reliable one." The way those words came out without hesitation told the man all he needed to know about the man and his 'reliability.'
Finally, the only person left was the one the newly anointed Hunter had been most interested in upon entering the room. "Are you gonna stay in that suit all day, or will you greet our newest recruit—Sammy." With a turn on her heel, Kafka stared down the hulking armor that had seemingly been surveying the room the entire time. In particular, the newest member of their band of misfits.
"It isn't a good day, Kafka. Symptoms have been 'acting up' recently." The metallic drone of the voice sent a cold chill down the man's back as the hulking armor spoke. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Sam." The man froze for a second as if expecting some kind of reply. Whatever he had been waiting for never came as the golden-eyed man continued to look up at the now-named Sam. "What's your name?" The modulated voice spoke out again.
The question didn't faze him at all, however. "Name? I—don't have one." The answer to him was apparent, but to the armored man, it wasn't likewise.
The slow turn and seemingly apprehensive look toward Kafka was all it took for Sam to understand just what was happening. "Kafka, are you even treating this seriously?" The cold voice that echoed out of the armor held a perplexed tone.
"What? He didn't have one when I picked him up, and it's not my place to just loft a name on the poor boy out of nowhere. You should know that of all people." The woman beside him held herself with a poise, confidently saying she had done no wrong. To be fair, the man hadn't expected anyone to care enough about him to consider the necessity of a name. Not to mention an armored man he had just met.
"What are we supposed to call him then? Container? Vessel? It's inconvenient." The knight was still fed up with his coworker's attitude about the problem. Somehow—for a reason the homunculus could not explain—it felt like Sam had a personal reason for his outburst.
"Slave driver, aren't you?" Kafka gave a short giggle at her words. "I'll have him figure something out at a later date then. Happy?" The woman brushed aside the suit of armor's words as if it were the most natural thing in the world to her.
"Whatever." Sam gave up then after the woman ended the conversation. "As I said, I'm Sam. I hope we'll get along as well as any two outlaws can." He held out his armored hand to the man. The gauntlet was sizably larger than his own. Without another thought, he grabbed the man's hand.
The one thought plaguing the new Hunter was a simple one he had carried since first seeing this 'Sam.' "Has anyone told you that you're pretty cool?"
He could feel the sudden jump in Sam's body as he removed his hand from their grasp. "Not often." His voice came out as usual. The clearly modulated voice sounded hesitant, however. "Thank you…?" The awkward silence that prevailed after Sam spoke was something that he wouldn't forget anytime soon.
He didn't know how to feel about the moment, but not long after, the man found a suitable way to describe his first encounter with the last remnant of the Iron Cavalry of Glamoth.
Something about him was oddly cute in a weird way.
A few weeks passed of what the man could only explain as unending and seemingly perpetual work. Day after day, Kafka dragged him somewhere new or showed him something she'd thought he'd enjoy. He appreciated her efforts, but one way or another, most of the conversations they had ended up being about combat—scratch that, it was pretty much all combat-focused, and the only other thing Kafka ever talked about during their time away from it was fashion, so he didn't learn too much. That said, it's not like he didn't learn anything at all during his weeks-long job venture with the woman. At the very least, he picked up a thing or two.
Especially when it came to picking out a good quality coat. For all he knew, that skill could come in particularly handy one day.
Kafka had characteristically left shortly after they got back, however. Something about having to go on another job with Blade. He wasn't in any position to say anything about it, so without protest, he was left alone for the first time in a while with absolutely nothing to do. It goes without saying that eventually, he got bored of just standing around and started walking in a random direction, with a vague sense of hope that something would catch his eye and help him kill some time.
The stretching expanse of their hideout left him with more than enough ground to cover on his escapade. It still amazed him that a group of wanted fugitives like themselves could have a place of this size where they could reliably hide.
He remembered how Kafka had told him at some point in the last couple of weeks about how they kept a low profile in space, but he had long since forgotten how they did so. The only thing he could remember from the conversation was that it was mainly due to the girl who had mocked him on his first day here, Silver Wolf. She was something of a notorious hacker by Kafka's own admission.
Nevertheless, with those thoughts pushed out of his head, he continued wandering the hideout's narrow hallways. Hallways that were just wide enough where you wouldn't be able to ignore if someone was in front of you.
Of course, that happened to unfold before the Vessel's eyes.
In front of him was a girl he hadn't seen before, which generally would alert him that something was up, but he also couldn't say he was all too familiar with all of his current teammates as of yet, and considering the girl herself didn't seem to be in all that much of a rush a feeling that she belonged here as much as he did swept over him.
Of course, that didn't detract from the absurdity of seeing a girl wearing a hospital gown—if you could even call the customized garb that—in the IPC's most wanted criminal organization's secret base slowly dragging herself along a hallway. He usually wouldn't have cared nearly as much as he did if he wasn't as bored. But there was also something about the girl that piqued his curiosity with just a glance at her—it only helped his fascination that her long silvery hair that ended in a teal ombre along her waist particularly caught his eye.
He debated for a moment on calling out to her or walking up and trying to see if this was his sought-after time killer, but he couldn't necessarily deduce if she'd be the type to appreciate that sort of interaction. That said, even with the odd determination in how she walked, he'd have to be a few degrees stupider to not notice the obvious signs of her struggle to drag herself to wherever she was going.
Also, with how much chivalry Kafka had implanted into his head over the past two weeks, he knew that if the woman ever learned of his inaction, he wouldn't come out of it in one piece.
"Ah, do you need help, miss?" His voice startled the girl before him, causing her to jump just a little. Now that he was closer, he could see she didn't visibly appear gaunt or weak. Though, with how she was acting, he could only imagine she had to be dealing with some kind of injury or illness he couldn't quite see.
While a plethora of thoughts swirled inside his head as soon as she turned toward him, he forgot about them all when he met her eyes.
What met his golden eyes was something he could only describe as a sunset—deep ocean blues that descended into pleasant pinks—a sunset he only found himself getting lost in as he stared.
"N-No, I'll be fine on my own." The girl shakily responded to him, breaking their gaze in doing so. The way her eyes immediately shot up and down his body seemed almost reflexive. With the strength she used to speak, he wouldn't have believed someone if they told him she was struggling to walk down the hallway they stood in, not even a second ago.
It seemed he'd found his time killer.
Even with her frank refusal, he still didn't feel okay letting her go off alone in her condition. "Kafka would tear my ear off if she figured out I let you shuffle down a hallway. So, at least let me offer you a hand."
"You really don't have to—" He cut off her escape before she could continue.
"I can at least help a girl get to where she's going." He bent down to try to appear as meek as possible. Maybe he was just scaring her. At some point, he'd heard from Kafka that his demeanor wasn't particularly inviting to most.
His slight hunch let him glance just long enough to see the headband that kept her bangs out of her face. He didn't want to seem vain, but he definitely would've remembered a cute girl like her if he had seen her in the hideout before, and from what Kafka had told him, he had already met everyone there was to meet. Still, there was no way a girl like her was someone suspicious. Right?
She still seemed unsure about the whole mess he had brought her way, so all he offered in return for her quizzical gaze was a smile. Luckily for him, she had apparently deemed that enough. "I really do appreciate the offer, but I can walk alone. I just had a bit of a rough spot." With a flustered wave of her hands, he backed away from her. Compared to how she had been just a few moments before, it seemed that whatever problems she was dealing with were erratic. At least now he knew she wasn't opposed to him helping her. That was good to know for possible future encounters.
As she moved away from him, he noticed that even though she had appeared weak originally, there was still a strength in her movements that he could remark on. That made sense, given their occupation. "I should be going now. I'm sure we'll see each other around at some point, so until then." Whatever interaction he had expected was quickly discarded as the girl, with a quick wave, turned around and started walking away. The odd sense of weakness from before was now completely gone from her movement.
Of course, with nothing else to do now, the receptacle followed the girl as she walked.
That, however, didn't last long as she pivoted back around, her incredulous expression pointed at the man. "Is there a reason you're following me?" She didn't seem irked by the interaction; if anything, she seemed more amazed that the man could do something so unabashed the first time he met someone.
"I'm bored." The words came off his tongue as naturally as he breathed.
"You're following me because you're bored?" The girl, yet again, could only look at him with a perplexed expression.
"Yeah…? You seem like you'd be fun to talk to, and that'd beat being bored." They stood there for a while, looking at each other, trying to gauge the other's reaction.
Whatever she saw in his face must've convinced her to relent as she brought her hand up to her mouth, futilely trying to hold her giggling fit at bay. Then, abruptly, she stuck out her other hand. An action he remembered the armored cavalry of Glamoth doing upon meeting him.
"Kafka really was right about you being an idiot." As much as he would've loved to take that as an insult, the smile on her face prevented him from thinking that way. "Sorry that I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Firefly. It's good to meet you." With a quick turnaround, the girl, now known as Firefly, spoke.
"Pleasure to meet you, Firefly." With as much courtesy as he could provide, he gave a small, short bow in response. "I—don't have a name yet, so call me whatever you like."
"You still haven't figured one out yet?!" She seemed more angry at his lack of a name than confused. "Names are important, you know?" He couldn't say she was wrong about that, but he had his own thoughts on the matter.
"Well, yeah, but do I really need one? Sam said the same thing when I met him, but it feels like a hassle whenever I think about it." His mentioning of the armored man changed the girl's demeanor almost imperceivably. Maybe the two were closer than he thought or something?
"Names help differentiate people. It makes them an individual. It gives people a sense of individualism." As she spoke, she turned right at a fork in the hallway, causing him to stumble slightly as he continued to follow close behind. "Though, I used to think the same way you once did. So I can understand where you're coming from." There was a forlorn look in her eyes as she spoke. "Of course, spending any time with Kafka will change that quickly. You're lucky to have her as a mentor." A glow replaced the gloom in her eyes.
Lucky was definitely not a word he'd use to describe having to work alongside Kafka, of all people, but to each their own, he guessed. "Are you two close?"
"I wouldn't consider us 'close,' but I've known her long enough to tell you that she'll look after her own." From his experiences with the woman, he could say Firefly wasn't incorrect about that statement. Kafka had her tendencies, sure, but if there was one thing he could say for sure about her. It was that she wouldn't let anyone get hurt under her watch.
With their conversation ending there, they continued walking in silence—a silence he seemingly minded more than the girl walking next to him. "Do you mind if I ask you where we're going?" He didn't quite know the layout of their hideout, so he couldn't tell if they were heading to any specific location yet. The only thing he knew they were heading toward was their longue area.
"My room." He had no idea where that was, and now he was reasonably positive he was intruding if he hadn't thought he was already.
"I should probably take off then. I wouldn't want to bother you too much." The quick escape he meant to take stopped when she met his eyes with hers.
There was something in them that reminded him of something. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. As if it was stuck on the tip of his tongue.
"It's nice to talk to someone occasionally, so I don't mind. It's at the other side of the base, though, so it'll be a bit of a walk." That information came as a surprise to the man.
He stopped for a while to just stare at the shorter girl. The exchange, however, earned him a flustered Firefly as she turned away. He guessed she didn't like being stared at. Neither did he. So he could understand. What wasn't easy to understand, however, was something about her that was familiar in a weird way. Something about her drew him in, and the longer he thought about it, the more he found himself wanting to learn more about this girl. About Firefly. "What were you doing so far away from your room in your condition then?"
"I just got back from a mission. More often than not, I end up like this after—" Firefly's subtle gesture to her body was more than enough for him to understand what she meant.
"Shouldn't you be heading to the infirmary then?"
"Well, when you're dealing with what I have, the only reliable medicine is a good night's sleep." So, it's an inconvenient disease that couldn't be treated the typical way.
What Firefly was dealing with seemed—rough, to put it lightly.
"Well, considering I'll be around for a while, you can always ask me for help if needed." It's not like he had much else to do in his free time.
"Thanks for the thought, but you shouldn't bother yourself with me. I can manage by myself—I'm used to dealing with this." Those words carried more weight than she seemed to know.
How long has she had to hold onto whatever illness it was she had? How long until she was cured? The silence between the two settled, the sound of their footsteps against the flooring replacing their voices as they continued to walk.
Maybe it was her tone, but he hated its connotation for whatever reason. "But you're here, so that means you're one of us, right?"
"Why else would I be slogging through the hallway back there?" Firefly spoke with a slight snark in her tone.
He liked how she could take things on the chin and keep striding. It was admirable.
"Then I don't see the issue with helping you." He wasn't bothered by the girl's gaze as he continued walking with her, matching her stride. "Kafka and Elio have already helped me a lot in the little time I've been here, so just think about it as me paying back my debt." The few weeks he had been with them had already meant more than any of them could understand, and in that time, he could tell that the Stellaron Hunters, while an odd bunch, weren't the terrible people the cosmos had made them out to be. Even if he was only around to further their goals, they were kind to him, and that simple notion was enough for his opinion of them to form.
Firefly's gaze returned to the hallway infront of them as he finished. He was beginning to realize that maybe the two of them weren't the most forthcoming people.
"So, how's your first few weeks been, Mr. Stellaron?" The subject change was probably for the best; he didn't want things to get awkward, and the fact she'd grown comfortable enough to throw out a nickname like that was good enough for him. Perhaps he was doing something right after all?
"It's been fine so far. I mean, fighting fragmentum monsters is fun and all." Getting to hack away at Nanook's goons always managed to put a smile on his face—he assumed that went for most people—but truth be told, he could only ever hold a candle to what Kafka could manage to do on the field. But he also didn't enjoy Kafka's 'methods' most of the time either. The woman sure had a lot of ways to dispatch her foes, not many of which he liked mimicking.
"I get that. There's something about letting everything out that's just satisfying." With a glance at the blue and pink in her eyes, he could see a hint of a manic glint. Was she a battle junkie or something? That certainly wasn't expected.
"You could say that." He didn't know if he enjoyed it as much as his newly acquainted comrade anymore, but it was most undoubtedly therapeutic in its own weird way. "Is that what you like about missions? Are you the type to just let loose and go wild? You don't exactly seem it." He couldn't imagine the girl beside him letting loose on a battlefield of all places. If anything, he'd expect her to be a nurse in a hospital or some waitress at a diner.
"I'm a one-trick pony, so Elio only sends me on the simpler ones. I'm good at them—but I can't say I like all the missions I get." She paused for a moment. "I just like doing what I can." She didn't care to elaborate, but he couldn't say he minded that. He was sure he'd eventually learn why if they talked more.
I wonder how she fights? Maybe she uses guns like Kafka. I could hardly see her getting up close and personal like Blade. His thoughts only managed to make him all the more curious about her. Unfortunately for him, before he could reel his thoughts back in, Firefly met his gaze on their little walk for the seemingly umpteenth time. He tried to look away but couldn't seem to bring himself to. He could swear that, for some reason, her eyes spoke to him in more ways than words ever could.
"You like staring, don't you?" That smile. Now, that was something he wanted to see more of. With her eyes locked with his and a somewhat cheeky but infectious smile on her face, a thought came bubbling up.
I want to get to know this girl better.
"Sorry–"
"Oh, we're here." Of course, before he could continue, they stopped infront of a door with a small sign. Inscribed on it was her name.
"That didn't take long." Truthfully, he wished their walk had lasted just a bit longer.
"I guess time passes faster when you have someone to talk to." With a tone as if she was confirming something, Firefly gave him a sheepish smile.
He really didn't want to end their conversation here. "Can't say you're wrong about that." But he knew that they had a lot more time to talk later. For now, it was probably best that she get some seemingly much-needed rest. "Before I leave, I'll get the door for you." There was a moment when the girl glanced at him before he turned toward the door. He saw an arm shoot out toward him. As if urging him to stop before he could. Without a doubt, he paid it no mind as he tried to open the door for her—the keyword there was tried. Because no matter how hard he pushed, pulled, or tried to slide the metal door, it wouldn't budge.
It wasn't until he turned around dejectedly and was met with a subsequent laugh that he learned the error of his ways.
Firefly was hunched over, clutching her sides when he saw her. Whatever he had done was apparently particularly amusing to the woman. In a moment of reprieve from her laughing fit, Firefly wiped the tears forming at the corner of her eyes before she spoke. "It's a keycard door! You can't open it by force." That was what she was laughing at…
He could practically feel his own embarrassment bubbling up. "Doesn't Kafka teach you anything?"
"Mainly how to fight then some miscellaneous things now and then—and a lot about coats."
"Aeons, of course." She let out an exasperated sigh with a roll of her eyes. "I'll make sure to get your number from Kafka later." Pulling out a keycard, she swiped it along the card reader on the door. "You need to know a lot more than just that to get by, so from now I'll teach you about a whole lot of other things." Her smile was convincing enough that he couldn't bring himself to object.
He gave a short bow to the girl in response. He didn't necessarily expect this sort of interaction in the hideout of the Stellaron Hunters, but it was most certainly welcome. "Thank you." He'd have to ask Kafka what Firefly liked so he could get her a gift for her troubles.
"It's no problem." She smirked. "You were willing to help me out of your discretion; I'm just doing the same thing." With a coy wink, the girl walked into her room. "I'll talk to you later." With that, the door snapped shut behind her, leaving him with his hand up in the air in an awkward wave.
"Yeah… Later."
The next day, Kafka returned early from her mission with the silent swordsman, only to be immediately bombarded by questions from the future Stellaron holder. It wasn't until he mentioned that he met Firefly the day before that Kafka realized what the text she had gotten from the girl had meant. "Oh, Firefly? You already met her. She's Sammy. You know—that armored fellow." That revelation hit him harder than he thought it would have, and Kafka savored the look on his face as he thought over everything he said to Firefly the day prior.
He realized then that while Sam was cool, he was also apparently a cute girl. One named Firefly. Now, he couldn't wait to learn more about her.
"You've had an entire month and still haven't figured out a name?!" Firefly's shout, which was loud enough to leave him reeling, gathered the attention of everyone in the lounge area.
To be fair to the Stellaron vessel, it wasn't like he hadn't been thinking about it. It was just that with everything else he did, from the missions and then his training with Kafka to learning about how the cosmos worked with Firefly, he never had too much free time to think about that kind of thing properly nowadays—he also frankly couldn't care enough.
"Look, I told you I'm trying, but where would I start?" The two were sitting next to each other infront of a coffee table. Today was one of the rare days that Destiny's Slave left the Hunters with naught to do, so with collective action, they decided to relax in their hideout for a change of pace. Usually, at least one of them would go out and about somewhere and do something, but none had made any plans for such an occasion this time around. So now, Silver Wolf, Blade, and Kafka were effectively forced to listen to their newest member discuss this issue with an irate Firefly. Of course, there was no way in hell they would say anything to the girl, so they had silently agreed to watch everything unfold in mutual silence.
"Just think of one you like—hell, you could even look one up until you find one." The problem with that logic was that nothing came to mind for him at all—like plural—and he found the idea tedious.
"Do I really have to? It's such a drag." He couldn't say he was getting annoyed with the woman. It was just that he swore he heard this whole spiel practically every day from the girl. He could tell that his lack of a name was weighing upon her mind, but it wasn't like it was her choice to make. He didn't care about it. Wasn't that enough?
"If you keep saying that, I swear to the Aeons I'm going to shove Sam's foot so far up your ass it'll come out your mouth." The girl with a fire in her eyes spoke as if her words would kill him. If she wanted his compliance, she definitely got it with that. "I've decided. We're picking a name out for you today." With all the ire of an angry god, Firefly stared down at him. He never thought he'd find a girl shorter than him in a customized hospital gown with a defiant and angry pout terrifying, but here he was.
With a salute, he resigned himself to his designated fate. "Yes, ma'am." With that, their search began.
However, after an hour of searching, they realized something regrettable—they were getting nowhere.
"You weren't lying, huh? You really do suck at picking a name." She sounded baffled by the revelation.
"I told you." He replied in a knowing tone. Maybe it was because he was a creation and not a natural organic being, but being creative wasn't one of his strong suits. He preferred it if others told him what to do or just ordered him around—which got a particular idea spinning around in his head. "Can't you just find a name for me, Firefly?" The fact he hadn't thought of that yet perplexed him.
"M-Me?! I-I couldn't." It seemed that caught the girl off guard as she grew flustered and darted her head around to ask the others if what she had heard was true.
"As long as it isn't anything too out there, I'm fine with anything you think suits me." He responded to her embarrassed state with his honest thoughts. Which only made the girl's fluster grow more.
Firefly sat there awhile, her sunset eyes staring at him inquiringly. She didn't look long to find his intention; it was probably because he had only said what he had thought, so there was little need to overthink his words.
"I think It'd be good for you, Sammy." From the couch spoke Kafka. Her eyes locked with Firefly's as the room quieted. The close-eyed smile she gave the girl seemingly told Firefly all she needed to know. "You could think of it as payback and doing me a favor."
With her mind seemingly made up, Firefly stood. "I'll go think about it in my room then." Then, in just a moment, she exited. Usually, he would've stood up after her and walked her back himself, but he let her go, considering the circumstances. It was good that it was one of her better days as well.
With her exit, he let out a sigh he didn't know he'd been holding in. "Thanks for the save, Kafka. I didn't make her mad, did I?" With a smile pointed at him from the woman, he nervously scratched his scalp alongside the question.
"Trust me, you'd know when she's angry." Silver Wolf spoke from across the room, her eyes never so much leaving her device's screen. "Last time that happened, a whole planet was glassed."
"I'll do my best to avoid that outcome then." Imagining what Firefly was like angry only strengthened the image he was beginning to have of the girl he once thought couldn't harm a fly. "Oh yeah, you mentioned something like that, right, Kafka? That she's pretty brutal while she's Sam?"
"It's like Wolfie said. Nothing's usually left after Sam's done with it. She's a no-nonsense kind of gal." Kafka confirmed as she watched Silver Wolf continue playing whatever game she was focused on.
"You say that, Kafka, but she's pretty jumpy too. You didn't forget that time Blade spooked her by accident and had a hole put through his chest, right?" The girl snickered at the memory.
"Please don't remind me of that." The swordsman standing silently in the corner spoke up at the mention of the memory. A pained grimace on his face as he did so.
"Aww, c'mon, Bladie. Even you have to admit it was funny." Kafka, joining in on the teasing, walked over to Blade, giving the man a reassuring pat on the chest as soon as she reached him.
"How about you have a hole put through your chest by a thermic weapon? We'll see how much you like it, Devil Hunter." The man leered at the woman infront of him, a low warning tone to his voice as he did so. To Kafka, however, that was more an invitation for a bit of back and forth.
"Aren't you the one always prattling on about wanting to die—"
"Speaking of Firefly!" Before Kafka could continue prodding further, the newest Stellaron Hunter decided to interfere as he quickly put himself between the two. His move was met with her gentle, motherly smile and an eye roll from the man. "You don't happen to know why she's so persistent about a name for me, do you?" The question was left hanging, the three others looking between each other momentarily as if deciding whether telling him whatever it was they knew did any good.
"She didn't tell you yet?" Kafka seemed more perplexed than anything by his attitude. So did Silver Wolf, who had just put her phone down to look at him.
"Whatever it is, no." If it was something of importance, he could imagine she'd eventually tell him, but getting this kind of reaction from the rest of the group only piqued his interest even more.
"So she's playing the long game with this one, I see." Kafka's expression quickly went from understanding to a smirk of an eerie extent. It seemed Kafka had found a new object of interest in their conversation.
With a small breath, Kafka steadied herself. "But considering it's you, I guess I can throw you a bone." Her smile shrunk just a tad bit. "Frankly, she didn't have a name when I first met her… Only a code—as was typical for Glamoth's Iron Cavalry."
Her words held weight to them. He could already see where this was headed. "I couldn't leave her nameless, so I gave her one after my first impression from that day." The woman looked off into the wall in front of her, an expression he had not once seen painting her face at the moment. "She was floating there, in the black expanse of space. Suspended in cryo sleep in her suit. Even then—after floating Aeons know how long—she shined brighter than any star in the night sky, just like a firefly."
Kafka's expression told him more than she ever could with words. Their meeting. Firefly's confusion—even fear, maybe. Kafka's tenderness at approaching a lost girl. He could envision it so clearly that it was like he was there with them. It was so vivid that he couldn't help but wonder about Firefly's side of the story. What was Firefly's life like before she became a Hunter? What was it like being part of Glamoth's Iron Cavalry? He had never asked. He didn't think it was right to pry into her life when she hadn't done the same to him, but maybe eventually she'd tell him… He hoped she'd ultimately trust him enough to disclose it to him, and when she did, he'd respond with his own story.
Still, there was one question he wanted answered. "Was Glamoth that bad with their soldiers?" What was the Glamoth of Legend actually like? How was the Iron Cavalry treated? Why did they go to such lengths for their empire? What happened to them? What happened to Firefly?
"As I'm sure you've picked up on, Firefly's views on individualism are quite cutthroat. She holds it in its own category even. Back on Glamoth, it would be an honor to be treated as an individual. On Glamoth, it was a right you had to earn, but even the famous Iron Cavalry weren't allowed such a prize." Kafka's demeanor quickly shifted. Underneath her constant smile, he could feel a roiling magma. Hate unfettered but left to writhe. He'd never seen her angry like this. "I'm sure you can find common ground between your pasts. I hope you'll treat her well." Kafka cared about the Stellaron Hunters in an odd capacity. They were strangers, but from what he could tell, she held that sense of mystery as only more of a reason to care for them. She was the mother figure of their group for a reason, and with that position came her rage.
The sudden turn of events left the room quieter than he would've liked. He hated rooms with uneasy atmospheres. If he could've, he would've wanted one with booming laughter and an endless cacophony of happy voices. He hated the white noise that resided in quiet places.
"I'll do my best—" The door to the room snapped open with a metallic clunk the moment after he spoke.
"I got it!" Firefly, without any warning, came running back in. Her head quickly snapped over to the three who stood next to each other and, not a moment later, seemingly sensed the tense atmosphere. "Did I interrupt Kafka and Blade fighting again or something?"
"Kind of…?" While he would've liked to hear more, the Stellaron vessel hadn't necessarily anticipated Firefly's quick rearrival. "You're back awfully fast, aren't you?"
"I thought of a good one while walking to my room, so I hurried back to tell you!" She was pretty jumpy, wasn't she? He'd have to ask Blade about the story of his surprise impalement later.
"Well, don't keep me waiting." With the best smile he could muster, he placed his hands on his hips, ready to receive whatever name the girl had deigned important enough to rush back to tell him.
Firefly gleamed at his words. "How does Caelus sound?" She pointed a singular finger at the man, her other hand proudly on her hip, as if copying his stance.
"Caelus?" It rolled off the tongue reasonably nicely and wasn't a bad name by any stretch of the imagination. It was pleasing in its own way, but not because it held any deeper meaning to him. No, it felt right to him. Like it was always meant to be. When Firefly said it, she seemed happy, and honestly, that was enough for him to like it just as much as she seemingly did. "I'm Caelus, then. A pleasure to meet you, Firefly." Whatever emotion welling up from inside of him was quietly forgotten as he stared at the smile on her face.
From then on, the future Stellaron bearer was named Caelus. A name he'd been given by none other than his fellow Stellaron Hunter, Firefly.
"I'm thinking it'll take about six months," Kafka spoke, a soft grin on her face as she watched Firefly and Caelus from the couch she had silently rejoined Silver Wolf on.
"Nah, this visual novel route is gonna be a slow burn. I'd give it nine." Silver Wolf spoke out loud; the game she had been playing paused and nearly forgotten as she watched the two continue with Firefly's small lesson on history.
"You're all fools. Another year, at least." Blade, without missing a beat, pitched in as well.
"We're talking about a slow burn, not a dumpster fire. What tells you that moody swordsman?" Silver Wolf, agitated at his cocky remark, shot back, but the silent man offered no reconsideration.
"Let's just say it's intuition." Blade then returned to his quiet demeanor. His eyes closed as he leaned against his wall in solitude.
"Oh shut up, Bladie." Kafka meanwhile chuckled at the silent man's attitude.
Of course, the three of them talking between each other drew the other two's attention in the room. "What are you guys betting on?" Firefly's voice made the three glance at each other in silence, a seemingly unspoken rule set in stone in the voiceless conversation they shared with their eyes.
"Unfortunately, nothing that we can include either of you in." That, however, only made the two even more curious about whatever their comrades were hiding from them.
"I've decided, Firefly." Dropping the tablet he'd been holding onto the coffee table, Caelus slowly leaned his back into the couch, letting it envelop him in its soft cushions. Hearing his voice, Firefly merely looked at him with a face that seemed to say she knew exactly what the man was thinking. "I'm gonna find and kill the guy who made calculus."
"You're gonna have your work cut out for you then—considering they're long dead, Caelus." The disappointed sigh that he let out was something Firefly could only giggle at the man for.
"I swear on my name that I'll figure out a way—no matter what." Honestly, she had a hard time telling if the man was joking. Which only made her a little more scared of what the next few months entailed.
After their naming fiasco, the two had begun solely focusing on teaching Caelus during their free time. That meant Firefly had to find material to teach him with. Initially, she wanted to return to more rustic roots with their hideout's few physical books. Still, to no surprise, most of them had long since been outdated by modern knowledge, and because the two of them were unlike the other members, neither of them could leave their hideout outside of missions. Caelus because he needed to remain hidden, and Firefly because of her disease that just so happened to act up at the least convenient of times. So that left the girl with only two options.
The internet and watching any kind of media she could get her hands on.
Luckily for her, Caelus offered no reluctance to either idea. In fact, he relished the idea that he could learn from just watching a movie with a cute girl by his side. What he didn't like was that Firefly insisted on still teaching him things like history, some basic economics, and, least enjoyable of all—math.
Caelus wasn't smart. Not in the slightest, but luckily for him, whenever it came to learning something, he could do it as quickly as anyone wished they could. He could still remember the utter shock on Firefly's face when he figured out basic math and arithmetic in an afternoon. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the somewhat more advanced math lessons, he completely bottomed out in his 'potential.'
It wasn't like she was a lousy teacher—far from it in reality. In fact, she was so devoted to her role that, more often than not, she'd have to look up the subjects herself to help him learn—which he endlessly appreciated—but there was no way she would get him interested in math. Learning the universe's history was one thing because at least that could be entertaining to Caelus. Math, however, was anything but to him.
While Caelus agonized over deciphering whatever moon runes were on his screen, Firefly likewise reclined back into the sofa with him. It seemed that even she was getting tired of their current subject. "I'll tell you what. I think you should be good enough at math now." Firefly offered an apologetic smile. "You really do learn fast, though, huh? I hardly have to teach you a thing before you've got it down pat."
"That's because I have a good teacher." Caelus couldn't help but appreciate the small smile Firefly gave him in response to his declaration. "It's also probably because I'm an artificial being. Who knows what those doctors did to me. They probably made me pick up on things faster than regular people."
"That's right—you were made." The reminiscent tone in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Caelus. "I forget how much we have in common sometimes." Did his comment dredge up thoughts she didn't want to think about? Thinking about that only made a sick feeling crawl up his spine.
"Firefly, I'm sorry."
Firefly didn't seem to expect his candid apology, however. "Why the apology all of a sudden?"
"You're always giving up your time to teach me, and here I go, just saying things without thinking. I'm sure some things are rather left forgotten." There were many things from before he was brought in by Kafka that he wished he could forget. So he could guess that she was in the same boat. Probably even worse, considering all she did back then was fight back against the Propagation. A force notorious for its terrifying qualities. He didn't want to bring back memories she tried to leave behind.
"Pfft!" He was met with a spit take from the woman.
"What?" Did he totally misread the room? He was doing that a lot recently. The other day, Caelus thought the side eye from Blade was the man trying to pick him up. Apparently, he was just looking at one of Caelus's shoes, which was left untied.
"You worry way too much Caelus." The girl giggled slightly as she rested a hand on his shoulder. "We're friends, right?" The word was something he hadn't heard to describe himself as of yet. Was that what the two of them were? Were they really friends? Had he gotten that close to Firefly in his time with the Stellaron Hunters? He nodded dumbly at her as his response. "So, as your friend, I don't consider this a bother… Actually, spending time with you is something I've been looking forward to recently, so if anything, I feel like I'm impeding on you a little." She spoke calmly and candidly. It was different enough from how she usually talked that he almost thought he was speaking to Sam instead of Firefly for a moment.
"You're not at all, Firefly!" At no point during his tenure as a Stellaron Hunter had Caelus thought Firefly, of all people, was a nuisance. He'd had to be absolutely crazy to think so. "I could never think that a person helping me like you is a burden." You could consider it an act in the heat of the moment, but when Caelus grabbed Firefly's hands and clasped them in his while staring at her, the girl finally realized just how close the two had gotten.
Firefly, with a quick motion, shot back away from him on the couch. Her face was painfully red, but Caelus was utterly unfazed by her reaction. "J-Just forget I said that then!" The red in her cheeks grew slightly at the memory of her words. "L-Let's just watch a movie instead." Her words meant a lot to Caelus, so much so that just hearing her say he wasn't a bother was enough for a smile to spread across his lips and for him to let the nice moment play out.
With that, the two found a suitable movie to watch together. Of course, Firefly's particular choice was a mecha. Of course, neither noticed their distance shortening while watching it either.
"My past isn't something I like thinking about all too much." She spoke quietly so as not to talk over the actors. "But when I'm ready. I'll tell you everything, Caelus. So just wait until then."
"As long as you're willing. I'll be waiting, Firefly."
After months of being a hunter, one thought would creep into Caelus' head whenever he let his guard down. An idea he didn't particularly distrust or condemn. Truthfully, he fully agreed with it and wished he had taken action to fix it earlier. That simple invasive thought was as follows.
I really don't like this sword.
It should've been a simple fix, but whenever he thought about getting rid of the one gifted to him and finding something different, he remembered it was a hand-me-down from Kafka.
What would he do if she got sad over its sudden return? What if she noticed and was upset that her gift had meant nothing to the man?
So instead of telling the woman who had one hundred percent given it to him as a sort of gift and totally not because it was the closest thing she had with her at the time that she had been meaning to get rid of, Caelus decided to inquire from his friend, Firefly, what to do in his situation.
What he was met with was the girl's deadpan expression. "You know Kafka won't ever give something she wants to someone, right? That sword was catching dust in the corner of her room." With those words, Caelus' world shattered—well, not quite, but close enough.
He expected as much, at least. Even if he had hoped it wasn't true.
"Okay, I can believe that, but what do you think I should do? Whenever I hit something, and blood gets all over my clothes, it takes hours to get out. Do you have any idea how long I spend washing my clothes every week?" He would've loved to lie, but getting out of laundry duty was one of the main reasons he wished to be rid of the weapon he'd been given.
Her face went from beaming back to expressionless as he finished speaking. "Well, I was gonna offer you one of my swords, but I guess that's out the window." The girl seemed more miffed about his comment about his laundry than he'd expected. "Why not just use a bat or something? I think you'd look plenty good as a batter."
Now, if Caelus was more competent, he would've noticed the girl's sarcastic tone. Unfortunately for everyone involved, he didn't understand what sarcasm was. "A bat… Why didn't I think of that?! I'll be right back, Firefly!"
Firefly couldn't even tell the man she'd been joking before he sped out of the room and out of earshot as he disappeared deep into the hideout.
You could imagine her bemused astonishment when Caelus came back not two hours later, wielding a bat of unknown make in his hand, a cocky grin spread across his lips all the while.
"From today on, you can just call me the Galactic Baseballer." With a couple of test swings of his new weapon, Caelus couldn't help but smile at Firefly's reaction to his newly acquired armament.
"None of us use bats; where did you even get that thing?!" At this point, Firefly should've known that Caelus could find anything if he put his mind to it. The time she saw the man rummaging around in trashcans was proof enough of that point.
"Oh, this little bad boy?" He held the baseball bat up infront of himself. A sense of pride oozing out of his being as he looked at it. "Here's a tip for you." Planting his bat on the ground and using it as a crutch, he gave Firefly the cockiest glance she'd ever seen him with. "Bladie will do pretty much anything for good baijiu." Apparently, Caelus took after Kafka in more ways than the girl knew.
Still, Firefly couldn't help but laugh at him. "You're such an idiot, Caelus." Her giggle and soft smile made Caelus's heart flutter.
That day, Caelus swore that the bat in his hands would be with him for life.
Whatever doubts Firefly had about the man's new weapon went out the window when she saw Caelus take out a few dozen fragmentum soldiers in mere moments upon engaging them.
Apparently, death by blunt force trauma was very inclusive.
They always talked in the lounge area.
The only other time Caelus and Firefly were together was during cooperative missions where the two were paired up. Still, those often entailed more obliterating anything that moved than talking to one another.
Today was different from their usual days. Today, Firefly had so candidly asked him to come to her room for a talk, and considering the expression she had on her face when she told him to do so, he could only think this was meant to be a private affair.
This would be the first time anything like this had happened, and Caelus could feel his nerves on edge.
Standing infront of the door he had escorted the girl back to countless times since meeting her, he felt somewhat nervous about what would come. He could've asked her about this entire charade, but he knew there was no need to. After all, they would speak briefly about whatever was plaguing her.
With a knock on the door to make his presence known and stumbling from inside, the door opened, and he was met with a familiar sunset.
Firefly stood unmoving in the doorway momentarily, her soft expression looking just a little stressed. "Thanks for coming, Caelus." That's good—she was speedrunning making him worried.
"Firefly, if something's bothering you, you know you can talk to—" With a tug on his shirt, signaling for him to stop talking—a message he took very literally—he silently followed her into the room.
"Thanks for worrying about me, Caelus." The forlorn look in her eyes begged to differ. "But I didn't bring you here to air out some complaint. I—I brought you here to tell you about me… You wanted to hear about my past, right?" The notion of looking around her room completely escaped him at her statement.
Without a second thought, Caelus grabbed her hands, which he would've customarily considered brazen if not for the circumstances. "You really don't need to tell me anything you don't want to." Firefly shook her head at his words.
"It's fine, Caelus—I'm fine. I want to tell you because we're friends…and I want someone to know." What was he supposed to say to that? If he refused any further, he'd just feel like an asshole for making her look desperate.
"Are you sure, Firefly?" He pulled himself back away from her. His expression showed an uncharacteristic unease about the situation, but that only seemed to embolden the girl more.
"I am, Caelus." The seconds she used to compose herself felt like an eternity to the man. "It goes without saying that all of us Stellaron Hunters know little about each other's pasts. But I want you to know the full story—I want you to know Firefly." With those pained words, Caelus let his friend speak.
Seconds turned into minutes, and then those minutes turned into what felt like hours. All the while, Caelus silently listened to the girl pour her heart out.
Her story of Glamoth differed from what Caelus had sparsely heard of the so-called great empire. Instead of the grandiose endeavors and victorious battles he'd expected from her, he heard of horrid sights, death, misplaced loyalty, hopeless conflicts, and a painful longing for freedom. It wasn't the story he'd imagined hearing one day, but a part of him always knew that her past was painful for her.
However, he began to understand one thing about Firefly from her story: Her life had never been hers to dictate.
He finally understood where the odd feeling of kinship he held for the girl came from. Neither of them had ever been able to honestly choose their paths in life. They both had started their lives under the thumb of others. They were both just tools to be used, but under the umbrella of the Stellaron Hunters, they could seek answers. Answers to what they could do with the life they had left. Caelus didn't need to be just a receptacle, and Firefly didn't need to solely be a weapon.
Even with their ever-encroaching fate, they could choose what they wanted from their lives now.
"None of us were free to do anything we wanted to—not even in our nonexistent dreams." Her expression had quickly soured into a pained one. "Why did we have to die? For what empire did we fight for? I ask myself those questions every day, but I can never think of an answer, no matter how hard I try." Firefly's face scrunched up—halfway between her previous pained expression and tears threatening to start falling down her cheeks. "Then Elio came and gave me hope—a purpose to continue. He gave me a place to live and do what I want; I'm happy even if I'm still bound to SAM. I met Kafka, got to know grumpy Blade, and was able to talk to someone my age, like Silver Wolf. Then I even became your friend. It's more than I could've ever asked for back on Glamoth. I'm happy. It's almost like I'm just a normal girl. This is the most normal my life has ever been, after all… But then I just start thinking about what's to come. Then it just starts to—feel like everything is slowly slipping through my fingers. It's isolating, you know? Knowing that sooner rather than later, you'll die from something out of your control." The smile on her face was strained. So strained that he couldn't bring himself to stand still.
"But you don't have to be alone anymore—you're not alone anymore, Firefly! Everyone here is willing to help you if you let them. Hell, if it means finding a cure for ELS, I'll rip Nanook himself a new one—"
"I appreciate the offer, Caelus. I really do, but I'm not telling you this for sympathy or asking for your help—"
"It's not sympathy, Firefly." He didn't like the fact that he could feel himself getting heated. He never got emotional. He simply couldn't usually bring himself to. That could be thanks to his purpose as a vessel for a Stellaron, but whenever it came to Firefly, it always felt like he was someone entirely different. "I care about you—we all do. If it's sympathy you think I'm giving you, consider it earned. At the very least, give yourself enough credit for helping me all this time." He wasn't exactly the type to have an emotional one-on-one too often, and the girl probably found having a man who frequently went trash diving to not be the best sympathizer, but he couldn't help himself in this scenario.
The thoughts running around in his head stopped as soon as Firefly's hands found him. "—I care about you too, Caelus, and I appreciate your concern… I know this might be hard to say about myself, but I frankly think I don't warrant it." The complacency on her face was something he'd see whenever he looked in the mirror. That fact alone hurt him more than anything she could've possibly said.
"Then it's only fair for a little give and take." The deep breath he sucked in didn't go unnoticed by Firefly. "I'll tell you who Caelus was." The meaning behind his words was clear, and Firefly likewise understood what Caelus meant by how her expression changed.
"Caelus, just because I told you my past doesn't mean you—" Before Firefly could get any further, Caelus had already started.
"You should know by now that I was made by researchers… You see, the thing about that is they were already testing me before I knew my right to my left. They didn't care if they killed me; they knew they could make another if the need arose." A deep sigh escaped his lips as Caelus recalled the memories. "So they used me. They prodded me and cut me open. They treated me like they would a lab rat. To them, I wasn't even a person. I was just another test subject. Another tool. That's just how replaceable I was to them. Looking back, I was pretty miffed about the whole situation. I would always mumble something about killing them one day or something."
With a sardonic chuckle, Caelus continued. "You could imagine my reaction when Kafka showed up out of the blue one day and slaughtered the lot of them as if they were nothing but cattle… Karma is, in fact, a bitch." A melancholic smile crept up his lips.
"I'll never forget the joy I felt at that, Firefly. I was consumed by that elation, and I could only chuckle to myself as they screamed and pleaded for their lives." He looked to the ceiling momentarily before turning back toward her. "So, I want to ask you one thing about my past." Caelus waited for Firefly's head to bob down with a nod. "Do you think that was wrong of me? Do you think that reaction was wrong?" He sat there looking at her. His face pleading for anything from the girl sitting next to him.
"No." Caelus met Firefly's gaze with a smile.
"I do, though." His cloudy eyes seemed to clear at her answer. Caelus had already long made up his mind on the subject. He was simply asking her opinion… Asking her to dole out what she thought his 'punishment' should be. "I heard them every day, so you could guess that I heard their names pretty often—unfortunately, I learned more than just their names when I listened to them, Firefly." His smile was replaced with a somber grimace. "One of them just got married to his childhood sweetheart. Another just had his first kid. They weren't monsters, Firefly. I know that now. They just had families at home to provide for. Nothing more, nothing less."
Caelus couldn't bring himself to meet Firefly's eyes as she gazed at him. "Yet, when I watched them die, I felt no pity for them. I felt—nothing… They stole whatever freedom I could've had to continue having theirs, so they deserved what was coming to them. From my point of view—that's just how the world works." Caelus's hand clenched on his lap, his eyelids fluttering open and closed, remembering scenes from his past that he'd tried to forget in his time with the Stellaron Hunters.
The two didn't say anything for a while. They simply let the room's silence consume their thoughts, both opting to look at the floor over the other's eyes.
"If you're not deserving of my pity—of everyone's kindness, then I'm sure as hell not deserving of yours." The reassuring smile and understanding look in his eyes left Firefly staring at the man in front of her, unable to move.
However, something clicked in Firefly as she looked at Caelus then. A fire, though small it had been, continued to swell inside her chest until she couldn't contain it anymore.
"But you do, Caelus!" In a motion, Firefly brought herself up. Gone was the sadness-stricken face the girl had a moment ago. In its place, a defiant glare pointed at the larger man sitting on her bed. "After everything you've been through, you deserve at least—"
"I deserve…?" Caelus's tone was unnerving, his thousand-yard stare directed solely on the wall infront of him quickly focused on Firefly as he brought himself to his feet. The man's golden eyes now peering back into Firefly's sunsets. "I don't deserve anything, Firefly!" The contrast in his voice from quiet to booming made her reel just a slight amount, but compared to her current red-hot irritation, it didn't bother her. "Do you want me to list how much you've been through?! How much you've had to endure!? Do you want to make this a competition on who's been hurt more in their lives?!" His step forward was met with Firefly's step backward.
"That doesn't make what you went through right, Caelus! All I ever knew was the cavalry! The only thing we were ever taught was to die for our Empress!" Firefly took a step forward this time, her fist pounding onto Caelus's chest as she did so. The bruise it would leave wouldn't be easily forgotten. "We were born to die, and we lived to fight! You never even had a purpose to begin with! You were never able to live your life, just like me, but I at least managed to have some normal moments throughout my time as AR-26710! You never got that luxury! You were just a lab rat that people used for their benefit!" With another swing of her arm, her fist landed on his chest. The impact he expected wasn't there; instead, it was more akin to a light tap. She didn't want to hurt him like she had done to so many others. She just wanted him to understand how she felt.
Caelus stopped for a moment. Looking down at his chest. Firefly's fist was still pressed against the singular hoodie he owned. The same hoodie Kafka had gotten him after she freed him from that cage he lived in. He had nothing before he came here. Less than nothing, in fact. All he had was a hospital gown. A whole lot less decorated than the one Firefly wore, but that was it. Now, he had more than he could have ever wished for. He even had a friend he wanted to fight for. Someone he cared for. One that he wanted to make understand how he felt no matter what.
"Then now, what are you fighting for? Glamoth is long gone… Your friends are all dead. You're the only one left of that destroyed empire… Doesn't that mean you've lost your purpose, Firefly? How do you keep moving like you do?" Firefly quickly reeled in whatever verbal comeback she had when she listened to Caelus's voice. He was quiet—meek even and painfully teary-eyed. He sounded nothing like he did a few moments ago.
None of this was fair. Wasn't she the one who was supposed to be hurt by his words? Wasn't she the one who was supposed to lash out at a comment like that? Then why did she feel he was winning this pointless argument that stemmed from their unwillingness to let the other comfort the other.
"I'm still alive, Caelus. That's why. Glamoth may be gone, but it's up to me to decide how I want to live. No one else can tell me how I want to live the life I have left. Not anymore." The anger she felt quickly washed away like an ocean's tides receding as a small but fragile smile replaced the anger she had.
Caelus slowly moved his hand up to the fist she still had planted on his chest and with a force Firefly didn't know the man could exert, he gently gripped her hand in his. "If you think you don't deserve kindness, neither do I." He repeated his words again.
"We were just over this, Caelus—"
"But I think you do deserve it, and you foolishly think I do as well… So we can compromise on it, can't we?"
Why didn't she think he would pull something like this sooner? It was such a Caelus thing to do, after all.
"What do you have in mind then?" The two stared at each other, their eyes never leaving the other's.
His grip tightened around her hand. "Neither of us are alone anymore. Everyone here has our backs, whether we like it or not, and if worse comes to worst, I promise I'll always be there to have your back. So how about you do the same?" Caelus faced Firefly head-on, clasping his other hand over hers, a nervous look on his face as he did so. "You can probably already tell where I'm going with this, but what I'm trying to get at is that I won't ever leave a fellow good for nothing alone. So I'd appreciate it if you did the same."
With a smirk not even Caelus thought he could muster, he brought her into a hug. "So let's just live our best lives from on, Firefly. I promise I won't let you be alone for another minute." Firefly finally felt whatever tension had been building up in her body crumble as she stared at the wall infront of her.
"You're such an idiot, Caelus." The girl's giggle reverberated across her body, Caelus feeling it more than hearing it with how quietly she spoke.
"It's my MO at this point." Another ripple ran through her body at his comment. He was thankful that Firefly was at least easy to please.
"—and corny. We need to watch different movies." Maybe cycling through the same genres over and over again was rotting his brain after all.
"Guilty as charged."
"Thank you, though… For everything." Firefly's grip on his back tightened alongside her words.
"No need to mention it. You sit through all my dumpster diving anyways, so just consider us even." The two laughed together this time, letting the moment play out as they comforted each other in her room.
When either of them made any motion to move, Caelus could only wonder how long it had been since he entered the girl's room. "I wanted to tell you about it and be done with it. So sorry about all that depressing stuff." Firefly spoke with about as much gusto as usual, so at the very least, Caelus was content with how everything turned out.
Though, he could really only scratch his head at her apology. "Nah, I'm the one who should be sorry about dragging my view of things into it. I got a little too carried away for my own good."
"Don't say you're sorry… I appreciated you listening to me." Firefly gave him what Caelus could only say was the biggest pout she could muster as she stuck out her lip.
"Well, if you ever need to vent again, you know where to find me." Those words rang in the room for a moment. It was his promise to her. He was the person to tell her that she wouldn't be alone anymore.
A look of realization seemed to spark in Firefly's eyes at the man's words. "Disregarding that. Don't you think we're a little too close right now?" The girl's face quickly went through several shades of red as she realized their distinct lack of distance.
"What? Gonna get all flustered now after we poured our hearts out?" The shit-eating grin on his face was quickly smacked off by one of Firefly's hands.
"You're such an asshole sometimes." The girl tapped her foot on the ground. "For the record, Glamoth never taught any of us about gender roles, so I'd obviously start getting embarrassed when a boy my age starts clinging to me all of a sudden. You're lucky that it's you we're talking about here; otherwise—I-uh, wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to." The hue of her cheeks grew just a little darker at that.
Caelus didn't know if what had happened today was the best outcome for the both of them, but he chose to believe that they would be able to work out anything that came their way. After all, neither of them were nearly as alone as they once were.
Their talk didn't seem done quite yet, however. "Since we've gotten closer, do you mind if I call you a nickname or something?" Firefly's peppy attitude persisted as she rearranged several items around her room.
"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" Caelus didn't bother underplaying his apparent puzzlement at the girl's question.
"We're friends, and it's pretty normal for them to call each other nicknames, so it's only normal, right?" That's what she was going with?
"This your attempt at being normal, Miss Firefly?"
"So what if it is, Mister Stellaron?" A chuckle escaped his throat.
"I don't think hospital gowns are 'in' right now for girls your age. How about we fix that first?" With a point of his finger, Firefly was left speechless. An embarrassed tint colored her cheeks in mere moments.
"It's not like this is the only thing I own… I have that dress suit Kafka gave me, and my—" A hand stopped her before she could continue.
"Your plug suit doesn't count, and that dress is your only 'regular' clothes."
The girl met him with a pout. "Says the guy that only owns one pair of sweats, a hoodie, and sneakers." She pointed at him with a damning finger. One that pointed toward precisely what he was wearing.
"Touché… We can go shopping on one of our days off sometime then." A moment later, the two started laughing again. If he could give anything, it would be for these moments to last forever.
"As long as I get to call you Fly, you can do whatever you want."
"As long as that's okay with you, Cae." Firefly offered a small, kurt salute in response.
The feeling inside his chest would have to wait another day as they set off for the longue.
Authors Note: I'm posting this alongside the second chapter, considering the two go hand in hand. I'll leave a longer note at the end of the second chapter, but I hope you guys enjoy this ride. You're going to want to get comfy, too. It's not short.