Headfirst into the Abyss

Zain smiles in a way that Viktor recognizes, and he hears himself say “Oh no—“ before he can stop his traitorous mouth. He wishes he could turn around, really, and just leave, but now they’re all looking at him. And by all, he means his crew. He’s going to kill Zain if he says anything.

So instead of leaving, Viktor resigns himself to his fate and sits by them in their own secluded spot of the spacey cafeteria. It’s nearly empty, because this part is closed off to anybody not having duties to do with their current crisis. So it’s to say, right now they’re the only ones occupying it because the last of the technicians just went away.

Now that Grimgrinner and Sundowner are not here anymore, it’s a little bit easier. The magnetic shield that the administration of the complex has put up is keeping the infestations of their construct away for now. They’re safe, or so they say. Viktor doesn’t really feel it.

“What’s up?” He asks even though he knows he’s going to regret the question. Ursa and Kendra are playing a card game on one of their terminals and they pay no attention to the others. Leaning above the terminal like this, above its light, they look sort of similar. They never quite looked like twins to him.

“Jo’s filling me in.” Thana says, shrugging. “They’re in the vacant part of the galaxy, but can’t travel high-pressure for another four hours. They’re going to be here in three, perhaps four days at best.”

“Surely you can’t wait to see her again.” The half-sisters were always rather close; kind of like Zain and his brother, too. When he was younger, Viktor felt rather excluded, what with his former teammates – now crew members – having older siblings, while his own was declared first MIA, and then, after years, deceased.

Jo’s been something like an older sister to him, because him and Thana were close since the childhood.

“I’ve only seen her for like an hour last time.” Thana shrugs. “It was almost a year ago. I still don’t understand why you didn’t want to join us.” But she doesn’t press him, even though it was quite obvious, even back then, that he was avoiding them. It had nothing to do with Jo, of course not.

“Which brings me to my point.” Zain’s still smirking. It looks so weird on him.

Viktor and Zain were twelve when they met for the first time – just like their entire team, actually. It makes twelve years now, so Viktor has officially spent half of his life with these four. It’s no wonder he sometimes feel rotten inside because he thinks—because he knows, even, that he loves them more than his own parents, and definitely more than his own sister.

Especially now, given the whole Grimgrinner thing.

“You had no point. You weren’t talking to begin with.” Viktor mocks, but the shorter male doesn’t seem to mind him in the slightest.

“You know that Scylla’s still under Navid, don’t you?” He looks way too smug for Viktor to like it.

“Zain, did my mother brainwash you? Because I swear this is becoming so creepy that. I don’t. I don’t know what to say.” He tries not to look as uncomfortable as he feels. “Or did you brainwash her?” He cannot even remember who started this.

“No. She just has eyes.” Zain shrugs. Viktor suddenly notices how their uniform looks rather neat. It looks nice. All... you know. Blue. And neat. Nice.

“Why bother me?” It’s not like they don’t have other things to worry about, other people to bother, universe to save, the normal drill.

“Because you haven’t gotten laid in three years, among other things.” Viktor splutters. He’s not sure what Zain’s aiming at – that he—that he—It’s all insane. They’re all insane.

“Please just—now is not the time.” He doesn’t think it would do him good to say he hasn’t gotten laid ever, but it does flee through his mind. It would’ve been so devastating for him. “We’ve got other worries.”

“It never really is the time, though, is it?” Zain has that look – Viktor knows he’s going to drop the subject, but he’s got more things to say. “It hasn’t been the time for three years now.”

Viktor doesn’t dignify him with an answer.



The way to his cabin is dark because the Sleeping Sun imitates the day cycle of Earth, so the lights are not on all the time. They can be switched on manually, of course, but Viktor doesn’t bother. No, instead he fiddles with his card in front of his door for a while. His eyelids hurt. He can’t wait to lay down and fall asleep, and he’ll think about everything tomorrow.

About his sister, about Navid Naim, about humanity.

When he gets inside, however, his thoughts clear and he takes a step back, just to make sure he’s not imagining things.

“Welcome.” He says, voice tired but dripping with sarcasm still. “Please make yourself at home.” It’s Grimgrinner perched on the only chair his cabin comes with. Her legs are folded in somewhat of an awkward manner and although so, so thin, she looks rather big in the small space. “I’m going to go to sleep.”

He shrugs his shoes and coat off, and changes into his pyjamas right there, in front of her. He even goes to the bathroom, takes a piss and brushes his teeth and when he gets back she’s still there. As he didn’t put the lights on, he merely slinks into the bed.

“Are you really just going to lay down and sleep?” The voice that asks is male and he dies for a moment before he remembers that Grimgrinner can do this thing and he’s relaxed once again. As relaxed as you can be with Grimgrinner on the same walking space with you, let alone your actual room, where you sleep.

“That’s what I had in plans, yes. Will you let me?” It’s a rhetoric question. She’s likely not here to watch him sleep.

“No.” There it goes. He sighs, annoyed already, and then shifts in the bed so that he can see her better.

“Turn the lights on at the very least then.” He expects her to move, to lean towards the light switch if she agrees, or to curse him out, react somehow violently in case she doesn’t. But he keeps forgetting that she’s not human anymore and that things work differently with her now. When the lights flicker on, he’s not too surprised either way. “What do you want?”

“You’ve grown very tall.” She says it like it’s wonder. When she disappeared, he could’ve sworn they were the same height. “I thought it was very impressive how you took down so many newbies.”

Newbies?

“The new species?” He inquires, and he nods. “I’m not really sure I should thank you, while letting you know that I don’t respect that you’re impressed.” Perhaps that’s how one does it, then? He congratulates himself on how calm he sounds.

“Calm indeedy.” Arianna mutters, mostly to herself, and this time an uncomfortable shiver runs down his spine. It sounds so childish, her indeedy, but he barely heard it. Holy fuck. He’s not going to be able to spend a second more with her if she keeps doing that—that.

“It happens on its own. It’s not always.” She explains like he’s a child. To a being like her, a god incarnated to some people, perhaps he is but a child.

“That makes me feel a lot better now.” Even when he’s terrified, Viktor just cannot keep his mouth shut. Or, if he had to talk at least, he wishes that the universe has equipped him with better brain-to-mouth filter, the one that removes sarcasm entirely.

Arianna shrugs, almost indifferent.

“You know you’re going to die anyway, little space legend. I mean, if things don’t work out the way they should.” Which is to say, her way. He knows.

“I would’ve known that without you breaking into my cabin, too.” He’s just so tired. He just wants to sleep and sleep and sleep. He has no strength left for them anymore. For his mother, for Zain, for Arianna. He just wants to go to sleep, for once under the full gravity and in a proper bed, and wake up whenever he wants because all of their allies are not here yet and he has nothing serious to do for now.

His sister licks her lips – her tongue is goddamn disgusting.

“Technically, I didn’t break in. Technically, the door was open.” She doesn’t sound like she believes her own words, but she’s currently the strongest being in the known universe, so Viktor supposes that she can say whatever she wants and sound however she wants.

“Yeah, when you can technically open it with a thing we have no knowledge about, let alone power over it.” He’s so tired. She’s tiring his entire mind out, but at least he’s comfortably perched on his bed. He feels like there’s something crawling over his spine, but those are just the expected creeps.

“Night, then. Sleep, or whatever you humans do. If your supervisors need us, Gaige and I are back in our part.” She gets up. In the small cabin, she has to lean down. She is, truly, way too think, although perhaps it might be her height that makes her look so. She’s tall, however—she’s taller than anybody who Viktor has seen. Sundowner, he’s rather tall, but there are rare Zephyrs taller than him, being tallest species of all.

But Arianna – she’s at least a head taller than Sundowner himself, and Viktor’s never seen anything more terrifying than her large, wide eyes staring at him. His sister just keeps smiling, before the door slides open and she’s out, probably as quick as she’s gotten inside.

Viktor lets out a sigh he’s been holding in for past few days.