#I was like what if there were like… other space/sea creatures feasting on the whale like an actual whale fall

[nerdigga]

^^^^^!!!!!

THE SPACEWHALE GRAVEYARD WAS SO COOL AJPEOFNEJGIHCUEIENDOWMSS

THAT'S THE KIND OF WORLD BUILDING I'M HERE FOR!!!

[whatgaviiformes]

For the September prompts, could I request Lemon Tree and Kayo please? Somehow the idea of these two together is singing to me...🍋🖤

Hiiiii. I really wanted to be able to do this for you; please forgive me for this not being my strongest of pieces. I did have to add Gordon to get Kayo to speak to me, and the lemons are there even if the tree is not. <3. They are siblings, and peers, and they respect each other. Hopefully it shows. Thanks so much for the ask and the support.

I like the headcanon of Gordon calling Kayo "Tin" so I borrowed that from Nutty with her permission. :D

Characters: Kayo, Gordon

Words: 870

Genre: General

Universe Notes - Military!Gordon, TAG.

Warnings: Mentions of Alcohol Consumption (responsible)

***

“Hey, Tin?” Gordon quickly plopped into his mouth a sardine from the charcuterie display he’d ordered as his antipasto and, as Kayo grimaced at his manners, he at least had the good graces to swallow before he continued.  “I’m going to need you to relax.”

“I really don’t understand how you can eat that.”

“They are a bit salty,” he mused, swirling on the flavor still in his mouth. “But I can’t just leave the little fishies there uneaten. It’s inhumane.”

“Yeah, ok.” She turned back away from his feast of fish, gazing out to the expanse of ultramarine beside them.

It was to be his home the next few days – the Gulf of Naples that is, beautiful waters in Mediterranean blue, watched over by what was left of the towering Mt. Vesuvio visible in the distance. For Gordon’s experience in the depths of the sea, the bay was a relatively shallow estuary. But it wasn’t about how deep the body of water went. He was more concerned with what creatures called the place home, in this instance which fin whales – and one razorback in particular he’d been tracking as part of his research dissertation.  (D.Sc. meet Gordon Tracy!)

Gordon called it a “surface trip” which didn’t mean surface at all really, just that he’d be arriving by boat instead of submarine and diving within the capabilities of standard research tech instead of the Brains’ tested and certified deep-sea gadgets of International Rescue. It would be enough for him to listen to the whale song, and if he was lucky, maybe he’d get to see his boyo.

Since the excursion was to depart tomorrow out of a little town in the outskirts of Sorrento, arriving a day early gave Gordon the time to reorient himself to the normal sleep schedule of the time-zone and decompress from being constantly on call as they were. He’d been in Italy for only a few hours, but the warm wind and the friendly lapping of blue on the shore calmed him, so his spirits were high despite the nerves around the importance of this trip.

His companion was less thrilled by the break. Virgil had been unavailable, Scott was busy with Tracy Industries reports, and Alan could hardly fly him over in a space rocket, so Kayo had offered to drop him off. It had taken some heavy pleading, a bit of chore reallocation, and eventually Kayo agreed to stay and leave the next morning.

A worthy exchange. His siblings deserved a holiday. And once he saw an opportunity unfolding to spend some time with his sister, he couldn’t let go of the idea. They didn’t call him a master of pranks for nothing – though this was less of a prank and more of a gentle coercion.

Their first of their entrées arrived, for the traditional trattoria included two within the standard four-course meal, and Kayo nodded kindly in thanks. Gordon beamed, a “Grazie!” while he moved his plate of fish to the side to make room for his pasta.  

“I’m relaxed,” she told him after a while only once they’d dug into their meals. “Really.”  

Gordon eyed her deliberately, mindlessly twirling his pasta with his fork and watching peridot scanning the room even as she said it. “I think you think that. I can tell you are still on look out.” He saw her start to panic and added, “I can only tell because I know you.”

She frowned, shrugging. “Maybe I am. Someone has to do it.”

“It doesn’t have to be you all the time. We are safe; promise.”

“Yeah?”

The skepticism was evident. He was almost offended. Almost.  “Yeah.” It had been a long time since his brief service in WASP, but the training gave him lessons for a lifetime. “Closest exit is that one” – he gestured his fork towards the wall to their left – “there’s a gentleman behind me that obviously knows who we are but won’t dare approach because you keep giving him the stink eye, our server is oblivious which is kinda’ nice actually, and the owner has come by twice. Dice is out on that one, but he’s harmless. Now, agree to get some limoncello with me.”

“Gordon- “

“We’re in Italy; it’s required.”

“It’s a digestivo. That means after the meal.”

“It’s alcohol,” he challenged, grinning. “That means when the mood strikes. I won’t push if you don’t want any, but lemons, Kayo. Lemons.”

“Yeah, yeah. You make lemonade.”

“Nuh-uh. You make limoncello!” He was pleased to see her laughing, even if it was at his expense. Kayo was good at her job, too good, and she took after workaholic Scott in ways Gordon didn’t necessarily believe were the healthiest of habits. He knew what it was like to be “on” all the time. It would cause burn out. Always did.

They placed their additional drink order and the bottle was brought out with the timing of their second entrée as they requested, with minimal questioning. The locals were kind about the whims of their tourists.

“So where did you stash Shadow again?”

Kayo swirled the narrow glass to twirl the liquid neon, and she narrowed her eyes at him with a gleam. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”