#but boo we hate Rockwell in this AU. FUCK YOU ROCKWELL 🖕🖕🖕🖕

[jonahs-arks]

Something for Genesis in Rockwell's Offer :]

If any context for certain scenes is needed, please ask me; because there are references to things/events that I have yet to inform you, my Tumblrinas, about.

Brandon awoke. It was late in the morning. He blinked his bleary eyes and sniffed the air, not smelling his two friends nearby.

Must be out gathering resources.

He slowly got out of his nest, his back popping in several different places as he did so.

He finished his morning routine before spotting a nearby drop; it was a cyan colour this time. They've noticed a pattern with the drop colours determining what resources are outside of the ship. They haven't found out what this colour brings, yet, so Brandon decides he should go check it out.

Before he departs to the bridges that lead to the outside of the ship, he leaves a note saying where he's at if they return and need him for anything. He snatches a pickaxe and hoists it on his belt; right next to his trusted pistol.

He decided his Maewing, Milkboy, would be a good mount; it wasn't too far of a travel anyways, and they were quite a fast mount.

The short trip was a pretty one; the artificial sunrise was always quite nice, especially with the stars outside still shining through just enough.

When they arrived, Brandon patted Milkboy on the head and told them to stay put just outside one of the bridge tunnels. His Maewing did as he said, and he entered the tunnel.

An odd feeling crept upon him as he got closer to the bridges. He shrugged it off; he always got anxious on the bridges, afraid of floating away into space or something.

He was finally at the TEK bridge; able to see the TEK veil that separated space from the rings.

A strange, yet familiar, light ringing started in his ears; followed by alluring whispers.

Brandon wearily looked behind him, the feeling of being watched dreading upon him. Nothing was there, of course, but the feeling didn't leave.

As he stepped closer to the TEK veil, he saw the new environment: a mystical fog with a pretty light-blue hue, light grey and blue rocks that wielded the resource he was here to find.. which looked strangely familiar..

Brandon's head started to hurt.

He put one of his hands to his head, rubbing his temples.

That damned ringing hasn't quit, yet..

He sighed and decided to step through the holographic veil, deciding that he could get whatever the resource was from the closest rock, then get out of here.

As soon as he was on the other side, his headache turned into a horrible migraine; the ringing got worse; the whispers got louder. It was starting to get overwhelming.

Just as Brandon was about to turn around and leave, a horrible voice he was all too intimate with pierced his skull.

Lovely to see that you came crawling back to me~ Though, I knew you would return eventually.

Horrible shivers went through Brandon. He felt sick.

He shouldn't be here alone. He regrets coming.

He felt too overwhelmed to move.

You know, Urvogel, I harbour no hard feelings towards you abandoning me back on Earth.

Brandon's gut wrenched.

"I- I didn't.. mean to... you-"

You can always come back to me. Join me on the other ring, I've made it into quite the place! I think you would enjoy it. Just step onto that adjacent bridge, and we can be one again, dear Brandon.

A small part in the back of Brandon's mind considered it.

Maybe things will be better than last time..

But he buried that thought as he heard a light, echoing chuckle in his head. They were over. Eve talked him through this.

That didn't stop the tears from coming, though. No amount of talking has truly made him get over it. He missed that horrible "relationship" they had together. But, he knew it wasn't healthy.

Brandon groaned as the whispering in his ears grew more intense, along with that damned ringing. Nausea started kicking in. He hated this shit so much; he used to be used to it, having dealt with all of this during and after those.. sessions.

He gritted his teeth. He started to feel overstimulated with all of the auditory stimulation, along with the fact that he can smell the Edmundium in those rocks now.

Brandon sighed and put his clawed hands to his temples; trying to lessen the migraine. He regrets coming here...

What ever is the matter, Urvogel? I thought you were missing me. Now you want to turn back? Leave me again, hm?

"I.. I never left you, Ed." His throat started to get tight.

There was a low rumble in his head; it.. hurt...

Well, you certainly did not make a swift effort to return to me...

Brandon couldn't say it. He couldn't say that it was, in fact, Rockwell who left him behind. Being left for dead so Rockwell could save himself when Eve came.

That horrid whispering got more intense.

A broken sob left Brandon, and he covered his ears.

Oh, my poor, dear Brandon... he cooed.

Brandon could fucking taste the incoming deception. He knows that tone of voice all too well.

Return to me; I can give you everything you want. I can fix you. I can fill that empty void. We can be one again, my dear.

All of it, Brandon knew, was fucking bullshit. He's been told that same shit far too many times to fall for it again.

He uncovered his ears and balled his fists.

God, his throat and chest hurt so fucking much.

"We..... we're done. There... there is no 'we'.. there hasn't been a 'we' in so fucking long.... 'We' are done."

There was a blissful silence.

The whispering, the ringing, the nausea; all of it, gone.

It felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders...

He had to leave while he could.

Brandon turned around; the bridge was only a couple of metres away. He could reach it in time.

He used his tail to propel himself to the bridge faster; but, as soon as he reached the veil, everything came rushing back.

The horrid ringing, the whispering, the nausea; all of it came back tenfold, making Brandon yell out.

Who are you to decide that we are 'done', Brandon Urvogel?

His tone was full of venom.

We are not 'done' here; not until I say so.

Brandon went through the veil, not wanting to listen to any more of that horrible voice.

He hit the TEK floor, hard.

He didn't want to move. His head was pounding, and he felt sick.

The dreadful noise was muffled, but the ringing and whispers could still be heard; along with Rockwell's faint voice yelling at Brandon to return to him.

He had to get up. He had to leave.

He struggled to get up and move; he felt so tired and every bit of movement made him sick.

He finally got to his feet after struggling for a bit. He used a nearby pillar for support.

As he slowly made his way out of the bridge, he could hear faint "GET BACK HERE"s and "DON'T LEAVE ME"s. But he wasn't going to fall for that again. Back on Earth, sure; but not now, nor ever again.

As he reached the end of the tunnel, Brandon shielded his eyes from the bright, artificial sun.

He still felt sick and exhausted; tears still falling down his face.

Why does his heart ache, even though he just did the most freeing thing in the world?

He couldn't continue pondering on his conflicting feelings for too much longer, though. As soon as Brandon entered his Maewing's line of sight, they came rushing over to him; knowing something was wrong.

Brandon patted Milkboy on the side to tell them that he wasn't injured or anything.

He struggled to get on the Maewing's saddle, but, with Milkboy's help, he got up there eventually.

Brandon just sort of lied up there for a bit, needing the break. His legs ached, even though he didn't really do anything. Hell, his whole body ached.

After a couple of minutes, he patted Milkboy to tell them to head towards home.

They knew not to glide home; that could end badly with how Brandon was feeling. He looked like a wreck. The tears on his puffy face were dried by now, but he looked awful.

All Brandon could think about the whole trip was that he was free. They are done now.

It hurt, though...

He couldn't stop that voice in the back of his head from telling him that he abandoned his partner; that maybe things actually were going to be better this time.

But he can't keep giving Rockwell the benefit of the doubt, every single time he's tried that, nothing good ever came of it.

He just had to stop giving Rockwell anything. Had to stop thinking about him. Had to stop depending on him.

He might not ever get over it, but he was free, and that's all that mattered now. His heart might ache for a long while, but at least it was free from that malignant infection of a man.

Everything will be fine..