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kiyfra · 2 months ago

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Scorpio chapter 7 is done and the fic is now complete! PokéRus AU belongs to @monsoon-of-art. It can be read here or on AO3.

“There is poison in the fang of the serpent, in the mouth of the fly and in the sting of a scorpion; but the wicked man is saturated with it.”

The snow line of Mt Coronet was finally within sight after hours of trekking through the highlands with Volo. The hike was never easy in modern Sinnoh, even with its well used public trails, but the untamed wilderness of ancient Hisui saw very few people visiting its summit.

Dawn’s first journey up the fabled mountain to stop Cyrus had been long and exhausting. Now her shorter legs had to carry her over far rougher terrain while the pressure from the rift drained their energy, like the atmosphere was a leaden blanket trying to force them down.

Even Volo was showing clear signs of exhaustion, unable to keep up the breezy, floating flight typical of togekisses. The merchant was using most of his strength to remain airborne with his backpack loaded with the plates, burdening him in a way his wares never did. Both of them had to take frequent breaks on this trek that they never used to in the highlands, but the end was drawing near.

The rift opened up shortly above the summit, its violent churning darkness and electric storms frighteningly close to the temple where they were bringing the plates. The had finally collected all seventeen plates that Volo believed could call upon Sinnoh’s divine power. Dawn wasn’t sure what that entailed and whenever she asked the merchant what exactly he would do, he would tell her not to worry about it and just wait and see.

“It’s just a bit further! There’s a tunnel straight ahead that will take us right to the temple!” he called out from above.

There was still a long stretch through an abandoned electivire territory. She had only come here once before to study the alpha and its pack, heeding the warnings not to venture past to the summit.

A sense of gravitas and importance always loomed over the summit of Mt Coronet where she could always feel the importance and weight of history from stepping on sacred ground. But never this heavy and never so foreboding. The feeling reminded her of the way pokémon would reservedly carry themselves and avert their eyes when they found themselves face to face with a legendary. The anxiety they felt from the power and majesty that was emitted and knowing they would be battling against a being many considered to be a god.

She could hear the bolts arcing out from the rift and feel the spine tingling energy growing stronger as they neared the temple. It was so close now with just a short trip through the tunnel until they were at the source of Hisui’s ills.

The still darkness of the cavern offered a temporary reprieve from the pressure and it felt like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Volo landed somewhat clumsily on the cave floor.

“This seems like as good a place as any to take a rest. How about we take a breather before the temple?” he asked while setting his backpack down.

Dawn plopped down wordlessly, giving all the answer that was needed. She wondered whether it would be a long enough break that it was worth removing her satchel. Probably not.

“I can’t believe it’s almost over and everything can go back to normal,” she said trying to catch her breath.

“It’s quite exciting. Just think, your name might be mentioned in the same breath as the legendary hero! And I was here to witness it,” he preened with his head held high.

The merchant looked quite proud of himself despite downplaying his own involvement. Always the charmer, he was laying the flattery on thick, though even Dawn could tell he was not a humble man.

Volo never dropped the persona of an overly friendly vendor trying to close a sale, even if its insincerity made her uneasy. Dawn was beginning to suspect it was the only way he knew how to be helpful or express kindness.

The dewott made a non-distinct noise and the two of them rested in silence. A question that had been burning at the back of her brain for months itched from a lack of explanation and she figured now was the time to try and drag a straight answer out of him.

“Volo, can I ask you something?”

Her voice sounded too loud echoing off the cavern walls.

“Sure, go right ahead.” The togekiss gave her a coy, knowing expression. “But I might not answer.”

“Right.” She took a deep breath. “Why weren’t you affected by PokéRus like the others? How did you keep your mind while everyone else lost theirs?”

“Well, you know how gentle togekisses-“

“Yes, I do know they’re not very hostile.” She was tired of this evasive non-answer. “The infection made everyone lose their minds and it has nothing to do with how aggressive the species is. Why were you different?”

The Survey Corps member was ready to twist his arm a little. She had more than earned it.

“I’ve been doing a lot of the leg work collecting the plates across Hisui and I think you owe your favourite customer a bit of an explanation.”

Volo dropped the cheery smile and sized her up, the salesman persona falling by the wayside as he scrutinized her. The silence dragged on as the merchant conducted his own private evaluation and Dawn started to feel uncomfortable with how he was looking at her.

Their eye lock continued for what felt like hours before he finally broke eye contact with a shrug of his wings. The large togekiss silently removed a dark purple plate from his travel pack and placed it in front of her on the cavern floor.

“You recall how I told you that I came upon this plate recently while searching at Turnback Cave?”

Dawn hummed in agreement.

“I’m afraid I told you a little bit of a fib.”

Volo made a show of turning his head away out of remorse as if he committed some grievous breach of trust, but the Survey Corps girl merely gestured for him to continue.

“This plate ended up in my possession quite some time ago, and the rift opened shortly afterwards. It felt like it was calling to me somehow and you of all people should know how superstitious the people in Hisui can be.”

Of course she knew. Dawn knew probably better than anyone in the region.

“Imagine if the merchant with vaguely heretical ideas was gifted a spectral plate right before the rift drove the Nobles into a frenzy. What would everyone think?”

“They’d think you were to blame.” Dawn answered bitterly.

Her own divine immunity to the mind altering effects of the virus made her a target of suspicion; it was clear why Volo was so hesitant to tell anyone about his.

“Exactly. We both have our reasons to keep things to ourselves, but I trust you,” the togekiss said with a gentle smile. “Who knows, maybe I was given a role to play in all of this.”

He placed the Spooky plate back into his travel pack and slipped his wings through the straps, ready to continue.

“I think it’s about time we finish our business here. Destiny awaits.”

The silence during their last leg of the journey felt oppressive to Dawn, as though she didn’t have permission to speak. Red light crept in through the cave exit and the constant pressure slowly lowered itself back onto their shoulders as they neared the summit. Dawn was suddenly seized by the notion this would be her last chance to talk to the merchant and she ran to catch up.

“Volo!” she shouted abruptly, causing the togekiss to turn his head back. There was an awkward pause as he looked at her while she tried to figure out how to articulate what she was thinking.

“...Thank you.”

He tilted his head questioningly.

“For coming to find me, I mean. And for looking out for me when everything and everyone was falling apart.” Her voice grew quieter. “No one else came to help me when I really needed them. It really does mean a lot to me and I wouldn’t have gotten this far without your support.”

Volo’s face twisted into a conflicted expression, as if unsure about how to respond to a sentiment that sincere. He looked away towards the tunnel exit and let out an long exhale, before turning back to the girl. The deliberation continued for several moments, but in the end, he settled on the veneer of the overly friendly vendor.

“Well, of course. I couldn’t just let my favourite customer spend the rest of her days as a hermit. It’s bad for business you know.”

The response was unsatisfying and both of them felt it so Volo decided to continue.

“Be honest, are you happy working for the Galaxy Team? I know Rei more than proved himself a loyal friend when we took on Jubilife and your captain and professor clearly have a soft spot for you. But would you choose that life or did it just happen to you?”

Now that was a complicated question. Where would she start?

“Umm… I like catching and training pokémon and I don’t mind doing research tasks for the professor.” Sometimes it was tedious and she did not enjoy waking and working at absurd hours to study uncommon behaviours and phenomena.

“Mostly,” she amended.

No, she certainly didn’t love leaving only a few hours after midnight and trekking to the mirelands to observe how petilils behaved during a storm or some other such matter.

But she could live with it.

Dawn couldn’t deny that she learned a lot and it was satisfying theorizing with the professor to explain interesting pokémon behaviours, even if Cyllene thought they tended to anthropomorphize them too much.

Working on the pokédex for Rowan was a lot different than the one for the Galaxy Team. It felt more like doing a favour out of gratitude than an obligation.

“But working for Kamando is scary. He’s always telling me how everyone in the village is suspicious of me and thinks I caused everything bad to happen. It felt like I could never work hard enough to change anything and one mistake would make me lose everything. And then it did when it wasn’t even my fault!”

All of her fears and anxieties she kept bottled up started spilling out. “I don’t want to go back to working for him after all this, but I don’t know what else I could do.”

“Yes, they say people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses.” Volo looked lost in thought for a moment. “I haven’t told many people this, but I don’t particularly care much for the life of a merchant. It was something that happened to me rather than something I chose for myself and thinking about how I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life is maddening. I doubt this is what my ancestors envisioned for me.”

He words were the most bitter she had ever heard him speak and contained far more sincerity than she was used to hearing from him. They were more alike than she realized and she felt a sense of warmth at the discovery of the kinship they shared.

“Why don’t you try another job then?” Dawn asked.

“It’s a bit late for a career change and I doubt there’s anything else that would give me as much leeway to pursue my true interests. I at least get to meet a lot of interesting people as a merchant.”

He smiled a bit too widely at her with that statement.

“Hisui didn’t always work that way though. My grandmother used to tell me how the Celestica people entrusted several of their remaining members to pass down their history when they were on their last legs. These chroniclers were chosen back when when her grandparents were children. After strangers arrived on Hisui’s shores, every single one of them eventually had to choose between joining the new world or leaving and I think most of them stopped caring about history.

But I never did. I dutifully learnt everything my grandmother remembered and studied all that I could about her ancestry. My lineage and historical knowledge would make me the last successor of the Celestica people.”

Dawn wasn’t sure she agreed with that assessment, but she kept those thoughts to herself.

“I’ve never forgotten my heritage, but I think everything is meant to come to an end eventually. Societies and worldviews have to be cleared out to make way for new ways of thinking. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hmm…I guess you’re right.”

The Celestica people were replaced by the clans and the clans would end up being supplanted by modern Sinnoh. Her own time could be replaced by a future where people used computer chips instead of money and battled with robot pokémon or something.

“I’m starting to think I was destined to meet you, that the two of us were meant to play a part in the grander scheme of things,” Volo continued. “The gods work in mysterious ways after all.”

With a resolute wing motion, he ushered the two of them forward.

“Onwards and upwards!”

The tunnel opened up onto the summit, a steep stone staircase reaching to the Temple of Sinnoh far above the veil of clouds swirling below the peak. Mighty pillars held up a roof carved with intricate designs and housed statues of revered Nobles. What were presumably the original pokémon blessed by Sinnoh were depicted in dramatic poses, all built by a people that no longer existed.

They seemed so powerful and enduring that Dawn could scarcely believe these monuments depicted species and traditions that time would forget. It felt strange seeing the temple in all its glory when it was reduced to ruins in the modern age.

The sound of cold lighting arcing out of the rift was omnipresent and overwhelming with violent, churning darkness as a low drone. It sat only a few yards above the temple, close enough that Volo could fly to it if he really tried.

Pins and needles made her limbs impossibly heavy and static crackled through her fur. She had forgotten how the air was thinner so high up and how the cold hurt her lungs. Dawn took in every detail of the monument at the epicentre of this cataclysmic cosmic event in a mixture of awe and fear as Volo swooped past the pillars to a landing behind the temple.

He set to work unloading the plates from his pack, Dawn abuzz with nervous excitement. The morning sun did little to warm the peak, but it heralded a new day where everyone in Hisui would wake up and find themselves human again.

The two of them had slipped out unnoticed the prior evening after Volo approached Dawn and suggested they surprise everyone. She felt a bit bad not telling Rei when they had agreed they would all go to Mt Coronet the next day, but she agreed with Volo that they shouldn’t let the clans suffer longer than necessary and Rei deserved to rest after all the hard work he put into helping collect the remaining plates.

Ragged breathing from nearby caught her attention as two figures emerged from behind ancient masonry, an alpha glaceon and leafeon flanking the small dewott.

The wardens and clan leaders had looked worse every time she saw them and she realized the last time had been over a month ago. They were so gaunt that Dawn could easily count their ribs through their mangy and sparse fur. Their jewelry hung loosely off them and their bodies were marred by countless scabbed over wounds, dirty and poorly healed. Rage and hunger were the only things keeping them animated as they stalked closer, looking like death with their lips drawn back into bestial snarls and long strands of drool.

“Volo! Adaman and Irida followed us!” Dawn cried out in alarm.

Neither of them would fare well against one of the mad alphas and the odds of winning this battle would be stacked against the two of them. They could flee easily enough with a togekiss willing to fly them to safety and circle back around later when the danger had passed.

But the merchant didn’t even turn around.

The clan leaders strangely sat down like obedient guard dogs and glowered at her as Volo nonchalantly unloaded his backpack.

“Have you heard of a pokémon called Arceus?”

Dawn’s veins turned to ice at the question, no answer seeming like the right one. Volo knew more about her than she realized and would know if she was lying.

“I-“

Stating where she came from and what she knew would have been downright blasphemous to the clans and their belief in Sinnoh. She doubted Volo with his interest in all sorts of legends would have been offended by by a competing theory, but she couldn’t risk blowing her cover story, no matter how helpful he had been. Now the merchant presented an entirely new danger.

“I’ve longed to meet such a being myself and I’ve spent years learning anything I could about the all-encompassing deity. Neither of the clans understanding of ‘Sinnoh’ came close, but the Celestica people knew the truth. And you know better than the rest of Hisui. How else would you have something called an Arc Phone?”

This was a trap. This was just like confronting Cyrus at Spear Pillar all over again.

“I-it was just lying around when I woke up here! I really don’t understand what it is or why I have it. Honest!” Dawn shouted the half-truth, still hoping for some benign explanation.

“Why you? What have you done to deserve it’s blessings when the blood of the Celestica people runs through my veins?” he continued unmoved by her pleas. “No matter. With the power of all the artefacts I’ve scavenged from across Hisui, it won’t be able to hide itself away any longer.”

Dawn felt sick to her stomach as she considered wether she could take out her flute and play a summon before the clan leaders tore her to shreds. Sneasler, Electrode, Braviary; none of them would make it in time.

“With the red chain in my possession, I can subjugate the power needed to remake the world! Your arrival heralded the dawn of a new era and you should be proud of the hand you played.”

His voice flipped from manic to sickly sweet and the condescension made her face burn with indignation.

“This was your plan all along? You just wanted to use the chaos to get here?”

“It made sense to seek out Arceus’s scorned child and have it tear open the rift. Even with Giratina punching holes into its creation, Arceus still hides itself away. But everything would eventually fall into place. I’ll admit, our affliction was quite a strange and unexpected side effect. Though not without its upsides.”

He tilted his head toward Adaman and Irida whose empty eyes were glued to the small dewott.

“Quite the useful puppets with heads empty enough to be controlled by Giratina. When we can get past our difference of opinions, that is.” He gave an exasperated roll of the eyes. “The distortions created a back door entrance to their feeble little minds.”

“You-!”

It had been him all along. The warden’s violent attacks, Hisui falling into ruin, being taken away from her home, the pain and anguish everyone faced…

Ingo might not even be in Hisui, much less reduced to a mindless beast if it wasn’t for Volo. Her fists started shaking with the hatred she felt towards the smug togekiss in front of her and her whole body hotly prickled with humiliation at how impotent her rage was. The deafening crashing of the rift above, the red staining everything, a hateful presence with dark claws that was unable to reach her; it was the closest she ever felt to it.

She wanted massive jaws to bite with and to tear the merchant apart like a wild animal, but she could only squeak out, “You used me!”

“Why yes, yes I did. And now I have no further need of you.”

Volo paused unloading his pack for a moment and Dawn desperately hoped he was having second thoughts.

“You know, you’ve never actually bought anything from me before,” he tossed over his shoulder before turning back to the plates.

“Kill her.”

The two clan leaders sprinted at the girl on the merchant’s command, spittle flinging from their jaws snapping and barking. A familiar terror washed over her as she was forced to make a split second decision while still reeling from the betrayal.

Quickly fumbling in her satchel, she pulled out a small blue capsule and tossed it onto the ground in front of her with as much force as she could muster. It burst and clouds of smoke spread out over the temple grounds, obscuring the battleground.

She darted behind a statue and the clan leaders pounced where she had been standing seconds prior. Adaman and Irida snarled in frustration at losing sight of the girl and began to prowl the clouded pillars in search of their hidden quarry, ears perked and noses low to the ground.

Dawn forced herself to keep her breathing quiet, squeezing her eyes shut and tears prickling from the smoke hurting her eyes and lungs. She feared the hammering of her heart would give her position away as she listened for the slavering beasts getting closer.

A chill crept near as the click of clawed paws grew louder, Irida completely invisible in the smoke. Dawn pressed her back against the statue base and unsheathed one of her shells in precaution, trying to keep her teeth from chattering and goosebumps forming along her skin. She couldn’t see the massive glaceon through the clouds, but she must have been right in front of her with the icy air radiating in waves and loud breathing being so close.

There would be little warning if she was found; should she attack first? Even though the smoke bombs were designed to release a fragrance to cover up scents, it seemed miraculous Irida hadn’t smelt her out.

Dawn’s luck held and the mad glaceon finally moved away, the girl slumping down and shaking as some of the tension left her body. She couldn’t stay there for long. They were bound to find her eventually and the smoke was already starting to dissipate. Feeling her way around the statue base, she slowly made her way past the columns on tip toes to remain as silent as possible.

An iridescent object shimmering in blues, purples and pinks zipped through the fog towards her, followed by dozens like it that made a beeline to her location. They sliced like razors across her body and she cried out in pain as she clutched the gashes left by the blade-like leaves. The swarm left dozens of stinging cuts before the magic went out of them and they fell to the ground as regular leaves, having done their job.

Adaman’s attack left her exposed after her shout gave away her position, but she was unable to stop the sobs from escaping, a burning nettle-like irritant that felt like dozens of needles stuck inside her cuts. Dawn made her way past the pillars towards the steps as quickly as she could while clutching her bleeding wounds and trying not to think about how fast her paw was stained crimson.

Large jaws bit down on her tail hard and she screamed as she was hoisted off the ground. A painful wrenching was not numbed by the alpha’s frosty breath as she was swung back and forth, fearing her tail had come off as she was flung to the side. Light blossomed in her vision from the painful crack of her head hitting stone, wheezing as the air was knocked out of her from a step jamming into her gut.

The ringing in her ears and pain that exploded in her skull made it impossible to think clearly, the barking and snarling seeming distant and far removed. Only the primal fear of being viciously ripped apart spurred any movement from the dewott and she groaned as she weakly tried to force herself upright.

Dawn was again seized by sharp teeth clamping around her torso and piercing through her thick fur into her back, eliciting a small squeak that seemed far too cute and comical. The world turned blurry as she was shaken like a chew toy and the alpha repeatedly snapped and bit, trying to force it’s teeth through or around the satchel.

All rational thought was driven out and replaced by a haze of terror and panic. Physical space became an impossible enigma filled with reeking hot breath where she couldn’t find her hands, let alone draw a weapon. She couldn’t even tell which one of them had their jaws around her and it was only a matter of time before a fang managed to pierce or rend something important.

An overwhelming flash of cold rushed towards them and something large slammed into them, knocking her loose from the jaws of her assailant and she fell to the ground. Dawn barely registered Irida standing above her with her fur frozen into spikes before Adaman’s claws raked across the glaceon’s face. Enraged by the retaliation, the clan leader forgot about her mindless pursuit of prey and launched herself at her rival. The two of them devolved into a writhing ball of teeth and claws, tearing and biting at any spot they could reach and tufts of torn off fur gently blew across the temple grounds.

Dawn’s senses returned slowly, her head still filled with a fog of pain and her body impossibly heavy. She realized the spat between the clan leaders had given her a chance to escape and the girl limped down the mountain as fast as she could, trying to gain as much distance as possible before Volo realized his attack dogs failed to finish the job. She needed to hide, warn everyone and go get help before it was too late.

—————————————-

Each plate made a satisfying sound as it was laid upon the ancient tile. Only a few more to go until the true creator worshiped by the Celestica people would be forced to reveal itself and its creation would be undone. Volo trembled in excitement as the final plate bestowed upon him by Giratina slipped from his feathers and each and every one laid at Hisui’s seat of power. Finally, after years of study and planning, his patience was about to pay off and he would see Arceus with his own eyes.

...

Nothing.

The plates remained as they were, stubbornly refusing to respond to the vast reserves of divine power at the summit and Volo tilted his head in puzzlement.

What went wrong?

He had gathered all seventeen plates he had discovered writings about, one of every type-

There were eighteen types.

Volo went through a mental checklist and realized he had no plate that corresponded to fairy. He had read through countless manuscripts, deciphered glyphs in ancient temples and listened to tales passed down through generations, but he had never heard of any kind of ‘pixie’ plate.

Great, just fantastic. He would have to cross reference every legendary and their assorted myths for any chance of uncovering such a thing with no other leads to go off. The possibility of being the first to discover such an artifact forgotten by history would have excited him in any other circumstance, but he could only curse himself for not considering the possibility sooner.

Now he was short a lackey and needed to come up with some sob story for the Galaxy fools, something about how she insisted on going to Mt Coronet immediately and he reluctantly accompanied her. She was ambushed by the clan leaders during the climb and he valiantly tried to save her, but one of them kept him at bay and he was forced to watch as she was brutally torn to pieces.

Yes, that could work. Especially if he put on a show of how remorseful he was for not stopping her from leaving in the first place. And perhaps that Rei kid would make an adequate replacement…

The clan leaders were still snarling and blows were punctuated with the high pitched yelps of a struggle between them, no doubt still fighting over the scraps. The merchant was already in a sour mood and quickly grew irritated with their incessant screeching and caterwauling while he was trying to think.

“Would you two shut up?!”

Volo wheeled around to see the dumb beasts scrabbling and clawing at each other, the dewott nowhere in sight. A cold flash of comprehension seized him as he realized they failed to finish the job and the girl escaped.

“No! Idiots!” he shrieked, angrily flapping his wings as he landed between the opposing leaders. The snarling continued as they reluctantly backed off from each other. Low growls warned that their animosity not forgotten in the face of the togekiss’s ire, hackles still raised and fur bristling. But neither dared start a fight with him stomping about and cursing under his breath.

“Shit! Now what am I going to do?” He was tempted to keep yelling at them to vent his frustration, but they wouldn’t be able to understand or care about their screwup.

There was no way Dawn wouldn’t tell everyone what went down here; he couldn’t return to the retreat and no one would trust him. Volo would be shocked if there wasn’t a manhunt for his involvement and he’d be lucky if the Galaxy Team caught up to him before the Nobles did. Could he find the last plate before the Survey Corps located it or they found him?

A lightbulb went off and he realized he didn’t have to. Those bandits staying at the retreat would do anything for money, never understanding the true value of what they were stealing. Pay them any meagre price they sought and they would swipe the retrieved plate from right under everyone’s noses. Dawn and the remainder of the Survey Corps would think the race was on, but it wouldn’t matter who found it first.

Either way, Hisui’s end was inevitable and Volo would have his audience.

—————————————-

Dawn shivered as she remained hidden in a tree hallow within the alpha electivire’s territory, the last notes from her Celestica flute fading down the mountainside. As much as she was tempted to replay the summon and spur the Noble towards her hiding place, Lady Sneasler wouldn’t get there much faster and it risked drawing the attention of Volo or the clan leaders if they followed her. There was nothing she could do but wait for the Lady of the Cliffs to arrive and take her back to the retreat.

The cold wind stung her injuries, but her face burned more strongly with shame. How could she face the Survey Corps and explain how her naïveté lost them all the plates and handed a megalomaniac the power to destroy the world?

It might already be too late; Volo could already have the dragons under his control or be face to face with Arceus right now and everything would disappear without even a moments notice.

She had doomed everyone by foolishly trusting again. Dawn, Champion of Sinnoh and star member of the Survey Corps, fell for the lies of an obvious conman only to be used and cast aside once again.

Was she really that much of an idiot?

#pokerus au #submas #legends arceus #pokemon #pla #writing

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mercurygray · 8 months ago

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Apologies Owing

Well, they're finally here - the pilots, that is. The base's WACs have some opinions they'd like to share.

A follow up to this piece - and an announcement! I'll be trying to post all of Cord's drabbles on AO3 at Pavilioned In the Fields.

The talk over dinner was about nothing but the officers.

There was no consensus yet, it seemed, over who was the handsomest. Netta was stumping for Brady, the one who'd ridden his fort straight into a rut in the middle of the airfield and had walked away without a scratch, but Anita and Mary Dacre both wanted to speak of no one but DeMarco - or rather, the dog he'd brought with him, who had kindly consented to pets and treats and much crooning while his owner stood by and beamed at himself for the genius idea of getting the husky to find his Friday night dates for him. (Mae, too, seemed taken by the idea of the dog, though she was a little too world-wise to let the pup's gorgeous blue eyes win her over to his owner.)

"I liked the one that blew us a kiss," Nina said, almost loyally, still mooning into her soup about it nearly three hours later, elbow firmly planted on the table while she started wistfully into space. "What'd you say his name was, Phoebe?"

"Biddick," Phoebe said, wisely taking the middle road and saying nothing about anything apart from name, rank and serial number, reaching around Nina's elbow for the salt. "Curtis Biddick. Flies with Richard Snyder."

"The one who looks like Leslie Howard?" Becky looked like that was more her speed. "Now there's a man I'd let do a few close maneuvers."

"Curtis Biddick," Nina smiled dreamily, staring off into space obviously having heard nothing Becky had said. "It was so romantic."

"You gotta watch out for boys like that, Nina, they're usually more trouble than they're worth," Mae said, locking eyes with Phoebe across the table and exchanging abbreviated smiles.

"You all can have fun with the squaddies, but I feel like aiming a little higher," Ethel said with a cutthroat grin, inspecting the arch of her brow in the convex of her soup spoon. "That blonde who drove in with Major Egan looks like he really could be in pictures."

"Cleven," Phoebe supplied, before anyone could ask. "Major Gale Cleven. He's Egan's best friend, apparently. He came up to tower, didn't he, Cord? With Major Egan and Demarco?"

"He did," Cord said, non-committal while she wiped some sauce off the corner of her mouth and considered whether she wanted to try chasing down the last of her peas. "Seemed nice enough."

"Hmmm." Ethel looked unimpressed, and perhaps a little put out that Cord, of all people, had gotten an eye in to the main chance that she clearly couldn't appreciate properly. "Nice enough to have a girl at home?"

But no one ventured an answer for her - the half of the table that was facing the doorway all clammed up at same time as the man himself approached the table, uniform immaculate and blond hair swept just so over his very handsome face. The table stood up as one, Nina accidentally flinging her spoon into her bowl with a clatter.

"Ladies. Was wondering if I might have a word alone with Lieutenant Callaway." His voice was all gravitas and gravel, and Ethel looked like she'd die of envy the way she was glaring across the table at her lieutenant.

Mae's eyes, on the other hand, flashed with delight, and Cord looked around the table to see that nearly everyone else was smiling the way girls smiled when they thought you had something to keep a secret about. She felt hot with betrayal. Now just what do you all think - "I think we're all finished, Major, we can leave," Mae offered, gesturing to the rest of the table to get going. "We'll catch you up, Cord." Mae promised, beaming back at her friend, following the rest of the group out the door and back to barracks.

Cord took a breath and studied her shoes for a moment, hoping that none of that heat had made it to her face, and Cleven hadn't seen any of their hinting smiles - or heard what Ethel had just said. She waited until the crowd cleared the door to speak. "Sir?"

"Seems I owe you an apology, Lieutenant."

Whatever she'd been expecting him to say ...wasn't that. "…What for, sir?"

Cleven's gaze was patient, though it looked like that patience was being tested a little at the moment. "Whatever John's done here for the last month."

It took Cord more than a moment to realize he was talking about Bucky Egan. She'd plumb forgotten his first name was John, if she'd ever known it at all. He introduced himself to everyone as Bucky. "…that's very kind of you, Major Cleven, but I'm not sure that's your apology to make, sir."

"Well, a fellow can try." He smiled - a brief thing - and Cord realized why Ethel thought he'd do well in movies. Underneath those baby blue eyes ran some very, very still waters. Well, they'd have to be, to have Egan for a friend. "He - he means well, usually. He's just not…real good at thinking things through sometimes."

You can say that again. "That's…not a quality one looks for in an executive officer, if you don't mind me saying, sir."

Cleven chuckled - a sound Cord was getting the impression most people didn't hear very often. "No, it most certainly is not. But he has others - a damn fine flyer, a good man to have with you in a fight, and a - a good friend."

The quiet fortitude was growing on her - a strong contrast to Egan's boisterous take-all-comers antics. And he'd come here, when he didn't have to, when nothing said he even needed to, to apologize, on the sole basis of one meeting this morning where she'd stood her ground and been short with his friend. He noticed things, Major Cleven did - and that counted for something. "He must be, to have you making apologies for him on your first day here."

Again, the smallest of smiles. "He'd do the same, if it had been me that had stepped wrong. I'm just trying to…pay the favor forward." He took a breath, and looked at his shoes. "He, ah - he mentioned you were from Ohio."

"Dayton," Cord supplied, wondering when this had turned from an apology into an interview.

"Pretty prime flying country out there at Wright-Patterson," Cleven said quietly, glancing at her with softly curious eyes.

"Yes, sir, it is. I practically grew up there - my dad worked on the base, as an engineer. Worked pretty close with the test pilots."

"Is that how you got into the tower?"

"More or less, sir."

"Heard Brady say you were the calmest voice alive, talking him in today."

The 'for a woman' that had doubtless followed the original comment went unsaid, and Cord measured out her own smile. "Well, there's two types of pilots, sir - those who've had a belly landing, and -"

"-those who will." Cleven finished the old chestnut with a smile. "They teach you a lot about belly landings in Dayton, Lieutenant?"

Cord took a deep breath, remembering the rumbling, skating feeling of the plane underneath her, the nameless terror that the brakes no longer worked and her steering was in God's hands, waiting endlessly while the machine skidded heavily to a halt and she planned her exits, preparing to make a run for it. "A fair bit, sir."

"Hopefully we won't give you any more." He caught her gaze and held it. "Let me know, if he gives you any more trouble? We can't have our controller off her game."

She looked him in the eye and knew, instinctively, that he meant that, and if she said something, he would take her at her word - something not too many men on this base would do. That counted for something, too. "You'll be the first person I tell, Major."

He nodded, glad to be heard and understood, and turned to leave, before thinking of one last thing. "And maybe you'll let your friend know the girl at home is named Marge?" His smile was nearly imperceptible, and Cord almost laughed to see it. So he had heard. That's a very dry sense of humor you have there, sir. "Wouldn't want anyone …getting the wrong idea."

She nodded, happy that there was something here she could do for him. Oh, we're going to get along so well. "Of course, sir." Well, Ethel, serves you right. She could just see the other woman's face when she told her that Cleven was definitely off the market.

The understanding, it seemed, was mutual - Cleven gave a little nod and put his hand in his pocket. "Enjoy your evening, Lieutenant."

"And you, Major."

He went back outside, and Cord's eye followed him through the windows to the group of pilots joking and laughing in the road outside, probably getting ready to go into town. What reason could he have given for stopping in the mess hall? Or maybe he didn't need one. Egan hooked his arm around his friend's shoulders, and Cord caught a glimpse, again, of Cleven's fleeting smile - wider now, laughing with his friends as they set off for the village and the pub. And they're best friends? Well, they do say opposites attract.

Cord tidied her seat and exited the mess, surprised to see Mae was sitting on the bench outside the mess, apparently waiting. She got up as Cord stepped outside, grinning from ear to ear. "A word alone with Lieutenant Callaway, huh? You got something you want to share with the class, Cord?"

"Oh, buzz off, Mae. He just wanted to -" She paused, feeling, suddenly, that the apology was not for public consumption. "To thank me, for helping Brady land."

Mae nodded, a little impressed with the new Major. "The way she's going, I think Netta's gonna thank you too."

You can read more of Cord here on tumblr at her tag.

#i have written a thing #mercurygraypresents #tds cinematic universe #cordelia callaway #masters of the air x oc #masters of the air fanfic #john egan x oc #stop the presses everyone i have written gale cleven

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