#this has been a keiraide original

[keiraide]

i’ve been having a lot of feelings about the locktie lately so here’s some drabbling and headcanons about what their relationship could’ve been (in my divergent au where everyone makes it to the events of s2). enjoy!

after fallen angels, Neil is bitter and ashamed. the revenge he pretty much lived for up to that point wasn’t all what he thought it would be. as far as they knew he did kill Ali but, CB--his second family--was in shambles. not all of it was his fault of course, but they probably would’ve been a bit better off if he hadn’t been so stubborn and blinded by rage. he was extremely hurt, physically and mentally but in true Lockon Stratos™ fashion, he tried to hold it together while recovering alongside Tieria and the others. Neil made a lot of stupid mistakes and finally reached the breaking point, but Lockon had to keep his fighting spirit so CB didn’t completely dissolve into nothing, so he put on his casual face, as if the tragedy they just experienced was already years behind them

Tieria had recovered a lot faster than everyone else given the nanomachines in his body (not that he is aware of this...yet) so he ends up helping the others with Feldt, usually just checking their vitals and letting the regeneration pods do their job. other times they go to into the sick rooms to deliver meals. and it’s during these times Neil and Tieria make conversation, the former keeping his smile up when the latter couldn’t. It’s during one of these visits to Neil’s room that sparks a change. Instead of his inviting demeanor, Tieria finds Neil in the middle of a breakdown. he’s shaking with his face in one of his hands, and there’s undeniably tears on his face.

Tieria is astonished and a little disturbed. not because he finds it trivial or weird, but because he’s never actually seen Neil in anguish. Angry? oh for sure, he never let anyone forget how much he hated terrorism. But...he was never sad or defeated like the man curled in on himself in front of Tieria. Or at least, he never let on that he was feeling these emotions. Even when he threw himself in front of Tieria and lost his eye, everyone was certain he was in an immense amount of pain, but he acted like it was nothing, just so Tieria wouldn’t feel guilty and no one would worry. Lockon did that. Who knows what Neil felt about it...then it really hit Tieria that Lockon, for the most part, was a front. Neil was probably a friendly and protective person regardless but he acted like he had no baggage. Like he had no burdens of his own to carry when he shouldered everyone else’s. And now here he was, having all of his trauma come crashing down on him because he never worked through it or put his head on someone else’s shoulder. Tieria owed a hell of a lot to Lockon, so maybe this was the right time to start returning the favor since locking him in his room for his protection didn’t seem to work.

Maybe it was because of the circumstances (i feel like a lot of this ship is based on those) and his mental state, but Neil immediately latched onto Tieria when the other attempted to placate him and when he calmed down, he opened up about seemingly every detail of his life that he could remember. Why he felt the need to do the latter part, Tieria couldn’t fathom but he was appreciative that Neil trusted him enough with the information. It made him really happy for some reason.

From there up to the rebuilding of CB, they end up spending more time together in the midst of working with the rest of the crew to get things in shape. Whether it’s testing their new tech, having meals in the mess hall, taking inventory, or just taking a break, they seemed to always be within arms reach of each other. Chris, normally the tease, refrains from saying anything about it since, well, the two needed the space to navigate with their relationship since it was a new experience for them both, there was a lot of emotional vulnerability to work through, and they hadn’t worked on making anything official yet

When they did finally have that conversation, Tieria was hesitant since he doesn’t have reproductive organs and worried Neil wouldn’t want to be destined for an asexual relationship. Neil assures him that with the kind of lives they live, that’s the least of his worries. Tieria is not adept with physical affection either, but he wanted to fulfill that aspect of the relationship for Neil at least, so they decide to take it slow. Wherever Tieria was comfortable, Neil would stay there

By episode 3/4, Neil ruffles Tieria’s hair--and Allelujah is shocked it doesn’t result in a beatdown. They hold and caress each other’s hands and arms when they’re alone

By episode 7/8, when Tieria is having an existential crisis about his newly found identity as an innovade, they hug for the first time. They occasionally cuddle if they happen to be together in either of their rooms late

It kinda settles there a while on Tieria’s side. Neil takes to kissing his forehead and cheeks and at some point Neil starts to think that’s where Tieria wants to stay indefinitely, until episode 18/19 (whatever episode has the scene where before they launch the meisters say the names of those they care about, may not even be the scene i think i’m thinking of since there’s a few epic, heartfelt ones but w’ever, i’ll go back and properly reference it later) Tieria, before climbing into Seravee, sheepish but determined, kisses Neil and he is over the moon. What Tieria doesn’t tell him is that he had a feeling this would’ve been the last time they could have a moment like that for a while. Annnnd he was right.

With the chaos of the rest of the reason, they don’t get time to progress beyond that and then Tieria loses his body. Neil is rightfully hurt about how it happens, but acknowledges his partner’s destiny and makes the most of it by talking to Tieria through Veda every chance he gets. As long as Tieria still exists in the world, that’s enough for Neil to keep fighting a good fight