#which must be some kind of stasis if they served the orokin for however long and never aged

[warlordfelwinter]

maprico

narin has valid questions about his tenno friend

~1k

[ao3]

++

The sun was setting over the plains, bathing Cetus in warm golden light. The market still hummed with sounds—a chorus of voices and laughter, bells and chimes tinkling in the breeze, loud calls of animals, the soft strum of music. The air smelled of the sea, of meals being cooked, of fresh fish and incense and spices. A perfect, peaceful evening, before night fell and the Eidolons began their mournful howls.

Not that the Eidolons would break the peace for Narin. He had grown up falling asleep to their cries, safe within the Unum’s embrace. The night would likely be far less peaceful for the Tenno who sat next to him in the scrubby grass, overlooking the market. They would be leaving the wall after dark, going out to hunt the massive sentients.

Narin couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to do such a thing. He’d seen an Eidolon from a distance once and that was close enough for him. It was hard, looking at Juno, to reconcile the youthful face and stature with someone who could take down a beast of that size. But they were a Tenno. The warframe that knelt motionlessly behind them was proof enough of that. The warframe that Narin had thought was the Tenno for the longest time. But the Tenno were children. Younger than Narin and yet infinitely older.

Millennia… Another difficult thing to believe about Juno. If he looked past their luminous eyes and the marring of their somatics, they looked like any other teen. They looked the same age as him. And yet they’d been alive during the Orokin Empire. Something that was just distant history to Narin. Stories he’d been told.

They’d been in stasis, the way they told it. When they were controlling their warframe, they were on a ship, far from here, their body held in stasis while their mind roamed. They could leave it now, as evidenced by their presence next to him, and it made Narin wonder if they aged when they were outside.

He wondered about a lot of things, with Juno. At the moment, as he watched Juno idly scratching the ears of the kubrow that dozed in their lap, he wondered about food.

Narin popped a small piece of rubad into his mouth, chewing. He’d brought a plate up here with him, with sliced fruit and nuts and cheese, drizzled with spiced honey. It had clearly been meant to be shared and yet Juno hadn’t touched any of it. Maybe they were just being polite about food they didn’t like, but Narin wondered…

“Do you eat?”

Juno blinked and looked at him. “What?”

“Do you eat?” Narin repeated. “You know, like food.” He put a piece of cheese into his mouth, demonstrably.

“I know what food is,” Juno said, frowning, and decidedly not answering Narin’s question.

“So that’s a no…?” he asked, slowly.

They looked away, color rising to their cheeks. “It’s… a… I don’t know,” they said.

“You don’t know?” Narin asked, laughing. “How do you not know??”

“I mean, I don’t,” Juno said, looking at him again. “I don’t eat. I don’t remember… ever… eating, but I must have at some point… before…”

Narin rested his chin on his hand, looking at them curiously. “So your… stasis thing keeps you… full?” he guessed.

“I suppose so,” Juno said. “I’ve never thought about it.”

“So… can you eat?” Narin asked. “If you wanted to.”

Juno stared at him for a moment, thinking. “I… don’t know,” they said, eventually.

Narin picked up a piece of maprico and slowly held it up in front of Juno’s face, watching those unsettling glowing eyes briefly cross to focus on it before returning to Narin’s face. He waggled the piece of fruit enticingly.

“You should find out.”

Juno held his gaze for a moment before they took the fruit. With an amount of caution that was almost comical, they opened their mouth and placed it inside. Almost immediately, their eyes widened slightly and a soft noise of surprise escaped their throat. They chewed slowly, their expression slowly morphing from one of surprised pleasure to increasing distress.

“Mm!—mmrmh!—why does it burn?!” they managed to demand after swallowing. They doubled over, coughing, and Narin burst out laughing. The spice of the honey was quite mild for Ostron standards, but for someone who hadn’t eaten in millennia…

Juno glared at him, which only made him laugh harder.

“Sorry, sorry,” he giggled. “Here, the cheese helps—”

“No,” Juno said, batting his hand away. “I think I’m done with food.”

“Ai yo! Behold the mighty Tenno, defeated by a piece of spicy fruit,” Narin declared. “We are all doomed.”

Juno stuck their tongue out at him and then disappeared, dissolving into light and being pulled backward into their frame. They shifted and stood, Nezha’s figure moving as naturally as if it was Juno’s own body.

Narin glanced at the sky, realizing it had gotten dark as they’d been sitting here. “Time for the hunt?” he guessed.

They nodded. As if on cue, the ululation of an Eidolon split the quieting air.

“Sho-lah. Good luck. I’ll make harpu for you next time.”

“Like I’m going to trust you about food again,” they said, voice synthesized and strange coming through Nezha.

“That one’s a drink,” Narin said.

“Whatever.” They shifted back and step and then launched off the overlook, twisting mid-air and flipping, landing on a roof and sprinting lightly along cords and fabrics, hardly seeming to touch anything before they were jumping again, impossibly agile. Their kubrow dutifully ran down the hill and chased after them.

Narin waved, watching until they were out the doors, and then dropped back onto the grass, looking up at the darkening sky. He reached blindly for the plate and grabbed a piece of fruit, dropping it into his mouth and chewing, savoring the warmth of the spices. He snorted to himself.

“Some killing machine.”