polariity | Prisonstuck IX

[Dualscar holds on to him, gently stroking the back of his neck, and lets him cry. What can he even say that would be comforting? All he can do is hold him, and give him this brief interlude, this chance at life, this chance to read and eat oranges and be mostly free.]

[His fins are rotating, spinning and moving around his face, repeating I'm so sorry over and over again.]

I could... I could buy that helmsman. The neww one. The one wwho kept crying.

[It's a cold comfort, but it's the best he can do.]

Pleathe.

[He wishes he could do more. He wants to do more than just rely on Dualscar to free one suffering psionic when there are so many more in the world and in open space, forced to live their short lives in servitude and pain. Something. Anything.]

[But there's just this.]

I... Thomeone. For once. Thomeone needth to fucking get a break.

Okay.

[Dualscar waits for the inevitable question, knowing it's probably coming. He does, after all, have an entire fleet of ships under his command, all of whom could use an individual helmsman. In the meantime, he just holds the Psiioniic and rocks him back and forth, his fins fanning forward and lightly brushing the sides of the other troll's face.]

[Meanwhile, his mind is ticking through what he needs to do to acquire the young helmsman. He doesn't mention that by freeing her, the ship's captain will just buy another one. The Psiioniic is smart; he'll figure that out on his own.]

[He's already figured it out.]

[To be frank, it's the kind of thinking which helped to shackle him down before everything. Help one person, and another would take their place in suffering. Why bother?]

[Because doing nothing accomplished nothing.]

[After taking a few minutes to compose himself again, the Psiioniic takes a deep shuddering breath and straightens up. His hand passes over his face, clearing away the tears, and then he's staring at Dualscar. Another moment of silence before he can speak.]

How many?

[He doesn't explain further.]

In the Fleet? Several thousand.

[And that's just in the Naval Fleet, that's not even counting all the starships. But Dualscar chooses not to specify that. He also knows that isn't really what the Psiioniic is asking, and he meets his eyes before he continues.]

On my ships? None.

[Maybe a better troll- possibly stupider too- would just accept those words. But the Psiioniic can't just do that. Not with this, especially.]

That better not be a lie.

It's not!

[Despite the gravity of the situation, Dualscar can't help bristling a little. He gets enough shit from other officers about not using helmsmen, he doesn't need it from the Psiioniic too!]

No ship under my command uses one.

[There's a spark of an argument just waiting to grow into something bigger, but the Psiioniic doesn't do anything with it. He just slumps, nodding dimly.]

...Good.

Hey.

[Dualscar leans down, close enough to fan his fins forward and use them to cup the Psiioniic's face. He doesn't know why, but he likes touching the other troll with his fins, and using them to brush his skin. The Psiioniic hasn't complained about it, so Dualscar assumes that he doesn't mind.]

You're not the only one wwho doesn't like the helmsmen technology, all right? Wwhen wwe get that young one free... I knoww a blueblood wwho owwes me a favor. He can get the biowwiring out.

[Hopefully without killing her. It sounds like she hasn't been a helmsman long enough for the wires to really set in, which is hopeful.]

[Plenty don't like it, but so many still use it and that's the problem. But the Psiioniic doesn't say that. He just nods and sighs into that soft feathery touch. It's like nothing he's felt before, those fins against his face, and it's pleasant. Gently, he leans his head closer and brushes his lips against Dualscar's.]

Alright... Then it'sth a plan.

[The hands which had been tearing at everything just minutes before smooth out against Dualscar's chest.]

Thanksth...

[Shyly, Dualscar kisses him back, and his fins shiver lightly.]

Don't thank me just yet... I still have to talk to the ship's captain.

[He glances down at the silent device.]

I should do that noww, actually. The sooner I get things arranged... the sooner she's free.

You made the offer. I'll thank you enough for that.

[The Psiioniic has been trying to not look at the device. Instead, he simply pulls away from Dualscar reluctantly and stands up. He goes to pat his drone, who had been looking about as nervous as a drone could be.]

...I'm going to go to the library, alright? Let me know how it goeth.

[He's not sure he wants to listen into that conversation.]

[If Dualscar doesn't particularly want to have the conversation, the Psiioniic definitely doesn't want to listen to it.]

Yeah. I'll be up soon to tell you howw it goes.

[Once the Psiioniic and his drone are gone, Dualscar turns the device back on and makes the call. Twenty minutes of arguing over price, fielding jibes about "finally upgrading," and forcing laughter at jokes that just aren't funny, and he's the proud new owner of a junior helmsman.]

[Immediately afterwards, he makes a call to his blueblood acquaintance, and after ten minutes or so of ritualistic hoofbeastshittery, manages to secure a visit in a few days to have biowiring removed.]

[He goes up to the library to tell the Psiioniic the good news.]

[In the half hour Dualscar has spent talking with people, a book fort has been made in the library. At least, it is most certainly some sort of structure made rather expertly out of a great many books. The... entrance seems to have a few oranges placed oddly in front of it, as if they tumbled out from the inside.]

[...Yes, he made a book fort to get rid of nervous energy.]

[Yes, he stuffed oranges inside of it.]

[Yes, he is hiding inside of it.]

[Fucking fight him about it.]

[In all seriousness, it was normally highbloods who had a tendency towards making piles of one item or another to curl up on so that something could calm their dangerous emotional instability. Lowbloods generally were more calm and less of a threat to either themselves or others. However, even they had the latent instinct towards piles if things got too much... and as Dualscar had pointed out once, the Psiioniic was about as mercurial as a blueblood.]

[His drone is sitting obediently outside of the book structure, and perks up at Dualscar's arrival.]

[Dualscar examines the structure, bemused. This isn't the first book pile that's been built in this library, and it probably won't be the last one either, but it is definitely the first one that might get some use.]

[He crouches down outside it, gathering the escaped oranges and--because there's no one around to see, not even the Psiioniic--gives the drones a few affectionate pats on the head.]

Hey. Can I come in?

[A small surprised chirrup escapes the drone, since it's usually the Psiioniic who shows it affection, but it is more than happy to take what it can get.]

[Inside the pile, the a pair of dimly glowing eyes can be seen peeking out before the Psiioniic reaches out, the tips of his fingers just barely managing to press against Dualscar's wrist.]

Yeah. Ith it bad newth? I'm prepared for that.

[The kind of tone hints at someone who is used to bad news, but would love for it to be different.]

[Shush, drone. You'll blow Dualscar's cover!]

[Meanwhile, the seadweller crawls inside the book fort/pile. The space inside isn't really big enough for two adult trolls, but that just makes it nice and cozy. He squeezes in next to the Psiioniic and catches his hand, giving it a gentle pat.]

She's getting dropped off tomorrow.

...Oh.

[As they are now, they're flushed chest against chest and the Psiioniic has to look into Dualscar's face. There's a slightly dazed look in his eyes, as if he can't quite believe this is happening to him- something good.]

With... biowiring, or removed..?

... still with biowwiring, I'm afraid.

[Please understand, Psiioniic... he had to tell her current owner he'd be using her as a helmsman to get him to sell her. Moreover, when she's dropped off, he'll have to act like that is still a thing that is happening.]

But in a couple days, another troll I knoww wwill come by and take the wwiring out.

[He tries to look reassuring as he looks into the Psiioniic's face.]

Wwe can drug her in the meantime, if the wwires are too painful.

Right. [He exhales sharply through his teeth and sags just a bit.] Right. We'll jutht have to wait then.

[Ducking his head, he curls up against Dualscar and holds him tight. The seadweller might be a ridiculous, mercurial, and vulnerable idiot, but bless him, he was nice and sturdy to press up against. Right now, he just needs that for a second.]

...I with I could do thomething about her pain. If I had my thyionicth, maybe I could do thomething, but... I'm utheleth right now.

[Hey, it's not exactly like the Psiioniic is the height of mental health and stable behavior!]

[Dualscar awkwardly puts his arms around the Psiioniic, holding him close, and paps nervously at the back of his head. His psionics... yeah. If he had his psionics available, he could do a lot for the young helmsman that is about to arrive. He could also tear the hive apart, right down to its atoms, and destroy everything.]

[He could run away. And Dualscar wouldn't be able to stop him.]

Maybe...

[His voice trails off.]

[And that's why he's clinging, isn't it?]

[There's no expectation for Dualscar to understand. How could he? The Psiioniic knows he certainly didn't. His powers were a curse that were destroying him slowly until it eventually came to a head, and that is all he had known.]

[And then he stopped an avalanche just by willing the rocks to stop. He shot concentrated energy from his eyes, and yet could make it softer, gentler, let it make those he cared about feel good by directing it just right. He could step off the ledge and keep going, keep rising higher and higher and there was nothing like that miraculous feeling and...]

[Sometimes, he's bitter at Dualscar. Bitter at everything. He had so much before he was captured. And now... it's gone.]

[The Psiioniic holds onto him even tighter.]

We'll need to get her clotheth.

Something yelloww.

[Dualscar nods, not really thinking about clothing or yellow dye or anything, and holds the Psiioniic a little tighter.]

You could... help her... wwith the pain?

Maybe...

[With this, it's like they're clinging because they might fall apart if they don't. The Psiioniic can't say he minds it right now.]

There'th not a lot I can do. [A bitter chuckle.] I hate thith... Being tho weak. I thought I etchaped that.

[Who is to say that Dualscar wouldn't fall apart if he let the Psiioniic go?]

I meant... if it wweren't for this...

[He reaches up and taps the psionics-cancelling helmet lightly.]

You'd be able to stop the pain?

whelp, for a thread that started with a prank, this got real very quickly

how do we *do* that

miracles

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how do we do that