(no subject)
Title: Dune (7/8)
Authors:
butterflyweb and
nemesis_cry
Genre: Sci Fi, AU to our "Acts" AU
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairing: Yunho/Yoochun
Summary: Enemies as members of opposing factions, they have to fight to survive as they are landed in unusual circumstances
Warnings: swearing, violence and sexual themes.
AN: Inspired by the premise of Barry B. Longyear's Enemy Mine.
AN2: Not a formal part of our multi-chaptered Acts of Contrition and Acts of Insurrection storyline but using elements of both.
Chapter 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6
Their palms sweat as they clasp hands, in silent support, in a bid for reassurance. The ships are a startling silver in the high sun, despite the clouds that his words lend. Only two options to consider with a fleet this size. Guard or rebel. Him or Yoochun. One of them's as good as dead.
Most fly on overhead, few lingering like bees to scan this area of the desert. It's no different from all others, but they're unmissable.
One sets down on the crest of a neighboring dune, hatch opening after barely a moment.
Yunho swallows thickly. "One of yours?"
Yoochun tightens his grasp on his hand and Yunho can hear the unspoken promise. "I don't...we don't use syndicated crafts. I can't..I can't tell."
He smiles because there's something depressing in going to the gallows with morbid thoughts in mind. "I'm sorry I threw our ammo away."
"It's okay. You thought I was going to use it to kill you." Yoochun shrugs. What feels like an eternity ago, Yunho knows he probably would have. And he probably wouldn't have blamed him for it. "It wouldn't do us any good now anyway," he sighs and Yunho grabs his arm.
"They're not Guard."
One of them is safe, then, Yunho thinks, chin raised. It should be enough. The vice-like grip on his hand tightens further. "Yunho..."
He doesn't have time to finish. Cheerful 'hello's' are thrown their way, drowning out all hope for preparation. Not that there's anyway they can prepare themselves to face this end. Three figures descend from the bird-like ship, the wings elevated while it's settled on the uneven ground.
"Put in a good word for me," Yunho smirks wholly without humor. Tear-stained eyes meet his own and he has to look away, fighting not to chastise the other man for his weakness. Not now.
He let's go of Yoochun's hand.
"We come in peace!" one of the figures, a man with a jovial face, calls out to them, heaving deep breaths as he climbs up to stand before them. His clothes are plain and cheap, no flightsuit in sight, but instead a foolish little hat poised atop a headful of white tuffs. "There now. Take us to your leader."
A younger man follows. "Father..." He shakes his head, putting out a hand to Yunho. "We all thought the scanners were lying to us when they started reading lifesigns. I'm Shin."
The older man continues as if uninterrupted, much to Yunho's surprise and suspicion. "Did you crash here?"
Yoochun looks at him startled, before answering the man's question. "Yes, we...about two months ago. We've been stranded since."
"Gods above! And you survived?" He gives out a low whistle, hands at his sides. "Shocking. Absolutely shocking."
No question of their affiliation, no interrogation, no guns. What is going on?
"Sir," he speaks up, eyeing the man and his son. "Forgive me, but...what are your allegiances?"
Yunho squares his jaw, expecting the worst.
"Allegiances?" the old man shares a laugh with his son, the third figure, another man in more official attire shaking his head before he can reply. "There are no allegiances anymore. We're settlers on this planet."
Shin opens his arms wide. "War's over!"
***
Strange that after only two short months he would be rediscovering so many things he'd taken for granted. From a hot bath and meal to clean, well-worn clothing to the end of a war that had begun before his lifetime.
Yoochun sits curled into himself in quarters he's been given, staring blankly at a holoscreen and watching the same, damning transmissions over and over. He can't even be excited, even as all he's worked for comes to be before his eyes. The Empress might as well have put a knife in his heart and twisted it.
Co-regency. Capitulation. Compromise. The words are repeated, news reporters going through them like they're rote and he has to still his hands before he attacks the screen and their smiling, fake images. It would be childish, animalistic. Yunho, from his perch on the couch two feet away, wouldn't understand.
In the end, he settles for shutting off the program and staring into the flat wall behind it instead. That, if nothing else, draws the other man's attention.
"What?"
He shakes his head, half in dismissal, half in negation. What can he say? You were supposed to have lost? The Guard's loss means things for Yunho that Yoochun doesn't dare contemplate, nor wish upon him. But this...it's all been in vain. The crash, the city...Jaejoong. All unavenged because she's simply given in.
In the bathroom, he thinks of the shaving kit of all the tools he has at his disposal to harm himself. To harm Yunho. The thought is bittersweet and sick like the taste of vomit on his tongue. He pushes it all away and forces a smile that he knows must look tired and fake when the men they met on the dunes days ago enter unannounced.
Old Man whose name no one ever uses, not even his son, seems as cheerful as ever, oblivious to all but the rapidly growing city around them when before all that was here was sand and snakes and fear. "How are you, how are you?" he greets, an old fashioned bow half formed before he drops heavily into a chair. "Enjoying your accommodations?"
Yoochun's smile is tight and rapidly fading. "Yes, thank you." What else does the man want from him? 'It's wonderful to see what you've done with the place?' Strange that it isn't until he's been found that he feels this lost.
"We'd love for you to stay, there's so much to do and see and... do..." The Old Man trails off, recovering his train of thought only when Yunho stands as well. "Oh, did you know about the sandstorms here? We thought we were prepared for them when we saw them from space, but this is just... incredible! Incredible."
The captain who picked them up and who seems to trail Shin at every turn offers a tight smile. "Our shields are holding but it must have been difficult." He nods to himself, as if remembering something that needs adding. "I tried contacting your old ships, but of course, with the way things have changed lately..."
Yunho folds his arms, says nothing. Yoochun reads annoyance on his face and tries to ignore it.
Shin misreads it completely. "We've managed to secure passage to your homeworlds, though," he hurries to add, smiling hesitantly as he gazes from one pilot to the other. Yoochun imagines they must look like heroes to him. He knows better.
"When?" Yunho asks quietly, and the word is like a stab in the back. Yoochun ducks his head, staring at the floor. Back home. Elysia. What's left for him there? A razed village and a bunch of hard-up johns? Yunho will still have a place in the Guard, a trained soldier, a valued pilot. Who is he?
"Tomorrow at noon, Arrakis time," the Old Man announces. "We named this beauty Arrakis, in honor of the great battle. Magnificent victory by our Lady." He shakes his head as if he gives a fuck and Yoochun wants to punch him. "So many lives lost. Still, all for great purpose. It truly is a new era. Have you watched the broadcasts? Our Empire has missed its rightful leader, we just didn't know it."
Yunho barely hides a snort of disbelief, kicking up his feet. Yoochun hates him for it. "You really think this... partnership will last?" he asks to the room at large, an eyebrow arched and eyes cold.
"Of course I do," the Old Man grins. "It's been sealed by holy marriage before the Gods, hasn't it? What's more definite than that?"
He thinks he's going to be sick.
***
He's stopped watching the same scene over and over again. The end of the war. So pointless.
The whole affair disgusts him, from the Old Man's condescending attempts to relate to their struggle, to the world they are forced to return to. Marriage between the Admiral and the Whore. To think one of his own would stoop so low...
He presses his nails into the sofabed, waiting until they've left imprints in the synthetic fiber. They're not deep enough to rip the damn material and he stops himself from trying.
Yoochun moves from room to room, restless. Loud. No doubt relieved.
Why wouldn't he be? Yunho thinks with distaste. Compromise is failure and the Guard, his enemy, has made a spectacular one. He sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and trying not to snap at him.
"Will you just stand still? You're giving me a damn headache."
The other stops by the window, shoulders hunched in the shadow of a building that wasn't there yesterday. Already, the face of the planet is changing. Yunho finds it all rather distasteful. As with any worthy enemy, he's come to respect this god-forsaken rock. He doesn't want it changed. But then, what he wants doesn't seem to be anyone's concern.
"You should be sleeping," Yoochun comments, his voice so low he can barely hear it. "You're going to be leaving in twelve hours."
Yunho bites his tongue. "So are you."
The other man shows no reaction, his shoulders tense and hunched over. Yunho looks away.
In the end, he's first to rise and go into the bedroom. Moments later as he slips naked under the sheets, he hears the other man close the door behind him.
Authors:
butterflyweb and
nemesis_cry
Genre: Sci Fi, AU to our "Acts" AU
Rating: R to NC-17
Pairing: Yunho/Yoochun
Summary: Enemies as members of opposing factions, they have to fight to survive as they are landed in unusual circumstances
Warnings: swearing, violence and sexual themes.
AN: Inspired by the premise of Barry B. Longyear's Enemy Mine.
AN2: Not a formal part of our multi-chaptered Acts of Contrition and Acts of Insurrection storyline but using elements of both.
Chapter 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6
Their palms sweat as they clasp hands, in silent support, in a bid for reassurance. The ships are a startling silver in the high sun, despite the clouds that his words lend. Only two options to consider with a fleet this size. Guard or rebel. Him or Yoochun. One of them's as good as dead.
Most fly on overhead, few lingering like bees to scan this area of the desert. It's no different from all others, but they're unmissable.
One sets down on the crest of a neighboring dune, hatch opening after barely a moment.
Yunho swallows thickly. "One of yours?"
Yoochun tightens his grasp on his hand and Yunho can hear the unspoken promise. "I don't...we don't use syndicated crafts. I can't..I can't tell."
He smiles because there's something depressing in going to the gallows with morbid thoughts in mind. "I'm sorry I threw our ammo away."
"It's okay. You thought I was going to use it to kill you." Yoochun shrugs. What feels like an eternity ago, Yunho knows he probably would have. And he probably wouldn't have blamed him for it. "It wouldn't do us any good now anyway," he sighs and Yunho grabs his arm.
"They're not Guard."
One of them is safe, then, Yunho thinks, chin raised. It should be enough. The vice-like grip on his hand tightens further. "Yunho..."
He doesn't have time to finish. Cheerful 'hello's' are thrown their way, drowning out all hope for preparation. Not that there's anyway they can prepare themselves to face this end. Three figures descend from the bird-like ship, the wings elevated while it's settled on the uneven ground.
"Put in a good word for me," Yunho smirks wholly without humor. Tear-stained eyes meet his own and he has to look away, fighting not to chastise the other man for his weakness. Not now.
He let's go of Yoochun's hand.
"We come in peace!" one of the figures, a man with a jovial face, calls out to them, heaving deep breaths as he climbs up to stand before them. His clothes are plain and cheap, no flightsuit in sight, but instead a foolish little hat poised atop a headful of white tuffs. "There now. Take us to your leader."
A younger man follows. "Father..." He shakes his head, putting out a hand to Yunho. "We all thought the scanners were lying to us when they started reading lifesigns. I'm Shin."
The older man continues as if uninterrupted, much to Yunho's surprise and suspicion. "Did you crash here?"
Yoochun looks at him startled, before answering the man's question. "Yes, we...about two months ago. We've been stranded since."
"Gods above! And you survived?" He gives out a low whistle, hands at his sides. "Shocking. Absolutely shocking."
No question of their affiliation, no interrogation, no guns. What is going on?
"Sir," he speaks up, eyeing the man and his son. "Forgive me, but...what are your allegiances?"
Yunho squares his jaw, expecting the worst.
"Allegiances?" the old man shares a laugh with his son, the third figure, another man in more official attire shaking his head before he can reply. "There are no allegiances anymore. We're settlers on this planet."
Shin opens his arms wide. "War's over!"
***
Strange that after only two short months he would be rediscovering so many things he'd taken for granted. From a hot bath and meal to clean, well-worn clothing to the end of a war that had begun before his lifetime.
Yoochun sits curled into himself in quarters he's been given, staring blankly at a holoscreen and watching the same, damning transmissions over and over. He can't even be excited, even as all he's worked for comes to be before his eyes. The Empress might as well have put a knife in his heart and twisted it.
Co-regency. Capitulation. Compromise. The words are repeated, news reporters going through them like they're rote and he has to still his hands before he attacks the screen and their smiling, fake images. It would be childish, animalistic. Yunho, from his perch on the couch two feet away, wouldn't understand.
In the end, he settles for shutting off the program and staring into the flat wall behind it instead. That, if nothing else, draws the other man's attention.
"What?"
He shakes his head, half in dismissal, half in negation. What can he say? You were supposed to have lost? The Guard's loss means things for Yunho that Yoochun doesn't dare contemplate, nor wish upon him. But this...it's all been in vain. The crash, the city...Jaejoong. All unavenged because she's simply given in.
In the bathroom, he thinks of the shaving kit of all the tools he has at his disposal to harm himself. To harm Yunho. The thought is bittersweet and sick like the taste of vomit on his tongue. He pushes it all away and forces a smile that he knows must look tired and fake when the men they met on the dunes days ago enter unannounced.
Old Man whose name no one ever uses, not even his son, seems as cheerful as ever, oblivious to all but the rapidly growing city around them when before all that was here was sand and snakes and fear. "How are you, how are you?" he greets, an old fashioned bow half formed before he drops heavily into a chair. "Enjoying your accommodations?"
Yoochun's smile is tight and rapidly fading. "Yes, thank you." What else does the man want from him? 'It's wonderful to see what you've done with the place?' Strange that it isn't until he's been found that he feels this lost.
"We'd love for you to stay, there's so much to do and see and... do..." The Old Man trails off, recovering his train of thought only when Yunho stands as well. "Oh, did you know about the sandstorms here? We thought we were prepared for them when we saw them from space, but this is just... incredible! Incredible."
The captain who picked them up and who seems to trail Shin at every turn offers a tight smile. "Our shields are holding but it must have been difficult." He nods to himself, as if remembering something that needs adding. "I tried contacting your old ships, but of course, with the way things have changed lately..."
Yunho folds his arms, says nothing. Yoochun reads annoyance on his face and tries to ignore it.
Shin misreads it completely. "We've managed to secure passage to your homeworlds, though," he hurries to add, smiling hesitantly as he gazes from one pilot to the other. Yoochun imagines they must look like heroes to him. He knows better.
"When?" Yunho asks quietly, and the word is like a stab in the back. Yoochun ducks his head, staring at the floor. Back home. Elysia. What's left for him there? A razed village and a bunch of hard-up johns? Yunho will still have a place in the Guard, a trained soldier, a valued pilot. Who is he?
"Tomorrow at noon, Arrakis time," the Old Man announces. "We named this beauty Arrakis, in honor of the great battle. Magnificent victory by our Lady." He shakes his head as if he gives a fuck and Yoochun wants to punch him. "So many lives lost. Still, all for great purpose. It truly is a new era. Have you watched the broadcasts? Our Empire has missed its rightful leader, we just didn't know it."
Yunho barely hides a snort of disbelief, kicking up his feet. Yoochun hates him for it. "You really think this... partnership will last?" he asks to the room at large, an eyebrow arched and eyes cold.
"Of course I do," the Old Man grins. "It's been sealed by holy marriage before the Gods, hasn't it? What's more definite than that?"
He thinks he's going to be sick.
***
He's stopped watching the same scene over and over again. The end of the war. So pointless.
The whole affair disgusts him, from the Old Man's condescending attempts to relate to their struggle, to the world they are forced to return to. Marriage between the Admiral and the Whore. To think one of his own would stoop so low...
He presses his nails into the sofabed, waiting until they've left imprints in the synthetic fiber. They're not deep enough to rip the damn material and he stops himself from trying.
Yoochun moves from room to room, restless. Loud. No doubt relieved.
Why wouldn't he be? Yunho thinks with distaste. Compromise is failure and the Guard, his enemy, has made a spectacular one. He sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose and trying not to snap at him.
"Will you just stand still? You're giving me a damn headache."
The other stops by the window, shoulders hunched in the shadow of a building that wasn't there yesterday. Already, the face of the planet is changing. Yunho finds it all rather distasteful. As with any worthy enemy, he's come to respect this god-forsaken rock. He doesn't want it changed. But then, what he wants doesn't seem to be anyone's concern.
"You should be sleeping," Yoochun comments, his voice so low he can barely hear it. "You're going to be leaving in twelve hours."
Yunho bites his tongue. "So are you."
The other man shows no reaction, his shoulders tense and hunched over. Yunho looks away.
In the end, he's first to rise and go into the bedroom. Moments later as he slips naked under the sheets, he hears the other man close the door behind him.