Metis, for Hyperlydian
Title: Metis
For: Hyperlydian
Pairing: Taohun
Rating: NC-17
Length: 5,500
Summary, potential warnings: The United Earth Colonial Space Syndicate (UECSS) Metis was just one ship of many launched with the mission of securing resources for humanity. Angst.
A toy plane soared through the air, it's shape blocking out the light of a setting sun. Sehun ran through hospital halls banking and spinning as he played in golden rays filtered through window blinds. Everything glowed soft and towered over him.
Sehun felt small, everything just out of reach.
A machine beeped next to a white bed and a woman look down at it. She was turned away from the window, face shadowed. She had hair the same color as Sehun and the same slope to her neck.
"Come here." Her voice was soft, carrying like a whisper. "Come say goodbye to your father."
He walked to the bed, standing on tiptoe to try and see the person under the bleached sheets and gauze bandages. Sehun couldn't find his dad. There weren't any knowing smiles and gentle hands. There were no wings on his chest, no captain's hat under his arm, no stories from abroad.
Sehun set his plane next to an unmoving hand. He nudged it. "Dad?"
"He can't hear you, sweetie." His mom's voice shook and so did her hand on his shoulder.
"Why?"
The beeping got louder, sound morphing into a deeper pitch and speeding up. His mom's head snapped upright. Desperation bubbled up, acidic and sharp as it cut at nerves and made the whole room shake. Turbulence struck, the plane taking a sudden dive. Air masks swayed in front of them but they were no use. The plane was going down.
His mom cried, sobbing out her final wishes, her hopes for Sehun. She sunk through the floor as his dad seeped into the bed.
They were gone.
The sun winked out.
Sehun squeezed his eyes tight, clicked his heels three times, and begged to be home.
The sun flickered back on and he was outside crouched down at the edge of the baseball field. The kids in his gym class ignored him. They played co-ed. Girls and guys were on the bases, some with gloves on their hand and some edging off the white squares ready to run. There was chatter from the benches and a teacher behind home plate with a booming voice and loud calls.
Sehun picked and the dirt, getting it under his nails and reciting lesions from biology class. The earth was solid under his finger. Alive. It was steady, there to catch his every step.
Kids cried out his name or horrible variations of it.
"Hey freak! Heads up!"
Sehun looked around with wide eyes, squinting at the sun and they laughed when he couldn't seem to pinpoint where the ball was in the sky. The open expanse above was vast, ever changing, temperamental, and erratic. The earth was a warm, sheltered embrace and sky was bitter reality. Sehun hated his reality.
The baseball hit him straight on, sending the world into a spinning vortex. Sehun couldn't see straight, ears ringing as high-pitched childhood taunts deepened to low-pitched beeping.
He squeezed his eyes shut, head throbbing as he blacked out everything but the feeling of the ground under him. He stayed rooted.
Eyes cracked open and everything was blindingly bright.
Sehun couldn't move. Noise was muffled and it mixed with the pulsing in his head. He was stiff, limbs dead weight and muscles like liquid. With a gasp, he sucked in thick, warm air. A face leaned over to hover close to his. Lips moved, but Sehun couldn't hear what the man was saying. It words droned through a clogged brain, heavy with sleep.
Blinking and panting, his vision cleared and sound started to filter in through the buzz in his system.
"Sehun, if you can hear me say, 'Yes.' Repeat. Oh Sehun, if you can hear me say, 'Yes.'" The man above him was talking, voice nasally and calm. There was an alarm in the background, a steady deep beeping and Sehun shook his head as if that would stop the sound. "Oh Sehun, if you can-"
"Yes." It's rushed and hoarse. The word tastes horrible, heavy as it carried with bad breath. He sat up with the man's help. Sehun recognizes him. Jongin, the 08-model synthetic assigned to their ship.
Synthetic eyes crescent at Sehun's response. "Welcome to 2123."
Sehun ran over bare skin. He peeled off suctioned sensors and took out his IV, registering the white bedding and glass casing of the cryo sleep chamber. Blue font glowed up at him from the pulled back cover.
Cryo Sleep: Dr Sehun Oh 05 23 2123
Current State: Sleep Abort
Sehun was confused. "It's supposed to be 2124." He turned to Jongin for an answer, but the android already moved on to the next person. There were six others chambers that flanked his, and the other members of the crew were waking up and coming to.
A voice called out; Sehun followed it to the first chamber. The captain, Kris sounded just as rough as Sehun.
"Jongin! Report! Why the fuck is an alarm blaring through the ship?"
"I'm sorry, captain." Jongin held a small smile. "It's a false alarm. Our course took the ship unexpectedly close to an asteroid. The proximity triggered a premature wake up in case there was an impact and a need for immediate evacuation."
Kris blinked slow, brow dipping together. He spoke through gritted teeth. "Did we collide?"
"No, captain."
"Then get rid of that fucking noise."
Jongin's smile never moved. It was uncanny, unnatural the way the action resembled a human gesture. "Yes, captain."
----------
After clean up, the first order of business was eating. The cryo sleep chambers were built to keep their bodies functioning with supplements filtered into the air feed through their IV needle. Sehun, along with the rest of the crew, had gone through three years where the only food they consumed was in their dreams.
The messdeck was brilliant white with shining metal appliances and glass tabletops. Sehun pulled out a chair and it scraped loud against the floor. No one talked. They simply ate, focused down on their enriched, mashed meal. It would be a week or more of build up until their bodies were ready for standard solids again.
When they were done, Kris gave the orders. "Meet me in the common room for a full situation briefing in an hour. Chanyeol, Jongin, and Kyungsoo with me. The rest of you are dismissed." His slammed down his spoon and was out of the room with ridged movements.
----------
Sehun roomed with Luhan. It was deemed appropriate, as they were, as Kris called them, the science twins. Luhan hated being lumped together with another person, but it was either rooming with someone who knew him well enough to avoid any sort of verbal, eye, or other appendage contact, or being stuck with someone who didn't know better.
Sehun took the bottom bunk while Luhan climbed into the top. They settled in their own ways. For Luhan that meant climbing under grey sheets and a matching wool blanket with eyes closed and steady breathing.
When he heard a sniffled snort coming from above, Sehun paused. It was amazing that after three years of sleeping, Luhan could be out so quickly.
There was a chest at either end of their beds. Fingers brushed against the digital keypad on the surface and Sehun opened the one marked with his name. Inside were his belongings-several variations of his SM uniform, personal clothing, this and that. He unpacked. Their room was a soft blue, pale and fresh like a morning sky. Sehun looked away from it, down at the white floor, over the white dresser bolted to the wall.
Time slipped through his fingers as he neatly folded fabric and touched open dresser drawers. He woke Luhan with a soft word and gentle nudge.
"It's time for the briefing."
Luhan groaned.
The common room matched the messdeck, with padded chairs, gaming tablets, and glass side tables. Kris stood at the front of the group with Chanyeol at his shoulder.
"It is in fact the year 2123, and we are approximately 9.6 light years from our target destination of LV-625. In other words, we were woken up 12 months ahead of schedule."
The crew was quiet as the looked between each other. Sehun glanced at Luhan to find him staring at the floor and picking at his bottom lip.
Chanyeol, acting as the assistant pilot, spoke up. "After verifying with Jongin, we do have enough food and water if we carefully monitor our consumption. Fuel-wise we are completely fine, same with oxygen."
"The only major problem," Kris took back over, "is the fact that we're all going to have to live together in close quarters for the next year. Hopefully, we get through this fine without any of you killing each other."
The assigned SM security personnel, Tao, asked, "Why don't we just use the chambers and go back to sleep?"
Luhan covered his mouth as he laughed, and he looked and sounded so charming. At least he did before spitting out, "Idiot."
Tao made a face so close to a pout. Sehun's focus lingered on it.
"The cryo sleep chambers were built for two uses." Jongin explained. "Each of the models used on the UECSS Metis can keep a person in a sleep state for up to six years. Once activated, that use is triggered and once stopped, that use is considered complete. Therefore, if you were to enter the chambers to sleep through the remainder of the journey to LV-625, you would be unable to use them for the return trip to Earth."
Tao's face fell as he sighed out, "Oh."
Kyungsoo rubbed his hands on his legs before standing. "Don't look like that, guys. We just dreamed through three years of our lives, and before you know it we'll be passed out for another four. We have this time to live. Think of it as an unexpected gift."
They were dismissed, everyone retreating to their quarters. Luhan didn't unpack, only grabbing his computer and leaving the room with their door swinging heavy behind him.
Sehun took in the empty space before flopping on his bed. He stared up at the smooth surface of the bunk above his. Letting his mind wander he closed his eyes. In a flash of dreams it's been three years since he left home. Without thinking he clicked his heels three times.
The United Earth Colonial Space Syndicate (UECSS) Metis and its crew of seven was just one ship of many launched from across the globe and several colonies into the great beyond. Each craft and crew had the same mission: Search for and secure land and resources for humanity. Their species was continuously growing, and to thrive, the United Earth's government launched a decade long program to send out exploration ships. Small runs have been successful in the past, and now long distance travel has been incorporated thanks to advanced FTL, or Faster Than Light, capable ships and improved cryo sleep mechanics.
Sehun had been nominated several times before to embark on the short distance explorations. His research in the field of geology has helped him make a name for himself. At 20 he declined his first offer. He worked with the earth, so his place was on Earth. More requests to join expeditions followed over the next few years until the head of his department pulled Sehun into his office and said, "You've been recruited by SM."
Otherwise known as Stellar Mass, SM was the private company hired by the government to manage the exploration program. Sehun swallowed.
"Sir, I am flattered by the offer, but I-"
"The briefing is tomorrow."
Sehun set his gaze straight, determined. He was not leaving Earth. "I decline."
"You don't have a choice. The government put the power in Steller Mass's hands. They picked you. You're going."
Sehun had gone blank trying to figure a way out. There hadn't been one.
His director smiled. "Don't look so glum. You'll have Luhan with you."
Sehun pulled his lips flat.
Shaking off memories, he curled upright, hunched in the space between his bed and Luhan's. Pulling out his own computer, he rolled out and locked the keyboard. A screen materialized and Sehun let his finger hover over the files on his desktop. He settled on UECSS Metis Crew Profiles.
Seven layered pages opened on screen. Sehun flipped through them as a refresher, reminding himself of names, faces, and positions.
Wu Yi Fan, 26, captain of the Metis and former United Earth Air Force. Left when the exploration started. Next to his profile, Sehun typed in, Goes by Kris or captain. Will not respond to anything else. They had learned that quickly during the first crew meeting.
Park Chanyeol, 25, assistant pilot of the Metis and former United Earth Air Force. He served in the same company as Yi Fan. They left the military together. Much friendlier than Kris. If you need anything or have questions, approach Chanyeol first.
Do Kyungsoo, 24, part-time chef full-time medic. He has been working with Yi Fan and Chanyeol since their first run. Soft smile and warm kindness.
Lu Han, 26, lead scientist. He specializes in biology-Sehun didn't read the rest. His fingers punched across the keyboard. Young. Brilliant. Beautiful. Sees people as scientific structures. Annoying ones.
Oh Sehun, 23, assistant scientist. He special-Sehun flipped to the next page.
Huang Zi Tao, 23, SM security personnel. Former Special Forces, pull from the field for the expedition.
Sehun stared at the photo animating on screen. Tao shifted in his seat before looking the camera head on. He portrayed a serious image, someone trained and professional. Sehun thought of pouting lips and downcast eyes. Fingers hovering over keys, he looked around, making sure he was alone. There was a rush of butterflies, wings brushing against Sehun's insides as he typed, Cute. In an instant he was on the next profile.
Kim Minseok, 26, mechanic. He previously worked exclusively on docked ships before this mission. Cheeky, nervous smile. Sure hands.
Jongin, part of the Jongin 08-model series of synthetic humans, or androids. He did not require food, water, sleep, or air. Built to have all the benefits of both a human and an android. Its emotional reception data bank is the most advanced on the market.
Sehun stared at Jongin's slowly blinking photo. He was flawless edges and curves. Sehun didn't type anything. What was there to say about a perfect being?
Pushing the computer aside, Sehun flopped on his back, arm thrown over his eyes. He wanted to be tired. It would be easy if he could just sleep through down time like Luhan. But he had already had slept enough to fill his quota for years to come. Dropping his arm, he looked up at the ceiling.
He was on a ship.
Take off had been terrifying. Everything trembled, shaking like airplane turbulence. Sehun had closed his eyes, blocking out images of death as he sweated through his suit. It was black, stark against the white seat he buckled into. But once they broke through the atmosphere, the ship was like a craft on calm water, drifting through a black ocean. It was serene and in the moment before sleep, Sehun had looked out into the void to see the Earth. Something warm had run through him. He wondered if it was the same feeling his dad had when he was soaring over the clouds, looking out onto wonder.
Sitting back up, Sehun grabbed his computer again. A blank document opened and the cursor stood at attention, blinking steady until orders were given. The clock in the upper right said it was 4:31AM. It didn't feel like it, but now was a good a time as ever to start a new story. Sehun typed.
Spring. I woke up.
----------
Lights went out at 10PM, a mandate from Kris to help them keep some sort of normalcy. The first few months passed like that. Lights on, lights off. There was no night, of course, because that would have meant there was a day. Sehun glanced out the window in the messdeck. There was just dark with specks and streams of light.
Luhan stayed in their room when he could. When he wasn't typing, glasses on and hair piled on his head, he was eating, getting crumbs on his bed then brushing them off. And when he wasn't eating, he was sleeping, cheek pushed up from his pillow and mouth partway open.
Sehun would sometimes play with the sleeping dragon to see how close he could get before Luhan woke up and roared. While awake, Luhan snapped, baring his teeth if someone so much as brushed him in the narrow passageways. Asleep, Sehun crossed dangerous lines. He pulled crooked glasses off a perfect face, brushed back stray hairs, folding down a kicked off blanket.
But regardless of the lighting and regulation, Sehun couldn't find his way into sleep. While the others were tucked away for the night, he would wandered, socked feet gliding over smooth floors. Like a ghost, he drifted. An oversized hoodie hung from his frame and over his eyes. He snuck into the bridge where Kris and Chanyeol couldn't see him. He curled up on the floor to look through thick panes of glass and out into the unknown. It felt like the galaxy was passing by rather than the Metis sailing through the stars. With the black so deep and the lights so distant, Sehun suddenly felt small, everything just out of reach. Head tilted to the side and temple rested on his knee, he watched how space went on forever.
"You should go to bed." Chanyeol's voice was deep, the quiet tone prominent in the dark room. Sehun turned, ready with a stuttered explanation, only to find no one behind him.
"I told you I'm fine." It was Kris. He sounded tired.
"The autopilot is set, at the very most only one of us needs to monitor the system."
Sehun hunched down, walking on tiptoe until he could he see the two men behind side by side control stations. Their faces were lit from the screens in front of them. Kris's lines looked harsh, Chanyeol's were smooth.
"Did you dream when you sleeping?" Kris turned to Chanyeol and Chanyeol dipped his head.
"Yeah."
"About who?"
"Kris." It was a plea.
Kris pressed on. "I dreamt of you."
There was nothing after that and the words they didn't say were the ones that spoke volumes. Sehun looked between them, eyes wide and stomach twisting. He shouldn't have listened.
He left the bridge before he could hear anything else, wandering back to the common room. To the left was his quarters, to the right was Minseok and Tao's. Sehun sat on one of the plush chairs between them. He tried to press out thoughts of the two in the bridge, covering his ears and closing his eyes. His head replayed the conversation again and again until finally it was drowned out. Music floated in. the sound was faint, a steady driving beat and feather-light vocals. It came from the room to the right. Sehun told himself not to look.
But he did anyway.
The door was cracked open, Minseok asleep in the bottom bunk and Tao on the floor. A lamp next to him bathed the surface in a harsh yellow light and casted sharp contrasts across Tao's form as he huffs through sit-ups. He was shirtless and his skin shined. Slick dips moved in perfect lines to form abs while curves caressed shoulders and arms.
If Luhan's beauty came from soft features and bright eyes, then Tao's was found in sharp edges and dark features. He captured everything Sehun wasn't, and it was captivating.
With a final grunt, Tao pulled up one last time before sprawling out, breathing erratic. The sight was almost intimate and Sehun flushed, his own breath catching in a soft hitch. Tao heard it.
Pushing up and around on elbows, Tao's eyes met Sehun's. There was just the sound of the music between them, and Sehun's heart jumped in his chest, beat matching that of the music's.
Tao smiled. Sehun ran.
----------
Summer. I need to sleep.
Spring held curiosity, the ship had a buzz during the day as people explored, discovered, talked. By Summer there wasn't anything left for them to do, to say. People started getting on each other's nerves. Minseok tinkered, passing the days with unnecessary projects. He clanked and banged, Jongin at his side to assist with the same smile day in, day out.
The sound echoed through the ship, and it made Luhan crazy.
"What the fuck is he even doing?" Luhan vented into the room. There was a pillow over his head.
"Just trying to stay busy." Sehun offered.
"I wasn't asking you." Luhan flipped over, rocking the bed. "I just want to get some sleep."
There was always noise, he said. Noise, noise, noise. Sehun hadn't noticed it before, but after Luhan's fit he heard it. The rumble of the engine, the low buzz of the equipment, and the clicks of the ventilation. Luhan would eventually find his sleep, but the sound turned on Sehun. He still couldn't sleep.
The lights were out, and Sehun found himself in the common room. He couldn't focus on anything but the high-pitched hum coming from the speaker lines. Game tablet in hand, he tried to distract himself with the goal of a new high score, but the hum always broke through his concentration. He gripped the tablet until it left intends in his hands, squeezing, squeezing. Then, the music was back.
Sehun's heart picked up, rushing with his steps. The door was cracked, Tao grunting again, working through rolls up and down. The music floated over him, over everything and Sehun let his back hit the wall next to the door. He faced away from the room, keeping as quiet as he could as he slid down to the floor. Knees were tucked under his head and he listened. The music filled him with images of Tao, of slick skin and dark eyes, of broad shoulders and hands that fit perfectly together, of fingertips running over stretches of skin and Sehun's name on his lips.
Eyes closed, Sehun drifted with the tune.
Eyes opened, Sehun blinked to find morning. There was a blanket tucked around him and Kyungsoo's voice rang clear from the messdeck.
Sehun slipped into Tao's room with the blanket to his chest. He folded it onto the bare top bunk.
Most of the crew was gathered in the messdeck and it smelled like mornings should. He took the empty seat next to Tao and the smile they shared was small. In front of them, Kyungsoo was teaching Jongin how to properly make pancakes. The grin on his face when Jongin finally flipped a pancake just right was genuine.
Sehun didn't say much, but he liked hearing others talk. Kyungsoo was good at it. He leaned on the kitchen counter while they ate, talking about his plans after the expedition. After this run he would have enough money to open a café.
"It will be painted a soft yellow, with round tables and fresh ingredients. Something small." His heart-shaped smile was infectious. "Something warm. After this place, if I never see a cold white wall again I'll be happy." His laugh caught in Sehun's chest and Tao let slip his own chuckle. "It'll be a place where people can come and order their usual, where I can lean over a counter like this and catch up with them." It was easy to picture.
Chanyeol walked in with a big voice and a rumbling stomach. "Oh god, are those pancakes?" He moved in behind Kyungsoo, crouching down to rest his chin on a sloped shoulder and link arms under a bright green apron. They swayed together cooking with a song they both hummed. Sehun looked away, chest tight as Kris's words from months ago ringed in his head.
He stared at his food half eaten. Tao's eyes were on him.
"Sehun?"
He didn't answer.
"Did you sleep okay?"
He nodded.
----------
Fall. I like him.
Sometimes the ship rattled, and each time Kris would declare over the speakers that it was just debris, space dust, little bits of matter left behind from a dead star. In other words, nothing that could harm the ship. As they flew through the rough patches, Sehun would curl up under his covers, connecting imaginary dots until the shaking stopped. But for Minseok, the shaking never stopped.
"Don't you feel it?" He asked Sehun over dinner, voice low to keep the question between them.
"No."
He looked around the messdeck, hand trembling round his fork. "Kris called me crazy." He looked Sehun dead in the eye. "I'm not crazy."
Sehun glanced down to the tools in Minseok's belt. His focus caught on sharp edges and ends. "You're not crazy." Minseok let out a broken sigh. "You know Kris, he just says things on impulse. He didn't mean it."
"Yeah." Another shaky sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I just need off this ship."
The days dragged on and Luhan tossed and turned, limbs restless as he struggled to sleep through the noise, noise, noise. Sehun tried to help him. He played quiet music, songs he got from Tao. But Luhan hated it, hated Sehun, hated this fucking ship and all the fucking people on it. He yelled, swearing as he broken down crying and grabbed anything he could to throw.
With a racing heart, Sehun fumbled, tripping over his own feet as he tried to get away. He made for the bridge, sprinting through the common room, past the messdeck, down narrow paths that seemed to only grow narrower. When the path finally opened up to the bridge, Sehun was greeted with the vastness of space. Air rushed out of him as he took it all in.
He didn't know how long he was there but no one came in to take over the controls. There was an autopilot system; it must have been fine. He sat out of sight and let the dark wash over him. Luhan hadn't been himself since they woke up. Then again, it wasn't just Luhan. Everyone seemed off kilter, some more noticeable than others.
With a long exhale, Sehun sagged. The lights clicked off exactly at 10PM and he didn't move. Hours passed without anything to alert him to the change in time. Countless thoughts circled in his head until he couldn't remember where they originated.
He didn't notice Tao taking up the space next to him until a familiar voice said, "It's late."
Sehun sighed and laid flat on the smooth floor. "Is it?"
"When's the last time you slept?"
"I don't know." Sehun stared at the ceiling. "What brings you out here?"
"Minseok kicked me out."
Sehun propped up on his elbows to see Tao hunched over, head in his hands. "What happened?"
Tao turned enough for a wet streak to catch in the light of a passing star. Sehun bolted upright, pushing back hands that tried to keep him from seeing the cut running down Tao's cheek. It was bleeding, dark red running down his chin.
"Oh my god."
Tao was quick to jerk away. "He didn't mean to."
"What did he do to you?" Sehun's voice was loud, foreign in his own ears. "It's deep." Sehun's vision blurred. "It's deep."
"It was an accident." Tao looked at him straight. "I'm okay." His gaze dipped down to Sehun's lips before lifting back up.
They both took their time.
"Okay."
The kiss was slow and soft, a brush of lips before a rush of heat. Sehun leaned in as Tao ran wet fingers through pale hair staining it red. Bodies shifted, pressing. Touches ran along black uniforms and waters were tested as fingertips grazed skin. Sehun sighed into the escape, arching up as Tao guiding him back to the floor. There wasn't any earth under him, but Tao kept him rooted with a hand running along pale ribs and hips pinned.
They blended together, need slipping between kisses and under skin. Sehun lifted enough to take off his shirt and a drop of blood landed on a white canvas. It smeared, stark red and Tao growled. Heat spread, cheeks and chest flush, pants tight. Sehun rolled up as Tao dipped down.
Fingers reached down, pulling at the hem of Tao's shirt. Nails clawed up, leaving red trails on slick skin. Kisses trailed down Sehun's neck to his chest as pants unbuckled and peeled down.
Cocks brushed together and Sehun moaned when Tao held both, pre-cum slicking them up. Pumps had them panting together, and when they came it was with a quick build and wet lips. Sehun kissed Tao deep, doing his best to keep them together and stave off reality.
----------
Winter. This isn't real. I'm dreaming.
Sehun found Kris in the hall outside Kyungsoo's room next to the sick bay. Lights shined bright overhead, hiding Kris's face in shadow. His forehead pressed against the door and his hand hovered to knock.
"Captain?" Sehun drew closer and he heard it. A bang on the wall from inside the room, low grunts, high moans. Another bang. Another bang. Sehun swallowed. "Captain?"
Kris didn't move.
Sehun stepped back with slow steps before turning and running.
He reached his room, ripping the door open then slamming it shut. Sehun winced, the sound too loud. Luhan hated anything loud. Ducking down with an arm over his head, Sehun waited for the retaliation. Only there wasn't one.
Staying crouched, he opened one eye, and then the other. Luhan was laying face up in bed, pillow covering his face and Jongin kneeling over him.
"Hello, Sehun." Jongin turned to him with a smile. The android's hands were gripped tight around the ends of the pillow, his full weight leaning on it. Luhan's head was forced into the mattress, limbs lifeless.
Sehun's throat closed. He couldn't breathe.
"Are you alright, Sehun?" Jongin crawled off the bed, expression stiffly morphing into concern.
Air rushed through Sehun lungs. He coughed, sputtered, and choked as bile burned.
"I will take you to Kyungsoo for inspection." A hand reached out and Sehun snapped.
"Don't you fucking touch me!"
Jongin tilted his head. "I'm sorry, did I upset-set you?"
Sehun stepped back, body flat against the door. "You killed him."
A smile clicked back into place. "Kill-Killed who, Sehun? It's not possible for me to-to kill anyone. It's not in my pro-program-gramming."
"Jongin, you killed Luhan."
Jongin looked over his shoulder and paused before looking back. "Luhan ordered me to stop the no-noise." Sehun didn't know what to say to that. Then, looking down at his hands, Jongin's brow dipped. His eyes were wide when they found Sehun's again. "Am I-I malfunction?" The looked human.
"Command order, shut down."
The light went out of Jongin's eyes.
Sehun stumbled out of the room, body numb. Thoughts clogged his brain until his head was so full it hurt.
He found Tao in the messdeck, game tablet in hand, scar on his cheek, and question on his lips. Sehun stopped him with a kiss, open mouthed and slick. He straddled Tao chair, grinding down until he was kissed back. Tao had his hand on Sehun's back and fingers through pale hair.
"That's this?" It was breathed out between kisses.
"An escape."
They lock themselves in the sick bay. Sehun had refused access to his room and Tao made it clear his room was off limits.
Tangled together they blindly reached a bed. Sehun's back bounced on a sterilized mattress as Tao crawled over him. Clothes were stripped and hands roamed. Mouths were hot, panting out heat. Tao worked him open with unscented lotion from the cabinet above them. It was rough, with one hand pinning down Sehun's crossed writs and the other finger fucking his hole.
Air wouldn't come fast enough and moans hitched into ragged gasps. Tao fucked him nearly in half, and Sehun wanted it hard.
"Fuck me, fuck me." It was a broken chant, swallowed down with a biting kiss and fading into choked cry as Tao hit him just right. Sehun's vision wavered when he came, heat searing through him to burn away all his thoughts, fears gone in an instant. Tao came after him with a hiss, riding it out until sweat-soaked skin cooled and limbs fell languid.
Kisses ghosted over Sehun and it was comforting in the afterglow.
They cleaned up together, slipping on underwear and finding a new sterilized bed to collapse on. Hands trailed along bare skin. Tao fell asleep first, warm breath on Sehun's neck. He could feel both of their heartbeats. They were steady and low. Sehun closed his eyes drifting and the sound morphing into a beep.
He squeezed his eyes tight and clicked his heels three times.
For: Hyperlydian
Pairing: Taohun
Rating: NC-17
Length: 5,500
Summary, potential warnings: The United Earth Colonial Space Syndicate (UECSS) Metis was just one ship of many launched with the mission of securing resources for humanity. Angst.
A toy plane soared through the air, it's shape blocking out the light of a setting sun. Sehun ran through hospital halls banking and spinning as he played in golden rays filtered through window blinds. Everything glowed soft and towered over him.
Sehun felt small, everything just out of reach.
A machine beeped next to a white bed and a woman look down at it. She was turned away from the window, face shadowed. She had hair the same color as Sehun and the same slope to her neck.
"Come here." Her voice was soft, carrying like a whisper. "Come say goodbye to your father."
He walked to the bed, standing on tiptoe to try and see the person under the bleached sheets and gauze bandages. Sehun couldn't find his dad. There weren't any knowing smiles and gentle hands. There were no wings on his chest, no captain's hat under his arm, no stories from abroad.
Sehun set his plane next to an unmoving hand. He nudged it. "Dad?"
"He can't hear you, sweetie." His mom's voice shook and so did her hand on his shoulder.
"Why?"
The beeping got louder, sound morphing into a deeper pitch and speeding up. His mom's head snapped upright. Desperation bubbled up, acidic and sharp as it cut at nerves and made the whole room shake. Turbulence struck, the plane taking a sudden dive. Air masks swayed in front of them but they were no use. The plane was going down.
His mom cried, sobbing out her final wishes, her hopes for Sehun. She sunk through the floor as his dad seeped into the bed.
They were gone.
The sun winked out.
Sehun squeezed his eyes tight, clicked his heels three times, and begged to be home.
The sun flickered back on and he was outside crouched down at the edge of the baseball field. The kids in his gym class ignored him. They played co-ed. Girls and guys were on the bases, some with gloves on their hand and some edging off the white squares ready to run. There was chatter from the benches and a teacher behind home plate with a booming voice and loud calls.
Sehun picked and the dirt, getting it under his nails and reciting lesions from biology class. The earth was solid under his finger. Alive. It was steady, there to catch his every step.
Kids cried out his name or horrible variations of it.
"Hey freak! Heads up!"
Sehun looked around with wide eyes, squinting at the sun and they laughed when he couldn't seem to pinpoint where the ball was in the sky. The open expanse above was vast, ever changing, temperamental, and erratic. The earth was a warm, sheltered embrace and sky was bitter reality. Sehun hated his reality.
The baseball hit him straight on, sending the world into a spinning vortex. Sehun couldn't see straight, ears ringing as high-pitched childhood taunts deepened to low-pitched beeping.
He squeezed his eyes shut, head throbbing as he blacked out everything but the feeling of the ground under him. He stayed rooted.
Eyes cracked open and everything was blindingly bright.
Sehun couldn't move. Noise was muffled and it mixed with the pulsing in his head. He was stiff, limbs dead weight and muscles like liquid. With a gasp, he sucked in thick, warm air. A face leaned over to hover close to his. Lips moved, but Sehun couldn't hear what the man was saying. It words droned through a clogged brain, heavy with sleep.
Blinking and panting, his vision cleared and sound started to filter in through the buzz in his system.
"Sehun, if you can hear me say, 'Yes.' Repeat. Oh Sehun, if you can hear me say, 'Yes.'" The man above him was talking, voice nasally and calm. There was an alarm in the background, a steady deep beeping and Sehun shook his head as if that would stop the sound. "Oh Sehun, if you can-"
"Yes." It's rushed and hoarse. The word tastes horrible, heavy as it carried with bad breath. He sat up with the man's help. Sehun recognizes him. Jongin, the 08-model synthetic assigned to their ship.
Synthetic eyes crescent at Sehun's response. "Welcome to 2123."
Sehun ran over bare skin. He peeled off suctioned sensors and took out his IV, registering the white bedding and glass casing of the cryo sleep chamber. Blue font glowed up at him from the pulled back cover.
Cryo Sleep: Dr Sehun Oh 05 23 2123
Current State: Sleep Abort
Sehun was confused. "It's supposed to be 2124." He turned to Jongin for an answer, but the android already moved on to the next person. There were six others chambers that flanked his, and the other members of the crew were waking up and coming to.
A voice called out; Sehun followed it to the first chamber. The captain, Kris sounded just as rough as Sehun.
"Jongin! Report! Why the fuck is an alarm blaring through the ship?"
"I'm sorry, captain." Jongin held a small smile. "It's a false alarm. Our course took the ship unexpectedly close to an asteroid. The proximity triggered a premature wake up in case there was an impact and a need for immediate evacuation."
Kris blinked slow, brow dipping together. He spoke through gritted teeth. "Did we collide?"
"No, captain."
"Then get rid of that fucking noise."
Jongin's smile never moved. It was uncanny, unnatural the way the action resembled a human gesture. "Yes, captain."
----------
After clean up, the first order of business was eating. The cryo sleep chambers were built to keep their bodies functioning with supplements filtered into the air feed through their IV needle. Sehun, along with the rest of the crew, had gone through three years where the only food they consumed was in their dreams.
The messdeck was brilliant white with shining metal appliances and glass tabletops. Sehun pulled out a chair and it scraped loud against the floor. No one talked. They simply ate, focused down on their enriched, mashed meal. It would be a week or more of build up until their bodies were ready for standard solids again.
When they were done, Kris gave the orders. "Meet me in the common room for a full situation briefing in an hour. Chanyeol, Jongin, and Kyungsoo with me. The rest of you are dismissed." His slammed down his spoon and was out of the room with ridged movements.
----------
Sehun roomed with Luhan. It was deemed appropriate, as they were, as Kris called them, the science twins. Luhan hated being lumped together with another person, but it was either rooming with someone who knew him well enough to avoid any sort of verbal, eye, or other appendage contact, or being stuck with someone who didn't know better.
Sehun took the bottom bunk while Luhan climbed into the top. They settled in their own ways. For Luhan that meant climbing under grey sheets and a matching wool blanket with eyes closed and steady breathing.
When he heard a sniffled snort coming from above, Sehun paused. It was amazing that after three years of sleeping, Luhan could be out so quickly.
There was a chest at either end of their beds. Fingers brushed against the digital keypad on the surface and Sehun opened the one marked with his name. Inside were his belongings-several variations of his SM uniform, personal clothing, this and that. He unpacked. Their room was a soft blue, pale and fresh like a morning sky. Sehun looked away from it, down at the white floor, over the white dresser bolted to the wall.
Time slipped through his fingers as he neatly folded fabric and touched open dresser drawers. He woke Luhan with a soft word and gentle nudge.
"It's time for the briefing."
Luhan groaned.
The common room matched the messdeck, with padded chairs, gaming tablets, and glass side tables. Kris stood at the front of the group with Chanyeol at his shoulder.
"It is in fact the year 2123, and we are approximately 9.6 light years from our target destination of LV-625. In other words, we were woken up 12 months ahead of schedule."
The crew was quiet as the looked between each other. Sehun glanced at Luhan to find him staring at the floor and picking at his bottom lip.
Chanyeol, acting as the assistant pilot, spoke up. "After verifying with Jongin, we do have enough food and water if we carefully monitor our consumption. Fuel-wise we are completely fine, same with oxygen."
"The only major problem," Kris took back over, "is the fact that we're all going to have to live together in close quarters for the next year. Hopefully, we get through this fine without any of you killing each other."
The assigned SM security personnel, Tao, asked, "Why don't we just use the chambers and go back to sleep?"
Luhan covered his mouth as he laughed, and he looked and sounded so charming. At least he did before spitting out, "Idiot."
Tao made a face so close to a pout. Sehun's focus lingered on it.
"The cryo sleep chambers were built for two uses." Jongin explained. "Each of the models used on the UECSS Metis can keep a person in a sleep state for up to six years. Once activated, that use is triggered and once stopped, that use is considered complete. Therefore, if you were to enter the chambers to sleep through the remainder of the journey to LV-625, you would be unable to use them for the return trip to Earth."
Tao's face fell as he sighed out, "Oh."
Kyungsoo rubbed his hands on his legs before standing. "Don't look like that, guys. We just dreamed through three years of our lives, and before you know it we'll be passed out for another four. We have this time to live. Think of it as an unexpected gift."
They were dismissed, everyone retreating to their quarters. Luhan didn't unpack, only grabbing his computer and leaving the room with their door swinging heavy behind him.
Sehun took in the empty space before flopping on his bed. He stared up at the smooth surface of the bunk above his. Letting his mind wander he closed his eyes. In a flash of dreams it's been three years since he left home. Without thinking he clicked his heels three times.
The United Earth Colonial Space Syndicate (UECSS) Metis and its crew of seven was just one ship of many launched from across the globe and several colonies into the great beyond. Each craft and crew had the same mission: Search for and secure land and resources for humanity. Their species was continuously growing, and to thrive, the United Earth's government launched a decade long program to send out exploration ships. Small runs have been successful in the past, and now long distance travel has been incorporated thanks to advanced FTL, or Faster Than Light, capable ships and improved cryo sleep mechanics.
Sehun had been nominated several times before to embark on the short distance explorations. His research in the field of geology has helped him make a name for himself. At 20 he declined his first offer. He worked with the earth, so his place was on Earth. More requests to join expeditions followed over the next few years until the head of his department pulled Sehun into his office and said, "You've been recruited by SM."
Otherwise known as Stellar Mass, SM was the private company hired by the government to manage the exploration program. Sehun swallowed.
"Sir, I am flattered by the offer, but I-"
"The briefing is tomorrow."
Sehun set his gaze straight, determined. He was not leaving Earth. "I decline."
"You don't have a choice. The government put the power in Steller Mass's hands. They picked you. You're going."
Sehun had gone blank trying to figure a way out. There hadn't been one.
His director smiled. "Don't look so glum. You'll have Luhan with you."
Sehun pulled his lips flat.
Shaking off memories, he curled upright, hunched in the space between his bed and Luhan's. Pulling out his own computer, he rolled out and locked the keyboard. A screen materialized and Sehun let his finger hover over the files on his desktop. He settled on UECSS Metis Crew Profiles.
Seven layered pages opened on screen. Sehun flipped through them as a refresher, reminding himself of names, faces, and positions.
Wu Yi Fan, 26, captain of the Metis and former United Earth Air Force. Left when the exploration started. Next to his profile, Sehun typed in, Goes by Kris or captain. Will not respond to anything else. They had learned that quickly during the first crew meeting.
Park Chanyeol, 25, assistant pilot of the Metis and former United Earth Air Force. He served in the same company as Yi Fan. They left the military together. Much friendlier than Kris. If you need anything or have questions, approach Chanyeol first.
Do Kyungsoo, 24, part-time chef full-time medic. He has been working with Yi Fan and Chanyeol since their first run. Soft smile and warm kindness.
Lu Han, 26, lead scientist. He specializes in biology-Sehun didn't read the rest. His fingers punched across the keyboard. Young. Brilliant. Beautiful. Sees people as scientific structures. Annoying ones.
Oh Sehun, 23, assistant scientist. He special-Sehun flipped to the next page.
Huang Zi Tao, 23, SM security personnel. Former Special Forces, pull from the field for the expedition.
Sehun stared at the photo animating on screen. Tao shifted in his seat before looking the camera head on. He portrayed a serious image, someone trained and professional. Sehun thought of pouting lips and downcast eyes. Fingers hovering over keys, he looked around, making sure he was alone. There was a rush of butterflies, wings brushing against Sehun's insides as he typed, Cute. In an instant he was on the next profile.
Kim Minseok, 26, mechanic. He previously worked exclusively on docked ships before this mission. Cheeky, nervous smile. Sure hands.
Jongin, part of the Jongin 08-model series of synthetic humans, or androids. He did not require food, water, sleep, or air. Built to have all the benefits of both a human and an android. Its emotional reception data bank is the most advanced on the market.
Sehun stared at Jongin's slowly blinking photo. He was flawless edges and curves. Sehun didn't type anything. What was there to say about a perfect being?
Pushing the computer aside, Sehun flopped on his back, arm thrown over his eyes. He wanted to be tired. It would be easy if he could just sleep through down time like Luhan. But he had already had slept enough to fill his quota for years to come. Dropping his arm, he looked up at the ceiling.
He was on a ship.
Take off had been terrifying. Everything trembled, shaking like airplane turbulence. Sehun had closed his eyes, blocking out images of death as he sweated through his suit. It was black, stark against the white seat he buckled into. But once they broke through the atmosphere, the ship was like a craft on calm water, drifting through a black ocean. It was serene and in the moment before sleep, Sehun had looked out into the void to see the Earth. Something warm had run through him. He wondered if it was the same feeling his dad had when he was soaring over the clouds, looking out onto wonder.
Sitting back up, Sehun grabbed his computer again. A blank document opened and the cursor stood at attention, blinking steady until orders were given. The clock in the upper right said it was 4:31AM. It didn't feel like it, but now was a good a time as ever to start a new story. Sehun typed.
Spring. I woke up.
----------
Lights went out at 10PM, a mandate from Kris to help them keep some sort of normalcy. The first few months passed like that. Lights on, lights off. There was no night, of course, because that would have meant there was a day. Sehun glanced out the window in the messdeck. There was just dark with specks and streams of light.
Luhan stayed in their room when he could. When he wasn't typing, glasses on and hair piled on his head, he was eating, getting crumbs on his bed then brushing them off. And when he wasn't eating, he was sleeping, cheek pushed up from his pillow and mouth partway open.
Sehun would sometimes play with the sleeping dragon to see how close he could get before Luhan woke up and roared. While awake, Luhan snapped, baring his teeth if someone so much as brushed him in the narrow passageways. Asleep, Sehun crossed dangerous lines. He pulled crooked glasses off a perfect face, brushed back stray hairs, folding down a kicked off blanket.
But regardless of the lighting and regulation, Sehun couldn't find his way into sleep. While the others were tucked away for the night, he would wandered, socked feet gliding over smooth floors. Like a ghost, he drifted. An oversized hoodie hung from his frame and over his eyes. He snuck into the bridge where Kris and Chanyeol couldn't see him. He curled up on the floor to look through thick panes of glass and out into the unknown. It felt like the galaxy was passing by rather than the Metis sailing through the stars. With the black so deep and the lights so distant, Sehun suddenly felt small, everything just out of reach. Head tilted to the side and temple rested on his knee, he watched how space went on forever.
"You should go to bed." Chanyeol's voice was deep, the quiet tone prominent in the dark room. Sehun turned, ready with a stuttered explanation, only to find no one behind him.
"I told you I'm fine." It was Kris. He sounded tired.
"The autopilot is set, at the very most only one of us needs to monitor the system."
Sehun hunched down, walking on tiptoe until he could he see the two men behind side by side control stations. Their faces were lit from the screens in front of them. Kris's lines looked harsh, Chanyeol's were smooth.
"Did you dream when you sleeping?" Kris turned to Chanyeol and Chanyeol dipped his head.
"Yeah."
"About who?"
"Kris." It was a plea.
Kris pressed on. "I dreamt of you."
There was nothing after that and the words they didn't say were the ones that spoke volumes. Sehun looked between them, eyes wide and stomach twisting. He shouldn't have listened.
He left the bridge before he could hear anything else, wandering back to the common room. To the left was his quarters, to the right was Minseok and Tao's. Sehun sat on one of the plush chairs between them. He tried to press out thoughts of the two in the bridge, covering his ears and closing his eyes. His head replayed the conversation again and again until finally it was drowned out. Music floated in. the sound was faint, a steady driving beat and feather-light vocals. It came from the room to the right. Sehun told himself not to look.
But he did anyway.
The door was cracked open, Minseok asleep in the bottom bunk and Tao on the floor. A lamp next to him bathed the surface in a harsh yellow light and casted sharp contrasts across Tao's form as he huffs through sit-ups. He was shirtless and his skin shined. Slick dips moved in perfect lines to form abs while curves caressed shoulders and arms.
If Luhan's beauty came from soft features and bright eyes, then Tao's was found in sharp edges and dark features. He captured everything Sehun wasn't, and it was captivating.
With a final grunt, Tao pulled up one last time before sprawling out, breathing erratic. The sight was almost intimate and Sehun flushed, his own breath catching in a soft hitch. Tao heard it.
Pushing up and around on elbows, Tao's eyes met Sehun's. There was just the sound of the music between them, and Sehun's heart jumped in his chest, beat matching that of the music's.
Tao smiled. Sehun ran.
----------
Summer. I need to sleep.
Spring held curiosity, the ship had a buzz during the day as people explored, discovered, talked. By Summer there wasn't anything left for them to do, to say. People started getting on each other's nerves. Minseok tinkered, passing the days with unnecessary projects. He clanked and banged, Jongin at his side to assist with the same smile day in, day out.
The sound echoed through the ship, and it made Luhan crazy.
"What the fuck is he even doing?" Luhan vented into the room. There was a pillow over his head.
"Just trying to stay busy." Sehun offered.
"I wasn't asking you." Luhan flipped over, rocking the bed. "I just want to get some sleep."
There was always noise, he said. Noise, noise, noise. Sehun hadn't noticed it before, but after Luhan's fit he heard it. The rumble of the engine, the low buzz of the equipment, and the clicks of the ventilation. Luhan would eventually find his sleep, but the sound turned on Sehun. He still couldn't sleep.
The lights were out, and Sehun found himself in the common room. He couldn't focus on anything but the high-pitched hum coming from the speaker lines. Game tablet in hand, he tried to distract himself with the goal of a new high score, but the hum always broke through his concentration. He gripped the tablet until it left intends in his hands, squeezing, squeezing. Then, the music was back.
Sehun's heart picked up, rushing with his steps. The door was cracked, Tao grunting again, working through rolls up and down. The music floated over him, over everything and Sehun let his back hit the wall next to the door. He faced away from the room, keeping as quiet as he could as he slid down to the floor. Knees were tucked under his head and he listened. The music filled him with images of Tao, of slick skin and dark eyes, of broad shoulders and hands that fit perfectly together, of fingertips running over stretches of skin and Sehun's name on his lips.
Eyes closed, Sehun drifted with the tune.
Eyes opened, Sehun blinked to find morning. There was a blanket tucked around him and Kyungsoo's voice rang clear from the messdeck.
Sehun slipped into Tao's room with the blanket to his chest. He folded it onto the bare top bunk.
Most of the crew was gathered in the messdeck and it smelled like mornings should. He took the empty seat next to Tao and the smile they shared was small. In front of them, Kyungsoo was teaching Jongin how to properly make pancakes. The grin on his face when Jongin finally flipped a pancake just right was genuine.
Sehun didn't say much, but he liked hearing others talk. Kyungsoo was good at it. He leaned on the kitchen counter while they ate, talking about his plans after the expedition. After this run he would have enough money to open a café.
"It will be painted a soft yellow, with round tables and fresh ingredients. Something small." His heart-shaped smile was infectious. "Something warm. After this place, if I never see a cold white wall again I'll be happy." His laugh caught in Sehun's chest and Tao let slip his own chuckle. "It'll be a place where people can come and order their usual, where I can lean over a counter like this and catch up with them." It was easy to picture.
Chanyeol walked in with a big voice and a rumbling stomach. "Oh god, are those pancakes?" He moved in behind Kyungsoo, crouching down to rest his chin on a sloped shoulder and link arms under a bright green apron. They swayed together cooking with a song they both hummed. Sehun looked away, chest tight as Kris's words from months ago ringed in his head.
He stared at his food half eaten. Tao's eyes were on him.
"Sehun?"
He didn't answer.
"Did you sleep okay?"
He nodded.
----------
Fall. I like him.
Sometimes the ship rattled, and each time Kris would declare over the speakers that it was just debris, space dust, little bits of matter left behind from a dead star. In other words, nothing that could harm the ship. As they flew through the rough patches, Sehun would curl up under his covers, connecting imaginary dots until the shaking stopped. But for Minseok, the shaking never stopped.
"Don't you feel it?" He asked Sehun over dinner, voice low to keep the question between them.
"No."
He looked around the messdeck, hand trembling round his fork. "Kris called me crazy." He looked Sehun dead in the eye. "I'm not crazy."
Sehun glanced down to the tools in Minseok's belt. His focus caught on sharp edges and ends. "You're not crazy." Minseok let out a broken sigh. "You know Kris, he just says things on impulse. He didn't mean it."
"Yeah." Another shaky sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I just need off this ship."
The days dragged on and Luhan tossed and turned, limbs restless as he struggled to sleep through the noise, noise, noise. Sehun tried to help him. He played quiet music, songs he got from Tao. But Luhan hated it, hated Sehun, hated this fucking ship and all the fucking people on it. He yelled, swearing as he broken down crying and grabbed anything he could to throw.
With a racing heart, Sehun fumbled, tripping over his own feet as he tried to get away. He made for the bridge, sprinting through the common room, past the messdeck, down narrow paths that seemed to only grow narrower. When the path finally opened up to the bridge, Sehun was greeted with the vastness of space. Air rushed out of him as he took it all in.
He didn't know how long he was there but no one came in to take over the controls. There was an autopilot system; it must have been fine. He sat out of sight and let the dark wash over him. Luhan hadn't been himself since they woke up. Then again, it wasn't just Luhan. Everyone seemed off kilter, some more noticeable than others.
With a long exhale, Sehun sagged. The lights clicked off exactly at 10PM and he didn't move. Hours passed without anything to alert him to the change in time. Countless thoughts circled in his head until he couldn't remember where they originated.
He didn't notice Tao taking up the space next to him until a familiar voice said, "It's late."
Sehun sighed and laid flat on the smooth floor. "Is it?"
"When's the last time you slept?"
"I don't know." Sehun stared at the ceiling. "What brings you out here?"
"Minseok kicked me out."
Sehun propped up on his elbows to see Tao hunched over, head in his hands. "What happened?"
Tao turned enough for a wet streak to catch in the light of a passing star. Sehun bolted upright, pushing back hands that tried to keep him from seeing the cut running down Tao's cheek. It was bleeding, dark red running down his chin.
"Oh my god."
Tao was quick to jerk away. "He didn't mean to."
"What did he do to you?" Sehun's voice was loud, foreign in his own ears. "It's deep." Sehun's vision blurred. "It's deep."
"It was an accident." Tao looked at him straight. "I'm okay." His gaze dipped down to Sehun's lips before lifting back up.
They both took their time.
"Okay."
The kiss was slow and soft, a brush of lips before a rush of heat. Sehun leaned in as Tao ran wet fingers through pale hair staining it red. Bodies shifted, pressing. Touches ran along black uniforms and waters were tested as fingertips grazed skin. Sehun sighed into the escape, arching up as Tao guiding him back to the floor. There wasn't any earth under him, but Tao kept him rooted with a hand running along pale ribs and hips pinned.
They blended together, need slipping between kisses and under skin. Sehun lifted enough to take off his shirt and a drop of blood landed on a white canvas. It smeared, stark red and Tao growled. Heat spread, cheeks and chest flush, pants tight. Sehun rolled up as Tao dipped down.
Fingers reached down, pulling at the hem of Tao's shirt. Nails clawed up, leaving red trails on slick skin. Kisses trailed down Sehun's neck to his chest as pants unbuckled and peeled down.
Cocks brushed together and Sehun moaned when Tao held both, pre-cum slicking them up. Pumps had them panting together, and when they came it was with a quick build and wet lips. Sehun kissed Tao deep, doing his best to keep them together and stave off reality.
----------
Winter. This isn't real. I'm dreaming.
Sehun found Kris in the hall outside Kyungsoo's room next to the sick bay. Lights shined bright overhead, hiding Kris's face in shadow. His forehead pressed against the door and his hand hovered to knock.
"Captain?" Sehun drew closer and he heard it. A bang on the wall from inside the room, low grunts, high moans. Another bang. Another bang. Sehun swallowed. "Captain?"
Kris didn't move.
Sehun stepped back with slow steps before turning and running.
He reached his room, ripping the door open then slamming it shut. Sehun winced, the sound too loud. Luhan hated anything loud. Ducking down with an arm over his head, Sehun waited for the retaliation. Only there wasn't one.
Staying crouched, he opened one eye, and then the other. Luhan was laying face up in bed, pillow covering his face and Jongin kneeling over him.
"Hello, Sehun." Jongin turned to him with a smile. The android's hands were gripped tight around the ends of the pillow, his full weight leaning on it. Luhan's head was forced into the mattress, limbs lifeless.
Sehun's throat closed. He couldn't breathe.
"Are you alright, Sehun?" Jongin crawled off the bed, expression stiffly morphing into concern.
Air rushed through Sehun lungs. He coughed, sputtered, and choked as bile burned.
"I will take you to Kyungsoo for inspection." A hand reached out and Sehun snapped.
"Don't you fucking touch me!"
Jongin tilted his head. "I'm sorry, did I upset-set you?"
Sehun stepped back, body flat against the door. "You killed him."
A smile clicked back into place. "Kill-Killed who, Sehun? It's not possible for me to-to kill anyone. It's not in my pro-program-gramming."
"Jongin, you killed Luhan."
Jongin looked over his shoulder and paused before looking back. "Luhan ordered me to stop the no-noise." Sehun didn't know what to say to that. Then, looking down at his hands, Jongin's brow dipped. His eyes were wide when they found Sehun's again. "Am I-I malfunction?" The looked human.
"Command order, shut down."
The light went out of Jongin's eyes.
Sehun stumbled out of the room, body numb. Thoughts clogged his brain until his head was so full it hurt.
He found Tao in the messdeck, game tablet in hand, scar on his cheek, and question on his lips. Sehun stopped him with a kiss, open mouthed and slick. He straddled Tao chair, grinding down until he was kissed back. Tao had his hand on Sehun's back and fingers through pale hair.
"That's this?" It was breathed out between kisses.
"An escape."
They lock themselves in the sick bay. Sehun had refused access to his room and Tao made it clear his room was off limits.
Tangled together they blindly reached a bed. Sehun's back bounced on a sterilized mattress as Tao crawled over him. Clothes were stripped and hands roamed. Mouths were hot, panting out heat. Tao worked him open with unscented lotion from the cabinet above them. It was rough, with one hand pinning down Sehun's crossed writs and the other finger fucking his hole.
Air wouldn't come fast enough and moans hitched into ragged gasps. Tao fucked him nearly in half, and Sehun wanted it hard.
"Fuck me, fuck me." It was a broken chant, swallowed down with a biting kiss and fading into choked cry as Tao hit him just right. Sehun's vision wavered when he came, heat searing through him to burn away all his thoughts, fears gone in an instant. Tao came after him with a hiss, riding it out until sweat-soaked skin cooled and limbs fell languid.
Kisses ghosted over Sehun and it was comforting in the afterglow.
They cleaned up together, slipping on underwear and finding a new sterilized bed to collapse on. Hands trailed along bare skin. Tao fell asleep first, warm breath on Sehun's neck. He could feel both of their heartbeats. They were steady and low. Sehun closed his eyes drifting and the sound morphing into a beep.
He squeezed his eyes tight and clicked his heels three times.