Future Vision: Chapter 7
GP held Nexus for a minute, which was followed by one hour, followed by two. Nexus was exhausted from what GP didn't know, but his feelings for Nexus would not let him leave his side. Nexus hadn't said a word since GP snuck up on him, just merely laid on the floor crying as orbiting bodies in space floated past.
After 12 minutes within the first hour Nexus had pasted out in GP arms and became as silent as an abandoned house. His breathing still staggered and body shacking kept GP from leaving him, and walking around the orbital, military none the less, with a passed out officer in his arm that seemed uninjured would have raised questions. GP was one for sitting still and relaxing but for two hours was pushing his ability to not be restless.
He brushed his hand through Nexus's head fur absentmindedly while he thought how to tell Nexus how he felt about him. It was when of those scenarios that you knew deep inside, no matter how much rehearsal you put into it, you were still going to screw up. However it kept his mind busy as he carefully petted Nexus and watched the surface on the now visible planet of Etlari II slowly change as it rotated on its 57 hour axis.
GP thought how it was funny how most thought this Planet was paradise. Vari from lesser hour planets always said they never had enough time, and Vari from longer hour planets said the day was too long. Somehow, this single planet become a paradise and resulted in it being the wealthiest system that they owned. Etlari II was also large, about 5 times the size of what the Humans called earth and had very monotonous seasons. It never tilted on its axis to a degree that it could be called a season change, so it remained a constant climate unless a planetary effect happened.
GP used to want to live on Etlari, and although it was preferred by his subspecies, he would much rather go back to the Ice-Planet he grew up on in the Evceion System. The feeling of his paws on the snow always brought a smile to his face, made him feel like a kid. GP closed his eyes to think back on his youth but quickly feel into a much needed slumber.
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Nexus woke up feeling strangely warm and comforted, and it wasn't until he tried to get up did he realize that something was holding him. Turning his head past his shoulders he saw GP quietly sleeping behind him with a goofy grin across his muzzle.
Too tired to comprehend the reason why an Alpha male would do such a thing, he managed to slip out of his arms embrace without waking him. Nexus pulled out his COM to check the time, and wasn't surprised when it reported that it was 02:15. Shoving the device back into his pocket his stretched his aching muscle and stood taking one last look at GP before leaving the hanger.
Just wishing he could tell GP how he felt, he climbed the stairs back up to the operational parts of the orbital and made his way back to his quarters via lift. He really just wanted a warm bed and some quick food before he went back down to his nightmarish dreams he had been having as late. He had been meaning to go see the doctor about them but with such a cluttered and distracted mind, he just couldn't manage to keep it a permanent task in his head. That and he thought it was most likely due to all the stress he had been neglecting as of late.
Reaching the main lift located along the official bottom floor, he pawed the holographic button the call for the lift. It chirped once letting him now that he had hit the button, than in a robotic female voice said "The lift will arrive shortly as its current location is on level 7."
Putting his paws in his pocket and leaning against the metal grate, he tried to calm himself. He had missed what was now two days of duty, went into the off limits area of the orbital, had the commanding officer find him the area, and had broken down in front of him followed by passing out in his arms. He had no idea what kind of punishment he could even be given for everything he had done wrong in the last 48 hours, much less how to accept whatever lay in front of him.
As the lift lowered itself to his position, he sighed giving up about thinking about what would happen to him a little less than 8 hours from now. It didn't matter anyway since one could never know what was going to happen, no matter how hard they thought about it and envision every possible scenario. All it really did was just try to ease the mind and distract from the truth, and in some cases maybe make you a little more hopeful that the consequences of you action would be a little less severe.
The lift came to a whining halt with a sudden screech when it stopped indicating that the magnetic pads needed to be either cleaned or replaced. It wasn't a serious issue since the lift system was controlled by a computer system that monitored each one and kept track of fault tolerances, but it was still a little unnerving to new recruits or ones who simply did not trust the basic constructed lifts. Nexus didn't fear them the least bit though no matter how noisy they were since he knew how they worked, and the fact they had safety backup system in case the main ones did completely fail for some reason.
He stepped onto the lift and pawed the button for level 2. The lift whined than started its accent to the floor 4 levels above his location. He watched the floor indicator like any bored individual would, reading as it went from RB-2, RB-1, LQ-1, to LQ-2 and then stopped followed by the brief flash of the current level on the indicator. He heard the magnetic pads clamp down on the electromagnetic rail which they slid on and the gate to the lift hiss open.
Focusing his eyes in front of him he was surprised to see a very distressed looking Viper in front of him. The wolf had his ears cocked in such an odd direction that one could not interpret the exact emotion, but could deduct that something was off.
Before Nexus could speak, the Wolf grabbed him by his neck and pulled him to follow him. Though slightly painful Nexus didn't protest, much less had time since the walk was a rather short 10 meters to the backside of a pillar so they would be out of sight of any witnesses.
Viper pushed Nexus with his back against the large pillar and looked him dead in the eyes as if he had just killed a relative. Nexus honestly had no clue what was going on but he decided that it was best to not start the conversation, and allow Viper to gather what he needed to say. Nexus also did not have the mental capacity to really think of anything to ask since he had been distracted the whole time up to the point he met Viper.
"Where is GP?" Viper demanded in harsh but whispered tone, one which could hardly be heard by the nearby noise of the lift operating.
Nexus took a few short seconds to process the question and was about to answer when Viper interrupted with "He's suppose to be with you! What went wrong?" His voice was level and flat yet somehow managed to carry meaning and emotion behind it, like a distant but caring guardian. This caused Nexus to cock his head to the side and express his confusion on his face before he could even utter a sound. Viper released his paws from Nexus's shoulders and moved them to the sides of his head as if trying to keep his head from exploding from unknown pressure.
Shifting his weight around nervously, Nexus tried to relax against the pillars cold texture and waiting for Viper to speak coherently. As he braced his back against the pillar and looked up at Viper, he saw tears coming from his eyes and could not for his life imagine why. Viper had everything a proud soldier could ever want, and many were envious of him including some in High Command. With a sudden but muffled sigh Viper sat down on the cold barren floor and motion for Nexus to sit in front of him.
Nexus complied and took a seat in front of Viper. With a long drawn out sigh, Viper relaxed and put his arms behind himself on the floor to support his weight as he leaned back. Nexus remained in a crouched position as it was more comfortable for him and more or less just in case he had to move quickly.
"GP and I have been friends since childhood Nexus. We grew up together and we have shared many, many things. So many that it would be impossible for me to count them all right now if I tried" Viper paused to exhale another sigh and continued. "As we grew up into our teens we started to drift apart, or he rather started to become more isolated and preferred to be alone than to hang out with any one person, even I could not easily get him out to play, eat, or for that matter just relax. When we were in our late teens, about 16 or 17, he started to label off his friends and found himself hanging out with just a handful. Strange thing is he never really considered that handful actual friends, but more or less acquaintances. After graduating high school he didn't bother keeping in touch with them, and just got a job to earn some money. Unlike all of the other people though I kept track of him, and monitored him. I had a sort of link with him, and even though he would not allow me to get close to him, he didn't stop me either if I did. When I was 20 I entered the military and didn't have all that much time for look out for him as I was kept on base or duty most of the time because of the silly war the Humans decided to declare."
Viper paused and allowed Nexus to assimilate the information and analyze it before continuing. Honestly Nexus was now more confused about what was going on than he was a few hours ago. He had a lot of questions but decided it was best just to Nod and let Viper continue for now as it might answer some of the questions he had, and he did exactly that. Viper nodded in returned and went back to the story.
"About 5 years ago he got picked up by a recruiter and joined the military. Reason being is that he was good under very stressful situations, and does not panic. The military as you know finds that to be a very useful trait, especially for something such as commanding a station in a hostile region. He has to make sure everything works as it should and make sure that everyone, or at least most, are doing their jobs and not spreading rumors. He has to control everything in this whole region in all reality and be very organized doing it. Why he agreed to join the military was and still is beyond comprehension, but all I know it that he had one request upon joining, and do you know what that was Nexus?" GP paused and waiting for Nexus to give some answer, which was a slow headshake indicating that his answer was "No" than quickly answered with "To be by my side. Other than that he didn't request a damn thing"
As Viper finished his story, Nexus could not understand what any of this had to do with him. The story, yet while emotional and somewhat sad, seemed entirely irrelevant in his eyes. Nexus couldn't help but ask what this had to do with him, and with that Viper seemed to relax every muscle in his body at once as all his weight shifted to his arms and he lay down on his back.
Looking at the unreachable ceiling of the station, he seemed to get lost in thought temporarily as he looked for the best way to answer the question. As Nexus waiting he stood up and walking over to the railing that separated him and a 5 level drop to the bottom of the orbital. He never understood why they designed the station to have ring-like floors instead of the normal and have a giant gaping hole in the middle, but the technicians said it provided just as much stability with less mass.
"A few nights ago we went drinking." were the sudden words that came out of Vipers maw as he waited for Nexus to give his full attention, than continued. "We went planet side to go have some fun and I guess he just got too drunk and told me some stuff he really didn't mean to. He asked me for help, and I told I would do anything I could."
"Stuff like what" Nexus replied without thinking and mentally slapping himself knowing it wasn't his place to ask.
"Nexus, Can I ask you a personal question, a really rather personal one." Viper questioned changing the subject. Unlike Human culture were some civilities were ignored, Vari always requested permission to ask one another personal questions, regardless of how they knew each other, and if permission was denied than the subject was dropped entirely and activities would go on as nothing happened. There was no persuading or imitating in the Vari culture, and doing so, while not considered a crime, was very improper and the defender would have every right to challenge if they so desired. Nexus, knowing Viper and having been somewhat close to him since he started, nodded his head in approval as he waited for Viper's question.
"Nexus you are homosexual yes?" Came out of Viper lips as if the question was neither embarrassing nor impertinent to ask. Vari simply had no reason to beat around the bush, and said what needed to be said. They found it contradictory and slow to try to ask or say something in a nice, cover the bad parts, way. In the end you were going say or ask what was intended and trying to find a way around it and trying to make it pretty only wasted time and effort.
Nexus again nodded affirmatively unaffected by the question he had heard so many times in his life, and came to a stand next to Viper who still had his eyes fixed on the one part of the ceiling many levels above.
"GP asked me to help him get to you. He wishes to be mates" Viper again said flatly with no emotional undertone.
This time Nexus failed to compose himself and a confused and loud "What" barked from his muzzle. He didn't have to ask if this was some kind of joke, and knew that what Viper was saying had to be true. What he didn't understand was How and Why. Before he could ask Viper simply got up, nodded, and left giving him the simple message of "Go grab it now that you know."