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arcanadreams · 2 months

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Times Cal Saw Sorenn in Kit!Traveler

Do you guys remember this post from like a whole ass year ago? WELL after playing a6 again and getting caught up with episode 8, I finally got the inspiration to write something based on it! I've always felt that Sorenn was underutilized by the narrative, especially in the case of Kitalphan travelers. And even moreso on the Calderon route. So, I have taken it upon myself to write a little ficlet of some ways I think Calderon would see bits of Sorenn in a Kit!traveler. Traveler is referred to with gender neutral pronouns and is given the name "Traveler" so that everyone can insert themselves as they please! I banged this all out in like two hours so apologies ahead of time for any grammar mistakes LOL

Times Cal Saw Sorenn in Kit!Traveler

Eyes

In the seconds following him being, in hindsight, probably the biggest asshole imaginable, Calderon had the gall to ask their name. More specifically, he had the gall to ask “What did you say your name was?”

They blinked in surprise before staring at him a moment. It looked like they were processing both the fact that he had even bothered to ask, and that he had managed to still be rude about it. Their gaze turned incredulous as their eyes met.

Those eyes. Calderon resisted the gasp of air that threatened to escape his chest. Their eyes looked practically identical to Sorenn’s. They were the exact same color, at least. He didn’t get a good enough look at their shape in that brief moment to decide if that was the same, too. It was likely a coincidence, anyway.

“I didn’t, but…it’s Traveler,” they said, and this time he was unable to keep his expression neutral. One of his eyebrows quirked instantly, uncontrollably. That name was familiar. Undeniably so. And yet he didn’t know where he’d heard it. He shook his head; he was being foolish. He just missed Sorenn dearly and his mind was playing tricks on him because of it.

“Well, whoever you are, we’ll be dropping you off in Teranium once we get there. I suggest you come up with a plan before then. The streets of Nos Vega are not kind to the unprepared. Until then, unless you can do something useful, which I highly doubt, stay out of the way.”

Despite his harsh words, he still couldn’t keep himself from giving them one last once over before he left the bridge. To anyone on the outside looking in, it would seem as though he were sizing them up, to see if they were worth anything. Which, well, he was. But it was an excuse for him to check if those eyes really were that same shade.

They were.

Posture

The first time they did it, it confirmed Calderon’s suspicions of their wealthy background. After all, that little trinket they had with them when June brought them on board was made of Kitalphanite; whoever they were, they had credits. And likely, high social status.

So when the doors of their room slid open and they saw him standing there, and adjusted their posture, it didn’t shock him one bit. They straightened out their neck, aligned their shoulders, crossed their arms, and jutted their chin out ever so slightly. After living in the high end of Goldis for so long, he knew noble posture when he saw it. It almost made him scoff.

When their eyes met again, though, he was once again reminded of Sorenn. Sorenn often used to do much the same posturing, but he did it as a joke. He often struck a similar pose when he mimicked his royal siblings; well, the more troublesome ones, at least.

But Sorenn had also used what he called “royal body language” to his advantage, as well. It often came out when other members of the guard were being difficult, or if anyone gave him or Cal a hard time. It was an offensive maneuver, of sorts. A “do you know who I am?” without saying the words out loud. And it always worked, and always left him and Sorenn laughing.

As he and Traveler discussed the trinket, which they discovered was a music box, and he apologized for his rudeness on the bridge, he noticed their stature grow less rigid and their shoulders relax. He was glad to see it.

Sociability

Traveler may have started out hiding in their room most of the time, but they started growing comfortable aboard the ship somewhere during the trip to Cursa. Cal could tell, with how often he heard them talking or laughing to someone. Usually it was Ayame, Sebastian, or Ryona. They didn’t get on very well with Damon; but then again, who did? Though he couldn’t really blame them after suggesting selling them out to their family’s murderer. And June, well…that was complicated.

They took a surprising interest in everyone’s hobbies, of all things. They started helping Ryona with her plants on the regular. They’d sit with Ayame on the bridge and talk about anything and everything. Every now and again, they could be heard giving Aya’s shitty karaoke machine a go. They started helping Bash in the kitchen, both because they wanted to learn to cook and because they wanted to spend time with him.

They were also perfectly content with sitting in silence in the company of others. Once or twice, he had found himself and Traveler sitting in the common room of the Andromeda Six. No words were spoken, yet a sense of companionship lingered in the air. It was…nice. He hadn’t had someone to be alone together with in quite some time. The last person he could sit in companionable silence with was Sorenn, actually.

As a prince, and one of the older ones at that, Sorenn almost always had to be in “Peg’asi mode.” Always presentable, always powerful, always charming. But when his battery was drained, when he didn’t want to be a prince anymore, he would sit with Calderon in the barracks of Orsanna’s Guard during their training days, and they would just be quiet together.

Traveler really was like their older brother.

Compassion

He regretted snapping at them as soon as he’d done it. “Very few people have had the luxury of growing up in a golden palace, with servants to cater to their every whim,” he had said, harsh and unwarranted, and stopped himself abruptly. Traveler looked at him with confusion and hurt in their eyes, and he felt like a dick yet again.

Yes, Cursa was a dangerous place. But what had he yelled at them for? For being kind? For showing the same compassion Sorenn always had for people down on their luck? He didn’t have to join the Guard; he wanted to. And if Sorenn could have joined Cal in the Bronze District, he would have; he’d said as much. But as a prince, the leaders of the Guard, and for that matter, his father, King Fenris, would never allow him to be stationed anywhere less than Gold.

And here was Traveler, showing that same compassion, digging into their pockets for a donation for a starving child when they know damn well they don’t have a credit to their name at the moment. And yet they still hoped to find some way to help.

He was shocked when they purposefully caught up to him after his outburst. “I didn’t mean to snap at you earlier,” he said. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you must think of me.”

He was even more shocked at their reply. “You’re a good man,” they said. “I can see that. You’re also incredibly stubborn and ill-tempered, but surprisingly, I like that about you too.”

“You do?” He asked, and they nodded with a smile. There it was again; that compassion.

~~~~~~~~~~

And yet, for all the ways Calderon saw their older brother in Traveler, he also saw, well, Traveler.

Their eyes were the same shape as Sorenn’s, too, not just the same color. The two of them must have both gotten Nikolle’s eyes. But Calderon had met Traveler’s gaze enough times now to see the differences. The corners of Traveler’s eyes always crinkled when they smiled; they smiled with their entire face. It was like their joy overtook them every time they laughed. And when they were excited, their eyes twinkled in a way that brightened them to almost an entire shade lighter than they typically were. The first time their eyes lit up at the sight of him, Calderon couldn’t breathe.

For Traveler, the “royal posture” wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t a tool. It was a comfort. He noticed whenever they did it. That telltale straightening of the neck, aligning of the shoulders, crossing of the arms, and jutting of the chin. They did it when they felt unsafe. The first time he realized the meaning was on Cursa. When Alisa approached the crew, they did it before she was anywhere near them. They did it when she got close to him and Damon. They didn’t ease up when they outstretched their hand to shake hers, offering a pleasant greeting. They stiffened up more when she laughed at them. They were emulating their older brother to feel confident, to feel safe, and Calderon felt a lump in his throat whenever he thought too hard about it.

Sorenn was sociable and likable, but it was because he was born and raised to be that way. He knew all the right things to say and when to say them; he once confided in Cal that sometimes he didn’t know where the prince in him ended and the person in him began. Traveler, on the other hand, was likable without practice. They were painfully genuine in their every interaction. They had confessed to him that, after being left alone in the palace for so long, they hardly ever liked to be without company. Sitting in silence with someone wasn’t a luxury for them because they had been forced to be around people; it was a luxury for them because for so long they had been without anyone. Sorenn was molded into a charmer; Traveler was left alone to grow into a lover. Calderon would sit in silence with them forever, if only the circumstances of the universe would allow it.

Traveler’s compassion went beyond that of their older brother. It went beyond that of the average person, in fact. Once, when walking into the common room, Calderon heard a sniffle. Following the sound, he saw Traveler curled up on the couch. He immediately made his way over to them, brows furrowed in concern. They had their knees hugged to their chest, their face obscured. Soft sobs shook their frame. He called out for them, and they jumped, not having heard his approach. Only when their legs lowered did Calderon see the open book resting in their lap. The book Damon lent them ended with the dog dying, they explained, frowning, their lip still quivering slightly. With a fond smile, Cal reached out to wipe their tears. He cupped their cheek when he finished, moving forward to press a kiss to the top of their head. Truly, what had he done to deserve someone so sweet?

~~~~~~~~~~

Once, after a particularly rough nightmare, Traveler stumbled their way to the captain’s quarters.

“I had a dream about Sorenn,” they said when the doors opened, still heaving and trying to catch their breath. “You are the only person I know who…I just…I need someone who understands losing him.”

“You haven’t lost him fully,” Calderon whispered as he tugged them into his arms. “So much of him lives on in you.”

#WOOOO DID ITTTTT #i'm very happy with this #tho i didnt really know how to end it LOL i winged that ending hard #but oh well it's my fic i get to end it as abruptly as i want #feedback is very welcome!!! :DDD #posts #my writing #andromeda six #andromeda 6 #calderon lynch #calderon #the others appear but it's cal focused so i'm only gonna tag him

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