#oc: karlsor

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Sunshine and Storm Clouds

Author's note: So @c-u-c-koo-4-40k and I wrote this fic about Sunshine and Karlsor meeting. Anrir belings to @kit-williams

Summary: Karlsor and Sunshine meet.

Warnings: Some blood, swearing, intrusive thoughts, brotherly teasing.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams, @legionsofthehungry

Tagged continued: @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog, @felinisnoctis

Karlsor was getting some supplies for Anrir at the local store that caters to all paying customers when he gets distracted by something moving at the corner of his vision. 

Now, being in a generally busy, but not dangerous environment he's not even sure Why he bothers to note it. Hell, considering he's already had a taxing day of training the Scouts, he'd have preferred to just be sitting in a corner while his lingering headache dies down; Not in this bright, noisy, bullshit store. 

Not to mention things moved at the corners of his vision all the time; baselines, shadows, twisting futures of what may or may not be. He's generally developed a sense for what flickers deserved a reaction, and those that could be dismissed. But…something different pulls him this time. Something unknown. And when he turns, he finds himself struck speechless. 

“Excuse me?” A cheerful but polite voice pipes up from near his elbow. It’s a human baseline, with a shopping basket and bright eyes. “Sorry to bother you, Could I just Squeeeeze in here real quick?” The baseline chirps, reaching for something on the shelf he currently stood in front of. 

Normally, a baseline being overly close or unafraid of him would irk Karlsor. A mild irk but he's a generally sour person. What do you want from him? But this one…

“Thanks!” The baseline nods, and turns on her way, but not before sending off with a “Have a nice day!” And she begins to walk off in the direction of the registers. 

Karlsor stares after her and tilts his head one way, and then the other as his Sight twinges. A Warp Bond is forming, the links of shadow and light curl around his hearts and attach him to that very bold Baseline. He swears softly to himself as he grabs the last item he needs to get for Anrir as he moves swiftly, but not too fast to catch up to her.

He gets into line after her. His instincts already sensing little miss sunshine is his Bonded. The fuck does he do or say?! Ugh. Okay. He can do this. Fuck. Uh. He puts his things on the counter and watches while she talks to one of the cashiers as she pays. She laughs At something they say which has something In him bristling like an angry cat. 

He manages to buy the stuff and he heads out. Fuck. He needs to find her. Some of the shit is perishable and Anrir will have his ass if he lets it spoil Because he's Bond Drunk. 

“Fuckin dammit!” He whips his head back and forth, when an idea occurs to him. 

Though he's already exhausted he pulls on his warp sight again, the fresh bond trails off along with the slight lingering of her scent. Even that was bright, and warm. Like if someone made a fresh apple pie into a body wash, and like a pie on a windowsill it draws him in. 

The blooms on his bond even look like apple flowers, and despite the psychery headache Karlsor smiles. “Fuck yes!” He growls, then trots off in pursuit. 

Following her scent wasn't an easy task, with the generally busy streets. As well as having to keep one warp eye open to maintain sight on the bond. 

Perhaps psychery training with Khopesh's little Lullaby had made him complacent. He's become a bit too accustomed to having a human warp aspirin on hand at most times. Then again perhaps it was his new bond reinforcing his pain, goading him into finding his Sunshine before the headache would become splitting, and possibly make him pass out. 

No! He's Not going to blackout. He's a battle tested fucking Nightlord for fucks sake! He's stronger than this! Karlsor snarls under his breath as he continues to weave through the foot traffic. 

The scent of sweet cinnamon laced apples wafts more strongly on the breeze, and Karlsor finally catches sight of her ooing and awing in front of a store window.

His Sunshine! His hearts soar (and his nose hurts.) He fumbles his way to her not caring at all for how out of it he looks. 

“Hmm, such good quality but kind of expensive…my old hiking boots have seen better days. Should I splurge this mont-OH!” The baseline lets out a surprised sound as she realizes there was something looming over her. “Oh sorry, do you need me to move…” Her words trail off as she realizes Who was looming over her. 

And Karlsor…just stood there. Wow he has Really not thought this through.Say something you fucking dumb motherfucking shithead! He opens his mouth, but all that comes out is a barely audible-

“Ah…Hi…?” He feels something warm drip down his lips as the stress and embarrassment stirs in his stomach. 

His Sunshine's expression shifts to one of concern and bewilderment. “Do you… know you're bleeding?” She asks, reaching up to gesture at his face. 

Karlsor blinks, and touches his wet upper lip. Blood…

Oh yeah…he's Waaaaaay overused his psychery…shiiiiiii…The world starts to splotch out as black spots crowd around his vision. 

“Hey wait! Woahwoahwoah! Don't fall over!” His Sunshine pleads frantically as he sways. 

Well he does as he's asked. He doesn't fall over, but he does crumple forward till he's kneeling on the pavement in front of his Sunshine. 

Kaa-THUNK!

The pavement actually shakes a bit as Karlsor's armored knee hits it. His head is literally ringing and pulsing, his nose is dripping blood on the pavement, and he's so woozy he barely remembers the groceries in his other hand. But just when the Nightlord feels at his worst…

“Hang on!” Something soft presses to his nose, held by a hand that smells like apples. The other gently but firmly presses his chin up so his bloody nose can be reached more easily. Karlsor immediately feels his pain lessen slightly.  “Can we get some help over here!?” His Sunshine calls out. 

She's so pretty and kind. Also stressed. He should try and help her calm down so he tries to purr. He's heard that humans adore Astartes purring. Oh. His head hurts a lot. Ow. He closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them again he frowns.

“...where…the fuck am I?” He croaks. Oough. His head hurts. 

He's in a darkened room that smells of medical equipment and hears beeping noises that irritate him. 

“In the medical bay.” A familiar voice drawls out. The tone implies several things. Namely, that he's got a lecture coming his way and Possibly…remedial duties. 

“Fuuuuuuuuuck.” Karlsor groans, his head flopping back on the pillow behind him. 

“Language,” Anrir corrects him, as the elder Nightlord approaches his bedside and begins the usual post-consciousness check over. 

For a moment, neither of them speak. And it actually does strike Anrir as odd. Karlsor would normally at Least be trying to explain whatever mishap lead to this; all peppered with his usual foul exclamations of course. But instead…

“Are you…sulking?” Anrir asks incredulously. 

Karlsor glances at his ‘father’, then quickly turns his head away, “... No…What happened to the baseline human I was with before I passed out?”

Anrir raised one eyebrow curiously. “She called for help when you passed out in front of her. You were carried here, and she remained at the location of your…incident.”

She…she didn't come with him? Well…fuckin great! Just fucking fantastic! He'd made a complete fucking ass of himself, and now his- his bonded probably wants nothing to do with him! Now he's laid up in a hospital bed with not the foggiest fucking clue where she might be! And why the fuck are his eyes hurting now!?

Anrir notes how Karlsor's lips are pressing together very tightly and his breathing is becoming suspiciously like the breathing of someone who is trying not to cry. 

“She was quite worried about you, you know…” 

(!) That seems to get Karlsor's attention, and the younger Nightlord turns hesitantly to his sire. 

Anrir nods reassuringly. “Yes, I distinctly remember she was terribly worried you'd had a stroke or aneurysm. She couldn't travel with you as she had to return to her home with her perishable items.” He says. 

…

“Please! Is he going to be okay?” The little baseline woman asks as Karlsor's limp body is carefully manhandled by Ghosk and Claude to be brought back to the base. 

“He should be.” Anrir responds dryly, trying his best to be civil. Today was supposed to be his day off, just his luck one of his ‘gremlins’ manages to get himself into trouble. 

“Um…Could you…?” 

Anrir perks up at the baseline's attempt at making a request. 

“Could you just ahm…” She fumbles with her bag, and scribbles a quick sequence of numbers on a piece of paper she pulls from it. “Could you maybe call me when he wakes up? I think he was trying to tell me something when he passed out.”

Anrir glances at the paper before taking it. It's a ten digit sequence, her phone number. 

Interesting…

“I will make sure you are informed when he awakens.” 

“Thank you! I'd like to go with him now but…I don't think the milk and eggs I bought will like being outside a fridge that long.” She shrugs with a very sunny smile, in spite of her still present anxiety. 

Anrir smiles as well. “You have my word.”

…

“She…she really said that?” Karlsor asks, his voice actually filled with a cautious hope. 

Anrir nods again. “Indeed, and I've already made the call, and given the location she'll need to come to. She should be arriving within fifteen minutes.” 

Karlsor feels the stress pit in his stomach and chest unravel, and he lets his body go limp. “Thank fucking…Fuck I don't even know who I'm thanking.”

“Ahem?”

“Oh! Yeah, Thanks Anrir.” Karlsor says sincerely. With that better mood in mind, Anrir raises an eyebrow with a cheeky look. 

Karlsor sighs. “Thanks…dad…” He acquiesces quietly. 

“You're welcome,” The old Nightlord assures, then takes the piece of paper from his pocket. “I have a feeling you'd like to have this.” 

Karlsor's eyes zero in on the folded page that's being held out to him. It carries his Sunshine's scent, and he finds himself almost snatching for it. 

“Ah ah!” Anrir chastises, “Remember! Baselines are more…iffy about certain behaviors. Do Not let her catch you doing something suspicious or strange with this!”

Karlsor gave his claw leader an incredulous look. “Do you fucking expect me to shove it down my-”

SWAT “Language!” Anrir growls, using the paper to bap! him for his bad behavior. 

“Ack! Fine FINE I Fucking get it!” Karlsor growls. “Now can I PLEASE-”

Anrir drops the paper in his son's open hand, and turns on his heel. He shakes his head fondly, and mentions checking his messages and other duties. 

Alone now, Karlsor looks and the tiny square of paper in his hands. He holds it as if it were the most fragile and beautiful treasure in the world. 

He brings it to his face, and takes a small but purposeful sniff. Behind the basic scent of paper and ink is the flourishing and sweet scent of apples. 

His Sunshine…He breathes it in, and unlike earlier he finds himself not just able to, but eagerly purring. He purrs so loudly he doesn't notice the mix of foot steps coming toward the door. 

Knock knock knock -Creeeeak

“H-hello?” 

Karlsor feels his chest fill up with anticipation and excitement. He grips the piece of paper, hiding it in his large hand. He feels Nervous, and not like when Anrir has a narc on nervous this is…This is so much different and he has No Idea what to do. 

He figures he can't do worse than what he did before so he croaks out. “Ah…Hi?” 

Her smile lights up the darkened room, and she approaches the hospital bed. “Hi…I'm glad you're okay.” She says, then fumbles with her hands a little. “I uh…I was so…it was kinda scary with what happened to you- But, you're fine now right?”

Karlsor nods. “Yesh! I mean No, not fucking that I mean…fucking shit fuck why can't I just Taaaaalk.” Karlsor groans. 

“Snrk-hehehehe!” Karlsor feels his embarrassment wane as his Sunshine giggles. “It's okay, I'm just glad you're alive. I mean…how awful would it be for someone to die in front of you on your day off?”

Karlsor snorts. “Pfft! Yeah no fucking kidding. That would suuuuuck baaaaalls.”

“Pft-HAHAHAHA.” A full on belly laugh comes from his Sunshine. Fuck Yeah! He can make her laugh. “Oh I'm sorry, I just…my sense of humor is kinda brain dead.” She explains, clearly self conscious. 

“I think you have a wonderful and funny sense of humor.” He encourages. “Dark humor Helps us handle stuff.”

“Oh! Thank You…” His Sunshine covers her mouth and blushes. 

A moment passes where neither speaks. It doesn't feel uncomfortable, but clearly something more needs to be said. 

Eventually his Sunshine speaks up. “So…what exactly were you trying to tell me? Back there I mean.”

Karlsor bites his lip nervously, he knows humans don't often feel the forming of a bond, but he was Really hoping she'd put two and two together so he wouldn't have to spill his guts. But fuck it, he's gotta try. 

“I ah…well it turns out we…When you spoke to me it took me a moment to realize we were-”

“Bonded?” She asks, her eyes full of wonder. “No way!”

Karlsor smiles. “Psst, lean in real quick.” She does so and he whispers with full seriousness. “Way.”

“Pfft-hAhahSnrk!” She can't help herself but laugh again, and Karlsor feels himself flush with even more pride. 

Eventually her laughter calms, and she sighs. “So…what happens now?” 

Well shit…he's not sure either. “Huh, I guess we just…see where this goes? Either of us can reject this, it'll hurt but…if you really don't want this…I can't force you to accept it.” He explains, though a dark dark part of him snarls at the thought of letting her walk away. 

“Okay…” She nods, fumbling with her hands nervously. “I-I do want to Try. I'll admit it was a shock but…you seem so Genuine. The sense of humor is a great bonus.” She affirms. 

Well fuck now he feels like happy crying but he pushes that back. His pride can only take So much in one day. “Good, that's good. I want that too.” He grunts. 

She smiles, then glances at his large pale hand (the one not holding her note), and gestures to it. “May I…hold your hand?”

Oh fuck her eyes are so bright and sweet, sweetheart I'd cut my fuckin hand off if you asked fuck- “Yeah!-Ah…I mean yeah…I'd like that.”

The warmth of her fingers twine around his and he feels his hearts melt. The purring he'd done before starts up again, and his Sunshine gasps. 

“You can actually purr!?” She leans over and presses her head to his chest before suddenly yanking back. “Oh sorry! I should've asked first!”

“No please!” Now Karlsor trips over his words and volume, and he leans forward a Bit suddenly causing his Sunshine to instinctively lean back. “I mean…I don't mind it…it felt…nice.” 

His Sunshine blinks, her beautiful cheeks becoming rosy…or apple-y maybe… She is the cutest fuckign person he’s ever met in his life. And he adores her so much already. He’d kill so many fucking people if she asked.

But regardless she smiles sheepishly before replying. “O-okay…then can I…?”

Karlsor nods. “Sweetheart nothing would make me fuckin happier.”

She smiles so wide and bright before pressing her cheek to the Night Lord's chest. She feels the purrs absolutely vibrating and the sound fills her with…happiness. This feeling of warmth- of soft joy. Oh- he likes it a lot. No fucking wonder Anrir likes this shit so much.

And in that moment; the world outside, the shift at work tomorrow, the medical discharge paperwork…all of it would still be necessary tedium but for now both the newly bonded just had one thought in mind. 

I could get used to this. 

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

Karlsor: I've only had Lil Hiss for five minutes. And if anything happened to them I'd kill Everyone in this room...And then myself.

Lil Hiss: HISSSSS! 😾

Karlsor: HAH! Steal em now Shit Face! BLEH!

Khopesh: Hmph!

Karlsor: LiL Hiss!? What the Fuck!?

Lil Hiss: Mrrrrrp 😸💜

Karlsor: Still my baby!

Karlsor: You Should be Afraid of me! I'm a Night Lord for fuck's sake!

Lullaby: Well...you have a Felitzli...

Karlsor: Fuckin...So???

Lullaby: They only evolve with High Friendship.

Karlsor: Oh...

Lullaby: yeah...

Hey I finally did the Thing! it's only been several...months.

So for those who don't know I do Pokémon/Fakemon designs. They are on a different blog and I decided to do a friend's OC (Karlsor belonging to @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan) with one of my Favorite designs!

Yeah...Karlsor ain't beating the soft gooey center allegations any time soon. Also he 100% would've named his partner Lil Shit if Anrir hadn't stepped in a said "No you are Not subjecting this poor creature to that indignity, pick something else."

So he picked something similar because Karlsy is a cheeky fuck.

Tag List: @kit-williams @angronsjewelbeetle @bleedingichorhearts @bispecsual @legionsofthehungry

@sleepyfan-blog

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

Do I Know You? - Part 2

Summary: While Lullaby spends their first days alone in a long while, Khopesh and the rest of his claw are busy on their mission. It's a matter of extreme delicacy, and importance as it involves the disappearance of hybrid children. 

Previous Chapter: HERE

Next Chapter: Not Here Yet Here Now

First Ever in the Series: HERE

Tag List: @kit-williams @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan (all of whom have amazing characters that make cameos here!) @sleepyfan-blog @egrets-not-regrets @legionsofthehungry

@passionofthesith @bispecsual @bleedingichorhearts @beckyninja

Location: Redacted 

Time: 11:00 PM

Current Objective: Pre-mission Briefing 

As Khopesh enters the briefing room alongside his Claw and behind his ‘father’ Anrir, he realizes there is a familiar face here. 

A portly Death Guard with a mouth of sharpened teeth on his gut, probably to replace the jaw decaying off his face. 

“Xerxes,” Khopesh greets the marine who smells of death with a sharp but genuine smile. 

“Ah…Khopesh….good to seeee…you once…Again.” He breathes, both mouths speaking in sync. 

The other in the room, an Ultramarine Apothecary, glances between the two. “You know each other?”

Xerxes smiles. “Indeed…Medeathe…we share some…common interests…” 

Khopesh grins. The absolute Cheek of older cousin Xerxes, implying their alliance right in front of a stranger. Well the Ultramarine is a stranger to Khopesh, he's not sure if Xerxes knows him better. They'd make an odd combo regardless, with Xerxes as a walking nurgle corpse and Medeathe practically the poster child for an Ultramarine, with his bright blond hair and deep blue eyes. 

As for the reason Khopesh and Xerxes interact…not like he can complain, he'd probably do the same. 

Xerxes continues his explanation, “And I often traverse ... .his neighborhood.”

“Haven't seen you as often though. Have you found a place with better leftovers to pilfer?” Khopesh chuckles. 

Xerxes takes the comment in good humor and lets out his odd lilting and slow laugh. “HaHaHa, Perish…the Thought…I have been…occupied with matters…of the home…”

Anrir perks up a bit at that. “So it's finally happened then?”

The others in the room perk up a bit at Anrir's apparent interest. 

“What's fucking happened?” Karlsor asks. 

Xerxes lopsided grin grows wider. “Ah…sharp as…ever…Nightlord…and Yessss.” Xerxes pulls out his vox and begins swiping through it. 

The Night Lords, save Ghosk, immediately crowd around the image being shown. Khopesh, Claude and Karlsor are curious as to what the older Marines are talking about, and Anrir does so for scientific curiosity…mostly. Ghosk doesn't want to bother leaning pushing his way into the crowd, but he does glance at the images being shown. 

On the screen is a baseline human and a tiny bundle with a face in her arms. Ghosk seems to realize something Khopesh doesn't and chuckles with a “Well I'll be…”

Khopesh and Claude don't really get it. “A baby?” Like sure babies are cute but plenty of bonded humans have them from previous pregnancies or adoptions. 

“Your baby?!” Anrir asks with an uncharacteristic, almost reverent tone.

“Holy Fucking Shit.” Karlsor mumbles. 

Xerxes beams with pride. “They're name is Vespa… my little Larva.” He says, cooing over the photos. And indeed in other pictures where the child is a bit older it's far more obvious the little one has mostly their mother's looks, but their bright green eyes and their mossy hair hint at their father's identity. 

Medeathe just stares wordlessly, perhaps he feels uncomfortable with the thought of hybrid children. 

Claude blinks. “Wait! That's actually possible?? For a human and an Astarte to…To-”

“Yes!” The Ultramarine breaks in on the awkward statement with a terse tone. “It is Possible, Scout. Do not make a scene.”

Khopesh narrows his eyes at the rebuke. Mild or not, he doesn't take kindly to people chastising Claude for no reason. 

Medeathe takes a steadying breath, and his next words are much kinder. “I apologize for my tone, Scout. But I've had that conversation so many times at this point it's driven me damn near the edge of my sanity.” 

Xerxes laughs again. “Indeed…there is a reason…at the clinic…they call you…the Midwife…” Medeathe rolls his eyes but Xerxes continues. “He is…the foremost…when it comes…to labor and delivery of…hybrid children. He was even consulted…during my mate's…premature delivery.”

Claude speaks up. “It is alright older cousin, I understand the headache of having to explain things more than once.”

Khopesh pulls back on his snark. Medeathe is right, baselines can also treat the subject of hybrids…poorly, and perhaps the Ultramarine didn't want Claude to pester Xerxes. He'll hold his tongue for now.

No someone Else was doing that already. “I knew when I smelt the pregnancy hormones from your mate on you. When was the due date! And how long was the gestation!? Were there any complications pre or post delivery? You must tell me!” Anrir asks with urgency. 

Xerxes chuckles and is about to reply when-

“Save the baby pictures for Afterward gentlemen. We have a matter of great importance to attend to.” A dark and gruff yet refined voice speaks from the doorway. 

The others turn to see a Black Legionnaire with a face of criss-crossed scars and a cybernetic implant that goes from his chin to his forehead. In fact it seems to go further, actually trailing along the marine's bald head and down to the back of his neck. 

“Captain Horlux.” Anrir greets, making a quick battle sign to which all the Claw members stand at attention and make way for the other marine. 

Horlux walks past, seemingly reading each of the Claw up and down. Claude feels himself sweat a bit, the Captain's gaze is intense, and his presence feels as if it has a pressure all its own. He briefly remembers how it felt being examined by his previous Raven Guard commanders. 

Just as Claude is feeling his stress rise. Horlux nods, seemingly satisfied with what he's observed and turns to walk to the front of the room with a quickly grunted. “At Ease.”

The Claw relaxes where they stand and move to gather where Horlux and the Ultramarine Apothecary are setting up the presentation. 

“I have Gathered you here to undertake a very important and delicate mission.” Horlux explains, and some images flash on the projector screen.”

Images of a warehouse appear, along with several images of different baselines and Astartes. They seem to be bonded pairs.

Khopesh smiles while a growl bubbles up in his throat. He remembers the rage he felt when he learned of the Chaos Blood Angels who would kidnap bonded humans to kill them so they could feel the warp backlash of the bond breaking. Then kill the Astarte if they'd captured them. 

“Easy Curzling,” Horlux hushes. “So far we know for a fact these baselines aren't dead. However, they have all been through a truly horrific experience.”

The next slides show the baselines; mostly social media or medical photos. Every single baseline shares one thing in common; they are all heavily pregnant, clearly near the end of their terms. The after was far more clinical, and each stomach that was once round with child now laid flat and empty. The only evidence on the outside of the previous state was a perfectly stitched scar. “We have reason to believe there are illegal experiments regarding Pregnant Baselines taking place at this location.” The coordinates flash up on screen.

“Your first priority; determine the fate of the missing offspring, extract any that remain alive. Second; capture the perpetrators alive so they may face judgement. Third; secure the scene and retrieve any and all documentation of their doings for evidence.” Horlux turns to the room. “Any questions?”

Claude hesitantly raises his hand. “I must ask, what Kind of experiments do we believe are being committed?”

Horlux seems to take a moment, seemingly debating what or how to explain. “All we know for certain is that our most recent victim was somehow taken and returned to her domicile without her nor her Astarte mate noticing. We have reason to believe some kind of sleeping or amnestic agent was used on both of them. When the baseline awoke she had no memory of the trip, and her child had been removed from her womb. Her mate rushed her to the hospital as soon as they awoke and discovered her state.”

Xerxes speaks next. “Do you think…the perpetrator is targeting humans…whose pregnancies are those…from Astartes?” His tone is clearly troubled. 

And Claude meanwhile is still boggled that such a thing is even possible. But putting that aside, it Is troubling. He may not be an apothecary but he knows Regular baselines can be fragile. Those that are pregnant or freshly born are even more so! 

Horlux nods. “Indeed, which is why we cannot wait any longer. The most recent victim was a few days ago. Our Hydra sector and Apothecary Sargent Medeathe here have been instrumental in gathering information and scoping out possible holding locations. But now it's time for your Night Lords to do what they do best.” Horlux says. “Get in under cover of darkness. Find the missing offspring. And drag the offender or offenders back here to face punishment.”

“Sir yes sir!” The Claw replies. 

Horlux turns to Xerxes. “You will be using your little friends to provide further reconnaissance.”

“With Pleasure.” Xerxes replies, bringing some of his little pets to play and walk over his hand. Medeathe can't seem to stop himself from physically recoiling at the sight, even if the movement is slight. 

Khopesh lets his teeth show. “Not a fan of bugs ey Sargent?”

Medeathe huffs. “Not a fan of…strange insects.”

Strange…aka Chaos. And again Khopesh narrows his eyes. He's worked with skittish Loyalists before, so he'll put up with this. The sooner this gets done, the sooner he returns to you. 

Claude speaks up. “I…can't say I disagree. They also ah…trouble me a bit.” 

The statement actually causes Medeathe to laugh a little. “Well, at least one of your lot has some Sense here.” 

As the squad turns to leave for their mission, Khopesh catches Xerxes's attention and pulls him to the side. 

“Forgive me for delaying our mission, but this is the first time I have been away from Lullaby for an extended period.” Khopesh says quickly and quietly. “Has there been any change in the…”

Xerxes smiles reassuringly…as reassuring as a half rotted face can be. “There has been…no movement…of my pets Nor the…Interloper. Be…at ease…” 

Khopesh feels that knot of tension in his gut unwind. He's grateful for that. “Thank you Cousin. I know you said the same when I'd first asked but I still find myself troubled by the vision.”

Xerxes nods in understanding. “It is…only natural…to be so concerned with one's…life mate.”

Khopesh nods. “Still Thank You.”

Xerxes waves his hand. “Let us save thanks…for later…for now…” His eyes and voice become deathly serious. “We have a mission to complete.”

…

Location: Warehouse 

Time: 11:47 pm

The group stays in the trees at the perimeter of the structure, from the outside it looks very innocuous, but Night Lords know that such places are Perfect for traps.

“Gather round,” Anrir pulls out the building plans for the warehouse, the Hydra Sector Horlux spoke of had clearly done some digging into mortal building records to find this. Rooms, doors, walls all labeled with letters so they could be identified. 

But they know that This is the building as it was during its first construction. There's no telling what could be swapped or changed on the inside. 

“Alright, Xerxes you're up.” Anrir prompts and the Death Guard does as he's instructed. 

“Go…lend me…your sight…” He breathes, and his wasps go on their way. The warehouse is surprisingly insulated against the weather, but Xerxes wasps are specialists in getting through small spaces. 

“Hrm…it is…very dark. But my pets…can see….ah…tricky tricky…” Xerxes breathes. “The inside layout…is mostly the same. Some new walls…have been erected…here…here…and here…” He marks them on his map, and Khopesh notes how the routes from the entrance split in two directions. 

“Looks like we'll need to split into groups of two to sweep the place.” Ghosk grunts. 

“Not yet, Xerxes,” Anrir prompts. “What do you see?”

Xerxes focuses again, and his expression morphs into slight frustration. “Hrm…it seems that…there are certain rooms…my pets cannot enter. There is…interference…”

“Interference how?” Karlsor asks. 

“Hrm…my pets…are sensitive to…vibrations. Differences in air pressure…and sound waves…can make their vision and flight…more difficult. Certain rooms…seem to have those frequencies…emanating from within…”

“So there's some kind of device or system we need to dismantle then?” Medeathe asks. 

Xerxes nods, and he seems troubled. “It would seem…so…”

Anrir speaks next. “Any life signs otherwise?”

Xerxes answers. “No. All the places…my pets can see…are uninhabited…and look as if they have been so…for a looong time…no traps that they can sense or see.”

“Very well.” Anrir nods. “We can assume that if the missing offspring And the perpetrators are anywhere, they are within one or more of those shielded rooms. They are our first priority, therefore, our breach Must allow us to sweep and secure those, as well as blocking off the exits for any potential hostiles.” He points to the map. 

“Xerxes will remain outside so he may focus on relaying what his sentries see to us over vox. Ghosk and Karlsor take the rear exit. Khopesh and Myself the route that goes right. Claude and Medeathe the route that goes left, any questions?” 

Khopesh almost protests, if anything Claude should be paired with one of them. 

“No fa- I mean…Anrir. We are ready when you are.” Claude nods, seemingly having no problem with the orders. So again, Khopesh holds his tongue. Anrir nods. “Very good. Everyone to your positions, and on my signal, we breach.”

…

Claude, Medeathe, Anrir and Khopesh creep up to the building's main entrance, while Karlsor and Ghosk make their way to the back.  

“Karlsor, Ghosk, are you ready?”

“Ready on your signal Anrir.”

“Good, on my ‘go’ 3…”

Claude readies himself, right behind Medeathe who will be leading. 

“2…” 

Khopesh flexes his claws, he'll be busting down the door and the others will follow after before the split. 

“1-GO!”

A flurry of movement breaks out and a CRASH is unleashed as Khopesh kicks the flimsy door open. Their thundering foot falls seem to make the walls shake as they flow into the building.

Claude and Medeathe as planned go left, down a hallway with their bolters drawn they come to another fork. Claude takes a half second to recall the map, and the direction to the shielded room on this side of the building. 

“It was a right turn. Keep up Scout!” Medeathe grunts, barely giving Claude a chance to cover the other side of the hallway as he moves. 

They come to the locked door of the shielded room and Claude prepares to set the charge to blow the lock off. Any Space Marine could kick the door down, but that would leave the breacher vulnerable to counterattack by those inside the room. A detonation will open the door and hopefully stun any hostiles inside so they can neutralize them. 

“Wait!” Medeathe hisses. “Let me,” He pushes past, and brings out his own detonation charge. “If the infants are inside, we can't risk using a full charge.”

Claude nods, of course of course. He takes position to the side of the door. 

BANG! 

The charge still blows the door back, but not off its hinges and Claude and Medeathe surge inside, bolters drawn. Claude looks left, then right, checking all corners and possible attack points before lowering his weapon with a “Clear.”

And now that his focus is off of checking every corner for hostiles, he truly takes in the room before him. It is Much more clean and inhabited than the rest of the warehouse. In fact it’s covered floor to ceiling in medical machinery. 

And filled with tiny fragile humans inside that machinery. Almost like…a nursery. 

He's…he's heard of these types of machines. They're called…Incubators. And though small…the little ones inside Seem to all be breathing. Some are completely baseline in appearance and others have horns or teeth, longer claws, pitch dark eyes. There are clearly a number of different hybrids here from all kinds of Astartes here. 

But…there's still something wrong with them. In spite of the loud entry they're…they're all so quiet and…Some of them have surgery marks others have… metal body parts.

“Augmentation…” Claude whispers with a strange horror in his voice. They've clearly been augmented. Claude isn't sure why he feels so upset, he was given his first augment as a young child. 

Yes, when he was around ten! These are neonates or barely any older!

“It's fascinating,” Medeathe breathes in awe. “To think someone could construct a facility of This level in an abandoned warehouse.”

Claude doesn't really like the…reverence in his tone, but he can't deny the statement rings true. He chocks it up to Medeathe's specialty being in neonatal care. “I suppose. Now we need to report the location.” Claude hurriedly types on his vox. 

“Anrir, come in Anrir, we have located the missing offspring. We're in sector X of the building…there appear to be about twenty incubators.”

-Bzzt "Message received, we will proceed to your location. Are any of the little ones injured?”

Claude swallows the lump in his throat and answers. “All have life signs, but they're all…all of them have evidence of augmentation…and they are all currently inside incubators with locks and hooked up to various tubes…I'm not sure how to remove them.”

“Medeathe should know how to remove them while keeping them stable. Follow his orders until we can reach you.”

“Wilco.”

Medeathe looks over the room. “Seems almost a shame to dismantle this…” He sighs. 

Claude pushes the same discomfort as before aside and shrugs. “Well, the medical equipment can be salvaged…and it'll do more good in a hospital than here.” He peaks into the incubator he's standing in front of as Medeathe busies himself with the mechanics of how to transport the infants. 

The little one inside is soooo small, pudgy and soft looking, and an odd part of Claude's heart wants to hold them. He thinks this little one is female but he's not one hundred percent sure. But he cannot remove them yet, so he moves to place his hand to the glass where hers is. 

“Ah Ah Ah! Don't…do that.” Medeathe grunts. “This little Night Lord has a touch of psychery. You might startle her.”

Claude pulls back. “Oh right…I wouldn't want to-”

Time stops, just for a moment. 

“Sargent Medeathe…” Claude's tone is a question, but it is laced with…fear. The Sargent's hands stop moving. “How did you know this little one is a Night Lord spawn?”

“I ah…I saw her eyes. She opened them when you weren't looking.” He replies. 

Claude feels heat pool under his skin, rage…and disbelief. “You could've said she was a Raven Guard or even a Carcharodon, but…you also said she has psyker capabilities.” He mumbles. “But you're Not a psyker, there's no way you could know that unless…”

Suddenly his mind goes back to the breach…how Medeathe seemed to know the Exact way to go. How He was the one to set the charge before Claude breached this room. 

Even his odd stare when Xerxes had shown his newborn. Claude felt his skin crawl. 

“Oh Little Primaris…” Medeathe soft voice speaks, almost like that calm disappointment parents would show children when they've seen something they shouldn't. 

Claude whips his bolter out and trains it on the Ultramarine. But rather than jumping to attack him, the Ultramarine regards him with a calm…almost Fond look. It makes Claude want to vomit. 

“Halt!” Claude snarls, training his bolter. “You are under arrest.”

The Ultramarine tilts his head. “Under whose jurisdiction?”

“The Alliance.” Claude states. “You will be taken to stand trial for your crimes-”

“Ah yes!” Medeathe nods astutely. “The Alliance, full of Traitors…and Heretics…and Deserters-Tell Me, why does a Loyalist son of Corax himself, take orders from a Chaos inclined Night Lord?”

Claude hesitates. “Anrir is Not Chaos.”

“But your other Brother is…the one with a set of throne damned Bat Wings who made a mess of my front door.” He replies. “The other one with the foul mouth may not look it, but I can sense the Stink of that rotten warp corruption upon him…” He steps carefully around Claude who still has his bolter trained on him. 

For a moment Claude thinks to shoot the bastard dead, until he sees something move on the ceiling behind Medeathe. Instinctively, he knows who the dark shape is, and what it's signing. 

Can't shoot in here. Risk to babies. Keep him talking. 

So he allows Medeathe to keep talking. 

“And as for your…Anrir, he's a Traitor to the Imperium. All of his wretched ilk are.” Medeathe swears. “Even back in their ‘loyal’ times; nothing but a bunch of savage skin peelers looking to sow fear and get their fill of torture.”

The hypocrisy sets Claude off. “And what does that make you then!?” Claude snarls. “Look where you're standing, look at what you've done to these little ones and their families!” Claude gestures to the room of infants too young to be parted from their parents. “DON'T moralize to Me about torture, the torture you've put those human baselines and their mate's through by Stealing their children from their wombs is worse than anything the Nightlord's could do!”

The dark shape is almost in position now, but Claude is truly having to hold himself back from killing Medeathe outright. 

The Apothecary’s response is chilling, Claude can Feel the smile behind the helmet. “I am only continuing the good work I did before. The Imperium will need more Neophytes, more serfs, and of course…more servitors. It is only natural to pick from hybrids as they have an even better chance of surviving the process.” He gently places his hand on Claude's bolter. Claude allows him to move the gun down. 

He gestures to the cradle in front of Claude. The tiny female baseline with brown skin and fully pitch black eyes stares back. “And as for the spawns of Traitors like This little Night Lord, they will Finally have a chance at redemption.” Medeathe turns to the Raven Guard. “That's what you want too, isn't it?” 

Claude forces himself to not recoil as Medeathe reaches a hand out to gently touch his face. “Don't you want what you were promised…to serve the Imperium and Atone for the sins of your blood?” Medeathe breathes, thinking he's got the Primaris right where he wants him. 

That does catch Claude off guard. “How d-did you?”

“How did I know you have Traitor's blood?” Medeathe coos. “Oh dear child, it's written all over your face. And come now…why else would those wretched traitors tolerate an abomination like you?”

And all at once, the spell passes. Claude nods jerkily and almost…laughs. “Of course…”

“See, I told you you'd see sense.”

“No I mean of course you'd say something that's absolutely fucking HORSESHIT!” The laugh turns into a snarl as he slams his fist straight into Medeathe's helmeted face. The Ultramarine reels and falls back a few steps. 

“You wretched little Traitor bastard!” He curses and reaches for his own bolter. 

“Ah Ah AH!” Khopesh chimes gleefully, dropping from the ceiling and literally swiping the side arm away with a slash of his Lighting Claws. Before delivering a sharp kick to Medeathe's gut, sending him back to Claude. 

“You don't know ANYTHING!” Claude snarls, landing another devastating punch. “You don't Know ANYTHING! ABOUT! MY! FAMILY!” Claude locks in, just as he had the Last time he faced a bully, and starts beating the blue off Medeathe.  

“Not so much fun to be the one caught between, Is it Ultramarine!?” Khopesh snarls as he and Claude literally volly the apothecary back and forth as he fruitlessly tries to escape. 

“N-no!” The Ultramarine is beaten to the ground and tries to drag himself to his sidearm. 

CRUNCH! “ARGHGAAAAH!” 

“Ooops~” Khopesh chimes with sadistic glee as his armored boot Crushes the Ultramarine's wandering hand. 

Claude drags Medeathe back and locks his arms around the apothecary's neck. He tightens down and the Apothecary begins to lose consciousness. 

“You,” Claude huffs, his breathing is labored. “Are Under Arrest! You will be Tried! And you will ANSWER! FOR YOUR CRIMES!” The Apothecary struggles in his grasp before he goes limp, but Claude waits a few agonizing extra moments to make sure he is well and Truly out. 

Then he slaps on the Astarte grade restraints but as he does Claude is breathing hard, almost hyperventilating. He can barely hear Khopesh as he talks until…

“Claude…CLAUDE?!” Khopesh gently takes Claude by the shoulder. “You alright Claude?”

Claude feels his veins ice over. “They're all so small…” The little ones, taken from their mother's too soon. All in the hopes of What!? Making more neophytes!? Kidnapping and traumatizing and butchering mothers and children with metal and organ augments!? Even if it were possible to make Space Marines on Terra as the Imperium had, the children hybrid or not deserved a Choice on what they'd become. 

“Hey Hey! Look at me!” Khopesh snarls. “We Saved these little ones, and who knows how many more pregnant baselines?”

Claude nods, shakily, but he does. 

“Without you, they'd still be in Danger and that!” He points to Medeathe's unconscious body. “Fucking bastard, might be free to try again!”

“That's true.”

Khopesh smiles. “Of course I'm right. And now we need to focus on moving these little mites and getting them back to their families.”

“Well said Khopesh.” 

Claude and Khopesh turn and see Anrir and the other Night Lords filing in. 

“Father!” Claude, much like a child himself, feels so relieved to see his family. 

“Good to see you Anrir.” Khopesh greets. “We'll certainly need your expertise since the other apothecary is…” He glances to the unconscious Ultramarine, still held in restraints. “Out of commission.”

Anrir nods. “I assume there is a good reason for this.” 

Khopesh smiles wide. “You might need a Special Cell for this one.” Khopesh pulls out the recording he'd taken while Medeathe was rambling. 

Anrir's expression morphs subtly, and Khopesh gets Excited. Anrir is disgusted. Karlsor picks that up as well. 

“Ho ho ho, looks like we'll get to have a fuckin Party once we get this fucker back to base.” 

Anrir nods. “Yes…I think we shall.” He then sends a copy of the log to Horlux and Xerxes. With the additional message for Xerxes to receive Medeathe into custody. By which he means Ghosk and Karlsor haul (drag) the bastard outside so Xerxes can keep his and his pets eyes on him till he awakens. 

The elder Night Lord moves along the incubators, examining them and the infants inside. “The air inside these is laced with a sleeping agent. Not enough to be deadly, but enough to keep the little ones drowsy and quiet though I wouldn't be surprised if this room was also sound proofed…” Anrir grimaces, and he recognizes the IVs. “And they're hooked up to nutrient drips, and waste disposal tubes. The fool couldn't even be bothered to feed or change them by hand. Idiot.” Anrir growls. 

Khopesh feels his excitement Skyrocket. Not about the infants’ situation, fuck no this room makes him so angry it hurts. But Anrir being this angry means the retribution will be Slow and Aaaagonizing. 

Exactly! The kind he relishes, and the kind this misbegotten bastard deserves. 

“Our play time will have to wait, Khopesh, there is still much to do here.” Anrir points out. “Not only securing safe transport for these little ones, but turning this building upside down to ensure all relevant evidence is collected and no…unwanted surprises assail us. Oh come now…”

Anrir coos as one of the little ones begins to cry in their pod. Perhaps the gaseous agent that kept them calm is running out. He reaches one ancient hand to the little one and lays it against the glass. 

The little Night Lord gurgles, and puts her hand up against his, babbling with interest at this new face that she may or may not be able to see. “There now, isn't that better. Shhh…”

“Brrr-agalb-lphht.” The baby says in response, but she is calm now and Claude feels a more proper relief flow over him. 

Khopesh puts his hand on his younger brother's shoulder. “Well done Claudy, well done.”

Claude nods, and even blinks a bit. He Actually feels a bit of wetness coming to his eyes. They're happy tears, but still he wipes them away quickly. 

“Thanks…but we've got more work to do.” 

…

1 Day Post Mission

The Claw walks throughout the rest of the compound, their sweep after showing that the other shielded rooms held medical supplies, and documentation of the…experiments Medeathe was conducting. 

“I suppose he's lucky none of the little ones passed from this.” Ghosk sighs, thinking about the cluster fuck the Apothecaries had experienced moving all the offspring from their ‘nursery’ to the neonatal care unit at the nearby Steelix Base. 

Khopesh's grin splits open. “Not like it matters, he's a dead man regardless.”

Anrir nods as he gathers the documentation. “Too true. At the very least he was smart enough to not sign his name on these pages.” 

“But Not fuckin smart enough to realize that stealing offspring would land him where he is now.” Karlsor remarks. 

“To think a Son of Gulliman would fall so far.” Claude ponders. 

“Evil doesn't have a legion color, Claude.” Anrir hums, taking a moment to read over the medical study's findings. 

“And neither does Crazy.” Khopesh adds. 

2 Days Post Mission 

“We've cleared the entire structure Anrir.” Claude reports proudly, he's also holding a number of different documents. 

“Claudy found the last of the papers. Sniffed em out, through a wall.” Khopesh announces, also with pride. “Yeeesh, these are more…personal.”

Anrir cocks an eyebrow, somewhat unimpressed. Not by the find but what he imagines the pages entail. “Let me guess. ‘No one understands what I'm doing.’ ‘I am the only one who can lead us into the future.’ ‘Everyone else are Fools and will quake when I am finally allowed to put the brilliance of my research into the sunlight?’”

“Yep, pretty much.” Khopesh shrugs. 

“Eh seen one evil scientist motherfucker seen em all.” Karlsor huffs, and casts a pointed look at Anrir. 

Anrir is not amused. “Get back to work.”

…

3 Days Post Mission at the Steelix Base Neonatal Care Facility.

The Claw waits with varying levels of boredom or anxiety. Things have been wrapped up, the Warehouse is fully cleared, Medeathe is set for transport, everything is Done.

So whyyyyy are they stuck here!? Khopesh groans, mentally of course. Most of his energy comes from Desperately wanting to see you again. Oh he's missed your sweet voice and your warmth and your nest…

Karlsor is like Khopesh but not Quite as intense. Really his annoyance is being amplified by Khopesh's fidgeting, and that base annoyance comes from wanting to go home to his Sunshine. He can't act out directly so he settles for directing a Very low frequency growl at Khopesh to tell him to Stop Moving Dammit!

Ghosk is old and tired and annoyed and wants to pull his Rabbit into bed the Second he sees her. And he's mutually being annoyed by Khopesh fidgeting And Karlsor's noises. But he's better at tuning them out…

“Mother fucker I SWEAR if you don't hold fucking STILL!” Karlsor hisses, as Khopesh's leg keeps twitching. 

For the most part…

“Hush.” 

And immediately the line of Night Lords fall into order at the sound of their apothecary's voice. He'd been pulled into some kind of meeting, why they decided to have it here they have no clue. 

Luckily, Anrir explains. “It seems we are finally set to be dismissed from further duties related to this case.”

““Thank Fuck.”” Ghosk and Karlsor sigh in unison. ““Oh fuck. Fucking stop it motherfucker!” Claude and Khopesh can't help but snicker. “”The fuck are you fucking laughing at!?”

“Language!” Anrir chastises. Ghosk rolls his eyes, while Karlsor bites his tongue. “There is one last matter to handle.” Before the Claw can complain, Anrir continues. “One of our Legion Brothers wanted to thank us personally for our aid.”

A Legion brother? 

And indeed, through the same door as Anrir came an Astarte and a Baseline. The Night Lord has a dark Mohawk that sweeps down his neck and short buzzed sides. The human baseline has dark skin with a warm undertone, and her hair is done up with an elegant headscarf.

In her arms she holds a tiny bundle, with a face. 

“Is that…?” Claude asks as the woman and her mate approach. The Night Lord is on guard, even anxious with what has happened, but he knows this place is safe. 

And that he has these Battle Brothers to thank for the return of his little one. 

“I am Siros,” The Nightlord greets, “Nightlord Chaplain and this, is my bonded.” He has his arm wrapped sweetly around his mate. 

“My name is Folake, and before we…we leave to take her home I just…” Folake begins to tear up, but she forces herself to finish. “I just wanted…wanted to say Thank You.” 

She gently rocks the child in her arms. The little Night Lord with brown skin and her father's dark eyes. Claude smiles as he remembers her past form, and how much more peaceful she looks, free of that awful machinery. 

“Have you chosen a name yet?” Khopesh asks, also looking at the little one. He agrees, she looks much healthier. 

“Not yet…” Folake admits. “After everything that has happened…my Husband and I have been so caught up in just having her back, we haven't had time to think about it.”

The little one's eyes suddenly open, and she sees Claude. He's not sure if she recognizes him but she giggles and makes those silly noises again. 

“Abbabbab-plllthth-brrr..” Then she breaks into another giggling fit. Her mother actually cries on the spot and Siros can't seem to help but pull his family close and purr. 

“Your father has told me…that it was You that stopped him. The man who…who stole my daughter.” Folake says, once she's wiped the tears away. “So he couldn't hurt anyone else. Could you please, tell me your name?”

Claude blushes. “Ah well…It wasn't just me. My older brother Khopesh is the one who helped me take him into custody. And All of my brothers made the mission possible.” He explains, nervously. “My name is Claude.”

Folake seems to think for a moment. “Claude…Claude…Claudette!” 

“Brabblpthft!” The baby babbles happily  in response and her mother beams. 

“Do you like that? Do you like that name, my sweet child?” She nuzzles her baby, then turns to her mate. “What do you think, Siros?”

Siros reaches down a huge pale hand and tickles his little one, causing her to try and nibble his hand. He smiles a wonderfully soft smile. “I think it is a fitting name.”

Claude feels a variety of emotions but mostly overwhelmed, happy and a tad embarrassed. “Ah…thank you! Truly! It's an honor.”

Siros nods, then turns to Anrir and says something in Nostraman. “I appreciate your invitation, but I will need some time to spend with my family.”

Anrir smiles and responds in the same language. “He's not going anywhere, I'm happy to hold him until you have a chance to…visit.”

Siros smiles, and it is indeed a proper Nightlord smile. But then he turns back to his love. “Come my darling. Let us take our little Night Lord home.”

With that the family departs. 

Claude stands there for a moment slightly stunned. Well…it's not everyday you get a child named after you. But at the same time there's a…warmth he feels. 

Anrir takes notice and gently places a hand on his shoulder. “You have done well, my son.” Anrir's expression falls to become more somber. “But you must understand, not all of our missions will end so happily. This is the risk we undertake, even here where there is so much less conflict. It is not just a risk to our bodies, but to our hearts and minds as well. Do you understand?”

Claude nods. “I do father.”

Anrir nods in approval. “Good, now…let us go Home.”

“Fucking FINALLY!”

“Language Karlsor!”

…

Last stop before he's finally, FINALLY clear to call you, is a final debriefing at the Rot Bone Base. 

Captain Horlux addresses all of them. “Well done. Your performance on this recent mission was exemplary. Not only were all the pilfered offspring returned, but the perpetrator was brought to face justice.” A troubled look passes across the Black Legionnaire's face. “Medeathe was one of the Alliance's most expert apothecaries, especially in the area of hybrid deliveries. To lose that is a blow, but we will recover.”

“Hopefully his research notes can provide us some aid in training other apothecaries.” Anrir hums. “However mad he may be, the fact he was able to set up an entire nursery and keep all the infants from dying is testament to his skills.”

Claude doesn't like the comments about Medeathe, but again, they are technically correct. 

Horlux grunts, before picking up another sheaf of papers. “The only question that remains is How the bastard managed to abscond with all that medical equipment and supplies.”

Anrir agrees. “True, we'll have to keep him alive until we can ascertain if he was operating alone. It is not infeasible that Medeathe could have falsified the supply documents and removed or collected items over a longer period of time to build his lab. But it's just as plausible that he could have done so with outside help.”

Horlux nods. “He'll be turned into your custody for interrogation. I'll send the order now, and it should be processed in about a day.” The old marine huffs as he goes over the mountain of paperwork in front of him. 

“My condolences.” Anrir jokes, but the sentiment is genuine. 

“Yeah yeah, go on. You and your Claw are dismissed for now.” Horlux waves his hand. “But remember! Keep the bastard Alive until we can get that information out of him.”

Anrir salutes, and he and the Claw turn to leave. Claude notices Khopesh typing a message on his vox. 

“Trying to contact Lullaby?” He asks with a smile. 

Khopesh nods quickly. “Yep yes yes Yep, that last meeting was driving me Insane, but now we're dismissed and I can Finally contact them.”

Khopesh 🦇💙: Lullaby! I cannot wait to see you and hold you and LOVE you! When I see you I will pull you into my arms and not let go until the Sun Rises! 

Lullaby 🎶🌙: Awe Babe!❤❤ That's so sweet! 

But you know I'm just in the bathroom. You don't need to text me from the living room. 

Khopesh 🦇💙 :Lullaby…what are you talking about? I am not in the living room, I am at the Rot Bone Base. I've only just been debriefed and released from my mission. 

Lullaby 🎶🌙: Wait, then…who's here with me right now?

Khopesh's blood runs cold. His pace had turned from a swift walk to a run to full on sprint. Claude had kept pace as he noticed Khopesh's mood change from excited to fearful. 

“What's going on?” Claude asks as the two run through the base and outside. 

Khopesh 🦇💙: Do not panic. Stay in the bathroom and make an excuse like you're having stomach issues. Try to sneak out the window. 

Lullaby 🎶🌙: Okay. I love you. Please hurry!

Khopesh🦇💙: ❤

“There's a fucking Hydra in my Nest!” Khopesh snarls with Claude close behind. 

A soon to be very Dead, very Flayed Hydra. And if Anything happens to his Lullaby there won't be a single power on this world or any other that will be able to stop his wrath!

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

12 Angry Space Marines or Lullaby's No Good Very Bad Only a Little Good Day - Part 3

(AKA Can we Skip to the Good Part?)

First! A big thanks to @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan for helping write this beast of a piece. And to @sleepyfan-blog , @kit-williams and @egrets-not-regrets for use of their various characters!

Warning: Not much besides descriptions of various spa and self care procedures. We finally get to have FLUFF!

Previous Here

Next One (Under Construction) It's Here!

The First of the Horde

Tags! I Hope you all enjoy!: @kit-williams @sleepyfan-blog @egrets-not-regrets @felinisnoctis @bispecsual

@passionofthesith @beckyninja @bleedingichorhearts @barn-anon @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan

@jaghatai-khock @virozero @angronsjewelbeetle

Summary

Now at the end of a long day our charming gaggle of characters Finally! Get to eat and relax and enjoy some mutual bonding time. Lullaby shows some of the Primaris the wonders of bubble tea and the ultimate relaxation tool, Warm Towels.

…

“Uhhh…11 Boba Teas for…Lullaby?” The delivery person stammers a bit nervously as they hold out bags laden with sweet drinks of various flavors. They seem a bit nervous with the company you have looming behind you.

They also might be nervous because there is another individual making a delivery for your group. He is far more taciturn, and his packages are full of food.

And big, as he's an Astarte, and not one from a group you immediately recognize given he's not in armor. But he's got a rather grisly warped looking face, possibly Chaos inclined. “Food Delivery, Order name's Khopesh.” He grunts. 

You smile, and nod. “Yep, that's me-well Us.” Khopesh carefully (but a bit swiftly) takes the bags as you dig out your wallet and produce two twenties. The payments had been handled digitally as you were placing the order. This was for something else. “Your tips.”

The Astarte accepts the money with a muted. “Thanks.”

The courier's face immediately lights up. “Oh! Ah…thank you. Have a nice day?”

“Same to you.” You smile, and nudge Khopesh with a. “Let's get these back to the spa room.” 

But as you two begin to leave the lobby,, you notice something…interesting. 

The Astarte courier is eyeing the Boba courier, who seems a bit taken by social anxiety at the moment, but they're also not making any attempt to distance themselves from the Astarte. And you in turn feel this odd…compulsion. 

Without even fully thinking about it, you push your mycelium out through your feet, letting the shimmering creepers reach across the floor to both parties. You make sure they barely touch each. 

“Eep!”

You come back to lucidity, only to see the Chaos Astarte now wrapping a gnarled clawed hand around the trembling Boba delivery person's shoulder. 

Oh dear. Shit shit shit shit! Why did you Do That!?

“Lullaby?” Khopesh asks, probably hearing the sudden thundering of your panicking heart. 

“Oh ah…wow…” Okay they're more flushed than panicking, that's a good sign right?

“You, I, bonded.” The Chaos Astarte grunts.

“Oh…OH! That's…”

You feel your teeth on edge.

“Nice! Actually it's ah…Wow. I never thought I'd be- But it's a good thing! You ah, you seem nice.” They say nervously but, with a far more positive tone. Dare you dream to say, they seem even just a little bit…smitten?

The Chaos Astarte responds by actually cracking a small smile.

You let yourself breathe again with a Phew, as the newly bonded pair start conversing. 

“Lullaby…what was that about?” Khopesh asks pointedly. 

Okaaaaay, you will have A Lot to report to Anrir. “I'll tell you later.” You respond and shake your head. You also mildly pick up your pace to get back to the soothing room. 

Now in much more comfortable (and not alcohol sodden) clothes you feel so much more at ease. In fact everyone in your group had taken a moment to change into more comfy civilian wear. Combined with your clothes technically being the pajamas you kept at the base it makes your gathering feel almost like a sleep over.

“We return bearing gifts!” You say proudly, but still quietly with your damaged voice. 

“And make sure you each grab a drink too. I grabbed a few different flavors and types. They're listed on the cups and they all have Boba pearls added.”

You grab the Honeydew tea you'd bought for yourself, and the Whole Fruits Tropical sweet tea you knew was Khopesh's favorite. Then you pass the Boba bag along so the Scouts could have their picks.

While they debate the drink flavors you start rifling through the bags of Astarte sized food. “Okay, so we've got two bloody rare tar-tar sandwiches, one with a fruit cup the other with onion rings.” You pass the bags to Jophiel and Nanael. 

“Ah yes,” “Thank you dear.” The Blood Angels respond as they take their items. 

“Grilled chicken sandwiches plain with curly fries for Rami, and with Ketchup and Onion Rings for Ced.” 

“Thank you.” “Many thanks.” The Black Templars accept their packages carefully.

“Thressl's Venison burger, extra sauce and pepperjack cheese, with seasoned steak fries.” 

“Ah Yes!” The Space Wolf snatches up the food and immediately starts tucking in. 

“Then we've got two crispy fish sandwiches, one with malt vinegar and the other plain. Both with regular salty fries.” 

Claude accepts his sandwich with a kind “Thank You Lullaby.” Kerubiel's acceptance is much more brief with a “Thanks.”

“And finally three double cheeseburgers, one with ketchup and a fruit cup, one with mustard and curlies, the last plain with regular fries.”

“The ketchup one is mine Lullaby.” Khopesh chirps, happily grabbing his meal. 

“Mustard for me Kiddo, pass it here.” Karlsor pipes up which you do. 

“And the last is for me right?” Olly asks politely to which you nod and pass him his food. 

And truly last is yours. A human sized spicy chicken sandwich with ketchup and curly fries. Soon you're all sitting and tucking into the food graciously bought by Khopesh using his kitchen duty pay.

Honestly a chicken sandwich has Never tasted so amazing. You also stab your straw into your Boba and have to hold yourself back from downing it in one gulp. 

Thressl eyes you curiously. “Is that how we're meant to drink this thing?” He swishes the sealed Mango Milk Tea he'd chosen, almost like a child watching a snow globe. 

You nod. “Yep, you drink the tea and suck up the pearls at the bottom. Watch.” You demonstrate, vacuuming up a few pearls and eating them. 

Thressl copies your example, he seems unsure until the drink hits his tongue and-

“MM! Tha's good! Real good!” He howls. “But's a bit inefficient. I think I'll just-”

“Thressl wait it's not meant to-”

Too late. The space wolf rips through the plastic lid before dumping the remainder of the drink into his waiting mouth all at once. Chewing and slobbering like a mastiff as he devours the whole thing in less than a minute. 

“Mmm! Got any more?” Thressl asks eagerly bouncing on his heels, wiping his face with the back of his hand as looks around, he scrunches the cup and tosses it into the trash can easily.

You…didn't know how to respond to that. “Ah…you're really supposed to Sip it…but I'm glad you liked it? And no other full ones.” You explain, as you'd bought exactly 11 and tried to get two of most flavors. “Maybe someone else would share…as long as you don't do that to their drink.”

Thressl turns his eyes to Kerubiel, who had grabbed a brown sugar flavor called Tiger Stripe Tea. “Don't Even Think About it!” He hisses. 

Claude sips his Taro tea, pointedly avoiding the begging space wolf's eyes. And Karlsor goes as far as to snarl over his own Honeydew milk tea. “Not a fuckin chance pup!”

Thressl looks at Cedric and Ramiel. Cedric had grabbed the other Taro, while Ramiel grabbed the other Mango. “I am afraid I don't want to part with this brother.” Ramiel explains. 

“Mm-it is quite good though. Perhaps next time you should try and savor the flavor given to you, instead of downing it all in one gulp.” Cedric posits with juuuuust a hint of sass. 

Thressl huffs, before turning to the other Primaris blood angels; both sipping on Clear Dragon Fruit teas, and clearly enjoying the deep pink drinks with pink fruit chunks. 

Nanael responds politely, but his is another denial.  “Cedric is right Thressl, you've brought this on yourself.”

Jophiel takes a Little more pity, but is also firm. “You may have A Sip.”

If Thressl'd had an actual tail it'd be wagging as he bounds over for his promised sip. 

Khopesh, as one of two older brothers in the room, finds the exchange cute. But he is grateful because if Thressl had asked for his drink…he'd probably have had the same response as Karlsor. 

Meanwhile Olly mulls over his, it's the other Tiger Stripe tea and he seems to be enjoying it. Though he's having to adjust to both drinking and chewing the pearls. It's such an odd combination of sensations, not bad, truly just…strange. Marvelously sweet and milky, but almost too much so, given how little of such delights he'd had access to in his life. 

He certainly didn't think he could finish it all at once like Thressl had, but he enjoys the idea of being able to take a few sips here and there till the drink is depleted. The flavors and textures are nice- he’d almost been caught off guard by the texture of the boba pearls, but they tasted good he had decided.

“I'm glad you all like the flavors.” You say, genuinely.

“The drinks are sweet and good. Astarte may not be picky eaters, but we do still appreciate good tastes.” Cedric assures you. 

“And it would be sacrilege to snuff food offered in kindness.” Ramiel adds, sipping his own tea with a smile. 

“Speaking of offering…” Thressl gives you a cheeky smile and points to Your Honeydew Tea now.

You in turn raise an eyebrow, but Thressl counters with….puppy eyes. 

“Puppy eyes didn't work on my mother, they're not going to work on me.” You respond matter of fact. 

Thressl Actually turns his lip down and juts it out a little more, he's pouting. Full on sad pouting to try and get a bit of your drink. 

You almost feel like giving in just because of the effort. 

“Thressl…” Khopesh warns, firm but not mean…yet. He places a claw-like hand on your shoulder. The Scouts may be Cute but you're his mate, and even cute loyal little brother Scouts don't get to steal food from You. 

“Pleeeeeease?” No matter How Cute they are. 

You decide to avoid the possible incoming conflict, and Thressl did ask nicely. “Go ahead and take a sip.” You peel back the plastic so he doesn't have to use your straw. 

“Ah thank ya Lullab-Y!” Thressl is suddenly yanked back by none other than Kerubiel, your shock alleviates when you hear the Dark Angel growl at his brother. 

“Idiot! Your mouth is probably still full of acid! If it back washes into their drink it could make them ill!”

Kerubiel isn't wrong, all Astarte have some amount of acidic saliva they could produce, namely while eating. Hence why they could kiss without melting off their partner's faces. But it does surprise you to see him…care? 

“D-don't look at me like that! I just don't want to deal with you getting sick! You'd be more annoying if you're belly aching.” Kerubiel hisses. 

“Awwww! My sour puss brother is learn'n to be nice!” Thressl cheers. 

“I am Not a Sour Puss!” Kerubiel hisses now looking like he wants to strangle Thressl. Instead he huffs and turns away from his Wolf brother. 

“Awwww, come on Keru, I'll rub your back and shoulders the way you like?” Thressl offers. 

This seems to make Kerubiel perk up a bit, but he quickly goes back to scowling. “Fine.” 

The exchange makes you smile. And you decide to set your drink to the side. Maybe you could cross the aisle, so to speak. 

“What's going through your Wicked little mind, my love?” Khopesh purrs, bringing his lips down to your cheek. 

You don't respond with words, instead giving your love a nuzzle and a wink before getting up. 

When you'd first come to the soothing room, you'd marveled at the coziness and amenities. It really feels like a weird combo of a small cosmetic store, and a personal spa, but with comfy floors. The chairs are low and similarly shaped for Maximum comfort. Around the perimeter are shelves and drawers (some even temperature controlled!) with a number of travel sized products; individually packaged and ready for use. 

The list includes lotions, cloth face masks, clay masks, sliced cucumbers, massage oils, mineral water, brushes, combs, body and hair spray, and several dozen more things you had no Clear idea how to use, but given the days you've had you want to try it all!

There's even a wall of nail polish colors, which is one of the first things you'd all picked out while waiting for the food. 

You approached the Dark Angel currently having his shoulders massaged…kinda violently if the cracks and pops were anything to go by but he doesn't seem bothered. 

Keru notices your presence, and cracks open an eye. “What do you want?” He growls. 

You tamp down on your first instinct to flinch. But before you can respond Claude pipes up, as he's tending to Khopesh's nails. 

“Be nice, Keru. They want to participate in preening you.” He growls. “So you better appreciate that, and Do Not make them upset.” You kinda have to marvel at how astute Claude is. 

Kerubiel doesn't seem to believe him, and snorts. “Really?” 

You smile and nod, Yes, Yes you do. And you point to the dark green nail polish he'd picked out.

Kerubiel bites his lip, before he responds. “Fine! I will allow you to paint my nails! Will you stop looking at me like that!?”

You smile, and quickly get up to gather some other items. A bowl of warm water, some cuticle oil, and some lotion. 

You motion for him to place his hand in the warm water for a little bit. While that hand sits, you turn to the other, slather some lotion on your hands and begin massaging the hand and forearm. 

As you work, the Dark Angel chews on his lip. As if he's trying to chew his words into shape. “Uh.. I.. should not..Have gone after. Khopesh…that day.”

That- That does surprise you. And apparently Thressl too as he's staring harder at Kerubiel, rather than continuing his massage. 

Kerubiel continues stiltedly “I... aaaa-pologizze for being an. Ass. hole.” He grits out. 

You actually feel a sincere warmth spread in your chest, and you respond in your still raspy voice. “You're right...and I believe you. But I'm not the only one you hurt. How do you feel sweetness?” 

Khopesh hums as he's now painting Claude's nails a dark but shimmery blue, dare you say it looks very much like Nightlord blue. “...Hmm I rate it a 3 out of 5. An effort was made.”

Keru's face takes on an embarrassed red tint as he scowls. 

But Khopesh follows up with. “And I will accept it. But growl at my Lullaby again like you did that day, and I will rip your vocal cords out and string a cello with them.” He snarls, and emphasizes with a threatening point of the nail polish brush. 

Kerubiel's eyes go wide, he can tell the Night lord isn't kidding. “...noted.” He agrees 

Despite the rocky start at this point…you can't find it in yourself to hold a grudge. You and the boys toppled a real bastard together so as long as he doesn't go after your Khopesh with real malice again, you're happy to treat him like a friend.

Which naturally includes pulling his soaking hand from the bowl, drying it with a towel, and proceeding to gently push back his cuticles with an appropriate tool so you can start painting his nails. 

Delicately you apply the shiny heather green nail polish, to each finger on each hand while Thressl continues massaging his brothers back and shoulders. 

By the end Kerubiel looks distinctly more relaxed, and his nails are glistening green. Dare you say you've done a good job. But you await his judgment. 

Kerubiel looks over his painted nails with an unreadable expression, though honestly his neutral really did always have a grumpy edge. Claude is also looking over, seemingly waiting on his response.

“It is, acceptable. Thank You for your time.” He says.

Awwwww! That really does make you feel happy, and it must be showing on your face because he turns away with a hint of blush on his cheeks.

“Oi! Me next. Move Keru!” Thressl huffs, sitting down with a thump, which causes Keru to hiss a little. But he does oblige. 

Only to snag one of Thressl's braids in one hand, his arm in the other, and haul him up to start giving him the mutual massage by…wrestling him. You suddenly feel the need to move. 

“This is what you get for being pushy!” Keru hisses. 

“Ack! Git offa me I want my nails done ya Git!” Thressl growls back. 

“I'M GONNA SKIN BOTH YOU IDIOTS IF YOU DAMAGE ANYTHING!” Karlsor snarls, jumping up from his massage, and moving to separate the bickering Astarte. 

You clamber back only to feel yourself getting swooped back out of the fray. And swooped is the right word and you land near a pair of large wings. Actually two pairs, you're not sure which Blood Angel grabbed you but you're grateful. 

“Thank You.” You rasp, righting yourself. 

“I'm so sorry Lullaby.” Jophiel fusses, looking you over. 

“It seems Keru and Thressl haven't learned how to mind humans in their trampling range.” Nanael comments dryly as he watches Karlsor and now Khopesh get involved. 

You'll have to get back to Thressl it seems. For now there's no reason you can't do something nice for Jophiel and Nanael. 

But…it seems their nails are already done. And Jophiel is currently getting back to  running a brush through Nanael’s blond and red streaked hair. Hmm..

You pick up a nearby brush, and point to Jophiel's hair. 

“You…want to brush my hair?” Jophiel asks, to which you nod eagerly. And you also remember something. 

You run over to a nearby drawer and root around, pulling out a few “flavors” of hair cologne, which you then present to Jophie. 

“Hmm…I think I would like…the Strawberry scent.” You smile and nod. You also grab some massage oil for his neck and shoulders. 

It takes a moment for Jophiel to adjust himself so he's sitting behind Nanael, and you can reach his short hair. 

First you take your hands, and massage the scalp from which you hear a light trilling. Jophiel even flutters his wings a little, and you hold yourself back from touching them. You had not been given permission and you're not going to assume. 

Then you apply the hair cologne to the brush and begin running it through the short strands. The trilling becomes a little louder, and you…remember the conversation you'd wanted to have. 

“I ah…I wanted to say sorry too.” You mumble, as you continue brushing. 

You see Jophiel's wings twitch a bit, and he glances back at you. “For what?”

You take a moment to gather your thoughts. Things had calmed down, and Thressl and Kerubiel had now properly swapped places, and Khopesh was handling the slightly pouty Space Wolf's nails. 

“For yesterday,” You reply, now grabbing the massage oil, and beginning to press on the Blood Angel's shoulders. “I didn't help soon enough and when I did…I ended up…I'm so sorry you had to do that. With the…scream.” 

Jophiel doesn't know how to respond for a moment. “...I don't regret helping you. If I hadn't you might've…” He trails off. 

“But that's not all.” You say. “Given what happened…I'm clearly not your first experience with…someone who has…” Now you trail off, you decide to not risk going into detail, instead you wiggle your fingers to imply magic. “I should have realized. But I just…kinda wrote you off. I could've reached out or talked or done…something to help you feel more at ease around me but I-”

Jophiel interrupts with insistence.“But I shouldn't have been so cold to y-”

“Lullaby, Jophiel…”

You both perk up, at Nanael saying your names. “Rest assured you are Nothing like that…individual.”

I mean, that's obvious but still your power conceivably came from a similar place. And if you put your hand in front of a dog and got bitten would you stick your hand in front of a different dog?

And did the different dog have Any right to feel offended when the bitten was shy from them? No that dog would seem like an ass. Which you kind of felt like. 

“And Jophiel you said yourself that you would not make the mistake of coldness to Lullaby again.” Nanael continued. “Your actions saved us yesterday. And Jophiel's actions saved you. We cannot change the past…but we can forge our future. And I think you've both demonstrated a Desire to make it a better future together.”

“Let us leave blame to the past. Now is the time to focus on reaffirming connections. And move forward with better communication. Do you think you can both do that?”

Wow that was…really profound. You glance at Jophiel, who locks eyes with you. You smile. And he does the same. “I'd like that.” You say, quiet but genuine. 

Jophiel nods. “I would like that as well.” He affirms, and goes back to brushing and styling Nanael's hair. 

Communication, with that in mind you look to the area where his wings meet his back. “Jophie, are you alright with me massaging the base of your wings?”

Jophiel hums. “You may, just be careful not to bend the larger feathers back too much.” 

You smile and do as Jophiel asks. The trilling comes back as you carefully work your hands to the muscles that split from his back.

“What about you Nanael? Are you okay with wing touching?”

Nanael thinks for a moment. Normally he'd only feel secure letting other Primaris touch his wings. Karlsor and Khopesh are trusted by Claude, but they are also firstborn, and some scars from those kinds of older Brothers are still too Fresh in his mind but you…

A slew of memories drift to the front of his mind. He recalls times on the battlefield and in conflict, when he would swoop down and fly human civilians to safety. 

They would often marvel at his wings with a mix of wonder and reverence. Especially the children, the children of the imperium loved his wings, he remembers the way they'd burrow their faces and hands in as he spirited them away from danger. 

How they'd plead for him to pick them up again, and hold them in his wings even after they'd been rescued. He’d occasionally given them loose feathers as a gift, the awe and joy on their faces. How some of his kinder older brothers would preen his wings gently after those little children and rescue missions had ruffled and even sometimes bent those feathers out of place. 

He…he almost feels tears come to his eyes. He didn't realize…how much he misses those times. 

“I would like you to groom my wings,” Nanael says blinking his eyes rapidly, “It would be very kind of you if you did, don’t tug on them too harshly. Please.”

You nod. “Of course.” But while you could fumble through massaging the muscles at the base, you felt less confident tackling the larger structure. “Jophie can you show me how to preen properly on his right wing, and I'll try to mimic it on the left.”

“Of course,” The younger Blood Angel affirms, soon you're both resettled behind Nanael. 

Jophiels points out pin feathers that need to be handled gently on his side and you mimic it on yours. He shows you how to run your fingers through the feathers like you might run them through hair to make them more neat, and he shows you how to stretch, scratch and massage the tissue underneath. 

 

Nanael trills, and you take extra care to not tug too harshly. 

As you and Jophiel work for a while, another approaches. It's Olly and he seems like he needs something. 

“What's up Olly?” You ask, pausing your literal preening for a moment. 

The Ultramarine grins sheepishly. “I wanted to ask for your aid with the machine in the corner. I'm uncertain how to make it work, or what it is supposed to dispense.”

You glance curiously in the direction Olly mentions and indeed there is a small metal…box? It has buttons and dials and you'd also admit you hadn't really paid much attention to it when you'd come in. 

“One sec. Jophiel, are you okay taking over?”

The Blood Angel nods. “I can handle this from here.” And Nanael encourages you to  “Go ahead and help Olly.”

You get up and approach the machine, which Cedric and Ramiel are also looking over.

“This is not a device I am familiar with.” Cedric hums. 

Ramiel chimes in as well “I am still rusty with the written symbols and language from this instance of Terra. And I do not wish to break anything. Do you know what they say?”

You don't immediately recognize the use for the dials though one seems to be temperature related, but you know an open switch when you see it. So you press it and the lid pops open revealing.

“Towels?” You ponder, pulling one out to inspect it. It's actually a little warm to the touch. Then it hits. “OOh! Warm Towels!”

You place the towel back in, set the temperature dial, and press what you assume is the start button. The machine clicks on, and you hear a sound similar to a microwave. 

“In just a few minutes we'll have warm towels!” You clap happily. 

“Oh alright…what shall we do until then?” Olly asks. 

You motion for Olly, Cedric and Rami to sit down and they do. You then retrieve a few other items. Another hairbrush, the hair colognes, a few cloth face masks, and a small pot full of exfoliating clay mask paste. 

“I have a feeling y'all might like one of these.” You offer the mask items to the Astartes, who seem a little lost on what to do. 

“Oh here. One sec.” You rip open the cloth mask packaging, and hold up the item so he can see the eye and mouth holes. “You place it over your face. It's good for your skin.”

Cedric and Ramiel take their own cloth masks and apply them. Olly doesn't seem convinced. Or maybe something else is turning him off of it. Of course Lullaby doesn't need to nor will he tell you of the…things he's seen done with human face skin back in his time. He suppresses a shudder and reaches for the mask. 

The texture on his fingers makes a visible shudder get through. He…he does Not want this on his face. You do pick up his discomfort. 

“Is something wrong?” Cedric asks, beating you to asking. 

Olly shakes his head. He is Stronger than this. He's not going to let the disgusting, slimy, thin, wet ugly thing-

“Olly, if you don't like it, you don't have to use it.” You assure him. 

“But…you offered it- It would be b-bad manners.” You take the mask from his trembling hand and toss it into the trash. 

“I'm honestly not the biggest fan of them either.” You shrug. “But some like them, see?” You gesture over to where Khopesh has placed a cloth mask on his face and is making a show of getting into other's peripheral visions. Which is causing some merry annoyance. Thressl is peeling out his own face mask to have a face off. 

“But,” You say, bringing Olly's attention back to you. “It's perfectly okay to not like something, even if it's offered to you.” You pop open the small pot of clay exfoliating mask with the small gritty beads and hold it out to Olly. “See if you like this kind better.”

Oleanderos does like this one's scent and appearance better already. He dips in a finger, and the grit reminds him of Tiiiiny pieces of gravel. 

And now in a moment of a completely different kind of weakness-

“Homf.” He places his fingers in his mouth. The soapy taste is Not the best to his pallette, even with the nice earthy clay beneath. “Bleh…”

“Olly! You're not supposed to do that!” Ramiel says frantically. 

“Hmm? Oh right…how am I meant to apply this?” He asks honestly. 

You smile, and scoop up some of the mask onto your hand. “Here, like this.” You gently paint the Ultramarine's face with the gritty mask, until the surface is green save for his eyelids and mouth. 

Ramiel watches and then remarks. “I think I would like to try that as well.” You nod and help Rami apply the mask after you finish with Olly and he removes the cloth one he'd tried. 

He hums as you go about your work. Him and Olly have the same thoughts that indeed the cool, rough, sweet smelling mask is a blissful combo of sensations. Just as you finish his face, the timer on the towel machine dings. 

You hop up and pull out the several towels that had been heated, and the heat is a bit much on your fingers, just for the moment though. 

Olly feels his eyes drifting closed and purrs rumble in his chest as the warm but not wet cloth is placed gently over the back of his neck. 

“Ah thank You Lullaby.” “Indeed, thank you.” The two Black Templars sigh happily, and you can actually hear their slight purring in response. 

Next is Karlsor who lets out an equally relaxed sound. “Ah thanks Kiddo. That feels amazing.”

Khopesh follows, which you give an additional kiss to the cheek as you lay the towel over his shoulders. “Rrrrrrr, lovely my lovely.”

Then Claude, who chirps. “Thank you Lullaby.” And gives you a quick squeeze. And on you go until you make it back to Olly, Cedric and Rami. 

Then you pick up some massage oil, rub it over your hands, and begin working the Ultramarine's neck and shoulders.

Your strength wasn't exceptional so your attempts to massage felt more like a kitten pushing its paws in, but he still appreciates the gesture. 

It was more for affirmation. All this. Did Astarte need oils and lotions and warm towels (oh throne the warm towels were amazing...he was so glad he asked for your help with the machine) no...

But they did need to collaborate and reaffirm bonds when there was conflict. It made their lives of constant battle even Slightly easier. Cedric and Ramiel clearly have their own rhythm established from years spent together. Even the popping and stretching of the mutual massage currently taking place seems well practiced. 

Olleanderos realizes in that moment he'd become...complacent. This world- Terra (throne he still couldn't fully believe he was here) is so peaceful. So wonderful, despite the presence of annoyances like Algeret. 

But there is Still Danger. He cannot let himself become even less vigilant. Especially not now. His eyes shift back towards you, now picking up a brush and a nice smelling hair cologne he'd picked out. 

He would not be Complacent again.

You brush Olly's short hair, and spritz a bit of the blueberry cologne he'd picked. A  warm pride fills your heart as Olly purrs quietly. 

You're about to reach for more massage oil when-

"Hold on you." 

"OOop!" You're suddenly snatched at the waist and hauled into a familiar lap. You glance up to see your cheeky Khopesh grinning down at you with his mirthful black eyes. 

"You are also meant to be getting soothed, my Lullaby. But you've buzzed around caring for each of us and not held a spot of time for yourself." He purrs, petting you softly. "Claudy please get my Lullaby's preferred nail polish. And younger cousin Olly please fetch another warm towel."

"On it." "Yes brother,"

"But I want to - ulp!" Your unfinished Boba tea was placed to your mouth by none other than Nanael. 

"You should relax and focus on finishing your drink. You've been running around all day and only just properly nourished yourself."

I mean you couldn't argue but you Liked caring for others. Khopesh takes the drink, and angles it so you can still sip. 

"Here is a hairbrush Brother Cousin Khopesh, and they mentioned enjoying the hair cologne." Jophiel said bringing those items as well. "Which scent would you prefer?"

"...Mango sounds good." You say reaching for the hairbrush on habit. 

Only for Khopesh to gently take your arm and direct it back to Claude who's grabbed the massage oil and the nail polish you picked out earlier. 

"Ah ah ah. Soothing time Lullaby. Why don't you let Brother Cousin Jophiel brush your hair instead? I am sure he'd like to return the favor you did for him."

You feel a bit like pouting but...if letting Jophie care for you would make him happy you'd oblige. "Alright." You accept your fate of being cared for. 

Soon a warm towel is placed over your shoulders, and it's now, finally sitting down without a task that you realize. 

You are So Damn Tired. 

And lying against Khopesh like this, like you've done so many times before but also not…because you're part of an even bigger family now then you ever could've hoped for…

You feel yourself beginning to drift. Even while Jophiel gently brushes your hair on one side while Nanael handles the other. Claude does one hand of nails, while Thressl massages the other arm. Olly uses his height and reach to carefully apply the clay mask to your face. Once that's done you let yourself completely slump against Khopesh, laying your head on his collarbone more or less. As you doze you hear Kerubiel, Cedric, Ramiel and Karlsor tidying up and putting things away. 

Then the room dims, and the urge to rest pulls you even further down. You feel…

Warm…

Cared for…

Safe…

“I love you as well my sweet little Lullaby.” You feel Khopesh's lips pressing gently to the bridge of your nose, you feel his body shift to lay back, effectively serving as a mattress. While the others get into their own sleeping positions in the pile. 

You snuggle in closer, mumbling a similar message back before finally giving yourself permission to rest. 

You've never felt more loved. 

…

The door to the soothing room creaks open and from the hallway silently steps an ancient creature of darkness, a proprietor of fear and terror and.. 

“Mmm? Father?” Claude mumbles, waking slightly. 

Ah yes, his most prized title. “Shhhh, it is alright Claude.” He hushes. “Go back to sleep, my son. I merely need to converse with Khopesh and Karlsor.”

The latter of which responds with a growl under his breath. “I was having a Damn good sleep so make it quick old man.” He grouses quietly, carefully getting up so as not to disturb the Scouts piled around him. 

Khopesh almost considers feigning deep sleep, but…

“Khopesh…”

Yeah, better to handle this now. Khopesh lets out a long huff, but carefully shifts you, and indeed you must be very knocked out because you barely twitch as he lays you down in the spot he was just in. 

“Mrmfm…hmm…” You mumble, shifting in your sleep. 

Khopesh's mind almost short circuits. You're so damn Cute so So So fucking Cuuuute arghgkstjebrhr! He takes a deep breath and Forces himself to turn to Anrir. 

Anrir motions for them to move to the hallway which they do. “What is it you need from us?” He asks his father. 

“In all the excitement, we neglected to properly count your vote, my son.”Anrir clarifies. “Despite your original statement on the matter I did not want to assume.”

Ah right…the vote. If he's to be fully honest. The preening and mutual care session had been so relaxing he'd actually forgotten about the Silver Bastard rotting in chains somewhere. He'd immersed himself so completely in the affirmation of his found family of Battle Brothers, and the tender affection given by you. 

He glances back to the room where you're still sleeping, through the tinted glass door. He might have continued if not for Claude suddenly twitching in his sleep. 

“Ah shit, that looks like a vision coming.” Karlsor spits quietly. “I'll get-”

“No,” Anrir says, putting an arm on Karlsor's shoulder. “Examine, but do not interfere.”

“Seriously!?” Karlsor hisses, in response. Only to balk when Anrir gives him the ‘don't argue’ look. “Fine! Geez.”

As instructed Karlsor pulls on his warp sight. He sees the Scouts auras, as well as yours as he's become accustomed to seeing and…

“Mmr-mph!” He bites his lip as he sees Claude shiver and twitch in his sleep. His Aura is flaring brighter, tell tale signs of a vision coming on hard and fast. He wants to help his Scout younger brother, but Anrir's hand on his shoulder holds him back. 

But what happens next does surprise him. 

“Mm…hrf…” He sees your brows furrow, and you turn on your side, almost like…you can sense Claude's distress. Your arm and your mycelium actually reach toward the Ravenguard Primaris and when your hand makes contact with Claude's…

“Mmph!…hrm…mmmm…zZz…” His twitching calms, his aura fades back to its usual brightness, and he turns toward your still sleeping form. Your mycelium grow brighter as they usually do when absorbing power. 

“Well shit…” Karlsor swears. “No wonder I've been sleeping so well…speaking of which…” Before he can be stopped Karlsor swiftly steps back into the soothing room and retakes his place in the sleeping arrangement. 

Anrir is not pleased with the display. “Karlsor! I require your findings.” He hisses

The shade wearing Night lord promptly ignores his father and mouths “Report Later. Fuck you it's nap time.” Before laying back amidst the comfy pile. 

He Knows he's gonna get scolded later for that, but being that he's very cozy, comfortable and Not in massive amounts of warp pain he doesn't really care. He’ll take his lumps from Anrir later, but nap time now.

Khopesh suppresses a chuckle at his father's misfortune, and his brother's antics. 

He…he loves them all so much. And he especially loves you of course. And of course…that means his answer is simple.

“Live” …But not easy. 

Anrir raises an eyebrow, and seems legitimately surprised. “Are you certain?”

“If the fool decides to cross us we can always kill him later.” Khopesh says with a shrug. “And right now…I have more important things to care for than dealing with his transgressions.”

“I am…impressed, my son.” Anrir says and he Does mean it. In the field Khopesh was like a living avatar of vengeance, his proclivity for hunts proved time and again his devotions. 

But love…it does change devotions. Anrir knew this himself. He'd burn down entire star systems for his Draga, but he also understood that to have her and her love forever as his, the opposite may also need to be true. 

It was a sincere act of maturity from his son, and for that… “Then I shall alter my vote as well.” Anrir says proudly. “The half point I put towards death will be moved to life. This way we need not worry about finding a tie breaker.” The old Nightlord explains. 

Khopesh smiles, and feels a warmth in his chest. Vada and Muti are his bonded, his adopted parents, you are his love and mate. But part of him will Never abandon his original father. The Night lord who first cut and stitched him back into being. 

Anrir gently gestures back to the room. “Go, enjoy your rest.” He says kindly. “You'll no doubt need it for what comes next.”

“Will you not join us?” Khopesh asks. 

Anrir smiles, beneath the blood and viscera truly is a sweet child in Khopesh. “Perhaps another time, there is work to be done and not all the Primaris trust me as they do you and Karlsor.”

Khopesh nods in understanding. Then he silently creeps back into the dimmed room, and lays himself next to you again, enfolding you into his embrace from behind while still letting you comfort Claude. 

He purrs as he feels your heartbeat, he hears your breath rise and fall, he listens to the similar sounds of his Battle Brothers and cousins around him. He thinks of his Vada and Muti, and feels in the comforting warmth of his bond that they are safe and sound at his other nest. Out of sight, but never out of mind. 

He is home.

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

Future Inlaws?

Next in the Severe Miscalculation storyline!

Previous Chapter Here:

Next Chapter Here: coming hopefully soon.

Edit! This Here!

For the madness that started it all click here!

Summary: We see some more of Khopesh's...family for lack of a better term. Another short interlude.

Warning: Swears! Other than that not many Karlsor makes a groaning statement about shoving an icepick in his brain. I guess that counts.

Tags: @kit-williams (Who let me use Anrir so Thank You!) @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan (Who let me use their sweary lad Karlsor, Thank you!)

@bleedingichorhearts @bispecsual @egrets-not-regrets @passionofthesith @sleepyfan-blog @barn-anon

Scrtch scrtch scrtch scratch. The gentle sounds of a stylis on paper filled the dimly lit chamber with one sole inhabitant.

An ancient a terrifying being, with both wit and knowledge that spanned centuries, millenia even.

The Terran born Nightlord known as Anrir reviewed and continued to bonder over his notations. Some where simple paperwork relating to his position as Apothercary, others were more...personal pursuits.

The Nature of Warp Bonds and Their Affects

The top of the page read. Sprawling throughout the documents were testimonies, graphs, data and hypothesese about the strange phenomenon known as bonding.

Even before Anrir had achieved his own bond he'd been endlessly Fascinated with the concept. In a manner he saw it as the main driving force between All interactions that occurred in this bizarre version of Terra's timeline they'd been sent to.

Without bonds, the more...vicious of their brother cousins would have likely converted at least half the native population into bloody pulp for the Skull Throne.

With them, as well as the lack of resources making sustained conflict untenable, the foundation for the greater alliance was made.

And their Appearance. Anrir could not see it himself, but the Librarians and Psychers he had collaborated with told him they often took the appearance of plants and flora. The exact type varied heavily depending on the relationship in question.

Anrir hypothesized the continuity might be due to their minds visualizing the unseeable. A bizarre form of paradolia that gave form to the formless. He continued to review his latest additions to his notes-

CrrrAsh! "Mother fucker I Swea..."

Thud! "...have to Run faster than tha..."

Until a pair of Very Recognizable voices faded in and out of the background as they ran, interrupted his writing.

Anrir sighed, placing his stylus down....next to a cracked picture frame from the Last Time this happened.

The stomping footsteps became louder again. He turned, briefly calculating the distance in his mind.

Thump thump thump thump Thump!

Anrir casually flexed the unmarred digits of his right hand before-

"If I didn't know any better I'd day you're gettin slower Karlsi-EeK!"

Snatch! One Charmingly Taxing Nightlord scout scruffed in his hold. While more frantic (or perhaps furious) footsteps approached.

Thump,thump,thump,thump,thump,thump,thump!

"Mother fucker I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna fucking kill- Fuck..."

Anrir turned his eyes to his Claw's librarian, Karlsor, who'd stopped a few paces away.

"N-now Anrir, we didn't fuckin break anyth-Hurk!"

Two, two little Charmingly-Taxing-Nightlords scruffed.

"What...have I told you two?" Anrir asked, his voice firm yet controlled. "About Running near my Research?"

"Dont fuckin do it?" "Don't?" They said in unison.

"And...What, were you just doing?" He posed further.

"That," "Yeah, but he fuckin Started it!"

"You left the glasses unattended! You're lucky Ghosk didn't decide to snatch em!"

"They're My Sun goggles and How Fuckin Dare You!"

As the two younger Nightlords started bickering back and forth Anrir took a deep steadying breath and gently, but firmly... Knocked their skulls together.

Clack!

"Owwww!" "Fuckin hell that stings!"

"Now..." Anrir began. "Are we ready to discuss things properly?"

"Yes..." "Fine! fuck..."

"Khopesh...return Karlsor's glasses." Anrir commanded.

"Fine." Khopesh grumbled, more at his fun ending than Actually having to give the shades back.

"Hrmph!" Karlsor snatched them back with a growl, before placing them back on his face.

"And What do we say, when we have done something Wrong?"

"...I am sorry for taking your sun glasses." Khopesh aquiesed reluctantly.

"Hmph! Damn right you're sorry!"

"Karlsor..."

"And I accept your apology." Karlsor added quickly.

"Good." Anrir released the youngsters from their scruffing.

Khopesh rubbed the back of his neck. "You gotta Know you don't even Need them in this part of the base, riiiiight Karlsy?" Khopesh teased, gesturing to the Very dim surroundings which were custom suited to the Nightlords dark adapted eyes.

"Don't fuckin call me that ya whelp! And so fuckin what! They're My Shades and I'll wear them where I damn well please!" Karlsor snarled, before turning to stomp away.

"You're going to run into things again if you do that." Khopesh pointed out.

"The fuck I-WoAhAAH!" CRASH! The impact of the armored Nightlord hitting the wall rattled the room. On the worktable the picture frame once again fell over.

Unluckily as Khopesh predicted, Karlsor indeed did run into something. Or rather tripped. Whether that was do to wearing shades in a dark room or him being too mad to notice his surroundings was up for debate.

The grouchy librarian righted himself, before turning back to Khopesh with a seething look. "Not - one - word."

Khopesh smiled. "Okay. I'll just laugh then! BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAA!"

"You're a FUCKIN DEAD FUCK I SWEAR!"

"ENOUGH!"

Oh shit. Both the younger Nightlords flinched as they remembered exactly Who they were squabbling near.

"Sorry Anrir." "Sorry." They replied hurriedly quieting their tones. The older Nightlord had his back turned, simply righting the framed photo from where it had fallen.

Thankfully, not Off the desk this time. Anrir took a moment to examine it, as he often did throughout the day.

No New cracks, thankfully. But the large one down the middle...no that truly wouldn't do. He did not Enjoy how it stretched between him and his Kitty.

He'd find a new sheet of plastic or glass. He'd prefer to keep the frame. Cutesy and childish as a lesser man would have considered it with its numeral stickers and pom poms and finger paint, courtesy of his darling participating in one of her daycare charges' crafting activities.

Anrir placed the frame back down with careful reverence, before turning back to his Sons.

"Let us but the matter Behind us, shall we?" He questioned. Though there was no room for debate in his tone. "Onto more Important things. Khopesh, you mentioned an announcement over your vox?"

The mood shifted with the change of subject almost immediately. The long haired Nightlord began bouncing in place, practically vibrating.

"Yes yes yes! I have someone Very special to introduce to all of you And! A new Hunt for us to plan!"

Well now That did intrigue Anrir. Khopesh could be very eager to go on Hunts (some would even say too eager). But far be it from Anrir to stifle something that made his son truly happy And generally made the world a safer place.

"You mention these two things at once...are they related?" Anrir questioned.

"If they are it's not much of a hunt if you Bring the fucker to us, dumbass." Karlsor snubbed a bit. Still a bit grouchy about the glasses...and grouchy in general.

"NO!" Khopesh snarled, barring his full teeth to his battle brother.

Karlsor's frustration was replaced with shock. This display wasn't the most frightening he'd seen, but he was stunned to see it come out of Khopesh, at Him.

Given the stunned silence Khopesh seemed to realize he over reacted. "I mean, No no no no No...well Yes technically." Khopesh corrected quickly. "They are not the one to be hunted! They are the one who was Harmed by the one we are going to be hunting. And they'll be here soon! I Just Know you'll Love Them!" Khopesh went from frantic correction to...cooing like a lovesick Lamenter??

"I see..." Anrir paused. "And...may I assume that this person is...Special to you?"

"Very much so! They are my sweet Lullaby! And we'll be sharing our first meal together tonight!" Khopesh said excitedly, quickly pulling up his vox messages and other saved photos. "I want them to meet all of you and your bonded's eventually! I think they'd fit in very well here. See?"

Khopesh showed off a few picts. One was of his Lullaby riding in horse competition. Another was them helping a young child learn to ride a horse. The picts and videos were a selection Khopesh had found from their mother's business' noosphere media.

Originally he'd obtained them as part of his investigation into Lullaby as a person, when he'd first met them. Now he simply kept his favorites, and to have something to show his Claw for reference.

"Rabbit and them both compete in sports, And they have experience in childcare and teaching from their family business like Kitty!" Khopesh explained. "And they're so sweet I'm sure Claude will find them very calming, once he gets past his usual shyness and then-"

Anrir's focus trailed off, but not for lack of interest! One of his sons had found a partner, And yes he Knew it was a partner; the smell he'd walked on base with, the 'glowing' and 'bouncing' energy he seemed filled with, and the presence of the bruising marks known as 'hickies' were enough to tell him that much.

He apparently Really liked and was looking forward to spending time with them. And Anrir would support Khopesh in this endeavor whole heartedly, bond involved or not. Anrir was many things but he was Not an Absent Parent.

No...it was because something about those photos-

Shwoop!

Khopesh's vox pings and a notification pops up covering the screen.

Lullaby: Hey I've arrived...I think? But I'm not sure where to go. Also I'm not sure they'll just let me in?

"Oh whoops! One moment." Khopesh shoots a vox message back.

Khopesh Thing That goes Prank in the Night: You should be able to enter the main lobby as it is open to the public. Wait for me there please! I want to introduce you to my brothers! I'm so excited for you to meet them.

Lullaby: Oh okay...how many am I meeting?

Khopesh: Just the ones in my claw that are here now. Don't worry they're gonna Love You! ;3

Lullaby: Including the one you made angry enough to chase you?? You suuuuure he'll like me? 🤔🤭

Khopesh smiled as he typed his next reply.

Khopesh: I'm Certain of it. He'll probably like how mouthy and sassy you are!

He stopped but then added...

But he can't have you of course! You're mine.

Lullaby: pfft! You've pissed him off that much huh? Well either way I'm making my way into the main lobby. The building is so Biiiiiig. I'm not used to this kinda space.

A photo came in. Showing Lullaby standing next to one of the Astarte sized chairs near the main entrance. It did indeed dwarf them as an average sized human.

"And saved!" Khopesh trilled, doing exactly that with the new photo.

Khopesh: Excellent! I will see you soon!

Anrir and Karlsor watched on with fascination. Well Karlsor was more still stunned to see this range of behavior from his brother.

Anrir, having his own special someone, was more understanding. But Still something itched at his brain.

"I must go greet them now. I will be back soon!" Khopesh stated, turning quickly to leave.

To his credit he did start by walking normally...until his speed picked up and he Launched himself into scrambling running climb throughout the unique architecture of the Nightlord base area.

Again, specially designed for suit their preference for skulking and climbing.

Karlsor stood their bewildered for a moment, before turning to Anrir. "What the Fuck was that about?"

Anrir simply chuckled. "Ah...young love..." He shook his head fondly before returning to his notes. Best sort and put them away for now, after all he'd be greeting a new face soon, best to look Presentable and make a good first impression.

He said much the same to Karlsor. "I'm assuming he'll be bringing his 'Sweet Lullaby' to meet us soon. Best get ready for that."

Karlsor groaned. Baselines were...well they were Frustrating or deal with! They either Weren't scared or were too scared. Sometimes they'd scream way too loud! And worse sometimes they'd giggle and call him...Bleh. Cute.

And Khopesh had apparently found 'someone special'. "If it turns out he's fuckin found someone Just Like Him I'm gonna stab myself with an Ice Pick!"

"I doubt Khopesh could find someone Exactly like himself dear Karlsor." Anrir assured, his desk now clean. He turned back to the Librarian.

"Though...I Must admit I am curious about his... Lullaby." Anrir muttered to himself.

Why couldn't he shake the feeling he was missing something?

"What got you Fuckin stewing suddenly?" Karlsor asked, noting Anrir's change in demeanor.

...

"...Those photos...did you recognize the Baseline in them?"

"...no?? Did you?"

Anrir turned back to Karlsor, his expression was serious. "I'm Certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that I've Never," he emphasized. "Met them before in my Life."

"So why Do I recognize them?"

Next chapter will be Here: (hopefully soon pray for my sanity)

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

What Do I Know About You? Part 1

Tags: @bleedingichorhearts @sleepyfan-blog @bispecsual @angronsjewelbeetle @egrets-not-regrets

@passionofthesith @moodymisty @bispecsual-archived

Summary: Khopesh and Lullaby finally get to go on their first official date! But first some introductions are in order. Also this ended up being a HUGE fic (by my standards) that came from @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan and myself collarborating! As well as help and characters from @kit-williams . ENJOY!!! And some characters from @sleepyfan-blog

Warnings: Mild social anxiety, first time social interactions with what are essentially inlaws, some medical talk, discussions of boundaries.

Previous Chapter Here:

Next Chapter Here:

Very Beginning Here:

Khopesh Thing That Goes Prank in The Night: Excellent! I will see you soon!

Well…you suppose all you can do now is wait. And while you are waiting you might as well sit down. There's a mix of baseline and Astarte sized furniture scattered about the immediate area, to accommodate the mix of baselines and Astartes milling about.

Naturally, this included the chair you'd taken a picture of. But given how this was your first visit to an Astarte base, that didn't involve Trauma, it almost seemed…rude? In a bizarre way, like you would be committing a social faux pas.

By using a chair…that no one else was even attempting to use at the moment.

Yeah...your social anxiety was probably just punking you. And it Did look very comfortable…

But would it be More awkward to be an unaccompanied baseline, with no easily discernable Reason for being here? You probably look more awkward just standing around skimming through your phone, or glancing around while fearing making eye contact with anybody elsein the room.

Yep yep, best to sit down.

So you did. Took a bit of shuffling, and it was firmer than you expected. But nice, cozy. Felt kinda like sitting in a big lap. You relaxed and kicked back.

"Well well well…what have we here?" Wait no.

You glanced up, above you was a marine with pale silky blond hair and piercing eyes. He'd placed his bizarrely sharp looking hand atop the chair's back, and was regarding you with mirthful curiosity.

Much to your Horror, you just wanted to keep your head down and wait for your! date? squeeze? situationship partner? For Khopesh, to come get you, and not give a base full of enhanced super space soldiers Any Reason to be suspicious of you. (It was more like noticeable discomfort, and you've given no reason to anyone in this room to throw you out.)

Zaarius had been sent to replace the front desk Astarte at the local Chaos base that he lived at. To be the ‘greeting person’ for whoever comes into the base, so to speak. He spots a baseline human looking terribly nervous as they stare at one of the Astarte-sized chairs in the lobby room before eventually sitting down.

He heads over to them, it’s curious seeing a baseline human in the lobby of this base, especially as they seem to be unescorted, at least for now.

Perhaps they are newly bonded to a Chaos Marine? Either way he’s kind of bored and seeking hot gossip.

“Hello there!” Zaarius calls out cheerfully with a musical trill, making sure to approach in a manner that wouldn’t appear threatening, or trying to be at least. “It’s nice to meet you! I’m Zaarius, who’s your newly Bonded Marine?”

The question catches you off guard, so you fumble out a response, “Oh I'm…not Bonded to a Space Marine…it's more of a…Situationship?" You say with an anxious shrug.

‘Curiouser, and curiouser!’ Zaarius thinks to himself, they seem quite unsure to him.

He leans a bit closer with a mirthful but reassuring twinkle in his eye. “Oh little darling, do you really think you’re the first human to snag a space marine out of Bond-lock,” Zaarius says putting a hand over his hearts and doing a false swoon, even wriggling his eyebrows cheekily.

Now he's even more curious! So he asks, “So...what faction is your… special friend apart of?”

“…Why do you want to know that?” You ask, eyeing the Chaos Marine suspiciously.

“Because depending on who you managed to snag without a Bond, I’d be exceptionally impressed,” Zaarius says, very seriously and honestly.

“…What?” You manage to say, caught utterly flat footed by that statement.

“Oh yes! You see, you may not know this but…certain chapters are… they can be so…” Zaarius pauses as he struggles to find the word in Ancient Terran- at least the language this human speaks in, “Hrm… what is the local word for… rudely celibate?”

You can’t stop the laughter from bubbling up, also the half offended pouty expression Zaarius is making is hilarious. “Prudish?” You supply.

Zaarius nods, giving them a big smile, and a snaps his fingers. "That's the word, yes!"

You can’t stop the smile from spreading across your face. Okay. You were feeling a little bit of pride at that correct guess. “All those years of hangman finally paying off!”

“Pff, haha!” The Emperor’s child lets out his own laugh, it sounds rather posh to your ears, “Oh, you are very funny! I can see why your Friend likes you.”

He’s glad to have made you laugh, and that you seem to be more at ease. He can tell when a baseline human is not supposed to be here, they have a more furtive, skittishness. Also, they don’t stay in the lobby, and tend to be found in places they aren’t supposed to be, or going near places they aren’t supposed to go.

“…Ah…Yeah…” At least you Hoped that Khopesh liked you for that. More than just being something soft to work over and fuck.

“I was wondering something!” Zaarius says, trying again, slyly to get more information out of this darling little human about their Space Marine Friend. “What … chapter is he from? What colors are his armor? I might know him or at least know of him. Also- if you have questions about certain things… I can try to answer them to the best of my ability. Unless I can’t, then I’ll tell you that, of course.”

‘Well… fuck it. What have you got to lose?’ You think to yourself. You lick your lips a little and take a quick breath, “He’s a Night Lord- and he’s also my neighbor. He’s… not mine… not really.”

“Oh?” Zaarius asks, tilting his head a little, “Night Lords tend to be Independent. You don’t have to have to be Bonded to have a spark.”

He looks over this human again, that’s the second time you'd remarked that they aren’t Bonded-bonded to their situationship of a Space Marine. He scans you over more carefully, searching to see something in your form or self, to see if… this is a willing relationship on the part of the human. Night Lords can be… pushy.

He focuses once more when you speak, “I guess that’s true… and I do like him. He seems like me too… I guess I’m a bit unsure, is all. Things Kinda happened… Really Fast.”

“Night Lords are Intense,” Zaarius agrees with a nod, “They can be aggressive and if they decide someone is worth… catching. They will do all that they can to keep and possess that person as theirs.” He doesn’t continue with the common adage among the Astartes that, Night Lords, if and when they grow bored or find someone, or something else shinier, newer, or more fun to play with, tend to discard their old toys or break them. Usually.

Zaarius hears your heart rate pick up. Smells the beading of sweat and other stress hormones. That and he could see you biting your lip. Chewing your next words before they came out of your mouth perhaps?

"I don't mind being worth catching" You stated, fidgeting a bit. "But I think what scares me is I don't know how long I'll be deemed so."

"Or worse...if he'd be willing to let me go." You fidget a little, glancing at him, then at your hands.

You turned to the Emperor's child and looked into his eyes. "Can you spare me some advice? Like if you were in my shoes…what would you do?"

Zaarius straightens up and sits down on the floor, even as he internally winces at getting his nice clothes a bit dirty. "You need to talk to him. Boundaries-the setting of them. Tell him what you want out of the relationship… Be brave- and I know that can be hard, and ask him what he wants out of the relationship." He gestures with his hands, as he speaks more earnestly, honestly, and wanting to help this human.

Relationships of any kind, Bonded and especially Not-Bonded can be messy tricky affairs that have to be navigated carefully and with much communication and discussion. "We Astartes… aren't used

to many kinds of relationships. Talk to him, no matter how hard it is. Bring a friend- if you feel unsafe doing so alone. If you feel you need a neutral third party…. Apothecary Hura is a great option, I tend to annoy the fuck out of others for some reason."

“Whaaa? Annoying? You? Pffft naww~” Lullaby says playfully, “But Thank you, and… you’re right."

Zaarius nods before he says with a serious tone, "if he blows you off about it- then he's not worth your time and tears. Ask others for help if he's being a little shit." Zaarius says, "Again- Apothecary Hura is great for that sort of thing…and Don't worry, I assure you he'd be Happy to help."

"I Am gonna give it a shot." You say, now feeling a bit more at ease. "But! I Still don't think I should go pullin Doc Hura away from his job just to play referee for my communication issues. He's got enough on his plate as is, he doesn't need my brain issues on top of that."

“Oh?” Zaarius asks, gently prompting you as he tilts his head to the side. "You've met him then?"

"Yep, Got checked out by him about…a year-year and a half or so back. General follow up stuff." You explained waving your hand for emphasis.

Zaarius watches you carefully. Tilting his head a little with a concerned frown, "have you seen an Apothecary for the brain issue? What about a Chaplain? Or a Librairius?"

You were puzzled, then realized. "Oh no no no it's not a physical brain problem it's just. Stress. Anxiety." Those Are legitmate brain issues just not ones you felt you should bother Doc Hura with. Also you weren't sure Astarte therapists would understand your particular brand of trauma bred mental illness. "But regardless he and the others told me I didn't have any major physical issues from the attac-"

You clammed up and shut up, panicking and realizing you almost made a Huge mistake. Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit. WHY did they have to get so comfortable so fast. Now you've Really set your foot in it.

"… I can listen if you want to talk," Zaarius says gently, "or if you don't want to talk about it, that is also fine." Zaarius watches this human, noticing how panicked they'd become with concern. He'd heard that something had happened which had set certain people all a tizzy a while ago. Something about- well, no one would say, but it had gotten Loyalists and Chaos Marines to work together a lot more. Which meant it was bad.

"Accident." Zaarius took a moment to break from his thoughts. You're less panicked now. But distinctly more closed off. "It was a bad Accident. Apothecary Hura and the others helped with my recovery." You stated simply. Not a lie. Not the whole truth. You took a deep breath. "I appreciate your concern but…I should put the matter behind me. It's…for the best."

You didn't fully believe that; Zaarius could tell. But he wasn't going to try and force an answer.

You put your hands in your pockets. "I think I would like to

say Hi to Doc Hura…if he's here." You say eventually. "He's good friends with a Death Guard that visits my farm often, Xerxes. They, All the neighborhood marines honestly, were really kind. Helped me a lot."

“He’s around today,” Zaarius says, “He’s got his cane Corso puppy with him… Although the puppy isn’t likely to hurt you though.”

You balked a bit. "Like a service animal you mean?"

Zarrius thought your confusion was quite endearing, shaking his head and little chuckling softly. "Not quite. If you'd like, I could show you the way."

You considered it. "I'd take you up on that. But…I'd rather not leave when someone is coming Here to meet me." For however much good advice he gave and warm he seemed…They didn't feel comfortable following him to some unknown place. You'd been burned by being too naive before.

"Makes sense- I can send Hura a message and he can come here if you prefer," Zaarius says. Smart human- not wanting to go to a secondary location with a strange chaos marine. Also, less Warp Blind, from the way that they are reacting. A most curious individual.

"I'd appreciate that too. Only if its not too much trouble though!" You added quickly. "Also I'm kinda surprised Khopesh hasn't shown up by now…"

A concerned frown formed on his Zaarius's face,"…Khopesh?” Zaarius says, “You're talking about the Night Lord Khopesh- is he-”

"Hey watch where you're goin!" They both hear, turning towards the sort of the noise.

"Fucking Running bastard!" Karlsor snarls out.

"Hey Ouch!" A chorus of yells echoed down the halls fading in with the sound of thumping foot treads then SLAM! A door near the reception desk flew open causing the baseline receptionist to jump and papers to fly.

"LULLABY!" Khopesh cheered happily upon seeing you; hands still gripping the door frame he'd just burst through.

You blinked incredulously. Quite an entrance. But you still raised an arm and waved. "Hiii Khopesh." The gesture was a little nervous and embarassed, but the greeting was still genuine. And it still made your Night Lord’s trademark sharp grin split his face. Oh shit. "Khopesh wait-!"

There was a blur, and then you were being swooped up into a familiar set of pale blue veined arms and spun around in a Vice-like hug. "WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH! Oof!"

Zaarius's frown becomes more pronounced, the worry growing in his eyes and face as he taps away at his vox. Preparing to send messages to both Anrir and Hura about this situation. From what he’d gathered from the baseline human and which little cousin is part of the situationship.

The solid wall of muscle you collided with vibrated with purrs. "I am so overjoyed to see you once again!" He crooned, nuzzling you sweetly.

"You saw me this morning." Lullaby supplied. Still a bit winded from the sudden movement.

"Ir-relevant!" Khopesh replied happily.

Zaarius relaxes, but only a little bit, Khopesh is a prankish twat, but he’s not a monster. But, he’s still a little concerned, with how rough Khopesh is. He knows that Khopesh is on the younger side for an Astartes- but he should know that humans can be fragile, even with affection. He also knows that Night Lords play rough- but the idiot needs to dial it back!

But the little shit likely won’t listen to Him. He glances up from his vox and continues to watch the scene in front of him, monitoring the situation, his muscles relaxed, like a tiger ready to pounce into action.

“For the love of all things holy I'm happy to see you but could you stop! Manhandling me!" They asked, with actually a bit of sharpness in their voice as they pushed back a little bit against the Nightlord. It was more like a kitten pushing back against getting an unwanted bath than a display of true disgust at the situation.

It was charming in Zaarius's opinion, but still there was that concern. He remembers the words they said, and what he knows of Night Lords, over his long, long life time with the fuckers. Of being discarded…or not being Allowed to be discarded. Both could occur with the mercurial nature of Night Lords (Astartes in general really).

Khopesh especially could be…easily distracted. Latching onto a new lead or fascination. It made him a good hunter and interrogator, pickingup on small things and following them.

Was this human just another mystery that had caught his fancy? And what happened when that fancy had run its course? Or worse…what if Khopesh decided his little rag doll shouldn't Ever be allowed to play with anyone else.

[Anrir, come get your gremlin. He’s worrying me.] Zaarius sends. He’s not one to lightly pull that card, and he means it when he sends such a message. Zaarius looks down at the soft chime from his vox.

It’s from Anrir, who replies back with [Which Gremlin I have many /many/ gremlins]

[Khopesh] Zaarius responds with. [Khopesh needs lessons on gentleness and Listening to humans.]

Zaarius can Feel the tired sigh in Anrir’s vox text message at the response [What did he do?]

Meanwhile, you were losing patience. You Did honestly like the affection, but this was ridiculous! "I Mean It!" You insisted. Still pushing him back and wriggling. Khopesh actually had the nerve to Giggle at your attempts.

But…he did eventually humor you with an, "Oh~ Very well~"

Zaarius watches this still frowning. Hm… The youngster Did listen, but should have listened sooner. Teasing is well and good, but that was a boundary that the human had put up, and he’d pushed it a bit.

"Thank you!" Lullaby huffed and then hissed feeling the sore side flare up again.

Khopesh took note of that. "Are you unwell?" He asked, more concern coming into his voice than the smugness that was there before.

"I'm Fine. Just still sore from you Know…" Lullaby motioned vaguely in his direction.

They could see the gears turning but instead of a light bulb his look just stayed confused. "Wait…why would you be sore?"

You looked at him with true bafflement. "Because of what we Did last night??"

"How would copulation make you sore?" Khopesh asked.

Zaarius can’t stop himself from face palming at that, “Humans, baseline humans are slower to Heal.” He groans.

"Don't just say it out loud!" You hissed frantically gesturing to Khopesh to keep his voice down. "And how are You?? Not Sore?? You did most of the work last night!"

"But it is a Normal act. And it doesn't burn like training or fighting? Why would I be sore from something that does not strain me?" Khopesh asked, obliging in keeping his voice down, despite his still present confusion.

"Sweet mother of mercy." You muttered, utterly lost for words. And Zaarius seemed much in the same boat.

Zaarius shakes his head in disbelief, "Younger Astartes, how are you so energetic? Or is it because you are a Night Lord"

"Not…certain…" Khopesh replied. "But…you Are okay aren't you Lullaby?" He asked suddenly, more concerned. Then he freezes. "Were you…trying to hide your pain from me again?"

Oh fuck.

"N-no! I didn't tell you because I didn't realize you had no idea about how doing the bedroom two step affects baselines…" You assured him. "Plus…with all the farm work I've got a high tolerance for muscle pain. I thought I could just push through it but…getting picked up and swung around didn't help it. If you understand me?"

"…oh…" Khopesh replied, suddenly sheepish.

"And…you seemed so happy for us to finally have a first date so I…I tried to just power through it…" You explain, nervously rubbing their upper arm, "Even if it wasn't intentional. I'm sorry I didn't explain how I was feeling to you."

Khopesh doesn't respond immediately, seemingly trying to think of his next words. Zaarius looks up when he hears the familiar stomp of ceramite glad boots and gives a charming smile when he sees who's finally arrived, “Hello there Apothecary Anrir!”

"Zaarius," Anrir greets Zaarius, before turning his attention of his present gremlin. “Be more gentle with your Human, Khopesh,” Anrir comes over and gives Khopesh a look and lightly smacking the younger Night Lord on the back of the head. In Nostraman he hisses out the words, “Do you handle your Vada and Muti like this?”

That seems to get Khopesh's words in order "I Wasn't Trying to be-!…not gentle…." He says, clearly somewhat hesitant.

“I can help teach you restraint,” Zaarius offers to Khopesh, honestly, “And I could use more hands when making food.”

Anrir seems satisfied with his answer before turning his dark eyes onto You.

You feel a shiver go up their spine, as the older and clearly Much more Dangerous apothecary regards you. A beat passes, and he almost seems to be…studying you? You can't be certain. But before you can think of asking, a surprisingly warm smile comes to his face.

"Am I correct to assume that You are the one my son Khopesh calls Lullaby?" The old marine asks smoothly.

Now surprisingly warm, for a Night Lord, doesn't have a high bar, but you did feel calmer. "Ah yessir!" You reply quickly. "That's me. It's nice to meet you." As you finish speaking, you hold out a hand out for a handshake.

Anrir reaches out carefully, engulfing Lullaby’s hand with his extremely easily.

Zaarius is still watching the situation, and looks down at his vox, he has a message from Hura. [On my way, Cedric’s in tow. Try not to rile the youngling up too much.]

Zaarius makes a face and sends a message back. [if the brat wouldn’t start it, I wouldn’t continue!]

[Who’s older?] Is the response.

[Me.] He responds sullenly.

[Then. Behave. Or else.] Hura responds.

[I’ll try.] Zaarius responds.

There are more ceramite boots on the floor as Hura comes into view, a younger space marine in black and white astarte sized scrubs a couple of footsteps behind him.

“Ah Hallo my dear!” Hura says warmly to the baseline human as he recognizes one of his…long term patients. The memories of how he’d met them come back to him swiftly. "How is the neck pain if you do not mind me asking? It hasn't troubled you further right?"

"Well if it isn't the good Doctor?" You give a cheerful wave to the large Death Guard. Ironic to owe your life to not just one but Two death guards. "And I'm doing well," You replied, not wanting to get into it more than that. But another amusing idea did to mind. "Only pain in the neck I have right now is This one." You remarked cheekily, gesturing to Khopesh who was still getting Mildly chastised by Anrir.

"Hey!" Khopesh protested.

"Is it a lie though?" You replied, looking up to him with a not at all sorry expression.

Khopesh opened his mouth…then closed it with a mild grumble.

"Pfft HA! Hahaha!" Hura let out a jovial belly laugh, even Slapping his knee like a grandpa. Anrir doesn't laugh but Does seems mildly amused.

"You actually managed to make Khopesh speechless," Anrir mused with a chuckle. "Don't tell Karlsor, he'll want them for himself."

"!" Oh…there's a different look on Khopesh's face now. "As is I'd Ever allow that!" Khopesh growled. That sounded like it was…mostly a joke…you hoped.

Meanwhile, Cedric was also watching what was happening, noticing Zaarius the younger space Marine stomps over to the Chaos Emperor’s child with an angry scowl on his face as he starts to try and growl at the older marine.

Something clicks in your mind when seeing the odd interaction between Zaarius and this…Familiar looking newcomer? While from what you remember he wasn’t involved with your care, you had seen Cedric around Hura a lot. You remember meeting Cedric at least once before.

"I think I know who the Cane Corso is now." They say quietly to Khopesh who's still looking a Little out of sorts. Khopesh looks at you, then at the barking baby apothecary and he does crack a half grin at that. You give one in return, before reaching for his hand and taking it in yours. "I Am really happy to see you And meet your family."

A slight blush rises on his face. "And I'm sorry I got kinda snarly, just next time, maybe Ask before you pick me up and spin me

around like a discus."

Khopesh chuckles quietly. "I will keep that in mind." He looks away, but he's still grinning as a surprisingly large group forms.

Claude watches his brother growl at Zaarius and heads over to the Very Important Human, at least in regards to Khopesh. He rubs one of his hands against his armor, trying to dry his hands. He’s…nervous. He wants to make a good first impression on them. Khopesh has talked about this human a lot.

“Hello,” Claude says shyly to Lullaby, after Anrir finishes his greetings and…mild interrogation of Lullaby. “My name is Claude, I have heard a lot about you from Khopesh. He lo- really cares for you a lot.”

You feel your own blush creep over your skin. Before clearing your thoughts and throat with a quick "Ahem! I'm very glad to be meeting all ya'll, Khopesh mentioned I'd be meeting a few brothers when I came here…guess I just didn't expect this much of a turnout." You explain wryly. You reach out your free hand. And Claude just looks at it.

Khopesh giggles a bit at his brother's bewilderment. Before reminding him. "You're supposed to Shake it Claudy…" Khopesh says teasingly, and honestly at the same time laughs a little at his sometimes silly younger brother. Claude’s entire face starts to turn bright red and his eye colors change and shift a little.

"Oh! Right, my apologies!"

You give him a smile and say reassuringly as he reaches for your hand. "No worries, I'd forget my own head if it wasn't-"

ZAP!

"OUCH!' Damn static electricity!

Claude recoils at your yelp and Khopesh takes your hand (firmly but gently) searching it for damage. He flails a little- fuck- that wasn’t.

He hadn’t meant to hurt them. How did that happen? Anrir, Hura, and Cedric, hearing the yelp turn towards the source of distress.

"I'm so sorry! I - I don't-" Claude stammers, you're quick to pipe up.

"No! No sweetie its not your fault its just static electricity. It happens sometimes." You explains, trying to reassure the almost nine foot tall space soldier that he hadn't harmed you.

Claude had stepped several feet away, eyes wide in alarm, calming down a little at your words as he kept his hands up and away, tucked into his chest. Karlsor had almost teleported to Claude’s side, lightly poking at the younger Psyker to see if his powers accidentally flared or something.

Cedric comes over and says, “Hello Mx. Lullaby, may I see your hand?”

He accidentally blocks Lullaby and Khopesh view of Claude. Cedric will ask his brother about what ever the hell that was after this situation was dealt with. He’s seen just how difficult and tiring it was for his more witch-y brothers to use their powers. Cedric knows that Claude wouldn’t use his powers frivolously, nor would he deliberately harm baseline humans, not without due cause. Especially humans that are considered Important to their brothers and cousins.

Cedric Also knows what Claude looks like just before he’s about to lose control of his powers- and has helped him with an episode or several. Claude hadn’t shown any signs or slips in control. He’ll have to check up on his brother later.

"N-no I-" Claude is still frazzled and seems to not know what to say. Before the other Night Lord wearing sunglasses puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe you should go calm down." He insists the still frazzled marine. He turns away with Claude, leading him out of the lobby.

You felt your shoulders dip with disappointment. -It wasn't your fault- “…I’m so sorry,” You stated as Cedric looks over your undamaged hand, “Is he gonna be okay?” You ask turning to Khopesh, who’s still grasping your other hand,a bit tighter than before. ‘All of this for some static?? Claude must have some heavy social anxiety.’ You think to yourself shaking your head a little.

“He will be okay.” Cedric says, glancing at Khopesh, then around the room, “My brother will be fine. I am glad that you are uninjured and that it was just…a random spark.”

Khopesh seemed equally confused by what had occurred. But he smiled. "Claudy can get overwhelmed sometimes." He assured, he hesitated for a moment, before adjusting how his hand is holding yours so he can run his large cool fingers over your knuckles. "But he's got us! So we'll make sure he's okay and you two can become friends another time!" He said cheerfully.

You felt your heart melt a little. "You're a good big brother." You said. "He's lucky to have you. All of you honestly. Ya'll seem like a tight knit bunch."

Khopesh seemed moved by your compliment. He smiled, closed mouth for once but the blush was still there. You kinda wanted to kiss those red cheeks and the cute little bit of fang that remained exposed but! Introductions and re-introductions were still going at the pop up family function you ended up coming to.

“He is lucky to have us,” Khopesh says with a nod.

“We tend to be close to those we cherish,” Cedric says with a nod and a small smile. He’s glad that Lullaby was uninjured. He wonders what that was about- Claude’s not accidentally zapped someone since he had first started learning control of his powers. He’s trying to remember when such a thing has happened.

A thought occurs to him and he looks at the human Khopesh calls Lullaby more closely. “I want you to meet Jophie- he’s another one of my brother-cousins. He’s a Blood Angel.”

"Another brother?" You asks with only a little fatigue, mostly playing said fatigue as a joke. You weren't antisocial, dare you say you could be the extroverted life of the party in the right circumstances! But this was a Bit much for short notice. Still! You Must Soldier on! Everyone was so Nice and even if you were Kinda hungry you could tough it out.

‘No…'

'No, that's not right and you Know it.' You thought to yourself glancing to both Khopesh And Zaarius who shifts a little as he talks to Hura. 'You need to be Honest.’

So you take a deep breath and square your shoulders before addressing Cedric. "I'd be happy to meet your brother Jophiel! But after that I'm gonna need to hunt up some food. I Was supposed to be treating This one to dinner after all." You remark towards Khopesh, poking him lightly.

“Oh! We should take a break for dinner.” Khopesh says jolting a little guiltily. “Then we can come back later to say hi to more people if you want?”

You smile and nod. "That sounds like a Fine idea."

Cedric nods at that as well, “Don't worry Jophi’s really friendly and gregarious, this shouldn't take long.” And a psyker, not that he’s going to tell the human that.

Some of the times when Claude had zapped someone, had been when he'd accidentally touched some of their fellow aspirants who were also psykers. Even if their psychery was barely apparent or latent, he remembers the tussles they got into when a sudden zap got sent in either direction.

But- the Warp was so slow on Ancient Terra- and there hadn’t been signs of Psykery in the baseline populace, it was something that the Astartes were monitoring and watching for very closely.

Cedric sent Jophie a message- and gets one back in record time.

Jophiel was nearby anyways, so he comes in and swans over with a charming smile and sparkly mahogany-red eyes. “Hello! I’m Jophiel,” The angelic looking space marine says as he looks you over.

Well today just Keeps getting more wild. But really of all things? Angel wings on a Space Marine shouldn't surprise you this much. And my God he is Unnaturally pretty. You meant it too, Unnaturally pretty, even amongst space marines, and it makes you a bit uncomfortable.

But you push that aside, he's close with Cedric and Claude so you should be polite. "Ah hello there!" You greet moving your hand to shake the one offered by Jophiel.

Unbenknwost to you, the Blood Angel is following through on the instructions given to him over Cedric's vox. He carefully pulls on his psychery sight so he can get a better idea of what he's dealing with, regarding the human in front of him.

But…What he sees doesn’t make sense.

He sees the remnants of a Bond, but Instead of withered and dead plant vines and flowers…Instead they look like…like… Dammit what is the common tongue word for it?!

Jophiel Knows the Look of the bond, And what he feels is Wrong. A bond broken so long ago should be gone, and a dying bond wouldn't have so many…roots?

A regular bond in any state also shouldn't carry a shadow of…decay? Not Right. Not Right. But he doesn't know how to describe what he sees? He Knows he's seen something like this before…

In one of Hura's biology books he's Sure…What Was It Called!? Slime Moldings? Fungi Colonies?…Closer but no no…

That's when he turns his warp sight to the hand shake still taking place. And Jophiel notices the 'roots' again, spreading and flickering in a branching ring like structure, even seeming to reach Towards his hand. He tamps down on his panic and focuses on the feeling that reminds him of dampness and mildew.

It makes him think about…Mushrooms. Jophiel's eyes light up with the realization.

Mycelium! The bond Looks and even somehow Feels like a Mycelium Network! And much like a mycelium network feeds in nature he feels his powers being slowly siphoned by the fibers now creeping over his hand. Jophiel immediately, removes his hand he had used to shake Lullaby’s and rubs it with his other.

Before anyone can comment on his sudden removal (he did his best to stay calm but he couldn't help but move just Slightly too fast.) he speaks up.

“It was nice to meet you, Mx. Lullaby…I’m going to go find Claude.” Jophiel says to Khopesh and Lullaby, glancing over at Cedric, “Care to join me Cedric?”

He's trying Very hard to keep calm, his wings giving him away, to those that know him. The way they twitch and flare, his feathers fluffing as he closes his wings.

The smile he gives to you, now that he has Seen the creeping mushrooms and rot, and the taste of Psykery developing within them is still polite, but he has a flash of sharpened canines. And that causes Cedric to almost jolt, Jophie hates showing off his teeth to baselines, they can be so weird about it. Not unless there was something about them that he deemed Dangerous. Fuck.

“Sure, let’s make sure Cladue’s alright,” Cedric says, “… Karlsor can be a bit harsh at times.”

Jophiel nods at that, “Yup- lets go make sure that Cladue’s not… overwhelmed.”

The pair of younger space marines say their goodbyes to Khopesh and you, and proceed out of the lobby the same way Claude and Karlsor had gone.

Well…aside from a longer than average handshake you figured that wasn't a Bad introduction…you hoped. "Ah…I didn't do anything wrong right?"

Khopesh looked after the path the Primaris had taken, he seemed deep in thought, but he did turn his attention back to you. "Oh, no need to worry Lullaby." The Nightlord cooed. "My little brothers can be a bit…awkward. They'll warm up to you soon," Khopesh reassured. "Besides…I believe You promised me dinnerdid you not?"

You felt you stomach rumble a bit. "That I did…maybe I can give him and the others a quick hello after dinner but before heading home?What're you in the mood for?" You asked, now in a far better mood.

"Well I am Always in the mood for You." Khopesh says smoothly, leaning down to Nuzzle the top of your head sweetly.

FWOOSH! And a Whole new blush spread like a gas fire over your skin. "Ap! You Hush!" You reply with no real bite, trying to focus on finding food and cooling your cheeks. "Besides you're not allowed to Eat me in That way, and I'm hungry. So tell me what you'd like or I'm running there without you."

"You Wouldn't,” he says with a mock gasp of betrayal.

"I Would." You say with a smirk

"I'd catch you." Khopesh retorts with a cheeky grin.

"I'll bite you." You threaten him teasingly

"Don't threaten me with a good time Lullaby." Khopesh growls playfully.

Anrir took notice of their back and forth. 'Ah young love Indeed' he thought shaking his heead fondly and approaching the two of them. "Khopesh, why not take your Lullaby to the Fire Drake Noodle House? It's quite close by, and they have many options for both Astartes And Baselines."

You and Khopesh took a moment to consider. "I could go for noodles." You say.

"That sounds quite delicious. Thank you Anrir!" Khopesh replied.

Anrir smiled before turning to Khopesh and switching to Nostraman. "Here," He states pulling his Astarte sized cell phone out, tapping a few things quickly. A ping came in on Khopesh's and he glanced at it. Anrir had sent him some currency digitally.

"Anrir…you don't have to-" Khopesh began to protest. But Anrir responded by holding up one pale unmarked hand.

"Let this old man treat his son and his special one to a meal. You wouldn't deny me that would you Khopesh?" Anrir asked, putting on his Best guilt tripping parent face.

Khopesh crumbled, though he really didn't feel That opposed to be fully honest. "Very well."

Anrir nodded. "Good…treat them to something nice there." He stated, still in Nostraman before turning his attention to You. "I hope you both enjoy your shared meal." He explained now back in the common language.

You were a bit left out of sorts by that exchange but you replied promptly and politely. "Ah of course, thank you."

Anrir smiled. "I do hope you'll come visit us again soon."

You raised an eyebrow. "Would right after dinner be soon enough? Or Too soon?" You asked with a clear attempt at humor.

Anrir chuckled a little at that, and it seemed like he was about to say something else, until another ping came over his vox. He glanced at it before his next statement.

"I have some other duties that require my attention. Excuse me." He strode with purpose out the Same door Claude and the other taller Marine's had been ushered through.

You and Khopesh watched for a moment as he left, before turning your attention back to finding directions to the Fire Drake Noodle House and proceeding out of the base to find it.

Meanwhile…

Karlsor had dragged him out of the lobby and to a side corridor to continue speaking, and to have them out of the view of so many eyes. He knows how jumpy Claude can be in a room full of people at times.

"I don't know! It just-" Claude replies stammering- he hadn’t been using Psykery, hadn’t been pulling on his power, not deliberately or subconsciously.

"You Know better than to go pulling up your psychery willy fuckin nilly!" Karlsor hisses at him quietly

"I didn't Mean to! It just happened!" Claude protests, shaking his head, “I didn’t intentionally pull on my powers.”

"Be fucking honest with me Claude!" Karlsor replies, shaking his shoulders roughly.

"I AM! I wasn't even Trying to do that!" Claude whispered back.

Karlsor could tell the Primaris was being honest. But that…what just happened made no sense. Karlsor's mind thought back to Anrir's and his previous

conversation. "Okay Listen. I believe you, go tell Anrir what happened, Alright?" Karlsor says seriously.

Claude nods and assures Karlsor that he will. He sends Anrir a vox, relieved that his Claw leader makes his way out of the lobby as Khopesh and Lullaby leave to go their own way.

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

12 Angry Space Marines or Lullaby's No Good Very Bad Only a Little Good Day - Part 2

First! A big thanks to @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan for helping write this beast of a piece. And to @sleepyfan-blog , @kit-williams and @egrets-not-regrets for use of their various characters!

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter (Under construction) IT's HEEEEERE

The First One

Warning: Talks of violence, a very sore throat, near mental breakdown, dismissive Healthcare professional, throwing plates.

Tags! I Hope you all enjoy!: @kit-williams @sleepyfan-blog @egrets-not-regrets @felinisnoctis @bispecsual

@passionofthesith @beckyninja @bleedingichorhearts @barn-anon

@gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan @jaghatai-khock @virozero @angronsjewelbeetle

Summary:

After surviving a loathsome introduction to the living necrotic toothache known as Faust, Lullaby is once again alone and trying to find Something to do until they can find or receive a message from either Khopesh or the Primaris Marines. Unbeknownst to them, the people they most want to contact are thinking about them as well. Namely, in regard to deciding between life and execution for Stormbreaker, and poor Khopesh especially is having a time of it.

“So…that is one of the current working theories as to why Lullaby's abilities have manifested the way they have. Any questions?”

Back in the conference room, Anrir had just finished explaining a somewhat shortened version of the Custodes incident to the Scouts seated around the table, as well as his hypothesis about how the violence of the bond rejection might be a reason for your psychic abilities. 

Most of them look…well for lack of a better description, lost for words, but each in their own way of course. 

Jophiel is subdued and sullen, his wings were tucked and hung on his back. He looks tired and overwhelmed all in one swoop. But seeing as he's yet to have a proper sleep after his vision it wasn't too great a surprise. And then to learn the gold from his vision could be a murderous Custodes? He…he did not want to think about the damage that could be done. He also winced at the memories of how cold he'd been to you, especially given this new context. 

Much similar thoughts plague Ramiel, they'd barely managed to subdue a Grey Knight! And though it wasn't outright said, Ramiel knew that Bastard hadn't been trying to kill them. They likely wouldn't have made it home had that been the case. A Custodes is to an Astarte, what an Astarte is to a Baseline… How in the name of the God Emperor were they going to be able to fight and survive against that?!

He mutters quick prayers to the Emperor and at the same time feels an almost existential dread well up inside him at the thought that one of the Emperor's most renowned and deific creations would…would do something like what he'd just heard described?! It makes him sick. 

Claude is seemingly fighting the urge to fidget and twitch, clearly bothered by what he'd just been relayed, but perhaps uncertain of how to express it. He knew Something dangerous could be coming from what Jophiel said but this…this was something he Never could have imagined. 

A custodes trying to murder a baseline human in cold blood? It made his skin prickle, he desperately wants to run from the room and type on his vox to make sure you were okay. But he holds himself back, just barely but he does. You were exhausted and needed your rest. He could check on you later. 

Cedric and Nanael are no less bothered but are more quiet and pensive, they exchange glances and their thoughts run the same path. ‘If Jophiel's prediction came true another bastard would be buried. But this is no ordinary so-called loyalist, so do they keep the current bastard alive in the hopes he might be convinced to aid them?’ Or do they take their chances? Silver in the vision could mean any number of things relating to the Grey Knight. Like say perhaps…using the bastard's weapons or even his organs, he didn't need to be alive for that, and they'd certainly have an advantage with those things at their disposal. 

Olly's face is set in a deep frown, as he debates breaking pieces off his rock to chew on. It would give him a way to focus his thoughts, which were at once too much and felt too empty to be of much use. Just a cycle of replaying those awful words describing your injury, and subsequent rescue. How much you'd been through already, yet you still risked your secret getting out and all this being exposed to save their lives…it was so much to take in. 

At that moment Olly wants more than anything to just…rewind. Go back to the picnic, minus the Grey Knight interference. To just eat candy rocks with you and his brothers, and talk about food and chemistry. He'd made a treasured new friend, and he’s already facing the possibility of losing you because of the Grey Knight's actions. 

And at the same time, that bastard might be needed to keep you alive…somehow. Maybe. Possibly. He frowns a little- he’s not really certain about Psykery and possible futures. He tries to recall what the Codex Astartes says about such things. A dead enemy can, less likely, hurt you. But a potential ally's death can be wasteful.

Kerubiel and Thressl are also quiet, in their case not knowing how to respond to this new information. Kerubiel's mind runs a mile a minute pulling up, and turning over every scrap of info he could think of with Custodes and Grey Knights in mind. 

Their powers, their prowess and how they'd match against each other. A Murderous Custodes of ANY type could likely cleave through half this base without breaking a sweat, so perhaps somehow roping the Grey Knight into service was the only way to prevent that. 

Thressl, somewhat like Olly, feels near disbelief. But in his case it was because he had never heard of Custodes until now. But…they were loyalists? Why would one harm a baseline human this way, bond wanted or not!? It made no sense to the Space Wolf Primaris who scratched at his red mane of hair while his thoughts continued. 

Maybe they could hide you somewhere till this bastard went to ground again, regroup with a better plan and kill him when he wasn't possibly, maybe coming to kick down their doors. Could also use you as bait, but judging how Khopesh was reacting, Thressl was likely to get his face bitten off for suggesting that. 

Karlsor, having already known about the Custodes incident, simply waits. No fucking point trying to push the scouts to make a decision or catch up it was a lot to take in. Instead he distracts himself by watching how Khopesh paces the floor back and forth muttering like a mad man.

“He should die, he Must die, but if he dies would Lullaby-NO! I won't allow that to happen! But would our forces be enough!? We could hide them. Lure the Custodes into a trap. I'll make him Bleed, I'll make them Both bleed! I will, I Must!...” He mutters, stalking the floor back and forth and wringing the destroyed stress toy in his hands. 

When someone does speak it's Claude. “Brother please-”

“He cannot be trusted!” Khopesh snarls, whipping his attention to his younger brother, but given his mental state it comes off as desperate, not angry. “He could try to take you again! Take any of you again! If we allow him to live but…” Khopesh trails off, his trembling picking up. 

“If he dies…Lullaby could be put in more grave danger.” Olly finishes. 

Khopesh looks about ready to punch a wall, letting out a sound half way between and groan and a shriek as he paces again.

“That is…Provided the vision isn't full of horseshit- No Offense Jophiel.” Karslor posits, leaning back in his chair. 

Jophiel sighs heavily. “I wish it were so easy to tell…I have had visions of both kinds. Those that came true, those that did not, and those that could be actively prevented…” He trails off. “I'm sorry…I do not have any more insight and that is…exceedingly frustrating…” He begins to reach for his feathers, before Claude takes his hand to prevent him from stress preening. 

Anrir glances at Hura, his hands folded in front of him in contemplation. “We have discussed all necessary context for this decision. I believe it would be best if we went ahead and took the votes.” He stated. 

“At the end of the day…the decision must be made. And we will have to reap whatever consequences come later no matter what the vote decides.” Hura states. 

The room becomes silent again, but there is an air of resigned agreement. The Scouts sit at their places once more, though Khopesh still fidgets with the stress toy in one hand. Thoughts were had, decisions made.

Time to take a vote. 

…

“Say Ahhhhh,” The Apothecary says, holding up the bottle of medicine in his other hand. 

“...aaah,”

Ssshhhpritz!

“Cough! Cough -ack! Bleh!” You get another round of painful coughs as the spray medicine hits your damaged pipes with a mix of cold aerosol, and a cloying medicinal flavor that's meant to be grape. 

It sticks to the back of your tongue while an uncomfortable numbness starts to settle in. 

Is it better than the burning? Only technically, you think with bleary dissatisfaction at this whole mess. 

Stupid silver butt munch asshole…

“Oh come now,” The Apothecary tuts softly…and a bit condescendingly. “Chin up, it doesn't hurt that bad.. or it won't for much longer.”

“Hmph…” You grouse under your breath. 

Ghosk and Shatter had dropped you off here after explaining your need for some throat spray. (They have other base duties to tend to so they couldn't stick around.) For once the med bay wasn't super busy, so you got tended to rather quickly, which was nice. 

Less nice was the fact even Astartes with all their knowledge, and cool science wizardry from beyond the stars apparently still couldn't make a throat spray that didn't taste like candied hair gel fumes. 

The apothecary hummed, packing up a small bottle for later use, and handed it to you. “Spray your throat before bed, and in the mornings until the inflammation subsides. You remember the way to the front desk correct?” He asks. 

You nod, placing the bottle in your bag, and hopping down from the exam table. 

As the door to the exam room closes behind you, you glance in the direction of the front desk. 

And pointedly turn the Other direction. If any of the Primaris were injured they might be here now, you might also find Anrir, Hura or Zariel if you were persistent enough. 

“Excuse me,” You flinch, maybe you should have waited a bit or faked like you were going to reception until the Apothecary seeing you had left.  “Human…reception is the Other Way.”

You turn and shake your head, pulling out your phone to type a quick message about wanting to say hello to Hura or Anrir or Zariel as they'd treated you before. It wasn't a lie. 

The apothecary reads it with a somewhat bored expression. “None of those Apothecaries are on staff today, little one. And even if they were, they'd have more important duties to tend to.” He states, gently but firmly placing an armored hand behind your back and guiding you (forcing you) to go back to reception. 

You desperately want to type another message about the possible injury your friends might have received, and wanting to check for them. But that could result in being questioned about How they received those injuries and that wouldn't be good for anyone. 

“Remember: Spray twice a day, morning and night till inflammation subsides. Goodbye now.” The Apothecary said with an air of finality as he escorts (pushes) you back into the waiting room. 

You huff after the door closed you out, disappointed and dejected and honestly a little offended by the Apothecary's dismissive attitude. But he did give you something, that being the three Apothecaries you mentioned weren't working today. 

But that just raised further questions!

Maybe they were all doing something regarding the Silver Space Marine. That might take them away from their usual posts. 

…You hoped it's just that. As you walk, you debate using your abilities as you'd done yesterday. 

Everyone had a recognizable Aura. I could literally feel who was who so maybe…

But…the Primaris weren't the only psychers here, so if another sensed what you were doing that could cost you your secret. And it would cause even more problems for your friends than they'd already faced, or might still be facing. 

Your vague memories of Jophiel's face as he helped you swam to the forefront of your mind. God what if your power had hurt him permanently!? You feel your stomach twist from more than just the disgusting throat spray…

You need a distraction. Eventually someone will see your messages, you'd sent a few more even though they didn't get through. But eventually one or two Would and then this will all just be a bad but transient experience…you hope. 

Eating was off the table until the nausea passed, but maybe you could do something else involving food. Get your body to reset as it were. You had promised Karlsor a Raspberry Meyer Lemon cake after all. 

You perk up at the thought of being able to do something productive, and relaxing. You could probably also find some protein bars or other quick snacks in the prep kitchens for when your appetite returned. So you trot the short distance there, now actually feeling a little better. 

There were several so surely at least one of them will be open for use. You grab the handle of the first one and pull. 

Only for the door to slam shut from the inside, suddenly. As if someone had yanked it closed. 

You try again, grabbing the handle. 

SLAM! The door pulls shut again. Followed by some rather…harsh sounding words in Gothic on the other side. 

Okay Now you were pissed off. If the kitchen was in use, that's Fine! But whoever's on the other side needs some damn Manners! You pound on the large door with your fist.

You hear the Gothic words again, and this time the door cracks open. An irate looking Blood Angel stands in the doorway and seemed ready to cuss out whatever dumb bastard kept interrupting him and his brother's work! 

But his gaze doesn't meet another Space Marine at the door, which causes him to shift from angry to confused. Till he eventually glances down to see you in all your average human height, and his expression changes again to become softer. 

“Oh my goodness! You startled me little human. What's the matter, can I help you?”

You nod. And text quickly on your phone. 

‘Hello, I have a sore throat (not sick just partied too hard last night) and can't talk. I wanted to make a cake for my friends, is the kitchen not available?’

The Blood Angel's frame relaxes a bit and he sighs. “Awwww, that is so sweet. But I'm sorry to say you've come at the worst possible time, little one.” He states gesturing to the kitchen. 

You peek where he indicates and see an entire swarm of Blood Angels working like a well oil machine prepping…well to you it looks like many types of Hors d'oeuvres. The type you'd see at a hugely fancy party. 

And it turns out your guess isn't far off. “There is a rather important Art Gala tonight, and my brothers and I have to use the kitchens today to ensure all the food is prepared accordingly. That means none of the kitchens are available right now.”

Your shoulders sag with disappointment, though you still text to confirm. ‘All the kitchens?’ 

The Blood Angel nods solemnly, “Indeed, and we will need them for most of the day. Hence why I am stationed here to keep anyone from entering.” He explains. “Even in the least busy one you're likely to get trampled, so it's better you choose a different day for your baking.” 

You sigh, but nod. There's nothing you can do, you suppose…

The Blood Angel takes note of your dour mood. He does so hate to see small, sweet things unhappy. “Wait here for a moment, little one.” He states, ducking back inside the kitchen. 

You're not sure what he's doing until he pops back out with a small pastry on a plate. It's somewhat like a Danish with some kind of fruit filling. 

You point to yourself to confirm he's offering it to you, and he nods. “We have a few creations that aren't quite…aesthetic enough for the Gala. But rest assured they still taste wonderful.”

You smile, taking the warm pastry off the plate and taking a bite. You're pretty certain the flavor is raspberry and the heat and sweetness feels like a balm on your aching heart. 

It is also then that the realization that you hadn't eaten all day catches up with your body, and you devour the sweet quickly, even licking the crumbs off your fingers and the corners of your mouth. 

The Blood Angel seems to take delight in your exuberance. “There we go! Now doesn't that feel better?”

You nod, but you also realize you have one more thing to ask.

Maybe he's seen Jophiel. 

So you text another message, carefully to omit anything too…classified. 

The Blood Angel hums as he reads. “I'm sorry dear, I haven't seen Jophiel today. He might've just gone out sketching and lost track of time, I'm sure he'll turn up eventually.”

You bite your lip, but nod in agreement. Sometimes when stressed he went out sketching to calm down. There's nothing more you can do here so you bid farewell to the kind blood angel and make your way elsewhere, specifically to the cantine.

Your appetite has at least somewhat come back. So you suppose trying to find something to eat won't hurt. 

You shuffle into line, get some of the scrambled eggs, bacon and toast left over from breakfast, and sit down at a table by yourself. The room's not full by any means, but there are other people and space marines milling around. 

And yet…as you pick at your food, you honestly feel so…alone. You take out your phone, and check again, like you've been doing all day at this point. 

‘Hey guys I just wanted to check in to make sure you're okay. Text me back when you've got a moment.’ Sent, not delivered. 

‘Ghosk and Shatterwing helped me get to the medbay, I don't see any of ya'll here. I hope you're alright.’ Sent, not delivered. 

‘Khopesh, please pick up. I miss you…’ Sent, not delivered

‘I hope you're all okay.’ Sent, not delivered

You actually feel tears begin to prick at your eyes. You…don't want to be alone right now! You want Khopesh to hold you, and tell you everything's going to be okay. 

You want to hug Jophiel and tell him you're so So Sorry, for making him take the brunt of your psychic backlash. You want to tell him you're so sorry for scaring him, and ask him desperately what you could do to make it up to him. 

You want to hug Claude and tell him how proud you are of him for fighting back even before you realized you could use your powers to help him. 

You want to hug Olly and talk about candy and chemistry and rocks with him, and tell him he was so brave and smart and kind for what he did for you. His bright smile and cautious hope when you talked to him about it- rather than shutting him down had- well. It had been kind of cute and sad in a way.

You want to hug Cedric who always liked hugs, but felt awkward about asking for them. And who always took care of others but had a hard time asking for comfort for himself. And you want to bake a cake with him like he offered. 

And then you want to share that cake with him, the boys, and Karlsor who was a cussy and foul mouthed bastard at times, but he Cared so damn much and it honestly kind of hurt to think he felt the need to cover it up with piss and vinegar. 

You want to see Ramiel, you didn't know him as well as the others, but you saw how he fought so hard, taking blow after blow and getting back up to keep his brothers safe. 

You want to see Thressl and Nanael alive and well, especially after going through literally getting their heads messed with!

Hell, you'd even jump up and give Kerubial a hug, grudge be damned you'd just be happy to see him alive!

You just-

SPLOOOSH!

Your spiraling is interrupted when something wet suddenly douses over your head. It smells like strong alcohol, and it soaks down into your clothes. You couldn't move while your brain was processing  what just happened. 

But some clarity comes to you when you hear a chorus of loud howl like cackles from a table off to your side. 

“BULLSEYE! NOICE SHOT ALGERET!” One of the Space Wolves crows at your misfortune. 

You slowly turn with the liquor still dripping over your frame, until you can fully see the bastards responsible. 

The Space Wolf in question is losing his mind with laughter, in his other hand, an empty flaggard or cask or Whatever the vessel for this stuff is called. “Ah sorry wee little mortal! I just got a bad twitch in this here arm!” He chortles making a similar motion for emphasis, meaning he'd thrown the liquor on you at a distance like you would toss grimy water out of your horses buckets. “But ey, you looked like you could use a drink so No hard feelings right! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The whole space wolf retinue at the table break out in even more boisterous laughter and all at once everything else in the cafeteria falls into the background. 

You pick up the plate that still had a few bites of scrambled eggs on it, without even really meaning to you feel thrumming surging power channeling from your shoulder to your arm, you wind back while the wolves are still utterly distracted by their laughter. 

And you pitch the plate directly at the main Space Wolf with an Unnatural amount of force, it hits the collar of his armor, and shatters on impact. Some shards rain down, and the rest hit his dumb fucking face.

There's one beat where nobody moves…

One…

Two…

Three…

Then all hell breaks loose. 

…

The air in the meeting room is heavy, as it is time to finally take the votes. 

“We shall follow the order of the table. Each of you can say your vote and expound upon it if you deem it necessary.” Anrir declares. 

“Will you and Apothecary Hura be voting as well?” Ramiel asks, and the proposition does make the older Marines contemplate for a moment. 

“Should we do so?” Anrir asks the Death Guard who is stroking his chin.

“Hrmm, we were involved with the previous incident of the Grey Knight causing issues…I suppose we could indeed cast a vote…but what side should I cast to is the question?” Hura hums before continuing. 

“If he lives, we net ourselves a powerful psycher, upon which Many tests and experiments can be run. As well as a new…worker.”

“If he dies, we can still test him, and his body and organs could be quite…useful.” Anrir supplies. 

“Both?” 

“Both.”

“...”

“...the fuck do you mean Both!?” Karlsor snarls 110% done with this nonsense. 

“Language Karlsor, and Consider each of our votes split, 50/50.” Anrir explains. 

“As whether he lives or dies, we will receive something from it.”

“So…there's effectively one vote in each category to start with?” Claude asks. 

“Precisely,” The elders say in unison. 

“But you young ones must choose one or the other. Though…I think most of you wouldn't end up splitting votes anyway.”

Alright then. First at the table next to Hura is Cedric, who stands and speaks first. “My vote is that we eliminate this Threat.” He stands tall and firm in his conviction. 

“I agree with what Khopesh said earlier, the Grey Knight cannot be trusted.” He growls. “If he is allowed to remain, he is just as likely to pose a danger as the possible Custodes, if not more so as he will want retribution for his defeat.” Cedric says, before returning to his seat. 

Nanael stands up next. “I agree with Cedric, besides…who's to say Jophiel's vision was referring to us needing the Silver Bastard himself? It might mean we need the bastard's weapons or armor to ensure a good outcome, and we don't need him alive to use those.”

“We can find other ways to protect Lullaby that don't involve leaving a kidnapping, mind squeezing bastard alive where he can hurt more people.” He finishes, then sits back down. 

Next up is Jophiel who stands with more hesitancy. “I…cannot in conscience vote for the Grey Knight's Death.” He says, shifting nervously. “I understand where my Brothers are coming from. And maybe my vision is faulty…”

“But I have already made the mistake of dismissing Lullaby's struggles once. I was cold to them for nothing they had done, or had any control over…” Claude puts a gentle hand on Jophiel, it does help sooth him a little as he continues. 

“I will not dismiss this. That there is some bizarre chance or outcome where their fate relies on the Grey Knight being allowed to live…however much I Loathe him, and his actions.” Jophiel states, and sits once more. 

Next is Claude. “I'm sorry Brother,” He says quietly, namely to Khopesh. “I know you fear the Knight may try to take us again, but I have known Jophiel, and his visions for many years. As well as dealing with my own.” He says, and his tone becomes even more earnest. 

“I do not love Lullaby as you do, nor do I fully understand your connection even now. But I Do Care for Them. I would consider them…a friend.” He thinks, and indeed it is true. He enjoys your company and the way you reassure each other when the progress or lack thereof in psychery made you both upset. He appreciates your humor and your hugs and the thought of you coming to harm makes him want to Break something. 

“And if Jophiel's vision implies the Grey Knight will somehow be needed to preserve their life.. then I will not take the risk of killing him. No matter how satisfying it would be.” Claude sits, letting out a breath and trying to relax. 

Olly runs his hand over his rock, before standing for his turn. “I…do not do the best with words. But I know that Lullaby…is a good human being…”

“I have barely known them a day…yet they risked their life and secrets to save us. They spoke kindly to me, let me speak of my interests without judgment or reproach.”

“I…would also call them my…friend. And they are in need of protection. As much as I would love to Recalibrate the Grey Knights Brain!” Olly hisses, before pulling himself back into order. “I will…refrain from doing so. So that Lullaby may be kept safe.” Olly returns to his seat. 

“But the moment he steps out of line I Will recalibrate him. Mark my words.” He adds on the last part before Ramiel stands to take his vote. 

“I vote for…eliminating the threat.” He states, though even he seems unsure of his choice. 

“It is as Cedric and Nanael have said. He has tried twice now to take my brothers away by force.” Ramiel explains. “There is no guarantee that even if we Do leave him alive, that he will not simply try again once he has the opportunity. That or he may simply refuse to help us outright and remain a stubborn captured fool as he is now.”

“Not to mention I Saw the way he looked at Lullaby. He caught sight of them…just as I was using my Tempormortis.” Ramiel shuddered at the memory. “In his eyes there was nothing but Rage and the desire to Kill. I didn't understand it at first. But now that I do, and that he must also know about their abilities…I think he is too dangerous to be kept alive.”

“As for the possibility of the vision. My brothers and I have…experience in not being found by those we wish to avoid. We can and will hide them until the threat is dealt with or thrown off the trail. Part of me…truly does hope we can avoid a confrontation with a Custodes if at all possible. For all our sakes.” Ramiel finishes, making a quick religious sign, much like how humans would sign the cross when afraid, as he sits down.

Custodes are to astartes, what astartes are to baseline humans. He would fight to protect Lullaby if he must- but the Custodes would easily be able to kill them. He’ll poke around for stories- but he’s got a nasty suspicion that Custodes are generally given whatever the hell they want so they go away. Also- in the history books, whenever a Custodes lands on a battlefield it’s recorded as a success before they even do anything.

Next is Kerubiel. “Live, but do Not misunderstand me.” He hisses. 

“I have nothing but Spite for the Grey Knight, and that human is a pain in the ass but…” He huffs, it takes setting aside a great deal of his pride to say this. 

“What is true, vision or not, is the gravity of the Custodes power and might. We are no match for them, even if we trained for years, and used everyone at this table, it is very likely we would all Die.”

“I vote live, because keeping the bastard alive may be the only way we survive.” Kerubiel finishes. Then sits. 

Thressl is next. “I'll be honest with all of you. I'm not sure I believe in visions, or the overwhelming power of the Custodes. I'll believe that they're powerful, but they still Live, which means they can Die.”

“I believe we can hunt it! We just need the right plan and method. And those weapons we snatched off the Silver Bastard should help us nicely!” Thressl continues passionately, “Custodes- while heavily augmented are still human! Which means that they can bleed, that they can die.”

“And I agree with Cedric and Nanael. The bastard is a rabid dog, but unlike an animal his death shouldn't be quick and merciful. He should be torn limb from limb for what he tried to do.” Thressl emphasizes his statement by pounding his fist on the table, before he returns to sitting. 

 

Second to last is Karlsor, reclining in his seat and decidedly more quiet than the others have been. “Fuck you I'm not standing up and giving some pretty speech.”

“Death, the bastard tried to steal our Scouts once. Then he came back and tried again. He's run out of chances in my book as for Lullaby…” Karlsor's expression softens a bit. “Visions can be full of shit, but if need be we can hide them till the gold fucker is dealt with.”

With Karlsor's vote taken care of, the ratio was currently 5-6, favoring death. All that just leaves the final Night Lord to cast his vote. 

Who is still fidgeting with the destroyed stress toy because…he's kind of a wreck right now. And everyone can see it. 

“Why don't we step out for some fresh air.” Hura offers making his way to the door. “We have been cooped up in this room for a while.” Also he can see an impending mental breakdown coming

Which Hura and Anrir and Everyone honestly can tell is Not going to help anyone's mental state. So Hura cracks the door open to the shielded room. 

The moment the door opens a chorus of pings come in on various voxes, namely the Night Lords. They expected a few messages could be missed or arrive late due to their presence here but it's Who the messages are from that surprises them. 

And to no one's surprise the moment Khopesh reads your string of messages he has to hold himself back from bolting out the door. 

No, the one that does that is actually from Ghosk and reads, ‘Stop messing around and tattoo your mate already, I had to chase three idiots off them, then drop them at the medbay.’

“Khopesh wait!” “Where are you going!?” “Bastard don't run in the hallways!”

But their voices are far behind him as he flies down the nearest set of stairs, were there an option to jump down to the lower floor directly he would have sailed himself into the air in a heart beat. 

Instead he jumps, scrambles, and runs full pelt down the stairs till he reaches the first floor, and guns it for the medbay. The others are slightly behind him. 

But before he can reach his location, he catches a glimpse of something going on in the cafeteria. A commotion that has several humans and Astartes hunkered down outside, and…cleaning food off themselves??

He wouldn't have bothered with it beyond that except he sees a familiar face engaging in what can only be described as a food fight. 

Scratch that it's more like a dinnerware death match as he sees you red in the face, and furious pitching plates and food at another table who's pitching the same back. 

Khopesh…doesn't know how to react to the sight before him, and it gives the others enough time to catch up. 

And they similarly…don't know how to react. “What in bloody hell?” Thressl asks, but no one can answer. 

Luckily only the younger marines seem paralyzed by this event, as Hura (with Cedric not far behind) and Anrir enter the disheveled cafeteria. 

Hura takes a deep breath inward before letting out the loudest most authoritative shout you'd ever witnessed. 

“ENOUGH!”

Everything goes quiet as you realize whose voice you just heard. You whip your head and see Anrir, Hura and-

CEDRIC!

You drop whatever mush of food or plate you'd been holding and make a beeline for the Primaris Black Templar. 

“Lullaby what on earth happened are you-Oof!?” Cedric lets out the sound more from surprise than actual exertion. You're too busy grabbing him in a hug to care right now!

Cedric's okay! Cedric's alive and okay! You feel relieved tears welling up in your eyes as you hug the Space Marine as Tightly as you can. The sobbing irritates your throat but you Do Not Care! 

Cedric is still a bit lost but after a moment…he thinks he can fill in the gaps. He hugs you in return and strokes your back comfortingly. “It's okay…I'm here now. We're all still here.”

That makes you pick your head up, and you glance around Cedric. You feel your heart light up in an instant!

Claude, Olly, Jophiel, Ramiel, Nanael, Thressl, Kerubiel and Even Karlsor and Your Khopesh! They're all here! They're all Okay!

You feel a whole new bucket of happy tears pour down your face as you race to the other Primaris. 

Claude accepts your hug eagerly, though his nose does wrinkle a bit at the smell on your clothes. “Lullaby? What happened to you? And what’s that smell?” You shake your head. It is hug time not rant time, not like you could do so anyway. 

You move to Olly who shifts his rock to one arm, and embraces you as well. “I am not sure what has happened but I am happy to embrace you.” Even one armed, his hug is tight and loving, and you nod in agreement to his statement. 

Jophiel actually leans down, and takes the initiative after Olly has had his turn. He says something quietly to you that makes you almost break down again. “I'm sorry for pushing you away. You didn't deserve that, can you ever forgive me?”

Forgive…him? You should be apologizing but you'll do so when you can talk. For now you nod shakily and pull the Blood Angel into a hug. His wings wrap around you too, and it further reinforces that he is really here and alive. 

Nanael gives you a quick embrace with his arms and wings as well. “You did well, little one. Thank you, for everything.”

Thressl ruffles your hair, and chortles that “You're tougher than you look! And scrappy to boot!”

Ramiel accepts a hug with a quiet but sincere “I'm glad you're okay too.” You nod, glad the tears give you a reason to not talk, because even with a working throat you'd be beyond words right now. 

And lastly of the Primaris…Kerubiel. Who has stayed slightly further back from the group. He glares at you.

“Don't look at me that way!” He hisses, but you know what? Grudges be damned, you're happy to see him alive and kicking. You open your arms. “Don't you dare- don't you-” Too late you give him a firm squeeze, which he acts soooo disgusted by…but doesn't pull away. Also you know how fast Astartes can move, he could have avoided your hug if he really wanted to.

“Fine, fine , whatever! Just…stop hugging me already…” He grumbles, and you do as he asks with only…moderate smugness. He very gently gives you a hug back, its quick, but warm, firm and a gentle pat on your head.

Finally you turn to your Khopesh and Karlsor. You're so happy to see both of them! You reach your arms out fully expecting Khopesh to pick you up so you can hug and kiss him…

Only for him to cross his arms, which makes you bring your hands down a bit. Did…did you do something wrong?

“Lullaby…my sweet darling, Love…” Oh you did not like that tone. “Could you please tell me Why,” He breathes sharply, before continuing. “You left our Nest which was Safe, secure and stocked with food…to walk alone through Nightlord territory, get accosted by some bastards who Will be dead men walking when I find them, have to go to the med bay as a result and then…start a Food Fight in the cantine!?”

You blinked…did Khopesh really believe you…wanted to do this?? Your expression morphed from disbelief to frustration in an instant. 

You hold up a finger to imply ‘One moment,’ before typing a message on your phone. 

‘You left me in a dark room Alone, locked in by myself, scared and confused. Not knowing if you Or the boys were okay after yesterday! Seriously, a note or text would have been appreciated! Oh and hurt because Guess what my throat looks like after yesterday! Shatterwing called it and I quote “Redder than a tech priest taking a mud bath on mars."’

“Wait really?” Khopesh asked. You nodded firmly then opened your mouth as you'd done for Shatterwing. 

“Shit that looks awful.” Karlsor hissed in sympathy. 

‘Which yes Shatter and Ghosk helped me because I was hungry and my throat hurt like a bitch so I couldn't and still can't talk. And then I got nasty throat spray, and then I got locked out of the kitchens so I couldn't even distract myself with baking and then I just wanted to sit alone and eat and cry AND THEN I GOT ALCOHOL TOSSED ON ME!!!’

‘Also there was no food in your room because!’ And you showed a picture of Karlsor's note.

“Shiiiit….”

Khopesh slowly turned his head to his Claw member. “Karlsy….” He chirped in a voice that was not at all friendly. “What-is-this?”

Karslor actually seems nervous and embarrassed. “You can fuckin read can't you?”

“KARLSOR!” 

“Fine! FINE! I’M SORRY! Not to you fuckface you need to stop taking my sunglasses! But…I Am Sorry the food thing ended up making your day worse kiddo.” He sighs with frustration and scratches the back of his neck. 

You smile, and you pull him in for a hug too. He sighs again, more calmly. 

“Thanks kid, I'm glad you're…well not alright but you're still alive.” He pats you on the shoulder and gives you a quick side hug back.

You nod. Then turn back to Khopesh. 

He seems more calm now…less angry. But he also seems tired. “I'm sorry my love. Today has been…exhausting. And after yesterday… I have been tormented by the thought of losing you.” He says seriously, placing a gentle hand on your face. 

Oh…Khopesh…

Of course…of course your sweet one would feel vulnerable after what happened. You'd both literally been feeling the exact same fear for the other, the fear of losing someone precious. 

So you lean into his touch, you take your own hand and press him closer, kissing his palm. Then you draw hearts with the pads of your fingers, which makes your Khopesh smile. 

You lift your arms again, and this time he acquiesces happily. He holds you close as you kiss him sweetly across that handsome scar on his mouth; trying to reassure him even while you can't use your voice. 

I'm here. I'm safe. I love you. He chuffs and purrs, nuzzling you despite the pungent scent of alcohol still clinging to you. You press back into each touch in turn. 

“But for now…” He sighs, equally relieved and tired. “Why don't you tell me about the Nightlords who accosted you…and the silly Silly fools who doused you in…” He gives you a quick sniff. “Mjod…?”

Thressl approaches and gives you a smell too, “No doubt about it, that's Mjod! Who in their right mind would waste a good drink like this!?”

“Hey now…keep that Shit away from me!” Your group takes notice of Algeret snarling at Cedric.

And Olly's face suddenly takes on a strange…blankness. He turns without a word, and walks into the cafeteria. The others in your group, you included (while still held by Khopesh), follow him with your eyes, and crowd around the entrance to see what he's doing. 

“I am merely informing you that given your recent behavior I might have to consider euthana- I Mean…Sedation, if you do not calm Down Algeret.” Cedric says calmly, but there is a terrifying malice under his words, as he brandishes a syringe. 

While you were giving out hugs, Cedric had properly turned his attention to the individuals at the other table. He has a professional smile on his face, but his eyes are cold- colder than the homeworld of his Gene-father.

…what a Pleasant surprise he feels when he sees Algeret and his gaggle of idiots sporting bruises and cuts from the dinnerware. Such rude and rabid dogs should be put down.

But right now they would need first aid, and as an Apothecary he was only Too Happy to provide.

“Now listen here you! You've got this all wrong! It was the human who started this!” One of the others pleads, as if he'd ever believe them. 

Olly, who had put the pieces together between the scent on you, and Algeret's-fucking-voice, had stalked into the cafeteria with his recalibration rock in hand. He could be slow at times- but this, this was too far. He’s annoyed and frustrated that they go after him. But going after a baseline? That’s not okay. At all.

And the more he looks at Algeret and his cohorts stupid fucking bully faces the more angry he becomes. Not to mention them trying to claim you'd somehow started this altercation. As far as Olly cared the Wolves could mock him all they wanted and lie about it after. He was used to it. He could handle it. 

But they went after You. Someone smaller, and weaker, and even had the Gall to hurt you when you were already hurting and then tell Lies about You! He wasn't having it! 

“ALGERET!”

He shouts, actually startling Cedric from the anger in his voice

“I KNOW YOU FUCKERS! You go after who you think you can get away with bullying!”

Olly snarls, hefting his rock up.

“And then you go and tell Lies!”

He slams the stone down, cracking right through the tile on the floor, and sending waves through the ground. Olly immediately wrenches his rock back from the new gaping hole and raises it once more without breaking a sweat.

“I can do some manual mental recalibration to give you better personalities! Who's first!?” 

Olly knows he’ll need to clean up and do reparations for breaking the tile and making a new hole- but at the moment he doesn’t fucking care. He’ll deal with the consequences of his actions. It would be worth the scolding and shitty duty shifts and whatever other punishments that will be heaped on him to make Algeret and his fucking bastards fear for once in their misbigotten lives.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” Karlsor swears, while Khopesh seems to be beaming with pride. 

Cedric is…honestly impressed with how terrifying that display was, and he wouldn't mind giving his shy sweet brother cousin the chance to Crack some heads open, especially these shit heads. 

But…it would be a violation of due process, and even here at the Chaos Base, that could get Olly in trouble. 

“Steady there Olly. We don't want to fatally wound them…yet.” Cedric says calmly, stepping slightly forward but not actually putting himself between his brother cousin and the Space Wolves. 

“They are LIARS! FILTHY LYING MANGY-FLEA RIDDEN DOGS!” Olly snarls, but to his credit doesn't move closer…mostly because he respects Cedric. “And they must ANSWER for their MISDEEDS!”

"Misdeeds!? Bah! You ain't got a shred of proof Ya Dumb Fuck! And if ya touch us without due process you'll be court martialed!" Algeret snarls. 

“He truly is quite brattish, isn't he?” Anrir asks Hura, both elders deciding to…watch the show as it were. 

“Quite…I will remember this at his next physical.” Hura decides. Then smiles when young Oleanderos leans closer and snarls at the Space Wolves again, while Cedric makes no Real attempt to stop him. 

“So it was you who poured alcohol on my precious?” Khopesh hisses, and you…don't completely like how he's smiling.

Because if he decides to pick a fight he might cause more property damage, and get in trouble. You couldn't care less about the Space Wolves catching the business end of his fists otherwise. 

Khopesh meanwhile is debating putting you down so he can Give the Space Wolves that business. He does loathe the idea of losing physical contact with you given the day he's had, but ripping out some nasty mean wolf teeth Might be worth it. 

Could present them to you as a gift after…hmm but would you like them? He knew you'd appreciate the gift on principle but the teeth would need to be cleaned first. 

“You hurt Olly then you have the fucking Nerve to hurt my brother's special human?” Claude growls, stalking forward. “Hey Olly, can I have a turn with the rock?”

“I will gladly lend it to You Claude. But I get the first swing!” Olly growls back. The Space Wolves are looking distinctly more afraid, despite being technically correct about due process. 

Nanael comes forward as well, his wings seem to twitch juuuust a bit. Like a perched predatory bird seeing prey scurry into a hide. “You Know there are cameras in this room right?” He states smoothly. 

Jophiel follows Nanael's example but on the other side to his fellow Son of Sanguinius, further flanking the wolves. His wings appear more tense than Nanael's as if he's expecting the wolves to strike out at any moment.  “And even if the cameras somehow missed your…unfortunate choice. I'm sure the other witnesses would have no issue recalling what you did.”

“Hey! It was an accident!” Another of the wolves barks.

“Accident or started by the human?” Ramiel presses, also coming forward. “And by the human you mean the one who is smaller, weaker, and was at the time experiencing mental distress when you chose to douse them in mjod? Or when they somehow incited you to douse them in mjod? Or you did so by some accident? Which is it, Dogs?” 

He’s pulling on his Chaplain training and is using his I Am A Chaplain Do Not Lie To Me Voice. He puts his hands on his hips and frowns sternly at the rude pack of Scout Space Wolves.

“Not to mention you wasted good drink!” Thressl piped up. “And you claim yourselves sons of Russ, feh! What a joke!”

“Like you're even worthy to say our father's name, you Half Breed!” Algeret snarls in response. 

Thressl is more surprised than insulted, his eyes narrowing a bit- these shitty little first born bastards think they are all that. Feh. One of his hands twitches- oh he’s going to make these shitty brats pay.

“Bite your fucking tongue you flea bitten DOGS! You don't call him that!”

Kerubiel hisses angrily, charging forward and getting into their faces without touching them. 

You lean forward even as Khopesh is holding you up. That comment made you mad too. You debate sending out your mycelium to make the wolves cower. But…that would exacerbate the problem. 

Hura and Anrir glance at each other briefly. While they were enjoying the show- things were about to turn messy. Neither side backing down- and the way the Primaris Marines shoulders had shifted a little- unless stopped violence was about to happen and then all of the Scouts would have to be punished, not just Alegret and his squad.

Alright alright time for the adults to get involved. “Call off your puppy Hura, we do need to wrap this farce up.” Anrir comments quietly, which causes the Death Guard to sigh with a “Very Well…Cedric!” 

Hura's call isn't angry, just loud enough to get the young Apothecary's attention. “Yes Apothecary Hura?” Cedric answers, in an instantly less hostile tone. 

Hura and Anrir amble over. “This situation is likely to end in a brawl if it continues. As satisfying as it would be to see you Mulch these naughty puppies, I believe Anrir and myself should handle it from here.”

You notice Cedric's shoulders slumping in slight disappointment. “Very well…everyone, please step back!” Cedric instructs in a voice you recognize. It was the ‘everyone better listen because the doctor is talking dammit.’

Olly and Thressl growl, Claude and Kerubiel hiss under their breath, Nanael's expression shifts to a scowl and there seems to be an odd displeased trilling sound in his throat. Jophiel and Ramiel don't make any noise outright, but they don't look pleased either. They don't continue advancing. 

But they don't move back either. 

Well Shit. 

You glance over to Anrir whose expression does seem a bit…not surprised but maybe mildly annoyed. It's probably not the first time he's had to deal with Scouts not wanting to back down. But once he notices you looking he ambles over to where you're still being held by Khopesh. 

Hm.. time to switch tactics. The boys are listening- but still too angry to truly back down. Time to redirect their energy and focus on something more productive and less likely to cause property damage.

“It is good to see you awake and aware.” Anrir states smoothly, while Hura and Cedric work to de-escalate. “Seems you've had quite the day…two days rather. Would you mind to elaborate?”

Khopesh shifts his hold on you a bit. “They cannot speak at the moment. Their throat is injured.”

Anrir turns to you and you nod to confirm. “I see…I was hoping to get your recount of recent events.”

“GET FUCKED YOU MANGY FUCKING DOGS!” “CLAUDE LANGUAGE!” “IT IS TRUE THOUGH!” “You all need to Step Back.”

“...And I was hoping as the ‘injured party’ you could help call off the Scouts. They seem rather consumed by bloodlust at the moment.” Anrir says dryly. “I would prefer to avoid more property damage if possible.” He sighs heavily, knowing he'll need to help pull the Scouts back to make that happen. 

“...” Khopesh notices your expression shift to one of deeper thought. 

If you can focus your power into a muscle to increase your strength, maybe you can focus it into other areas of your body. 

You take a deep inhale, and focus. You pull on that thread of your power, and instead of moving it through your arm and shoulder, you migrate it up to your throat. 

There is a feeling of warmth, and…you feel the twinging pain in your vocal cords alleviate. 

Just a little, you'd used a great deal of power when you were throwing plates so you only had so much to work with now. But it was enough. 

“B-boys…please, Stop.” You manage to get the raspy words out, your voice is still wrecked but you can talk…just not very loudly. 

“EVERYONE BE SILENT!!!”

Khopesh snarls in a voice that actually startles you and brings all attention to him. 

Everyone goes quiet and turns towards Khopesh, even Alegret and his squad stop shouting and look over towards the yelling Night Lord.

But Khopesh continues.

“Lullaby has something they must say. It PHYSICALLY hurts them to do so, so you BETTER LISTEN OR I WILL RIP YOUR EARS OFF FOR YOUR IMPUDENCE!”

…Wow. You feel both frightened and…yeah not the time to think about That feeling let's get this taken care of.

“Boys…cough cough!” Yeah Khopesh was right about the physically hurting part. “Please don't do this. I…appreciate you wanting…to help and do right by me…”

“But getting yourselves court martialled…won't help. We need to let the Apothecaries handle this one.” You explain, then your expression shifts as you regard the space wolves still huddled in a defensive ring at the remains of their table. 

“As for you all…I don't know why, you did what you did. I don't know why you saw someone who was already hurting and decided to hurt them more…but it doesn't matter that I don't know.”

“It will matter to Ash'val or Melinthe or whoever handles the punishment for you bastards.” You sneer, as best you can in your voice then turn back to the Primaris.

“These mangy brats aren't worth the disciplinary action ya'll might face. So…please?” 

A pause follows your request, and you hold your breath. 

The first one to move is Claude, but he sighs and nods, finally stepping back. But not before growling under his breath at the wolves. “You're Lucky Lullaby has a point.” He huffs, before returning to you and Khopesh. 

Olly follows similarly, grumbling under his breath. “You get off easy this time. But try something like this again, and you will be recalibrated.” He promises darkly. 

“That is if," Nanael posits, walking back past the wolves with fine posture. “I don't get a hold of you First. Keep yourselves in line next time.” Then he rejoins your group.

Jophiel's wings finally seem to relax a bit and he follows Nanael, though the glare on his face could make a Khornate Berserker take pause. 

Ramiel also doesn't say a word more. He simply follows Jophiel while keeping unflinching eye contact on the wolves. 

Kerubuel hisses one more threat under his breath. “You're going to pay for that half-breed comment.” Then stalks back to the door. 

Thressl chuckles. “I'd sleep with one eye open lads…Keru doesn't do idle threats.” He follows his cat like brother leaving only Cedric, Hura and Anrir near the wolves. 

“That means you too Cedric.” Hura states which causes the young apothecary to become confused. 

“Will I not be aiding you and Anrir with these…individuals?” Cedric asks, momentarily worried he'd done something to displease his mentor. 

Hura chuckles. “No no my dear boy. The past two days have clearly weighed on you.” He clarifies. “I've seen ten thousand young apothecaries ignore their burnout. And I can tell that is what you're doing now.” He says firmly. “I want you and your brothers and little Lullaby to take some time to relax. Perhaps you could finish your picnic?”

Cedric perks up, sometimes it still shakes him that Older Brothers can actually care about him and his fellows. And yesterday was supposed to be a mental reset and socialization day…it was supposed to be. “That is very kind of you, Apothecary Hura. Thank You.”

“I think it would be better for the Scouts and Lullaby to stay on base for now.” Anrir interjects. “Given the recent…excitement, I think a trip to the Soothing rooms would do Wonders for everyone's mental state.”

You tilt your head curiously. “What's a Soothing room? -cough cough” You ask, followed by more coughs. 

Khopesh coos, with a “Hush, you must rest your voice my sweet one.” And nuzzles you again. It is a strange feeling as he finds your raspy voice both cute and troubling. 

Cute in that you're trying your best to communicate while injured, so your earnestness makes him melt. But also you're injured and every word reminds him how you've been hurt today and the more he thinks about that the harder it will be to not go rip out those teeth. 

“But to answer your question they are well…decompression rooms of a sort. They have a number of items and features to help groups of Battle Brothers engage in mutual relaxation, and preening.” Khopesh explains. 

Oh, that sounds interesting. “Like a spa room?” You clarify, then your stomach growls. “And uh…is there food in them?”

Anrir smiles at your sheepish question. “There are light snacks, but food is not restricted from being brought in should you want to order something more.”

You feel yourself flush with relief. A spa day with food sounds Amazing after the day you'd had. 

Plus as much as you loved Khopesh, you didn't want to go back to the nest right now. It still felt too dark, even if being with him would make it easier. And…maybe it was silly, but you also didn't want the Primaris boys out of your sight for a while. 

“Let us be on our way.” Khopesh purrs, “We'll make a quick stop at the nest and get you some fresh clothes. Then I'll spend all day Pampering you appropriately.” 

You smile, “Not if I pamper you first.” You shoot back, “I hope the rooms have face masks, and hair stuff. Hey have any of you tried exfoliating face masks before, they feel Amazing…”

The dialog trails off as Anrir fondly watches you, and what is effectively a retinue of Scouts make their way out of the still Very messy cafeteria. 

Now…back to business. The ancient Night Lord turns to the Naughty little Puppies who incited the mess in the first place. “Now that that is settled. I believe the Best course of action would be setting you puppies to work cleaning up the mess you've made. Is that not a fair course of action Apothecary Hura?”

Hura hums cheerfully. “Indeed, I say that is a fine place to start. Followed by a proper report of this incident to their commanding officer, and the Loyalist offices in General.”

“Hold on now! The human's the one who actually did something violent!” Algeret protests. “They threw plates! It was a complete overreaction!”

It would almost be cute if Anrir wasn't already irritated about his current project being jeopardized. He feels a nerve in his head twitch at this…display of disobedience. He understands a bit better why the boys were getting… close to violence with these idiots.

“Not to mention! Y-you haven't got a shred of proof that it Wasn't an accident! And there's a clear conflict of interest since that little bitch is shaggin one of your men!” Oh now That comment made Anrir more testy, not that he let it show. “You've got no right to hold us here!”

“Oh but I think they have every right.” A familiar voice calls out dryly.

Anrir and Hura turn their attention to the new voice who enters the room. They both recognize it though. 

“Apothecary Zariel…what a pleasant surprise.” Anrir greets the ‘Ultramarine’ politely. 

The ‘Ultramarine’ gives a polite nod in response. “I happened to be on survey duty today, and you'll never guess what I saw.” He grins darkly. 

“The security cameras showed me a very interesting event. A group of Space Marines sitting at a table, only to toss a pint of…some substance on a human sitting alone at a neighboring table. Followed by what appears to be laughter, before the human retaliated by throwing a plate. The rest is well…” Zariel trails off as he glances around the room. “Fairly obvious.”

“Make no mistake, the human will be informed that their actions in response were not ideal, but You are indeed guilty of inciting the incident in the first place. No matter how much you whimper otherwise.” Zariel lets a Little bit of a Hydra sneer come into his voice. Just a tad. 

“The files have already been reported to Captain Ash'val as well as Captain Horlux of the Black Legion. Further discipline will come from them, but for now.” Zariel's look becomes very intense very fast and he strides over to a nearby janitor closet, before yanking it open. 

“Start Cleaning, Now.” Zariel orders, his tone brooking no argument, and obedience was to happen sharpish.

As soon as he saw drinks dumped on the human he started sending messages to people to help de-escalate the situation, especially since the human started throwing plates at the Scouts. One of his squad mates took over camera monitoring duty as he raced over to the cafeteria to see what he could do to stop the situation. His brother’s warning about the Primaris and their understandable ire had him moving faster.

The Space Wolves grab the items inside and begin cleaning without another peep. 

Anrir is impressed. And Hura voices the same feeling. “My my Zariel, I didn't know you had it in you.”

Zariel smiles. “I guess you could say there are many things you don't know about me.” He settles in next to his fellow Apothecaries to watch the Space Wolves work out their first part of their punishment. 

Algeret and his fellow space wolves sulk As they clean up the room. Their Scout Sargent, a very very busy Thousand Sons Psyker who's teaching Almost A dozen psykers of various levels of training across the Eras comes by quickly, once he's gotten the message. He looks a little frazzled as he heads towards the Old Apothecaries, “I heard there was an Incident with one of my… Oh, not you boys again.”

He deflates a little when he sees its that band of Space Wolf pups who barely listen to him and make snide comments about “how dare a witch think he can discipline us.” More Than once. While he might seem A bit soft On them part of his problem is this group of Scouts Don’t listen to him well. 

“Having troubles with these Pups?” Zariel asks, noticing the look in the younger Astarte's eyes.

“Is it that obvious?” He responds dryly, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Anrir raises an eyebrow, but in truth he is sympathetic, he remembers how difficult it was to find his footing in his role as Father to his Night Lords. And having to balance his Apothecary Duties with care and discipline for his sons. 

The much younger Thousand Son is clearly hitting the same walls he had. Not to worry though. “If you would like I can give you some advice for instilling…more acceptable behavior.”

The Thousand Son Marine glances up. “I…cannot say I am opposed to the idea…” He hums, glancing back at the wolves. “I worry I have been too soft. Too forgiving. Too distracted. Between my psychery training assignments, and them. I am at my wit's end.”

Anrir smiles. “Worry not, young cousin. I will Gladly teach you how to take this in hand.”

The Thousand Son smiles in relief, not noticing how the wolves feel dread creeping over their guts. 

“I would be honored to listen to your words and get help with such things, elder cousin,” the Thousand Sons Scout Sargent replies politely as he tries to smooth over the ruffled feathers caused by one of his Scout squads- as well as get some more training. He starts to discuss punishment, discipline and what could be done as restitution for what the squad had done. 

What the fuck had they gotten themselves into? 

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Tell Me

Past =-= Next

Author's note: Karlsor's next part in Husbandry

Summary: Since he's Chaos Aligned (he'd like to argue that's grox-shit) and Not Very Chaos Twisted/mutated, he gets the dubious pleasure of being in Public Relations. (Since when do they have/need Public relations?!) Karlsor would like a refund. This is a shitty duty shift and he hates it a lot.

Warnings: Swearing. Let me know if I need to add anything.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams

Tagged continued: @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog

After following after the totally-not-scary Death Guard Apothecary Hura, and getting more explanations from his fellow Night Lords about Everything. And how Hura wasn't blowing smoke up his ass, that they really are on Ancient Terra, the information starts to sink in.

Much to his dismay, he has to be checked over by an Apothecary, and isn't it oh so convenient that Hura is right there to assess his health and what he might need. He begrudgingly allows the smug fucker to tend to him. He's given a relatively clean bill of health, which is fan-fucking-tastic.

He's sent off to the training salles to see what he's good at and other sorts of boring as testing to see where he'd fit in with the others on base for duty shifts and what not. New Postings, especially ones where your file isn't there for the Command to read, or has your current Command with you is such a pain in the fucking ass.

Some of these Chaos Fuckers are really fucking ugly to look at. And sometimes staring at some of the truly twisted one's hurts is brain, and he does his best not to look at them too much. To his greatest displeasure, he's supposedly going to be one of the more "front facing" of the Chaos Astartes in this base.

When he demanded why he had to do such an Ultramarine Fucker Job, it was said that since he lacked Chaos Mutations, among other things. He pointed out sourly that he's a fucking Night Lord and he's not an Officer, nor does he particularly care about being nicey-nice. He's not trained for it and he doesn't want to do such a shitty as job.

He Challenges the fuckers and loses. So, he has to do the shitty ass grox-shit ultramarine job of "public relations". Throne above! It makes his skin break out into hives as he scowls and stomps after the other poor bastards that were suckered into this job. He doesn't care to listen to what the Ultramarines, and other uppity fuckers say about some thing or other.

God, he hates briefing meetings. They drone on, and on, and on. Or they got interesting when Father went bug-fuck nuts and started killing people. Or one of the High Raptor Lords got stabby and then everyone was every man for themselves and trying Not To Die from The Command going bug-fuck nuts.

He rubs his face and groans a little. He's got the Curse of the Eighth quite strongly. Psyker... and trained at that. With wretched Future Sight which only ever showed him the most miserable and fucked up shit that made sleeping so hard. The Ultramarines are droning on and on and fucking on. He didn't mean to close his eyes, but he had, he's listening, but the power point presentation with the bright fucking lights is hurting his dark-adapted eyes something fierce.

He's got a fucking migraine that makes light feel like poisons and acid that drip into his eyes and across his skin. Sinking in like fire burning a corpse. He punches the asshole that jabs his side as he hisses at his fellow 'chaos' astartes that he's not asleep, he's listening to the fucker talk about some-random-grox shit that he doesn't particularly care about.

If it was truly important his Sight would be screeching at him about the danger levels. He does like that his Sight has gone mostly quiet and still. He's been able to sleep a lot better... sort of. He doesn't trust any of the fuckers in the base worth a damn, but even with how limited sleep an Astartes need, they do still need sleep.

He'd never thought he'd have to do public relations because 1) He's a fucking Night Lord. 2) He's 'pretty'. Which makes him cackle. No, he's no Blood Angel or Emperor's child. He's a survivor of Nostramo, and he's got the looks to prove it. Sickly pale skin, night dark eyes, and greasy-looking black hair that he keeps short. Also, he's got scars from previous battles that go all over his body. A few on his face, scratching up his features to make him even scarier to most base lines.

And yet, despite all that and the fact that he's a trained Psyker of the Eighth legion (which means, he knows that they think he's bug-fuck nuts) he's to be one of the front facing dip shits because he needs less warp fuckery to make it so he's more Normal and Shinier compared to others in the base... Given what he's seen of them, he can't argue as much after he sees just how twisted or 'blessed' some of those nightmare-inducing shit heads are. He still tries to argue and bitch his way out of the shit duty shift. Not that the fuckers listen to him.

He remembers hearing of one of his fellow fuckers in the Eighth legion being tortured by getting stuck in a room with bright lights constantly. For days. Throne, that sounds like a really shitty way to torture someone, especially since it didn’t cause any, or much suffering for anyone else. His hands clench into fists and then he relaxes them a bit. He wishes he could put his helmet back on as that would help filter out the light. But nooo he had to show ‘trust’ or whatever fucking grox shit the others had said… Also because he was one of the few ass holes in the Chaos Base that could take of his helmet… and all of his armor.

He wonders what sort of fucked up shit happened that being fused to ones armor did. Sounded… Horrifying, yet also comforting? Armor is a part of you. It protects the squishy bits and is almost like a second skin. He cracks open one of his eyes a sliver and notices when some base line humans show up and start chittering at them and he mentally groans about how this meeting keeps continuing on until fucking eternity. The human pauses as the Ultramarine translate what they says. Fucking perfect, until the little human stops their speech, which is going to make this at least twice as long because translation makes things so much fucking slower.

One of the other humans approaches him, which has him turn and squint down at them, and give a razor sharp grin filled with teeth as he flexes his hands. The talk at him in that same language the other human was speaking and had slowly pulled out something in a box. Which has him growling a little at them. They freeze in their movements and the eyes of all of his cousins are on him as the human unfreezes with an insulting swiftness as they open the box and he sees astartes sized strange looking google things. They were tinted, they gestured at them and then up at him.

He scowls at the room and back down at the human, slowly grabbing the goggles he puts them on and tries not to collapse into a pile of relief. Almost wanting to cry at how much better he feels now that the dreaded, hateful, cruel light is now mostly blocked because of these tinted goggles. Humans calls it “Sun Goggles.”

“Thank you,” He says to them, he means it to. He is not going to give these back and will kill someone to keep them. Multiple even.

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

What do I know about you? - Part 4

Previous Chapter Here!

Next Chapter (Under Construction): Here!

Where it all started! HERE!

Summary: Lullaby finds some common ground with the marine serving as Khopesh’s eyes and ears, and a slightly more positive perspective. Meanwhile Khopesh is facing very Un-Astarte like feelings and does Not enjoy it.

Tags: @felinisnoctis @barn-anon @kit-williams @sleepyfan-blog @bleedingichorhearts @egrets-not-regrets @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan @passionofthesith @bispecsual

Authors Notes: Another collaboration with @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan and characters from @kit-williams and @sleepyfan-blog! If I've used one of your boys and forgot to mention it please tell me.

As the familiar sight of his neighborhood and specifically his Lullaby's home comes into view Khopesh feels…uneasy. 

There's no active danger. No charging enemy force or xenos threat, the landscape is as peaceful as he'd left it. 

So why does he feel like he needs to burst from his armor and Run with every step. His insides feel jumbled and conflicted and his hearts are racing. 

Get inside, get the items, get back to Lullaby. He repeats the mantra in his head over and over. Using it to stay focused. 

He's so focused on getting Into Lullaby's house and getting this Over with he nearly jumps when movement over to his left catches his attention.

“Khopesh? Is that you?” A salt and pepper head of hair popping up from behind one of the vehicles is what had triggered his reaction. Even if he'd never met this human personally he knows instantly who he is.

Lullaby takes a great deal after their father. The older man notices him and heads over to the Nightlord.

“Ah- there you are Khopesh,” Lullaby’s father says, looking him over. “I’m just heading out to see Lullaby.” He explains. 

Khopesh doesn't know how to respond. His body is still thrumming, and he really is Not in any mood for small talk. In fact talking feels like it would exhaust him even more than he already is. 

But Lullaby's father continues. He...Just…Keeps…T a l k i n g!

“They mentioned you'd be swinging by to grab a few things. I've got them packed up here so you wouldn't have to dig for em.” The man says gesturing to a box he has on his car. “Said they wanted their rabbit, their blanket and-”

(!) Something suddenly snapped in the Nightlord. (A small snap though, he wasn't going to harm his Lullaby's father.) “I Am Well Aware of what my Lullaby requested.” He cut the older human off with a sharp hand wave. “AND I would have been more than Capable of Digging, these items out.” Khopesh continued with a mild growl in his voice. 

“Your interference was unneeded, I will take it from here-” The Nightlord attempted to brush past the human male.

“What did you just say to me?”

Khopesh perked up at the shift in the man's tone. It had been awkward but friendly at first, now it sounded…much less so. 

Fine. “I said your Interference was unneeded.” Khopesh replied with a bitter edge to his voice. “I will be gathering and giving these items to My Partner. Your involvement otherwise would only be A Hindrance.”

A new expression settled over the human man's face, and Khopesh felt a strange new emotion twist inside, competing with his pent up frustration. 

It almost felt like…guilt. Maybe because that was the specific look Lullaby had given him when they'd told him to back off trying to prove something with the spicy ramen. 

Curze's sake they really Did look very much alike. Nature vs nurture who can say?

Khopesh was broken from his train of thought when the father before him spoke up. “Listen, you might be my child's ‘partner’ but that's just it. They were my child first young man!” Oh damn he'd seen this before, his Vada looked a lot like this when he got protective. And more guilt filled his gut with each passing word. “And I know when my child is lying to me.” He affirmed. “So don’t bullshit me! What’s going on with them?”

Khopesh pulls himself together for a moment from the disbelief. Is Lullaby's whole family so bizarrely fearless??

He pulls on his Nightlord intimidation and looms as he frowns down at the older baseline human. Most tend to be nervous around Space Marines- and a lot are openly fearful of Night Lords.

But apparently not in this Family??? The old man (who isn't quite as old as his Vada) squares his shoulders and meets Khopesh's gaze head on. He’s surprised that Lullaby’s father isn’t backing down. 

“I can do this All Day.” He huffs, crossing his arms. “So you might as well tell me sooner, rather than later.”

Caught out, flat footed, utterly exhausted and looking into the stone set gaze of a man who reminds him far too much of both his Vada and His Lullaby. 

Because he's Lullaby's vada, of course he reminds you of both. An inner voice replies.

And that's when Khopesh realizes… he…he actually Does want to tell him. I mean…he's literally half of what Created his Lullaby, raised his Lullaby, helped make them the person that Khopesh had grown to…care for so much. 

However, Khopesh knows that he can’t directly tell the man what is going on.

Partly because the man won’t understand what’s happening to them, and another because even He doesn't fully understand what's happening to them. 

Which is terrifying. 

He struggles for a moment before saying, “Lullaby is under the Care of Apothecary Hura, so they are safe.” His voice is more dampened, neutral, trying to keep a leash on just how unhappy he is about the situation, and the fact that his Father Anrir and Hura had basically stolen Lullaby from him. 

The human man notices the subtle souring of his expression, and the way the younger man’s hands clench and unclench.

Lullaby’s father arches an eyebrow at the young Nightlord , “Is there…. Anything about their situation that has worsened?” That is one of the most pressing concerns that he has.

“...” Khopesh is uncertain as to how to answer that question. There is so much that he doesn’t know and its starting to really bother him.

He’s… he feels so lost at this moment, and Khopesh takes in a slow deep breath as he pulls on his Bond- the urge, the need to check on his Vada and Muti. Safe- alive, happy, healthy. That soothes something deep in his hearts.

“You're just as much in the dark as we are I guess.” Khopesh turns to the man, and he sees a similar expression of worry. 

“You know…when that one first had their…fall.” He begins, swallowing as he seems to be mulling over the words. “It was the Worst feeling I had ever known. And I always wondered…if I'd been there. Or maybe if I'd stayed home that day. Maybe…maybe it wouldn't have happened.”

Khopesh listens. In all this happening and stress, he'd actually forgotten the Golden Bastard was a factor. The factor really. 

He'd kill him. Skin him. Force feed him his own intestines for this- 

“It was hard…going back to work. Not being able to help as much with their recovery. Of course I'll never be able to thank the Astarte therapists and doctors enough. And especially the ones who helped them that day they…They saved my b-bear…” The Baseline begins to choke up a bit. 

“But…as odd as it sounds. Having you around it…put my mind at ease.”

Khopesh perked up at that, but he was confused. 

“Now don't get me wrong when you First showed up I…won't deny I was pretty uncertain. But then you know what happened?” The man asks Khopesh with a slight mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Lullaby came home, raving about how you'd spooked them. At first they were annoyed. But the more they talked, I could tell they…didn't really mind you popping in from time to time.”

“Talking about how they sassed you. Or managed to not jump at your latest prank. Or even how Cute you looked helping Nancy and Gary or chasing the chickens or trying to handle the feed scoops.”

Khopesh snorted, Astartes shouldn't appreciate being called cute but…it was from his Lullaby so it was Different!

“And…knowing that you were always so close. Basically another set of eyes and one that was more a fixture in the neighborhood, it…helped me. Helped all of us feel…just a little bit safer. That if something bad, like another…fall, were to happen again. My bear bear wouldn't be left without help.” The man finishes, putting a hand on the Night Lords arm. “Thank you for that. Truly. I'm glad you came here and decided to stay.”

Khopesh feels his insides churn again. This time with a mix of sadness, guilt and warmth. Why'd he have to be such a fuckin prick before!? Lullaby's vada didn't deserve that! He decides to put those feelings aside so he can respond. “Thank you…I wish I could…do more.”

“You've done a lot. I know my Bear appreciates you.”

He's…he’s so fucking glad to hear that but F-fuck! Those fucking squirming feelings in his insides are flaring up again. He feels like he's about to…

No. No he can't do that here! He won't!

(!) Then he feels it. Another pull on his bond, a more insistent one this time. His head immediately swivels to his house. 

The Baseline human notes his attention shift. “What is it?”

“My Vada and Muti…I need to go check on them.” He states knowing this is undeniable. “But…Lullaby needs their comfort items I can't -!” He feels a bit like he's about to tear his hair out. 

“Go.” Khopesh turns to Lullaby's vada. The human Baseline encourages him. “I'll tell Bear you needed to check on your family. And you'll bring the box with you once you're done.” He states picking up the box of items from his car hood so he can hand them to Khopesh. “They'll understand.”

Khopesh looks at the box, then at Lullaby's vada. He's still clearly worried, but he's putting on a warm brave face. 

Yes, Lullaby wouldn't fault him for needing to take a family detour but…

Khopesh gently pushes the box back into Lullaby's vada's arms. 

They don't Need Him to be the one to deliver these items. “They should get these items as soon as possible.” Khopesh explains to remove the baselines confusion. “Go to them. Tell them I will be there as soon as I can and…Comfort them…while I cannot.”

Lullaby's Vada adjusts his hold on the box and smiles. “Alright. I will. My wife will be there soon too.”

The human man loads the box into his car and starts on his way down the road as Khopesh proceeds in the opposite direction. 

He picks up speed and vaults towards the source of his bond. And while he's still uncertain, he appreciates his Lullaby won't be alone for much longer. 

_____________________

Claude had sent the request to Anrir and Hura that he be able to speak with Lullaby, in part because access to them had become restricted due to the unknown and unrecorded nature of their bond and their potential for being a Psyker- one of the first recorded that they have heard of.

At least they are letting you see them.

The Medical-talk is confusing- see if Cedric understands their ramblings when you talk to him next time.

Hope you don’t fuck things up for Khopesh and Lullaby further.

Claude is allowed to visit them for a bit, and he’s going to be allowed to talk to them, just keep at least a five pace distance between himself and them. For the next test, he’s not allowed to touch them, for now to see if there is anything that happens or doesn’t happen. 

Quick! Say something nice.

At least Lullaby understands what it’s like to be a Cursed Wretch.

Like you are. A Cursed, wretched half broken tool.

Even the absence of something happens could give them new data, or at least another route to take. Or so Claude heard the older space marine mutter- him and Hura talking hypotheticals that make his head hurt.

Claude knocks on the door and hears Lullaby’s voice that bid him to enter, “Hello Lullaby,”

They look so tired.

Your little zap has caused SO much trouble!

What a mess you helped make!

He tries not to be nervous, and rubs his hands against his pants and looks over at them.

“Ah so…” You pose somewhat awkwardly. “You feel anything different happening?”

Claude shakes his head. “No…but I um…”

Your eyebrow raises curiously at the way Claude seems to be fumbling to get his words out. 

“I just…I wanted to let you know, that I know what it’s like to be cursed.” Claude means that very sympathetically. 

Uh…what? “What do you mean?” You ask, confused, frowning across the room at Claude a little.

Claude reminds you of the words you’d spoken earlier, and his earnest expression as he rubs his chest as he explains how he understands what it’s like to feel so wretched, so cursed, how, “And you feel like everything you touch gets corrupted or perverted. Or like you are a plague upon others- only meant to cause them harm.”

Hopefully Anrir and Hura will remember their limits as a baseline human.

I hope that they can learn to control their powers.

If A psyker cann’t control their powers. Their only use is to die.

You have a sudden realization, like a crashing wave, as you hear some of the words, thoughts and feelings that you'd had, reflected back at them from Claude. 

And however right it had felt in the moment to voice those negative thoughts they'd clearly sunk deeper into more than just yourself. 

“I…don't think it's healthy to be talking about yourself that way.” You say. 

Of course its not healthy.

You aren’t the most stable of Astartes.

I wonder how worried they’d be if they knew about the voices in your head.

Claude's brow furrows in confusion. “I don't understand.”

“Look, I know what I said earlier.” You explain shifting to fully face the young space marine. “I was angry and frustrated and…scared outta my mind that something I don't fully understand could end up hurting the people around me.”

“And while it's fine to be cautious, and to self-reflect, I went too far, letting my meanest inner voice speak. But you know what I'm starting to realize?”

Don’t listen to them!

They’re just a baseline- what do they know about the burdens of Astartes?

“What?” Claude asks tilting his head a little curious to what you are going to say next.

“That inner voice is full of horseshit.” You reply, cheekily. “And if your mean inner voice is telling you Anything like what mine tells me, I'd say it's pretty full of horse shit too.”

Claude doesn't seem fully convinced. “I'm not sure about that…”

You had a feeling Claude's…perspective on this had more history than just your recent outburst. 

Sure- they may have a potentially parasitic bond. 

At least it’s no where near as deadly as psykery can be.

They don’t understand just how dangerous the warp touched are. Not yet at least.

Guess that meant you had more threads to snip than just your own. 

“You remember what Anrir said, right? After I called myself a parasite?” You prompted. “It's a phrase I've heard before, and I stand by it. The most important part of Any tool is how it's used.”

“You, and I have Tools, that others don't. And sure we Could do bad things. A brick can smash a window, but that same brick can also help build a house.” You continue. “And if I'm going to be a parasite, then you better damn Bet that I'm gonna be a useful parasite. A parasite that helps.” You declare.

Claude actually cracks a smile. “Parasites can indeed be important to ecosystems.”

So long as they are not overeager.

So long as the parasites don’t take over the ecosystem.

“And so can your so-called ‘curses’.” You insist. “Without your powers we'd still be in the dark about mine.”

Claude seems surprised, before he mumbles a bit. “If I didn't have psychery you wouldn't be stuck here…”

“Maybe, but that also means I could've accidentally harmed Khopesh's bond without knowing, or zapped someone else who…would not have reacted as well to what's going on with me.” You counter. “As scary as this all is, I'm glad I'm in a place where people can help me. I wouldn't have that without your zap.”

Someone far worse and cruel could have zapped them.

Like a Chaos Astartes. That would have been so much worse.

The teal in Claude's eyes flares up for a moment. “Ah…I guess that is true.”

“I mean it Claude. I…I'm very grateful that you're helping me. And I'm glad You helped me discover this. Rather than something more…traumatic happening.”

Now you see a slight blush appear on the space marine's face. “Ah…you're welcome? I still feel a little bad though…for all This, happening…”

You grin wryly. “Tell you what? You can make it up to me.” 

Here comes the other shoe.

The catch twenty two, or so others on Ancient Terra call it.

I wonder what they want?

Claude perks up. “What is it? What can I do to help?”

“I'm only gonna ask one thing. And so I'm not a hypocrite, I'll agree to it as well.” You say. “I don't want you calling yourself cursed, or a blight, or Any of that negative self talk around your powers. And as long as you do. I'll do the same. Deal?”

Claude flushes, his nose and ears and cheeks going bright pink, “I…I will try not to say that about myself, so long as you do, Lullaby.”

You nod approvingly. “Good. Then it's settled. By the way, is the touch timer up?” You ask, genuinely curious but also for another reason. 

Claude thinks to himself for a moment. “I think it has been long enough.”

You shrugged. “Good.” You hopped off the hospital bed, and strode towards Claude. Before the Primaris could question your actions you opened up your arms, lifting them. “You okay with a hug or should I pretend I meant to just stretch my arms…save us the awkwardness?”

Well Claude hadn't been expecting that but…hugs Were nice. Plus if it made Lullaby more comfortable with their situation it would fall under the category of caring for them while Khopesh was unable. 

“I…am amenable to that.” Claude replied, he leaned down. 

Claude, though firmly introverted, had received Some physical affection in his troubled lifetime. Mostly as an aspirant from his close battle brothers. And ironically with his Primaris brother's busy schedules these days he received quite a bit from Khopesh and the other Night Lords. 

Anrir was a good shoulder to lean on. Karlsor would allow it if he was psychery drained though he pretended not to enjoy it. Khopesh naturally enjoyed spooking him with a sudden grab out of nowhere, sometimes lifting him up for a moment. Which was annoying, but the embrace itself wasn't Terrible and the hair ruffling that followed was…a bit childish but not unwelcome. Ghosk would also hair ruffle from time to time. 

But admittedly…being hugged by a Baseline was Far different. He thought, as Lullaby's much smaller body fit into his. And he was careful not to exert too much force. 

For one they were Warm! Very Warm! Almost too much so. And despite picking up the scent of the sterile hospital environment there was a well set scent underneath that reminded him of soil baked under the sun and animals. 

He could always hear their heartbeat, but he also felt it now. And he felt them squeeze him firmly with their much weaker arms. It was a combination of soothing sensations Claude could easily see himself falling asleep to. 

No wonder Khopesh called them Lullaby. 

They pulled back after the firm but brief embrace. And naturally Claude allowed them. He did miss the warmth a bit. Maybe it was a Nightlord or Raven (or Teal) thing to run colder. He didn't notice large temperature differences with most other Astartes of those kinds. 

Knock knock knock 

The knock at the door behind you caused both of you to turn your heads. 

“Who is it?” You ask. 

“It's Apothecary Hura dear. May I come in? We've received your items and some guests are here to see you.” 

Your heart leaps into your throat. Is Khopesh back? Will you get to see him now? You feel excitement mixed with churning anxiety rocket up your body for a moment. 

But wait guest(s)? Plural? “Ah please come on in!” You say hurriedly and naturally the Death Guard on the other side opens the door. 

Instead of a 8 to 9ft tall pale ghoulishly handsome Nightlord…your heart leaps again to see two Very familiar faces standing beside Hura with a box. 

“MOM! DAD!” You bolt to your parents without thinking.

“Lullybird!” “Bear bear!” They respond almost in unison. Your dad holds out the box to you. 

“I ran into that ‘friend’ you'd sent to get these things.” He winks cheekily at you which causes you to blush. “He had to go check on Nancy and Gary, so he sent me on my way so you could have these sooner.”

“Your father told me, your ‘friend’ would also be along later, after he made sure Nancy and Gary were alright.” Your mother supplied. 

Oh…well, while you were disappointed you wouldn't be able to see Khopesh for a bit longer, you couldn't blame him for needing to check on his folks. 

I mean how could you? Right now you had your own parents in front of you (talking about knowing your special ‘friend’. Wait does that mean they know you and Khopesh are- You know what you're not gonna think about that right now.) and wanted to hug them so tight and Never let go. Speaking of which…

You take the box properly but quickly set it aside, before snagging both your parents into an embrace, one arm each. “I'm…I'm so happy to see you both you have N-no Idea!” You felt like crying. You felt like laughing. But you settled on sniffling a bit and hugging your loved ones close. 

“Oh Lullybird.” Your mother cooed, wrapping her own arms around you, returning your firm embrace. 

“We're here now Bear,” You father reassured, stroking your back like he'd done when he soothed you as a baby. 

Meanwhile Claude and Hura watch the tender scene. Hura feels both content satisfaction and a bit of longing. He could imagine a similar scene playing out with his Mouse if they could ever produce offspring…unlikely as that is to be possible with his chaos genes. 

Claude also feels happy. Glad to see Lullaby looking happier than they had been. (And also secretly a Little jealous that he'd not had a normal family experience.)

You do pull back eventually and ask, “How much have Hura and Anrir filled you in?”

Your mother and father exchange a look. “Apothecary Hura explained the basics once we were out of the main areas. Something about a mutated bond?” Your mother replies. 

You nodded. “Yeah…something's changed about it. The Astartes here want to make sure the change isn't harmful.” You add, then turn back towards Claude. “Claude here's the one who found out about it. Without him it might've gone on and caused problems later.” You say, gesturing to the Primaris in the room behind you. 

Claude feels an embarrassed blush creep up his face at being put on the spot. “Ah it was r-really more of an accident.”

Lullaby's mother approaches him, “Accident or not you helped our baby. Thank you so…So much young man.” She gestures for him to lower his face and she gives him a quick motherly smooch on the cheek. 

Lullaby's father approaches next. “My wife is correct. You've done us a great service son. You have no idea how much we owe you.” The gentleman holds out his hand and though Claude is still surprised from the cheek kiss, he remembers this time to hold out his own hand. 

So it's still surprising when the older baseline pulls him (more like pulls himself towards Claude but still) into a quick one armed hug while also still doing the handshake and Holy Stars Lullaby's father runs even hotter than they do. 

His hand is starting to sweat, and he Is getting a bit overwhelmed but thankfully the contact is short. 

He now understands where Lullaby gets it from. But pushing that aside the family continues to talk. 

“So what comes next?”

“Apothecary Anrir and Hura are testing me…testing It rather. Seeing how it works.” You explain. “They haven't found anything super harmful about it…yet. What comes next depends on their best ideas on where to go.”

“Indeed.” An old regal voice agrees, you see Claude perk up out of your peripheral vision and You recognize it too. Anrir steps through the threshold, How had you not noticed him behind Hura?? 

He addresses your parents. “Greetings, I am Apothecary Anrir, of the Nightlords.”

Your parents react…a little less warmly to Anrir then they did to Claude. But they do respond Politely at least. “Ah hello.” “Hello sir.”

“Your dear child is correct. This…phenomenon is the first of its kind any of us have witnessed.” Anrir continues. “Their bond, went through the normal path of withering and desiccation after it was…rejected.” Anrir explained, and seemed to feel the discomfort slightly spike in the room when referring to your…bond breaking. “It was simply doing so at a much slower rate than normal, however, Now it has taken on a completely new form. And with new side effects.”

“What are the side effects?” Your mother asks. 

Anrir pauses, seemingly thinking over his next words. But rather than an explanation, he puts forth an offer. “I believe a demonstration would be most appropriate to explain the Nature of this mutation. If you would all follow me.”

Hura seems confused by Anrir's actions and stops the Nightlord. They have an exchange in Gothic. Hura seems upset for a moment, but after a few back and forth retorts he sighs…Heavily, and steps to the side. 

You stay where you are. “What do you mean a demonstration?” You pry, preferring not to be led by the nose. Even by someone who Is and Has been helping you. 

Anrir smiles. “You said you wanted to be a Useful Parasite did you not? A parasite that helps?” He presents your own words back at you. 

I mean are you really surprised the solitary room has surveillance? They'd have to be watching and listening for that to work but you still feel embarrassed. 

Anrir continues. “I believe an opportunity has presented itself so that we may see if that is possible. Of course your parents and Claude may accompany you, just not Inside the testing room.”

You feel even more in the lurch, but… “You think…I can help someone. Right now?” You ask, half incredulous, half hopeful. 

Anrir nods. “Indeed I do but of course…as a medical professional I can only present Options, I cannot Force you to undergo any tests.”

Your parents look to you for your reaction. You have a feeling with Anrir that line about force is just Slightly bullshit. But…you also Do want to help. You want to Understand. 

You want to be useful. 

You square your shoulders, and stride up to Anrir. “Show me how I can help.”

The Nightlord smiles in a way that you think is meant to be reassuring but comes off unsettling…or maybe that's your nerves distorting your view. 

“Excellent, now without further delay.” He responds, giving a slightly smug look towards Hura. “If you would all follow me.”

_____________________

Slam! The door to the house shook as Khopesh bolted inside, much like earlier. 

Though instead of delight and excitement he was filled with dread and anticipation.

He scanned his eyes around as if he was scoping a battle ground quickly; side door, living room, step over barking chihuahuas, kitchen, Muti shuffling through mail…

“MUTI!” Khopesh called out, a bit louder than he intended which caused his Muti to startle a bit. 

“Oh hey Baby what's-EEP!” The older southern woman didn't have time to finish her statement as Khopesh crossed the distance in a second. Quickly checking her for any injuries with eyes and hands like he would an ally in battle. 

But...Nothing, nothing was wrong. He came here for Nothing! Khopesh felt his hands come up and clench into his long dark hair. 

It wasn't nothing you felt your bond react. It could have waited till after you checked on Lullaby. Lullaby has Their vada and muti by now they don't Need you. Is Lullaby suddenly more important than your bond? You can love both! THEY'LL BE TAKEN AND IT’S ALL YOUR FAU-

“Baby?” Khopesh breaks from his spiraling, when his Muti puts a soft hand on his face. He realizes his long nails were digging into his scalp hard enough that it probably left some shallow cuts. 

He looks into his Muti's eyes. He sees her warmth, the love he'd been denied all his existence, finally willingly given which is what led him to stay in the first place. “What's wrong? You know you can tell me baby.”

After everything…the pain…the stress…the uncertainty…he couldn't hold it anymore. 

Khopesh breaks.

The proud, frightening, cocky, self assured shock trooper of the imperium collapses to his knees, wrapping his arms around the mortal woman's waist and Weeps. 

“Ooooh, com'ere sweetie,” Nancy cooed, still confused but easily switching into comfort mode. Her large adopted son was Clearly dealing with something he had no idea how to cope with. Which is somewhat concerning, given how capable her Khopesh is normally. But she'd weather it with him regardless. “Let it all out baby.” She gently strokes his hair to his back as Khopesh continues to sob. 

“There there, do you wanna talk about it?”

Khopesh sniffs and hiccups, shaking his head as he continues to cry into Nancy's shoulder. “I-I c-can't! I can't tell you!”

Before Nancy can ask why Khopesh continues. “Nothing is going the way it should be! Why is everything going wrong!”

“Can you…explain what's going wrong?” Nancy asks tentatively. 

Khopesh's head shakes again. “I…I can't tell you…everything in detail.”

“Then tell me what you can, my son,” Nancy says gently petting her son’s hair, holding him close to her as he sobs and breaks down.

And so Khopesh does; carefully omitting the full nature of the classified information. He tells his Muti about how Lullaby and him had Finally gotten together. 

“About time. I was worried I'd lose the bet.” His mother chuckled as his tremors and sobbing eased. 

He told her about how they'd spent the day and Night together (not in detail thank God), how they'd shared their first meal together, how everything felt so…So Good. 

And then how it all came crashing down. “Now they have to stay at the base. I cannot Touch them. I cannot Comfort them. I'm…” And that's when it hits, the full realization of the fear that's been eating him alive. “I'm terrified they'll be taken from me and I'll never see them Again!”

Just like psychers had been in his days serving the imperium. 

That bleak set of memories was interrupted by his muti gently brushing her fingers through his hair. He turned his gaze to the mortal woman who held so much of his heart. While another piece of it sat where he couldn't reach it. 

“Life is never just an easy ride down the hill. And that's especially true when you love somethin or someone a whole heck of a lot.” Nancy exposits gently. “But as long as you both take care of each other, you can weather any storm that comes,” Nancy says after listening to what he says.

Khopesh understands what his Muti is saying. He hopes she can give him more clarity on other things too. He wipes his face free of tears and asks, “How did you and Vada meet, Muti?”

Nancy smiles, as she recalls when she first met her husband, “Well I first met him when we were both at college.”

“I remember how fiery you were,” His Vada suddenly walks into the kitchen chiming in. He must have overheard their conversation and was letting them work through some of it before joining. “The sass you had!”

“Oh- like you didn’t give as good as you got, Mister!” Nancy retorts, a faux-stern look on her face.

“I remember, when we lived in separate apartments, on the same floor.” His Vada says, “And you started cooking your Pot Roast- god, everyone on the floor could smell how good it was. So I wiped up a batch of quick-biscuits and knocked on your door, a hot plate of biscuits in hand, and hope in my heart.”

“Ah- I remember that,” Nancy replied fondly, pressing a kiss to her husband’s face. “And we kept trading food. I remember that smoked pork you gave me half a pound of it.”

“And you turned it into hot bagel sandwiches and gave me the tupperware container back with the bagel sandwich,” His vada replies with a dreamy sigh, “Gods, I kept trying to get better at cooking to share with you, just to see how you’d turn it into something better and we’d share the food together.”

Khopesh marvels at the sweetness before him, but part of him is also confused. “Wait…so neither of you promised the other protection or shelter in exchange for company?”

Both his Vada and Muti give him a quite confused look. “Ah…no son. Can't say I ever did that.” Gary replies, scratching the back of his neck. “I Did give you my umbrella that one time you were running late for class I think. Whatever happened to it by the way?”

“Oooh ah…when the rain stopped I think I…accidentally left it inside one of the classrooms.” Nancy replied sheepishly. 

“Nanc!” Gary gasps with mock disbelief. 

“I wasn't used to carrying one around! Gar gar!”

Khopesh looks on the scene and feels a…bit better- that he hasn’t made any major missteps that would fuck up his chances with Lullaby. And he relaxes a little. He had listened to the stories that his parents had shared about their life together- and how they had built it together. It makes him feel… warm. Soft? In a way that he struggles to identify. It wasn’t a bad feeling though. Just- warm all over.

And he is firm in his conviction now. He wants to share that warmth with his Lullaby. Khopesh gives his Vada and Muti a hug, “I’m going to return later.”

“We’ll be here,” They both say giving him hugs, one pressing a kiss on each side of his face.

_____________________

Anrir, with a still hesitant looking Hura following after, moves smoothly along the hallway. Followed by you, your parents, and Claude. Claude looks at you with a concerned, and confused expression on his face as he follows after them, curious to see what the next test was, and he hadn’t been told he couldn’t watch. Not by the Apothecaries, nor by you.

Claude’s head snaps up and he shifts you and your parents behind him protectively, as he hears the sound of a thrashing, howling marine in agony. You clamber to see what's causing the noise and gasp when your peeking around Claude’s large form reveals a familiar marine beyond the glass of an operating room. 

He's even still dressed in the smart dark green uniform you'd seen him in not 24 hours ago. 

“Dear God,” Your mother mumbles in horror. “What on earth?” Your father says in a similar tone. 

“Pyrus?” You murmur confused, “but just hours ago, he was Fine!?”

“What’s wrong with him?” Claude asks in alarm.

Anrir turns to look at them, a neutral- yet expectant look on his face as he explains the situation, “Pyrus was struck by an Intense bond.”

“Oh no,” Claude murmurs with a wince, those bonds can drive a Brother or cousin mad if they aren’t careful.

“The human Rejected him,” Hura continues to say as he heads over to the window of the suffering Salamander, who keeps sobbing, and writhing in the bed. Trapped and blubbering in a mixture of High Gothic and Nocturna.

“This could kill him, if something isn’t done about it,” Claude says, teal and black eyes wide with concern. He doesn’t want his friend to suffer a horrific death. “Or something worse.”

“Normally,” Anrir says, “We would have to wait out and hope that the bond breaking isn't strong enough to strangle the life out of Pyrus- and bleed his soul into… the afterlife.”

“It is not the most common thing, normally the way an intense bond kills is the spiritual strangling causing the marine to act erratic and eventually injure themselves fatally. But sometimes the bond itself back firing is enough to kill.” Hura explains as he moves, giving you a less obstructed view. 

Even Pyrus's head and jaw is restrained, probably to keep him from biting his own tongue. The sight and thought makes you nauseous. 

“But…with the odd mutation You have my dear, You might be able to help Pyrus,” Anrir says looking towards you with a curious, expectant expression on his face, “Of course- it’s your choice on what you decide you want to do.”

You look at the suffering marine again, but your mind is already made, despite your parents unsure muttering. “It's worth a shot.” You say, simple but firm. Poor Pyrus- he’s clearly in a lot of pain, and you wanted a way to help. 

“Are you Sure Lullybird?” Your mother asks. Always the more overprotective of your two parents. 

You turn to her and give a small smile. “I want to understand this…part of me. And I want to help.” You nodded. 

“There will also be three Astartes in the room supervising; Myself, Apothecary Hura and Karlsor.”

You father nods. “Alright…but If you let my child get hurt…” 

Anrir isn't offended, he smiles as he replies. “I know Exactly what you would try to do to me. I would do the same.”

“Oh hohoho there will be no Try,” Your mother assures. “We Will, make it happen.”

Your smile turns wry. “I'd believe her if I were you, Doc.”

While you and Anrir discuss how the entry and application of your abilities will work, a message comes to Claude's vox. The young marine glances down.

“What is it?” Hura asks in Gothic.

Claude responds in the same, understanding the unspoken request. “It's Khopesh, he's just returned.”

“I’m going to speak with Khopesh,” Hura says still in Gothic as he leaves the room, he doesn’t approve of using a Baseline for something so potentially dangerous.

Besides, with so many unknowns with what they don’t know about what Lullaby can do, it worries him that this could go poorly. Hura finds Khopesh, who looked a little more steady when he’d last talked to the younger Space Marine.

“Khopesh,” He calls out, “I need to speak with you privately.”

“Of course, Hura,” Khopesh says. “What’s going on?”

After they get somewhere private Hura explains, “Lullaby is being led to a room with an Astarte who’s Intense Bond was recently Rejected.”

“You mean a dangerous Astarte,” Khopesh amends, he’s somewhat appalled that Hura is telling him this -that he’s allowing this. “What if the Astarte hurts them!?”

“I didn’t want to do this test,” Hura says, “But Anrir insisted that we ask Lullaby if they were willing to help or not.”

“And they wanted to help,” Khopesh says, slumping a little.

“Yes.” Hura replies.

“Which room is my Lullaby in?” Khopesh asks of Hura, a scowl on his face.

Hura pauses, but tells him which room Pyrus is in. He sent a message to Anrir- who sent a message to Cedric. Khopesh is close to the room, when Cedric blocks him, as Hura, Anrir, Karlsor and Lullaby have just entered the room with Pyrus. 

“Khopesh!” Your parents seem surprised to see the Nightlord suddenly appear. 

And to see him look so furious and determined.

“Wait,” Cedric calls out to Khopesh and body blocks him from the door, “the treatment has started- and it might not be a good idea for you to go into the room until Karlsor and Anrir or Hura say it’s safe for you to go into it.”

“It will not be safe for Any of you, (except my Lullaby's family and Claude), if you do not Let Me Through!” Khopesh snarls. “If Lullaby wants to do this, Fine. But I will not take being unable to help them lying down!”

“I'm under orders to not let Anyone else into the room. If I have to, I Will sedate you!” Cedric replies. “You're helping more being out Here as an extra line of defense.”

While Cedric deals with a very protective Nightlord, you (unaware of Khopesh's return) stare down at the thrashing Marine- he looks to be in a lot of pain, you…don’t know what to do. 

You turn to Anrir who is also having Karlsor prepare for a warp examination of what’s going on. 

“Do I just…touch him- Ah!” You ask them to recoil as another fit of thrashing occurs. 

Hura tries to stabilize the movements, while Anrir responds. “Just do Exactly what you've done before.” He says, he then puts a hand on your shoulder again. “And remember, We are With You.” 

Looking into those dark eyes you actually feel comforted. So you take a deep breath, square your shoulders, and step to the table again. You decide Pyrus's shoulder or arm would be a good option. Hand holding could get your fingers crushed, and the face could get them bitten off. 

Gently, as the downed marine huffs quick pained breaths with large tear tracks still marking his face, you lay your hands on Pyrus's huge bare forearm and try to get him to talk. 

“Woah, there big fella it's…it's okay. It's going to be okay. Woah now….” Okay you're talking to him like you would a horse, but he seems to be hearing you. 

Meanwhile Karlsor watches the way the mycelium tendrils start to curl onto Pyrus. Just like with Hura they beeline for the vines, and start to sap at the ragged edge of the broken Intense bond. Pyrus is still overwhelmed and in pain. He looks up at you and chokes out in the local language, “I… am sorry that you have to see me like this.”

You take a moment to respond. “You shouldn't feel ashamed of something that isn’t your fault.”

Pyrus responds, shaking his head a little, as tears fall down his face, “but it was though.”

“What do you mean?” You ask, trying to keep him talking but also legitimately curious. 

“I was too abrupt, too brash.” Pyrus replies, his voice breaking a little, as tears fall freely down his face, as he whispers in shame, “I chased my potential bond away, this pain must be my punishment.”

You didn't agree. “Being rejected…it hurts. But it does Not mean you were too bad…or even too Good. It just Is.” You object, shaking your head a little as you take in a deep breath and continue to speak, “I don't know why your bonded did what they did but…I know that it doesn't mean You are any lesser. And I Know for a fact no one deserves to go through this.”

As they speak these words, Pyrus seems to calm down, and the agonizing, soul deep pain that is tearing him apart slowly eases. The words that you have spoken, ring something strong and deep within both of you.

Karlsor watches as the strangling vines and thorns that were carving into Pyrus and having his soul bleed and suffocate were slowly shrinking and withering, releasing their grasp on Pyrus until they resemble a more normal broken bond.

As that happens, he sees that Lullaby's mutated bond in turn grows a little brighter with the addition of the power it just absorbed. 

You still can't see Any of this happening but you Do notice a sudden uptick in your energy; like getting a direct injection of caffeine. Are your hands trembling? You're pretty sure they're trembling.  

Anrir calls out, “Lullaby, please back away from Pyrus- so I can examine him.”

You nod and step back. You feel- really good. You'd been tired and kinda numb before, but now you feel like you can do almost anything! Anrir checks over and Pyrus tells him, “Your vitals are back to normal. How do you feel?”

Pyrus pauses and takes stock of himself and licks his lips and, “I still feel emotionally drained but no longer in agony.”

“That’s a lot better than you were before,” Anrir says pleased.

“Yes! That's amazing!” You cheer, pumping your fist like you just won a war! 

Anrir turns to look at them, eyeing them carefully and asks them, “How do you feel?”

“I feel…pretty fricken awesome! I mean!! I just helped save somebody's life! Also I feel like running, or dancing to music or just going outside and doing cartwheels on the lawn Also can somebody stop my hands from shaking, cause they're Really shaking-”, You take in a deep breath and closes their eyes as you take stock of yourself and say with a note surprise, “I also feel…good. Hopeful. I think what I'm feeling is Hopeful. That's good right?” You ask, mostly joking.

Anrir nods. “That is most certainly a Good thing.” You smile. 

Before the room can settle into full content, there's a knock on the door. Hura peaks out and a pleased expression appears on his face as he calls out, “Pyrus? You have a visitor.”

“Oh? Let them in,” Pyrus says as he shifts a little in the med bed, unfortunately, still tied down as he looks at the door to see who it was. His eyes widen as he recognizes the human who’s in the doorway looking painfully self conscious.

“Ah…hello,” They address those in the room they hadn't met including you. “My name is Saytr. I…called emergency services when Pyrus collapsed.”

Wait does that mean this human was. Oh…Oooooh…

Saytr turns more fully to Pyrus and addresses him. “I…wanted to say…I'm sorry. I got scared. When you first approached me for a-a Bond.”

Pyrus winces and looks down and away from them at that, he hadn’t meant to scare them like that. Satyr speaks up again, “I've been thinking over my decision. And- when I saw that you collapsed. You looked so- badly hurt. I…. I realized that I’d let my fear make the decision for me.”

Pyrus peers up at them, his ember red eyes sparkling with fragile hope and caution at the same time. Satyr comes into the room and paces a little bit as they take in a deep breath and says, “I … want to get to know you Pyrus… maybe just save what was essentially a marriage proposal for after we get to know each other, yeah?”

Pyrus gives them a big, bright smile and nods, “I can do that. I really do want to get to know you.”

Karlsor can’t help but groan a little as blood trickles down his nose and eyes. He’s got a massive fucking headache. As he’s been using Warp Sight for far too often. Also this sappy fucking bull shit is making him want to throw up.

Anrir turns to his fellow Night Lord, “Karlsor- look at the two newly Bonded, well, Rebonded.”

“I’m really fucking tired, Anrir!” Karlsor snaps, “And bleeding, and headachy.”

“Do it,” Anrir orders, his voice deepening.

“Fucking- fine,” Karlsor hisses, and switches on his Sight and sways dangerously, as he leans against a the far wall. “The bond has come back- all glowing with sparking plant life and fewer thorns.”

Wait a minute. “Karlsor! Say that again.” You demand striding up to the Nightlord with the bleeding nose. 

He looks at you incredulously as he's leaned down due to exhaustion. “The bond looks all flowery and shit?”

You feel yourself buzzing! “Do you know what this means!?” You ask excitedly, and impulsively grabbing Karlsor's face with both hands. (Which he surprisingly doesn't bite you for but maybe he's just too taken aback you're being bold enough to grab his face.) “It means even if I Can sap a Bond, it can come back! I don’t have to worry about hurting the Bond that Khopesh already has with his Vada and Muti! I can actually Touch him!” You release Karlsor's face and immediately snag him in a hug around the waist. 

“H-hey! QUIT It Would ya-” Who is still on the back foot, and not sure how to handle your burst of energy. 

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you! I gotta go find Khopesh!” You declare, releasing a still Very confused Karlsor. “Hang on sweetness! I'm comin for ya!” You charge out the door like a soldier on a mission from God!

You bolt out the door and start sprinting down the hallway, firmly intending to run! Run! Run! Run! RUN! AND FIND YOUR KHOPE-OOf!

You almost fall ass over teakettle as a firm forearm? Came into your path, and damn near knocked the wind out of you. You see the pale color with blue viens and immediately assume it's Claude. 

“Claude lemme go! I gotta go find Khopesh and tell him everything's alright!”

“Um…Lullaby?” You whip your head around at the familiar voice…that Wasn't Claude. 

Long dark hair? Check. 

Scar across the mouth? Check 

Mirthful (if a bit tired and unsure) twinkling dark eyes?

Check!

“Khopesh!” You crow joyfully, shifting so you can pull your Nightlord into a tight embrace. 

“Oh! Lullaby! My Lullaby!” He returns full of relief and delight and you feel your own delight skyrocket when he pulls you close and you feel his roaring purrs start up. 

You nuzzle and snuggle and press quick sweet kisses to the side of Khopesh's face and his lips in between saying,“I missed you! I missed you So Much!” 

You put your hands to the sides of Khopesh's face as he lifts you, holding you up around the waist. “My bond isn't dangerous! I can touch you! I can touch you!” You cry out with joy. Then another realization, with your voice momentarily taking on a Slight sultry edge. “And I can Love you up…as much as you want me to…”

Khopesh's beautiful face takes on a blush that makes your heart Melt. But he also looks a biiiit embarrassed. 

And you realize why when you look past Khopesh's head…and see your parents and Claude looking at your and Khopesh's -ahem- Affectionate exchange. 

Well if they didn't know already, they sure do now…shit. 

“Oh ah…Hi mom…dad.” You greet your parents. “So ah…the test went…pretty well.” Khopesh gently sets you down, but keeps an arm around you.

You understand. You don't want to lessen the contact between the two of you right now. You have your arm resting on his lower back.

“So…you two Really are?” Your mother poses, and you feel a small amount of traitorous Shame creeping into your gut. 

But after Everything you've been through, you are Not letting Khopesh slip away. “I'm happy mom. He makes me happy.” You affirm, looking into Khopesh's dark eyes, before meeting your parents' gaze. 

Your father seems to be waiting on your mother's response, he wraps his arm around her shoulders. 

She sighs, and leans into your father's touch, before opening her eyes again. 

“Alright.” She finally says. 

“Alright?”

“Alright.” She nods. “If he makes you happy, and treats you well…I have nothing to say.”

“...Mom!” You cry with happiness reaching out and leaving Khopesh for just a moment. So you can hug your parents tightly. 

Khopesh misses your touch, but he can be patient; especially for this. 

“But if he hurts you I will Kill him, and dump his body in the fields.” Your mother adds. 

“Mom!” You reply, with only half shock. 

“You'd better trust her Bear.” Your dad replies with a twinkle in his eyes. 

“Oh trust me I do.” You assure your father, before returning to Khopesh's embrace. 

Claude watches the tender moment between all four of you with a smile, as Anrir, Hura and Karlsor exit the testing room. 

“Oh fuckin Greeeeeat, they're back together.” Karlsor grouses, as he adjusts his shades. 

A look of confusion passes over Claude's face. “Are you not glad we achieved a decent outcome?” He asks the older Nightlord. 

Karlsor groans. “Tch, yeah sure I'm fuckin glad or whatever. Woo-hoo everybody's happy and in fuckin Love! But do they have to be so fuckin saccharine about it??”

Claude smiles awkwardly. “Oh I don't know, I find it rather cute.”

Karlsor looks back at the happy little family and his lovesick battle brother. “Yeah…whatever, at least my headache's fuckin died down.”

“Language, Karlsor.”

“Ack!” Karlsor yelped as Anrir suddenly  joined the conversation him, and Claude were having. “Fuckin! … I'm not gonna finish that sentence.” Karlsor decides as Anrir gives him a Look. 

Anrir strides to You and your family. You note how Khopesh's arm becomes just Slightly tighter upon seeing the Nightlord Apothecary. 

“Anrir,” Khopesh says, not full of vitriol this time but…not entirely friendly either. 

Anrir acknowledges his son. “Khopesh…I am glad to see you have returned.”

Khopesh's grip doesn't lessen. “My Lullaby has told me their bond is not dangerous.”

“Not Quite.” Anrir responds. “But at this time it doesn't appear to pose a permanent threat to any bonds.” Anrir clarifies. “However…”

You suck in a breath, gripping Khopesh back. 

“I believe this phenomenon will require further study. In fact, I believe Lullaby may be able to learn to Harness this ability, so they can control it. Rather than simply using it passively through touch.” Anrir explains. 

Well…that doesn't sound too bad. But Khopesh doesn't relax. 

“And this control…how will they be taught to achieve it?” He asks, tamping down on a growl in his throat. 

Anrir straightens his posture. “As any psychery inclined battle brother would be.” He says. “They will be monitored and trained by limited and trusted individuals Here at Gannett Point.”

“Oh, OoOoh!” Khopesh lets out a sigh of Intense relief. You finally feel his posture relax. “That…that makes sense…”

Anrir raises an eyebrow. “Khopesh…did you think I would send them…elsewhere?”

The Nightlord holding you bites his lip, but doesn't respond. 

“Khopesh,” Anrir half laughs in disbelief, before swapping to Nostraman. “Where in the stars would I send them?? We don't exactly have an imperium of training worlds to choose from.”

“Ah…right. I just…I remembered how it was when psychers were found…in my time…” Khopesh replies, sheepish in Nostraman. “But they will be Here. They can stay Here?”.

“They will need to stay here.” Anrir confirms, swapping back to the local language so you and your parents can understand. “At Minimum for tonight as I want to monitor their status after the test.”

“I mean…I'm fine staying the night, but my job and my mom need me. I can't just up and leave.” You protest slightly. 

Anrir does pause at that, seemingly thinking it over. His eyes glance back at Hura, who is also listening to the conversation. “You'll no doubt need training. We will work out an arrangement at a later time so you may help your family.” He states. “As for your job, as a participant of a scientific study you can be compensated. This way we can counteract any reduction in hours or extra travel you undertake.”

“Naturally, we would prefer your lodging to be at the base, but if you'd prefer commuting we can accommodate.” Anrir acquiesced. “If you are to ever change your mind we can set you up with a room.”

“You could stay in mine!” Khopesh cooes excitedly. 

While a permanent bunk was a bit of a step, you couldn't deny the thought of sharing a bed with Khopesh again was enticing. 

Especially with how tired and lonely and drained this whole roller coaster of events had left you. 

“Right now…resting next to you sounds like the Best compensation for…everything…” You agree, leaning on your precious Nightlord. 

Anrir chimes in. “I'm afraid I'll have to insist you stay in the observation room. We must be able to monitor you for any changes.” 

“Aw really?” Khopesh groans with disappointment. 

Anrir held up a hand. “You may share the space. Provided there are no objections.”

“The space won't be too bright for you will it?” You ask Khopesh. 

“My darling, I would brave a solar flare for you!” Khopesh declared with a dramatic flare that made you giggle. “Besides…the hospital rooms can be dimmed, you know this don't you Lullaby?”

Now it was your turn to look embarrassed. “Ah…now I do?”

“Pftt-Hahahahaha!” Khopesh let out his trademark cackle. You honestly didn't think you'd ever thought it sounded sweeter. 

You brought your hand up, gently placing it on the side of his face. “Let's go to bed Khopesh. I want to hold you.”

You feel the purring come again, Khopesh nuzzles into your hand. “Of course, my Lullaby…let us retire for the evening.” He agreed, pointedly ignoring Karlsor making a blech face in his peripheral.

“Sounds like you two have everything planned out.” Your mother chimes in.

“Don't forget, if you need us we're just a call away.” Your father reminds you. 

“I know. Thank you guys so So much.” You say, feeling tears starting to well up. You bring your parents into another embrace. 

“I love you both…I'll be home as soon as I'm able.” You promise, giving both your parents a kiss on the cheek. 

Your folks then turn to Khopesh. “I meant what I said.” Your mother vows. 

“Hey! Just take good care of our Bear bear, and you've got nothing to worry about.” Your father jokes as well. 

Khopesh brings himself to attention. “I vowed the same to my Vada and Muti. You have my word.” He swore. “I will protect them with all my life, and soul.”

Your parents nod, and with another round of goodbyes and I love yous, they are escorted by Apothecary Hura back to the entrance. Meanwhile, you, Khopesh, Anrir and Claude make your way back to the observation room. 

As you come to the room, you turn back to Claude. “Thanks again for all you've done Claude.”

The short haired primaris blushes, a little less than before. “Ah well…I was just trying to do right by Khopesh.”

“And you did so in Spades, little brother!” Khopesh cheers, slapping his brother on the shoulder. 

“Indeed,” Anrir agrees. “You should be proud Claude, you have been an invaluable help. I'm sure Karlsor is grateful to have another Psycher to aid in warp examinations.”

Karlsor rolls his eyes and grumbles but doesn't disagree. 

Anrir shows you where and how the dimmer switch works, before he and the other Night Lords depart. (You do give Claude one more hug.) Then you pick up the box of items your parents had dropped off earlier; glancing inside you feel your chest blossom with warmth. 

Seems your folks hadn't forgotten your previous hospital stays. There were fresh clothes and your dental care items; as well as the items you'd actually remembered to request. 

But before you get changed. “Hey! If anybody is listening, turn around so I can change!” You call out. 

Khopesh comes up behind you, resting his head upon yours. You'd never get tired of his purrs. 

“Hmmm, I need a little more space sweetness.” You coo, shifting to remove your shirt, Khopesh responds by nibbling a little on your ear a little, but he does back up enough.

You realize he's acting as a barrier. He might know where the survelliance viewpoint is. “Thanks cutie,” You wink, and finish changing. 

You brush your teeth in the room's sink. And place your possessions as you like them on the bed. Once done, you clamber up, and snuggle beneath the covers. 

It is a decently large bed after all, made for a good range of astarte sizes. Comfortable for both of you. 

Khopesh sets the lights to his preference, hence why you got on the bed first as to not be clanking around in the dark. And it is very dark. You can't see a thing besides a slight glow from where your phone is face down charging. 

The dark shifts, you feel different parts of the bed dip with weight, you feel a familiar breath drift over your lips.

“Mmm,” You don't hesitate to follow that breath back to the lips it came from. This kiss wasn't like the exuberant ones you'd given before. This one was…deeper…more sensual. You move gently, and Khopesh does the same, pressing close so you have more contact. 

Nose to nose, forehead to forehead. 

“I've missed this…so badly my Lullaby.” His voice fans out in another soft breath. 

“I've missed you too.” You reply. You couldn't show Khopesh the full physical affection you Really wanted to. Not in this room, while being watched. 

But you could lay next to Khopesh as he settled in beside you. You could drape your arm across him and pull yourself to him. And you could feel yourself readily and Quickly lulled to sleep by the sound of his purrs, and the feeling of him running his fingers through your hair and the sound of his two…hearts…

…zzz…

Khopesh smiled, he felt himself drifting as well; to his Lullaby's scent, their gentle breathing, and the sound of their heart…

…zzz…

__________________

Back in his study, Anrir continues to write down and transcribe his recent findings, as well as plans for future tests, possible training exercises, those sorts of things. 

“You know you can go about your evening Karlsor.” Anrir says, noting how his son seems…oddly attached at the moment. Normally once testing was done he'd be on his way to get looked over for psychery pain or handle other duties. 

The foul mouthed Nightlord shifts where he's standing. “I've got a fuckin question.”

Anrir pauses in his writing, the tension in the room feeling thicker. He sets down his stylus. “Of course, what is your quandary?”

“Why'd you let Lullaby argue their way out of fuckin staying so Easily? Doesn't seem like you to be so…easy about something so Security risk-ish.”

Anrir pauses, thinking over his response. “Well there was simply no need to push dear Karlsor.” The older Nightlord replies. “You of all people should know baselines can be…Stubborn. Trying to force them would have made them less cooperative.”

“But by presenting it as a choice, and one that will be present and more appealing as time goes on and commuting and training makes them more affable to it, we've a better chance of achieving the desired result.” Anrir concludes.  

Karlsor nods slowly. “Okay. Makes sense…now my Other fuckin question. Who's supposed to train them?”

“...”

“You gotta be fuckin kidding me!” Karlsor growls. He's got his hands full with the Scouts and barely being able to use his powers period! He doesn't need a baby baseline psycher on Top of that. Fuckin dammit.

“Now now Karlsor, don't be so quick to dismiss.” Anrir chides. “They'll also have physical training days and I will ensure you don't have to oversee those. However…I Believe you may come to appreciate their presence when you train your psychery.”

Karlsor looks confused. “And why's fuckin that?”

“Because even without psychery I noted the improvement in your status After they'd touched you.” Anrir said pointedly. “Did you not find it strange that your warp migraine dissipated so easily? So much Quicker, than it usually does.”

Karlsor takes a moment, he's mildly stunned to realize Anrir is right. “I…You're fuckin right…what the Fuck?”

Anrir smiles, a true Nightlord grin. “I believe our dear little Lullaby could be a great benefit, not just in terms of research but in how psychery may be able to function in the future here.” Anrir's eyes take on a wild quality. “Imagine it! A psychic conduit, able to absorb and redistribute the energy from bonds!”

Karlsor is a bit…overwhelmed by his father's sudden enthusiasm, but he's not stupid. He understands the possible perks. “Uh yeah…I'd definitely appreciate less shit fuck nosebleeds and pain.”

“This is only the beginning of a long road of discovery my dear Karlsor.” Anrir proclaims, turning back to his notes. “And while you are here tell me, what sounds better: a training regime leaning more towards that of a typical Guardsman or perhaps one more akin to a Sister of Battle?”

Karlsor feels some nervous sweat bead on his brow. Lullaby better be ready for the long haul ahead. 

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Full Speed Ahead

Prologue =-= Next

Author's note: More of Karlsor per poll request! This is his Husbandry Debut.

Summary: Karlsor arrives on Ancient Terra and decides to cause Problems on Purpose.

Warnings: Swearing, let me know if I need to add anything more. Okay?

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

Karlsor was stalking after some Loyalists that he's spotted on this random ass planet that he's landed on. He doesn't remember being flown to this planet. The last thing he remembered was getting in a drop pod, ready to fight Ultramarines on McCragge, per the orders of his nearly fucking insane Primarch.

He noticed the large fuckers, one in Raven Guard colors, one in a strange heraldry and colors he doesn't recognize, but equally, unfairly massive as fuck. A third Scout-ling of the line of Dorn- from his silver hair, fair skin and blue eyes, with a medkit- and the fussy-clucking of an Apothecary.

They were being led by another Larger than normal Scout-ling, this one covered in mud from head to toe, and he doesn't see any obvious indicators of which legion the big shit belongs to. They head to, yet another giant fucking Scout- this one in the colors and heraldry of those uppity Blood Angels, he rears back silently- spotting the Wings, but as he shifts his weight, the Blood Angel with wings is too small to be Primarch Sanguinius.

He narrows his eyes as he tries to recall if any of the Blood Angels have ever had wings, or if he's heard of such rumors. Then again, such rumors and knowledge is kept from the 'insane murderous butchers' of his Legion. Still a whole bunch of Loyalist Scoutlings, unaware of him, his grin is sharp and vicious, and his eyes gleam with a dark joy.

Oh- he's going to enjoy hearing them scream as he gets answers of where they fuck they are and how he got here from where he'd been. Then- one of the little shits- the one in Raven Guard colors suddenly turns and looks in his direction- having spotted him. Karlsor gives him an unhinged, sharp grin and waved at the little Raven.

Who looks gratifyingly spooked as he hisses at the others. The other little birdy with wings, will be fun to pluck the feathers out of. Sons of Sanguinius have such a pretty-shiny reputation, after their Primarch showed up, before they'd had a reputation and style of fucking shit up worse than his Legion had before.

The bastards had been lucky to get the shiny-pretty Holy Great Angel, while he and his legion were stuck with the mad-bastard who barely understood who friend or foe was and hated all of them. He closes his eyes briefly before opening them. Now is not the time to brood about the past as he stalks closer to the strange too-large Scouts- and the bundle of them, after patching up the Blood Angel were trying to skitter out of the forest and evade him. Cute.

Not for nothing is he a Raptor Lord of the Night Lords as he chases after the scout-lings. Allowing them to run, to see where they would go. The Apothecary in no armor- which is fucking stupid has a conflicted expression on his face, before he murmurs something, turning his face so that Karlsor can't read his lips.

Which is a rude thing, clever, but rude of him. One of the others rumbles something in return and they seem to send a vox to… someone. It's cute how they think that they can call for help, they are stuck in this forest with him little Scouts- he ensures to croon that out, pitching his voice so that they can hear him.

Oh- that spooks the bundle of them. The Little Angel's wings flaring in alarm, trying to block the view of the rest of the Scouts. Like that would do much, more fuck all then stop Karlsor. Which has him chortling and taunting the Scout-lings.

As he approaches, he stops for a moment, as a truly Horrendous scent suddenly hits him like a punch to the gut and his eyes almost water. He's smelled death, and dead things rotten- but that overripe scent is by far one of the worst things he's ever smelled in his life as he tries not to gag or throw up as he hears a strange voice warble out.

"Now, Night Lord," A voice croons at him, his head snapping in the direction of the… Thing- it looks like a Death Guard. Sort of.

"What the fuck are you?" Karlsor asks bluntly.

"My, you are a rude one," Hura says, "I am a Death Guard Apothecary."

"The Fuck you are!" Karlsor says bluntly, "I know hygiene isn't Death Guard Astartes best trait, but fuck you are a nasty, gaint fucker ain't ya?"

Hura's smile behind his helmet has him frowning. "Do you know about Chaos, little cousin?"

"… The way you say Chaos, sounds like it should mean something," Karlsor says eyes narrowing at the strange, stinking Thing.

He's got both eyes on this new threat- the little Scoutlings are scampering out of his sight. Clever bastards- avoiding two Larger Threats. He's still going to hunt after them later. He has to deal with… whatever the fuck this is.

"It does mean sommething," Hura replies, still patient, just less amused. "When are you from? What was happening before you got here?"

"I was in a drop pod headed to fight on McCragge," Karlsor replies.

"Ah, you are from during the failed Rebellion of Horus." Hura muses.

"The fuck? So it doesn't end well. Fucking perfect," Karlsor groans, "Wait… what do you mean failed?"

Hura chuckles and explains when and where they are. As well as about how there is an… Alliance between the Chaos, Renegade, and Loyalist factions.

"So I'm not allowed to go after those Scouts then?" Karlsor asks unhappily, "And just why should I listen to you? Or to this so called grox-shit alliance?"

"Because you will be hunted down, punished and likely tortorously killed for breaking the alliance," Hura replies, his voice still sounding so amused and patient.

There was a darker turn to his words, and his giant fucking frame seems a bit more… ominous.

"… You make a good point. Death Guard," Karlsor replies reluctantly eyeing the … other 'Astartes' with careful caution.

[c-u-c-koo-4-40k]

What do I Know about You - Part 3

Next in the collaboration with @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan! Thanks so much for the help and the lending of OCs!

Previous Chapter Here!

Next Chapter Here!

The madness that started it all! HERE!

Also much thanks to @kit-williams for use of her oc Anrir

Tags: @sleepyfan-blog @bleedingichorhearts @passionofthesith @egrets-not-regrets @bispecsual @felinisnoctis

Summary: The other shoe drops. And now Lullaby and Khopesh have an entirely new issue to work around, and just when things were starting to get better.

Will this bond abnormality drive the two lovebirds to fly separate ways? Unlikely but at least one of them has to be confined to a cage for study, the other is Not happy with this outcome.

Warning: Negative Self Talk, Depression, Lashing out in anger and a trilogy becoming something that is slowly spiraling out longer and longer (but we are going to present this monster in more manageable chunks). Emperor Save Us.

You lay on your side, here…in a type of room you Hoped to never have to set foot in again. 

“There is something we need to tell you, both of you…”

You'd returned to the base with Khopesh as Anrir requested. You'd even let Khopesh carry you on his shoulders as you took your short walk back. Both of you were feeling playful and You felt lighter than you had in ages. 

Ironic with how you now wished to just Sink into this hospital bed like a rock now

As you'd strode in you'd seen the ancient Nightlord again in the lobby, perhaps you'd been a bit too chipper to notice the mood was different.

“Well I said I'd be back soon, so here I am!” You joked, stepping down with Khopesh's help. “Does this have something to do with Claude or Jophiel? I was hoping to get a chance to be slightly less awkward around them.”

Anrir had shaken his head. “Not exactly,” His voice had a pensive and almost solemn air to it. That's when you picked up on something not being right. “Apothecary Hura and I will explain all we can. But in private. My office is this way.”

“Anrir?” Khopesh asked, bringing a hand up to your shoulder.

The older Nightlord nodded. “This concerns you as well Khopesh.”

You both did as you were told. And indeed Apothecary Hura was waiting for you in said office. 

The dread of uncertainty had begun gnawing in your gut. But you used Khopesh's hand and presence as a comfort and reassurance. You're going to face this Together, it will all be alright. 

But it wasn't. 

“What?” You flinched remembering your reaction. “What do you Mean my bond is mutated?”

“It has taken on a form that has yet to be recorded previously.” Hura explained. “Rather than resembling a floral structure…it resembles something else…more akin to a…fungus.”

Anrir picked up the conversation. “The ‘zap’ you felt when touching Claude, was not merely static electricity. Claude's psychery activated upon touching you, leading Cedric to call his brother Jophiel over to examine you with his warp sight.”

“He described your bond and it is unlike anything we have seen previously.” Anrir continued. “In full truth it…unsettled him quite a bit.”

You cringed again, but you didn't blame Jophiel. How would you react if you walked into your garden only to find your Petunias had turned into Death Caps? Not well you assumed. 

“But I'm not Bonded! You of all people know that Doc.” You'd protested. 

“Yes…which makes your apparent mutation all the more fascinating and bizarre.” Hura had replied. “It's like the half of the bond that remained after…the incident, took on this whole new form on its own without anyone noticing the changes, until now of course.” 

“The zap also implies you May have some nascent or yet to be tapped psychic potential.” Anrir stated. “We needed to tell you this so you could be aware and prevent, say…a less friendly reaction to a zap occurring in the future.”

That part had still been overwhelming and wild but…up to that point the things they were saying weren't truly Bad, aside from scaring Jophiel. No…it was really more the next part that made your stomach twist and your eyes scrunch up in that Awful way. 

“We also believe, with the way your bond has mutated… It may not be possible for you to form a permanent bond again.”

A harsh sob ripped through your tightly locked lips and you turned your leaking eyes into your I pillow. 

“I…I can't ever…bond…again?”

“We are not certain but…as the bonds structure and function are so radically different…”

“Different function how?” You interrupted. 

Anrir paused, he seemed to be debating telling you. 

“Different in function How, Doc?” You demanded, which would have been laughable to Anrir if the situation wasn't so…heartbreaking. 

“…When Jophiel shook your hand…your bond began siphoning his power away.” Anrir finally stated quietly. “A regular bond produces a single, stable connection of warp energy. Even if we assume that energy depletes and renews it…. Dissipates when the bond is severed, leaving it to erode away gradually.”

“Yours is alive…and is actively seeking warp energy without your conscious thought…”

Draining...Unworthy...

B...r...o...k...e...n...

“It's like a Parasite…”

Another sob wracked your frame and you pulled the hospital blankets close around you. The difference in texture grated on you but you were also too tired and upset to care. 

“I'm like a Parasite!” You felt like screaming, you felt like crying. You felt your hands coming up around your head. 

“Lullaby…” Khopesh reached for you. 

A million alarms went off at once “No!” You shrieked, jumping back and putting your hands up. 

“Easy there young one.” Hura calls out soothingly.

Anrir states, in his own sort of calming way, “We know this is a lot to take in…”

“Lullaby?!…please…why are you pulling away from me…” Khopesh reached for you.

You'd crammed yourself deeper into the office's corner. “What if my bond is hurting you?? What if it's messing with your head?!” Another even worse thought came. “What if that Thing has been sapping at Your bond with Gary and Nancy?!”

Khopesh paused, he…he hadn't thought about that…

“And what happens if this…this Thing eats up the whole bond!?” You cried, terrified and frantic. “I can't! I can't put anyone else through that I won't-” 

“Please little one, breathe.” Hura calmed you, or tried. 

You took gulping breaths trying to soothe your panic and in that moment you suddenly let out a humorless laugh. “Of course…of Course the night I Finally feel like I can move on This happens…”

“But maybe part of me deserves this?” Another fit of pained giggles bubbled up. 

“Lullaby do not Say that…!” Khopesh protested.

“No, because even though I didn't like thinking about it…part of me…part of me still Did!” You insisted. “About how I'd probably outlive both Gary and Nancy and then maybe…if I was lucky…the universe would let us have a chance to be bonded…”

Khopesh didn't know how to respond at that moment. 

“But not Only do I learn my bond looks weird!? But that I probably can't Ever bond again! Oh And! And! My bond apparently Also Sucks the Life out of whoever it Touches!?” You put your face in your hands, slumping against the wall. “I'm not just Broken…I'm a Leech…a parasite…” You mumble through the tears starting to form. 

“And worst of all I don't even know how to make it stop…” You mumble the same words you had before. Now quietly into the pillow. 

Hence why you are Here now. You can't actively stop whatever this Thing inside you is, so you're going to stay where you can't ...hurt anyone else. 

Khopesh hadn't been happy with that option. “Over my rancid corpse! You are Not taking them from me and sticking them in some Tiny bright room Alone!”

Anrir set his gaze into a stern determined glower. “It will be over your Sedated living body if you do not Stand Down, Scout.” Anrir hissed, “We must take all necessary precautions for both Them and the other individuals residing here.”

Khopesh didn't respond verbally aside from the guttural growling he was mustering up. And in that moment he Loathed, absolutely and totally L O A T H E D Anrir for trying to use his authority in this way. Feeling betrayed, and Angry and wanting so Badly just to grab you up and steal you away to his nest and Hold You until this nightmare would somehow pass and you could both go back to how things had been Before this fucking Horseshit!

“Khopesh…please...”

His snarling rage was broken in an instant. He turned his attention back to you. 

Still so far from him, even only a few feet away but withholding your touch. Not for any meanness but because you Desperately didn't want to hurt him anymore than you already might have. 

“Please…don't fight them on this.” You ask solemnly. 

Khopesh tenses up and relaxes, his hands clenching and unclenching, he is reminded of the conversation they had earlier and his shoulders slump, “For you, I won’t fight them on this… For now.”

Khopesh watches as you walk away, from the way his shoulders shift and the slight forward motion of his body, he longs to follow after you, but he doesn’t. He glares at Hura and Anrir a little bit, “Why did you or the other Apothecaries tending to Lullaby not find out about this … issue… sooner?”

“The last time Lullaby had been checked over at their last visit- such a mutation in their Bond hadn’t been noted in their file,” Hura says as he reviews some of their papers, “The Astartes run facility that they go to is local, near to the farming community that they live and work with. That clinic doesn’t always have a Psyker-Apothecary present at all times. Librarians, Sorcerers, and Dark Apostles are uncommon on Ancient Terra- and their services are… quite highly needed in a number of ways all across Ancient Terra. It’s possible this was a Sudden Development, or something that might have slipped under the radar due to a lack of resources until it reached this point, this is very much an unknown phenomenon. This is a new form of Bond- as spoken of before, is unknown, as this is the first recorded incident of it, as far as I know.”

You stay in that isolation medical cell and sit on the bed. Curling up on your side as you try not to cry again. Thinking over the information that they had been given by Hura and Anrir. Parasite. Something in your mind hissed angrily. You didn’t ever want to intentionally hurt anyone, especially Khopesh, and you worry that you might do so because of the wrongness of your bond.

You're pulled from your thoughts when someone knocks on the door and Hura comes into the room, he takes off his helmet- and your mind twinges a little when you look at his face. You look away from him.

“Do you want to call anyone?” Hura asks them. “We would prefer you not go into detail, but you have permission to inform your emergency contacts and anyone who will be affected by your absence of course.”

You think for a moment. “Yes- there are a few people I want to call,” You reply.

You pull out your phone and the first person you call is your dad, “hey dad, I was out having dinner with Khope- I mean, a friend. And I uh- happened to run into Apothecary Hura- do you remember him?”

“Oh- Apothecary Hura? That older space-man who helped you after that… nasty business with your fall,” Your father says, “... Are you alright?”

He can tell from the way your voice is hitching that you are… hiding something, worried about something. Your father shifts a little and you can hear the movement over the phone, “Bearbear, are you wanting to have some lasagna?”

“Are you wanting some lasagna?” is the code phrase that you and your parents had developed, for situations where asking for help, or if they were feeling unsafe, but couldn’t say as much.

“No, thanks for asking, dad,” You reply, a rush of fondness welling up in your heart.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Your father asks. 

“Not at the moment,” You say in reply, part of you wanted to blurt out what Hura and Anrir had told you, but the warning that the pair of Apothecaries had given you about it stayed in your tongue. Worried about something happening to him if you did say something.

Besides, it's not like your dad could do anything about the issue that they are having anyways. You chat about a couple of random things with your dad before hanging up the phone and taking a deep breath. Time to call mom.

“Hello Lullybird!” Your mother says happily, “How are you doing today- well tonight?”

“Oh- I had a lot of fun with Kho- with a friend,” You reply, shuffling a little on the bed of the isolation room.

“That’s wonderful!” Your mother says enthused. She’d always wanted you to at least try your hand at dating and getting out more, “how’s it going?”

“It went great,” You reply with a smile, before it fades as Hura shifts a little in place, “So uh- Funny story, I happened to run into Apothecary Hura- and he wanted to check over a couple of things, so I’m staying overnight at the Space Marine run Hospital in Gannett Point. Uh- I have a big favor to ask of you…”

“I hope it’s nothing serious,” Your mother says fussingly, “Certainly! What can I do to help?” 

“I need an emergency feeder for the farm set up while I’m… away.” You reply.

“Of course I’ll get that set up,” Your mother says, “... How long do you think your going to stay at the hospital?”

“Uh… I'm not sure, it depends on what all Apothecary Hura thinks is best.” You respond honestly.

“... Alright,” Your mother says, “... If you need or want anything else, you can call me your or your father.”

“Yes mom,” You replied with a fond smile.

“I love you, Lullybird,” Your mother says.

“I love you too, mom,” You respond. “I’ve got to go- doctor’s tests and what not.”

“Oh- of course. I’m driving back to the farm now, is your Dad home?” Your mother asks.

“Thanks Mom,” You reply, grateful for your parent’s help. “And yeah, Dad's home, should be there when you get home.”

You place your phone back into your bag, before turning to Hura and looking up at him, “I was wondering if you could ask Khopesh to bring me some stuff from my house? Just some comfort items to help me feel a little less…out of place.”

“Of course,” Hura says with a nod, “What sort of comfort items do you want him to get?”

“My stuffed rabbit, the pillow off my bed, and my childhood blanket.” You explain. “Thank you Hura- and thank Khopesh for me,” 

“Of course, but also Please let your father know that one of the local Night Lords is coming by to do you a favor, so as to not… startle him.” Hura says.

“Good call.” You nod and send a text message to dad with that information, to warn him so that Khopesh doesn’t unintentionally scare him. You quirk your lips in a half smile, it wouldn't be out of form for Khopesh to jump at an opportunity to be his usual incorrigible prankster self.

Your smile fell. But…given what you'd both just learned, and how he'd seemed when you left him…you doubted he'd be his usual self for a while. You hated seeing him look so lost and angry. 

Hura leaves the room to go find Khopesh- checking in with Anrir for a moment, who warns him of the mood one of his gremlins- er- sons is in. Hura thanks him and he heads off to find Khopesh.

He hears the sound of flesh hitting something soft and looks in to see an enraged Khopesh attacking several Astartes grade punching bags. Some of them are already busted- and watches as the younger space marine pounces on the one he's using currently; punching, clawing, and biting it as it swings and groans at his added weight. He Rips and Tears out fistfulls and mouthfuls of stuffing as if they were the entrails of an enemy, growling and snarling angrily.

Angry, Khopesh is angry, unbelievably pissed that his own Father ‘betrayed’ him by taking his Lullaby away. His head snaps up when he hears someone coming into the area he’s in. He had noticed, but had ignored it when the other people who had been in this sparring/work out room had slowly left after watching the way he had attacked the punching bags. Cowards. Something in his mind sneered as he continued to fight, trying to get his rage and aggression out on the bags, which are far more easily replaceable than something, or someone else.

As he pants a little something in him that sounded an awful lot like logic murmurs in his mind Anrir and Hura aren’t stealing Lullaby from you. He shakes his head and growls another thought coming to mind they sure as fuck are stealing Lullaby from me!

“Khopesh,” Hura calls out- making sure to not be within easy lunging range as he waits for Khopesh to decide on if he wants to acknowledge him or not. Younger brothers could be quite temperamental (not that the older ones aren’t, but the younger ones could get… rash with their actions if not allowed to process their emotions).

“What do you want?” Khopesh spits at Hura glowering at him.

“I have a request,” Hura starts.

“Like hell I’m doing anything for you,” Khopesh says with a growl- about to say something else.

“Lullaby, wants your help with something,” Hura continues to say, as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

Khopesh snapped to attention, “What can I do to help Lullaby?”

“They want some comfort items from their house, to help them handle this situation,” Hura says.

“What do they need or want?” Khopesh asks, insistence pushing his anger aside. 

“They have requested their stuffed rabbit, their bed pillow, and their childhood blanket.” Hura replies, a hand reaching out with the list of items they had requested.

Khopesh nods, he’s determined to see this task through- to help Lullaby and get these items for them. At least this way, I’ll be able to see Lullaby, once I get these items. He thinks hopefully.

He brushes past Hura without much else said other than a quick, and begrudging “Thanks,” As he exits the sparring area, who should he come across but Claude.

In truth…he knew the Primaris had also been watching him from the doorway, drawn by the sounds of his snarls and vitriol. But in his anger he hadn't cared much. He saw you lose yourself, what a Fine big brother you are after all. Khopesh pushes the thought from his mind. 

“Claude, I need you to listen carefully.” He says, grabbing the younger marine by the shoulders with a barely contained urgency. 

“Of course brother,” Claude replied, seeing Khopesh's stress. If you hadn't zapped Lullaby this wouldn't be happening. Your brother and his special one would be safe and Happy if it wasn't for you and your Curse! One of the voices hissed, he forced himself to focus on his brother's words not the ones in his head.

“Please, keep yourself aware of Lullaby, watch over them while I cannot.” Khopesh pleads, gripping more tightly as he emphasizes his next words. “Karlsor is too wrapped up in this with Anrir, I cannot ask him and he'd likely just cuss me out and tell me to be patient.”

“I must go retrieve some items for Lullaby, for the time being, keep your eyes and ears open and report anything major to me as it happens. I-” Khopesh licked his lips nervously. “I can't bear the thought of them being hurt while I cannot do anything.”

Claude seemed taken aback. “Do you really think Anrir will hurt them?”

Khopesh paused, and that once annoying voice of logic came back in his mind telling him to Not be an idiot, Of Course Anrir isn't going to hurt them! They're an innocent Baseline And he wants to study them why would he harm…

“No…or rather, not intentionally.” Khopesh clarified, finally pulling back. “I just…I need a line of communication open, so I can know their status. And if something does go wrong…” Fuck he did Not like the idea at all. “I can know I need to rush back, Please Claude.”

The Primaris marine nodded solemnly, he still felt partially responsible for this happening at all. He would help get Khopesh and Lullaby through this. “I will! I Promise.” He swore.

Khopesh nodded gratefully. “Thank you little brother. I will be back as soon as I am able.” 

“You’re welcome,” Claude says with a determined look on his face. 

He watches Khopesh head off and takes in a deep breath or two, centering himself and then heading off to where Lullaby has been hidden away and monitored by some Old Chaos Apothecaries. 

Part of him shudders at that, he knows that Hura and Anrir are trustworthy- have proven themselves to be able to not be… disgusting treacherous many-faced, forked tongued liars waiting to kill or twist them into horrific evil. Besides.. The… teal… Ultramarine also knows and is monitoring Lullaby, Anrir and Hura….

Hm… Part of him wants to call Cedric- who already knows some of what is going to help out, but that is not something he can decide on. He’s not an apothecary, and just a battle brother, a Librarian in training, yes. But still something prickles at the edge of his vision. 

Ah fuck. He focuses and grasps the feeling-sense-emotion that is a-vision-is-coming and puts it in a ceramite clad box and shoves it deep, deep in his mind. While it’ll make the symptoms and recovery Worse, after he does have the Vision, at least it’ll be after he’s spoken with Lullaby and helped guard them per Khopesh’s request.

He opens his eyes and heads to their isolation cell, he knocks and is let in. Hura seems pleased to see him- and Anrir explains that one of the tests that they want to do is see if Claude and/or Lullaby shock each other again. 

Karlsor is in the room with his arms folded over his chest as he leans against the room- the older Night Lord Librarian is going to use Warp Sight to see what happens, if anything does happen or if things go… strange.

Things that could be going… Strange can happen when Warp Nonsense happens, especially Odd, Unusual, or Unknown things happen. Claude looks around the room and at Lullaby, “... Are you alright with this test being preformed?”

“I want to know what’s going on,” You say, “I hope that this can help.”

“Alright,” Claude says, as he steps closer and reaches out a hand to you. You also a reach out a hand to Claude and brace yourself for the zap of pain to happen.

You feel no pain- and the Zap that had happened before had been noticeable in the way it felt- and others had noticed that Something had happened the first time that you and Claude had shaken hands.

Karlsor does notice- that the little feelers- the mycelium tendrils start to curl and start to siphon off of Claude. Claude does inform them when he starts to feel a bit of energy drain. Hura and Anrir are writing something down and one of the Apothecaries request that they stop holding hands.

Hura asks, “How do you feel?”

You look at him incredulously. “How do I feel?” You have to stifle a disbelieving laugh. “I feel like shit!” You say, ‘broken, useless, a disgusting parasite.’ Your mind hisses at you venomously. “I am a Fuck damned parasite.”

Hura doesn't respond for a moment, and you feel shame creeping in.

“I was actually asking if you felt any Physical difference from the energy transfer.” He clarified.

Yep…full barrel of shame pouring Right over your head and into your gut. He didn't deserve to catch strays off your fuckin pissy attitude. “Sorry…I just…I dont feel…I can't- I don't have the words right now.” You amend quietly, rubbing your fingers over your eyes tiredly. 

Physically, at least, You feel better- more refreshed and recharged, but you won’t be able to realize that now. Not with the self-hatred you feel and the downward spiral starting to make you feel worse.

Claude looks away, understanding how they feel- it’s hard being a Psyker, even if one can’t really access their powers- they are marked out as Other, as Different, as Wrong. Dangerous. A Liability, more than an asset.

“I don’t believe you are a parasite,” Hura says as he comes over, offering you one of his massive hands, “I wonder… can you siphon off the energy of non-psykers as well.”

As a Death Guard Apothecary who… survived through the Heresy and out into The Storm that was first meeting The Grandfather and the… fall into his embrace and the Becoming. Hura has met many different kinds of entities, including some forms of sentient parasites- and from what he knows with his vast amount of Knowledge, he doesn’t think Lullaby is one of them. Then again, further testing is needed.

You hesitate, but eventually move your hand over Huras, the mossy rusty texture on his palms is slightly off putting, but you brush that aside. 

“Karlsor…are you able to monitor?” Hura asks the shade wearing Night Lord.

“Yeah yeah fuckin give me a minute. Shits not exactly Easy.” He groused, rolling his joints and shoulders. 

Maybe it was a trick of your own eyes, but you thought you saw Karlsors pupils…shine, just for a moment. But you figure it was a trick of the light. You'd never seen any visual difference when being warp examined before. 

“Well, fuckin hell…” Karlsor muses as he looks at the two of you. 

“What do you see?” You ask before the present Apothecaries can.

“The little feeler things aren't Just moving over Hura's hand…” He explains. And its true. “With Claude they kinda went everywhere but with Hura…its looks like they're attracted to the ‘vines’ of his bond.”

You yanked your hand away immediately. Followed by hoping up and putting more physical distance between the two of you.

“Fuck! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-”

“Young one please,” Hura held up his hand, trying to stave off your panic. “Did the tendrils have any noticeable effect on my bond?” He asked Karlsor, who had turned off his warp sight.

Hura had also being trying to feel or sense any changes as Lullaby touched his hand- he’s no psyker or dark apostle, but being a Grandson of Nurgle… changes you in ways that are more than just physical.

He doesn’t feel any different from before they had touched him, and even after they had snatched their hand back, he still felt normal. He lightly touches his bond, it feels the same- just as strong. With a bond full of vines, flowers and thorns.

“I don't fuckin Think so…” He groaned, clearly having some kinda of headache from his psychery usage. “When they touched Claude the tendrils kinda started glowing,” He explained. “And Claude felt the energy getting pulled, but since your bond can't Talk there's no way to know how much energy got pulled just now.”

“The tendrils lit up again…but the bond didn't seem to Change at all. At least not visually.” Karlsor finished. “Now I need a fuckin break my head feels like somebody tried to Crack it open with a hammer.”

Anrir nodded. “Very well, we'll take a break, and if you're not recovered by then, we'll have Claude examine instead.” He then turned his attention to you. “Do you require a break as well?”

You took pause at that. A little surprised by the concern you were being shown. “I'm…fine for now, physically at least.” You replied, honestly at this point…you really felt just…Just far more Numb than anything. 

Anrir took notice. “Come now, this could be quite good news. Hura's bond wasn't harmed by you touching him. It's unlikely Khopesh's would suffer either.”

That was a fair point. “But I only touched him for a Moment. There's no guarantee a bond will hold up if I'm in close prolonged contact with someone…”

Anxiety twisted in your stomach at the thought of all the physical contact you'd had with Khopesh before the reveal that this…this Thing was a factor. It made you sick to think you'd been hurting him and his bond this whole time. 

Anrir shrugged. “That is a possibility…but I suppose we won't find out unless we do more tests. And either way…”

“Do you really think Khopesh would simply give up? Throw in the towel and let you slip from his grasp because of this?”

The phrasing was a bit odd. But you couldn't deny Anrir had a point. “He'd probably fight like hell to find a way around it.” You agreed. “But…this isn't exactly a problem you can brute force.” 

“You underestimate my son's tenacity.” Anrir half laughed and scoffed. “He does not falter in the things he pursues. And neither do I.” Before you could protest the old Nightlord placed a cold yet…comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“Let us continue. I believe we may yet find a positive path forward for you and your power. After all…the most important aspect of Any ability is How it is used.”

You couldn't disagree, but you did hesitate. “A positive slant to this situation feels very far off.” You replied. 

Anrir shrugged. “Then we best get moving.” 

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Death? Not Today F*ck You!

Next

Author's Note: Karlsor's debut in Mermay and Poor Unfortante souls.

Warnings: Karlsor swears a lot, some hints of violence. Also NIGHT LORD. Let me know if I need to add more

Summary: Karlsor lands on Terra and finds a Budding Blight Garden, not that he knows what that is. And makes the decision to not go near it.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @kit-williams, @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

Tagged Again: @sleepyfan-blog and @whorety-k

Karlsor is a Proud Night Lord, and one of the lucky, or unlucky bastards with enough Psyker abilities that were noticed early enough that he was dragged into training by the Libarius before the Heresy. He'd barely finished his training as a Librarian, their training exacting, harsh, demanded and with each step forward, sacrifice of blood, pain, sweat, tears, and mental health (whatever the fuck that is) was demanded of him. He's no coward, never has been, to have survived the Hell that is Nostramo, and to have been...

Either Lucky or Unlucky enough to have been grabbed by the Night Lords to be flung into a cage with a bunch of other boys around his age, some older, some younger, and then dragged into the Hell that was being an Aspirant of the Night Lords. He had never been the kindest of souls, being born and growing, surviving the fucked up hell that is Nostramo killed the weak, and beat the kindness and every good thing out of a person, until just the pure, raw, naked desire and need for Survival was all that was thought of.

Even when Lord of the Eigth Legion and the Imperium had fully taken over Nostramo, things have still been shit. There was just more technology and shit for the people to fight over. At least that's what he'd heard from the old folks who's complain and hiss about things. Fighting against the uppity Ultramarines as Father had decided to attack the holier-than-thou Primarch of the 13th legion had been a lot of fun, waking up after what had felt like had been a killing blow had been both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprise.

Pleasant, because he still is alive, unpleasant because his ribs really fucking hurt and he's in agony and likely in a cell with uppity Ultramarines ready with snide words and smug bastard-y words to lord over his failure. His tail lashes out in rage as he looks around frowning. Where the fuck his he? He's not on McCragge. Oh fuck shit. As he's dying he's getting a vision. Or something. Goody. Or he's hallucinating a Nicer Thing as he dies? What the fuck is this shit. He slowly starts moving, activating his ability to swim through the air, which is infinitely safer than trying to crawl back to the waters. Seriously.

Which fucking planet is he on? This is planet has pollution, he can smell it, but it's not the worst planet he's been on. It's almost pretty, but pretty things often hide something worse underneath. Finding the ocean took several hours of swimming through the air. At least there's only one sun in the sky, even if the sunlight is way to fucking bright in his opinion. He prefers the darkness and shadows, where the light doesn't burn his skin and eyes. Even with being an Astartes with a tougher body, he burns like a whore in church after a few minutes in the sun.

Which is going to be so delightful to feel once he's back in the water. At least he's alive to recover from his injuries and the sun trying to fuck him over more. He is really glad to get into the ocean waters, which is salinized and he almost bites through his tongue trying not to scream as his skin protests being in the ocean while being sunburnt enough that his regenerative abilities has yet to heal it and he's entirely red from where his armor doesn't protect his scales.

He swims in the ocean, healing and trying to hunt for something to eat, easily hunting a school of fish and eating the wriggling creatures whole. He has some nutri-paste but he needs to supplement it with organic matter, which is a damned pain. He also needs to figure out where the fuck he is and where some of his brothers are, as much as they are a pain in his ass and are more than half likely to try to murder him, either through straight up stabbing him or being more circumspect about it.

Psykers are viewed as being super unstable and mistrusted in the legion. Honestly, he'd commented before that it's like calling water wet, they are all unstable, lunatic murderers. The younger members of his legion are... not kinder, no one is ever really kind in the Eighth legion, but are more stupid, and ignorant, since they are younger and haven't been through as much fucked up shit as the older ones have. Getting older can be hard, especially with how much fighting they do, against the enemies of the Emperium, and at times, each other.

Still, he's glad that he's alive, in general, and its better than not being alive. That damned Ultramarine only nearly killed him. Which reminds him, he's going to find that Ultramarine and make him suffer for his failure. He hears something and slowly starts swim-stalking and he carefully stalks whatever is making noise and tilts his head from one side to another. That is the ugliest and weirdest looking reef system that Karlsor has ever seen in his life. It looks really sick and fucked up.

And there is something about it that screams WRONG at his Psyker senses. He hears demented echoing giggling. Which is. Fucking Fantastic. He's not going anywhere near the fucked up reef system, it looks cursed as fuck. While he's got an Astartes Immune system, he's not going to tempt whatever the fuck is going on with that to go after him. He's no Apothecary or specialist in Environments, but he knows that is Super Fucked and Warp-craft went into fucking it up and continuing to fuck it up. So yeah, as a trained Psyker and since no one has asked for his help, either way, and he doesn't want to go near it any way, he's going avoid that creepy ass dying reef and go somewhere hopefully a lot healthier. It's a shame, the biodiversity of the oceans of this primitive planet are almost beautiful and he's totally not stared at the plethora of vibrant colored fish swim past him in schools of hundreds.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Of Calm before the Storm

Author's Note: More of Ramiel in Husbandry AU. Thank you to @sleepyfan-blog for letting me borrow Cedric.

Summary: Ramiel and Cedric go to the Chaos base and are watched over by Karlsor.

Warnings:

Past =-= Next

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams,

Tagged continued: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k, @ms--lobotomy @bispecsual @thevoidscreams

Tagged continued: @i-am-a-dragon34, @gra93fruit-blog

Ramiel, Cedric and the others had gone quiet after the words that they had shared. Quiet for a moment before Cedric and Ramiel left for Hura’s base, with equipment and the slips of approval that was given to them by Apothecary Zariel who appeared a few minutes after they’d finished speaking for a while.

He’d given them all a scare, appearing as he had, he apologized for scaring them, with a gentle smile on his face. They accepted it, but didn’t believe him fully, not with the Teal that lurks beneath the ocean blue.

Part of him wonders why Apothecary ‘Zariel’ showed a touch of his teal to them. Not that they’d had a chance to tell Captain Ash’val about that. Or if they did, if he would listen to him. Or what would happen, should they do so, and what ‘Zariel’s’ likely reprisal for doing so would be.

For now, he seems to be helping them, for what reasons, they don’t know, and those reasons worry Ramiel. He wonders if the Alpha Legionnaire wanted something from them, and what the cost for his help is going to be.

Other than helping out at the Chaos Base from time to time, and the tidbits of information that they had given him, either with full cognizance, or in a terrified haze. Ramiel glances back at Cedric and gently squeezes his shoulder.

Part of him wishes that they could find armor for his brother. It would keep him safer, if he was fully armored, even better if he was also armed. But- the supply issues make it so that’s not possible, or so they have been told when they ask their First Born older brothers and cousins who run the Base.

Hura is near the entrance to the Chaos Base that they are headed to and heads over to them with a cheerful wave. Ramiel keeps his hands, carefully, deliberately, away from his weapons. Hura, for now, is an ally, and isn’t one that they want to piss off by being rude.

He’s seen what happens to people that upset this particular Chaos Marine, he’s heard the adage ‘don’t piss off the medics’ and he knows that’s true. He tries to obey their words, and due to knowing Cedric- and watching how Hura deals with recalcitrant patients… He does his best to not be a Bad Patient.

A Night Lord is slouching nearby with a pair of sunglasses on his face and a fearsome scowl on his face and Ramiel eyes the other. He notices that this particular Night Lord doesn’t seem to have any obvious Chaos Mutations or ‘gifts’.

“Cedric, Ramiel,” Hura trills at them, his voice is slow, deep rumbles out, “This is Karlsor, he’s going to be in charge of you for your time here. I have some tasks that I need to do- that I would prefer not to have Scout-lings around to watch me do.”

“Yes sir,” Cedric and Ramiel say.

Ramiel did not want to know what Hura meant by that. Those questions, which Hura might answer, would give him nightmares. Or worse, could potentially stain his soul with Chaos. And that is not something he wants to damn himself with.

The Night Lord is scowling but huffs out, “Fucking Scouts? Ugh, Alright, c’mon ya lil’ shits.”

The Night Lord gives a lazy salute to Hura and stomps back in the base, through a look over to the pair of them, “I ain’t movin’ slower ya giant babies. Follow or not. I don’t give a shit.”

Cedric and Ramiel blink at him and each other before following after him quickly. The First Born Night Lord’s temperament seemed. Grouchy. Still, despite his sour personality and ability to turn the air blue, with alarming regularity. Ramiel and Cedric were learning a lot of During-Heresy curses that had fallen out of use during the intervening ten-thousand years.

Despite his penchant for trying to jump scare them, and his growling, he hadn’t tried to hurt them. Which was… interesting. Then again, it was likely that Hura had spoken of why hurting them would be a bad idea.

Still… accidents could happen between Loyalists and Chaos Marines and fighting would boil over into turf wars that could end up with many wounded or dead and the need for Librarians and Alpha Legionaries to clean up the mess and have the humans forget what the Warp can’t hide.

Still, it was almost a pleasant visit to the Chaos Base, helping with various tasks, more chores, and help with cleaning and maintenance of the base. Karlsor occasionally poked them with questions, wondering why they were temporarily transferred over to the Chaos Base.

Not that either one of them would say a word why. It’s not this Night Lord’s business, and besides, they really don’t know how he’d react and they don’t want to deal with his taunting about them being too weak to face someone who’d hurt them both so badly.

Cedric sends them a message a couple of weeks later, that Petras has left the Base and city. Also- about how he seemed to linger for a while. Waiting. For something or someone, but he’d had to move on with his Crusade of Black Templars.

Still, Ramiel tries not to feel the sting of guilt for his cowardice at avoiding his Mentor. Also his continued disrespect and rudeness by not going to his Mentor and greeting him proper. Cedric and his brother-cousins were extremely vocal on the subject of Ramiel meeting his… his Mentor. And that is for him not to unless circumstances changed that he had to.

His hearts warm, as Ramiel fondly remembers just how much his fellow Primaris Marines love and care for him, and each other. It’s good, despite all they have been through, that they still care.

‘Perhaps,’ Ramiel thinks to himself- and the thought catches him off guard and he almost drops something, but catches it at the last moment, ‘he has lost his compassion. Or his love of others.’

That seems. Oh dear, he’s going to have to go to his older brother Chaplains and request punishments for such an unkind thought in his head. He shouldn’t think such things about his fellow Chaplains, especially those who are so much older, wiser, and more knowledgeable than him.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Finding A New Shoal

Previous =-= Next

Author's note: Kopesh is the brain child of @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, thank you for letting me borrow him :) I hope I got your boy's characterization right. Let me know if I need to tweak them.

Author's note 2: Vanya is the brain child of @sleepyfan-blog, thank you for letting me borrow him :) I hope I got your boy's characterization right.

Summary: Karlsor meets Kopesh and Vanya, and slowly they start to form bonds with each other and form a small shoal.

Warnings: Swearing from Karlsor... Let me know if I need to add more.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams

Tagged: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

Karlsor had been swimming for a while, getting farther and farther away from the very fucking cursed rot reef thing. He's occasionally let out trills and calls to see if anyone would respond. Mostly its just been silence, using his Psyker Senses, carefully, because for some reason he feels so clumsy and slow, and like he's nearly frozen, swimming in thick syrup, and barely able to use his powers, like he's a fresh Aspirant with only the smallest of fumbling understanding of how to use his powers in the most nascent of ways. He lets out a couple of more calls before pausing, and hearing a return call. He tries not to get too excited, as he lets out responding calls and sending a message through his vox. He's glad to meet up with another Space Marine, even better, they are a couple of fellow Night Lord space marines.

"Greetings," Karlsor starts, "I'm Librarian Night Lord Karlsor of the 10th company. Who the fuck are you two?"

"Vanya, Raptor Lord," Vanya replies narrowing his eyes at the Psyker brother's swearing. Perhaps this Psyker brother of theirs has harsher edges than normal. "When are you from?"

"Kopesh, Scout," Kopesh says introducing himself as he begins to figure out ways to mess with both of his newly found older brothers.

"The fuck you mean when?" Karlsor asks Vanya with a squint. "I was in mid-battle fighting against some fucking uppity Ultramarines on McCragge when I woke up in the ocean on this shit hole of a planet. You?"

"Before, during, or after the Horus Heresy?" Vanya asks.

"The fucking what now? You mean the Rebellion against the Emperor?" Karlsor asks to clarify what the fuck he meant by that.

"Ah, you've just arrived then," Kopesh interjects with a shit eating grin, "We are on Ancient Terra."

"Fucking prove it Scout." Karlsor demands, not entirely believing the mischievous look on the other Night Lord's Face.

The Raptor Lord doesn't argue with what the younger Space Marine said, and indeed nods in agreement before having him look up at the night sky, they guide him to one of the ancient Terran big telescopes that were on the land, swimming through the air coming in handy for that as he spots what he needs to and his mind goes blank for a moment as his mouth opens up, asking a question that none know the answer to and are seeking different methods, "How the fuck did we get here?"

"No one knows, and we are all trying to find out one way or another." Vanya replies. "Loyalist, Renegade, Chaos, all factions are effected by... The Warp Nonsense."

"And there's more to it than just getting flung into the past." Kopesh says as he thinks about his pretty human, his smile softening a little at thinking about his lovely human.

"What's that fucking mean?" Karlsor asks.

"Bonds," Vanya replies simply, before going over the basics of a Space Marine and Human Bond.

"That seems like utter grox-shit," The Psyker protests, "As far as I know, the Warp doesn't work that way!"

"It does, at least here and now," Kopesh says, before cackling at the expression on Karlsor's face. "I'm bonded to a pair of humans."

"So am I," Vanya says, his face softening as he thinks about his beloved. The scare he'd had with those damned Alpha Legion fuckers trying to steal his darling human from him and him scowling and clenching his heads. "A warning, as far as we know, the Alpha Legion can't actually bond with humans, and the sneaky bastards try to steal bonded from us."

"Thanks for the warning," the younger two Night Lords reply with a concerned frown.

Alpha Legion Space Marines are Always trouble, and no one exactly knows what the fuck it is that they are doing. Some have wondered if even the Alpha Legion knows what the Alpha Legion is doing, or if they have lost themselves to their web of lies and schemes are just social engineering things for their own sense of twisted amusement, and likely to the detriment of all except themselves.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

I love how cranky and foul-mouthed Karlsor is! Will we ever get to see him—either as a firstborn or firstborn mer—with a bond? It'd be hilarious to see him bonded to a baseline who was, like, super positive and the opposite of him.

Hello there friend!

Are you reading my notes? Lol- Karlsor is indeed a very cantankerous foul-mouthed old grouch of a Night Lord. Yes- he will have a super positive sunshine bonded who's the complete opposite of him. At first he wears his Sun goggles around them because they are "too bright and cheerful".

He takes being Bonded like he does most things in life. With a lot of growling and swearing. Hissing and spitting. but ultimately, he will be very caring, in his own gruff sour way.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Karlsor

Full Speed Ahead

Tell Me

Sunshine and Storm Clouds