#brian and krejjh

[jaggedwolf]

TSCOSI Ficlets #4

Queued a couple of batches of five of old ones, wanted to collate'em before I lost'em.

I'll protect you!

Krejjh tackled Translator Jeeter to the floor before the glass window shattered. They didn’t make a move till they heard the gunfire drift farther away from the restaurant. Other patrons went back to their meals, one pair trading four tens with the look of a settled bet.

Krejjh?” Translator Jeeter’s breathing tickled the frills of Krejjh’s neck. A couple of words in human-English that Krejjh couldn’t catch, and then in Dwarnian, “Can I get up now?”

“Sure thing!” Krejjh pushed themself back into a crouch, and stared. No blood coming out of anywhere, no obvious wounds, only quicker breaths. “Are you injured, Translator Jeeter?”

“Nope, thanks to you.” Translator Jeeter smiled for too short a moment before looking worried. “Krejjh-”

Krejjh spun around to face the window, the smarting of their left wing only another focus for the coming battle. No enemies faced them. They turned back, confused.

Translator Jeeter frowned. “Your wing-”

A waiter slid between them briefly, and wow, human restaurants were way more used to Nuezo gunfire than Krejjh would’ve thought. Folks back home would’ve freaked out about mixing meals and battle.

Krejjh folded back their right wing, peering closely at the other one. There was a small tear in the translucent membrane. From the glass, not the bullets. They lightly flapped the wing. Krejjh hummed with the solid, soft sting of air passing through the new hole.

“Woah,” said Translator Jeeter, curls of his hair swaying in the wing-created wind. “I mean, uh, do you need a doctor?”

“Nah.” Krejjh shrugged, their extended wing brushing against a human who scowled and shifted their chair away. “It’ll be good as new, just got to eat and not get any more holes in it.”

Translator Jeeter let out a big breath. “Thanks again for the save. Man, I could’ve sworn the Lower District was supposed to be safe this week?”

“It’s no problem at all.” Krejjh puffed up their chest. “I wouldn’t let my translator get hurt.”

They sneak a look, pleased when Translator Jeeter’s cheeks turn interesting shades of red.

Bad dreams

When Arkady woke, a new shot of adrenaline spiked through her heart at the arm around her waist, the leg tangled between her own, the pressure on her back. It took the sight of her gun on the table and the tickle of breath against her spine to keep her still.

The Iris. Her own room. Violet.

Not the first time Violet had spent the night, but the first time one of those dreams had happened during. Stupid. Should have thought of that, she’d almost flipped and pinned Liu on pure instinct, and that would’ve been-

That would’ve been bad. Arkady disentangled herself. She swung her legs off the bunk, the cold floor a jolt to her toes. Violet’s breathing stayed steady behind her. So quiet, you could almost miss it in the constant hum of the ship.

Arkady listened until her muscles untensed. She slumped forward, forearms on knees. Before tonight the worst thing about the nightmares had been her memory of them - only the barest outlines remained for her head to conjure a dozen possibilities, even as her chest seized in desperation. She blew a breath out past her lips.

“Arkady?” Violet’s voice solidified. “Hey-”

There was the sound of the covers shifting, the feeling of shifting pressure on the mattress, a tentative hand on her shoulder. Arkady leaned back into its warmth without turning around.

“It’s nothing,” said Arkady, throat dry. “Bad dream. You can go back to bed, Liu.”

The thumb idly brushing under the strap of her undershirt stilled. The hand disappeared altogether. The dim disappointment mixed with relief didn’t last long, movement catching the corner of Arkady’s vision.

A pajama-clad knee rested against Arkady’s bare one. “Would you rather be alone?”

“No,” admitted Arkady reluctantly.

Violet slid her arm along Arkady’s, interlacing their fingers. She yawned and cuddled closer to Arkady. There would be another question soon, in the next few minutes, or tomorrow.

Somehow, Arkady didn't mind.

Feet

Sana sighed and tilted her head back against the wall. It had been a long week. Good to be back on the Rumor. Good to be here with its crew.

“This wall is way more comfortable than I remember it.” Sana stretched her legs out, careful not to knock over the cup of moonshine next to her. “I could fall asleep here.”

Sitting cross-legged opposite her, Arkady half-grinned the way she did the way after jobs that mostly went according to plan. “Captain, your mattress is literally five feet away.”

That it was, sheets messily crumpled on it. Sana shrugged. “I built this wall too well, I might not even take off my boots.”

“Now I know you’re drunk,” snarked Arkady, taking a quick swig from her own cup. “Actually taking credit for something?”

“Hey, I do-” Sana’s train of thought was derailed by Arkady lifting Sana’s right foot into her lap, palms skimming the brown leather. Arkady’s fingers made quick work of the shoelace knot. Sana shook her head, trying to clear it. “Kady, you don’t have to-”

“There’s a lot of shit I don’t have to do,” grumbled Arkady, shoulders tightening.

Sana noted that line of tension, the flicker of nervousness in Arkady’s dark eyes, and the easy comfort her own legs felt. She didn’t pull her foot away. “That’s true.”

Arkady continued unlacing the boot. Sana picked up her cup again to take a slow sip. “I don’t thank you enough for it.”

Arkady snorted, but her shoulders relaxed. Good enough. Arkady coaxed out the boot’s tongue, pulling the boot Sana’s sore foot without jarring it. She peeled off the sock in the next breath. Unthinkingly, Sana wiggled her free toes.

Not that Sana had any expectations of where this was going, but if she had, she would’ve expected Arkady to move on to her left foot. Instead, Arkady’s fingers interlocked around the top of her foot. Arkady’s movements were cautious. As if there was a wrong way she was capable of touching Sana.

Sana let out a low groan at the warmth and pressure of Arkady’s thumbs digging into her sole. “Wow, that’s good.”

Arkady’s expression grew more content. “Not exactly my first job with a lot of on-the-feet time. Learnt a few tricks.”

Cat AU

RJ skulks along the alley's walls. They try to keep in mind Park's lesson on minding sound and warmth as much as sight, the first time he had let them accompany him to the kitchen. One had to be careful not to wake the sleeping of the big house.

Park's advice is no use out here - RJ hisses at the thought - where it's always noisy and hot and RJ keeps feeling things on their whiskers that makes them want to dart under dumpsters like they're a kitten.

They inch forward. Their paws are weaker from hunger than they've ever been, but Park is counting on them. Park, who's still asleep in that box two or three blocks back, who's hurt in a way that makes RJ want to yowl even though good cats aren't supposed to. RJ scrunches their eyes shut and tries not to remember the swinging boot that-

The sound of crashing cans fills the alley. When RJ's eyes open, they see a tail disappear around a corner. Another cat! An alleycat, RJ reminds themself. Yet they and Park hadn't eaten in almost a day, and reconnaissance was always a worthy endeavor. At the very least, it would be good intelligence to report.

RJ curls around the corner, both relieved and disappointed to see nothing. They enter the alley, sniffing nervously for any sign of food. A sudden weight lands on their back. They stumble and fall, yelping when hot breath fills their ears.

"If you don't wanna get hurt, keep still," the breath says.

RJ knows that voice. It's one of those alleycats. The fighty one, RJ thinks. The other cats land softly around them, sets of white and orange and grey and striped feet caught in peripheral vision. The group must have waited up on a fire escape or a windowsill. Should've cleared the area fully.

Claws out, RJ readies their trembling paws. These alleycats aren't going to find out where Park is from RJ.

Blankets

Krejjh's Earth-English is isn’t good enough to catch what the human from the bed is frantically yelling into the comms. A summoning of reinforcements, perhaps.

What is this room? The inside of this ship looks nothing of Dwarnian make. The last memory is of a game night with the other pilots. Krejjh’s armor and weapons are nowhere to be seen. If it’s a capture, and these humans are willing to gain something for themselves...the subclan might bother attempting to make a trade, but the subclan would never let Krejjh live down such a folly.

There's still only one human. Krejjh has yet to fight one face to face, only shot down ships and buildings from far above, but Krejjh has the entire upbringing of a Dwarnian citizen and this human has-

Hair? This human has hair, which makes sense, because humans do. Dark curly hair on the head, and a thinner layer over the bottom half of the face. No weapons or armor worn, doesn’t strike Krejjh as a soldier, but what other reason could explain the presence?

"Krejjh?" The human's voice softens, turning to Krejjh with empty hands in the air. In accented yet understandable Dwarnian, the human says "Hey friend, I really need you to stay calm. The war's way less of a concern than what you said earlier, we’re not enemy soldiers or anything.”

The human’s term of address stirs something in Krejjh’s vitals. A sign of deception? A bargain? Krejjh had never been good at the social games, had flown right away from all of those. The blanket, gripped tight, could serve as an impromptu weapon. Then again, it was human-make like everything else Krejjh could see. Could as well fall apart at the first use. The human’s eyes stay on Krejjh’s face, not a glance at Krejjh’s hands.

"Why have you captured me?" asks Krejjh. "Where are your fellow soldiers?"

“None of us are soldiers,” says the human.

The door slams open with the entrance of another human who was covered in guns. The scarred face scowls as Earth-English spews forth - something about the taking of oaths, and maybe weapons. Though the new human really didn’t seem to need any more weapons.

"That's definitely a soldier," says Krejjh, slowly sliding against the wall, pleased when the new human mirrors the movements on instinct.

"Arkady's not a-I mean, kinda used to be but-"

"Catch!" Krejjh throws the balled-up blanket into the face of the new human before leaping through the open door, leaving the humans yelping behind.

Escaped from the room, check. Next stop, armory or cockpit. Shoulders cooled by the ship's air even while running, Krejjh glances down.

It’d be fantastic to find a shirt at some point.

[scrawleditalix]

his dark materials AU pt. II | pt. I | pt. III

Violet — Taleo, he/him, antelope jackrabbit

Runners up: coyote

Violet gets a brash, outspoken little desert-dweller with a stare so piercing and otherworldly you start to understand why people mythologized these guys as jackalopes. She likes to research other peoples’ daemons, but that can go from “neat party trick” to “touchy subject” real fast, so she tends to keep that hobby to herself. Still, she is desperately curious as to whether Kaibolo can actually sprint the length of the Rumor in under three seconds.

Brian — Aster, she/her, common raven

Runners up: a couple other bird species, briefly

When we get to Brian, we come across the very interesting question: when a person changes their pronouns, does their daemon also change their pronouns? The HDM author is on record saying he doesn’t actually know how the pronoun thing works which means I get to answer this question, and my answer is that the soul is far less tolerant of bullshit when it has a voice of its own. Aster always had she/her pronouns and Brian mostly just stopped being called a lesbian when he changed his. As a side note, the boots Brian is depicted wearing were a gift from Krejjh, who endured a very confusing afternoon learning about human shoe sizes.

Krejjh — Barophet, generally will not respond to the same pronoun for more than about 5 minutes but has taken a shine to fae/faer, unnamed alien species (modeled after a Corsac fox)

Runners up: I originally wanted to give Krejjh a mashup between a peacock and an iguana

What is the opposite of “dislikes pronouns”? And how do you catch a wave upon the sand? Introducing: a flagrant disregard for the human notion of gender except this time it’s more like a disco ball. I really like the idea that dwarnians just assumed their daemons also didnt care to denote gender with pronouns, only to make contact with alien species and discover that their daemons generally think pronouns are really weird and neat.

[delaneytalks-tostatues]

I did start crying thinking about Krejjh and Brian and their wedding again they invented romance actually I need season 3 right now immediately I need them to be okay and together again

[triceforgotten]

the lovers ever :)

theyre all the world to me

[creature-from-unknown-orgins]

Calling your partner bud is so romantic

[littleliongirl16]

Hi disclaimer i did not look at anyone else's designs for Starship Iris characters before drawing this, this is how i imagine them

Brian Jeeter and Krejjh content because Oh My God They Are Fiancees And I Love Them

Do not mess with the linguist or the love of his life <3

[octopusinaskinsuit]

On my millionth relisten of the best podcast ever tscosi

I'm thinking about how krejjh says "I love you" in English and brian says "Theh-shlow-lay" in dwanian

They say it in each other's languages!! I love them so much!!

[cool-person-yey]

ok so I started listening to the strange case of starship iris in an effort to comb through my reasonably sized list of stuff I gotta listen/watch/play/read before I die

as of now I'm on episode 4 and these are my thoughts

• loving Violet as of now. short lesbian(?) nation rise up

• Arkady my DEAR you are so emotionally constipated I can't even

• Shout out to Brian, trans icon and most chill guy ever.

• Sana hasn't done a lot yet but she seems pretty cool, I love how much she tries to make sure everyone feels motivated

•LOVE Krejjh with all my heart. Im rly interested in how we're going to learn abt the history of the dwarnians and their culture through the lens of someone who does love their culture but is facing an internal conflict of sorts about it

also this line

was objectively really funny

[boredclarinet]

Krejjh and Brian : We dont need to be legally married. who cares about a marriage license

Cambell: I do! Let me make a marriage license! D:

[rabbityfrogs]

Headcanon that sometime in between the third minisode & episode 6 of season 2, Brian sewed a dinosaur plushie for Krejjh. They named it Goose <3

[emmy-noethers-rings]

aaahhh thanks @hollyofmercia!! im so glad to be counted as a beloved mutual!!

Last song: Cabaret 2 by penelope scott. my brain kinda grabbed that one tehe

currently watching: well. this is a podcast blog so im going to interpret this as currently listening and thus: Hi Nay!!!! its so good. its fun and spooky and fits in with my dnd campaign and go listen to it >:3

Three ships: the Bismarck, the turtle ship (거북선), and the American Turtle. tehe. But to actually answer the question: Krejjh & Brian Jeter (strange case of starship iris), Medusa & Andromeda (Khôra podcast), Paige &Hayworth (The silt verses)

Favourite Colour: Scarlet. like scarlet macaw scarlet yknow?

currently consuming: breakfast. but also been playing civ 6 and reading gideon the ninth

First ship: pfft fuck it if i remember. Havent been in fandom that long so maybe Sam and Oliver (Spirit Box radio)

Relationship status: In possession of a husband >:3 and loving them dearly

last movie: Casablanca i think?

currently working on: programming a video game to play with my younger sibling while im off at college together; embroidery; drawing a bunch of stuff; a uni degree; weighting dice to cheat at dnd. All of these are happening simultaneously.

anywas i think im supposed to tag 9 people but i cant count so get tagged beloved mutuals:

@thecontortionistswristwatch @motherofmostlysnakes @time-travel-nacho @lottiethedottyhottie @cindereleanor @suncrayon @rotationalsymmetry @pajrc1234 @in-a-sea-of-black @cybersp4ced @worlds-smallest-epsilon @jumpingthesefences @cyan-skies @dynamicsbitch

if ive forgotten you im so sorry ive tagged you in absentia bc ofc. i forgor

[delaneytalks-tostatues]

GIRLFRIEND IS LISTENING TO STARSHIP IRIS I REPEAT GIRLFRIEND IS LISTENING TO STARSHIP IRIS THIS IS NOT A DRILL WE WILL BE KREJJH AND BRIAN SOON--

[thatchronicfeeling]

You know how in The Strange Case of Starship Iris (podcast) the IGR doesn’t care who is harmed by the nanoswarm? And how Violet gets a cough and Arkady is beside herself with worry (even if she’s trying extremely hard not to show it)? And how everyone’s favourite trans linguist in space, Brian Jeeter, is disabled by the after-effects of the nanoswarm? And it is awful. Krejjh is terrified that they’re going to lose Brian and everyone else is hugely worried too. They all know what it’s like to lose people; they know how precious life is. (Brian’s having a ****ing hellish time with his new chronic illness, by the way. In case anyone didn’t realise because his manner is still so gentle) Okay, that’s fiction. Compelling, well-written fiction. And it hit home really hard for me as a chronically ill person.  It’s also very frightening to see something similar play out in real time. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. Governments around the world are pretending it’s fine to ‘go back to normal’, whilst not giving a fuck who is killed or disabled by Covid. An airborne virus that continues to spread and mutate. Disabled lives are not expendable. Neither is yours. Wear a mask. In public indoor spaces and crowded outdoor spaces (this is basically all outdoor spaces if you live in a town/city), including at Pride. FFP2/3 or N95 masks give you best protection (especially ones that fasten behind your head). Wear a mask to protect yourself. Wear a mask to protect the people around you. 

[thatchronicfeeling]

This is brilliant. I am now imagining Brian and Krejjh's reactions to (and continued in-jokes about) Arkady vaulting a cafeteria table because of a girl she likes.

If you're not familiar with @idiopathicsmile's original cream cheese story (which made me laugh so hard the first time I read it and delights me no end every time I think about it), invite some joy into your life and read it here.

didn’t know to send this here or to your fic blog but OBVIOUSLY i must know where the cream cheese thief/disaffected cafeteria worker divide falls for enjoltaire and for arkady/violet, although i’ll be honest i have a solid guess for the latter but i feel like the first could swing both ways

HELLO!

the former is addressed here; the latter raises some additional interesting questions. this may imply some deep deficiency about my own character-creation skills, but when we're talking Starship Iris, the main problem i run into is that the scenario kind of stipulates that the cream cheese is being stolen badly.

like, listen, do i think that a modern college AU Arkady Patel is above lifting an entire brick of cream cheese for her own nefarious ends? of course not. but i will tell you this about any version of Arkady Patel that i can imagine: that girl covers her tracks. you wanna catch her in the act, you better have extensive use of security cameras and the ability to freeze-frame, motherfucker.

i am inclined to think that Violet Liu would also, under at least the majority of circumstances, harness her own anxieties to foresee every possible complication she could humanly foresee, and guard against them. i think the one exception to this is if she is having A Mental Health Incident, like the anxiety has spiraled to full-on terrified depression, and she is approaching that condiments bar like a woman with a hunger for the soothing powers of cheesecake deep in her heart, and absolutely nothing to lose.

Violet drops the cream cheese into a tupperware hidden in her purse, Arkady witnesses this, Violet witnesses Arkady witness it and absolutely makes a break for it, hyperventilating all the while, and Arkady literally leaps over a cafeteria table to follow Violet outside the cafeteria, and just when Violet's paranoid fears have crested into full-on "am I about to be arrested?" mode, Arkady's like, "hey. a purse is maybe the worst vessel for this caper, can I interest you in a bagel? pile your cream cheese on the bagel and then scrape it into a secondary container once you're out of the room" and Violet's like, "uh are you giving me thieving tips" and Arkady says, "at least make it a little challenging, i mean right? game on" and it doesn't cure Violet's mental health issues, i mean come on, of fucking course it doesn't, it doesn't even lead to a breakthrough, but the thought that she might need to have her emotions stabler before maaaaybe going on a date with the cute cafeteria worker is one additional straw on the camel's back of "check in with your university's mental health services."

meanwhile, Arkady's fellow cafeteria workers, Brian Jeeter and what's-their-name—that French exchange student with the purple hair—are giving her so much shit.

[internetconnectedbrethren]

1.03 “In The Deep” vs. 2.02 “The Hard Sell”

[jaggedwolf]

Taking Advantage Of Someone With Amnesia

Brian tries convincing himself he's in danger. It should work, even if the short woman peering into each of his eyes with a flashlight doesn't seem like much of a threat. He's also in a medbay? Real low threat levels all around. "Hey," he says, when the woman puts the flashlight away, "Violet, right?" Disappointment flashes over her face before being replaced with a neutral expression, but she nods. That's been happening on a lot of faces ever since the woman with all the guns dragged him in here from- From where? He hadn't had time to ask, and since the last thing he remembered was despairing in his dorm room because he'd found two contradictory sources on the etymology of the Dwarnian word for feather, he doubted he'd figure out that one on his own.

Okay, what did the gun lady say again? "So, I'm 33 years old?" he says, the lie heavy on his tongue. "And I'm on this crew with all of you?" Yeah, this amnesia thing sounds fake. Maybe this was some kind of hazing ritual they put all the juniors through? Violet frowned. "Right, your brain's probably in a frenzy trying to process this. Why don't you take a look at the mirror over there?" He pushes off the cot and does exactly that. Woah. A full beard, which isn't a thing his face can do. His face looks older but like, more relaxed somehow? And there's something about the way he's holding himself too. A comfortable slouch, yeah, but it looks different from the one he's used to - no hunched shoulders, no sense of politely asking everyone in the vicinity to please ignore whatever's happening here. Huh, cool. He grins at himself in the mirror, it's as goofy as ever, and when he looks at Violet she's watching him carefully with a small smile. He hops back up on the cot. Violet's probably got more medical stuff to do. "Any idea how I lost my memories?" "What else did Arkady tell you?" That must be the name of the scary gun lady. He didn't ask, y'know, on account of all the guns. And the scars. And the arms. She didn't seem like someone you wanted to ask too many questions of. "Uh, she said that the war's over and that I don't have anything against Dwarnians, and then she muttered something about the cockpit before disappearing?" Violet sighed but she didn't seem super surprised. A not great thought came to Brian then. "Do I not like the Dwarnians now? Like, their history isn't any worse than humanity's, I'm literally studying their language-" The medbay door slides open. "Crewman Jeeter?" And okay, he feels like it's totally ridiculously cool that not only does 33 year old him seem more relaxed and comfortable with himself, he's also on the same crew as a Dwarnian. The Dwarnian looks nervous, all their eyes kinda squinting at him. He has so many questions. (Like how is said Dwarnian so very handsome, his dumb brain supplies, and he swats the thought away because it is very true and also very not helpful). But he does wanna make a good impression, so in Dwarnian he says, "Hi? I'm Brian, what's your name? The Dwarnian's lips wobble a little. Shoot, did he accidentally say something really rude? This is really basic stuff, Jeeter, get it together. "Arkady told you?" asks Violet. "Yeah," the Dwarnian replies, their eyes still fixed on him. They have nice eyes, but he kinda wishes they looked less sad. "Science Officer Liu, what do we do?" "I," said Violet, looking determined, "am going to use our state-of-the-art medbay tech to take some scans of Brian's brain. You're going to take a walk around the ship while I give Brian a better rundown of his history, and when you get back we'll take it from there." The Dwarnian nodded, only pausing to mention something about a First Mate Patel trying to contact a captain before leaving. Huh, seemed like they had a full crew on board. He stays quiet while Violet does the scans and gives him the promised rundown, only speaking at the beginning so she knows where to start. The xenolinguistics grad school stuff is awesome - he can't believe he'd ever ditch that, even if the money fell through. Neuzo sounds super cool and super terrifying and oh, that's where he and the Dwarnian - their name's Krejjh apparently - met. And then they met the captain and Arkady and- "What?" He bursts out, "okay, Violet, I think it's a little cruel to lie to a guy with amnesia." Violet's smile at this part of her story falters. He presses on, "Like, sure, apparently I was really obvious when Krejjh came through that door but making up an engagement? Not cool." "Wow, is it weird being on the other side of this," Violet says, whatever that means. She chuckles. "I'm not lying, and since you were paying such close attention to Krejjh, I'm sure you noticed they were out of breath and really worried about you?" He had. He grins. "Man, what isn't awesome about my current life?" "The whole being on the run from the IGR bit?" He waves a hand dismissively. "Sure, sure." The medbay slides open again, and this time Krejjh is accompanied by Arkady. She still has a lot of guns and Krejjh is still Krejjh, so Brian feels very good about his decision to focus on Krejjh. They look more settled now. "What's the verdict?" Arkady asks, coming into the room. Brian shifts along the cot away from her. Okay, sure, Violet says they're all friends and apparently older him is used to all the guns. Current him has never even seen a gun fired in real life, so. Violet turns to her terminal, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I need some time to look over the scans, and you need to tell me exactly what happened. Is Sana on her way?" "There's traffic," spits out Arkady, the scar across her mouth twisting as she speaks, "and even she can't jump over the kind here." "Good, we don't need two patients." Arkady rests a hand on Violet's shoulder, squeezing it, and Violet seems to relax into the touch. "Fellas," Krejjh says, "maybe Crewman Jeeter and I could keep outta your hair while you work on that stuff, so he doesn't have to wait in here? If that's okay with you?" Krejjh directs that last question to him, and he shrugs. "Sounds cool to me." Violet and Arkady agree, so he heads out of the medbay and into the hallway with Krejjh. He immediately regrets his decision - what's he supposed to say? Sorry I don't remember our relationship? At least I still think you're attractive? Can I ask you like, a billion questions about the Dwarnian language? Krejjh solves that problem for him. "What does current you know about Dwarnian soap operas?" "Wait, are those a thing?" Krejjh grins wildly. "Oh, Crewman Jeeter, this is gonna be great!"