#kalvi vents

[kalviberry]

Venting.

Whoops, I made myself sad. I miss my friends so much. I just miss being able to hang out, hug them and hear about what's been happening lately. I know I should make friends were I am, but it's not the same when I miss the person. I miss their energy, their laugh, their smile, and being able to talk to them.

I'm sure it doesn't help that I haven't heard much from my best friend, and I know she is super busy, and it's not on me. I also had a dream where all my friends were in one place, and it felt so warm and welcoming. It sucks not being able go get ahold of friends, and I wish we didn't have such distance between us.

[mischiefandspirits]

Roar

Lance met them while surfing just off the coast of Cuba. Hunk met him while helping out at his mothers’ restaurant. Pidge met her while solving puzzles with her brother. Shiro met him after leading his soccer team to victory. Keith… Well, Keith had always known her.

Which is why he was completely unsurprised to find out the cats were more than they seemed.

Find more. Also on: AO3 & Fanfiction

Part 4: Interlude: Mother of Cats, Part 1

Red gets bored, which usually never results in anything good, and ends up making a new friend.

Red was annoyed. No, more than annoyed, she was bored!

She'd just spent who cares how long sitting on that molten little excuse for a moon Alfor had left her on -- and oh boy would she have words with him if she ever saw him again. Words and flames!! -- with nothing to do but watch the lava flows. And now Black’s Reject had uprooted her just to parade his little worshippers in front of her and demand she pick one.

Yeah, that wasn't happening. As if any of those bootlickers could ever be her paladin!

It had been amusing at first.

She scoffed at the ones that strutted in already “knowing” who she'd picked, then laughed when they threw a fit when she didn't even glance their way. She growled at the ones who thought they could force their way in, wished to blast them off the face of the universe, and watched with smug satisfaction as they left with their tails between their legs, sometimes literally. She watched with pity the ones who stumbled in already knowing she wouldn't choose them and fearing what would happen to them as a result. Reject was only getting angrier with every not-to-be paladin.

As time passed though, the amusement wore off. It was the same thing, over and over, with nothing ever changing.

At least the lava flows shifted over time. The Galra, not so much.

Red was bored and as Black always said, that was a scary thing to behold.

She started… experimenting.

Her body had been locked down by Alfor, but not her energy. She started pushing her quintessence out of her body, around her then away. Testing the limits.

At first she just watched, letting her invisible cloud of energy float around the variety of ships and stations and planets she ended up on like a ghost. When that grew boring as well, she tried constricting her energy until it became something visible, tangible. She molded the cluster into the form of a vicx, a creature similar looking to herself, but the size of an Altean space mouse and with eight legs. With this new form she was free to scamper through the vents of her current carrier ship.

This was going to be fun.

A barbed tail stood high in the air as it's owner watched the two Galra argue.

“This is the fifth time, Mirax!”

“I'm telling you, Commander, we've got pests! Miros or Kalvi! I've heard them, clattering through the vents!”

“So you keep saying. And yet every time I call in the exterminators, they find nothing. It's starting to look less like pests and more like sabotage.”

“C-Commander I swear-”

“You know, the guys down in engineering think it's a ghost.” The two Galra looked down at the third, who'd been fixing the chewed through wires without a word up until that point. Finished with his work, he closed the console and turned to the two. “Small things go missing only to turn up half-way across the ship in some impossible place. Locked rooms end up trashed with no evidence of anyone entering. Moans and screams coming from the walls. That's what all the rumors are at least. Never seen any of it myself.”

“Ghosts? Ridiculous! It's obviously pests!”

“I don't care what it is! It needs to either stop or be kept quiet! We drop off our special cargo on Vivno XL next quintant and I will not be made a fool of!”

Red chittered and stretched before leaving. So, she was going planetside. That could be interesting. If she was lucky, she could find an open area to try forming a larger species. A werevo maybe? Ooh, or a moasan!

The vicx returned to her hanger and remerged with her metallic body to rest.

Once they'd arrived on Vivno XL, Red slipped away in energy form until she reached the forest outside. She constricted her energy and morphed it into the shape of a moasan. The moasan was another creature that resembled herself, though this one was twice the height of the average Galra with four curling horns and long fur that fell around her body like a curtain.

Red put her new form to work, chasing the local wildlife around the forest and exploring the area. It was actually quite interesting. She and the other lions had never had the chance to just explore before. Red wanted to see everything!

She had been on the planet for a few quintants and was halfway across the world from her metallic form when she felt something.

The moasan looked up from terrorizing a medium sized creature she didn't know the name of -- which quickly made use of her distraction and fled -- at the odd feeling. It was weirdly familiar, yet completely foreign. It felt like… home, but at the same time not.

She followed the feeling until she reached one of the Galran outposts on the planet, a different one than where she was housed. She let her form shrink back into the form of a vicx and entered the base undetected.

The feeling eventually led her to a female Galra working in communications. She briefly wondered if she was meant to be Red’s paladin before brushing the idea off. The woman was too calculating and mindful. She'd be a far better match for green. Or maybe her sweet Blue. The woman did have that open feel they liked in their paladins.

By the Anodites, Red missed them.

Curious, Red stuck around the base to watch the woman. That was how Red figured out the Blade of Marmora was still sneaking around. Unfortunately she wasn't the only one to realize that not all the calls the woman was making were empire approved.

A feeling of dread filled her as Red watched the woman get cornered by a pair of soldiers and a handful of sentinels from a vent. This woman… This woman was important for some reason. She could not be captured.

Red dropped out of the vent and shifted her form to that of a creature she'd seen on the planet -- another creature that matched her shape, though this one had scales instead of fur, foot long fangs that hung from her upper jaw, and no tail. She latched onto one of the sentinels with her fangs and claws, bringing it down on another.

The distraction allowed the woman to draw her own blade and together they took down her assailants. Then they fled through the halls to the hanger. The woman jumped into a pod then smiled back at Red. “Thank you, prycoso.”

Red debated with herself as the woman got ready for launch before jumping inside just as the doors were closing. The woman waited until they'd left the atmosphere before turning to Red. “What are you doing here?”

Walking over, Red chirped and nuzzled up to the woman. She let her form shift into that of a Galra abisno, which was rather similar to the creature she’d been before, though fluffy with a long bushy tail.

The woman's eyes widened. “What are you?”

Red purred and set her head on the woman's lap.

The woman sighed and scratched behind her ears. “Either way, thank you. I couldn't have gotten out of there without you.”

Red lost track of time after that. It was so bizarre being stuck in such a tiny area. The ships she was always carried in were huge in order to support her own size. This ship? If she was in her metallic form she probably could have picked it up in her mouth like her mother used to do to her when she was annoying Green. She was pretty sure her own cockpit was bigger than the one she was currently curled up at the back of.

A buzzing filled the room and Red looked up in time to see a video call open on a holoscreen. Red was immediately on guard, but relaxed when the woman smiled at the Galra man.

“Thace!”

“Liva! Are you alright? What happened?”

“I was discovered, but I managed to get away unharmed. I snuck out of Galra territory so I'm going to set down and hide out until I can be sure I'm not being followed.”

“Should I inform headquarters you'll be returning as soon as you deem it safe?” he asked in that voice Black always used when the question was secretly a command.

“Of course, I'll see you soon.”

The man frowned and looked away. “Unfortunately I won't be here to greet you.”

The woman looked confused before her face went carefully blank. “You got the job.”

“I leave in five quintants.”

“I wish I could see you off.”

“It's too dangerous, for both you and the Blade.”

“I'll miss you.”

“And I you,” the man said, holding up his hand. A sound came from off screen and he glanced away. “I've got to go.”

“Alright. I won't be able to risk another call until I can return.”

“And I won't be able to risk one until my position is stable.”

“Be safe.”

“You too.”

Red slipped into the cargo hold to give the two privacy. She sniffed around the almost empty area until she found an emergency kit with food rations, water, and medical supplies. She grabbed a ration pack and water pouch with her tail and walked back over to the cockpit door. She listened at the door, then let herself in when she was met by silence.

“There you are,” the woman chuckled when she entered. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

The abisno purred and nosed the woman's -- The man had called her Liva, hadn't he? -- hand. She dropped the pack and pouch on Liva’s lap before curling up at her feet.

“Oh, thank you.” Liva took a quick drink from the pouch before opening up the rations. She split it in half before holding out half to Red, which Red accepted gratefully.

Her form didn't technically need to eat, but given that she didn't know when she'd be able to return to her metallic form, the energy from the food would help her maintain the strength needed to stay tangible.

She was laying on the floor at Liva’s feet, thinking over the new experience of chewing and swallowing, when she felt it. She was standing immediately, paws up on the dash to look out the windows.

“Is something wrong?” Liva asked.

Eyes darting about, Red took in their surroundings. They were just passing a red planet that seemed empty and ahead she could see a planet that was blue with speckles of green, brown, and white and had a simple little moon orbiting it.

Blue and white.

Blue!

“Nnnrrr!”

“What's wrong?” Luca asked. She spotted the planet and with a few gestures a holoscreen brought up a closer image of it.

Red purred and pawed at the screen.

“You wanna go there?”

She turned to the woman.

Liva turned back to the holoscreen. “Blue and green, that usually means plenty of water and plant life. Plant life will mean food. We'll have to watch out for any native sapient species, but otherwise it should make a good hiding spot. Alright then, prepare for landing.”

Red darted about the clearing they'd landed in in a frenzy.

Blue was here! She found Blue! They were somewhere on this planet with her!

How would she find them?

She froze, still except for her tail flicking back and forth.

Her senses told her that her love was on this planet, but she couldn't get any more precise in this form. She tried calling out through the connection her pride shared, but got nothing in return.

She was so close, and yet they were still so far away.

“What's wrong, prycoso?”

Red turned to see Liva coming out of the pod. She ran over and pressed against her legs.

Liva scratched behind her ears and said, “I’m going to go look around the area. Do you want to come along?”

“Vvvvveeew,” Red called, nuzzling Liva one last time before hopping over to climb up the pod. She sat down at the top, ears at attention and tail slowly shifting back and forth.

“Alright then, you guard the ship. I’ll be back.”

Red listened to Liva wander off to the ship’s right. She waited up on the ship for a varga before jumping down. A sniff of the air and she was wondering off a little forwards of the ship’s left towards the scent of water. She ran through the trees until she reached a curling river. She crouched down and approached slowly, eyeing the trio of scaled creatures swimming in circles.

Closer… closer…

Red pounced.

One creature slipped away, but the other two were caught firmly in Red’s mouth. Boastful, the abisno strutted back through the forest with her prize.

“Ihsakat, luferac eb.”

Red froze, then ducked under a bush. She set her prey down and peeked out.

There were two creatures stomping through the forest. They almost looked like Alteans, though with small, rounded ears, no markings, and dull hair and eyes. Both had black hair while the smaller of the two had dark grey eyes and the taller had brown.

The smaller turned to the other and shouted something in it’s native tongue -- “Orb, ma I!” -- as it waved some sort of device around.

This wasn’t good. There was no telling what these creatures would do if they found Liva.

Red glanced around before climbing into a tree as quietly as she could. She slipped from tree to tree until she was between the pod and the creatures. She made sure she was hidden from their sight as she dropped to the ground then let out a long, low growl. Hopefully these creatures had a predator that had a similar call.

Both creatures stiffened at the sound and the smaller went to the bigger’s side. “Taht saw tahw?”

“Ereh fo tuo teg s'tel, no emoc. Noil niatnuom a ekil dednuos.”

“T-thgir.”

The larger creature put his hand on the smaller’s shoulder, leading it away. She watched the two go, listening to their footsteps when they were out of sight until she was sure they were gone. Relaxing, she slipped out of her hiding spot to retrieve her prey.

“Ti dneps ot yaw doog a gnidnif si/Noitareneg ruo rof melborp launna eht os!/Ti dne ot tsuj gnola semoc loohcs dna/Noitacav remmus fo syad ruof dna derdnuh eno s'ereht!”

Red yowled and spun towards the loud noise, ready to fight. However, she saw nothing.

“Rewot Leffie eht pu gnibmilc ro/Ymmum a gnithgif ro/Tekcor a gnidliub…/Ebyam ekil!”

Red followed the sound until she saw the device the smaller creature had been holding. It must have dropped it when she startled them.

As she looked closer, it almost seemed like some sort of primitive holoscreen. She watched it flash a picture of another of the creatures -- this one with dark skin, long brown hair, and green eyes -- as it continued to make noise before it finally fell silent and went black. She waited a moment to see if it would do anything else, then picked it up with her tail and returned to gathering her prey.

Liva had already returned when she got to the pod and looked relieved when Red walked up. “You shouldn’t wander off, prycoso.”

Red just huffed and dropped her prey at Liva’s feet. Honestly, as if she couldn’t take care of herself.

“Oh,” Liva exclaimed, kneeling down to grab the two creatures. She held them up to look them over. “Are these edible?”

Staring at the woman, Red cocked her head to the side. How was she supposed to know what was edible for Galra on a foreign planet?

“Right, I’ll have to scan it to check. I caught a couple small terrestrial animals, but they read as inedible without proper processing. Thankfully there seems to be a surplus of edible vegetation.”

Red’s nose scrunched up.

“Yeah, I’d prefer not to have to live off plants either.”

Purring, Red nosed her leg, then held out the device.

“What’s this?” Liva took the device and looked it over. “Where did you get this?”

The abisno glanced off back the way she’d come from.

“Right.” Liva sat down and tapped randomly at the device’s screen and buttons, trying to get it to react, until she hit the circular button and the screen lit up. Red peaked over her shoulder to see a picture of the two creatures from before taking up the screen. “Oh!”

Akira Kogane looked up when he heard the doorbell ring. “Takashi!”

No response.

Sighing, Akira set down the dish he was washing and dried his hands. He walked over and opened the door with a, “Hello there.”

Expecting one of his brother’s friends, his eyes widened when instead he was met with the sight of a tall, lean woman with waist-length black hair and brilliant violet eyes. “Oh, uh, hello? How may I help you?”

The woman gave an awkward smile and brushed her hair out of her face. “Hello,” she said with a strong accent Akira didn’t recognize. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I found this while out hiking and the address led to this home.”

He took the phone she held out and smiled when the screen lit up. “Thank heavens. My brother lost this while we were out and I was worried I’d have to get him a new one. Thank you much, Ms.?”

“Mun, Bora Mun. Glad I could help.”

“I’m Akira Kogane, but just Akira, please. Are you new to the area?”

“Yes, I only got here a month ago.”

“Work or pleasure?”

“Pleasure, I suppose. I just needed to get away from where I was before.”

“Well, I hope you’re happy here, Ms. Mun.”

“Thank you, Akira. And you can call me Liva.”

“Liva?”

“It’s a nickname, of sorts.”

“Well, thanks again, Liva. I suppose I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah.”

Liva sighed as she made it back to the pod.

“Mmmmrrrrrr.”

She smiled and looked up to she Romelle lying in one of the seats. At least, she thought it was Romelle. “I see you found a new form.”

Romelle purred and pointed her nose towards the holoscreen that was connected to the planet’s -- Earth’s -- information database -- the internet. On the screen was the mountain lion, the earth creature that Romelle had exactly matched, though its fur was tan while her’s was a soft red color.

“Now I guess we both fit in, don’t we?” she asked, reaching up to her ear-com. She pressed a button on the side. Her body flickered and she once more looked like her Galra self. “For the best. The more we fit in, the less the locals will question. Neither of us are getting off the planet until those scouts move from the edge of the galaxy.”

The mountain lion hissed and rolled over.

“In fact, I’ve been thinking it might be for the best that we get a more permanent home now that we know more about human culture.

Romelle fell off the seat with a yelp.

Liva laughed. “I know, but we don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here. It’s been over twenty quintants. A human home will help us keep hidden, both from the humans and if the Galra come looking.”

After jumping back onto the seat, Romelle gave a gurgling growl and slumped over.

“Liva?”

Liva looked up and smiled as she saw a familiar face on the other side of the counter. “Akira, hello. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Likewise. I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I just started this week. Oh, who’s this?”

The man helped a small boy up onto a barstool before sitting down next to him. “This is my brother, Takashi.”

“Hello,” the boy said with a wide smile.

“Hi, there.” She set a pair of menus in front of them and asked, “Can I get you two anything?”

“A milkshake!” Takashi cheered.

“We’re supposed to be getting breakfast.”

Takashi pouted and slumped onto the counter.

“Takashi,” Akira warned.

Liva chuckled. “How about a chocolate milk instead?”

Takashi turned to his brother.

“Oh, alright.”

“Yes!”

Both adults laughed and Liva grabbed the milk from a mini fridge behind the counter. “One for you as well, Akira?”

“Just coffee, thanks.”

“So where are you two headed?”

“The summer carnival starts today! Akira promised to take me on all the rides!”

“Really? I’ve never been to one of those before.”

“Never?” Takashi gasped and Liva briefly wondered if she said the wrong thing. Did most humans go to carnivals? Akira didn’t look too shaken though, so maybe she was okay. “Why not? They’re great! There’s food and rides and games where you can win giant stuffed animals! You should come with us!”

Well, it did sound intriguing, and she was curious to know what rides and stuffed animals were. “I don’t get off for a couple hours still.”

“You can meet us after, right bro? Then we could show you around! It’ll be great! Say you’ll come!”

“Takashi, be nice. She doesn’t have to come if she doesn’t want to.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” she said, worried Akira didn’t want her to come. She could always go on her own later, but it would be nice to have a guide.

“Oh, no, it’s no problem,” Akira said, looking surprised, though sincere.

“So will you meet us after you get done?”

Liva smiled and three hours later she was wandering onto the fairground in her new sundress.

“Liva!” The Glara grinned as Takashi came running up. “You’re here!”

“I said I would be,” Liva chuckled and waved at Akira, who was walking towards them at a more sedate pace.

“Come on, you have to come on the ferris wheel with me!”

[kalviberry]

Venting.

Today has been kind of emotional. Between worrying about my own failings, to finally trying to write out the text I plan to send to my parents and sending it to my therapist to look over. Part of this is coming off the heels of being so angry over shitty doctors, but I wouldn't have to be dealing with these doctors if I was properly loved and cared for growing up.

Not only am I having to unlearn so much, I also have to scoop up my inner child, and be the one to heal her. Days like today just make that super hard. No real point to saying any of this, just frustrated and venting.