#zeroha

[giraffles]

Hellbent

iiiit’s day two! I’ve actually been working this for a while, but finished it up for this week. \o/ today’s prompt is “favorite battle” so how about a BATTLE OF CONFLICTING EMOTIONS. it starts silly but gets feels-y, sorry. 

prompt that inspired this is here and from the lovely @writing-challenges-and-prompts​

this is set in the modern AU/Lights Will Guide You series!

Hellbent - (Young!Harlock/Warrius Zero)

"We're just friends." Harlock deadpans.

"Friends don't kiss." Kei counters, and she's not entirely wrong.

you can also read it here on AO3! 

"We're just friends." Harlock deadpans. "Friends don't kiss." Kei counters, and she's not entirely wrong. "Some friends do. Like the kinds with benefits." Kei is not amused. It shows in the way her dark eyes glare at him, and the unusual force she puts into organizing the papers on her desk. If he didn't know her better, he might have thought her jealous; but Harlock is very, very aware of her preferences for partners, and they don't include sulky ex-Navy men. "I don't trust him," She says at length, "I don't trust any of them as far as I can throw 'em." In some ways that's a roundabout compliment. Kei Yūki may look sweet and possess a slight figure, but he's seen her take down fighters twice her size. And while outnumbered. So really, she could throw them all pretty far, Zero included. And she's not a force to be taken lightly, like a storm at sea, waiting to sink ships and sink hearts. The two of them aren't related by blood, but sometimes he wonders if she isn't another long lost sibling. Kei is overly cautious from being burned one too many times. He can't say he blames her. The world is already cold and cruel, and it's done a number on all of them. She doesn't often share what happened to her in the period between running away from home and meeting up with the Arcadia crew, and he's not one to press her for details. But he knows enough to realize it wasn't pretty and it wasn't kind. So Kei has good reason to be suspicious of anyone who hasn't gained her respect, and it's a hard thing to earn her trust. The only reason she's here in the first place is because Harlock asked her to be. "Tori likes him," Harlock mentions, "I'd say that's a good litmus test." She shoots him an incredulous look. "That's a terrible example. That bird doesn't even like you." "He likes me enough," Though really, that was only because he fed the dumb parrot, "That totally counts." "What on earth are the two of you arguing about?" Marina materializes out of nowhere, a startling and all too common habit of hers. She comes armed with what look like case files, petty grievances they'll need to take care of if they want to keep their jobs. Before he can come up with an excuse for her, Kei is already counting mutiny. "Someone has been kissing the commander in the fire escape." When she put it that way, it made it sound like they were a couple of teenagers skulking around for kicks. Which, maybe wasn't that untrue, but that didn't mean she had to tell Marina of all people. The one person there who had known Zero the longest, who wasn't often found far from his side, and who always managed to look stunning regardless of the situation. Delivering mission briefings or breaking noses, she never faltered or lost her composure.  "Oh, is that all?" Marina's voice rang true and calm, yet there was an edge of ice to it, "Anyway, look into these security breaches. We need to know how deep they've gone." Then Marina sweeps away, leaving without another word like a receding tide, barely sparing them a glance. Kei throws her hands up. He shrugs. "You trust me, don't you?" He counters, knowing it's a little unfair to pull that card, because she's never been anything less than devoted, "I know what I'm doing. Relax." Kei grumbles something along the lines of 'I don't know why any of us bother with you', and his phone pings that a new email has come through. It's a very specific notification, reserved for anything from the government server they're all wired into, and he frowns when he sees it's from the same M. Oki who was just talking with them. She's also only a few yards off, there's no reason she needs to be messaging him when she can communicate in person like a rational human. He flicks the email open. It's a curt correspondence, no introduction or signature, just her name attached to the top and his in the receiving field. <If you hurt him, there will be consequences.> Few people can get away with threatening Harlock so openly. There are fewer people who legitimately terrify him. Marina is very close to the top of both lists. "What is it?" Kei asks. "It's nothing," Only quite possibly the shortest and most direct shovel speech he's ever gotten, "We should be working." "You never want to work." She points out, but lets the subject go. He doesn't dare look in Marina's direction. Really, he's not sure how much of a secret it all should or shouldn't be; Zero can be so prickly on a good day, to the point that it's hard to decipher between the officer's normal personality or if he's being an ass on purpose. He's so flighty for someone with a reputation for being loyal and steadfast, shying away even behind closed doors and hidden from prying eyes. He's not even sure where the two of them even stand at this point, if there should be labels involved or it's better to keep it off-brand for now. (Fraternization laws probably don't apply in this case, even if they did, he'd ignore them anyway, because to hell with that.) And yet kissing him is so good that Harlock couldn't resist catching him by the back door that morning. Which of course was when Kei wandered by, nearly choking herself to death on her coffee when she saw them. He's probably lucky Zero didn't pitch him out the nearest window for that one. It's not like it had been on purpose, and they were all bound to find out eventually. It's impossible not to, when they're working and living in such close proximity to each other. And they're glorified experts in espionage, for crying out loud, he could find out everyone's favorite color and childhood pet in twenty minutes if he put his mind to it. If he was really determined, he could probably find every dark and embarrassing secret of every person in a five mile radius, and the whole city if Kei and Ishikura helped. So how were they supposed to keep a relationship of all things under wraps, under the noses of individuals trained to sniff out deceptions and half-truths? Only an idiot would try. Or, someone so stubborn and deep in denial that they ran the risk of drowning. Fucking Zero. Harlock had taken a calculated risk with him, when he had asked for his handler to be the same agent who had spent years trying to bring him to justice, but he hadn't expected this. Because, maybe, he hadn't planned on an infatuation, or half jokingly flirting with him, which  may have turned into whatever it is that they've been avoiding talking about. It wasn't Harlock's fault that he was stuck living with someone who was so accidentally attractive. (Except, it was his own damn fault, and now he had to deal with the consequences.) It started as just a way to pass the time, an exercise in seeing how he could get under his keeper's skin, and now he's fallen. Hard. This wasn't part of the plan. None of this was part of the plan. Not that the plan had been fool proof, or even fully baked by the time Harlock had put it in motion. Its still a vague sort of idea, floating about with loose strings he's tying together on the fly, but it had worked out so far. Mostly. Present situation not included. But the plan comes first, it always come first, because he'd die before he'd let a vow go unfulfilled. Even if it was hard to come to terms with the fact that they would eventually be jumping ship, slipping back into the sea once they'd gotten what they came for. What Arcadia members are on this team may not know exactly what's going on, but they're smart enough to realize they're all acting the parts the government wants them to until they're ready to bail, a deception and treason of the highest order. He never said he was an honest man. Harlock sinks low in the office chair.   This would have been easier without lingering attachments. And yet had made them anyway, like the idiot he was, repeating the same mistakes over and over again. You would think he would have learned by now, but there was still that stubborn part of him that was a hopeless romantic. At least it would be good while it lasted. Marina couldn't kill him if she couldn't find him. 

On his way to the vending machine, Zero ambushes him. Which would have been great if it was for some midday fooling around, but instead Harlock has a snarling totally-not-a-boyfriend to appease. "Who did you tell?" Zero growls. "I didn't tell anyone!" "Bullshit." This is it. This is how he dies. In a back closet of an undisclosed office somewhere within the greater-Boston area. There are worse ways to go, and Harlock always knew he'd kick off young, but it's a little disappointing that it won't be in a blaze of glory. It really isn't fair. "I swear to god it wasn't me," He pleads, "If anything, it was Kei." She probably doesn't deserve to be thrown under the tracks like that, but at the same time, she had started it. If he's going to die then he's not going down alone. And technically he hadn't breathed a word of anything; that had been other people's doing. Zero looks both indescribably livid and so very tired. "I hate you. I hate you both," Zero bites out, "You're the worst." Before Harlock can come up with a defense, or a snappy reply, Zero is kissing him. It's not where he expected things to go, but he's not going to complain either. Zero is hellbent on taking every piece of his being and spinning it upside down, even if that defies logic, because it's alway been Harlock who's taken people on rides. Although, none of those had worked out very well in the end, so maybe it's just as well. This is better than any of them anyway. His hands curl in the front of that dumb Navy jacket Zero was always wearing so he can pull him closer, to cut his tongue on teeth. It's so easy to fall like this. It won't be easy to leave.

[technomoz]

Zerodha faces investors' ire over technical glitch

Zerodha faces investors’ ire over technical glitch

Users of online broker Zerodha had difficulty trading on Wednesday due to a technical glitch in its trading platform. The brokerage firm faced customer wrath on the microblogging site Twitter as they complained of freezing prices and trading on its platform during trading hours. “Zeroha is low, price is not updating,” one user wrote on Twitter. Another user stated, “Zerodha is not working in…

[beginagain--]

Authority Zero Announce New EP

Authority Zero Announce New EP

Long-running Mesa, AZ-based melodic punk/rock/reggae band Authority Zerohas just announced plans to release a new EP ‘The Back Nine’ on April 30. Frontman Jason Devore says, “The Back Nine EP is a catalogue of five songs that exude heavy rhythm, melodies, and a strong and passionate lyrical content. They are songs directed toward right and wrong with intent to lift people up with hopes of a…

[newstinxahoi]

Hàng triệu người trẻ Ấn Độ chơi chứng khoán để tăng thu nhập

Tương tự Mỹ và những nước lớn khác, người trẻ Ấn Độ tìm đến chứng khoán khi lương giảm, kinh tế ảm đạm, và có nhiều thời gian rảnh.

Trong 6 tháng kể từ khi Ấn Độ áp đặt lệnh cách ly đầu tiên, CDSL - một trong những trung tâm lưu ký chứng khoán lớn nhất nước này - cho biết số lượng tài khoản giao dịch đã tăng 20%, đạt mốc 25 triệu vào tháng trước. Trong đó, phần lớn được mở bởi những người trẻ, tuổi từ 24 – 39, theo số liệu từ Ủy ban Chứng khoán Ấn Độ (SEBI).

Sức tăng này cho thấy người trẻ Ấn Độ đang nỗ lực cải thiện tài chính khi đại dịch gây sức ép lên tăng trưởng kinh tế và lãi suất nước này, Ganesh Vasudevan - Giám đốc nghiên cứu tại IDC Financial Insights cho biết trên CNBC. "Đại dịch cộng với sự thiếu hụt về nhóm tài sản cạnh tranh đã tăng tốc quá trình chuyển dịch sang thị trường cổ phiếu", ông nói.

Không chỉ giao dịch truyền thống mới tăng trưởng. Các nền tảng đầu tư trực tuyến của Ấn Độ cũng ghi nhận nhu cầu tăng vọt, đặc biệt trong nhóm nhà đầu tư trẻ, ít kinh nghiệm. Do giao dịch trực tuyến có mức phí thấp hơn và dễ tiếp cận với thị trường quốc tế hơn.

Ngày càng nhiều người Ấn Độ tìm đến chứng khoán. Ảnh: Reuters

Sàn giao dịch trực tuyến Zeroha - công ty môi giới chứng khoán lớn nhất Ấn Độ tính theo lượng người dùng, ghi nhận số giao dịch trong ngày lớn hơn cả các đối thủ Mỹ. Mỗi ngày, họ xử lý 5 – 7 triệu lệnh, cao hơn so với 4,3 triệu của Robinhood. Stockal, một nền tảng giúp nhà đầu tư Ấn Độ mua cổ phiếu Mỹ, cũng cho biết số lượng nhà đầu tư trẻ tăng 50% trong tháng 4 – 9. Giá trị giao dịch cũng tăng 300% lên 160 triệu USD.

"Việc mở tài khoản dễ dàng, giao dịch thuận tiện trên điện thoại và phí Internet rất rẻ đã khuyến khích nhà đầu tư cá nhân của Ấn Độ tham gia thị trường chứng khoán", Vasudevan nói.

Cũng như những nơi khác, tại Ấn Độ, cổ phiếu công nghệ là cái tên dẫn đầu trong thời gian đại dịch. Cách ly xã hội và làm việc từ xa đã đẩy mạnh nhu cầu về dịch vụ số.

"Vốn ngày càng đổ nhiều vào cổ phiếu công nghệ và các quỹ ETF. Tesla là công ty rất được ưa thích", Sitashwa Srivastava, đồng sáng lập kiêm CEO Stockal tiết lộ.

Hơn một phần tư (27%) người dùng Stockal đã mua cổ phiếu hãng xe điện này. Những lựa chọn hàng đầu khác là Microsoft, Apple, Amazon và các hãng phần mềm, theo các nền tảng giao dịch trực tuyến, trong đó có Cube Wealth.

Dù vậy, thị trường chứng khoán trong nước vẫn là "lựa chọn thống trị" cho những nhà đầu tư cá nhân, Vasuvedan cho biết. Tuy đã giảm mạnh trong đợt bán tháo hồi tháng Ba, một vài nhà phân tích cho rằng các chỉ số lớn của thị trường này có thể tăng trưởng mạnh trong những tháng tới.

Sự trầm lắng của thị trường quốc tế thời gian qua đang khiến nhà đầu tư cảm thấy lo ngại. Nhiều người băn khoăn đà phục hồi kéo dài vài tháng qua đã kết thúc hay chưa?

CEO kiêm đồng sáng lập Stockal Vinay Bharathwaj nói rằng xu hướng này có thể tiếp tục trong tương lai gần, đặc biệt là trong thời gian trước bầu cử Tổng thống Mỹ. Điều này có thể làm giảm tần suất giao dịch trong những tháng qua. Dù vậy, ông không hy vọng điều đó khiến nhà đầu tư chùn chân. "Tôi không nghĩ rằng mọi người sẽ giảm đầu tư. So với 2 tháng trước, số người có lợi nhuận đã nhiều hơn", ông nói.

Thêm vào đó, CEO kiêm nhà sáng lập Cube Wealth Satyen Kothari cho rằng nhà đầu tư không nên đắn đo bởi những biến động ngắn hạn mà nên tập trung đầu tư dài hạn. CEO này cũng giải thích dù thị trường có biến động lên xuống 20%, nếu đầu tư trong 10 năm, biến động này cũng chỉ tương đương 2% mà thôi.

"Nhiều cổ phiến trên thị trường có thể biến động 2% mỗi ngày, nên việc căn thời gian gần như là không thể". Ông cũng khuyên những nhà đầu tư mới nên bắt đầu từ từ, tạo ra danh mục đầu tư đa dạng, gồm nhiều nhóm tài sản như cổ phiếu, quỹ tương hỗ và các khoản đầu tư khác, rồi dần phát triển nó theo thời gian.

"Bạn nên bắt đầu từ sớm để có nhiều thời gian hơn. Xây dựng một danh mục đầu tư vững chắc để cân bằng giữa các giai đoạn trong cuộc đời bạn, những mục tiêu ngắn và dài hạn. Đừng cố gắng canh thời điểm trên thị trường hoặc chọn làm giàu nhanh chóng. Tạo ra của cải là một quá trình tuyệt vời. Nếu bạn chọn đúng tài sản, phép màu của việc tích lũy sẽ xảy ra", ông nói.

Quốc Tuấn (theo CNBC)

[talesofzero]

"Shit, are you bleeding?!" Harlock/Zero, please? Because I enjoy your fics of them so much.

You’re all too sweet to me ;^; I am a dumb.

So I wrote most of a drabble for this one, but then I decided it was too awful and decided to redo it. And you know if I think this is better, then that other thing was absolute garbage, because this is just hilarious trash.

~1500 words

I could only be certain of a few things as we ran. Of course, I still knew where I was, even if I couldn’t tell where I was going. Oculus Station was a maze of twisting corridors. I’d never been on it before that day, but it seemed the men who’d taken it over knew the layout well. Even in my disadvantage, I needed to take them out, and I had to get those hostages, not just because I’d been assigned to, but because I wasn’t a heartless bastard like them. But no matter how many times I explained that, I kept being told to shut up and keep running.

The concussion I was sporting didn’t help matters. It made my vision tilt and double as though I’d drunk enough to destroy my liver. My feet would hit each other, or my knees would buckle unexpectedly against the pounding of my skull. Even on the rare occasions that I did hit the ground, I never stayed there for long, because Harlock’s grasp on my wrist was so tight that I was yanked forward to stumble back to my feet and continue running.

He knew his way around as far as I could tell, whipping us around corners and choosing a direction on a forked path without a second thought.

Occasionally he’d stop short and draw his gun, always prepared for me to slam into him. After taking out whoever was in his way, we’d continue on. Eventually I saw through the fog over my thoughts well enough to ask. “Where are we going?”

He glanced back long enough for me to spot the worry on his face. “To the control room.”

“Right.” I had a feeling he’d told me that before. “And where’s…my crew?”

He cursed under his breath before stopping to turn and grab me by the shoulders. I would have been content to fall against him and take a nap, but his grip held me steady. “They were captured, Zero,” he said, his voice firm like I made mine when giving an order. “You were there. Do you remember anything?”

I squinted at him to try pushing his doubles together. There was some sort of dark stain on the side of his uniform, just at the bottom of his ribs. Reaching out, I placed my hand against it to hear a hiss of pain from him. With my mind stalling, he turned and grabbed my wrist to continue running before I could ask.

“Shit,” I finally realized. “Are you bleeding? Did you get shot?”

He didn’t answer me. He didn’t even look back. I didn’t have the strength to stop him or catch up. I could only follow wherever he dragged me. My head hurt too much, and I was too tired to try remembering. Blurs of the past few hours were all I could grasp. I wasn’t even sure how long we’d been running.

As the falter of my steps increased, Harlock was forced to throw my arm around his neck. “Keep up,” he said.

“You could just leave me here. You’ll do a lot better without me.” That way I could sleep. Even if the enemy came to get me, I could rest for a while, and Harlock could storm the control room to take them out while being as flashy as he liked.

“They might kill you if I leave you out here,” he said. “And you’re the one with the access key to get into the control room.”

“I am?”

He gave an exasperated sigh. “Good God, Zero, I didn’t realize they hit you that hard.”

“Hang on. I’m working on it.” I stuffed my free hand in the numerous pockets of my jacket to find some mints, a communicator, and finally a card that had to be the key. “How did I get this anyway?”

“Just hold onto it, and keep it in your pocket. We’ll need it pretty soon.” It was odd to take orders from him, but I was in no state to do anything but follow them.

Before we rounded another corner, he set me down to lean against the wall. I started to ask why, but his gun appeared in his hand again. As he peered around the corner’s edge, I could see his bleeding side again. The stain had spread, seeping out to around a foot wide. I knew I couldn’t sleep while he had an injury like that. It was more important for me to get him some medical attention than anything else.

He took out whoever was in his way without much problem before turning to pick me up again. This time he couldn’t hide the wince of pain and the uneven breaths my weight against his wound caused. “Rest for a bit,” I said. “Let’s at least wrap it.”

His voice was scratched raw with pain. “We’re already here. There’s no point in stopping now.”

We turned to face a door with three dead or unconscious guards in front of it, so I handed him the card. I wasn’t sure why he couldn’t have just taken it and gone on his own, since he dropped me in the floor as he swiped it.

As soon as the door slid open, there were men shooting at him. The blasts flew harmlessly over me, so I pulled out my gun. With Harlock distracting them, using the doorframe as cover, they didn’t notice me until I was aiming at them.

Notably, my aim was worthless. I hit one in the shoulder and another across the cheek. Poor bastard. Maybe I wasn’t helping, since Harlock yelled that I was being an idiot, but he shot them down seconds later.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have dropped me in the middle of their sights,” I grumbled.

“You were supposed to play dead.” He grabbed the back of my collar and hauled me into the room. After locking the door behind us, he plopped down at one of the consoles and set to work.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I crawled toward him.

“First, I’m going to contact the Deathshadow to help out. Then I’ll free your crew and close off some areas of the station to keep the ones on their own from going anywhere or harming anyone.”

“Hm, that’s a good plan.” I reached his side and rested my cheek against his legs. “Then we should treat your wound.”

“It’s fine.”

I may have been the one with a head injury, but he was clearly the one being stupid. “No it’s not. What am I supposed to do if you die?” I reached up to paw at his chest, trying to grab his cravat. It was a surprisingly difficult task.

“I’m sure your injury is worse than mine,” he said. “It’s just a superficial cut. Stop being weird.”

Alright, maybe he had a point there, but he was still being obnoxiously stubborn. “Why are you even here?”

“I’m saving your ass,” he snapped, fingers typing furiously across the keys. “What does it look like I’m doing here?”

I had to smile. He started to open his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off. “I love you,” I said.

His cheeks tinged pink, his brows drawing together. “Not right now,” he muttered under his breath.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Tochiro cooed over the communication link they must have established.

“Tochiro, Harlock’s being a stubborn asshole,” I called.

“What else is new?” Tochiro snorted. “Is it because he won’t say he loves you back?”

“S-shut up, you two,” Harlock stuttered. His radiant blush was half hilarious, half adorable. It covered his face in a burning red. “We have more important things to cover right now.”

“Like the injury he has,” I said.

“Oh, he got himself shot again?” Tochiro sighed. “Is that what he’s being stubborn about?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not important right now,” Harlock snapped. “Zero can’t even say anything about injuries. He’s got a concussion and short term memory loss.”

“But he remembers that he loves you,” Tochiro sang.

Harlock stammered uselessly for a minute until his mouth recalled how to form words. “Both of you shut up right now! We have a job to do.”

I snickered, reaching up to paw at him again. “You’ve got a me to do.” It was too much fun to see him blush, and I finally understood why he always said embarrassing nonsense to me.

Tochiro was laughing so hard that it turned to wheezes. Harlock looked like he wanted to die right there. “T-Tochiro, have you gotten all the hostages yet?”

“Yeah,” Tochiro said through continued giggles. “I think the men have most of them.”

“I love you,” I said again.

The glare he threw me did not convey the same feelings. “Let’s go get your head fixed before I break it any further,” he grumbled. 

[maetel]

back off old man, ur crampin my style

[giraffles]

Keep It Low

shhh it’s still day 4 somewhere in the world, right? don’t worry about it. today’s prompt was “favorite rescue” so here’s some one’s dumb ass getting rescued. :D again apart of Lights Will Guide You don’t look at me like that

warnings for all sorts of things including torture, mentioned eye trauma, choking, psychological torture, god just click the AO3 link for the whole list. zone is a douchenozzle here what can I say

Keep It Low (Young!Harlock/Warrius Zero)

"I'll never get over how he came running when he heard," Even behind tinted glasses, those eye glint maliciously, "So predictable. So romantic! I'm almost a little jealous."

you can also read it here on AO3!

"I'll never get over how he came running when he heard," Even behind tinted glasses, those eye glint maliciously, "So predictable. So romantic! I'm almost a little jealous." Harlock spits up blood. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Zone bares his teeth like the rabid animal he is, then lashes out for the hundredth time in god-knows how many days. Harlock has lost count, because it hasn't been easy to keep track in a windowless cell or the cloistered bunker. Getting backhanded to the ground still stings, but it's not the worst thing that's happened to him, objectively speaking; everything hurts from previous thrashings, and there's something wrong with his right eye. A couple ribs might be broken, though that's something he's used to by now. Zone may herald himself a genius, but he's hardly creative in the physical torture department, and that's a cold comfort. Harlock has old scars that come from masters of the craft, mementos of younger times when he got into more trouble, or put himself in between them and someone who didn't deserve it. He doesn't regret any of it. However, the current situation still sucks. There's a knee in already fractured diaphragm, causing his breath to catch and stutter, and then a hand wrapped around his throat. There's not much he can do but wheeze, with his wrists bound and no way out in sight. At the moment it's just a threatening display, but he's still wonders why Zone just hasn't killed him yet. Probably to fulfill some sadistic fantasy. He's certainly the type. "Your little army boy," Zone drawls, "The righteous prick who thought he could save you." Harlock would be tempted to correct him (the Navy and Army are two very different branches after all, you can't just interchange them like that) but there's that implication that has him reeling instead. There is only one idiot who fits that description, who would be reckless enough to come charging into such an obvious trap, and just the thought is enough to sink razors into his heart. This wasn't supposed to happen. "What did you--" "Ah, ah," Zone's expression is positively predatory as he presses down on his windpipe, "I'm telling the story here, aren't I?" Harlock chokes, and thinks better of struggling, if only to spare aggravating existing injuries. He hadn't entertained any ideas of getting out alive and no one else should have been involved. This was wrong, wrong on so many levels, and there's nothing he can do while pinned and abused. "It was so easy. He was so distracted, all it took was a single shot. Oh, not lethal, of course. What would be the fun in that?"   Then there's a knife gouging a hot trail down his side, because the bastard wants the satisfaction of hearing him scream. Well, Zone can't have it, not while he's half conscious enough to resist. He's lying. He has to be lying, Zero would never make such a rookie mistake, to come alone and to fall victim to a madman with a shotgun. "I tied him up. There's a well out back, you know. Very old. It runs deep, even though there isn't much water left. But there's enough." "You f-fuckin'--" "Not done yet," The knife twists, "That was, oh, three hours ago, give or take? He's very dead by now. Maybe I'll even put your corpse down there too." It's hard enough to breathe as it is, but this is crushing. The weight of this revelation is almost too much to bear, too absurd to believe-- but Zone has that covered too. From his pocket he produces a torn piece of cloth, blue and gold and stained with dark blood, the insignia of a ship's anchor and pilot's wings. It's from a worn bomber jacket. It's from Zero's jacket. He snarls something, an insult, an unintelligible sound of rage and pain, and gets a blade in his leg for all his trouble. This time he does scream, because what does he have left to lose? Zero is dead. He's dead at the hands of a monster Harlock couldn't stop. It's all his fault, because he wasn't smart enough, wasn't quick enough, because he hasn't been the same since he found Tochiro and Emeraldas murdered in a not-so-safe house. Since then he's only been one part of three, left behind to try to make some sense of the world, and he's obviously failed. And now he's dragged someone else down to hell too-- someone who never deserved to die like this, to die for him. "I think, when I'm done, I'll pay everyone else a visit," Zone muses aloud, a hint of maniacal laughter slipping into his voice, "Lure them in. Break them down. That'll be very entertaining. Maybe I'll let you watch." He can't even come up with an answer to that, not when Zone is choking him to near unconsciousness. Funny though, how everything has now gone numb, with dark clouds on the edge of his vision and a shadowy figure approaching the scene. It's most likely a manifestation of death, with his oxygen deprived brain doing it's best to keep up with the torture and trying to fill in sensory jargon with familiar objects. It would almost be better if it just happened. If it all just stopped. Then it would feel like he was being eviscerated with every stolen breath.   A sickening crack rings out and Zone falters. He then slumps, tumbling to the side and onto the concrete floor with a garbled moan. He doesn't move. "Fucking hell," Zero, dripping wet and one arm soaked in blood, stands not more than two feet away with a rusty pipe in hand, "What an asshole." Harlock is too busy trying to remember how lungs work to fully process what's happening. He's dizzy from both shock and emotional whiplash, and neither are very pleasant things to deal with. While he stumbles over words, Zero is rummaging around Zone's prone form. "But-- t-the well--" "I can swim, you know," Zero says with the utmost patience, "They do require that if you're a sailor." "He-- he tied you up!" "Those knots were the worst I've seen in my entire life." "He said he killed you," And god, he'd believed the bastard, "I thought you were dead." Zero huffs. "He's bad at that too. Anyway, I'm more worried about you right now." Zero has found the magnetic key to the cuffs, and wastes no time in pulling them off of him before tossing them across the room. The sound makes him flinch. Part of him is having trouble parsing that this is happening, that it's even close to being real. He must be half a moment away from waking up in a black hole again, but there are also startlingly cold hands on his, still damp from groundwater and cast pink in diluted blood. "You came for me," Harlock's voice cracks, and he feels like his rib cage is crumbling inward at the effort to speak, "You came here for me." Zero looks startled and concerned before his expression melts into something warmer. "Of course I did. I wasn't going to leave you behind." He's not sure what to say to that. He doesn't deserve an ounce of anything this man has given him, and yet he keeps coming back. A wiser person would have given up on the wreckage that is his being and ran far away. But Zero has always been defying the equation, hasn't he? Since Budapest, since Tabito, since rocky first missions together and rockier first touches. Ever so gently, Zero brushes back his hair, wincing in sympathy at what Harlock can only assume is the injured side of his face. "Is it that bad?" "Well, it's not pretty," Zero admits, which confirms his suspicions about his sight being permanently damaged, "But I think you'll live." "I can work with that," he murmurs back, "Can we get the fuck out of here?" Zero hauls them both to their feet, and he has to lean on him more heavily than he would like. But he's a solid, grounding force that Harlock hadn't realized he was missing until it wasn't under his fingertips anymore. His heart may never be steady again, but at least there's this. It's something to help with the ache, even if it doesn't fill the void, even if this is all they ever are. Even if they have to hobble out of there while using each other as mutual crutches.   "Shit." "Yeah." "Fuck." "Mmhm." "Are you gonna be like this the whole way home?" Harlock grumbles, "I'm bleeding out, you could at least show a little sympathy." "I could always carry you." "Don't you dare."   The snickers that bubble out from Zero are contagious as hell, and maybe there's something to be said about finding mirth even when you've been torn apart. Maybe it’s not too late to hope.

[giraffles]

Ready To Go

it’s day six! we’re almost done! today’s prompt is “favorite minor character” and specifically, not an arcadia crew member. it’s zero. it’s always going to be zero, he’s my fAVE.

set in the Lights Will Guide You series, set before Keep It Low, and featuring zero being a dad and daiba being angry c: 

Ready To Go

"Sir," Ishikura wheezes, "We have a problem." "A fun problem?" Harlock answers before Zero can get a word in, "Or a problem-problem?"

you can also read it here on AO3!

"Sir," Ishikura wheezes, "We have a problem." "A fun problem?" Harlock answers before Zero can get a word in, "Or a problem-problem?" "Problem-problem, I guess?" Ishikura parrots back, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter, just please come with me." If he didn't sound so distressed, Zero would have said it could wait a moment. But instead he hands the half constructed sniper rifle off to Rai and follows Ishikura from the room. He means well, even if he's excitable, but he knows better than to burst in like the sky is falling. Unless something is actually wrong. "What happened?" Zero asks as he keeps pace beside him. They're only a few scant hours from raiding a terrorist cell, so it's the worst time for a distraction. There are still preparations to be made, plans to double and triple check, and trigger happy former-pirate-mercenary-whatevers to keep in line. If they've been compromised, then the past two days of grueling set up and utmost secrecy would be for nothing. "It's-- well-- complicated," Ishikura admits, "Someone hacked into the stockhouse." "Someone what," though their arms stockhouse was basically a glorified mobile safe, it shouldn't have been hacked of all things, "That's impossible." "I know! But someone did, we found it open and--" "What's missing?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" Zero pauses, "They didn't take anything?" Ishikura stops just before the tent, which is guarded by other team members, one of whom was sporting a black eye. Zero feels like there's a lot more to this story than he's getting from his subordinate’s ramblings. "They must have sent a kid in to do the dirty work," Ishikura goes on to explain, "We caught him trying to carry out an anti-tank gun." That more than anything else is deeply troubling. Children should never be anywhere near war and bloodshed, but the world doesn't work like that, and all too often they get thrown into the line of fire. If there's one thing that bothers Zero the most about this job, encounters with kids would have to be it. Angry yelling pours from inside the makeshift prisoners tent. He thinks he recognizes some of the words. “Good lord,” Zero can't help but be shocked when he finally enters, “How old are you?” The scrawny kid handcuffed to the chair sneers at him. He can't be more than maybe fifteen, with dirty blonde hair and fierce eyes. Zero has picked up enough Japanese between Kei and Harlock that he catches curses being spat their way, and colorful ones at that. The would-be thief also has the marks of a struggle, between a split lip and blooming bruises, and he would feel worse if he hadn't already seen the guard outside.   “He won't tell us anything,” Acceluder says to him, “And he pretends he doesn't understand English." As if to prove a point, the teen pointedly looks away, becoming very interested in the ceiling. Zero knows better. "I can handle this. Go help Marina." "But sir--" "Just trust me," Zero insists, "But send Kei over, would you?" Ishikura is obviously not okay with leaving him alone without any backup, but it's not as though they have a dangerous agent being held there. They're just a child; no matter how much fight or determination they've gathered up. And he has a feeling that the usual intimidation tactics aren't going to work. (God, not that he wants to submit some kid to an interrogation in the first place, but they have to find out who disabled the security computers.) Maybe if Zero has him by himself, he can show that they're not in any danger, and get some actual answers out of the boy. Ishikura and the others relent, leaving to find ways to be useful or to send Kei in his direction. Zero drags a chair over. "What's your name?" He asks, but the kid huffs and glares at him. Zero also refuses to believe that he doesn't comprehend English, but he tries Spanish and German just for kicks, which elicit a blank response. "Where are you from?" He tries again, "Do you live nearby? The closest town is a pretty long walk." Silence ensues. The kid refuses to make eye contact of any kind. Zero sighs.   "Listen, no one is going to hurt you. I can't help you if you don't help me--" "I don't need your help!" They snap back at Zero, flushing red as they realize their mistake. They clam up immediately.

Their tiny prisoner refuses to say anything more until Kei rolls in on the scene. She raises an eyebrow as Zero explains the situation, and throws a few lines of lightning fast Japanese at the boy. He sticks his tongue out at her. "I really just need to know who hacked the system," Zero grumbles, "And who wanted the weapons in the first place. We can let him go after we’re done here." "No promises," Kei says, "But I'll do my best." She shoos Zero off to a far corner before stealing his seat and chattering away. Part of him wishes he'd made more of an effort to learn the language half of their ragtag team was fluent in, but it was easier said than done. He picked up most of his interpreter skills through osmosis anyway, rather than dedicated study, and he'd had other priorities lately. Priorities that mostly consisted of making sure Harlock didn't do anything extra stupid. While Kei talks, Zero pretends not to be interested. Kei has the boys attention anyway, which allows him to observe their body language unhindered, and he watches them begin to unravel. For all their vitriol, they look tired and hurting. Zero doesn't think it's an act. Not with the way they've reacted so spontaneously, without control. If some shadowy organization is employing him, then it's not as though they've given him much training. Which also isn't good; that means the kid is just a disposable pawn to someone. The thought makes Zero increasingly angry. "He says he did it." Kei pipes up. "Did what?" "Disabled the security system." "That can't be right," Zero frowns, "I need to know who actually gave him the program--" "I said I did it!" Both of them stare at the kid. "I did it," he repeats, "Your encryption codes are shit." "Then who were you stealing the weapons for?" "Me." "Why on earth does a twelve year old need an anti-tank gun--" "I'm fourteen!" They all but yowl, "And I'm going to kill those bastards if it's the last thing I do!" Kei is trying not to laugh, but Zero can see her shoulders beginning to shake. He wonders why these things always seem to happen to him. 

It takes a lot of yelling (from the teen, not from them) to finally learn that he does have a name, and a somewhat reasonable purpose for trying to jack armaments from them. He goes by Tadashi, and refuses to give a surname, and when Zero asked where his parents were, he point blank stated they'd been murdered. Apparently he's here on a quest for vengeance against the perpetrators, who he thinks are also the terrorist cell their own team plans to move on. Though Tadashi had intended to try to attack them as a one-person army. Just thinking about how that could have gone wrong alarms Zero immensely. "We can't just leave him here." "No," Marina agrees, "But we can't just let him run off to his death. We'll keep him here until we're done with this mission." Zero can't argue with that. Still, he wishes there was something more they could do than just drop him off back in town, to leave him with local authorities and hope he could find his way. It reminds Zero that for any good they do in the world, there's still so much they can't change. There are too many things for them to fix by themselves. He entertains the idea of maybe bringing Tadashi back with him, but rejects it just as fast. The life they lead is no place for a child, no matter how grown up he insists he is. 

"Sir," Ishikura comes to him again once they're back on U.S. soil, "We have a problem." Zero clamps his hand over Harlock's mouth before he can say anything. "What is it now?" Ishikura makes a face, and in the distance familiar screeching can be heard over the white noise of the airport. "You can't be serious." Except Marina and Acceluder are dragging Tadashi along, who's struggling for all his worth, but also half frozen and shaking like a leaf.   "He hid in the landing gear," Rai shrugs, "He's lucky he's not dead. Immigration is going to have a fit, though." "Holy shit," Harlock on the other hand thinks it's hilarious that they have a hypothermic stowaway, "That's badass." "It's illegal," he sighs, but is pulling his coat off to hand to the trembling boy, "But I guess we're stuck with him now."

[talesofzero]

"Don’t listen to them. Don’t you EVER listen to them." Harlock and Zero, pleeease.

This was supposed to be angsty or something, but then it just got really, really gay. Sorry this was all I got done for today ;A; It was a stressful day. I’ll try and get more done tomorrow.

But like boys kissin and stuff warning. Ew.

I tried not to mind that Zero smoked, because it was hard to consider it a bad thing if it wasn’t hurting him. When I asked him once, he said he used to really smoke but moved to the funny little electronic ones that lit up blue on the end for a reason he didn’t feel like telling me. It was even harder not to like the habit since he always used fruit flavored smoke, and was cutely childish in a way. It tinged the air with a sweetness that tempted me to snatch the little stick from him to try it myself, but he refused to let me, so I was left to curl close to him and smell the air.

I tried not to mind, because it shouldn’t have been a problem. It should have just been an odd quirk of his, but it was clear to me from the very first time I watched him smoke that it was something he did while stressed.

And he was stressed more often than not.

But he didn’t want his crew to know that, so I was one of the few who ever saw him smoke, usually while he lounged against the pillows of the hotel room I’d buy for us, still wearing all of his clothes unfortunately. The hotel rooms often became nothing more than a place for us to be away from everyone else to talk, because we were usually tired and spent the last of our energy catching up.

“Harlock,” he said. “I’ve been hearing some rumors about you.”

“Is that right?” I cracked an eye open as the wisps of his words trailed above me in the form of vapor. “Sounds like we’re back in high school. What has the rumor mill been spewing about me this time?” I felt somewhat like a cat, lying back with my head in his lap. I took a deep breath of the sweetened smoke – strawberry. How cute.

His eyes flicked down to me, clearly studying me for some reason. “Well, there are two sides of what I’m hearing. The government is getting information that you’re starting up a rebellion, gathering men out near Andromeda.”

“And you believe that?” I smiled.

“No, but it concerns me that there is someone doing that, and either they’re being mistaken for you, or they’re using your name.” He sounded grumpier than usual, but he looked more tired than usual too.

“I’ll look into it. Don’t you worry. No one gets away with using my name for something stupid.” While I couldn’t blame someone for the idea of rebelling against the government considering how messed up things were, it was also in the middle of repair. They needed time to work it out. Destroying it to start over wouldn’t yield better results at that point. We needed to wait and see what the final product was before we went on the attack.

The end of the cigarette glowed bright blue as Zero took another drag. “Hey, blow that in my face,” I said. His brow furrowed, and he looked down at me as if he thought I was an idiot. “Just do it. Smells nice.”

He breathed down to let the foggy trails of vapor wash over me. It smelled like strawberries along with hints of the peppermints he popped like pills so often. “The other rumor was that you’re apparently well known for picking up people for the night on populated planets you stop on.”

For a moment, I could only stare at him. I couldn’t fathom what he meant by picking people up. Like…for sex?

I sat up so fast I nearly caught the cigarette in my eye. “What!?”

He refused to look at me, frowning dejectedly at the floor. He might as well have been a kicked puppy. “I understand that I don’t see you often and I don’t really…” His cheeks tinged the color of the strawberry scent filling the room. “But if you had just talked with me about it-“

“No!” I finally snapped to my senses. “I haven’t slept with anyone! Oh my God, Zero.” I slapped a hand to my face, rubbing at my forehead. “I would never do that to you. Who’s even telling you these things?” I needed to kill them.

His frustrations were as clear on his face as his blush. He never gave away a source, but this wasn’t something he needed to keep from me. “I don’t know, Harlock. You’re famous in your own way, and every time your name comes up, I hear things, and I never know what’s true.”

With a sigh, I adjusted myself on the worn bed to sit in his lap, which immediately made him more flustered. I hated how often I had to see him tired or stressed or sad. He deserved so much better than that. “Please look at me,” I said, a request instead of an order. His misty eyes darted up to catch mine, only a few inches away. Now I really was irritated with the cigarette, keeping me from getting too close. “There are two things you need to know about me, because I guess I never told you before. One, I don’t sleep with people I don’t know. Two, I don’t lie to people I care about. So I don’t want you to listen to what those people say about me. Don’t ever listen to them. Listen to what I tell you, because it’s always the truth.” To get around the wall he’d put up, I moved around to his neck, kissing up to his jaw. “Besides,” I purred. “Why would I sleep with someone else, when I could just buy a hotel room to take a nap with you?”

He broke with a snort, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. “We sound like old people.”

My grin kept me from kissing him more, so I settled on stealing his hat from the bedside table to put on. “Maybe if you actually got some sleep, we could have more fun.”

“Don’t put this all on me. You’re always half dead when we meet too.” With his guard down as he scolded me, I snatched the cigarette away and finally nabbed myself a proper kiss. His breath tasted like strawberries and mint. I found myself growing fond of the combination. My hands tangled in his hair, and his locked around my back to drag me close. At some point his hat fell off my head, but I was too caught up with drowning in that kiss to care. It was the one thing he was better than me at, and he managed to leave me humming my pleasure against him, my toes curling. I was always panting harder than him when we broke apart.

“Why would I bother with anyone else when you can do that?” I sighed.

His smile held a hint of triumph. “I can’t think of a single good reason.”

I dropped my face into his shoulder with a childish whine. “It’s not fair. I’m so tired!”

He snatched the cigarette back from between my fingers, switching it off before he set it aside. I heard the room’s lamp click off. “We’ll pick back up later,” he breathed through a laugh, turning to kiss my temple. He was always so unfairly sweet. He began running his fingers through my hair, and it felt so nice that I couldn’t be bothered to move. “Thank you, Harlock,” he said.

“What for?” I muttered.

“For staying with me, even though you could have anyone else.” He almost sounded sad again. I hated that.

I turned to lean my face into the crook of his neck, just as warm and smooth as always. “Why would I have anyone else when I could have you?”

“Oh, I can’t think of a reason.” He probably did have some in his head, but as long as he wasn’t saying them, he understood my feelings, because he was all I wanted, all of his perfections and flaws. I was happy to have everything. 

[talesofzero]

omg some of these sound vaguely dirty but okay all aboard the angst train. The two loser boyfriends with dumb names for the pairing, "Don't fucking touch me."

They’re not dirty. You’re just a pervert :P

This is punishment for you being a pervert.

I’d fucked up.

“Don’t you ever think before you start attacking?” Zero’s voice was growing scratchy from yelling. His hat had been thrown across the room, and his hair was a frayed mess from how much he’d run his hands through it. “I can’t believe you. I just can’t believe you!”

“There was no way for me to know that ship was undercover,” I attempted pleadingly.

It had been clear from the moment he’d invited me aboard his ship for a parlay that something was very wrong. His crew all glared at me, and his first officer was more curt than usual as she’d led me to his room. “He’s been drinking,” she said just before she threw me into the lion’s den.

“Don’t you ever just think that maybe if you just damaged a ship without going all out, it would be good enough? You don’t have to kill all the other men who claim to be pirates.”

“I don’t!” I started to stand from the chair he’d told me to stay in, but his glare forced me back down. “If they raise the white flag, then I’ll leave them alone. These ones refused, so we kept fighting.”

“But you’d already won.” His voice cracked, broken from pain. “They sent out an SOS.”

“I thought they were calling for backup. It was a coded signal. I didn’t know.”

“Just take a moment to think! Those men had friends and families! They were just doing their jobs! That could have been me and my crew out there. If you had just…” He poured himself another glass of bourbon with trembling hands and knocked it back without taking a moment to breathe as he drank.

“I’m sorry, Zero. But I can’t just let pirate vessels go with a slap on the wrist if I have evidence they’re harming people.”

He threw his glass against the wall, where it shattered into a brilliant mess. “Those files were forged.”

With his anger rising, I couldn’t stand sitting there submissively. I jumped to my feet to finally fight back. “Then you should have told me!”

“I’ve done everything I can to protect you and your crew, even with all the trouble you cause, but I can’t just hand government secrets over to you. You’re still a pirate. I couldn’t trust you with that information. I didn’t think you would just kill them without them attacking first!”

“They were wanted men, and I took them down,” I spat. “I was doing your job for you. There was no way for me to know they weren’t filthy pirates like me, so quit trying to put all the blame for this on me.”

His hand clenched into a shaking fist, and I braced myself for him to run up and swing. Instead, his anger seemed to drain away. Tears began to roll down his face as he sank down to his knees beside the table. He grabbed the bottle of bourbon, looking far weaker than I’d ever wanted to see him. “The captain of that vessel was the best man at my wedding, and you wiped him out without a second thought.” He took a long drink as the cogs of my mind began to turn.

Oh.

Oh…

I’d really, really fucked up.

Even though I was on my feet, I felt like I was crawling toward him. He didn’t look at me until I knelt down in front of him, reaching out my hand to take the alcohol away. “Don’t touch me,” he snarled. “I don’t want to see you anymore.”

He might as well have plunged his hand into my chest. “Zero, I’m sorry. Please, I really am. If I’d have known, I-“

“But you didn’t, because you didn’t think, and you didn’t care.” He finished off the bottle that I swore had been full when I’d walked in.

“I know I made a mistake, and I hate myself for it, but I don’t want you to hate me for it. I love you, Zero.” It was the one phrase that always broke him. No matter how mad he was or what stupid mistake I’d made, he would always sigh and return it.

He dropped the bottle, stood, and walked away from me. “Leave my ship. This meeting is over. Don’t try to contact me further.”

It hurt to breathe. There had to be something I could say, something that would bring him back to me. “Zero, please,” I begged, returning to my feet. “Just let me talk to you.” I reached out a hand for him as though I could pull him back. “Please don’t leave.”

The door closed behind him. I couldn’t see straight. I wanted to break something, so I picked up the bottle and threw it against the wall where he’d thrown his glass. Maybe if he’d been sober, he would have listened. Maybe if he’d been sober, he would know well enough to see how much I cared about him and how stupid he was being. Maybe if I’d been sober during that fight, I might have thought. Maybe those men would still be alive.

I ran out into the hall to find him, but I found his first officer standing there instead. “I’m sorry,” I told her, but she shook her head.

“Come on,” she said as she turned to lead me back to my ship. I looked down the other way, hoping he might change his mind and come back, and every few steps as I left his ship, I kept looking back. But I’d messed up. There was no turning back.

[talesofzero]

Donor

Shoot, I wrote this quite a while ago and forgot to post it. Probably forgot on purpose because it is trash.

CWZ-verse; I don't really know what to do for a summary for this, uhh. Harlock and Zero are real gay while Zero sits in the Deathshadow's infirmary.

Gays warning, minor blood warning

"I know I say this a lot," Harlock began before a long yawn cut through his words. Scooting his chair closer to the infirmary bed, he settled his arms on the side to rest his head against as his words left him through a murmur. "But you really owe me this time."

"Mm-hm," Zero smiled. His skin tone was still close to the bed sheets, the dark circles under his eyes standing out like swipes of black paint across a new canvas. Overall, he felt dizzy. The air seemed to have turned the consistency of water, but his limbs were far too heavy to try swimming with.

"So next time try to not bleed out so much," Harlock huffed, reaching up to lightly smack at the man's cheek. "You're damn lucky we have the same blood type."

"Why didn't your doctor just have some donor blood available?" Zero breathed. His tired smile stayed constant. The whole fiasco had left him strangely amused, and he was just happy the infirmary beds on the Deathshadow were comfortable.

Harlock's eyes meandered suddenly around the room with a newfound interest. "Well it was all, uh, out of date. No one had bothered to donate in a while, so…you know."

"I'm impressed you all haven't managed to kill yourselves yet with policies like that," Zero laughed softly. He raised his hand with strength he hadn't thought he still possessed and ran his fingers through Harlock's tangle of hair. So many knots. "You need to brush your hair."

"I'm sorry I woke up to Tochiro yelling that you were going to die. Didn't have time to do much but throw clothes on." Harlock's eyes returned to his ship's new guest, checking to make sure he was still recovering. "We need to contact your crew so they know you're not dead." Zero hummed his agreement and waited for the question he knew was coming. "So are you going to tell me what you were doing bleeding out on a Cosmo Fighter?"

"Top secret," Zero laughed until his amusement was cut off by a harsh cringe. His hand slipped from Harlock's hair to press against the bandages across his stomach. Besides a few renegade splotches of blood, they were mostly clean, wrapping half of his chest along with his middle. "Would've been alright if the console hadn't blown up," he hissed. "They got me good."

"Who's they?" Harlock growled. "And where's your crew?"

Zero sighed and tried to relax against the mountain of pillows holding him up straight. "Crew's fine. The mission was just for two of us, and they didn't find my partner out, so he'll be okay. Less recognizable than me, you know."

"An undercover mission," Harlock scowled. "You can't be serious. Last time you all nearly got executed in the middle of that party, and you would have been if I wasn't there. Quit doing those, Zero! Clearly you can't handle them, and I'm not going to be there every time to save your ass."

Zero's smile held a hint of irritation as he returned his hand to smack at the pirate's cheek. "Harlock, as I recall, you were the reason they found us out at the party, so I'm going to need you to take those opinions of yours and just shove them right up your ass."

That was the drugs talking probably. Or at least Harlock hoped so, because he'd never heard Zero be quite so blunt before. It was so hilariously unfitting that he could only nod as he tried to suppress a laugh. "Alright, but this time wasn't my fault."

"Yeah-yeah. I just thought I was a better pilot than they were gunners. I figure they just got a lucky shot. My escape plan nearly went off perfectly."

"But it didn't," Harlock frowned. "You're damn lucky Tochiro's the type of person to save a lone fighter like yours."

Zero's smile softened. "And you're not?"

"And you're lucky my doctor's good enough to stitch up a hit like that," Harlock continued, ignoring his question. "But it was scary seeing you bloodied up like that, so you have to do your job better."

"Are you just going to keep talking cute, or are you going to lie on this bed with me?" Zero asked, his expression still calm as he watched his favorite pirate's cheeks tinge pink. He couldn't imagine why, since Harlock was usually the type to feel comfortable whispering unrepeatable things to him when they were surrounded by people.

"Well, if you want," Harlock huffed. "You could have just asked." Dragging himself to his feet, he climbed onto the bed hardly big enough for both of them and squished himself up against Zero's side.

"I did ask," Zero hummed as he turned to nuzzle Harlock's ear. "I just didn't think I would've had to."

"If I'd known drugs would make you so sweet, I would have given you some ages ago," Harlock muttered as his neck began to warm with a blush.

"I told your doctor not to give me anything. I'm just happy to be alive and happy to see you," Zero purred before biting at Harlock's ear, giving it a gentle tug.

It wasn't just Harlock's face feeling hot then. He felt like his entire body was consumed with a blush. "Yeah, and that's great," he said. "But this is going to be really disappointing for me since you're injured, and that means nothing strenuous."

"Well, it's disappointing for me too, but you could at least turn this way for me."

Harlock turned with a renewed interest, hoping for at least a little action. He was caught off guard by the purely adoring smile on Zero's face. It made the older captain's red-hued eyes shine with an overpowering yet gentle love that turned Harlock's stomach to knots as he dove forward to give his rival a heated kiss. But it quickly turned to be soft as he remembered to be careful. He couldn't risk agitating Zero's injuries, so he would just be as slow and loving as he could manage.

It left the Independent practically purring as Harlock's hand carded through his hair. While Zero's eyes were so heavily lidded when they pulled apart that he was looking through his lashes, he tried his best to focus on Harlock's flushed face and shining, wet lips. His pirate looked horribly disappointed, and all he could do was lean forward to press their foreheads together, his eyes falling shut. "I won't die unless you're at my side," he whispered. "So you never have to be scared."

"So that's your trick?" Harlock's brows pulled together. "But I don't know that I like the idea of you dying much at all." His fingertips traced down Zero's arm until he could hold onto the slightly larger hand lying limp atop the bed sheets.

"You have to understand, it's better to be together when it happens." Because he couldn't imagine an ending where either of them lived much longer. None of the other Independent captains had, and he'd never heard of a pirate with such a high bounty getting old. "But I'll do whatever I can to stop it, because I hate to be away from you."

"And I love you," Harlock sighed. "So you should really just join me here. Then you'd be my pirate too, and I could keep an eye on you."

"Only in your dreams, Harlock," Zero smiled. "But I do love you."