The World Beyond [Gladis&Hideki](Private)

[-Hideki-]

Charlie had put on Miran’s glasses despite his lover’s protest that he wasn’t seeing anything anymore now when Calum announced that it was a splendid idea to wear what he’d design for them at his birthday party. “I’m full of splendid ideas.” The straw blond male said proudly with the round horn-framed glasses on his nose, actually seeing as much with them as Miran without. “Urgh, I’m getting dizzy.” Followed a complaint and the bookkeeper was taking his glasses back from the brothel owner. “You’re full of shit, that’s what you are.” the younger one shook his head putting the glasses back on to finally see again and what he witnessed was the brunette trying to persuade the Xenonian soldier into wearing one of Charlie’s costumes what was quite entertaining as it was.

 

Asher tried hard not to look at Calum who was giving him the puppy face. He was avoiding the green gaze stoically staring somewhere else – what happened to be Simon dipping pieces of chicken into chocolate blancmange. “No!” he tried to turn the other down just as final and fiercely as he had protested but it actually came out exactly how Miran had told Charlie that he was not cute before and if the other would continue those merciless attacks on him he might crumble and give in and wear uncomfortable, opulent ridiculous clothing. He’d actually rather go naked than that. Maybe he could compromise and say he’d join Nate. Then again he doubted that Nate was allowed to go naked or to wear that sari for that matter at the former scientist’s birthday.

 

Suddenly Charlie was rising from his seat without a warning. “I have just gotten an awesome idea already and I think I should go into the atelier now, getting to work right away. I have great flow today, I feel it. It has to be perfect after all.” He found and there was a glow in his eyes as he turned to Calum. “You don’t need me at his parents anyway. I won’t be of any use to you. So I’d rather sta…..” he had moved towards the door but he wasn’t getting any further. Miran had stood up, holding the middle aged man by his neck pulling him back, his expression dark as if he was a serial killer. “Oh no you won’t !” he stated threateningly. “You will come with us! It was your dumb idea to begin with. Your fault that we’re going there! Actually, I should let you go alone with them. How about that, huh?” he hissed and Charlie swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling the tight grip in his neck. “Yes, Sir, I will.” He said sounding turned on and Miran took a breather rolling his eyes. “Hell no! Seriously?”

 

Releasing his boyfriend the light blond man sank back onto his chair. “I think we should get ready if you aren’t hungry anymore.” He suggested and gesticulate Jack and Calum to get up from their seats. “You can have some of my clothing.” He told Jack and then turned to Calum. “I don’t know whose clothing will fit you properly right now though.” he mused because he couldn’t think of anyone who was of the brunette’s height. Another look at Jack solved that problem for them though. “Now I know, you’ll get some of the clothes Aldric had worn when he first arrived here.” He told the other and then turned to Raja. “Will you go to the cellar with him?” he asked and Raja nodded. “Sure.” She said and smiled at Calum and Asher.

[Gladis]

Calum could see now that he had said the right thing, for Charlie seemed to be absolutely glowing with exuberance at the idea of getting to design their outfits for the ball. It very much pleased him, but it had him a little worried too. Although Calum did by no means doubt Charlie’s expertise in matters of fashion, he could tell that the man's tastes veered towards… well... the eccentric. He just hoped that he wouldn’t end up having to regret his generous offer. Although he did not openly admit it, that could very well have been the reason he tried to rope Asher into it as well. After all, sharing in the potential embarrassment would be considerably more bearable than having to suffer it alone. On the other hand, if everything turned out to be just fine, it promised the harmless fun Calum had so casually suggested.

 

Really, looking at it like that, Calum had very little to lose by trying to convince him. If only he could get Asher to look at him, which -- and Calum had noticed -- Asher seemed determined not to do. Well, Well, thought Calum, Challenge accepted!

 

“Asher,” he chimed sweetly as he leaned against his lover, very consciously placing his hand on the closest, metal clad thigh, “You couldn’t go to the party dressed in armour anyway. It wouldn’t be appropriate, so why not let Charlie sort you out too? It’ll be like killing two birds with one stone and besides, I’ll be sure to reward you for the trouble, alright?” Calum e suggestively slid his hand over Asher’s leg, which admittedly would have been a lot more effective, had his lover not insisted on always wearing layers upon layers of cold, hard metal.

 

Calum’s attempt to persuade Asher was interrupted by Charlie as he suddenly lurched to his feet in a flurry of inspiration, which he declared to the world with Jack worthy dramatics, only to quite literally be pulled back to reality by Miran. Calum found himself snorting with suppressed laughter, the exchange between them striking him as both comical and sweet. He had not known them for long, but it was clear to him already that they loved each other very much. He wondered if one day he and Asher would be like that. No, he thought, sneaking a glance at Raja and Nate, we’re much more likely to end up like them. Except that Calum wasn’t quite as cross as Raja, and he still firmly believed that Asher had more sense than Nate. That made him feel a little more at ease. As much as he sympathized with Raja’s plight, he did not wish to be in her shoes.

 

It was a good thing that the atmosphere around the breakfast table was so lively. It had kept Calum’s mind too preoccupied with distractions to really think at length about their task ahead. Now, however, he was beginning to feel a slight sense of mild unease quietly festering beneath the surface, as though it were for the absolutely worst moment to blast itself to the forefront and take him over. It was a feeling similar to the suffocating nervousness he usually felt ahead of a public performance, but worse somehow, because here he knew mistakes would not be overlooked. His hands quivered as he ate and his heart kept nervously lurching in his chest.

 

Then he realized he was being spoken to and almost instantly sprung to his feet, swiftly grabbing hold of the back of his chair to prevent it from toppling over. His green gaze swiveled from Miran to Raja. Although he had missed part of what Miran had said, he’d at least caught his request for her. Despite himself, Calum managed to return her smile.

 

“Well then,” he said, “we’d better put a leg to it.”

[-Hideki-]

“I can!” Asher declared when the other claimed that he could not go to that celebration in his combat suit. “If you won’t get me my dress uniform, I’m going like this. I’m a soldier after all.” The platinum haired man insisted and for him the discussion was over with this. For Calum however it seemed not as he was trying to bribe him. No one had ever tried to bribe him. He was a Xenonian soldier after all. “I’m not corruptible.” Ash’s voice sounded as he was still avoiding looking at the man. “What reward would that be anyway?” he asked as he still was curious to know what reward the man had in mind for him, not catching up on the sexually suggestive voice and gestures. Well, he wasn’t exactly feeling that hand on his armoured thigh anyway. When one could hear Nate sigh, shaking his head. “Such a fuss over what clothes to wear… It just proves my point that clothes are a hassle.” The naked man found and Asher looked at him. “It never was a hassle or worth a thought on Xenon.” The Colonel argued and his former trainer laid down the newspaper and looked at the ceiling, musing, before his eyes gazed back at the two of them. “True.” He agreed. “That’s because the people didn’t have to decide what to wear and everyone got the same clothes according to their working field anyway. Which, looking back, were really restricting. They should have made us all go naked or wear dresses instead, that grants much more freedom for everyone’s balls, you know. I think this is what they had in mind when the Earthlings invented those dresses.” Nate said and Raja was spilling some of her coffee onto Simon’s plate who wanted to complain but then decided to dip the chicken into it instead. The short, curvy woman turned to Asher and Calum. “That’s not true! Don’t listen to him! Dresses are women’s clothes!” she now hissed into Nate’s direction again.

 

When everyone got up from the table to get ready Raja, in her plush bathing robe and with the towel on her head, was about to lead Calum and Asher’s way when Nate, who had not paid attention again, asked them where they were heading, a little nervous. “Cellar! To get them some clothes. And you should put on some too.” she reminded him but Nate was getting a little tipsy and Simon, who was still eating and seemed rather determined to eat everything that was on the table and then sleep the rest of the day before getting to programming during the night, was looking up with his cheeks stuffed with food like a golden hamster. “Impf cmpfim ffiff u.” he said at least having the decency to hold his hand up in front of his mouth that they couldn’t see the food nearly falling out. “Me too. I’m coming with you too.” Asher looked at Nate, who was standing there in his naked glory and the chubby IT guy in his pyjamas who were all too eager to go into the cellar to fetch clothing for Calum.

 

 

Raja raised an eyebrow critically and sceptically looking at both of them.”Whatever floats your boats.” She said, shook her head and let the way back down the circular staircase, through Charlie’s atelier, into the backroom, opening a door on the ground that led into the cellar. There was a large substructure beyond the building and it was nothing like the luxurious, light location above. It was dark, moist, the blue light was flickered and everywhere was stuff and plenty of doors and rooms. As they were walking along the long floor they were surrounded by discarded mannequins with some of Charlie’s designs which the man then had decided he didn’t like after all, wigs, sex toys, cupboards and paintings. “It’s chilly down here.” Nate complained rubbing his arms obviously freezing, what only made Raja lash out on him. “That’s because you’re not wearing any clothes! How about getting dressed like normal people do?” she reprimanded him but Simon chimed in. “I think it’s cold too.” He said, wearing that silky pyjamas. “I said normal people! Normal! You are the antithesis of normal.” She ran her hand over her face frustratedly. “My apologise.” She said towards Calum, as soon as it was quiet again.

 

“I forgot which of the rooms it was. I haven’t been down here in ages.” The black haired lady chuckled amused. “I think it was this one.” She said approaching the room, wanting to lay her hand onto the door handle when Simon almost jumped – which meant something as he usually didn’t move very fast – in front of it blocking the door with his body. “NO! This isn’t it, it’s this.” he pointed at the random door opposite to it, no clue what he was even pointing at. Raja’s eyes narrowed. “What is wrong with you two.” She said clearly suspecting them of something just not knowing of what. Then however, there were noises to hear from the room at the end of the floor and Simon and Nate’s eyes widened as they stared into each other’s eyes, while Asher was getting ready to strike at whatever that was. “What the hell is that!” Raja then heard it too and she stomped towards the door, Nate and Simon following her, saying that they found she should go back upstairs, that no one knew what it was and that they could not know if it wasn’t too dangerous for her.

 

She had none of their crap though and opened the door, turning the light on. It was the room they had been searching for but it didn’t look like she had remembered. The clothes, much like everything else stored in it was laying on the floor across the room and in the middle of it sat something… no someone…. no something…. It looked like a man. A man made out of …. What exactly was he made of?

Apparently he was creating a giant picture of an old white castle or house or something like that all over the floor of the room with the stuff he had found in there and most of the clothes were ripped apart. “What is that thing and what does it do?” Raja shouted at Nate but the creature stood up on its own. “People! The people are back!” he said in a monotonous voice even though he seemed to be…. happy…. “I’m XE201O. And I made a picture of a white house I one of the drones send onto screen once, with what I could find.” The artificial man explained. “No worries I took care of everything as you ordered. Maintained all weapons stored, regularly send the drones out to over watch what is going on. Everything you said. I never had to sound the alarm though I sometimes wished to do it regardless because you have forgotten about me but I haven’t. I was left to think… so much… and those tasks weren’t enough to fill out all the days and the night of the past years and I needed to occupy myself differently.” He talked and he didn’t stop talking. The mechanical voice sounded without a pause, on and on and on and on, a person out of flesh and blood would have had to stop to catch some air. “Oh shit it gained consciousness!” Nate exclaimed shocked, with a blank expression, white as the house on the picture. Simon saying nothing, just staring in disbelieve. “How could that happen.” The man with the wavy brown hair asked. Then he took Simon and shook him, repeating it forcefully.

[Gladis]

Calum sighed audibly, for it was clear that Asher had completely failed to notice his attempt at bribery.

 

“You could, technically.” He conceded vaguely, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned into the chair, thoughtfully rocking himself slightly back and forth. “But it still wouldn’t be right for the occasion. Then again, unless there’s some kind of explicit dress code, you’re free to wear whatever you please. So if this rusty, broken old armour is how you want to do it... I suppose it’s ain’t my place to judge…” he trailed off, shrugging his shoulders slightly as if none of this was really his problem, before wiping his hands on a cloth. “I certainly wouldn’t think less of you for it. Buuut… I would also be lying if I said I wouldn’t appreciate seeing you wear something nicer every once in a while.”

 

Calum pushed his chair away from the table slightly, rising to his feet so that he could easily slide his finger turn Asher’s face towards his own. “I know you’re probably still thinking I’m just being nice, but you are a good looking man, Asher. Scars and all.” As he spoke, he tenderly slid his thumb over Asher’s bottom lip. “So why not at least give Charlie a shot? I’m convinced he could put together just the outfit that’d accentuate all the traits I adore in you already.” The smile that tugged at the corners of his lips radiated a level of confidence and excitement that could have rivaled Charles’, though his jade green eyes shimmered with hidden mirth.

 

“As for the reward,” he continued in a carefree muse, allowing his hot breath to ghost over Asher’s face, “Well, I’m sure I could think of something to please you, eh?” Calum winked, ignoring Nate’s two cents on the matter, while silently somewhat but not entirely agreeing with Raja. It was clear to him that she had some very fixed ideas about womanhood and gender roles which he quite frankly did not entirely understand.

 

Fixing Nate with his bright green gaze, he thoughtfully tilted his head to one side.

 

“Why not try a toga?” he suggested, thinking of his ceremonial wear, “I think you would like them. And they’re gender neutral. Priests -- both male and female usually wear them, but ordinary people can wear them too.”

 

As their rather odd looking procession made its way down the corridor, Calum tried very hard not to focus too much on the very naked Xenonian in front of him. This proved to be rather a challenge, for Calum hadn’t realized just how truly naked Nate was, until he suddenly found himself face to back with the mans musclebound behind -- firm and hairy and entirely too close for his own comfort. Swallowing hard, Calum turned his gaze towards the flickering lamps in the ceiling. He tried not to think about how tantalizingly the blue light ricochet off Nate’s shapely form, accentuating muscles that bulged under his skin, while wordlessly thanking the gods that Asher, who was walking behind him, could not see his face. His cheeks seemed to have passed through several stages of pink, purple and red and though he too could noticed the slight chill of in passage, he honestly couldn’t have felt less cold.

 

Part of him would very much have liked to squeeze between Asher and the wall and take up the tail end of the procession to let his lover block the view from his sight, but he feared that by then, it had already permanently burned itself into his mind. Besides, there was stuff just about everywhere, making it quite impossible to talk in anything but a straight line.

 

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden buzzing noise, and the sense that he must have stepped on something. Squinting at the floor, he could only barely make out the vibrating shape of a vaguely phallus like object, which he somewhat guiltily swept aside with his foot, only to realize a little too late that everyone had come to a halt. His heart lurched, his cheeks blazed and he found himself emitting a horrified groan when he realized he’d very nearly bumped straight into Nate. Yet only nearly. Cursing himself for not paying attention, he stumbled backwards almost instantly, eager to put some space between them only to feel his back thump against Asher’s cold, hard, metal-clad torso instead. Well. At least it had prevented him from crashing straight onto the floor.

 

“Oh crap! Sorry Asher!” He gasped, but by then everyone’s attention was on the noise coming from behind one of the many doors.

 

Curiosity replaced embarrassment, and though he still felt rather bashful, Calum cast an interested glance in the direction of the others. Not that this did him any good. Nate’s horribly naked form was still very much blocking his line of sight, and he had to wait until Raja had flung the door open and everyone ahead began to file into the room to even catch a glimpse of what was going on.

 

What they found inside was peculiar to say the least.

 

Calum wasn’t sure why, but somehow he could tell it wasn’t human. It resembled a human being, and kind of sounded like one too -- in a queer sort of way, and yet it seemed different from any person or living being Calum had ever encountered. It unnerved him a little, but piqued his curiosity all the same. Part of him wondered if this was the “android” thing Simon had been talking about earlier. He was just about to ask, but then he noticed the huge collage of clothes and nunk, assembled into what looked like a very large temple or palace. He was, quite frankly, awestruck.

 

“Wow,” he breathed in admiration as he edged around the masterpiece -- carefully, for he did not wish to disturb the peculiar creatures hard work, “You did all of this, completely by yourself? That’s amazing!”

 

Glancing down, he paused. A slight frown creased his forehead as he leaned down to pick up one of the scattered clothing pieces that wasn’t part of the collage, holding it up against the light. What must once have been a very fine white silken shirt with frills around the sleeves, now had a huge, glaring hole smack-dab in the middle. Judging by the brown around the frayed edges, it almost looked like it had been burnt into the fabric.

 

“But uhm…” he said wearily, shifting slightly so that he could peer at the others through the hole. “I do think we might have a bit of a problem…”

[-Hideki-]

A frown was crossing Asher’s face when he heard Calum describe his combat suit as rusty, broken, old armour. He had spend days to repair it and it was only broken because Hydra was somewhat off his rocker. “It’s not rusty.” He mumbled. “This suit is the reason I’m still alive. If it weren’t for it, I’d have been pulverised when my battle ship got shot down and I was crashing onto this planet. It’s an exquisite piece of technology. It has intelligent design and gadgetry; plenty of weapons installed in it and adjusts to every situation and environment perfectly. It is an absolutely practical attire.” The Colonel praised crossing his arms in front of his broad chest, screwing up his nose when he heard that the other would appreciate seeing him in something nice once in a while. “Something ‘nice’? Clothing doesn’t have to be nice. It has to be practical, comfortable and useful. Designed to serve its purpose. Who cares how it looks. I’ll not become more or less attractive, I stay the same no matter what I put my body in.” he found, not understanding why it mattered how the clothing he wore looked like. Even if it was rusty, or had holes, as long as it was functional, no need for something else.

 

When Calum then stood up he thought he might have pissed him off again and he raised an eyebrow as to see what the man was about to do now. Would he strut out of the room again? But before he could come up with any prediction or explanation he felt his lover’s fingers on his face that got turned around to face those shimmering, glowing green eyes that Asher already felt drawn to as it was. What he heard made him stare at Calum in bewilderment. Not because he said he was attractive, or that there were attributes the other found specifically desirable about him, no, due to the notion of the man saying that Charlie could accentuate those attributes and thus the implication that clothing could higher his attractiveness, that wearing certain clothing could potentially be hot and turn the other man on. This was a completely new idea he had never heard before nor considered. That the visual appeal could indeed serve a purpose! The purpose of desire and being desired! Of attracting a potential mate! It was aesthetics and appeal to the people vs. dry pragmatism and reasoning. Xenon was probably the most unaesthetic, unromantic of societies.

 

While he peered into that beaming, enthusiastic face of his lover that caused some weird ass tingly feeling in his guts he was deliberating with this new insight on his mind and after a while he gnarled an:”Okay.” His blue eyes averting to the side for a moment before he looked directly into Calum’s eyes again. “If seeing me in different attire will make you hot and leads to you finding me more desirable, pleases you and makes you happy, I’ll do it.” He accepted before his face got dead serious. “Nothing uncomfortable though. And it’ll be a once in a while thing.” The alien soldier stated, pressing his index finger against Calum’s chest. There was a smile tugging at his lips when the other man hinted that he’d sure find something to please him with as a reward. “Yes, you could get me more of those honey cakes. They were delicious.” The platinum head said- “And we could take them home and eat them together.” He added. “In bed. Doing …” now he was the point the other had actually hinted at and he was getting it too. “Oh, you wanted to reward me by having sex and sucking my dick!” he exclaimed out loud and all eyes landed on him, leading Charlie to bust out into laughter. “I wouldn’t want a Xenonian boyfriend ever. They are fucking embarrassing.” The former scientist said and Miran blinked his eyes behind his glasses looking at his very Xenonian man. “I can imagine.” He said, while Raja felt a lot of empathy for Calum in that moment sending him an encouraging smile and nod.

 

Nate didn’t see what the issue was or why that was funny or embarrassing and was a lot more focussed on the brunette man’s suggestion that he shall wear a toga instead of going naked or wearing dresses. “What is a toga?” he asked and Raja turned towards her husband. “It’s wearing your bed sheets.” She snorted disdainfully, Nate not catching up on her not being fond about the idea apparently, his brown eyes shining. “That sounds even more liberating than a dress. I shall definitely try that. Thank you young man.” He said happily, his lips forming a smile.

 

 

When they had entered the room in the cellar and found an android sitting there who had alienated the clothes and made a picture out of them Asher’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Robots and androids weren’t anything new to him but this one was different, a lot different and it was rather appalling and thus he could totally understand Nate’s reaction to it. Had he had anything to do with this, he’d be shocked as well. The Xenonian’s eyes moved to Calum who seemed awestruck, looking at the picture and the android with fascination, even addressing the rather communicative artificial man, asking him a question. “Yes, Sir!” the android confirmed. “I have seen that house you know and it was so different and still intact, and odd, and beautiful so I decided to create a picture of it.” He blabbered and went on to explain every step he had taken to make the artwork to the brunette who had asked him and Ash didn’t know whether Calum still listened but he definitely didn’t that android talked too much, what really wasn’t typical for artificial intelligence.

 

Meanwhile Simon opened his mouth to make Nate stop shaking him because he felt like all the food he had eaten was about to come back up again if he didn’t. “I programmed him to learn autodidactically, he was supposed to make independent decisions, to think on his own so to speak because he was built to take care of this efficiently on his own. He needed to make judgement and come to conclusions.” The black haired explained but got no further. “And that worked splendidly. It thought so much that it got conscious! It seems almost human. Actually more human than you because it seeks human company, unlike you!” Nate hissed and their banter was interrupted by Calum who held up some of the clothing pointing at the problem they now had with it destroyed.

 

Raja who looked angry and disappointed with her husband and Simon for that matter, not that she held Simon in high regards anyway, stepped towards Calum, laid her hand on his back and guided him back to the door. “We figure something out sweetie. That’s the smallest issue.” She said shoving him towards Asher before she went up to Simon and Nate who were both accusing each other. “Stop that!” she hissed and turned to Nate. “You will tell Charlie what you did even though he clearly said he doesn’t want any of that kind of weaponry and system to be built here. If you won’t, I will!” she told him and the naked man fell silent, looking rather guiltily for having done that behind his best friend’s back. “And you…” she moved to Simon. “You will deal with this mess and then bring that … that… just bring it upstairs. It would be inhumane to leave it here alone.” she said, her dark eyes moving towards the android who was calculating his next steps about the picture, talking to itself. “It’s an android. It’s not a human being. It has a duty and there is nothing inhum….” Simon protested but she grabbed his chin violently and pulled him down. “You lazy idiot will do what you are told for once. This… person is lonely down here. You created that mess, deal with it. Or I’ll lock you up here too. Not that you’d probably care as long as you get to wank all day.” And with that she left Simon behind speechless and gently shoved Asher and Calum into the direction of the exit, Nate following along ruefully.

 

Back upstairs the first thing Asher saw after they had crossed the atelier and were standing in the hall was Charlie, dressed in a glittering, purple coat with the solar system stitched onto it and the thought that this was not what that crippled guy had meant when he had said ‘dress down’ got confirmed when he heard Miran’s voice arguing with his older boyfriend. “What part of dress down didn’t you understand? My parents will tear you apart and spit you out like old gum.” The blond was rather frustrated but beneath the annoyed attitude there was concern and the will to protect the man he loved. “I did dress down.” Charlie insisted, looking down on himself, totally confident about it, leading Miran to press his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “You know what? Fine! Go ahead. If you want to beg them to insult you even more, by all means do it.” He said and then they finally realised that the others were back.

 

Charlie looked surprised seeing Calum the same way he had gone down there. “What’s the matter? Didn’t the clothes fit after all? Or you changed your mind?” he asked and Raja rammed her elbow into Nate’s side. “Tell him!” she urged him and Nate rubbed his side and stepped forward. “The robot destroyed the clothes!” the brunette man said. Charles looked at him questioningly. “Which robot!?” he asked and Nate was getting more and more nervous, biting his bottom lip. “The android Simon programmed to maintain the weapons we have built and who runs the security system we have installed and controlled the drones which we also made…. behind your back” He explained. “I’m sorry man….” He said looking at Charlie who had ripped his eyes open wide and had smacked his hand over his mouth in shock. “Why?!” he dramatically cried out. “Why would you do that one thing that I never wanted behind my back? Why did you betray me? I thought you were my friend! This is too much! Too much! I’m heartbroken and devastated! I have to rest to cope with this treason and can’t go to Miran’s parents with you I’m afraid.” He exclaimed theatrically, waving his hands around, the weird ass coat moving in the air, Miran hissing a “Nice try!” his way, while Nate raised his eyebrow questioningly, the nervousness fading.

 

“You knew!?” it was half a statement, half a question. “Why didn’t you… If you knew?” Asher’s former trainer tried to make sense out of it all and Charlie, the incredibly bad actor, laughed, the laugh turned into a chuckle and then he smiled when he looked into his friend’s face. “Yes, I definitely knew. You two were disappearing a lot in the cellar at that time. And when I later had to go down, to get ….. to get something from there that had accidentally….” He was cut off. “No! I did it on purpose.” Miran corrected. “Accidentally been brought down there, I have heard this android, who definitely has a screw loose by the way, and I peered into the room and saw what you guys had built there.” He explained. “Then why didn’t you get mad? Or said something ?” Nate didn’t understand and Charlie sighed. “It is true, I didn’t want this kind of weapons here. I still don’t. But I knew this system would make you two feel a lot safer. I know that you are not like me. And it has been me, my egoistic motives as to why you have lost your home to begin with. I would have found it unfair to deny you what makes you feel safer and more at ease and at home here when I am the only reason you are here now in the first place.” Charles explained.

 

Then the straw blond man turned to Calum, pursing his lips, then looking up to Miran who sighed. “Go ahead, dress him up.” He granted and there was an enthusiastic happy and charming smile on the businessman’s face. “Thank you! I love you!” he said to the bookkeeper. “You’re an idiot.” The man answered with rosy cheeks, pulling the scarf he was always wearing up to cover half of his face with it. Charlie slung his arm around Calum’s shoulders and pressed him against himself, leading him back into the atelier. “You’ll look better than you ever did before. We make you look so gorgeous that your unrefined lover won’t be able to keep his eyes and his hands off of you. There is a good looking man behind…. this…” he said screwing up his nose. “You don’t make anything out of yourself though and that’s the problem. You look like a plain Jane, like a wallflower!” the inventor of Hydra said. “So we ought to make a glorious lion who demands attention out of you.” The man said and raised his hand. “Raja, assist!” he said and the woman nodded following them into the atelier.

 

Once in there Raja was sitting Calum down on a chair in front of a basin, washing his hair with all kinds of products to make it shiny while Charlie was searching through a bunch of clothes to put an outfit together from. Laying what he had picked aside he getting over to the chair in front of the mirror Raja had now placed the brunette on and was combing, cutting and drying the others hair before braiding it into a French braid while Raja was painting away and covering up all flaws and irregularities of the other’s face. They then pulled him up from the chair, stripped him naked and dressed him again in an incredible speed, putting the farm boy into wine-red dress-pants, a white shirt that they stuck into the pants, with a wine-red bow tie around his neck and fitting dress-shoes. When they were ready they stepped back from Calum for a moment and Charlie laid his head to the side, tapped his thin lips with his finger and as he scrutinised the man with his critical gaze, not saying a word.

He still wasn’t saying anything when he grabbed Calum’s wrist and pulled him towards the door, Raja patting Calum’s shoulder with a wide smile. “You look great!” she winked, following the two of them.

 

Stepping outside Asher leaned against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest looking at Miran. “Why do you always wear that scarf? It’s warm outside.” He wanted to know. “Because I feel more comfortable and secure with it.” The light-blond guy answered. “That is totally retarded.” Asher answered and Miran rolled his eyes shaking his head. Charlie’s face got displeased and he coughed but they were not paying attention still, he coughed louder and then they finally turned around to them. Asher’s blue eyes looked Calum up and down and he looked much different. Much, much different. Elegant! Incredibly appealing and attractive! And Asher now truly understood the visual appeal clothing could have. “You look handsome. Really attractive!” The soldier complemented the brunette but it was Charlie who answered. “Thanks but how about you pay attention to my work and your little boyfriend now?” he pointed at Calum but attention was then paid neither to Charlie nor to Calum when Nate came back downstairs.

 

It looked like a 1,94m ghost was floating down the stairs as not even his feet were to see anymore. The man was covered by a white, large bed sheet from head to toe, two holes cut into the fabric where his eyes were. Charlie laughed snorting finding it hilarious, while everyone else was baffled, except for Raja who was frozen in her place with her chin dropped to the floor, speechless for a moment. But only for a moment before she finally exploded for good! “Are you kidding me now? What the hell are you doing? What is this? You can’t be for real now? What do you do next? What Nate?” she shouted at her husband in what seemed to be a ghost costume. The man raised his arms to the side under the bed sheets. “I’m wearing a toga. I should have cut a hole for the mouth into it too though.” the man mused and Raja’s eyes opened wide, flames of fury burning in them. “This is not a toga! This is pure madness!” she scolded. “But you’re always saying that I shall cover myself.” The man reminded her of her own words. “But not like this! Not completely! This is absolutely not what I meant! I can’t even see your face! I’m not having any conversation with you when you wear this Nate! Forget it! Are you doing this on purpose? Do you want to upset me? Give me a heart attack? This is not good for our baby Nate! Not good for our baby!” she screamed and then gathered herself again. “You know what…” she then said, running her hand over her face. “Fine. You win. Go naked! Wear a dress! But stop this idiocy!” she said, jumped up, grabbed the bed sheets from the tall man’s head and pulled them off. “And there I was just starting to like the toga look.” Nate spoke. “This is not a toga! Not a toga Nate!” she yelled at him again.

[Gladis]

Calum beamed. He hadn’t been sure this kind of argument would work, but now it seemed like Asher was finally beginning to come around. It made him happy.

 

“Nothing uncomfortable,” he agreed, “and once in a while suits me just fine.”

 

He nodded his head, and was just about to say that of course Asher could have some honey cakes, when his lover spoke again -- announcing to their audience award he’d… not that subtly been hinting hinting at. Calum’s breath caught in his throat and heat shot into his face, turning it as red as a beet. From the corners of his eyes, he could see Raja shoot him a sympathetic glance, and he felt more companionship with her than ever.

 

“W-well,” he said, once he’d managed to gather himself again, “Yes, something along those lines. Thanks love.” He said softly, and as though Asher hadn’t just said something incredibly embarrassing, closed the distance between them to give his lover a chaste kiss.

 

Down in the cellar, Calum only paid half a mind to the conversation between Raja, Simon and Nate, the same way he only barely paid attention to their banter with Charlie and Miran a little while later. Only when he realized he was being spoken to did he glance up, attempting to duck away from Charlie’s grabby arm. He was too slow. It wrapped around his shoulder like a snake around its prey, pulling him up against the older man’s gawky frame. Calum was used to being called plain, but he’d never had critique of his appearance being delivered so ruthlessly. He wanted to protest, but a pathetic: “Well u-uhm-” was all he could manage as they whisked him off to Charlie’s studio, plopping him down onto a chair before getting to work at a savage speed.

 

Calum quite enjoyed having his hair washed and cut. The gentle tugging and almost massage like sensation of Charlie’s fingers against his scalp as he worked the strange smelling products into his hair was surprisingly relaxing, and a far cry from the brutal war on knots and tangles his grandmother had subjected him to as a child. “An untamable jungle, this is.” she would say between strings of curses, furiously pulling and tugging at the unbending tufts, “every bit like your fathers!”

 

Well nan’, Calum thought sardonically, perhaps not so untamable after all.

 

Yet whereas he had enjoyed the treatment of his hair, getting his face painted on felt a bit strange, and he tried not to feel too uncomfortable getting stripped of his old farmers rags. Instead he focused on his hair and the way it felt odd -- pulled taunt somehow, but not like a ponytail. As he carefully brushed his hand over it, he was fascinated to realize that Charlie had braided it. Cool he thought, as they helped him into a pair of wine red trousers. The outfit Charlie had chosen was overall very strange -- nothing like the sort of clothes Calum was used to, but then again, so were most of the things he’d encountered here at the brothel. He was curious to see what he looked like, but he barely even managed to catch a glimpse of his reflection in one of the mirrors before Charlie grabbed his wrist and Calum had no choice but to bashfully shuffle after him. He fidgeted, feeling awkward and perhaps just a little more nervous than he would have expected.

 

Jack was the first to react, who made a thumbs up and whistled as a radiant grin swept across his handsome features. “Not bad, my dude. Who’d have thought you had it in you all along?”

 

Normally, this kind of teasing would have earned Jack a biting reponse, but it was right around then Asher finally turned around to look at him. He froze, feeling his heart thump hard within his chest as he met his lovers gaze.

 

“You look handsome. Really attractive!”

 

A swath of warmth and relief washed over him. After all, if Asher said so, it really had to be true. As proven by his scathing remark to Miran just a moment ago, he wasn’t really one to mince his words. Relinquishing the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, Calum allowed his expression to split into a large grin. It felt good to be complimented by Asher, though the time he got to revel in it admittedly was very short. Barely had he opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly a ghost came crashing down the stairs.

 

Except, it wasn’t actually a ghost.

 

As it turned out, it was just Nate who had taken his wife’s description of a toga a little too literally. Trying (and horribly failing) to contain his laughter, Calum slapped his knee and doubled over, quivering. His stomach tightened to the point where it almost hurt and his cheeks flushed a healthy red.

 

Jack too found himself chuckling, though after a moment he paused, regarding the sheet in Raja’s grasp contemplatively.

 

“Lemme borrow this for a sec,” he said suddenly, plucking it from her hands before turning towards her very naked husband. Folding it where Nate had cut the holes for eyes, he wrapped the sheet around the former commander, before standing on his toes to tie it all together over this right shoulder. After tucking in the excess fabric, he took a step back to admire his handiwork. “Mhm, better. Although you may want to wear it with a belt, and a tunic underneath.” Then he turned towards Charlie expectantly, his blue eyes glinting with with humor, enthusiasm… and was that admiration or did Calum just imagine it? He must have imagined it. The only person Jack admired was himself.

 

“So,” Jack said, folding his arms across his chest, “What about me?”

[-Hideki-]

Asher looked at his lover questioningly when he busted into laughter uncontrollably, bending over, seeing that Charlie was wiping away tears from the corner of his eyes as he was laughing loudly not even trying to get a grip on himself while Jack’s chuckles were the least extreme response. The Colonel didn’t quite get why Nate with a bed sheet over his body was remotely funny. It was just really impractical attire and totally not the purpose of bed sheets. Something like this would have been immediately outlawed on Xenon due to various reasons many of which concerning safety. Then again, the platinum head also completely failed to understand Raja’s hysterical outburst. To be fair, Raja was the person Ash understood the least from all the people in the brothel, even less than that cripple. She was a mystery to him, completely unrelatable and her way of thinking and perception would probably never lead to their ideas ever crossing a common path. She was emotional! Very emotional and this and what seemed to be societal costumes were her way to judge things and to see the world. He had known that they wouldn’t ever see eye to eye when she had called the removal of an inseminated egg murder and had lashed out at Charlie and Nate for the mere mentioning of the possibility.

 

While Charlie and Calum were still laughing Asher could see Jack taking action, pulling the bed sheets Raja held in her hands as if her husband had wanted to insult her with them out of the ladies grab and went over to Nate, wrapping the fabric around him in a strange way that made Asher watch curiously, raising one of the pathetic remains of his eyebrows. Nate apparently tried to remember the steps he had to take to wrap this around himself when he was told that he shall wear this with a belt and a tunic. “Belts are really uncomfortable.” The brunette man found, scratching his beard, looking down at himself, thinking that this might work though.

 

Charles who was wiping away more of the tears of laughter he had shed and whose eyes and cheeks were rather rosy now was still grinning when Jack looked at him expectantly after he had wrapped Nate into the bed sheet and had given his expertise. “It’s most definitely an improvement to the dresses he wears. They weren’t fitting his body type.” The brothel owner said and Raja wanted to chime in but Charlie was reaching out his hand without looking towards her covering her mouth with his hand going “Schhhhh!” , turning back to Jack. “The tunic should have a different colour, a strong contrast; I’d suggest red or green for him and I’d place a brooch at the shoulder.” The straw blond man said his eyes running over Nate critically, while Nate was moving around to see whether his new outfit was restricting his freedom in anyway but it was not. It was better than that sari even.

 

Upon Jack asking what was with him now Miran rose from the stairs he was sitting on, grabbing a neatly folded pile of clothing, limping over to Jack and pressing them into Jack’s arms, slapping the pretty-boy’s shoulder. “You’ll get some of my clothes. You can change in the atelier.” He told him. “My parents actually gave me those once as a present, I never wore them and they knew I wouldn’t but they sure like them.” The light blond bookkeeper said, peering at the marine blue jacket with the armorial of Kalua’s armed forces, the white shirt and the traditionally cut white pants. As he was looking at them he couldn’t remember why he hadn’t thrown them away immediately when he had found them wrapped in plain brown paper in the mailbox with a card saying:”Your birthday present.” And nothing else.

 

After Jack had changed and they were all ready to leave Nate and Raja stayed behind at the brothel as they were crossing the lounge where most of the whores were already sitting, looking a lot more like normal people than fantasy creatures because Charlie hadn’t dressed them up just yet and when the brothel owner left they knew it would take a while until they’d get fancied up that day. However when Aldric, the thin man with the long white wavy hair, who looked like an elf even without the fake ears on, saw Jack he smiled and waved at him with a wink and Asher thought that the blond certainly wouldn’t be fond of seeing this man again.

 

Instead of going the way they had come back through the pleasure district into the inner city they turned right and headed up into the upper class district. The houses were beautiful, the stores looked high-class and Asher was closely paying attention to what was surrounding them. This city sure had a lot of different things to see and the atmosphere changed depending on the part of the city one was in. It was an interesting and weird place, unlike Xenonian cities. After a while they reached the government district , with the city hall, the court building and other offices and at the end of the road, there were the heavy gates of what looked like a castle in the middle of the city. It stood strong and proudly and the two towers head two different armorials to see on them. The right one had the same armorial Jack wore on it and the left one was displaying the armorial of the city guard.

 

“That’s where your family lives and you grew up?” Asher asked astonished, finding the idea that one family was living in something as gigantic impressive and offensive at the same time, considering that the buildings the other people lived in were a lot different. “No.” Miran shook his head. “Well, my parents do reside there during the week but that’s not their home and not where I grew up. I grew up in a mansion outside the city centre.” He told him. “This is the administration and headquarters of Kalua’s armed forces and the city guard.” He told Asher and now it made a lot more sense to the Xenonian.

 

Taking a deep breath Miran stepped forward towards one of the two guardsmen who stood in front of the gate. “I wish to speak to the general of the armed forces and the general of the city guard.” He declared firmly and the guy looked at him rather bored, raising his thick eyebrow. “And I want to swap my wife against his. Life is not a bowl of cherries.” The man said nodding into the direction of his comrade who stood at the other side of the gate. A frown crossed the light blond haired man’s face and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the guardsman who rolled his eyes, as he apparently had to say his standard to get rid of that group that to him seemed to have broken out of an insane asylum. “Invitation, permit, or appointment and identification!” he demanded annoyed and reached out his hand. “I am their bloody son! And I want to visit my parents!” Miran barked at the man whose attitude changed immediately.

 

Had he been completely bored and annoyed before, his lips were tugging into a wide amused grin as he started to laugh, watching Miran up and down. “Yeah, right! And my wife is a supermodel!” the athletic man laughed, involuntarily grunting while doing so. “Pardon me, but he is their son. I don’t think that you want them to hear about you denying their son entrance when he comes to visit.” Charlie intervened and the guy was looking at him curiously, still grinning. “And who are you?” he asked. “I’m his… I’m Charlie.” The brothel owner said and the man was laughing again. “Hey, Brian! “he called out to his colleague. “That cripple and the old fairy over here are trying to tell me that this,” he pointed into Miran’s face with his index finger, “was the son of the generals!” What caused Brian to break out into a fit of laughter as well: “That!? I know their son’s and that, that ain’t one of them. That looks like something they’d eat for breakfast.”

 

Miran’s face was fully red from anger and embarrassment at this point, his muscles were tense and his hands formed into fists when he turned his back onto the guardsmen and walked off. “I knew this was an awful idea! But no, you didn’t want to listen.” He hissed at Charlie angrily. “It’s just a waste of time!!!” he yelled and Charlie looked at his lover with a rather concerned, sad expression on his face.

[-Hideki-]

Asher didn’t know what it was and he didn’t know why exactly but the scene he witnessed, how those guardsmen treated those two idiots didn’t sit well with him. It made him mad. Made an anger boil inside of his stomach as he looked at Miran who had turned his back on the gate and was about to leave into the direction they had come from. The Colonel was looking at those two with narrow blue eyes and something inside of him told him that he’d like to see their faces if he cleared the way for their group. They’d have access to the building in no time. But something more reasonable on his mind told him that it was probably not the best idea to take on Kalua’s Army and the City Guard if they ever wished to gain their favour and their alliance to defeat the savages and to protect the Myre. Then again, they’d also not win them over if they’d not even be granted access.

 

The platinum head in the combat suit was trying to think of a solution for what definitely was a problem that didn’t involve wiping the ground with the faces of these men who did their job but did it in a way that for whatever reason didn’t sit well with Ash, while some weeks ago he’d not even blinked at something like that. And as he was thinking he heard Charlie calling after his boyfriend that he shall stop and wait for a second, trying to grab him by his wrist but Miran was pulling himself free from the other.

 

And just when Asher had enough and was turning around to leave as well as he really didn’t see a non-violent way inside of the castle a deep, roaring voice sounded that caused the laughter to get stuck in the throats of the gatekeepers. “Miran!” the voice called and the slim male with the light blond hair and the glasses came to a halt before he slowly turned around. The man who had spoken was taller than Asher and about as muscular as him. He had golden blond hair, a receding hairline, a wild full beard, hard, weather-beaten features and a deep scar that looked as though it was eating his cheek. In his uniform he looked like a golden lion standing there behind the gate, his large hand waving with what seemed to be a letter.

 

His thin, dry lips formed a smile when his blue eyes met Miran’s. Miran however didn’t smile. “Why are you leaving? I was positively surprised to hear from you after you haven’t even been to my wedding.” He spoke and Miran’s eyes narrowed behind the thick glasses of his. “As if anyone wanted me on that wedding.” He mumbled. “I did.” The man spoke and Miran crunched his teeth. Maybe, maybe he had genuinely wanted him to be there but his parents, much less his other brother who actually wanted to kill him wouldn’t have liked to see his face on the wedding. Nor had Miran been up to the condescending and reproachful remarks of his lady mother and his father. “Be that as it may.” The book-keeper muttered. “I didn’t intend to leave but those two apparently found it more appropriate to insult me rather than doing their job and letting me through.” He told the huge man behind the gate and Asher could have sworn that both gatekeepers flinched simultaneously like synchronised swimmers sharing panicked gazes.

 

The face of the hulk behind the gate that had been rather open and friendly changed and the blue eyes darted into the back of the guys in front of the gate. “What is your issue with my twin brother!?” he roared and everything fell out of the men’s faces as they could hear Brian whisper:”Oh crap!” The loudmouth wasn’t quite as loud anymore and he began to whimper. “Your twin brother Sir! I would have never dared to deny your twin brother anything…. I didn’t know… he doesn’t look like….” How could he have known? It seemed absurd! “We’re not identical!” the man pointed out as though anyone would have needed that information. “What are you waiting for? Open the gates already you buffoons! Or is that task too complicated for you two as well? Shall I have you clean the latrines instead?” he growled and the gates opened ever so quickly.

 

Miran and Charlie walked towards the gate again and Asher followed. The man who was apparently Miran’s twin-brother’s face lit up again and the smile reappeared on his face. The guy walked over to the other who looked like a matchstick next to him and hugged him in a way that made it look as though Miran would break in half every second and the Xenonian man didn’t see why the crippled guy and Charlie had made such a fuss about meeting his family, this bloke seemed decent enough to him.

 

“We should get going.” The man said while he was shaking all of their hands in a polite, professional manner, before he turned back to his twin. “Ma is already waiting for you. Pa isn’t here. I’ll be his substitute. I hope that is alright with you.” He cheerfully spoke and gave Miran a friendly punch against his shoulder that almost knocked him over. “It’s fine…” the man said rubbing his arm and although he sounded bored he was actually thankful that they’d only have to deal with one of his parents. “If I’ll do well Pa said that I’ll be the one to follow in his footsteps and not Milo. Milo doesn’t do that well. He has no ambition. You know him, he never had. I also bought a nice house in the suburbs. Svenja is pregnant and I want my child to grow up in a quiet and safe environment. Oh, I didn’t tell you did I, you’ll be an uncle soon.” The man said excited. “Great Miles.” Miran answered but not even Asher was buying it.

 

Miles led them across the front yard and through another large gate into the castle. It was old. Incredibly old and made of stone. The walls were high, not as high as the walls of the government buildings on Xenon but high enough. Torches were lighting the large entrance hall and the ways they were heading through. Old paintings and carpets were decorating the walls and everywhere one could see men and women in uniforms going about their business, training, studying and although the atmosphere of the building was unlike anything Asher had seen before it was oddly familiar. It was reminding him of home. Of the facility he had grown up in, he had spent all his life in. But children and teenagers weren’t to see at all. Only adults. Apparently Kalua didn’t start to train their soldiers from an early age on.

 

After what seemed like hours of walking through the castle and dozens of stairs they had to climb they stood at the top of the tower in a large lounge. A playful fire was burning in the fire place, a wine-red carpet was covering the stone floor, portraits of great warriors of the past and the present were covering the walls, comfortable looking armchairs and sofas were standing inside and in the middle of the room, shadows dancing on her stern face, stood a woman.

 

If Calum was too short for a male this woman was too tall for a woman. She was taller than Calum, almost stood at the same height as Charlie did and she certainly had more muscle than the brothel owner too. Her steel-grey eyes and her nose reminded of an eagle. The woman’s hair had gotten silver completely. It was at chin length and slicked back orderly and strictly so that it wouldn’t bother her. Her arms were crossed in front of her almost flat looking chest and her gaze was so grimly determined that her already thin lips appeared to not even exist. “You’re late!” her voice sounded cold. “I don’t have all day. I have more important things to do than to wait for my oh so generous son to bless me with his presence when he asked to speak to me.” She spoke not a hint of warmth in her voice.

 

“I am so sorry but your stupid guardsmen wouldn’t let me in.” he answered sarcastically and she snorted. “Blame it on the others who are oh so unjust to you like you always do.” She spoke and then her icy gaze met Charlie. “You! You are still a thing I see. You pathetic, disgraceful old man.” The woman hissed looking at the brothel owner as if he was a disgusting stain on her clothing. “You’re around the same age as I. You’re even a few years older.” The man in the rather extravagant outfit pointed out and Miran’s mother raised her head up high. “Exactly. We’re the same age and I am his mother. This is my son you’re playing your perverted, abnormal games with, whom you’re corrupting. You should be ashamed of yourself. Just look at yourself. You’re a joke. You’re less than a joke. How can you bear looking into the mirror?” she barked and stared the man down with a gaze that showed no mercy. “I can assure you I am deeply ashamed. I am scum. Just not for the reason you wan….” Charlie didn’t get any further.

 

Miran’s hands had formed fists again. “Enough! Don’t talk to him like that. I love him, it’s not up for debate and we’ll out of your sight again soon enough. This is not one of our incredibly pleasant family meetings. I didn’t come here to speak to my ‘mother’ but to speak to the General of the City Guard.” He stated and Asher was now starting to see why they had not wanted to visit the guy’s family. “Good. Speak then.” she demanded with a screwed up nose and a face as if someone had thrown excrements into her face that she always made when she heard her useless, crippled son top the failure and insult his whole existence was off by saying he loved a man, this immoral, shady, foreign, old man in particular.

 

“I asked in behalf of those three.” He pointed at Calum, Asher and Jack. “They have a request, it’s about the safety and defence of the Myre…” Miran didn’t get any further than that. “The Myre doesn’t fall into our responsibility. It doesn’t belong to Kalua. They have independence and with independence there comes the responsibility to fend for oneself. In nature, those who are too weak and who fail to adapt will get eaten, die or go extinct. What can’t survive on its own isn’t worth to be kept alive.” She spoke looking Calum, Jack and Asher up and down and then directly into their eyes. “You’ve wasted my time.” She concluded, turned around and wanted to disappear behind the only door at the end of the lounge.

 

It wasn’t like Social Darwinist ideas were foreign to the Xenonian man but for one had he never been on the ‘other side’ nor had it meant that there’d not have been any kind of solidarity amongst the ‘in group’, with those considered real Xenonians on his home planet. And thus the woman managed to get it boiling inside of him and he made a large step forward. “You’re making a mistake! A historic mistake! Following generations will curse your name for eternity.” His bass voice echoed through the hall, strongly. The woman came to a halt and turned around, her narrowed eyes examining him, attempting to stare him down as Charlie prior but it had no effect on Asher whatsoever.

 

“If the Myre falls the way to Kalua is free and you’ll have the savages storm your gates. Your men, your citizens, they’ll die, get rapes, will be slaves and it’ll be your fault as you could have prevented them to even reach your gates in the first place. Those savages aren’t merely a threat to the Myre, they are a threat to all of you, your ways of life, to what you call civilisation although it’s far from what I’d call that, you’re still superior to those savages. And thus you people should stick together and defeat the mutual enemy. If you’d rather let them defeat the Myre, gain more ground, resources and territory before they’ll directly attack you, well, you’re a worse strategist than a retarded toddler. And you seem to me, like an experienced warrior and not a retarded toddler, or am I mistaking?” he spoke and the General of the City Guard walked back up to them again.

 

Her eyes observed Asher and the two men from the Myre, then she turned to Miran. “If you had to dishonour your family by throwing yourself at men like a bitch in heat, why didn’t you at least take a real one, like this guy,” she pointed at Asher, “Instead of whatever this thing with his immoral business is.” she pointed at Charlie but gave them no time to respond when she turned back to the three others. “Alright. I’ll hear what you’ve got to say. Follow me.” She told them. “Miles!” she ordered. “Yes, Ma!” the man who was there instead of his father said and followed on his heels after the three men.

 

When the door had fallen shut behind them they were standing in a nice office with a large, heavy desk. Miles was rushing around placing three chairs in front of it, opposite to where his mother was now sitting down. She held her head up high and gesticulated towards the three chairs. “Sit!” she demanded of them while her son was positioning himself next to her. As soon as everyone had settled down she began to speak, her grey-eyes directly staring into the green ones of Calum. “Now, tell me exactly why you are here! What is the situation you’re dealing with! What is it that you want to request!” she demanded an explanation from them and she was not addressing Asher. She could see that this man, who had the same accent as Charlie, was apparently competent enough but those other two guys from the Myre, they were handsome and at the same time looked like they’d never won a single battle. Like a pretty accessoires, like nothing else but decoration.

[Gladis]

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

Calum tried not to let the steely gaze of Miran’s mother unerve him. He knew that was what she was trying to do. Asher, who’s presence loomed large and authoritative had clearly impressed her, but Calum knew it would be a lost cause trying to replicate that without making himself look like an angry squirrel. Instead he would probably be best off playing to his own strengths, like his ability to remain calm even in highly stressful situations. And make no mistake, this was a stressful situation. The way the general of the city guard looked him over, almost made him feel like he was being sized up for slaughter. Perhaps in the most metaphorical sense of the word, he was.

 

“For some time now, there has been a rumor of-”

 

“A rumor?” Though it seemed like it ought to have been impossible, the thin line of the general’s mouth became even thinner. Clearly, she was not impressed by his approach. Even so he did not allow her obvious scepticism deter him.

 

“-that the southern tribes have started moving north. This was confirmed by our seekers, who recently had a run-in with the savages.”

 

“Let me get this straight…” she said slowly, “you are here because of a rumor?”

 

“Well, not-”

 

“Have you personally encountered them?”

 

“No ma’am.”

 

“Do you know whether any nearby towns or village has been negatively affected by their presence?”

 

Calum opened his mouth to speak, but once again she cut him off.

 

“And more importantly, do you have any evidence to support your claims?”

 

Silence. No, of course Calum didn’t have any evidence. He was only relaying the information he had heard, much like the general had suggested. If they’d at least had Elisabeth with them as a witness… but alas, they did not. Suddenly, he felt incredibly stupid for even being there. How could they ask for help to stop a threat they couldn’t even be a hundred percent sure existed? Of course no one, this woman least of all, would take them seriously.

 

Her lips curled downwards in what seemed to be a combination of a smirk and a snarl as she folded her arms across her chest, leaning against her desk while regarding her guests with annoyance and disdain.

 

“As I thought.” She said curtly, “In which case I have heard more than enough. Guards!”

The two men in uniform at the door immediately stood to attention, singing in unison; “Yes, ma’am!”

 

“Please be so kind and show these gentlemen to the door. And Miran?” she pinned her son with eyes so cold it seemed that the room should have frozen over, “next time you have the audacity to show up here uninvited, make sure that it will at least be worth my time. Now get out of my sight!”

 

***

 

“What a bitch!” Jack exclaimed, kicking a nearby lamp post as their little group- defeated and bedraggled- trudged down the cobblestone street. “She could at least have heard us out! And what’s her deal with you?” he glanced at Miran with a look that radiated both sympathy and dismay, “what kind of horrible human being would treat their own like that?! I swear some people shouldn’t be allowed to have children!”

 

Calum sighed, attempting to run a frustrated hand through his hair before he realized that Charlie had braised it, after which he simply resorted to giving the strap of his bag an annoyed tug. “Well, she kind of had a point though. Not about Miran, obviously, but you know… how can we ask for help to defeat a threat we know so very little about?”

 

“Well, ain’t it her job to find out more them then?”

 

Calum arched an eyebrow. “As general of the city guard? Doubt it. Even if it was, like she said, The Myre is independ-”

 

Jack came to an abrupt halt, his face scrunching up in a frown as though he had suddenly realized something. “That ain’t right!” he protested, “we may govern ourselves, but we still pay taxes to Kalua. Thus we should count as being under their jurisdiction! Or… shouldn’t we?” he glanced uncertainly at Miran, before letting out a long and drawn out groan. “Man, we’d taken someone from the council with us. Would’ve made this all a lot simpler.”

 

“Sure would have…” Calum agreed, but by then his attention was already completely elsewhere. A small distance away, he had noticed a little boy and a girl, both probably younger than Anya and dressed in noticeably torn rags. Covered from head to feet in soot and so thin that it almost hurt to look at them, they gazed at them with large, hungry eyes. Well, the girl was. The boy, who looked even younger, had a pale sheen to his eyes and seemed to be staring at the empty distance. Calum recognized that sheen. It was the same as old Pete’s from the Myre. Presumably, the boy was blind.

 

Just looking at them was enough to cause a wave of miserable pity to wash over Calum. Perhaps the girl noticed, because she shuffled over towards them, tugging what Calum could only assume was her little brother along, before opening her dirty little hand and extending it towards them. Calum reached for the inside of his jacket where he stored his money pouch almost instinctively, only to immediately withdraw it when Jack’s hand shot out to slap his wrist.

“Don’t!” he snapped, much to Calum’s confusion and surprise.

 

“But-”

 

“No point. They probably won’t be gettin’ any of it anyway.”

 

Calum frowned. “What do you mean?”

 

“I mean what I said. See that man over there? No, not there. To the right. The one with the hat, standin’ in the shade.”

 

After a moment of confused glancing around, Calum’s eyes really did settle on a man with a hat, standing around in the shade quite a distance away. From where they were they stood, Calum couldn’t really tell what kind of person he was. However, he could tell that he was watching them -- or rather, the children. Like a hawk. Calum shuddered. Something about that man seemed very off. “What about him?” he asked wearily. “Why is he watching them?”

 

Jack simply shrugged his shoulders, sticking his hands into his pockets as he kept on walking. “Guy’s probably their employer. Whatever they earn, he takes. See stuff like this in the city all the time, ya’ do. The strong preyin’ on the weak. So my uncle David says, anyway.”

 

Unable to stop himself, Calum threw another worried glance at the children. Jack sighed grimly and simply shook his head.

 

“Not much you can do, pal. Not unless you want to get involved with some real unpleasant types. Ain’t that so, Charlie?”

[-Hideki-]

The moment Asher heard his brunette lover speak the word rumours he didn’t only have to fight the massive urge to slap his hand against his forehead he also knew that this had been it. That Calum had just managed to make their whole journey a waste of time as no one would take them seriously if they spoke about their matter as a rumour. Rumours, something some old blabbermouths were spreading around because they were bored with their own pathetic lives and hence found it interesting to stick their wrinkled noses into other people’s dirty laundry. That was the level the shorter man had just degraded their information to.

 

And the Generals reaction was just as he had seen it coming. They were shown the way to the door and as though it was her way of saying farewell she stuck her cold, hard face out of the room to aim another verbal low-blow at the one of her sons she liked the least and she had never been able to bring herself to love who had taken a seat on one of the sofas in the longue with his boyfriend.

 

“You blew it!” Asher hissed towards Calum as they were walking all the way out of the castle to get back to the road. “Rumours! How did you think this was how you’d get any military man on board with your cause.” He commented and shook his head, taking a deep breath, sighing when the wind outside greeted his scarred skin again. He really couldn’t wrap his head around what the other man had been thinking. Or had he deliberately sabotaged his own cause? Had he worded it like that on purpose? The brunette wasn’t an idiot after all.

 

His attention was soon grabbed by Jack though who let his anger out on a lamp post in the government district what made him seem like a punk and got him some dismissive looks from some people around. On Xenon he’d have been arrested right away. But it wouldn’t have mattered whether he’d done it in the government district or any district. They’d have arrested him for vandalising the states property and showing destructive and aggressive tendencies. But nothing more than judging stares was happening as the pretty blond male was cursing the General of the City Guard and while Asher would certainly have never heard anyone out who wanted him to take action based on rumours either he was not going to say so since he just agreed too much with the man about this woman being a bitch.

 

When Miran was addressed the man who had wistfully walked hand and hand with Charlie, who appeared even deeper in thought than the younger man, the light blond man turned his head towards Jack who seemed a little unbelieving, maybe even upset about how his mother was treating him. It made the man let out a cynic snort. “A mother wouldn’t treat her own like that. But she doesn’t see me as her own. As her son! She has always seen me as an insult. That she gave birth to someone like me was the greatest insult and humiliation of her life to her. To her, it’s her only failure in her otherwise so perfect r?sum?. I’m a curse to her! She loathes me because I am crippled. A gay cripple.” He explained his tone of voice as dry as desert sand.

 

About the other part of the situation the Colonel sure had his opinion but what would it possibly help now? It was done for. They would not get another opportunity to convince the City Guard and the Army of Kalua to help them. They had played their cards wrong. And now they’d have to find another way to defend the Myre. That was at least what his brain was now moving forward to but apparently he was the only one. The others seemed to still be affected by what had happened inside the castle.

 

Jack claimed that the fact that they paid taxes to Kalua meant that the Myre had a legal right to the protection of the City Guard and the Army of Kalua and then suddenly didn’t sound so sure anymore when he looked at Miran questioningly seeking his confirmation.

“Did you tell her?” the man asked raising an eyebrow. “You should have made that statement in front of her. It’s too late now.” he said laying his hand onto Jack’s shoulder giving it a friendly squeeze before he sighed, looking at his boyfriend who was unusually silent and unremarkable.

 

As they were reaching the end of the government district they saw some kids who looked different than the other children of Kalue and as they were getting closer Miran’s face filled with empathy looking at the blind boy while Asher screwed up his nose, the muscles of his face twitching in sheer disgust while the hair in his necks stood up high. They were …. dirty… filthy…. unhygienic…. There was a high chance of them being contagious. Something like that wouldn’t run free on Xenon either.

 

The fact that those dirty people were approaching their group or rather Calum for some reason didn’t make it better. Asher got outright nervous now and when the girl reached out that filthy hand of hers he feared for his brunette lover’s life. What if she touched him? What if he’d then catch a fatal infectious disease and die! He couldn’t let that deadly kid touch him! And he was just about to point a weapon at the kid’s head and yell at it to stay away from Calum and to not touch his man, when it got clear that she didn’t aim to touch him.

 

It confused him that the kid didn’t even try to touch him but instead held out its hand demanding something from him. Was it blackmailing him? Did it want something from him to leave him alone and not contaminate him? He couldn’t really gasp what was going on there but he was glad that Jack stopped the other from giving that dirty kid some of the money stuff he had been about to give him, what apparently confused Calum as well although for a completely different reason as to why Asher was confused.

 

His eyes wandered to the man Jack was pointing at and as he understood it that man forced those dirty contagious kids to extort strangers for their money or else they’d infect them to then steel the money the dirty kids pinched and keep it for himself. Gross! A despicable human being! Trash like that they’d shoot on Xenon! No trial necessary! The inner division would put him up against the wall and kill him with a shot into the back of his neck to clear the planet from scum like that before calling someone who’d put the dirty children into quarantine. And the longer his gaze lingered on the man who was most certainly a risk to the citizens of Kalua, a criminal, his eyes turned into slits and other than Jack who didn’t see any other option than not giving those kids their money, to not let themselves be blackmailed by them, asking Charlie whether he agreed with him, Asher most certainly saw something else one could do about it.

 

Charlie shook his head disoriented when he was addressed. He had zoomed out completely and had not even noticed the begging little kids or the man who was forcing them to beg. “What? Sorry I didn’t pay attention I was thinking about what to wear at my birthday party.” And while it was true that he had not paid attention the other part was a lie. He had not been thinking about his birthday party but what he’d like to poison Miran’s mother’s drinking water with. What would be the most painful way to watch her die! But he couldn’t admit this. To admit this he’d not only have to admit to the others that parts of that side had survived within him and that Miran’s mother managed to trigger it but also to himself.

 

“What did you ask me again?” the middle aged brothel owner asked Jack with a sweet fake smile when a loud noise, a shot suddenly made him startle, waving around, pressing his hand onto his heart, trying to detect where the shot had come from. And the shot had come from right next to him. Asher had reached out his right arm, the barrel of a gun sticking out of his combat suit, aiming at his target. The man who forced those kids to do what they did. His face and brain had been blown away completely, running down the stone wall of the building behind him like a weird soup made out of blood, bone, flesh, brain and skin.

 

Charlie was the first one to overcome the shock. “What the fuck is wrong with you!” he yelled at Asher. “You moron, you shot him! You fucking shot that bloke in the middle of the street at brought daylight!” The Colonel of the space force remained unimpressed, trying to figure out how big of a threat those kids were to the people without that criminal, saying: “He was a threat to the people of Kalua, a criminal. I neutralised a threat. I did a good deed for the greater good of Kalua, if they knew they’d be grateful, they have no inner division to rid them off of scum like that after all.” He explained. Charlie bit his lip so hard that it bled in order not to completely curse and yell Asher into the ground. “You can’t just walk around here and shoot people for being morally disgusting, Colonel! This is not Xenon and you are not Kalua’s inner division! Shit! That is exactly why I hate Xenonian’s!” he screamed.