We Lay In The Same Bed, We Dream Different Dreams

by yogurtfairy

Summary:

Blackrock’s weather was particularly cold and brutal this time of year. Medkit didn't like this cold. In an ideal world, he would choose not to stay in Blackrock, despite how badly seen it was for inphernals to leave their factions. At the limit, he would even be ready to leave behind all the work he's put so much heart into. So what’s really keeping him there?

Despite his conflicted feelings, Medkit cares enough about his colleague, Subspace, not to leave him. If he left, Subspace would despise him, rightfully so. And without Subspace, Medkit would be all alone out there.

Subspace is satisfied with what he has: a plan to achieve greatness and a hardworking coworker by his side. He never did put effort into becoming any closer than colleagues with Medkit, he didn't see the need for it.
Unfortunately, you never really see what you have until you run the risk of losing it.

Notes:

My first public fanfiction, I'm so nervous.. go easy on me.

Obligatory "English is not my first language"

I will try to update this regularly and to write longer chapters.

Chapter 1: Too cold for life

Notes:

My first public fanfiction, I'm so nervous.. go easy on me.

Obligatory "English is not my first language"

I will try to update this regularly and to write longer chapters.

It had been what felt like an excruciatingly long, monotonous day at work for the Blackrock scientist Medkit. The work he was doing had hit a sort of slow point, not much progress was showing through despite the hours of work he and his lab partner would put into the crystals.

Medkit had a headache, one of those headaches that lasts a while. It would slow down at times, giving him hope that it's over, and then surface all over again. He had gone outside to get some air, much needed after being stuck in a tight, suffocating laboratory for hours, breathing in all sorts of gasses. The air outside wasn't of much help. It was not the cold air that Blackrock had during spring, or autumn, or even summer sometimes. It wasn't the cold air you find comfort and refuge in. It wasn't the cold air you found beauty in. The air was burning cold. When it was entering his lungs it was as if setting him on fire from the inside out.

It was too cold for snow even. Too cold for life. And yet an entire faction lives here and has to go through their daily lives in this cold.

Medkit watched the familiar scenery around him, the mountains that would stretch further than his eyes could see, the sky that normally would be a light gray during the day but was starting to get dimmer as the sun slowly set over the neoteric buildings covered in the same snow they've been covered in for months now. Everything looked so dull, so muted and muddy. He had heard of how the other factions looked, he'd even seen some pictures in newspapers or articles. It was fascinating how different they each look from each other. Luscious cliffs with breathtaking views, deserts that span so far out that you start to wonder if there's even an end to them, urban cities with a lively, bustling atmosphere…

The world has so much more to offer than this.

He would leave, he wouldn't even hesitate.

It is hard to leave a faction, inphernals need a good reason to commit to deserting. Medkit knows a few acquaintances who came from different factions but left due to their own personal reasons. At most you've cut contact completely, at worst you're despised and dead to all your past loved ones. So what?

But he can't abandon his work just like that. He doesn't want to admit it but he's put part of his soul in that work.

It's not just that either.. It's Subspace, his colleague. Gosh he gets on his nerves sometimes, and from an outsider’s perspective the two of them don't really get along, but Medkit knows that Subspace is all he's got. If he left, he would be all alone. Subspace would undeniably and justifiably hate him. He would end up with nothing to his name and no one who knows him like Subspace does. It was stupid, Medkit knew that. Subspace is extremely unstable, his morals are questionable at best, and he has up to this point put no effort into becoming closer with Medkit outside of their professional relationship. Despite everything, Medkit cares enough not to leave him.

The headache was calming down, at least temporarily. Maybe the pills Medkit took earlier were starting to help ease the pain. He really needed to go back inside now, his fingertips were slowly but surely going numb and his nose was getting runny. If he caught a cold it would be very unfortunate. He took one last look at the horizon, and started heading back home, or at least back to the closest thing to a home he's got.

___

Subspace was still in the lab, flipping a crystal around to examine all of its sides. The way the light traveled through it as it slowly rotated to reveal each sharp angle was mesmerizing.

The scientist would often stay back after hours to continue his work. He took great pride in the work he was doing. That's why he doesn't want to admit that it has hit an almost standstill point. It is quite honestly a little embarrassing. He is close to an epiphany for sure. These crystals will be the answer to everything. This is just the start. He knows he will build many powerful things by harnessing this raw power. With his talent and his great mind, he will be unstoppable!

Well.. they will be. He isn't alone in this project after all. A certain reticent inphernal provides him with useful insights. It is good to have company in the lab, especially a capable demon like Medkit. Only the best for this grandiose project.

Subspace marveled some more at the crystals, gently observing them like the intricate works of art they were. One day.. one day he and Medkit will achieve greatness together with these things. He could almost visualize it all by looking through them like through a tinted window.

He shifted his gaze away from his work to look outside through the only window around. It was ever so slightly open, letting in just enough cold air to be felt on his skin when he would stand close. Subspace liked it cold.

Maybe he should leave now, it was getting dark. He gently placed the crystal in its properly labeled container and locked the laboratory behind him.

___

Work resumed the next day. Subspace had woken up before the sun had risen, eager to continue. Medkit was punctual.

The two worked the majority of the time in silence. Sometimes Subspace would disturb.

“Hurry up Meddy!! I can't progress without your notes!”

“I'm just double checking my math, it wouldn't hurt you if you did that sometimes..”

“Whatever!! I'm never wrong anyway!!”

“Right.”

Whenever it was Medkit who spoke up, it would often be to remind his colleague of the safety rules in the lab.

Just now, he glared at Subspace, who was softly humming as he worked. “you're not wearing your safety glasses again.”

Subspace didn't even turn to look at him. “What do I need them for??”

“So you don't lose an eye, maybe?”

“In that case you can just heal me!!”

Medkit sighed. “That's.. not how it works.”

Subspace continued his work like it was nothing. Medkit reluctantly went back to his. He was used to this by now.

He looked up to take note of the current time. Their break was in 30 minutes.

The two coworkers never spent their breaks together. Neither of them had made much of an effort to go towards the other. Well… except for this one time.

A couple of months ago, Blackrock was throwing an event celebrating the huge technological advancements the faction had made in just a few years. It was exceptionally rare to see any sort of public event like this taking place. Medkit's faction was not one to organize any festivals or gatherings of any kind, so it had piqued his attention. He was planning on going during his break, but as he was leaving, he suddenly felt like sharing this moment. It has been a long time since he was genuinely looking forward to something. He turned back, walked up to the room where Subspace was staying during his break, and debated whether he should sit besides him or just stand. He chose to stand.

Subspace grinned at the sight of his coworker. He wasn't expecting the company.

“Hiii Meddy, is anything wrong?”, he asked in his ever-cheerful tone.

Medkit shook his head.

“...”

The atmosphere of the room had quickly become tense, just like that. Medkit hadn't thought this through. Maybe he should go alone after all. This was stupid and he was wasting his time.

“... Forget it.” Medkit turned to leave before Subspace could add anything.

“Pfft, alright I guess?? Bye!!”

Medkit left the way he had come. He really wasn't good with these sorts of things.

Subspace watched, confused and slightly vexed, as Medkit disappeared around the corner.

“If he wanted to sit with me he could've just asked…I don't bite.”

Medkit didn't even stay long at the event. Too crowded. Too cold. Too loud. Too lonely.

Sometimes Medkit still thinks back on that moment. Maybe, just maybe, if he hadn't given up so easily, if he had asked, the two could have spent an actually genuine moment together.

…

Who was he kidding, probably not. They would have most likely fought the whole time. What does it matter anyway, he blew it.

The 30 minutes eventually passed and Medkit was free to go on break. There are many places he can choose to go during his break, but he always chooses the less frequented ones. The division he and Subspace work in was getting more and more crowded as new prodigies joined the team, so some places got really busy during break. Medkit didn't mind there being more demons around besides him and Subspace, it's just he isn't the most approachable.

Medkit sat on a less than comfortable bench and laid his pre-packed lunch next to him. It was probably cold by now.

“Mind if I sit?”

Medkit got a little startled, he wasn't expecting anyone else to come here, much less talk to him. He looked up at the inphernal who spoke. Just by the voice he knew it wasn't Subspace, to no one's surprise. By the uniform she wore he knew she was one of his new colleagues, though she didn't look any younger than him. She had a pale face, with a stern but not in any way mean spirited look behind her eyes. She was also smiling politely. Her horns were burgundy and she wore a jacket made for this cold weather over her work uniform.

Medkit moved a little to the side and grabbed his food to make space for her to sit. She sat next to him.

“I'm Warp, I recently got moved up to your division. Pleased to meet you.“ She offered her hand so Medkit could shake it.

“Medkit.”

“I've heard great things about you and your innovative work. Very inspiring stuff you got going on.”

Medkit felt a little odd about the new recruits looking up to him as this great inventor and inspiration, especially since he has yet to achieve anything groundbreaking with his work, but he didn't mind it too much. He took the compliment.

The two did some small talk, nothing too exciting, but it was a change from the old routine, and it passed the time. Warp was straightforward to get along with, and didn't act superficial to be liked. Medkit liked that.

They started eating together more and more often. Warp would follow Medkit to whichever spot he went to and they attempted to strike conversation, most often work related, but sometimes about Warp's past too.

Medkit quickly realized Warp really liked talking about herself. She was Medkit's age, but she started studying later in her life. Much of her younger years were spent not knowing what she wanted to do with her life, so she moved from job to job and from relationship to relationship and often got into trouble. Everyone was prying her to do something with her life, so she eventually settled for the researcher path.

“If I'm honest, I still don't know if this is what I truly want for myself. Everyone tells me I made the right choice and I'll finally be someone useful to Blackrock but.. I just don't know if I'll be happy this way...” Warp sighed, and looked at the inphernal seated next to her.

“Can I ask you a stupid question?”

Medkit nodded a little hesitantly.

“Have you.. ever thought of leaving Blackrock?”

Notes:

Tag me @yogurt_fairy on Twitter if you make fanart so I can see it and eat it- I mean, shout it out

Chapter 2: Headway

Summary:

Very Subspace centric chapter
Ruh roh he spiraling

Subspace was taking a mindless walk to stretch his legs after sitting in one spot all day. He was already looking forward to resuming his work, fantasizing about what other tests he could try out next. He just feels like he's getting closer to a breakthrough. Something was going to change soon, he just had to figure out what.

He waved -a tad bit aggressively- to a couple of colleagues as he passed them by. Word had gone around of his ambitious crystal studies, and everyone looked up to him now. Subspace loved this attention.

Keeping everyone at arm's length was how Subspace preferred it. Never too close but close enough to have someone around to do his bidding when he needed them. He can't afford to become too close to someone who could backstab him anytime they feel like it. He wants to have the last word after all.
Inphernals can be unreliable, emotional and unpredictable. Sometimes he even has no choice but to play nice and use honeyed words to keep them in their place. These idiots always fall for it.

He walked past a seemingly unnoteworthy room with its door half open. Subspace could just barely hear someone talking. He didn't even take note of it until selective hearing did its thing.

“Have you… ever thought of leaving Blackrock?”

Subspace stopped in his tracks and had to do a double take. Morbid curiosity took over, he just had to hear more. He came closer to the thin walls to hear better, waiting for someone to speak again. It took a few seconds but eventually a reply was heard.

"That's none of your business...”

Medkit? That was undeniably his co-worker's voice he just heard.

“No, I get it. You have a purpose. You're building up to something. You've found your place in the world. Why would someone like you want to leave? If anything, I'm insulting you by asking that. That was really shortsighted and distasteful of me, I'm sorry.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I have this friend named Grav who also works here, and one of her parents is from Playground. Sometimes she tells me about times she visits family over there: what kind of activities they do; how people live. I know it's not right, but it's got me thinking that maybe I could be happier if I lived somewhere else, or was affiliated with another region.”

Who was this inphernal spewing nonsense to Medkit about being happier away from Blackrock, the greatest faction there ever was? Who do they think they are! Subspace knew Medkit wasn't going to have any of this, he knows better than to…

“I've considered it before.”

Subspace blinked.

“You have?”

“Considering is different from acting on it though, isn't it? It's not a crime to have my own beliefs. Blackrock can't jail my mind.”

“Of course not.”

“I don't really agree with most of Blackrock’s ideologies. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of how much progress we have brought to the world, but we encourage violence way too much for my taste.”

Simply the fact that Medkit was opening up like this to someone was unusual. Medkit was the most reclusive demon Subspace knew. Why was he comfortable enough to say these things to this random demon, but not to him?

“And yet, I am aware that the rest of the Inpherno isn't much different. The nature of our very world is violent, so it can't be the only reason. You're right, I do have a purpose, I do have a place and I am someone here. I'm surrounded by people and yet… I feel all alone.”

“You have friends though, don't you? That colleague of yours, Subspace. Aren't you two close?”

“Not at all. He couldn't care less about me. I don't believe me and him could ever get along like that.”

Subspace unconsciously clenched the fabric of his uniform with his hand, digging his nails as deeply as he could inside of his thigh. Every word Medkit had spoken felt like a whiplash; over and over Subspace expected him to say one thing and he said another. Did he know Medkit at all?

He didn't know to whom he needed to direct these sour feelings. To Medkit? To this corruptive demon who was speaking with him?

Or perhaps to himself?

Somehow knowing that Medkit would never say any of this to his face felt even worse. For how long now had he been quietly thinking this way? The co-worker Subspace thought he knew had never felt more like a stranger.

“I'm sorry to hear that. I really thought you two were a... thing, but I guess I was mistaken. Hey, I'm here for you whenever you need to talk, alright?”

“I don't think this conversation is work appropriate, I've said too much already. I should go.”

Subspace turned around the corner before either demon could exit the room and spot him. He avoided eye contact with anyone he walked past, headed straight to the labs.

He entered the empty laboratory and closed the door behind him. The faint buzzing of the troffer lights above his head was the only sound to be heard, other than his racing thoughts. Subspace paced around the small room, as if a mad genius in the middle of a breakthrough. Maybe that's what he was.

The more rounds he did around the room, the more upset he was at Medkit. Was all of this, these crystals, these stockpiled papers with all sorts of notes, sometimes scribbled hastily, sometimes traced neatly, these hypotheses marked down and pinned for future testing… Was it all worth nothing to him?

Impulses of hurting Medkit arose. They were carnal and violent. In his hands he could almost feel Medkit's fragile body crushing and breaking, he would not be hard to kill. Subspace aggressively pushed some piles of papers from the desk on the floor, making a mess. A loud sound of something hard and solid -definitely not paper- hitting the floor echoed in the room. Subspace’s heart sank, could he have broken something? A crystal? He can't afford to break those precious things. He went down on all fours and started hastily looking under the rubble for what caused the sound, picking up the piles and tossing them aside. He quickly found it. A picture frame, luckily intact. It had gotten buried under all the research awhile ago, and Subspace had completely forgotten about it. It was a picture of him and Medkit in their work uniforms on the first day on the job. They were both smiling, even Medkit was.

Looking at the picture, realization hit him: he was spiraling and he needed to snap out of it.

He got up, set the frame on the desk, and went to open all the windows, letting a massive gust of air in. The cold wind ruffled his hair and caressed his skin, cooling down his body temperature. Subspace just now noticed how heavily he was breathing. He stood there in place, facing the outside, looking almost serene. A drastic constrast to how he was just seconds ago.

Out of every hurtful thing Medkit had said, two things stuck out to him. The two real reasons Medkit was considered leaving.

Medkit was lonely, and Medkit had lost faith in him.

Subspace had never felt lonely before, not in the textbook sense of the word. The projects he worked on were his “family” and his “friends”, and he believed they filled the void pretty well. He barely separated his professional life from his personal, if at all.

He had assumed Medkit was the same. He had acted like the two of them were the same person. Which they weren't. Medkit felt alone here, that was the word he had used. Alone.

Subspace closed the windows. Things were slowly starting to clear up.

Medkit had said he wasn't intending on putting his thoughts into action and actually leaving, but one bad weed overtime takes over an entire garden, this was just the start. Subspace needed to rip this weed out before it spreads and soils Medkit's mind completely. Before he loses his coworker forever.

He had figured it out, and subsequently he had calmed down.

The door behind him creaked open. Someone stepped inside the lab and rubbed some disinfectant on his hands.

Medkit took note of the papers scattered on the floor and sighed. “What a mess.”

Subspace glanced behind him at what he had caused, as if he had already forgotten about it and was noticing the rubble for the first time. “Oh, I'm so sorry about this, I was just looking for something!”

Medkit was unamused. “Did you find it at least?”

Subspace grinned. “Sure did!”

Medkit sat in his seat and grabbed a couple of stray papers, tapping their edges on the table so they would straighten. “Are you going to clean this up or will you leave everything to me?” He noticed the picture frame next to him. Has it been there before? He couldn't quite recall.

Subspace leaned over Medkit's chair playfully. “Come on, I'm not that mean. I'll do half!”

Medkit rolled his eyes. Subspace was trying to joke around but Medkit knew there was truth in what he said.

Work resumed as usual, they were both efficient and concentrated on their respective tasks. Subspace did pick up a few chunks of loose paper and haphazardly arranged them, so atleast there was that.

Eventually the work day reached its end. Medkit finished up writing down the last notes of the day, getting ready to head out.

Time to strike.

“Hey Meddy, I was just wondering if you have anything planned this evening?”

Medkit didn't register the question at first.
“I don't feel like staying overtime tonight, I'm sorry. You can ask someone else from the crew to take my place.” He reached for his jacket and began putting it on.

Subspace raised an eyebrow. “No, I'm not talking about that, you dumbnut! If you're free, perhaps we could go out and grab some food or something? Whatever you want to do.”

Medkit paused mid sleeve slip and turned his head to face his colleague.

Subspace eagerly waited for a response, inspecting Medkit's face in order to notice any micro expressions he made. This had to work, he was prepared to pressure him if it came down to that.

Medkit was hesitant and took a good moment to think about it while he finished putting his jacket on. This was the first time Subspace had asked to hang out outside of office hours, so the scientist had good reasons to be suspicious. What had compelled him to ask, and, most importantly, was he being genuine? With Subspace it was really hard to tell sometimes.

“I don't have anything planned for tonight, no.”

Subspace smiled. The gears were set in motion.

Notes:

Subspace clenched (his buttcheeks)

This chapter was honestly very hard to write, I hope it turned out decent 🙏

Chapter 3: All for the cause

Notes:

Happy ( a day late but whatever ) spawn day Subspace !!!

Snowflakes had begun to fall: a fine and intricate powder sprinkled onto the drab landscape. Two coworkers were walking side by side, leaving footprints behind them in the thin layer of snow. A temporary trace of their passage that would inevitably be covered by more snow.

The sun was almost set, only a faint rosy undertone was left in the sky. The days were getting shorter and shorter as December was rolling around. Very soon it will be completely dark by the time they finish work.

No one dared to break the silence. They had both been quiet the whole time they left the research building together, only acknowledging each other with subtle glances, unconvinced that the other will still be there when they look.

Eventually the silence needed to be broken. Subspace didn't really know what Medkit would be up to talk about. They've known each other for a good while now and yet it was all surface level stuff. He couldn't even figure out how to strike a conversation with him outside of work. That's the consequence of keeping people at arm's length, and it has come to bite him. He still needed to try something though.

“Would you look at that, the snowflakes resemble our crystals a little bit!”

“Hm?” Medkit glanced up at the falling snow. The landscape standing before him was quite beautiful, albeit cold and empty.
The snowfall was more visible under the light of a nearby lamppost. He examined their strange beauty. Some snowflakes landed on his glasses, making his view foggy. He turned his head back down to shield them.

“I've never thought of them like that, but I suppose they do. Nature mimics nature.”

Subspace nodded. Medkit sniffled because of the cold.

“So, have you decided where you want us to go yet? We're walking aimlessly right now.” He had to say it. They were also straying quite close to the edge of the faction’s territory, nearing the Crossroads. There was no way Subspace would go any further. Stay here, stay in Blackrock. That's the plan.

“I'm not really that hungry, so you can pick a place.” The truth was that Medkit hadn't eaten much that day so he could go for a meal right now, but he didn't feel comfortable to burden Subspace with that information. He was still on the fence about this outing.

“Hmmmmm...” Subspace took a quick look around the empty streets, squinting to make out the buildings which appeared fuzzy because of the increasing snowfall. He noticed a small coffee shop nearby. It looked empty, but it could be open. Who in their right minds would go out in this weather anyway? Them, apparently.

“How about there?” He pointed at it.

Medkit did not recognize the place. “Have you been there before?”

“Nope! But it won't hurt to try, right?”

Medkit shrugged. “I suppose not.” He wasn't pretentious, any place would have done fine.

Subspace entered the cafe and Medkit followed, not without shaking off the snow on his boots before entering, out of courtesy. He gestured to Subspace for him to do the same. The pink-horned demon rolled his eyes and went back out to do it, slightly defeating the purpose of the act. If this was a normal day at the job, he would have commented something snarky in retaliation. Medkit was so proper, always feeling the need to point out things he does wrong, those little petty comments that get to him. He despised being bossed around like a dog. If anyone should be commanded, it was those below him.

But he was putting in effort right now, so he bit his tongue and obliged. He needed Medkit to get a good impression of him, even if it wasn't truthful. All for the cause.

The place was open, but vacant. The single employee on the job had been rolling around a stray straw on the counter out of boredom, but stopped once they entered and greeted them in a cheerful, customer service tone.

Medkit politely greeted the employee back. Subspace imitated the gesture. He knew people subconsciously like when their actions get mirrored.

He stopped and observed the worker. Something about her face seemed familiar. He noticed her employee nametag. Grav.

“Hey, don't I know you? Do… do we work together?”

The employee’s eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh you're so right! you're those top scientists back at the labs! I'm Grav, you probably haven't heard of me because I'm still new, but you somehow still recognized me! What an honor.”

Medkit chimed in. “Yes, your friend Warp has mentioned you. Welcome to the team.” Medkit was glad to finally be able to associate a face to the name Warp had thrown at him.

Subspace on the other hand was wary. Memories of the conversation Medkit had earlier behind his back flooded his mind. His high alert sensor was on. He probed.
“Say, why do you work at a desolate cafe if you have a much more prestigious job? I don't get it.”

Grav played with her thumbs. “It's a temporary side gig sort of thing. I needed some extra bux. I will probably quit once I start earning steady with my research. Or if that fails I still have a plan B, you know?”

“That makes sense, stability is very important.”

“You get me! I wish Warp would get that into her head sometimes. She can't keep a job longer than a few months.”

Medkit knew exactly what she meant.

Subspace was getting impatient. He cleared his throat loudly to signal Grav.

A pause. Grav had forgotten where she was for a moment.

“Oh I'm so sorry, I completely forgot, what would you like to order?”

Medkit spoke first. “Some black coffee for me, nothing else.”

Grav wrote it down in her register and turned to Subspace. “And you?”

“Same thing.”

Grav scoffed playfully. “You guys are so boring. Two stale old man coffees coming up!”

Medkit didn't mind Grav that much, she was sweet and he could see why her and Warp got along. Maybe the two of them could get along too, or was that a stretch?

Subspace found her obnoxious. He was disappointed she and her friend were the type of inphernals getting recruited by Blackrock nowadays. Expendable nobodies.

At least her service was passable. She served them their coffees with a smile, both steaming hot. “Enjoy!”

The coworkers found a spot to sit down. It wasn't hard to do considering every seat in the cafe was available at this time.

Medkit noticed Grav dozing off into space behind her counter and had a thought.
“Hey Grav, since there's no other customers here, would you like to sit down next to us so we can keep you company?”

Subspace's eye twitched. He did not want Grav sitting with them. This was supposed to be about the two of them, not her.
Why was he thinking that way? He didn't quite know. At the end of the day, the cure to loneliness is people, and the more the merrier. Medkit making friends with others was great news… and yet Subspace disliked the idea of someone else coming in between the two of them. He invited Medkit out, not the entire research team.

Just as Grav was about to answer, the door of the cafe opened, ringing the bell. An inphernal wearing a thick scarf covered with a layer of snow walked in. Judging based on their state, the weather outside had visibly worsened.

Grav scratched her head and giggled awkwardly at the situation. “I'm afraid not, thank you for offering though!”

Perfect.

Medkit took a sip of coffee. It was nice and warm, possibly feeling even hotter than it actually was due to the contrasting cold outside.

Subspace imitated him. The coffee tasted fine. He didn't care for it.

Medkit sniffled again and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.

“What, you caught a cold or something?”

“I hope not. The week just started.”

“Oh yea, there's a lot we can get done this week if we work efficiently. I've been thinking, once we figure out how to harness the energy of our crystals, there's just so many potential uses for it that we could test out.”

Subspace spoke with all his energy and passion when discussing the subject of their research. His voice would obnoxiously increase in volume too.

Medkit listened to Subspace's rambles the same way he did at work. Subspace would speak of all the technological advancements they will bring, and all the prestige that
comes with it.
It was all always so vague. What did Subspace really consider to be a specific improvement they could bring to the faction? Medkit knew what he himself wanted to change. That's all he's been thinking about, the inherent flaws of the society they live in. The high mortality rate among young inphernals, the low life expectancy, the violence… they could make everything better for everyone.
If he doesn't leave the faction, he wants to at least make it worth living in.

“Hellooo, Inpherno to Meddy!!
Are you listening to a word I'm saying?” Subspace gestured with his hand so Medkit would notice.

Medkit had zoned out.

“Sorry, I'm just a little tired from the long day.”

“I get it, you don't want to hear about work while outside of work. Makes sense.”

Subspace leaned his head on his hand, his elbow on the table. His face was decorated with a cheeky smile and his eyes were fixated on the demon sitting on the other side of the table. Holding this eye contact made Medkit feel a little uneasy. What did those big eyes hide? Could they see right through him?

“You guys enjoying yourselves back there?” A voice chimed in from over the counter.

Subspace waited to hear Medkit's answer.

“We are, thank you for asking. The coffee is very good.”

It's a start.

“I'm glad to hear! Just letting you know, we close in 20 minutes, no rush.”

Medkit took his final sips of coffee. He glanced at the weather outside, dreading the moment he will have to walk home in that storm, which is pretty much what the light snowfall from earlier had turned into. The wind could be heard even from inside, and the once peaceful snowflakes were now being flung around in a chaotic dance.

Subspace had squeezed dry all the conversation juices he had left. Now seemed like a good time to call it a night.

“Should we get going before the weather outside worsens even more?”

Medkit agreed. For once Subspace suggested something reasonable. Who knew he was capable of being sensible from time to time?

Subspace also downed his coffee and the two got up. Medkit went up to Grav and thanked her for her service, leaving her a fairly generous tip. Subspace imitated Medkit's demeanor once again. Hopefully he wasn't overdoing it. Medkit didn't seem to notice or care.

He did notice though. This entire outing felt odd to him from the start, but not necessarily in a negative way. Just in a way he didn't expect. Subspace was somehow… more tolerable outside of work? Medkit knows people tend to act differently when they're doing something leisurely instead of working, but for some reason he just expected Subspace to be the same unlikable face everywhere he goes.

The moment the door opened, the cold air from outside made Medkit shield his face instinctively. The two inphernals walked in silence for a while until they reached the point where they needed to separate.

Medkit spoke. “So, see you tomorrow then?”

“See ya!!”

Subspace gradually became smaller and smaller until he disappeared completely in the fog and Medkit was left alone. Only the storm was keeping him company now. He realized right after Subspace was gone that he had forgotten to thank him for inviting him out.

Notes:

AO3 can you please stop putting notes from previous chapters on my new ones? It gets on my nerves :<

I love all the comments I receive tysmmm for the support <3

Chapter 4: Thank you for that

Summary:

Medkit centric. This chapter is shorter than usual, I just really want to get the plot moving forward after this chapter.

Notes:

Watch me slowly regret choosing to write a fanfic happening exclusively pre-incident.. it's so hard to know if I'm being ooc if there is barely any canon

Medkit woke up while it was still dark outside. The wind blowing on the other side was harsh. As it shook the walls of Medkit's room, it made an odd noise, almost comparable to shaking out a very large and thick cloth. Medkit turned around to face the other way. Many more months of this to come.

Medkit has always been an extremely light sleeper, any noise or disturbance easily woke him up. Sometimes he would even wake up seemingly for no reason. This happens multiple times a night, and the scientist, powerless against his predisposition, just tries going back to sleep as best he can. The cycle continues until he is no longer capable of falling asleep or until it's time to leave for work.

Medkit turned again, this time facing the ceiling. He could barely map how high it was in this darkness, if it wasn't for familiarity.

Medkit remembered Subspace and the short moment they shared together that day. He reminded himself that he needs to thank him for the invitation. Hopefully it doesn't slip his mind once he wakes up for good.

Thinking about Subspace brought up a memory: the first conversation they ever shared, years ago. The two of them were so young back then, yet their paths forward had already been traced in advance.

Medkit tried remembering Subspace’s tone of voice when he introduced himself. It slowly came back to him.

“I'm Subspace T. Mine, the greatest Blackrock scientist the world has yet to see!”

Subspace had offered his hand to be shaken while he kept his other arm behind his back. Both of them had a smaller figure back then, but Subspace in particular had this youthful air to him. Medkit remembered how Subspace tried to hide it by keeping his chin up high and proud so he seemed taller and more imposing. Despite that, he was just a kid. They both were.

“Subspace T. Mine? What kind of a name is that?”

Medkit didn't know at the time that Subspace had made up this name on the spot.

“Only the greatest name of all times, thank you very much.”

“You sure have an ego, huh?”

Subspace laughed as if Medkit had made a hilarious joke, but he didn't deny the statement. “And what shall I be calling you?”

“Just Medkit is fine.”

“Medkit? Oh you're a doctor! I didn't even know we had those in Blackrock!” His eyes keenly lit up.

Medkit felt uncomfortable at the establishment of the purpose behind his gear. Technically Subspace was right, but also very wrong. Medkit had no medical training, especially at the time. He also wasn't the biggest fan of the role his spawning had bestowed upon him.

“I don't really like considering myself a doctor… I'm a scientist, like you.”

Subspace grinned. “Oh what fun! I hope you won't cause too much trouble, ay Meddy?”

Meddy.

That nickname stuck. No one else he met before or after Subspace ever called him Meddy. Med or another variation of his name, sure, but never Meddy. It was one of the things only he and Subspace shared.

Medkit couldn't recall how the rest of the conversation went. He did remember the two of them had a very rough start. Medkit tried to tolerate him, but he had less patience back then. He worked on it throughout the years. It didn't help that Subspace found it amusing to get on his nerves, purposely talking back until Medkit had enough of him. The longer they talked, the less they agreed on anything. No wonder they both subconsciously acquired the habit of keeping all their conversations short and straight to the point.

The two of them won't ever get along, Medkit thought as his heavy eyelids closed.

Yet today wasn't so bad, was it?

He gently drifted back to sleep.

________

 

The next morning everything was covered in a thick fresh blanket of snow. With the ceasing of the snowfall, the habitual stillness was back. Blackrock once again looked like a place frozen in time.

Subspace arrived to work early. Medkit, on time.

When the punctual demon entered the lab, he immediately noticed that all the ruckus from yesterday was cleaned up and reorganized. His eyes darted around the lab which hadn't looked this orderly in months.

Subspace was sitting down, his arms resting on his legs. He was rhythmically tapping his hand on his thigh and his chair was oriented towards the door as if he had been specially expecting Medkit to show up right at that moment.

“Look, I tidied everything up! I think our lab looks way more spacious now with less garbage on the floor, wouldn't you agree?”

“I-”

Subspace angled his head to the side. “Is something wrong?”

Medkit cleared his throat and finally met eyes with his coworker. “No, it looks great. Thank you for that.”

Creases formed around Subspace's eyes from his grin. “Hehe, you're welcome! It was my mess anyway.”

He spun his chair around to face the desk. Medkit noticed it had multiple large papers scattered on it. They weren't notes, they were sketches.

Subspace noticed Medkit gazing and put his hand over his work.
“Ah-Ah-Ah, you can't look yet, it's not done!”

He hastily collected all the papers, folded them in a cylinder and shoved them in a bag. He purposefully had his back turned towards Medkit so he could shield everything from his colleague's curious eyes.

Medkit found this behavior odd. The two of them always worked as a team and divided their tasks equitably. This was unwonted. Everything was unwonted. It perturbed him, but it also intrigued him in a way. After the years of monotony, strictly followed routine and habits, something, he didn't know what exactly, he didn't know if it was good or bad, but sometimes felt like it was happening, and Subspace was the initiator.

Medkit adjusted his glasses. “Just to be clear, you don't want to hear my opinion on what you've been working on?”

“No, I do! I'm just not done yet, Meddy!” Subspace's tone was whiny.
“I only have a rough draft of something I'm sure you'll love. In due time.”

Medkit sighed. It was no use.

He sat down and got to work, picking up where he had left off.

As he was mapping the results of tests they had previously conducted on the behavior of the crystals when subjected to extreme temperatures in a graphic, Medkit couldn't shake off the feeling he was forgetting something. There was surely something he meant to do, but what? He checked if he didn't lose any notes. Everything seemed to be in order, no, even better than in order now that Subspace had classified everything. It wasn't that. It wasn't about the work.

He saw his coworker’s arm moving in his peripheral vision, reaching for a pipette. Suddenly, he remembered.

“Oh, right. Thank you for inviting me out to grab some coffee yesterday, that was… very nice of you.”

“Oh don't mention it, I can't believe we haven't done something like that before!”

Medkit stood there awkwardly. “Right...”

Subspace had brought up a good point.

Medkit remembered the time he almost got himself to ask Subspace if they could go attend that one event together. Maybe he really should have just went for it.

What do people say again? Better to live with remorse than with regret

Chapter 5: The world will continue to spin just the same

Notes:

Slight uncomfortable descriptions warning featuring an insect at the end of the chapter. It's not bad but I'll still warn people.

2 more weeks until I'm out on winter break and I can update this way more often! Thank you so much for being so patient 🙏

Two weeks had passed since that night Subspace had invited Medkit out.

Subspace had started asking Medkit to show up to work early and stay after hours. Medkit followed his commands without complaints and put in all the work necessary, even if he'd be left exhausted when he finally arrived back home as a result. Medkit never minded working hard and getting things done for others, even at the detriment of his own wellbeing.

Perhaps the fact that Subspace’s company didn't feel so bad anymore had some influence in this too. Medkit had never imagined he'd ever genuinely think like that, but here we are. He tried his best to dismiss these thoughts and not linger on them. He still had no idea what had compelled Subspace to change. Everytime he thought about it for too long, he fell deep into the rabbit hole of questioning whether people can truly change, or if they're bound by nature to inevitably revert back to their same old ways.

Subspace will still be Subspace tomorrow and the world will continue to spin just the same, will it not? Sometimes it felt as if it spun in a different direction now, and Medkit had somehow wound up in a world where it was possible for him and Subspace to get along, as crazy as that was.

It wasn't just the two of them anymore. Grav and Warp started offering their help and gradually took more and more part in the work. They had brought their own equipment into the lab Medkit and Subspace shared, crowding the room and making it look even smaller than before. While neither of them could summon crystals, Grav's gravity disruption sometimes came in handy.

Subspace liked the new pace at which the work was advancing. With Medkit staying overtime and there being four of them now, everything was going much faster. He was also making steady progress with his own project, which he still has yet to reveal to Medkit.

What Subspace didn't like as much was how he had to go from seeing Warp and Grav as living on a separate social plane as him and who can only watch and learn to hope to one day be as great as him, to seeing them as, frankly, co-workers. Equals. Inphernals who have as much worth for Blackrock as he does.

He loathed feeling that way more than he originally expected he would. He felt disdain towards the both of them from the moment they met, two little invasive pests crawling all over his work and thinking they were contributing something to the bigger picture. He couldn't care less if he trampled all over them someday. They're not like him, and they will never be.

But Medkit likes them, and there's nothing he can do about that. Medkit spends his breaks alongside Warp, and strikes conversations like they're lifelong friends.

It hadn't even crossed his mind until recently that Medkit did things during his free time.

Just two weeks ago, whenever Subspace blinked or whenever Medkit left his field of vision, it was pretty much as if he stopped existing. In Subspace's mind, he didn't really see Medkit as his own individual that has a life of his own, because, frankly, what did it matter to him what Medkit does outside of work? They're just co-workers who mildly dislike each other, held together only by a shared goal, which is Subspace's top priority.

But now, Subspace thought of him constantly. Medkit was omnipresent in his mind. He learned all his habits, the path he took to get home, the way he prefered wearing his clothes, what length of socks he wore, how often he checked the time while he worked, what food he brought most often…

Subspace supposed that Medkit has been this way the whole time. He's probably the type to always remain the same, both physically and in his demeanor, even if he really wants to change and move on for whatever reason. If you happen to cross paths with him again years down the line, you'd recognize him almost immediately, and you'd be shocked at how little he's changed from how you remember him.

But the fact that Subspace was now noticing all these things made him realize that if he ever loses Medkit, he doesn't just lose an asset, he loses a partner.

______

As they did sometimes, Warp and Grav were helping out with the research. The two of them kept sharing discreet glances at each other that neither Medkit nor Subspace noticed, almost like they were talking telepathically.

Warp finally spoke. “Darn it! We're out of distilled water. Medkit, would you be so kind as to go fetch us some squeeze bottles from the lab down the hall? Grav and I can't really take our attention off of our station right now, or something might explode.”

Medkit looked up from his work but didn't say a thing, obeying Warp's request.

Warp watched Medkit intently as he opened the door and made his way around the corner, out of sight. She signaled Grav and the two pivoted in sync towards Subspace the moment Medkit's footsteps were no longer audible.

“Sooo, Mr. Mine, what's the plan? Spill it!”

A question mark formed in Subspace's eyes. “What?”

Warp avoided eye contact with Subspace, not very proud of herself “You know, for the 29th? It's in a week, and to be completely frank with you, me and Grav haven't prepared anything.”

Subspace stood there, dumbfounded. He blinked as he darted his gaze from Grav to Warp and back. He would have attempted pretending to know what this was about so he didn't seem like a complete idiot ( because he is no idiot ), but that would only have worked if he had the tiniest clue of what these two lunatics were spitting, and he in fact did not.

Grav grabbed Subspace by the arm and shook him frantically.
“Please don't tell us you've got nothing!! You were our last hope!!”

Subspace shoved her away. Warp gave her a look that signaled she was doing too much.

Finally noticing Subspace's blank face, Warp understood the memo. The three of them were not speaking the same language, so she attempted to help him out a little.

“You've known Medkit the longest, what do you usually do for his spawnday?”

A strident sound played in Subspace's head. It didn't have a specific tone that you could identify as originating from something recognizable and discernable, but it was unpleasant beyond any needed explanation.

Medkit's spawnday. The 29th. In a week.

The scientist swallowed his spit and skillfully displayed indifference, taking control of the situation. He sat down deeper in his seat and brought his right index finger to his mouth, his face displaying a pensive expression.

“Let me think of a recent example...”

Absolutely nothing.

While on the topic of Subspace knowing very little about Medkit, another thing he hadn't really paid any particular attention to was his spawnday. Ever since they began working on studying the crystals together, every 29th of December had been a completely normal day.

Of course it made logical sense for Medkit to HAVE a spawnday, everyone does! Subspace isn't that behind, he just didn't really care to memorize the date. In his defense, for all he knows, Medkit doesn't even celebrate it himself! Celebrating your spawnday is a completely optional thing to do, and Blackrock has never been the leader in festivities.

Subspace couldn't help but wonder where these two parasites had gotten the date from.

“Medkit isn't big on parties, or crowds for that matter. He just comes to terms that he is now one year older, and that's that. As for gifts, I just get some new top notch lab equipment from our superiors or something.”

Grav looked at Warp, who shook her head disapprovingly. “I'm too broke for that and you know it.”

Grav protested. “That's not what I meant! I told you already, I think Medkit deserves to have a memorable spawnday. In Playground, we treat spawndays, especially our friends’, very seriously. We don't have to go somewhere busy, but we should at least dine somewhere nice for the occasion! Right, Subspace?”

Subspace avoided her gaze, slowly overcome by nausea. “Oh, uh, yea, whatever you say.”

He cleared his throat and swallowed some bile that had surfaced. What did it matter what they do in Playground?

“Am I interrupting something?”
The three schemers had failed to realize Medkit was already back with the water.

Warp smiled widely at Medkit, attempting to clear any suspicion.
“No, not at all! We were just discussing the work.”

Medkit pointed with his eyes. “Your station is fuming.”

Everyone turned their heads in unison towards Warp And Grav's unattended station.

“SHIT.” Warp blurted out.

Grav got up and covered her nose with her arm, finally smelling the burnt. “I'll open the windows!”

Warp rushed to turn off the power. She reached for a pair of crucible tongs and used them to grab the smoking container. She then opened the fume hood and briskly placed it inside.
Once it was closed tight and turned on, she stepped back and observed her work. Warp couldn't help but smirk, proud of herself for handling the situation so well, with her very limited experience nonetheless. She was so used to failing at every job she took. Maybe she makes a decent scientist after all.

Grav struggled to open the window, her hand slipping. Medkit went over to help her out. With their combined efforts, they got it to budge and the window opened in one fell swoop.

In the heat of the moment, no one noticed Subspace took this opportunity to discreetly leave the lab.

He wandered mindlessly around the hallways, looking serene to an outsider’s perspective.

Some movement on the floor caught his attention: a small insect crawling sporadically. It had seeked to escape from the brumal cold outside and had found suitable refuge in the hallways of the facility. Subspace squatted to get a better look at it. It appears as though it had stopped to groom itself. Subspace gently tilted his head, keeping his gaze on the creature.

“Aren't you just fascinatingly repulsive? You remind me a lot of the folk back there in my lab.”

Suddenly, he summoned one of his crystals and brought it to the bug. It quickly began to quiver and become more agitated, circling around twice in a desperate attempt to run from the poison, which visibly entertained Subspace, before finally dropping dead, while still twitching. Subspace scoffed and got up to finish the job by stepping on it forcefully.

Chapter 6: The nature of our very world

Summary:

Ruh roh. Anyways, here's your food readers, I hope it will satisfy your hunger for now >:3

Notes:

Death in the family's new pages omggg I'm so happy to see my babies.

Warp's eyelids were growing droopy from the weight of the day. Despite how good rest sounded right about now, before she could jump into the sweet delight of sleep's arms, she had to sort out her laundry.

Her TV was playing in the background while she organized her shirts and blouses. She had turned it on to keep her brain stimulated, but she was only really half listening to the reports, who served more as white noise. She caught only some key words between the chitter-chatter. Something about a new business in Crossroads; the exciting grand opening of some cafe.

Warp held up her new Blackrock uniform and examined it. Garnished with the signature Blackrockian greek-key pattern, it looked slick and silky. Warp gently slid her fingers along the patterned stripes, letting her fingertips glide along the smooth surface of the fabric.

This was it. She has finally gotten a respectable job and will become a respectable adult who will achieve respectable things for her respectable faction. Truly living the dream, right?

She put down her uniform and closed her eyes, letting her mind rest and allowing the world to remain perfectly still for a moment. She erased all faction borders in her mind and permitted everything and everyone to merge into one uniform, even unity. Would things be better, then?

Surely not. Medkit had said it best: “The nature of our very world is violent.” Inphernals crave division and conflict.

That brief moment of rest was gone, the faction borders stood tall, real and imposing. Back to reality.

Warp began folding her uniform to put it away. She really needs to learn to stop listening to her thoughts after 9 pm.

‘.... from Playground are being accused of ….’

Warp’s attention completely shifted towards the TV, like a dog that drops the ball in its mouth after it heard its master call its name.

Playground? That's something. Definitely more intriguing than a Cafe.

She rested the half folded uniform on her lap and shifted towards the TV so she could focus better on what was being said.

______

 

The workday had started 30 minutes ago, yet Grav was still nowhere to be seen. Despite how concentrated Medkit was on his tasks, he kept glancing up at the clock with concern.

Warp finished writing some notes down and went over to Medkit, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“She's not coming.”

Medkit's heart skipped a beat. Why isn't she coming? She hasn't been acting weird recently. Has something happened?

Warp avoided Medkit’s gaze awkwardly. “I called her yesterday after I heard the news on television. She said she would pack some things quickly in the morning so she must've left in a hurry.”

“What news? Is she alright?” Medkit felt it, something was horribly wrong.

Warp's gaze hardened ever so slightly. “Playgrounders have been caught poisoning our water supply. There's rumors going around about Blackrock completely closing off the tunnel connecting us to the Crossroads, to protect us. Grav decided she would go visit her family over at Playground before things escalate further.”

Medkit held his tongue from saying something improper.

Warp removed her hand from Medkit's shoulder and took a quick look over at Subspace. “I'll go talk with the higher ups to notify them of her absence. The last thing I want is for her to be punished for this.”

Medkit nodded and watched as Warp closed the door behind her, disappearing from sight.

Subspace was humming contentedly, his fingers interlocked slightly below his chin, his demeanor completely dissociated from the conversation that had just occurred.

Medkit sat deeper in his chair. He had a visibly nervous and fidgety air to him.

Subspace looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with Medkit. The surface of his eyes emitted a glint slightly above his pupils, and he was doing that same cheeky smile of his. There was always something about the way Subspace looks at people that frightened Medkit. He finds himself trusting Subspace's mouth more often now, but can he trust those eyes too?

Despite everything, he couldn't bring himself to break their eye contact.

“What's got you so squirmy, Meddy?”

“I don't understand why the sudden quarrel. We haven't had any severe issues with Playground in years.”

Subspace exaggerated an eye roll while not failing to hold his smile. “It was only a matter of time before something like this occurred…” He twirled one of his fingers in his hair. “Playground’s going to get what's coming for them.”

Medkit exhaled. “I'm worried for Grav… she's being forced to choose between her two homes. It's not right.”

Subspace’s gaze shifted slightly, as if he had something on his mind.
“She made her choice, and she's out of our sight… for now.”

Subspace's wording left a bad taste in Medkit's mouth. For a moment the old Subspace felt like he had come back. Well … there is no “old Subspace”, it's just Medkit fooling himself.

Medkit cleared his throat. “Let's get back to work.”

“Excellent idea!”

_______

 

Medkit and Subspace were walking alongside each other after their shift was over. This routine of theirs had started after their first outing.

The air outside was still. The atmosphere felt heavy, as if the wind was stored somewhere, waiting to be set free to gust and blow with all of it's concealed strength, but instead of another storm, there was only inertia and stillness.

Oddly enough, this potential energy seems to have transferred to the mountaineers. There was a notable increase in inphernals rustling outside.

The recent conflict with Playground had stirred Blackrock’s population and everyone was on edge.

When the duo reached one of the more busy streets, they noticed a crowd of inphernals that were gathered, shouting insults and slurs at one another.

Medkit gripped Subspace's jacket involuntarily. He hated loud noises. Subspace noticed this reaction and tactfully shifted closer to Medkit, their bodies now inches apart. The two huddled together this way until they passed the angry mob. This proximity to someone familiar gave Medkit a sense of security which overtook and dissipated the uneasiness of the situation.

When the mob was out of sight, Medkit loosened his grip on Subspace and avoided looking in his direction.

This rising uncertainty between the two neighboring factions worried Medkit a lot. He was concerned for Grav, of course, but he also feared what his higher-ups would request of them to do as researchers. He wouldn't be able to say no to any of their requests, no matter what his morals would tell him.

The two colleagues took a few more turns into less busy streets until there were no others in sight. They stopped, knowing it was time to part ways for the day.

Subspace turned around to face Medkit. He reached over and slowly cupped Medkit's cheeks with his hands and looked him right in the eyes. Medkit stood perfectly still, his eyebrows raised in confusion and wariness from the unexpected contact.

They held this position in silence for a moment. Medkit could see Subspace's breath forming a misty cloud after each exhale that reached his own face before dissipating into the atmosphere.

“Which side are you on, Meddy?”

Medkit felt chills running up his back. Subspace's tone was pacific and intimate, but the question itself layed heavy. He hesitated before answering.

“Ours.”

Medkit wanted this to be true, but it wasn't entirely the case. Everything would be so much simpler if he was entirely loyal and devoted to Blackrock like Subspace was. He wanted to be able to pick a side and stick with it, but he didn't know if he was capable of doing that, especially not now.

Subspace let go of Medkit's face with the same steadiness from earlier. His warm touch lingered on Medkit's skin, but eventually the cold erased all traces of it.

“See you tomorrow!!” Subspace waved at Medkit like nothing had happened and disappeared into the evening.

Notes:

Runs away giggling.

Chapter 7: Just a minute to rest

Summary:

short filler chapter, but made FUN 🎉

Grav didn't come back to work the next day. Nor the day after that. Nor the one after. Almost four days had passed without any news from her.

The predictions were correct: Blackrock closed all access to its border. Militants were more present than ever, ready to prevent people from trying to cross. According to the news, the accused Playgrounders were retaliating against their accusations, defending their innocence and denouncing the involvement of foul play from Blackrockian authorities. The rest of their faction was backing them up. Things were escalating.

Grav was now stuck in Playground indefinitely.

And Medkit was stuck in Blackrock.

After four days without a single update from Grav, Warp finally managed to reach her through a phone call. Blackrock does not give any sick days to new workers, and Grav works not one, but two jobs. To add salt onto the wound, Warp knows best that her best friend's family isn't the wealthiest and relies heavily on her financial support. She had many reasons to fret, and many questions to ask.

Medkit stood next to her during the phone call, attentively listening in on Warp’s responses, trying to imagine what Grav was saying on the other side of the line to elicit them. Sometimes Warp would start whispering on purpose to hide what was being talked about, which worried him.

“Alright, alright, I'll leave you be! I can pass the phone to Medkit if you want to hear from him.”

She then paused to hear a response and promptly handed Medkit the phone.

He put it up to his ear. “Hello, Grav.”

“Medkit!! Oh, it feels so nice to hear your voice again.”
Medkit felt the same way.

“How are you holding up?”

“Mmm, I'm alright. I'm just… preoccupied. With my parents, it's constant bickering. They're allergic to leaving me alone, you know how it is. And everyone else here isn't any less angry. Many of my Playground friends downright refuse to speak to me.”

Medkit answered with a sympathetic tone, but deep down he won't ever know what it's like to witness family fights. He's never had parents, much less from two different factions.

“But don't worry so much about me, I'll be fine, I promise! Just focus on your work. If Warp isn't working hard enough without my surveillance I SWEAR I'm going to strangle that slouch when I come back.”

Medkit reassured her that work is going smoothly, said his goodbyes and handed the phone back to its owner.

Warp didn't hang up the call just yet, but rather offered it to Subspace to give him a chance to talk, but the recipient, detached from the whole situation, promptly dismissed it.
“No thank you, I heard plenty already. She's a grown adult who can manage herself.”

Warp hung up the phone and an awkward silence followed them for a while.

_____

 

Subspace was sitting on a simple backless black leather divan located in one of the lounge rooms.

Medkit noticed him and went over to ask if he could sit next to him. Subspace shifted to make space.

“How is your top secret project going?” Medkit inquired once sat down.

Subspace's eyes lit up. “It's going great! Oh Meddy, I'm so excited for you to see this. Just the thought of it makes me all giddy! I presented my very rough blueprints to our higher-ups and they're very optimistic about the project!”

“It would be a lie to say I'm not intrigued.” A pause. “Does Warp know what it is?”

The scientist across from him cackled loudly. “Don't be ridiculous!! This crystal business is our thing, remember?”

Medkit sighed and turned to rest the back of his head on the hard surface behind him. He was feeling the considerable weight of his physical fatigue from constantly working overtime overlapping with the pressure of his emotional turmoil. He wouldn't want to admit it, but his sleeping problems have gotten even worse lately. He would be kept awake for hours, thinking, worrying.

Despite his weariness, a part of him wanted to continue talking. If he was honest, for once, and asked Subspace all the questions that have been slowly eating him alive from the inside, then…
Then what?

Then, maybe, they could gently peel each other, layer by layer, stripping the other from all their calloused shells and their thick protective fronts until the only things that remains are the raw, vulnerable, ugly parts that they've hidden so remotely from the world’s prying eyes that they themselves have forgotten what they look like. What remains wouldn't be pretty, but at least the two could finally be free to be truthful.

Instead, his habit of keeping all conversations with Subspace short overrode the rest and he kept quiet. Atleast, on the outside, it's easy to keep silent. If only his mind could easily remain this way too.

Medkit, tired and still very much caught in thoughts, had shifted his head from the wall onto Subspace's shoulder. Staying this way for a brief moment wouldn't hurt, he thought. Just for a quick minute, to get some shut-eye. Subspace didn't push him away, so he didn't pay much mind to it. Just a minute to rest.

He didn't even know why he wanted to believe Subspace had changed. Something about them walking together, side by side, after every single shift. Something about Subspace inserting Medkit in every single one of his plans for the future, as if there was no possibility of a universe existing in which the two of them did not share a future. Something about him… acting like he cares.

If Medkit is nothing more than another asset to Subspace, then why can't he just stop acting like he cares.

He didn't even notice when he had dozed off.

Subspace observed his colleague in this peaceful state. His breath had slowed down after he fell asleep. He looked so tranquil.

Subspace has never seen him like this before.
It caught him off guard at first, but you get used to it.

He adjusted his shoulder to make the pose more comfortable for the both of them. He thought of leaning his own head on Medkit’s, but their horns stood in the way. Instead, he just continued daydreaming of their bright future. He felt on top of the world; everything was working out all too well.

Warp was conversing with some lower ranking colleagues on the other side of the room. She wondered about Medkit's wearabouts, and her question was quickly answered when, from the corner of her eye, she spotted him across the room.

“What does Medkit even see in that guy?”

Notes:

GAY GAY HOMOSEXUAL GAY

I drew the last part and umh yea their stupid horns are definitely in the way. Oh well!

Chapter 8: My regards

Summary:

Warp bangs her head on a table

Notes:

Hii new readers!! I cut this chapter into multiple parts because important things happen...

Also also, HUGE shout-out to @Sillycrepes on Twitter for drawing a scene from this fic. I feel so honored, I can't even express it in words. PLEASEEE check them and their work out 🙏
https://x.com/Sillycrepes/status/1911110904470733211?t=r1unzlIYt8mzeftUnWmesw&s=19

The sun was shining. Somewhere.

In some regions, the sun was blazing. In some regions, the sun was a pompous, proud and powerful giant that can blind you if you stare at it for too long. Ruler of the skies, it shouts, “Look at me, if you dare assume your eyes can handle the sheer magnitude of my presence!”

But not in Blackrock. In Blackrock, the sun had a thick blanket of clouds covering it. Shy, discreet; much like the local population, the sun over there preferred its humble solitude away from prying outsiders’ eyes.

So, instead of bright rays of sunlight shining through Medkit's window to greet him, there was only a uniform whiteness. Medkit was awake despite his alarm not having rung yet. He laid on his back, one arm on his stomach, gently rising and falling in rhythm with his breathing, and the other laying on his side. He was fixated up at that same ceiling. Under the dim light, it was visible, but not quite fully there. Medkit was also like that: present on the outside, but not quite present internally.

He turned his head to the side. A calendar on his wall, with scribbled notes and half glued post-its, confirmed what Medkit was dreading. It's the day. THAT day.

A big part of him wishes that this day will go unnoticed again. It makes it more palatable that way; he doesn't have to think about its significance.

But he knew Warp and Grav, knew they prepared something. Even if Grav is gone now, she will come back eventually. Medkit pictured her holding a gift basket topped with a huge ribbon, a wide smile on her face, apologizing for the late present as if it was her fault that she was locked out just a few days ago.

The alarm rang and Medkit got up to shut it off. He rubbed his eyes and reluctantly began getting ready for the day.

_____

Warp was crouched behind one of the lab chairs, holding a cylindrical object in her hands.
“For the third time, on the count of 3, when we hear his footsteps approaching the door, we shoot the confetti.”

Subspace was also crouched behind a different chair and holding a confetti popper of his own, but he was much more absentminded.
“Loose paper particles in a science laboratory, such a hazard. Medkit will hate it.”

Warp grumbled. “Do you know how hard it was to find this stuff? Grav made it sound so easy. ‘Look for confetti, with two t's’. No one here ever buys this stuff, but I still found some! We can't let it go to waste no- shhhhh, he's coming! Pop in 3… 2… 1…”

The door opened and confetti sprayed everywhere with a loud bang.

“HAPPY SPAWNDAY MEDKIT!!”

The confetti momentarily filled the whole room with bright childish colors, then the cloud slowly descended, rather anticlimactically.

The confetti dissipated, and, where Medkit was supposed to be standing and thanking them for the surprise, a tall and stern looking infernal was eyeing the crouched duo with contempt. A piece of confetti landed right on their nose, and they brushed it away with their hand as if it had been an insect.

“BOSS.” Warp instinctively jolted backwards, hitting her head on the table behind her. She pathetically tried to hide behind the chair’s thin legs, never before wanting to disappear more than right now.

The tall figure turned to Subspace. “What is the meaning of this?”

Subspace's mind blanked, still in shock. The silence felt heavy.

Warp, holding one of the chair’s legs in one hand and rubbing the back of her head with the other, answered instead of him.

“It's… umh... this is ‘confetti’.” She showed them the empty popper. “For Medkit. Grav had… Grav said this is how they celebrate Spawndays in Playg-”

Subspace promptly interrupted her. “I had warned my subordinate here that it would cause a mess,” He stood up from under the chair and straightened himself, “but she didn't listen to my recommendations.”

Instead of meeting Subspace's gaze, the higher-up instead looked down at Subspace's hand, which was still holding onto his popper. He quickly hid it behind his back, like a kid caught in the act. He felt waves of embarrassment slowly begin to creep over him as he clenched the concealed popper harder, attempting to dig his nails into it.

“I'm very disappointed to see that this is what my best employees are doing instead of working. And where is Medkit exactly? I wish to speak with him.”

Subspace felt like he had just gotten stabbed.

_____

 

Medkit reached to open the door to his lab, but paused when he heard an unexpected voice coming from inside. He wondered if he recognized it, but it was too muffled to tell, so he carefully twisted the handle.

The scene he was greeted with made him think he was still sleeping. The floor was drowned in colorful particles, Warp was crouched behind a chair like a terrified kitten, and one of his superiors was standing next to Subspace.

They spoke. “Speak of the Devil. I was informed that today is your date of Spawning, Medkit. My regards. I came here to congratulate you for having the most productive year you've had with us since the start. These things don't go unnoticed. It's good to see you're not wasting your potential.”

Medkit slowly exhaled. “Thank you.”

They turned their body fully and put their hand on Medkit's shoulder. He tensed up from the touch.

“We expect that you will continue down this path for many more years to come. And please, have a talk about duty and responsibility with your colleagues. And clean up this mess while you're at it.”

With that, their superior took their leave.

Warp was the first to move, getting up from her crouched position.

“That was a major fail… I should have noticed those weren't your footsteps, Medkit. Yours are much more gentle. Happy Spawnday, I suppose. ‘My regards’.”

Subspace was looking in no distinct direction, breathing heavily and squeezing the popper. The stropher lights infuriated him more than usual. Warp's voice reached his ears with a distortion. It was loud, obnoxious, like a mockery. She had just humiliated him. Because of her, he made a fool of himself. He was a disappointment.

The room was spinning. He wanted to hurt her, he wanted to hurt her so bad.

“Subspace?”

Medkit's voice momentarily pulled him out of it. Subspace tried to meet with Medkit’s eyes, maybe that could make it stop, but the other was also not looking at him, but rather down at that godforsaken popper that Subspace was still holding onto for whatever reason. The incriminating evidence that he was in on it too. For a fleeting moment, he felt vulnerable, naked.

Warp tried to speak. “Subspace, I'm so sorry.”

Subspace swung the popper in her direction, as if to hit her, but stopped in his tracks right before. Warp flinched and shielded herself with her arms, and Medkit took a step back.

“Shut it!” Subspace hissed. “Both of you!”

He needed to leave. He needed to go somewhere else before this escalated further. And that, he did.

Notes:

Finals are creeping up, so I might take a break from new updates for a bit, but I'm NOT disappearing again, I promise.

Chapter 9: Too close to the sun

Summary:

Chapter 8 continuation

Notes:

Holy moly.
Thank you SO MUCH for 200+ kudos and 2000+ hits!! I would have never expected my self indulgent subkit slop to actually get attention.
This chapter took awhile ( almost done with classes atleast!! ) but I think it's pretty peak. Idk, enjoy anyway and thank you for sticking around!!

Warp didn't take long before she found a broom that was nestled in the corner behind the door.

Medkit reached for the dustpan. “Here, let me help you.”

“No, it's alright, I'll clean it up. It's my mess.”

“Can I ask what happened?”

Warp fidgeted with the broom handle, uneasy. She wondered if she should just tell him everything straight on, or just partially.

“That day we called with Grav, she gave me instructions on how to throw some sort of surprise party.”

Once the first words came out, it felt useless to stop now. She might as well just tell him everything.

“I tried taking the initiative. I thought it would make me feel as if she's right here, with us. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I feel so out of place without her.”

While she talked, Warp crouched and grabbed the dustpan. She went over to the trash to throw the confetti that she had collected so far. Medkit stood, silent. The right words weren't coming to him. He misses Grav too, but it was not the same.

Taking Medkit’s silence as permission to rant,
Warp continued rambling.
“I even got Subspace to join in. I thought you two could bond over this. And instead, I just embarrassed him.”

“Just give him a moment. He… he doesn't handle failure very well.”
Memories of past ‘incidents’ flashed in Medkit's head. Some had turned quite confrontational.
There have been ups, and, consequently, there have been downs. It’s a funny thing, how the universe always tries to balance itself out. If there's a gap, it gets filled. If anyone flies too close to the sun, they get burnt. It's inevitable.

“You should go talk to him. After all, you know him best.”

Medkit nodded humbly.

“You're not out of place, Warp. It's just the way this place is built; it makes you feel that way. Crushed. Smothered.”

Warp smiled softly at her friend. “I guess it's just more tolerable with Grav around. She's a constant reminder that the world isn't so small.”

She banged the dustpan on the trash can's rim to get all the stubborn confetti off.

“Are you sure you don't need my help?”

“No, really, it's fine!”

Medkit gave her one last soft glance and left to go look for Subspace.

Once alone, Warp looked down at her uniform, which still had a couple confettis stuck on it, and sighed.
____

A short student, wearing a lab coat a size or two too big for him, tugged on a much taller man's clothing.

“Look look look!! A perfect titration, just like you showed me!”

The taller man turned around while vocalising his annoyance. He took a look at his student's work with an indifferent expression. “It's satisfactory.”

With his erlenmeyer flask between his pudgy fingers, the mentee grinned after hearing the praise. He brought the flask close to his face and swished the liquid around, watching as it moved, his eyes gleaming with pride.

–

A loud shattering noise.

The student stared in horror at the puddle of translucent baby pink liquid spreading under his feet.

“Damn you, child! Can't you do anything right without messing up, for once?!”

“It slipped, I didn't mean to, it slipped, I promise!”

“Tsk, always excuses, never improvements. Clean up this mess.”

The student observed the puddle with teary eyes. He sniffled.
“There's glass… a-and chemicals.”

His superior spoke in a sharp tone that could cut like a blade.
“Are you scared, Subspace?”

He shook his head. “N-no. I’m not scared.”

He wiped away the tears that had formed in his eyes and hardened his expression.

“I don't want to see such weakness coming from you again. Don't put that brain of yours to waste, understood?”

Subspace looked up at his superior, determined. “Yes, sir.”
____

Medkit looked everywhere. The lounge rooms, the innumerable labs, the endless corridors that can make anyone feel dizzy… This place was huge. What else is to be expected from the novelty of the technological jewel of Blackrock? Huge, but otherwise oddly bare and evermore monochrome.

Subspace was nowhere to be seen.

Medkit decided to ask around if anyone had seen him. He came across a commonplace janitor who finally pointed him in a direction.

“Two sets of pink horns? Yea, I saw him take the backdoor.”

It was a small metallic door hidden along a dimly lit corridor situated in the older sector of the building. The paint on the top half of it had ripped off, leaving only a hint that there had once been text written along the door. ‘Exit’, Medkit figured.
He struggled to turn the rusty handle. Once he got it to open, he immediately felt the cold air wrap around him. This side of the building usually faced heavier winds, and it was particularly noticeable in this spot.

Subspace was facing away from him, sitting a couple steps down a drab staircase, his arms wrapped around his legs. He was the single pop of color in the white landscape. Despite only wearing his thin uniform, he wasn't quivering.

When he heard the door behind him close, he turned around, prepared to shoo away whoever just walked out. But it was Medkit.

He quickly changed his demeanor and displayed an enthusiastic smile. He had an act to keep up, after all.

“Didn't think you'd find me here, Meddy!”

Medkit walked down a couple steps until the two were side by side. “Are you alright?”

“I'm great! I got a teensy bit carried away, but it's nothing! The cold brought back some sense into me!”

Subspace spoke loudly. This scene felt familiar to Medkit, as if this same thing has happened in the past. He wondered if anything had changed this time. He wondered if he could change anything this time.

Subspace got up and wrapped his arm around Medkit's shoulder, the way good pals in the movies would do.

“Happy Spawnday!”

Medkit allowed those words to linger in the air.
“It's the first time you've ever told me that.”

Subspace angled his head to the side. “Really?”

“How many years has it been? Since we met?”

Subspace snickered, as if the question was silly. “Who's counting?”

Yet Medkit spoke seriously. “I suppose nobody is. They kind of all blend together into an unpleasant grey sludge. It's still weird to think, though, that we've known each other for so long.”

Subspace took his arm away, taken aback. Medkit was being sappy and he was not mentally prepared for that. Medkit is never sentimental, not with him.

An aggressive gust of wind caused the fine snow on the staircase to twirl in a circle. Medkit scrunched his face.

“We should go inside,” he remarked firmly.

Medkit turned around and took Subspace's hand to pull him along, but paused.

“Your fingers are cold.”

He interlocked fingers with Subspace in an attempt to warm him. It felt like an instinctive thing to do; not to pull away from the cold, but to warm it up.

After some more struggle to get the door to budge, Medkit finally pulled him inside.

“Are you sure you're alright?”

“Stop asking me that. You don't need to rub it in.”

“Okay.”
_____

Back in the lab, Warp had done an efficient job at collecting the confetti. A couple pieces had gotten nestled quite snuggly on high shelves, under tables and in hard to reach corners, but she tried her best at picking up the ones that were visible.

Medkit eventually came back, tagging Subspace along. He let go of Subspace's hand in order to move over to his own station.

Subspace completely avoided Warp, as if she wasn't even in the room. The situation felt tense, as if electrons of static energy had electrified the air and were just waiting for contact to occur in order to shock them.

It became an unspoken rule until the end of the workday: ignore what had happened, ignore personal feelings and ignore the occasion. Each scientist kept their own little storms buried in their hearts.

Chapter 10: Make yourself at home

Summary:

This is part 1 of 2 for this chapter because I realized I haven't posted in too long and at the pace I was going it would take me atleast 2 more weeks to finish this 💔
How do people write so quickly I could never

Warp felt out of it. The heavy silence was making her head spin. Glancing to her right, where Grav sat, she found only an empty chair and untouched equipment. She wanted out of there, and quickly.

“I'll be right back.”

She got up and shuffled past her colleagues without sparing them a glance.

She exited the room, closed the door behind her and shifted to its side in order to lean against the wall. There, she took a prolonged exhale. She finally felt like she could breathe after having left that suffocating space.

The sudden desperate need to call Grav and hear her voice again overcame her, so she reached for her phone. If Grav is available, she is probably waiting impatiently to hear how the surprise party went.

The ringtone clashed harshly against the ambient silence. Warp put the volume down until the tone was barely audible. It looped incessantly, and with each new round, Warp's hope of hearing her dear friend's voice diminished. She couldn't stop herself from worrying and imagining the worst.

She examined the contact picture. It had been hastily taken, and you could see Warp's finger in the bottom right corner.

The day this picture was taken, Grav had been working a double shift at the cafe. Warp, tagging along like a stray puppy, had come across a once in a blue moon event: Grav had fallen asleep, right there, on the counter. Any sensible person would have woken her up, but Warp had watched and affectionately admired how peaceful she looked in that moment. She snapped the picture as a keepsake, and it has remained the contact picture for Grav on Warp's phone ever since. There was something wholesomely beautiful about the untouched scene.

Eventually, Warp was inevitably sent to voicemail. With her phone resting on her ear, she stayed in awkward silence for a few seconds, wondering what to say. If Grav had picked up, what would she have said then? Would she have lied and told her how amazing the surprise party was? She suddenly didn't feel like talking about Medkit. In the grand scheme of things, he felt irrelevant.

“Hey!” She began. “Stop being a no-show at work, that's my jig!”

Her joke fell flat as she was met with silence on the other side of the line. She sighed.

“... I miss you. I hope you're doing okay out there. Stay safe and call me when you can. Bye.”

She hung up.

Something to her left caught her attention in her peripheral vision. Warp, who hadn't been paying any attention to her surroundings until now, wasn't expecting to see anything…

“MEDKIT. Hi.”

… or anyone.

Medkit was standing in the door frame, looking solemn.

“She didn't pick up?” He asked, his tone neutral.

She shook her head.

Medkit didn't respond.

Warp put her phone away. “I think I'll clock out early today. I have this... thing I need to attend and… yea.”

She felt guilty, but she knew that if she stayed it would just remain awkward the entire day. Her presence felt redundant anyway.

“You don't need to justify yourself. Just go home, I'll handle your work.”

“Thank you, Med. You're a gem.”

“Crystal, actually.”

Warp chuckled softly. Even if the mood wasn't ideal, Medkit was always a mellow yet pleasant company.
“See you tomorrow, then.”

Once Warp left, Medkit went back inside.

Subspace was facing away from him and Medkit didn't notice the smirk that had appeared on his face.

_____

 

The intersection where two colleagues have separated multiple times by now was rather unimpressive. One wouldn't really classify this as the “nice side” of Blackrock. The residential area was built for convenience and durability first, and aesthetics last.

Medkit absentmindedly said his goodbyes and turned the corner towards his domicile.

He walked a couple of meters before noticing that he was hearing, with no doubt, footsteps that didn't belong to him. A persistent and rhythmic crunching across snow was following behind him.

Before he could begin to worry, he was quickly able to recognize the silhouette of the shadow looming behind.

Medkit stopped in his tracks and turned around. As he had expected, it was Subspace that was following him instead of taking his usual path at the intersection.

“What on Inpherno are you doing?”

Medkit's tone had sounded a tad bit more confrontational than he would have liked it. Maybe it was a defensive force of habit that he can't unlearn this quickly. Confrontations weren't what was lacking in the history of their partnership.

“What does it look like, dumbnut? I'm coming with you.”

“Why?”

Subspace put both of his hands on his chest while he spoke. “What kind of friend would I be if I made you spend the rest of this special day of yours all alone, hm?”

There was something saccharine in his tone, but Medkit wasn't sure if it meant anything, or if it was just him overthinking it. The way the spoken words had rolled off Subspace's tongue made Medkit feel a peculiar way in his core. It, strangely enough, didn't feel unpleasant, but it left him bemused. It didn't last very long and he almost felt disappointed when the feeling died down.

Medkit rubbed his temples. It had been a long day, and he had really been looking forward to spending the rest of it in comfortable solitude, accompanied only by his own incessant thoughts.

And yet, despite everything, this was another attempt at a kind gesture coming from Subspace of all people. Medkit felt a sense of fascination at how reoccurring this had become. He still didn't know what to make of this new stage of their partnership. Friendship, that's what Medkit has with Warp. But this was, in an indescribable way, universes away from that.

“I'm just going to my apartment, for your information. I don't have anywhere else to be today.”

And yet Subspace doubled down.
“That's fine with me!”

Despite his better judgment, Medkit allowed Subspace to tag along.

They didn't walk for much longer before they reached a tight metal staircase and Medkit began climbing first.

“Watch your step. The snow often hides black ice underneath it. Hold onto the railing if you feel unstable.”

“Do you take me for an idiot?”

“No. I just don't want you to fall.”

____

Being spawned without parents is unfortunate.

Yet, being spawned without parents and also being a prodigy in Blackrock meant that some things were handed to you. Housing, for one. At least, until you become old enough to earn your own money. Specialized education in sought after fields was also free. To be eligible for these charitable “gifts”, you must continually prove that your skills benefit the faction. Blackrock doesn't just give without expecting to receive something of value in return.

Medkit’s life work guaranteed him a place here. The moment he'd be ready to leave that work behind, he's as good as dead to this place. And that's the cruel truth.

His apartment wasn't anything to be prideful of, but that was never really one of his concerns in the first place. Especially since he'd never expected that anyone else would set eyes on this place.

Medkit isn't one to attach himself to material possessions, but rather the significance that they hold. Subspace crossing the threshold of a place that for Medkit meant a sort of refuge made him wonder if this is how it feels when you share something private and personal with someone valued. It felt quite frightening.

Once Subspace had removed his boots at the doorstep, he took a good look around, his hands on his hips.

“My my, Meddy! You treat this place like you treat our lab. So vacant and so orderly! Are you sure you live here and this place isn't for sale?”

“I think I'd know if it were.”

Medkit removed his coat and hung it up on the hanger near the door. Once Subspace had removed his own, he handed it to Medkit so he could hang it next to his.

“That door on your right is the bathroom, and my bedroom’s over there.”

Medkit self consciously noticed things about his own apartment that he's never really paid any attention to before. Was it always really this bare?

A phrase that he's heard on TV before crossed his mind. ‘Make yourself at home.’

He decided against saying it out loud. A part of him was still too defensive.

Notes:

I'm sorry for the awkward cut-off

Chapter 11: Occupying space

Summary:

Continuing where we left off last time

Notes:

I took some time before I wrote this chapter just to polish up my ending for the fic and fix up some plot holes ( it's not happening too soon, but I still felt like it was necessary ). Sorry to keep everyone waiting, but I hope this messy chapter makes up for it 🙏

Medkit turned on the faucet and held his hands under the running water, feeling the cold slowly melting away from his fingertips. He held up a handful of water and splashed it on his face. The droplets trickled down his cheeks as he took a brief glance at himself in the mirror.

He turned the water off and gently dried his hands and face with a towel. From outside the washroom, a stranger’s muffled voice emitted from the television.

Once he came back to the living room, Medkit found Subspace resting in the corner of his couch. He seemed completely inattentive to the channel playing in front of him, instead dozing off into thoughts.

Medkit sat down on the opposite side and reached for the remote. He switched channels, briefly flipping to a sports channel, then to a commercial for non-damaging horn dye, then to a news anchor.

“... following the riot, the group of Blackrock activists who urged authorities to re-evaluate the situation have been detained for questioning, as fresh evidence emerges of Playground tampering …”

“Serves them right.” Subspace mumbled under his breath without even bothering to spare a glance at the screen.

Medkit furrowed his brow at his guest’s comment, feeling peeved.

He decided that it's best to just turn off the TV entirely.

The screen went dark, and the ensuing silence felt even louder than the previous noise.

Subspace shifted around and slid his back along the couch to the other side until his shoulder collided with Medkit’s, who stared at him, perplexed.

Subspace stared back, his eyes subtly narrowed. The glint on their surface was ever present.

“Don't you love us?”

“Hm?”

“Us,” he repeated, this time even more soft-spoken.

He tilted his head slightly to the side and began caressing Medkit's hair in a tender yet decided way, plucking and tossing a dust particle.

“What we have achieved… what we are working on achieving… what we will achieve…”

Medkit has always hated Subspace for being too fanatical. The vast majority of their disagreements indirectly stem from that. Subspace would always see Medkit as just an extension of their work and accomplishments.

Was Subspace ever to blame? Being spawned and raised as nothing more than a scientist hardwires one's mind in a particular way. Where else would Subspace’s mind perpetually be, if not exactly where it's been told it belongs: inside the four walls of a science lab?

And yet, Medkit really wanted to believe that something about Subspace had indeed changed, even if he was, at his core, always the same person.

Medkit took notice of the weight of their contact, which was creating an undeniable connection. A part of him felt safe and reassured by it, as if Subspace could hold him up if he were to fall into an abyss at this very moment, but another part of him was wavering.

Subspace's hands slowly traveled through Medkit's hair, down his face and his shoulders. Medkit began to zone out, but was brought back when he felt them suddenly separating away from him as Subspace swiftly sat up from the couch.

Medkit held his gaze up at him from his sat position. He hadn't even noticed that he had leaned into their contact until the separation caused him to need to reposition himself straight. He wasn't expecting Subspace to withdraw and break the contact. For some reason, he regretted that it had happened.

With his eyes directed at the kitchen and his hand up to his face in a theatrical, questioning stance, Subspace spoke.

“Do you have any food up in here, or will we starve?”

Medkit cleared his throat, as if to bring himself back to a clear state of mind, then got up in turn. He walked past Subspace in order to reach his small fridge, where he dug through, looking for something decent to serve to his guest.
___

The two were sitting on opposite ends of the table. The clanking of utensils and soft chewing were the only sounds resonating in the room.

Medkit had quickly improvised a meal for the two of them. It was far from a dish that invoked festivity, but Subspace found that it didn't taste half bad.

Medkit attempted to look out the window, but the sun had long set. On top of that, not much was visible through the freshly frosted glass.

He felt frustrated with himself. Even right now, in the comfort of the place he should freely call his home, he wasn't able to brush away that fervid yearning for something that was perpetually missing.

It's paradoxical to feel displaced in the only place you've ever belonged. Medkit understood the absurdity of it, yet couldn't shake away the feeling, no matter how much he attempted to reason with himself. He thought about Grav again, and wondered once more how it would be like to be in her shoes, to belong to two places at once. To have a choice.

Medkit took a bite of his food and noticed how Subspace did the same. This wasn't the scenery he was used to taking in during his meals. Subspace was occupying a chair that consistently remained vacant, and Medkit found that this counted for so much. Throughout everything that has happened to him so far in his life, Subspace has been there, occupying space, albeit on a small scale. In recent times, this scale has grown.

Now, more than ever, Medkit realized how lost he'd truly be if suddenly Subspace didn't occupy any space at all. It was an unimaginable reality for him.

Once both inphernals had finished their meals, Medkit took away their now empty plates in order to clear the table.

“It's already gotten very late,” Subspace remarked as Medkit was washing up the dishes.

“You can stay the night.”

Medkit didn't even hesitate when suggesting it, surprising himself. He told himself that this was just him being accommodating because it's in his nature, and nothing more.
___

Once Subspace finished washing himself up, he exited the washroom wearing spare clothing that Medkit had lent him to sleep in. Medkit had no problem finding some, as the two of them shared a similar build, with Subspace being only ever so slightly taller, and just as spare.

The sight felt surreal to Medkit, who had never seen Subspace outside of his uniform or a coat. For a second, this made Medkit consider if maybe this whole evening was just some fever dream he's been imagining in order to escape from the routine.

Even if that was the case, at least it made it so this day could end pleasantly.

Subspace curled up on the couch, and Medkit brought him a warm blanket. He laid it out on the couch as comfortably as he could.

He spoke as he did so. “Get some rest now. Today was eventful. I'll wake you up tomorrow when it's time to leave for work.”

Subspace smirked. “Nice try, but I naturally wake up early. Early bird gets the worm.”

“Suit yourself. Goodnight, Subspace.”

“Goodnight, Meddy!!”

___

Medkit was laying in his bed, facing the wall. He only ever momentarily drifted into very light sleep, and woke back up soon after.

Typically, this didn't bother him much, as he was used to being a light sleeper after so many years spent dealing with these same frustrations, but this night it had become unusually exasperating for him.

He curled up on himself and clutched his blanket tightly. It wasn't working. Nothing was.

Defeated, he sat up from his bed and was about to stand up when he noticed a silhouette entering his room through his door, which was slightly ajar. Before he could begin to panic, Medkit's eyes, familiarized with the dark, picked up on this silhouette’s face, even in complete obscurity.

Subspace. He spoke. “You appear to be awake too.”

Medkit looked to the side, his eyelids heavy.

The visitor walked over and sat beside him. They spoke no further words. The two remained this way, in tense, drowsy silence. The wind gently howled outside.

Medkit looked up and found Subspace's eyes once more. In a way, they appeared as though they were glowing in the darkness, even if this was mostly the result of Medkit's imagination.

Eclipsed by the night, he looked almost ethereal.

Fueled partially by his state of sleep drunkenness, Medkit moved on impulse and did something reckless. He leaned into Subspace, held onto his face, and embraced him in a kiss.

It didn't last very long, ending as quickly as it had come, but Subspace didn't pull back or push him away.

The two shifted onto the bed while holding onto one another, until they were laying on their sides, face to face, feeling the caress of the other's warm breath after each exhale.

It wasn't immediate, but they both drifted off into sleep this way, with someone within reach to cling to in case the world caved in.

This had been Medkit's first memorable Spawnday, not counting his earliest, and he didn't hate it.

Notes:

Me when they don't have beds in the phighting universe but I need to stay true to my title no matter what.

Chapter 12: Status Quo

Summary:

Kind of a nothingburger chapter but also not

Notes:

I'm alive!! Who cheered!! ( crickets )

I know it's taken me a month to update this, but I have been on a trip recently, and my days have been quite full. My flight back home got delayed for TOO MANY hours, so I decided to spend this extra time on finishing up a new chapter.

The dawn had only partially crept through the window, a sign of the early morning hour when most Inphernals are still lost deep in the realm of dreams. The sky was partly cloudy, instead of fully overcast as it most often tended to be during this time of year.

Subspace awoke first, just as he had stated he would the night prior. The room he was greeted with wasn't his own. Now that some natural light was dimly illuminating the room, he could finally take a good look at it. To his surprise, it was much less spacious than he'd expected it to be. The lack of decorative furniture really gave him the misleading impression of there being more available space to be occupied.

Subspace carefully scooted up until he could rest his back on the bed frame behind him. He briefly glanced down at the Inphernal next to him, still sleeping peacefully under the blankets, his arms near his face and his legs drawn slightly to his chest. In this state, Medkit was defenseless; at Subspace's mercy. Yet, this meant that he was trusting enough to allow for this complete vulnerability.

Medkit shifted around under the sheets, and, for a moment, Subspace wondered if he'd wake. He did not.

Subspace reminisced on the conversation that he had overhead weeks ago between Medkit and Warp, the one that subsequently caused this shift in dynamics. Over time, its details had become fuzzy. Instead of remembering the specifics of the words that were exchanged, he remembered the way they had felt like fresh cuts against his skin, which had now left scars.

Subspace couldn't wrap his mind around Medkit's supposed dissatisfaction. For SFOTH’s sake, he received personal praise from the higher-ups just yesterday!

Praise…
Subspace subconsciously clenched the bedsheets under him as he recalled the events. Uncomfortable feelings he'd rather not identify bubbled in him like acid, but he forced himself to snap out of it. All was good now, he thought to himself. If anything, Medkit should be extremely content with where he's at, and dread the idea of change! Only a fool would want to change the status quo now. Medkit isn't a fool, because it would be a grave mistake for Subspace to be so attached to a fool.

Subspace slid back into the welcoming warmth of the stuffed blanket. He laid down in order to attempt to rest for a moment longer. Instead, he couldn't take his eyes away from the one he was facing.

He made sure Medkit was indeed sleeping by gently brushing his arm with the back of his hand. Then, very slowly, with a raw sense of longing, he wrapped his arms around Medkit's body, firmly holding onto him, so that he wouldn't be able to leave him behind.
___

Medkit woke up to the familiar sound of his alarm, expecting another empty morning like all of his others. What greeted him instead were two watchful eyes. The same he has stared into so many times before.

“‘morning, Meddy!”

Medkit, flustered, rubbed his eyes, as if expecting Subspace to just be a mirage that will disappear from his field of vision once he rubs him off. Yet, he persisted, real and tangible.

He flipped himself on his back and stared into space for a moment, as he fully woke up and his memories of a hazy yesterday flooded back into his consciousness, perhaps a tad bit too quickly.

“I'll wait for you in the living room,” Subspace said from inside the doorway, before closing the door behind him.

Medkit turned his slightly flushed face away from the now closed bedroom door, then gripped the bed sheets on the empty side of his bed, still slightly warm.
___

Medkit locked the door behind him and twisted the handle to make sure it was properly locked in place. Behind him, Subspace zipped up his coat.

They turned a few corners into progressively animated central streets. Medkit knew his way around all too well, and yet, with the addition of Subspace's company, the path he took felt like it served some deeper purpose, rather than just being the quotidian way.

“May I have a piece of identification?” A rather synthetic sounding voice echoed directly behind him.

Medkit turned around, startled, and found himself facing an intimidating sentry. Staggered, he took a step back, and needed a moment to register the question.

The soldier was wearing a helmet, its tinted visor fully covering their face. They were wielding a sizable pistol, with bright blue accents on both sides. Their gear, Medkit assumed. They didn't look any taller than him, and Medkit found it impossible to estimate their age, but it had been engraved into him since spawning to respect authority, no matter the form it took.

He reached for his scientist ID tucked under his coat, always hanging from his neck, and handed it to the patroller.

They examined the ID very closely, while looking up at Medkit from time to time in order to compare with the printed photo. This lasted for an unnerving amount of time. Medkit felt a sense of uneasiness, despite having nothing to hide.

Once satisfied, the sentry simply gave a slow nod, then turned to Subspace, who offered his own personal information in turn, not looking nearly as startled as Medkit had looked. The process repeated.
Medkit looked down at his boots and pretended to look busy while he waited, fretful.

After what felt like ages, the sentry gestured with their gloved hand.
“You're good, proceed.”

The two of them awkwardly shuffled past. Medkit kept his head low.

The patroller held their watchful and unyielding gaze on them until the two were almost out of sight. Medkit could almost feel their glare burning through their visor and reaching his back.

“I don't like this…” he spoke, his shaky voice barely above a whisper.

He couldn't hide it, these new measures frightened him. Deep down, he's aware, and he has been aware that things are headed in an unpleasant direction, even if he'd somewhat naively hoped those in charge would reach common ground and find a peaceful resolution. Instead, very soon, once they'll be recognized as useful, Subspace and he will become active participants, and Medkit's loyalty will be thoroughly put to the test.

He turned his head to Subspace, who was looking on into the distance, his expression unreadable.

Medkit suddenly felt guilty for the few words he'd just uttered. They had just slipped through.

Then there was silence for a moment. Just the sound of footsteps and some morning rush hour ambience. The majority of lower working class Blackrockians aren't wealthy enough to afford their own modes of transportation, so most either walk to get around no matter the weather, or utilise their gear in some way or another. Years ago, Subspace had sworn that, one day, he would climb the system high enough and become so respected that he will never have to walk in the snow ever again. Medkit wondered if that wish of his still stood. Nowadays, would he miss their daily walks?

“Were you aware that we are heavily understaffed?” Subspace broke the silence. He spoke without looking at Medkit.

Medkit subtly tilted his head, slightly puzzled by the sudden revelation. “In our research department?”

“No. In Infantry. Military personnel.”

“Oh.”

“I'm surprised they even found someone qualified.” Subspace added, enunciating his words.

Before Medkit could come up with a response, Subspace tugged at his upper arm in endearment and displayed an amicable smile.
“But don't you fret! Our hard work will pay off very very soon, Meddy dearest!”

Medkit didn't understand what Subspace was alluding to. Whatever he meant, it was overshadowed by the word Subspace had just used to address him. Dearest.

Maybe he should have paid more attention, or asked for further clarification. Or, maybe, it wouldn't have been enough to change the inevitable.

Notes:

Hyperlaser guest appearance!! No idea if I should tag him or not, as he's not a major part of this fic.

Also I used they/them pronouns on him as inphernals are agender so there is no way Medkit could know what Hyper's preferred pronouns are. Or, for those that headcanon they/them Hyperlaser, you win today >:3

Also also, niche phighting lore but they don't really/rarely use cars. I've been trying to write this fic around that.

Chapter 13: The itch

Summary:

A full scene for the entire duration of a chapter, without a jump ?? In my fic??

Notes:

New fanart for this fic from both @randalsscandals and @kinolenta2004 on Twitter!! Go check out their art IMMEDIATELY , it's an order
https://x.com/kinolenta2004/status/1945281932742246644?t=K4fKh5_20GNAI-OMZrgxbg&s=19

https://x.com/randalsscandals/status/1948989468943212916?t=K4fKh5_20GNAI-OMZrgxbg&s=19

Warp was resting her elbows on a low metal railing, onlooking. The sky slightly dimmed as the evening rolled on, and the chilling breeze served as a reminder that the coldest months were far from behind her.

Medkit walked up to her. He stood on her left, taking in the panoramic view for himself.

To him, the neoteric buildings felt crammed, as if some force was keeping them tightly restrained in place, unshakable and eternal.

“Have you visited this spot before?” Warp asked, without taking her eyes away from the view in front of her.

‘Yes, I come here sometimes. Usually, whenever things get overwhelming in the lab. Not so much recently.”

Medkit remembered all the times he'd stared right at those mountains, wondering what it would be like to witness what was hiding beyond them.

“I missed the place.”

Warp nodded and took a puff of the cigarette she had been smoking. “It is quite a view, I give you that. Watch as they'll soon ban anyone from coming here like they're doing to other nice places.”

“Since when do you smoke?” Medkit asked, without any contempt in his tone, attempting simply to move the conversation in a different direction.

“I don't really, I hate the taste, and I avoid making it a habit. It's just… something to occupy my hands with whenever I get fidgety, I suppose?”

She dismissively shrugged while flicking some excess ash from her cigarette, its trace instantly dissipating away with the wind.

“Grav disapproves of it. I'd never do it with her around, I don't want to make her worry about my health. I know how much she cares — too much.”

Warp took another puff, but choked on the smoke and coughed it up sharply. Cold air filled her lungs as she gasped to replace what she had just released.

Steadily, she managed to settle her breathing. She threw her unfinished cigarette in the snow and smothered it with her foot. She laughed at herself, but Medkit caught something sorrowful behind her laughter.

Warp returned to her onlooking spot and allowed one of her hands to dangle in the emptiness below her.

“Grav is the only inphernal that never quit on me, through anything. Blackrock shifted through many seasons. Connections came and went. I built and took down many ‘homes’. None of it still remains standing. Except her.”

Warp smiled to herself; a doleful smile.

“It's so silly. I can't even manage some shut-eye without knowing if she's doing okay or not on her side of things, or even if I'll see her again.”

Medkit shook his head.

“It's not silly. She wouldn't give up on you, but neither can you. It's clear that you care for her as much as she does for you.”

Warp rubbed her nose and glanced at Medkit, who gave her a gentle smile. She turned, put her hands in her jacket pockets and leaned her shoulder on the railing in order to face him. On her head, she was wearing an ushanka to keep herself warm in this weather.

“Before any of this started, you mentioned having certain unfavorable beliefs regarding Blackrock. Have these beliefs shifted in any way recently?”

Medkit lowered his gaze, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Warp attempted a softer tone of voice. “I'm not here to police you, Med. I'm asking you because I want to believe that you get me in ways that others couldn't. We are talking as friends, right? Not coworkers.”

Medkit thought about Subspace, and could almost hear Warp's words spoken in his voice. He remained silent.

Warp downcast her gaze. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to put you on the spot.”

She remained silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to describe the indescribable.

“I just… from the moment Grav left, I felt this sort of itch. This forever unscratchable itch to… follow.” Warp gestured with her arms as she spoke to try to convey the weight of her feelings.

“I know how selfish this paints me. I finally found a stable and respected job, a place to stay and belong, and I ungratefully wish to desert it all for a single inphernal and a misguided hope that things will be better out there.”

Warp shoved her face in her hands in frustration and sighed deeply. Medkit put his hand on her back and gently stroked her. Warp leaned into his touch, finding some comfort in it. Muffled agitation echoed from somewhere far away beyond sight, in an otherwise silent faction.

“You're not selfish, Warp. Leaving your personal success behind for a loved one is the most selfless thing one can do.”

Medkit felt guilty about being unable to tell her the truth; that a big part of him felt it too.
The itch.

In a way, it frightened him that Warp had worded his thoughts out loud. He had hoped they could remain unspoken, that not saying them would make them less real. But another part of him felt relieved that he wasn't the only one.

Warp shook her head. “I'm not actually thinking of going through with anything. I just hoped that getting everything off my chest by talking to you would make me feel better. Or maybe I thought you would find the right words to say to shoo away these feelings of mine.”

Before Medkit could say anything, both he and Warp turned their heads in unison as they heard noises, this time dangerously near. Warp's heart skipped a beat, worried if anyone had overheard anything compromising.

They examined the general vicinity of where the noise had come from. For a long moment, there was absolutely nothing there.

Suddenly, a black cat peaked its head from behind a wall. It didn't notice them at first.

Warp kneeled down and made pspsps noises to call it. It curiously approached her, smelled her hand, and began to pace back and forth, rubbing its body on her knees.

Warp smiled, her first genuine lighthearted smile of the day.

“You gave me quite a fright, you know that?”

She reached out to pet its head, and it cuddled up to the palm of her hand.

“But look at how friendly you are! What are you doing here? Aren't you cold?”

She began scratching behind its horns and ears, and took joy in how much it seemed to enjoy that.

Medkit observed the touching scene, wondering who the cat belonged to. Not that many Blackrockians own pets, so his first reaction was to assume it was a stray. Though as Warp was petting its head, he noticed it had a collar on.

The cat suddenly moved away from Warp's pets once it heard someone's voice calling it back. Its ears perked up as it turned around, swiftly following what Medkit assumed to be its owner's voice.

When it turned a corner and disappeared from sight, Medkit could swear he briefly saw someone's silhouette. It left him ever so slightly nervous, but he couldn't pinpoint why.

Warp waved goodbye as if the cat could understand the gesture.

“I really wanted a cat at one point, but Grav told me how much she wants to keep fish when we move in together. She told me that properly covering the fish tanks resolves any potential problems, but I’d never forgive myself if my cat caused something to happen to her fish.

Medkit noticed Warp's cheerful smile lightly faltering as she really considered what she had just said.

She changed the subject before they could linger on it for too long. “We should go inside, I can't feel my toes anymore, so I can only assume you're not doing much better. Thank you for joining me out here, Med.”

“It was a pleasure,” Medkit tried to say with full honesty.

Notes:

If I'm honest, this is one of my favourite chapters I've written for this fic so far. I love the simplicity of delving deep into characters instead of constant action.
I tried really hard to set a certain mood for the scene, I hope it came out decent 🙏Unfortunately I also battled with the bane of my existence: comma splices. I definitely still have some of those left in there.

Last thing, enjoy the Phestival!! Best of luck to team Tragedy, I'm counting on you to do good >:3

Chapter 14: Irrationality

Summary:

Shorter chapter because the next few will be long :3

Notes:

I blame my slow writing on the Phestival ( it was not the Phestival's fault )

A hint of an idea, a tiny piece of a puzzle, a flicker of a plan, a glimmer of hope is all it takes to make one feel less sullen about their predicament.
___

As Medkit was using a cloth and disinfectant spray to wipe his work surface clean, he felt his mind drifting like a feather lifted by a breeze. The conversation he had shared with Warp as they were looking over at the faction's domain from atop remained within him even after some days had passed, stirring up his mind.

He undoubtedly considered both Grav and Warp as a crucial part of his team, and the gap that Grav had left constantly haunted conversations. In the lab, an empty seat remains, waiting. Medkit wiped away a very thin layer of dust sitting on its surface.

He would hate to admit to being distracted, but, luckily perhaps, he was alone. No one else was around this early in the morning to reprimand him for it. Medkit hadn't slept well, customarily, so he figured doing something of use is better than just laying awake and watching the minutes melt into hours.

Once he finished wiping the furniture, he moved on to cleaning the objects he had placed on the floor earlier in order to make space. The first item he grabbed was an ever familiar picture frame.

He sprayed some liquid onto the thin glass and, using a circular motion, wiped it clean of any fingerprints and dust. He gently moved the cloth away, revealing first himself, albeit younger, then Subspace right next to him, with juvenile hands in which he expects to hold the world, eyes impatient to see it happen, and a smile that suggests he believes it will. Medkit faintly tilted his head as he stared directly into Subspace's eyes, frozen in space and time yet still just as engrossing.

He eventually caught himself staring and quickly placed the picture where it usually sits, then moved on to the next item — another, much more recent framed picture of him with Warp and Grav. He sprayed it extensively and gave it a good wipe.

As he reminisced foolishly over photographs, a question came into Medkit's consciousness in the form of a sudden, passing thought. It wasn't coherent, like his other thoughts. It wasn't well structured and supported by evidence like a research paper is. But it clicked into place just as naturally.

Could Subspace ever agree to run off with him?

“Good morning, Meddy.”

The unexpected sound caused Medkit to startle and lose his grip on the picture he was holding. It escaped his grasp and rapidly tumbled to the ground, face down, making a brief but dissonant shattering noise.
Medkit immediately winced, a reaction that stemmed from the inbuilt guilt that comes with committing such an error. Being ungainly is frowned upon in Blackrock, so Medkit knows better than to make sharp, uncoordinated movements like this. He is not usually the distracted kind, nor the clumsy kind.

He met eyes with Subspace, who, oddly enough, didn't seem upset with him in the slightest. On the contrary, he appeared to be in a great mood, fueled by something unbeknownst to Medkit. For a fleeting moment, Medkit felt perplexingly secure.

He lifted the corners of his mouth into a humble smile.
“Good morning, Subspace. I came here early to wipe away some of the dust in here.”

Subspace accepted the greeting and looked down at the flatwise photograph. Medkit followed his gaze, once again reminded of his error. He crouched, then lifted the frame up with two fingers to avoid getting cut, revealing and assessing the damage underneath it. The glass was shattered beyond repair from the impact.
Subspace watched from above.

“I will get a new frame for it,” Medkit swore dutifully.

He salvaged the picture itself, carefully shoving it inside one of his uniform’s pockets in order to bring home later, then got to work picking up the broken frame and collecting the shattered glass.

Subspace bent his knees and crouched behind Medkit, who was too consumed by his task to notice. He caught Medkit’s attention by lightly yet playfully brushing his fingers across his hair.

“Are you not going to ask what's making me so giddy, hm?”

Medkit turned his face just enough to barely have Subspace into view.

“I thought you would eventually tell me yourself.”

Subspace chuckled and placed a hand on Medkit's shoulder, inching himself closer in the process.
“I promise you'll like this. It's now become long overdue,” he cooed, stretching out his words with a sense of indulgence in them that Medkit couldn't help but reciprocate.

Subspace continued. “How about after we finish up our daily tasks, you go home and put something nice to wear for the surprise, then you meet me back here when it's just us two? I will have it all ready by then.” As he spoke, he simultaneously rubbed his fingers back and forth along Medkit's shoulder in a deliberate way, fogging Medkit's mind.

Medkit blinked, attempting to register the implications behind the request. In his hand, he nervously fiddled with the smooth, icy surface of a broken piece of glass he had collected. Rubbing a finger along its surface, he felt its sharp edges digging into his skin.
In the end, he could not properly muster up a response, simply giving a sheepish nod instead, his face a shade or two redder than usual.

This was a satisfying enough response for Subspace, who stood up, content. He stepped back and gladly crossed his arms, leaving ample space between him and Medkit to allow for Medkit to continue his cleanup task, but not before adding,
“It's settled then. It's a date!”
____

Medkit looked down at his finger, noticing how the glass from earlier had left a notable cut along his thumb which had begun to swell uncomfortably. Yet, he refused to heal himself, having sworn against using his crystals to benefit himself, especially not for such a benign injury that some gauze can easily fix. He quickly disinfected his wound, wrapped it surprisingly neatly using just one hand, then moved on to his tasks with his usual efficiency.

The role of doctor was never the role Medkit willingly chose to play, but the thing about roles is that they are assigned to you regardless of how you feel about them.

Subspace on the other hand had this ecstatic air about him as he worked, light on his feet and twinkly-eyed, as if everything was right in the world. Months ago, Medkit would have found this demeanor abrasive. No Blackrockian would ever be this overjoyed over anything, much less simply working, without having at least a few screws loose in the head.
But it was different now, Medkit thought. So different.

Whenever there were moments of downtime, Medkit pondered his earlier thoughts. He knew just how dicey it would be to request such a thing from Subspace. High risk, yet high reward.

Sometimes, Medkit truly just wished he hadn't spawned a being with feelings.
Feelings are a heavy burden to carry constantly in your mind. They can cloud your thoughts and lead to utter irrationality. They can make you go against what you've been taught all your life. They can bring you to go through with an utmost condemnable act. They can trick you into falling in love.

Perhaps there was still a possibility, a small likelihood that he and Subspace could finally see eye to eye after all these years.

Maybe if he just asks.

Notes:

*slaps subkit fic* this bad boy can fit so many eye references

Chapter 15: Glory to Blackrock

Summary:

Longest chapter yet!! Stuff happens probably.

Notes:

Obligatory fanart shout-out before the start of the chapter. Kinolenta made a short animatic based on a part of chapter 13, and I am on cloud 9. Go check it out https://youtu.be/HRs1A-q_53k?si=fcynYyhucFlLzLrm
because it is truly awesome 🙏🙏🙏

Medkit struggled to keep his footing steady, the ground under him slippery and wet from the half melted snow. A heavy wind was blowing in the opposite direction, pushing his coat tightly to his body and further destabilizing him, as if trying its hardest to hold him back.

The moment he entered the building and heard the heavy door behind him close shut, he rested his body on the wall and sighed, thankful for the lull of a closed space.

He brushed some snow off his boots and coat. Outside was as cold as ever, yet he felt fervent. Sweat had built up on Medkit's skin, causing his hair to stick uncomfortably to his forehead. He attempted to rub it off with his sleeve, with moderate success.
He got back up on his feet and began walking to his lab, knowing the path like the back of his hand.

Yet, a recent addition to the atmosphere hung to many of the facility's inner and outer walls: posters.
Medkit couldn't deny that their graphics were well executed, striking and yet pleasant to the eye. One of the reoccurring posters featured a simplistic flat color graphic of the Blackrock Mountains. The faction’s tallest and most impressive structures were nestled right under, and the signature triangular Blackrock emblem vaguely resembling a crown could be discerned on low opacity overlayed on top of the graphic. Finally, filling up the empty spaces below and above were lines of text that read, ‘Glory to Blackrock’

Medkit kept his gaze lower than usual while walking past them. He felt detached from the feeling of nationalism that the posters were intended to invoke. It's easy to paint a pretty picture and call it a utopia, but, at the end of the day, these are only empty slogans written in flashy colors.
____

Subspace was waiting in front of the laboratory, his back resting on the door and his feet crossed in front of him. His string of thoughts was unstable, with whiffs of doubt that he attempted to forbid himself from feeling. He was so close to success, he could almost grasp it, so why was there still some uncertainty left over?

A green blur turning the corner made all of Subspace's previous clouding thoughts clear out. He stood up straight, ready to face the moment head on. Medkit gently waved to him as a greeting.

Subspace helped undress and hang Medkit's coat, then crossed his arms. “Okay, I need you to close your eyes now and not peek. Got it?”

Medkit was surprised to hear this sudden, rather odd instruction, but he obliged anyway, as curiosity overtook him.

Subspace turned to open the door, then, before proceeding forward, he paused, observed Medkit and thought about it for a moment. He decided instead on walking behind him and lifting both his hands to cover Medkit's eyes from behind. Medkit let out a faint gasp of surprise as Subspace's icy fingers came into contact with his skin and his vision from under his eyelids was overtaken by total obscurity.

“Now walk forward until I tell you to stop.”
Medkit felt Subspace's breath on the back of his neck. He slowly and carefully guided Medkit inside the room and made him pivot until he directly faced the surprise.

He then removed his hands in one fell swoop.
“You can open them now!”

Medkit's eyes needed a moment to readjust to the bright lights. He startled as his gaze met lifeless eyes.

A robot of some sort, with the bottom right side of its faceplates incomplete and its chest open, revealing its inner wiring, was aligned with the wall. On the tables, the lab material was pushed aside or left on the floor to make space for huge blueprints that were spread out, detailing each and every technical aspect behind this machine.

Medkit turned to Subspace. “What exactly am I looking at?”

Subspace smiled, full of energy. “I call them Biografts, and there are multiple models I've thought of. They're basically soldiers that I've been bioengineering. Just think for a moment, with this invention, Blackrock being low on infantry will never be a problem again!”

He marched back and forth as he spoke, with a great deal of passion behind each spoken word.

“No longer will there be a need for hiring and training inphernals to execute the required military tasks, and no loss of our precious workforce in battle. You see, us inphernals have two fatal flaws — our soft, vulnerable bodies, and our feelings, doubts and skepticism. Our conscience and our moral and ethical code renders our kind subpar for tasks involving complete loyalty and dedication to Blackrock’s cause.”

He gestured towards the partially complete Zeta Biograft model, swayed by the passion of his own monolog.
“Each one of these beauties will have no superfluous morality to hold it back from doing anything in its power to reach its goals. Its loyalty to its creator and its mission will be unfaltering.”

Medkit stared at the nonresponsive tentative creation in front of him with what Subspace could only assume was fascination, so he kept talking.

“My apologies, I already began building the prototypes on my own time. What can I say, my hands have been itching ever since our higher-ups approved the project, and I just got a little too eager.” Subspace chuckled to himself while persistently eyeing his partner, dying to receive his audible approval.

“But of course, I left us the most fun part, experimenting on test subjects to create the artificial flesh the Biografts will be made of. We can take turns building more prototypes while also taking care of the dirty work. What do you say, hm?”

Subspace finished his speech, realizing that he's been talking for too long, and turned his gaze fully toward Medkit, his eyes curled up with his smile in an almost juvenile way as he gave Medkit the chance to voice his thoughts.

The first thing he saw was a single bead of sweat run down Medkit's forehead as he took a cautious step back.
___

Subspace had just finished giving his speech in front of his superiors. In his hand, he was holding up his first rough blueprints, the paper slightly ruffled from him clenching it too hard. Time slowed down unbearably as he waited to hear approval. He could feel his own heartbeat pounding in his chest, the nerves hitting him harder after every second of silence.

For the briefest moment, he thought about what it would be like to just… accept failure. You can't always win, right? It must be nice to be able to move on from a setback unscathed and say, “Oh well, I tried!”

One of his higher-ups gave a deep nod, one with real weight to it.
“This is wonderful. Truly remarkable work, Subspace.”

Subspace's heart palpitated from the rush of adrenaline. The taste of praise was sweet on his tongue, intoxicating to his mind and thick like syrup running down his throat until it was all he could taste, or want to taste ever again. Why would he ever accept failure when success tastes so sweet?
___

Medkit subtly shook his head. Enough for Subspace to pick up on it.

“Have you considered that an arsenal without morals could quite easily backfire? Who will they target? The other factions? Civilians?”
Still, he tried to remain levelheaded and calm as he spoke, hopeful that the days when they used to argue were behind them.

“Whoever is necessary to be targeted. They exclusively follow their creator or assigned owner's orders.”

Medkit lifted the corner of one of the blueprints to take a closer look. Subspace's invention was no doubt awe-inspiring, with astonishing attention to detail. Medkit knew how much talent and limitless imagination Subspace possessed. Maybe that wasn't such a good thing after all.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, realizing he was sweating again.

“I'm worried, Subspace… Morals are crucial for understanding when too far is too far. We build things to improve our quality of life, no? We innovate so, years down the line, we can confidently say we left the right mark on Blackrock, or even on the Inpherno. Killing machines? Is that the future you want us to bring to Blackrock?”

Subspace felt the dread tugging at him again, disorienting him. It felt as if Medkit was straying away from the perfect script on purpose, and he couldn't figure out how to stop it. He stared deeply into Medkit's eyes, hoping to reach him.

“Maybe you're just looking at this all wrong, Meddy! This is what we've been building up to all this time. We can finally climb the ranks, be recognized, admired, respected! Imagine how happy we will be. Together, center stage, in the spotlight of glory.”

Medkit avoided Subspace's piercing and overwhelming gaze. “There are other ways for us to be happy together. I know there are.”

Subspace grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him in, shaking and forcing Medkit to look at him.

“Come on! Don't be like that!” His tone was now of much desperation, accompanied by some impatient aggravation.

He didn't even notice how strongly he was gripping Medkit's shoulders, the fabric folding between his shaking fingertips.

“Can't we just talk about this?” Medkit replied, his eyes slightly wincing from the pain of Subspace's nails digging into him.

Subspace grunted and began pushing Medkit backwards with the weight of his desperation, making him wobble and struggle to keep his balance. He kept at it until he completely shoved Medkit to the ground, all without letting go of his grip on him.

“Okay. What do you propose we do, then? What will make you happy?”

Subspace miserably attempted to sound intimidating in order to make Medkit speak, but, clearly, all that he was doing was further losing all control of the situation. He was shoving most of his weight onto Medkit, keeping him completely pinned in place on the ground.

Medkit tried to wriggle himself around until he could be less restrained, but with little success. So instead, he tugged at Subspace's sleeve.

“If you can calm down and be ready to listen, I'll tell you what would make me truly happy. You might not like it, but I owe you honesty.”

Subspace replied without softening his tone or grasp. “Go on.”

“We don't need to get involved. We can escape this conflict. We can flee from this place that has been holding us so tightly in place all this time, telling us that if we aren't prodigies, we are good for nothing. We can run away together. We can bring Warp too, because I know how unhappy she is. We could go somewhere where we can feel the sun nip at our skin and build ourselves a new future. We can…” Medkit ran out of breath before he could finish.

The grip Subspace had on Medkit loosened. He drew his hands and body back, making space between the two. Medkit couldn't read anything in his eyes, just a blank, empty expression that lasted for a moment too long, and two shaking hands that now held onto nothing.

Without sparing him a glance, Subspace muttered something under his breath, which escaped Medkit. Before he could ask him to repeat, Subspace grabbed Medkit once more by those same shoulders and aggressively shoved both their faces together into a kiss. Medkit froze, the aggressive contact completely taking him by surprise, yet Subspace persistently held tight.

Medkit slowly softened, his eyes drooping shut as he reciprocated, wrapping both his arms around Subspace’s back. Now that he wasn't extremely sleep deprived, this second kiss felt so much more real to him, and he didn't want to let go and part so fast this time. He slid one of his arms up Subspace's back until he held the side of his face, pulling him further in while ignoring his growing need to catch his breath.

Completely lost in the fervor of the moment, it took him some time to notice anything. First, he felt some sort of liquid dripping and running down his face. Then quickly after came a sharp stinging pain in his eye.

Notes:

I am evil.

(Also I was not planning on making this chapter THAT homoerotic it just happened...)

Notes:

Bear with me, it is mostly descriptions at the moment, but I swear I'm going somewhere with this...