Crush

by EdPizzahands

Summary:

Juniper explains eir feelings to Amir.

Notes:

Polyamory for dummies. I'm incapable of writing monogamous characters apparently. Continuation/part of the same world as Void Tentacle, in the collection. But if you don't care for that one, drifter's name is Juniper, pronouns ey/em/eirs.

Chapter 1

The sound of clack-clack-clack of the mechanical keyboard was overpowering the music playing from Arcade room speakers, as Amir typed away furiously. Or, so Juniper always assumed, but the more ey visited Amir in there, the more ey realized he was incapable of typing any other way. The metallic segments of his fingers either dulled gentle touch, or simply amplified the noise, Juni didn't know.

"Wandering the mall senselessly, looking for purpose in the abandoned sections, homeslice?" Amir's high pitched voice came out from behind the arcade machines, before Juniper could even see him, or step fully inside.

"Hey," ey walked around to see him, his eyes still fixed on the monitor, his glasses reflecting the screen, "but no. I have a purpose. Came to see you." Ey smiled.

Amir raised an eyebrow, then processed what was said to him, and he lifted the glasses to rest on top of his head.

"Little old me?" he said pleadingly, looking up at em standing next to his chair. Then, Juniper could almost sense the milion thoughts bolting through his mind, and he added, "Did you get locked out of the computer again? You know you can just call me, I'll reset your password from here..."

"No, not that." Juni interrutped him before he could go on another security tangent. Then ey said a bit quieter: "I don't turn it off anymore... Might as well if I'm gonna use it every day."

"Oh, that's- do you know how angry your RAM will be?"

"My what?"

"Turn it off for the night." Amir sighed. "Unless you want to actually know what Random Access Memory is... Probably useless information for you in the future. Got people's minds in robots anyway."

"Yeah, maybe you can explain next time."

"Careful what you wish for. I will show you each part of the computer if you don't stop me. Anyway, check this out."

Amir clicked Enter, and the screen with lines of code disappeared, and a smaller window with black background replaced it. A small pixelated person outlined in white, wearing blue bandana appeared. After Amir clicked more buttons, it moved, it jumped, and it shot the empty nothingness.

"Pretty cool, huh?" he smiled.

"You did this?" Juni smiled at it. Ey tried to drag eir finger across the screen, ignoring the static jolting them gently. Nothing happened.

"Oh, future, you're a lost cause. If you want games where things actually happen, feel free to use any of the arcades. I already hacked them to not require coins." Amir laughed at em, and then closed the preview, to show the code again. "Unless... I mean, you know I already have high score on all of these. And then next ten high scores. I'm dying of boredom here. Buuuut, there are some that I can't really play alone... And Aoi can only pretend to care so much, she sucks at them, and I don't really feel like talking any of the refugee kids into trying, especially knowing I'll kick their asses into your timeline. You down for it?"

Juniper's face was a bit stuck on a playful smile, as it usually was when ey talked to Amir, which he didn't notice most of the time, but this time he did. "And you think you won't beat me back into my orbiter?"

"You're a murder machine. Well, in heads of murder machines all day. I'm sure you can get at least close to my skill in Alley Boxer." he winked at em as he moved to the arcade, and Juniper followed. Amir started:

"Alright, you can only move left or right, no three dimensional space in this machine. Here's your jump, this one is crouch, this is regular attack and this is your block. Most people just mash it aimlessly, but I've mastered certain combos and techniques..." he pointed at the stick, then at each of the four buttons. "Oh, and if you press these two together you get a different attack. And different one if you're in the air or crouching."

"Alright, sounds way easier than shooting a gun."

"Oh, buddy, one took me a day to figure out and one a month. You can guess which one was which." he scoffed.

"Shooting a gun with someone else's arms."

"Okay, that one sounds worse."

The match started, and Amir's electricity fueled fingers sped over the buttons, showing off the combos and the movement, to Juniper's character who would not do things as precisely or as fast as ey thought they were pushing the buttons. It was the final round, and Juniper's eyes closed and eir character moved smoother, easier, and beat Amir's.

"Hey! No fair!" Amir bolted with electricity and snapped Juniper out of the transference. "Wait, you can do that?"

Juniper held eir head. "Worth a try. Probably shouldn't though... Ouch." Ey stumbled back and landed on a turned off plinko machine.

"That one's broken, you can sit on it if you need..." Amir lamented, then ran out, and returned in seconds with a bottle of cold drink. Juniper took a sip, but made a disgusted face immediately and put it against eir head instead.

"How was it? Inside? Could you see Alexander's backstory? Did you feel his pain?" he immediately started shooting off questions, pointing at the character's art on the side of the arcade machine.

"No. It felt like moving a puppet, more than usual if you can believe it. I felt like a cheap paper cutout of a person. And it sucked." ey flinched and moved the water around eir head, eir bangs curling even more as they got wet.

"I always wondered, how it feels when you puppet around any of us... I'm there but also there's a suggestion on what I should do, but I still do it, right? Doesn't feel like a parasite, or anything..."

Juni smiled, and looked up at Amir.

"Not that I'm saying you're a parasite! But what would you imagine someone else in your head would feel like?" he immediately scrambled, his voice cracking as it always did when he was nervous. "Feels natural, though. You don't try to overpower us, just work with us... I wonder if it was someone else, would they be rougher?"

"I think..." Juniper put down the water, and looked down at the floor. Ey hesitated, but decided to be honest. "If the kid controlled you, it would be smoother, if anything. He's got way more practice than me. He thought he was a warframe, for years. For as long as I was running around a video game getting killed by my friend. And killing their servants back." Ey used a phrase Amir used about Duviri before, hoping he would understand better.

"The kid you mean the.. younger you?"

"Yeah. Well, the other me. The one that Eternalism determined to be the main path. I am the other him, if anything."

Amir's brows furrowed, but even with his skills of reading the room, he dropped the subject. He could see it was upsetting Juniper. He ran to the computer, and turned off the music.

"Hm?" Ey looked up, at the lack of sound.

"Heard you're not that into On-Lyne."

"Oh, it's fine, if you like it... I tuned it out." Ey sat up, and put eir legs into a criss cross.

"Do you get headaches after projecting into other warframes?"

"No, they're... well, not made for it, but they're easiest to control. Feels like home, really."

"Which one?" Amir's eyes lit up, clearly getting an idea. Juniper did not follow his train of thoughts to get to that question, however.

"Which one what?"

"Which one feels most like home? Or, even better, if you got injected by the infestation, what do you think they'd choose is the most familiar to you? What would you turn into?"

"If I was a protoframe? Most dear to my heart is... Xaku."

"Xaku?" Amir titled his head, eyes still fixated on Juni. Ey smiled, reminiscent of a kubrow puppy ey tried to raise after Operator told em about it.

"They control the void, like me. Found them in Entrati's abandoned labs, if you believe it, on Deimos. It's a moon of Mars, but now- well, in future, it will be infested, and its core terraformed by orokin. There used to be warriors, who served the orokin, and eventually, they died in the void, but their parts kind of... found each other, to form a warframe. They were broken, fractured in the void, but in the end were restored. Sounds like me, doesn't it?" Ey smiled.

"Wow, that is... I thought original warframes were people that got infested and didn't get to keep their humanity anymore. Our future."

"They are. In a way, Xaku is too. Just, more than one person... That's why we refer to warframes with gendered terms. Volt, the original one, must've been a man. Mag was a woman, once. Xaku is both. Or neither. I feel like, for me, it's both. I dont fit either side, but I do feel good when certain aspects are noticed."

"That's ... thanks." Amir was speechless. Juniper nodded, knowingly.  "What aspects?"

"Like, I enjoy being tall and when I used to be mistaken for a guy, it felt great. Still feels great to the kid, you know. But spending time with myself, finding new ways to see myself... I didnt really mind when certain people saw me as a girl. In Duviri, I mean. The, uh, NPPs?"

"NPCs."

"Yeah, their... dialogue repeated, after a while. I knew what they were all going to say. So I'd correct them before they could say it."

"Hah, hundred of years in one place does that to ya. I'd go insane playing just one game over and over."

"Thousand."

"Thousand... Years?!" he flinched.

Juniper just nodded.

"Okay, I'm going insane just thinking about that."

"Tell me about it." ey laughed. "Now that it's over... Doesn't seem that endless. Everything is better in retrospect, right?"

"Right you are, bucko. Right you are.." he wondered. "You go back though, don't you? Probably feels better going there wheneve you want to instead of being trapped."

"That too."

"Like going home to your bickering mother. When you hear her all day all night you just wanna leave, but when you can only visit her once a month, you start to appreciate it... Even if, well."

"Hm?"

"Even if she still calls you her daughter." Amir pouted.

"Oh."

Amir's smile hid his pain, and he walked closer, to sit on the other machine next to Juniper. "I figured you'd know. You were in me, yknow. You know how my body looks like without the armor."

"I try to not... think about each frame I transfer into. But, yeah, you guys are different. I know, I was just surprised your parents don't see you that way...? For who you are?"

"Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. The thing about the internship, I wanted to make money to afford to get my... bazonkas chopped. In the end, they helped. Maybe cause I was living here in Höllvania, and it was easier when I'm gone? Dunno, and at this point, I don't know if I'll ever find out. I was also indecisive, should I be a programmer and engineer to prove girls can do it too? Or should I actually not live like someone who hates himself and how people see him? Maybe i would've avoided meeting the Doktor."

"I'm sorry."

"It's cool. I... don't really mention it. Feels like you'd relate, though. You're an outsider like me. To the rest of the Hex, i mean. Is it better in the future? Please, tell me it is." he forced a smile at the end.

"Yes. In this way? Of course. I also got mine... what did you call them?"

"Actually, maybe that word shouldn't get into your lexicon."

"Bazingas. Removed after I got out of Duviri and was in real world again. Relays have medical centers that prioritized me."

"Nice." he was starting to actually cheer up again.

"Who all knows?"

"Lettie, of course. She checks up on me. And... Quincy."

"Quincy?" Juniper took another sip, already forgotten the synthetic and sugary taste that disgusted them just a few minutes ago.

"He's the guy to find scalvaged goods. He breaks into pharmacies and drug stores for me. Then Lettie checks if the dose is good enough. It's not ideal, but I'm here aren't I?" he bumped himself on his chest proudly.

"What about the new guys? ... Flare?" Juni recalled eir own conversations with them about gender.

"You know, I might consider it after their guitar stops looking at me that way." Amir shivered.

"It doesn't have eyes."

"And yet! Isn't that a riddle! Tell me it doesn't look at you like it wants to eat you!"

"Uhm... I'll tell you next time, maybe." Juniper did not want to get into whole helminth infestation topic.

"Yeah, watch out next time." He poked em with his finger, as if warning. "... Oh, is Temple more your kind of music?"

"Yeah, I'd say so."

"I'll put it on." he ran to his computer before Juniper could argue. As he always did, a tactic well practiced by Amir Beckett.

"You're... adorable when you do that." Juniper couldn't help but sigh out loud.

"What? Adorable? Didn't I just tell you about not wanting to be referred to in fem- agh." he tried to walk back, and stumbled on a leg of one of the arcades, then swore and sat down on the floor to hold his toe.

"Oh shit, are you okay?" Juniper jumped down and knelt next to him, eir hand on Amir's shoulder.

"I'm fine. Healed worse. Obviously." he grumbled between his teeth.

"I mean... Sorry. Didn't mean to say adorable. Charming?"

"Still not the word you're looking for, drifter." he sounded colder, rejected.

"What do you mean?" Ey sat down as well, as close as ey could, and tried to reach for his hand, to which Amir flinched and pulled it away.

"What are you trying to do? Is Quincy not good enough for you?" he barked.

"That's... it doesn't work that way. Not for me. I never understood it, after you find someone who... loves you back, do you just close your heart? Build walls around it and never let anyone else in?"

"It's called loyalty. And i appreciate that thing a lot, you know." He took the glasses off the top of his head, where they were resting, and noticed a crack. He threw them at the floor.

"I just... don't think my love is limited to one person. Just cause... he saw something in me and he wasn't afraid to say it or show it, doesn't mean my other... crush? Just went away." Ey tried to use terms ey weren't that familiar with again, but it didn't seem like they were wrong.

"You had a crush on... Me? Little hyperactive loud, annoying me?" His voice went even higher pitch, almost a cry behind it.

"Well, I told you you're... charming, didn't I? I think you're more than all of that, but I like those parts of you too. I feel so stagnant sometimes, I've developed certain patience in my little story book hell, everything had its time and I didn't rush anything - why would I? - but maybe now in a different environment... I may be a bit too lax. Your hyperactivity gives me a kick to get myself to actually do things sometimes. Balances out, you know?"

Juniper looked back at him, and saw Amir wa s actually forming tears. Ey panicked. "Is that bad?"

"No, no..." he sniffled and wiped the tears with his hands. "No one's ever.. found the other parts charming... or anything in positive way."

"Oh..." Juniper tried to smile, but ey felt... pity. Which is the last thing Amir needed, as he's said many times before. "That's... I'm sorry." Ey could just repeat it again.

"Well, I'm - I was medicated for it. To regulate it. Didn't always work, but, I annoy myself sometimes. And those times, I miss it."

"Q can't find those meds?"

"Didn't tell him about that one... one feels more, um, life threatening to leave out, other's just. Survivable. He'd make fun of me even more, I assume."

"Should I try?"

"No! I'll - I go on scavenge hunts too! I just... forget. To look for those. Which, yeah, another reason I need them."

Juniper tried to comfort him with a hand on his shoulder. Amir sighed, stretched out his legs, and lied down on the carpeted floor. "Back to the... topic. This feels... I don't know how it feels. But I've had a crush on you too. You're nice, and you're not condescending, and you don't see me as the Other. Like I said, you're an outsider like me. It was amazing to get someone new. But then I walk around the mall, I look down the railing, I hear the shooting range quiet down, I see you kissing him... Well, I thought that's it. I'm not gonna fuck over the guy who gets my testosterone for me. I'm not gonna fuck over Arthur's war buddy. And whatever else he is."

Amir lay on the floor, eyes closed, his hands articulating as he talked, his feet fidgeting with each other. He finally opened his eyes to see Juniper sitting over him. Ey didn't move, still sitting in parallel with Amir. So, ey were still showing eir back to him. He couldn't see eir face, so he hesitated.

"You want me to be what, your mistress?"

"No!" Ey finally turned around, to kneel on eir knees, above him. "No, that's like- cheating on him behind his back? No, he would know about us. He would... He will understand, won't he?" Ey hesitated too.

"I don't know if he likes sharing."

"He loves sharing." Juniper smiled.

"He loves selling. And... favours."

"No, not like that... I just have to... figure out how to tell him." Ey wanted to lie down too. And so, tired of it, ey did. On Amir's chest. His hand hovered over em, until it settled. He couldn't deny himself either.

"Listen, I'm down. I like you. I want this to work."

"I love you too."

He stopped, swallowed dry, and continued. "But you told me first, before telling him? What if he doesn't agree, and then you were dragging me and giving me hope for nothing?"

Juniper was quiet for a while.

"Hm?" Amir poked em again.

"If he doesn't agree... I think he won't want to stay with me anyway. I think, either way, I needed you to know how I feel. It was weighing down my heart for too long."

"Alright!" Amir shouted, and started to get up. After Juniper put eir head up, he jumped onto his feet and stretched. "Go, then. Go tell him! Right now! I'll lose my mind waiting longer! Gottaruntorepairmyglassesanyway!"

"He's on-" Juniper also wiped eir tears in eir sleeve, "He's on a patrol for few more hours."

"Well, take someone fast-not me-and go meet him. You can't leave me waiting like thissss!" he whined with a dramatical pose.

"I think the answer might be skewed towards more negativ e if I disturb him... I'll just. I need air. I'll be on the roof above my room. If you wanna talk more."

Chapter 2

Summary:

Juniper's got hot steamy shower with Quincy to prepare him to tell him about Amir

Notes:

Amir ended up hanging out with Juni on the roof, right after the end of previous chapter

Juniper sat on the edge of the roof, the dark evening- or more likely night already, showing stars. They comforted em, unsurprisingly, as someone who grew up on a spaceship. Another thing that comforted em, was the voice of a guy sitting next to em.

"… So, back then, they couldn't turn them off cause everytime they did, all the memory was lost. But we're not in stone age anymore, you can turn yours off and everything will be there when you boot it up again." Amir went on, for several minutes already, with Juni just nodding. Now ey looked at him.

"Wait, when did this turn into a lecture?"

"That’s the trick! It's been a lecture entire time! Just the last part was personal."

"Wow." Ey laughed in disbelief.

"Wow indeed. You hurting your technology almost hurts me, you know." He pretended to faint with his arm over his forehead, when he felt Juni's arm on his thigh, and he sat up immediately.

"He's almost back. If you wanna run before he sees you."

"Well, don't say it like that. We said no mistress. But, yes, I will run." he stretched his legs for a bit, then gave a kiss on top of Juniper's head, and he was off. Then, he ran back, in less than second. "Wait, how do you know? I don’t hear or see anything yet."

"Partial transference. I'm not moving him, but I did pop in to see where he is."

"Freaky. Don't do that to me."

"I rarely do it, if ever. Don't worry."

"Okie dokie!" and he ran off again.

Few minutes in the silence, Juniper lay down as well. Eir neck was starting to hurt from looking up. Despite the stars, and space, were eir home, its not like they ever went to another system, ever got to see another star up close. Sol was all they ever knew, all of them.

Ey whistled, a short tune ey could remember from Zariman days. And before it could finish, ey heard the rustle, the jump, and the hand clinging onto the edge of the roof, before it pulled up the man it belonged to. Quincy rolled his neck, tired.

"Whatcha doing up here, sexy?" he said quietly, and heard his voice adjust to speaking after being quiet for hours, sitting on an outpost. He had nothing to report, so he didn't. And he sounded like he does in the morning, after sleep. Deeper, grumblier, hotter.

"Waiting for you. Got something to talk about." Juniper sat up and smiled. "Welcome home, honey."

Quincy was almost taken back from the sentiment, before he noticed the subtle shakes of Juniper's body. "Freezing your arse in solidarity?" he took his scarf off, and put it around Juni's neck, with eir braid and all.

"The sky is clear… stars are visible. I keep almost thinking I can see my orbiter. But it's- it's not here. It is, floating above Earth, in future."

"Miss it?"

"No, just… looking for familiarity, I guess." ey shrugged. Quincy offered a hand, and ey took it to get up. Now, in same height again, ey put eir hand on his shoulders and gave him a kiss. Quincy grabbed eir waist, and pulled em closer.

"Mhm, before you bewitch me, I need to shower. And then, we can talk about whatever you wanted to talk about too. I stink like a rotten dug."

Juniper nodded.

"Hey, you're supposed to deny!" he picked em up with one hand and jumped off the roof, into the open window of eir backroom. "Wanna join me?"

"Do I stink too?"

"Not the reason I'm askin, handsome." he put em down on the floor and started taking off his armor.

"Were you… this strong before, or is that infestation doing its tricks?" Juniper unbuttoned eir pants too, and folded Quincy's scarf to put it on the table.

"Doubting me? I may be a sniper, but I did go through the training and all to join the army." he started to unbraid his hair. "But nah, probably not with one hand."

He took off the jacket, and the vest, and the sleeves, and then the overguard kneecaps for crouching.

"No injuries today?"

"All smooth. Never knew what hit em."

"I do uh… I can heal warframes too. If it's minor."

"Really?"

"I also learned to Restore in Duviri. If you need help, I'm here, is what I'm saying."

“Thanks, babe. I’ll remember next time.” he said, genuinely, and surprised. Juniper smiled. Ey really felt like home there. The next thing also felt like home. Quincy undressed on the other side of the room to walk to the shower Juniper installed recently.

“Finally, I’m so over those communal massive showers in the mall.” he turned the water on, and steam started to fill the small area next to the stairs, closed off to make a bathroom. “Comin? I didn’t close the door for you.”

Juniper snapped out of eir thought, and quickly ran to the bathroom, only undressed when ey were in, and stepped on the pad behind Quincy. Ey kept eir hair in braid, even if it got wet, ey usually just let it be.

“Get my back?” Quincy handed em the soap, and ey washed it. After that was done, Quincy turned around, to face em. His hair didn’t flatten, like Juniper’s does under water, and ey ran eir fingers through it. Or, they’d try to, if it wasn’t so tangled together.

“Can you help? D’you know how to wash hair like mine?” he held em by eir waist as eir hand fell onto his cheeks, and held them.

“Does it… require something special?”

He smiled. Actually, he laughed. “Oh, yes.”

“Then no.”

“Yeah, I know.” he gave em a kiss, a wet, water dripping kiss, and then he started washing Juniper, took eir hands each one by one, then eir torso, stomach, legs one by one… and when ey turned, Quincy stopped. “Speaking of hair… want me to wash yours?”

“Uh… nah.” Ey took the braid and pulled it to front over eir shoulder, and held it. Held it… perhaps a bit too defensive. Quincy stood up, and hugged em from behind.

“Why not? How often do you wash it?”

“Uh… like, once a … month?” Ey clearly spoke like someone who’s not aware of how time flows.

“A’ight. Next question, did you wash it since you got back into real world?”

“… No.” ey said quietly, almost inaudible from the water flowing.

“Thought so.” he hugged em a bit tighter and reached for the long braid, dripping wet, and heavy. “I could do it.” He rested his head on eir shoulder.

“It just… takes too long, gets tangled, and I can barely reach all of it.”

“That’s why I’ll do it, sweet thing.”

“Thought you were tired after your mission?” Ey said, but yet, ey let go of the braid and let Quincy free it.

“Not as tired when I’m under hot water with my favourite person.”

Juniper smiled, and so Quincy started to wash eir hair. The scalp was the most important part anyway, but he’s seen the end being dragged on the floor, or resting there when ey sit, so he made sure to get all of it. “Will you braid it as well? At least the top, I can finish the rest.”

“I’ll braid it.”

---

[Remember, never share your personal information online!]

BluePhoenix: Hey!

VoidFractured: sup

BluePhoenix: Got you another archon shard. If you want.

VoidFractured: aw thanks. dont u need them too?

BluePhoenix: I'm drowning in them haha but i figured if we share or i put it in your frames we'll get better use out of them.

VoidFractured: oh lol okay yea.

BluePhoenix: Oh I also researched and got another helminth segment! I wonder, does the one in your room upgrade too? They're connected right?

VoidFractured: ill have to check it out. busy arent you lol

BluePhoenix: Just another mission after mission. Nothing else to do here, is there? I don't really have physical mall to walk around, talk to friends, play games with... all that.

VoidFractured: sorry... didnt mean it like that. i guess what i meant is that im glad ur busy, means ur doing well. im happy to see it.

VoidFractured: i was starting to wonder, i guess ur too young but also youve been this age for years since we dont really move forward... have you been feeling interested in boys yet

BluePhoenix: Boys? Why boys?

VoidFractured: .... yknow, good point. didnt consider my self that didnt go through full gender realization also wouldnt have gone through sexuality realization lol

BluePhoenix: I don't have that many people to meet here... there's another tenno that helps me out. She's nice, but I don't know if I am interested in dating... Yet?

VoidFractured: u got time buddy, u got time... mayhaps too much time with the no aging thing.

VoidFractured: im not asking bc im trying to force u into anything juni, i just want to tell u abt my day and such but i wasnt sure if youd even care about who im getting close with and how it feels lol

BluePhoenix: Aw, no, I do care! I'm glad, it's cute to see. :)

VoidFractured: haha... well, glad you approve. ive been telling them abt you, btw. all of them, if it came up. seems appropriate, they all think im a space future freak, then i bring up theres actually young me whos even better at everything i do and they really freak out lmao

BluePhoenix: Wait, you think I'm better at everything? You're like, way more infused with Void than me. You were actually there. And unlike me, you ran around, used your legs, trained your arms and got strong enough to defeat all those dax soldiers! You're so impressive Juniper!

BluePhoenix: The only Dax soldier I killed was... my mentor. He did betray me right before, though.

VoidFractured: teshins the only dax i didnt kill. funny how that works. still my mentor tho

BluePhoenix:  When you talk about me I hope you don't call me kid or kiddo. Sick of it.

VoidFractured: i dont know what else to call you. easy to call you Juni when we're talking, of course i mean you and not me. but when i talk to others it sounds like im weirdo talking abt himself in third person.

BluePhoenix: Why would they assume that?

VoidFractured: youd be surprised how many people do it. i mean i just did it for fun but some people just kinda do it all the time. maybe for drama

BluePhoenix: Well, just say past you. Or... future you? You that never grew up? I kinda see you as older brother. Like twins who got separated.

VoidFractured: sure, twins look the same, but idk if they are THIS much same.

BluePhoenix:  True enough. Anyway, are you having fun?

VoidFractured: um should i say no so you dont feel bad that you can't be here too lol

BluePhoenix: Well, that answers the question.

BluePhoenix:  I wish i could walk around like you. The only time I had to was going through that damn mountain. They really thought I'd get healed just like that.

VoidFractured: yea... im sorry :/

VoidFractured: did you do ur exercises today btw?

BluePhoenix: Oh.

BluePhoenix: Yeah.

VoidFractured: okay and now remember that i know how u act cause id do the same but you are waaay worse at hiding it. get trinity and do exercises, Juni.

BluePhoenix: I don't know, what's the point?

VoidFractured: you know whats the point! ur not giving up like that are you? want me to come up there and do them with you?

BluePhoenix: Oh noo, threatening me with a good time? Spending time with my older brother figure? What a terrible fate. :)

VoidFractured: fine lol point taken. ill come up.

VoidFractured: does ur chair fit to sit at the pom2 for this long?

BluePhoenix: I did get trinity to bring me up, and there is a different chair. It is comfy though :)

VoidFractured: alright. now get ur trinity to stretch with u and ill come tomorrow ok? sleepy time for now and ill be there next time. take care juni

BluePhoenix: You too, Juniper! ❤

---

Juniper was out of the shower, and ey sat at the computer for a bit, but they've moved to eir side of the bed, still frowning. Ey wondered if Amir could connect some holo tablet ey have brought in to the POM-2. Talking to the kid would be easier.

The shower finally quieted down, and Quincy came out with a towel over his waist, and another one on his head.

Juniper looked up, many questions going through eir head, wondering what to start with first. Ey put down the tablet, and put it in the locker.

“Alright, sit on the edge of the bed there, or-” Quincy reached for the comb ey prepared on the bed, and looked at the hair. “Maybe easier if you stand.”

Juni sat on the edge of the bed, the hair spread out on the bed, as Quincy brushed it and got the tangles out. It was shiny, and looked strong, and he was quite proud of his work. He stood on the bed, and moved the hair out of the way so he wouldn’t stand on it and pull it, and started to braid from the top, leaving the bangs free as ey wear it.

“You’ve done this a lot?” ey asked, fidgeting with eir fingers. Ey were getting more and more nervous, almost shivering.

“Got a sister, didn’t I say? She helps me, I help her. We had to do it, or the hair gets damaged. Had to learn to do it myself when there was no one around.”

“No one helps you now?”

“You will. Don’t think you’re getting out of this scot-free, babes. I’ll let it rest until tomorrow though.”

“I can’t sleep with the hair free. It would get everywhere, and I’d probably rip it all out. Do you think it’s more trouble than worth?”

“Nah, looks peng. You can always use it as a scarf if it’s in the way.”

Ey laughed nervously, and another wave of goosebumps ran through eir hairs.

Quincy looked up, at the now-closed window. “Still cold? Probably shouldn’t have left the entire room cool off with keeping the window open, innit?”

“No, I’m not… cold. Sorry.”

Quincy started at the back of eir head for a bit, before determining he has to finish the braid as soon as possible, and got to work.

“All right.” he showed the end of the braid to Juniper, who put a hairband on it, and ey held it, still sitting there. “Now, what’s got your knickers in a twist?”

“Um… well, remember when you asked me to tell you something horrible about myself?”

Quincy was taken back by Juniper bringing this out again. He sat up near his pillow, against the wall behind the beds, and waited for a few moments. When Juni didn’t hear a response, ey looked behind and, as if embarrassed, turned back around and stared at the floor.

“Yeah. I already said I’m sorry babes, I know now how shitty it felt. But that was the point. To overcome it, and all.” He tried to reach out for em, but instead hesistated, and stayed back. “Is this gonna be another one of those?”

“I hope not. After you told me your thing, the thing that eats you up and makes you hate yourself, you said you owe me one. I’m … I’m going to turn that one in, alright?”

“Only fair.”

“Just, um, the favour is that you listen to me and don’t make pre-emptive judgement. No jumping to conclusions. It’s not about the thing I’m gonna ask. I’m not trying to force you into saying yes by using the favour just. Listen till the end.”

“I won’t comment on how you think you need to use a favour to get me to listen, then either.” He sounded annoyed already.

Juniper’s head lowered into eir hands. “That’s exactly why I wanted to use it. No judgement for now, just listen.”

Quincy put up his hands in defeat, even if Juni couldn’t see. He saw it meant a lot to em and was frustrating em enough.

“Have you ever been cheated on, Q?”

The only question Juniper knew how to start with. And, given everything, Quincy would have all the rights to jump to conclusions. But he was a man of his word. He simply answered.

“Yeah. She didn’t know how to tell me, so she found another, and it had to boil down to me finding out.”

“I see. I’m trying to avoid that, okay? I love you, Quincy, and last thing I want to do is to betray your trust and make you feel cheated. So I was searching for how to say this… There has been something weighing on me, and I want to talk about it with you.”

“I’m listening. Not the most promising start, but you’ll bring it back at the end, yeah?”

Juniper just nodded, and finally, ey crawled onto the bed and under the covers, eir hair on top of the blanket. Ey were afraid to try to cuddle Quincy at that moment, even though ey’d appreciate the comfort. So ey didn’t.

“I’ve had this… feeling. Do you feel that way? Do you stop having crushes, or liking other people, once you start going out with someone?”

“You like someone else?” He couldn’t help himself. He had to ask. “Sorry. Continue.”

“I love you. And I also love someone else. I don’t want to feel trapped. You don’t want me to feel trapped, do you? But I don’t want to go behind your back. I want to… do it with your blessing. And, in the end, I’ll accept if you’d be interested in someone else too. As long as you don’t stop loving me.”

And there it was, out. Juniper covered eir eyes with eir hand, speaking with quiet voice that almost cracked.

Quincy thought about it for a minute. He put a hand on Juniper’s hand, the one covering eir eyes, and ey flinched with surprise.

“I was gonna say, earlier. If my ex, at the time, would’ve told me. I probably would’ve let her. I didn’t really think I’m that lacking, but if she still loved me and wanted to experiment, sure. But the fact that it was behind my back, that hurt. And she didn’t love me anymore.” He spoke with gentle voice, comforting. Juniper loved that about him, despite all the act and all the toughness, he could find the gentleness inside, and show it to em.

“I was… reading. On the computer, I found some… what were they called, forums? People asking the same thing. Others telling them it has a name, and they live with their two partners. Stuff like that. I thought, I’m not insane. This is not me being from future or me being touched by Void. People existed, way back …now, that felt like me.” Ey finally moved the hand, and looked at the warm brown eyes staring back at em. “Since you like reading… educational books, I could forward some they recommended to you.”

“Yeah, I’ll read them.” Quincy smiled.

“So this is really okay? I was gonna let you sit on it for few days…”

“That’s not the thing I’d wanna be sitting on, handsome.” He winked and Juniper couldn’t help emself, and pulled him down for a kiss. Quincy obliged, and after, he spoke again: “Speaking of which, did you bring me those books from your ship you promised me?”

“Oh. I’ll, uh, I promised Juni- the other one, that I’d help him with something tomorrow. I’ll stop by the Zariman and get them while I’m in the, um, future.” Ey settled back down into the pillow, but still held onto Quincy’s shoulder. “They have audio version too, for you while you’re out on patrols. I was surprised, when you mentioned it, that you have technology to transcribe books into audio…”

“We don’t. People sit down for hours, read them into microphone, and get paid.” He said, as if it was obvious, very matter-of-factly.

“Oh…”

“No machines, still just humans back here.” He settled down lower, and lifted Juni’s head to put his hand under it, to hold em closer.

“If you, in future, have a day off but I get assigned some work, or something and I don’t take you with me, of course… I wanted to say, I wouldn’t be mad if you…” ey wondered how to say it, while enjoying the hug, and pressing onto his chest, “Well, I heard you didn’t really have trouble finding people to spend nights with, at the mall. If there’s someone you’re really interested in. As long as you tell me, I’ll be happy knowing you aren’t lonely with me on a mission.”

Ey dragged eir hand across his stomach, sometimes chest, finding comfort in the touch.

“Good to know. I was wondering, you were so held back, or shy, to let me even see you naked for such a long time. But if you want to, it’s cool with me. Lux goods are meant to be shared, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t plan to… sleep around, I guess. I was only interested romantically, but I guess it will come to that eventually too… Oh,” ey sighed. “Ill have to explain the whole void manifestation to Amir too.”

“AMIR?” Quincy almost jumped.

“Oh. Yeah. Amir. I had – have a crush on Amir.” Ey hugged him tighter. “What, is knowing who it is gonna change your mind on this?”

“Nah, fam, nah, it’s cool. You really know how to choose them, you know. I thought you were getting real chummy with Aoi, or Eleanor.”

“Ah.” Juniper exclaimed. “Im not really… interested in women that way.”

“Ah. Shame. Women would love your thing between their legs.” He did a motion with his finger trying to outline Juniper’s void genitalia.

“Well. Amir told me you know about him, uh, being trans.”

“Oh. Yea. To be honest, didn’t think about the man’s business that much. I get him what he needs, he pays."

"Mhm." Juniper cuddled him, and eir eyes were closing. Was it this exhausting to just talk? Ey needed to sleep already.

---

Just before ey had to leave, Juniper ran to Amir's "room" to tell him the news, but ey didn't find him there. So ey ran to the arcade, where ey found him on the couch, snoring loudly. Ey crouched next to him, and poked him gently.

"GUH! AH! Where am I?" Amir shouted, and jumped up to sit.

"Not in your bed, it seems." Ey snickered.

"Well, I stayed up so you'd update me on the situation! But then you never showed up!" he stretched and yawned, his volume control nonexistent.

"Sorry..." Juni sat down next to him.

"So?"

Ey smiled the whole time, and Amir was starting to smile too, figuring it out. Then, Juniper reached for his arm, and held it in eirs, and gave him a kiss.

Chapter 3: (not real fic) IT'S CANON

just wanted to let everyone know with the new update, Quincy open to polyamory is CANON