For the Kirk to my Spock.

There were few things in life Kang Daesung trusted less in life than a space cowboy. But, life had given him little choice in the matter. Choi Seunghyun, for all of his rough edges and snarky cynicism, was one of the few people who would be able (and willing) to help Daesung escape. Then again, Daesung half-suspected that Seunghyun had no idea what he was getting into when he agreed to the contract – that or the man really was as insane as rumor claimed.

It had been the middle of the day – all three suns hanging high in the air – when Daesung heard the tell-tale sound of a body hitting the floor. He looked up from the kmu’dal board in order to share a look with his opponent. Jiyong ran a clawed hand through his red hair; he was somewhat grateful for the distraction from the game. No matter how often the space dragon practiced, he simply lacked Daesun’s patience and always wound up losing. He half-suspected the man across from him had never had a day of fun in his life, which was why Daesung was able to stare at the floating pieces with such unwavering concentration. (Though how Daesung actually saw the pieces was a bit of a mystery, since his bangs covered a third of his face.). The door dilated open – drawing Jiyong from his musings. . When Seunghyun came strutting in, he flashed the room’s occupants a smug smile. “Well, are we going or aren’t we?” And that was how they had escaped being held hostage.

Seunghyun’s ship, The BIGBANG, was honestly not much to look at: It had strange curves and gave the impression that it had been made of several ships that had seen much better days. But the man in the cowboy hat gave the hull a fond caress before hustling his cargo – four aliens – into the ship. They had slipped from the dock and launched into space all before the Tyndyryn knew they were gone. Daesung had been impressed, but only mildly. With Seunghyun’s reputation, he had expected such a daring escape to go well.

For the first three weeks of their journey, Daesung and his companions had kept out of sight – not even daring to walk openly throughout the ship. But then Seungri, who hated being in any tight space for too long, had gone bursting out of their quarters. He spent the entire day running through all of the decks – just to burn off energy – before finally collapsing in a heap in the co-pilot’s chair. Seunghyun had been very amused by the young Pandarin’s antics, though he did wonder where all of that energy came from. After that, the other men did not seem to have an excuse to remain in hiding, and so they emerged from hiding for the first time. Jiyong had frolicked into the kitchen with Youngbae and begun to insist that the cold-blooded man make him food. The Soldata had simply sighed – Jiyong was so needy – before beginning to make one of the dishes Hyorin had taught him.

Seunghyun was unnerved by Daesung, truth be told. The man was clearly why the other three had been imprisoned, but the human could not understand what made the brunette so special. His hair hung low over his eyes – hiding them from sight – and he had large, gently curled ears that made him look like an elf; but, other than that, Daesung seemed rather unremarkable as far as aliens went. Seunghyun’s curiosity held out for three days before, at dinner, he simply asked, “Why you?”

Daesung had looked in his direction and frowned. “Excuse me?”

Leaning back in his seat, Seunghyun folded his arms across his chest. “Why’d they hold you hostage like that? Those three are from common enough races they’d have no real reason to hold them hostage, but I don’t even know what you are.”

The brunette went very still. “Ah.”

Jiyong reached over to smack Seunghyun – frowning as he did so. “Yah, you don’t just ask people questions like that!” The man’s eyebrows knit over his violet eyes, causing the delicate smattering of red scales above his brows to sparkle in the dim light. “It’s rude.”

Seunghyun shrugged. “If I am going to transport you guys, I need to know why they want you.”

A sigh slid past Daesung’s lips, and he reached over to squeeze Jiyong’s knee. “It’s okay, Ji. He might as well know.” Seunghyun smirked; Jiyong looked like a cat that had been dropped in a lake he was so put out.

“But, Dae –“

“I’m a D’relin.” 

Seunghyun resettled his hat on his head. “Yeah. That doesn’t mean much to me.”

“I would honestly be surprised if it did,” Daesung admitted. “And even more surprised if you had met one of my kind before. There are only six of us left.”

Youngbae – who had once again gotten so hot he had abandoned his shirt – reached over to wrap a comforting arm around Daesung’s shoulders. “Most of his kind were wiped out by an epidemic,” the man explained, even as Daesung ducked his head.

“So,” Seunghyun mused, “it’s like you’re the last unicorn, basically.”

All four aliens gaped at him; he could feel the burn of their eyes against his skin. (Okay, so not really. He kind of just guessed that Daesung was gaping, because the man’s mouth hung open and he seemed to be looking in his direction. That hair: What had the alien been thinking when he got that awful bowlcut?) Jiyong was the first to blink – with his second eyelid – and gave his head a shake. “Crazy and insensitive. Aren’t you just a winner? It’s no wonder you are forever alone.”

Seunghyun shot Jiyong an amused smirk before turning his attention back to Daesung. “Okay, so you’re part of a dying race. Do you piss unobtanium or something? I don’t get why the Tyndyryn would hold you captive with that intense of a security detail. I mean, it was like you were worth more to them than that vapid doe of a prince they’ve got.”

“Oh, I know this one!” Seungri cut in, his tiny black and white ears twitching on top of his head. A wide grin turned his lips as he announced, “When D’relin cry, they cry gemstones. It’s super cool. I mean, you’re looking at him, and suddenly his lap is like filling up with bling. Ji nearly died the first time he saw it happen, because it was like his little draconic heart had found a walking hoard – and we all know dragons like them hoards.” Seungri nodded easily – his silvery hair nearly flipping with the force of the motion.

“Seungri?” Daesung leaned over to place a hand lightly on the slope of the man’s knee.

Still grinning widely, Seungri leaned closer to the brunette. “Yes, Dae-babe?”

“I hate you,” the D’relin murmured.

Seungri gasped and was about to reply when the ship suddenly lurched wildly to one side. Seunghyun was to his feet in an instance – racing through the ship until he came to the bridge. The view was filled with a massive Tyndyryn war ship, which made Seunghyun begin to curse quite fluently under his breath. Dropping into the pilot’s chair, he strapped himself in and began to divert what energy he could to the shields. Firing back at the much larger ship would have been a great stress reliever, he imagined, but ultimately a waste of time. Tyndyryn might not be the sharpest crayons in the box, but they certainly knew how to design weaponry. Punching a few more buttons, Seunghyun fired up the warp drive. If he could just get the ship moving, they’d be able to outpace the larger ship by leagues. (That was the perk of his ship: speed. Lots of speed.)

While Seunghyun hurried to get the ship moving, Youngbae darted down to the engine compartment. He began to check the diagnostics, humming in displeasure when he noticed that some of the conduits had been blown by the attack. “Ji, I’m going to need you and your scaly self to help me,” he called.

In an instance, Jiyong had dropped down into the room and was grabbing a repair kit. “Whatever would you do without me, eh?”

“Burn my hands trying to handle blown out equipment?” Youngbae hazarded. He downloaded the last of the information into his tablet before starting for the Jefferies tube.

Seungri, meanwhile, had raced off to secure the loose cargo. He figured if they were going to be jumping into warp and possibly having to do some quick maneuvers, it wouldn’t do to have their precious rations spilling all over the place. Besides, he hated it when his bamboo got broken or bruised before he could eat it. Talk about tragedy! “Daesung, can you hand me that strap?” he called, assuming the man would be there beside him. When he looked up, Seungri’s little ears tucked in against his head. “Where did he go?”

Seunghyun was surprised when the co-pilot’s seat squeaked beside him. A quick glance out of the corner of his eye revealed the identity of his mysterious partner: Daesung. “Shouldn’t you be down below?” he ground out, fighting with the sluggish responses of the damaged system.

“I could be,” Daesung agreed. “But if I were, you wouldn’t have my help.” Moving confidently, he strapped himself in beside Seunghyun and let his fingers begin to fly across the controls. He quickly rerouted power from rooms that were not in use – pausing just long enough to put up the necessary containment fields – and funneled the power into the engines. With a lurch, the BIGBANG jumped forward and dove beneath the Tyndyryn war ship. Cursing (still), Seunghyun turned the ship and punched in a set of coordinates that would take them far from Tyndyryn space.

“Hold on,” Seunghyun growled. He pulled the lever that engaged the warp drive just as a last shot from the war ship clipped the back of the smaller craft. 

The ship was able to limp halfway to the destination Seunghyun had entered before the warning sirens began to wail. Daesung frowned and checked the reports flashing across the screen. At that moment, Youngbae’s voice sounded over the communication system: “Guys, things are getting really rough down here. It looks like the warp core is trying to destabilize. We need to land before it blows.”

Daesung ran a quick scan of the nearby space as Seunghyun fought to keep the ship on track. “Looks like there’s a planet just ahead. Air is breathable, and there seems to be decent enough space to –“ He let out a yelp as Seunghyun swerved towards the planet. The moody mercenary was not inclined to listen to Daesung’s report; he had a ship to land. Well, if you could call what he did a landing.

When they dropped out of warp, the ship’s systems began to overload and shut down at an alarming speed. Daesung barely had time to make certain each member of the crew had life support in their respective areas of the ship and an additional force field to offset the impact before the ship hit the ground. The BIGBANG drug itself across a wide, sandy beach before creaking to a stop just at the edge of what appeared to be a bamboo forest. Moving sluggishly, Daesung unbuckled and moved to check Seunghyun’s condition. When the man cursed and tugged off his cowboy hat, Daesung was certain that he would be fine. The D’relin then moved to make certain that the life signs of the other crew members were stable. Seungri had been knocked out in the cargo hold but seemed to be stable while Jiyong and Youngbae were still moving around in the engine room.

“We all still alive?” Seunghyun grumbled.

“It would appear so,” Daesung drawled. “But it’s going to take a fair bit of work to get the ship back in working order.”

Crawling out of his chair, Seunghyun moved over to look at the reports with Daesung. “If you and I go out, we can get the solar panels set up on the roof. That’d at least get us closer to restoring full power while Jiyong and Youngbae work on the circuiting.”

“What about Seungri?”

Seunghyun arched an eyebrow. “What about him? Ship says he is just out for a bit. Means he won’t get in my way or break anything.”

Daesung winced. After Seungri had managed to cross a couple of wires on a simple repair, Seunghyun had simply refused to trust him. The poor little Pandarin was young and inexperienced, but the human treated him as though he were utterly incompetent. But, rather than fight with the man, Daesung moved towards the hatch that would allow them outside. “The scan I did before we landed said the air should be fine. It might smell a bit sulphurous, but that’s because there is a geyser system nearby. Nothing dangerous.”

Seunghyun’s answer was a grunt before he threw open the hatch. He pulled himself out and onto one of the BIGBANG’s wings. His eyes took in the damage to the hull, and he frowned. “Once we get power back on, we’ll have to limp to a nearby trading hub or junk yard. Patch up those holes.” Stomping across the roof, he moved to the compartments the first set of solar panels were stored in. With Daesung’s help, he soon had them folded out in a wide sheet. As they moved towards the next set of panels, Daesung suddenly fell still and turned towards the forest. “What?”

Daesung held up a hand to shush the man as he listened harder, his pointed ears twitching slightly. “I think someone’s coming.”

Reaching for the weapon at his side, Seunghyun scoffed. “Either someone is coming or they’re not. Make up your mind.” He spun his laser pistol lazily about his finger.

“Well excuse me for being unable to hear over your panting and grumbling,” Daesung bit out.

The human was about to make a witty retort when his expression suddenly went lax and he fell down in a graceless lump. Daesung dropped at his side and quickly searched for what had happened – his gaze quickly locking on a small feathered dart sticking out of the man’s leg. When Daesung looked up, he was confronted by the sight of a rather amused looking set of natives.

One of the natives – the female – gave Daesung a little wave and a giggle. She seemed utterly pleased with herself for having knocked Seunghyun out cold; the male at her side was only carrying a large sword, so she had to have been the culprit behind the dart. In a way, Daesung was impressed. She had to have good aim to be able to hit the human so accurately from that distance, and she had managed to sneak up on them almost entirely without notice. Girl had skills. The male looked unimpressed and stepped forward in a way that the D’relin could only describe as jaunty. He even swung his chin in and glared down his nose in a way that attempted to establish dominance, which made the brunette want to laugh. It was clear by the way the woman at his side moved that she was the one in charge between the two of them; the boy was trying far too hard to have any authority. Raising her hand again, the female gestured for Daesung to get down off the ship. He slowly shook his head no, silently hoping one of his companions might happen to come to the rescue. The woman sighed and helped up her slim dart gun, making it clear what she would do if he refused.

Daesung’s lips twitched. Then, slowly, he slid off the hull and landed on the sand with a soft thud. He stepped closer to the female until she held up a hand, indicating he had come close enough. At that moment, the male stomped over to the ship, tugged Seunghyun down onto his shoulder, and moved to poke at Daesung’s back with his sword. Daesung shot him a glare over his shoulder before following the woman, who had turned to walk back into the bamboo. Several minutes after the small troop had disappeared into the woods, Seungri came stumbling out of the hatch. “Hey, guys?” Rubbing his head, he looked around for any sign of the mercenary and the other man. “…Guys?”

When the quartet arrived at the edge of the native capitol, they were stopped by two rather tall, lanky guards. The one with bushy brows seemed disinclined to let Daesung go any further, but the woman scolded the man within an inch of his life. (Even though he could not speak the language, Daesung knew a good tear down when he heard it.) Slinking back like a kicked puppy, the guards let them pass. A triumphant little smirk curled the woman’s lips as she tossed her hair over her shoulder; she clearly enjoyed putting the menfolk in their place. Daesung, however, was quite surprised when they came to the entrance to the city itself. He had expected wooden homes set among the bamboo or rising stone walls, but there were neither. Instead, more guards stood at the mouth of a large cave that was decorated with beautiful paintings and shimmering stones set into the rock. It was quite fetching, if perhaps a touch less refined than the brunette was used to.

The woman motioned for her companion to put Seunghyun down, which lead to the human being unceremoniously dumped in a heap on the mossy earth. Seunghyun began to groan as he came around, drawing a giggle from the woman. She apparently thought the man’s upset was adorable; Daesung wondered if she would still feel that way if Seunghyun tried to strangle her for drugging him. Crouching down beside the human, Daesung placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t rush yourself,” he murmured. “You’re not going to like what you see anyway.”

Seunghyun peeled one eye open in time to see a man with a bright blue pompadour come stalking out of the cave. Crossing his arms over his chest, the apparent leader of their kidnappers gave the mercenary and his client a look that was best described as utterly unimpressed. Clearly, the strangers were worth little more than the dirt beneath the leader’s feet. He was about to say something – probably dismissive – when the woman standing just to the left of Daesung stepped forward. At that moment, Seunghyun was extremely grateful that he always kept his translating ear-piercing in: It meant he could actually understand life or death conversations between strange aliens. “WooYoung, I brought them so they could be tested,” the woman declared, puffing out her chest a little. “They fell from the sky in a ring of fire and survived. Surely that is a sign from the gods that they should be tested.”

This WooYoung fellow scoffed and nudged at Seunghyun’s leg with the toe of his boot. “They look rather pathetic to me. That one there does not show his eyes, and this one looks weak. What use would they be to us.”

But, the woman was having none of it. With a great deal of bravado, she poked WooYoung in the chest, making him wince. “Yah, are you the gods? I thought not, Jang WooYoung. They should be tested, or do I have to go tell Jin-Young that you are trying to disobey the holy creeds again?”

“Suzy! You wouldn’t dare!” WooYoung gasped, making Seunghyun fight to smother a laugh. The man looked like an offended rooster with the way he gaped at the woman.

“Oh wouldn’t I?” She took a threatening step towards the cave mouth. “You know what he told you last time you tried to ignore protocol. He won’t hesitate to send you off on some ridiculous quest that’d keep you away from Taec for months.”

WooYoung huffed and turned to glare down at the intruders. “Fine. Lock them up for three days. It won’t make a difference: They’ll both be mad by the time it’s over.”

Seunghyun was about to protest – going mad sounded like it would really put a damper on his day – when he was suddenly hauled to his feet. A rather fierce looking group of women proceeded to march Daesung and his companion down into the caves; the gentle glow of lichen along the walls served as the only light as they moved through the twisting tunnels. The odds of escape did not look good: Seunghyun quickly lost all sense of direction. Before the pair could so much as get enough air into their lungs to protest, they were shoved into a small cave. Suzy stepped forward and raised her first in an encouraging motion. “You will be in here for three days. If you do not go mad, it means the gods have chosen you to become one of our people and we will accept you into our fold. If you go mad, we will be sure your lives our ended in a humane manner. You can do it! I believe in you.” She then stepped out and shut the door behind her.

They were immediately plunged into perfect darkness.

Seunghyun had, ever since he left the space station at the age of nine, lived in darkness. Space, with the spaces between light and dark, was an endless void that stretched its fingers beyond the stretch of imagination. He had traveled the vast expanses of nothing that existed between the blips of life that were the various solar systems, and he had even stared into the gaping maw of a black hole – just once, from a distance. But even in all of that darkness, he had never truly been completely shut in the pitchy nothingness that presently surrounded him. Starlight, no matter how distant, or the glow of a flashlight had been his constant companion even in the darkest of times. But there was none of that here.

Leaning against the strangely smooth cave wall, Seunghyun focused on counting his breaths in an attempt to calm the racing cacophony of his heart. He could be calm. He could be strong. It was just the darkness. Before the door had closed, he had seen that there was literally nothing in the cave except for himself and Daesung; nothing threatening. And yet… There was still that sense of the blood seeming to curl away from his extremities in order to pool in the core of his being – drowning out reason as it flooded the cavity of his torso. His heart, as though flailing like a man lost at sea, seemed to only increase its rhythm in answer to the chill panic settling into his limbs.

He felt Daesung come too close, and it caused Seunghyun to press more firmly into the stone behind him. “Don’t,” he said, flushing with shame as his voice cracked. “I'm fine, we'll be fine. I am not afraid of the dark. I fly a ship in a near perpetual void; I am not afraid of the dark."

Daesung hesitated before taking a slow step back. Seunghyun released the breath he had been holding and pressed a trembling, sweaty palm to his forehead. “Seunghyun?”

“What,” the man snapped, glaring in the other’s direction.

“I didn’t ask you if you were afraid.”

Seunghyun’s legs began to tremble at the gentleness of Daesung’s voice. The other was not looking down on him – as he feared he might – but neither was there pity. If anything, Daesung sounded as though he were in a museum making an observation about a piece of artwork he found intriguing. It confused the human. He slowly sank down the wall until he was folded into a ball on the floor, his face pressed into his knees. Another ragged breath tried to calm his heart, but nothing seemed to be working.

“I can hear your heart beating,” Daesung said after a long stretch of silence. “You’re right that you’re not scared. You’re terrified.”

The man cracked. “I hate the dark,” he gasped. “Hate it. Hate it. Hate…Oh, skies, Daesung…Kill me. I won’t last three days. I won’t last three hours.”

“Three days? Why would you need to last three days?” Daesung had clearly not been able to understand the alien chatter.

“They’ve locked us in here for three days. If we go mad, they kill us. If we don’t, we pass their stupid test and we’re part of the family.” Seunghyun shuddered as he felt the warmth of Daesung’s breath against his ear. Sometime during his panic, the brunette had moved to sit beside him, though they were not yet touching. "I don't think I'm going to make it."

“I see.” The man shifted and pulled Seunghyun into his lap before settling his arms loosely around the human’s waist. “Is it being trapped in the dark that scares you or just the darkness itself?”

“Darkness.” Seunghyun dug his fingernails into Daesung’s shoulders. “Oh, I hate it.”

The D’relin had the nerve to chuckle. “I caught that. But, I think I can help.” He carefully began to unwind Seunghyun’s arms from around him and slid the man back onto the floor. “Just a moment. And hopefully this’ll help.”

Seunghyun heard the rustle of clothing, which sounded unnaturally loud in the absence of sight. He wondered just what Daesung had in mind when suddenly little pricks of light began to appear. At last the noise ceased, and Seunghyun realized…the pattern of lights seemed to twinkle and flicker like stars in the evening sky. His hand stretched out – trying to find the source – and came in contact with warm, smooth skin. Seunghyun started. “W-what is that?” he croaked.

He could practically feel the warmth of Daesung’s smile in the now semi-darkness. “It’s me.” His hand moved up to curl lightly over Seunghyun’s on his chest. “D’relin are known for the constellations on their skin. It is how we know what gemstones we can produce. The more constellations, the more rare the gemstone we can make.”

After a moment of hesitation, Seunghyun scooted closer and traced his fingertips lightly over the curve of Daesung’s pectoral muscle and up to the man’s collarbone. “Does that mean you can produce a lot of them?” he wondered. His eyes eagerly drank in the light; it was as though Daesung had chased the shadows of his fear away simply by existing.

“Yes. Not as much as the one other D’relin I’ve met, but I do well enough.” Daesung giggled a little as Seunghyun’s feather light touch tickled him. “Yah, what do you think you’re doing, hm?”

“I want to know what they feel like,” Seunghyun grumbled. “But… you said there were only six of you. How did you meet another of your kind if you’re so rare?”

His hair was ruffled by Daesung’s breath – his hat had apparently gone missing at some point – as the man weighed his words. “Since we’re so rare, I decided to track them and see if I could find a mate among them. If two D’relin impregnate each other, then our species would have a greater chance of survival. And only pure D’relin can cry gemstones – it’s our curse.”

Seunghyun nodded until the full weight of Daesung’s words crept into his still reeling mind. “Impregnate…each other?”

There was that soft laugh again. “When our species began to die out, we tried to evolve to survive.” Seunghyun felt Daesung shrug through their skinship. “We’re hermaphrodites. So, I could carry young or fertilize another’s eggs.”

That caused Seunghyun to actually gurgle in surprise; he had not been expecting that particular answer. (Then again, he realized he was not certain what answer he had been expecting.) “…Oh.”

“Does…that weird you out?” Daesung sounded awfully concerned, and it made Seunghyun sit up a little straighter.

“I was just surprised,” he admitted. “That’s all.” Moving carefully, he wiggled closer to his thigh was pressed up against Daesung’s. “So… You glow, cry gemstones, and are a hermaphrodite.” He nodded slowly. “Anything else I should know?”

Daesung hummed thoughtfully. “Mm, our eyes are considered sacred,” he said after a moment of thought. “To the point where only our parents and our mates know our eye color. We believe that making eye contact is the most intimate sharing of souls two people can engage in, so we reserve it for only the most special members of our families.”

“Huh.” Seunghyun nodded slowly. “Explains the bangs.”

“Yeah,” Daesung said, a laugh hiding in the words. “Explains the bangs. It seemed like a lot easier solution than constantly wearing a veil or something.”

“Doesn’t it make it hard to see, though? I mean, you’re literally missing like a third of your face.” Earlier, when the ship had been under attack, he had spent a good three seconds wondering just how Daesung could see well enough to manipulate the system. He had half-way suspected that the man simply did not have eyes and could simply see with strange mind powers.

“It’s just hair. I can see relatively well through it, and my other senses are much keener in order to compensate.” He shrugged again, this time his shoulder brushing against Seunghyun’s. “Plus if I tip my head back enough, I can see without obstruction.”

“You know, Dae, my planet has these things called sunglasses. I think, once we get out of this mess, I should get you a pair.” His head came to rest on the D’relin’s shoulder. “Then you could see without looking completely ridiculous.”

Daesung rolled his eyes and let his head rest on top of Seunghyun’s. “Sure, Seunghyun. But first we’ve got to get out of here. Do you think they’ve realized we’re gone yet?”

Seunghyun snorted. “Probably. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to help us. I mean, we’re in an underground fortress surrounded by primitive aliens. Even if Jiyong and the others were to empty our weapon’s stores, they’d never have enough to overpower these guys. We’re basically screwed.”

The D’relin’s hand felt through the darkness until it came in contact with Seunghyun’s warm fingers. Carefully, he tangled their digits together and gave the man’s hand a squeeze. “I don’t believe that, Seunghyun. You said if we survive the three days, they’ll let us live, right? Maybe they’d even be willing to let us go.”

“Sure, Dae. And maybe they’ll even have spare ships we can junk in order to put ours back together again.” Seunghyun closed his eyes. “And their gods will send us away with a blessing that’ll make it so you can find another of your kind.”

“…That’d be nice.”

Seunghyun hesitated at the unadulterated sadness in Daesung’s voice. “Didn’t you say you’d met one of your kind, though? Why…why didn’t you mate with them?”

Daesung let out a long, slow breath. “I found Heechul on Pandarin, about twenty years after the epidemic had waned. But, ze already had taken one of the Pandarin merchants, a man named Hangeng, as his mate. Heechul said that if I had a mate of my own – someone not D’relin – ze wouldn’t mind swapping DNA with me for the sake of our species. But, since I was unmated, ze thought Hangeng would get too jealous.” The brunette snorted a little. “Hangeng felt bad for me, so he sent Seungri with me. He said the boy needed to go on an adventure in order to become a full member of their society, and I apparently needed the company.”

“So, wait, this Heechul guy was willing to let your race die out just so he didn’t make some Panda jealous?”

“Pretty much.”

Seunghyun cursed under his breath. “If I were you, I would’ve kicked him in the fork and let him think about his life choices.”

“I probably should have,” Daesung agreed, “but I decided to seek out the others of my kind instead. I was in the midst of tracking a rumor of one – Ji-Eun – when I was captured along with my bodyguards.”

“Do you ever think…maybe it isn’t worth it to find them?” Seunghyun wondered.

Daesung began to play with Seunghyun’s long fingers as he fought back the tears that choked his system. “Yes.  I’ve thought that. But then I remember what it like to be among my own kind – to have a family. And I think of our traditions and our celebrations and even our food. That’s when I remember why I am trying so hard to find them: because it’s about more than me.”

Seunghyun chewed his bottom lip before carefully sitting up and turning to face Daesung. “Look, I’m not a great person. I lie, steal, and cheat – happily so. But, for what it’s worth, I’ll help you in any way I can, Daesung.” His free hand lifted to rest on the D’relin’s jaw. “You’re a good guy, and … I know what it’s like to be alone. Not a lot of humans on this side of space, you know?”

Daesung nodded. “Yeah, I know.” His hand lifted to cover Seunghyun’s on his jaw, causing a shiver of awareness to run down the human’s spine. “Thank you, Seunghyun. I think I will need all of the help I can get.”

The rather touching moment was ruined, though, when Seunghyun suddenly asked: “So, wait, if you’re a hermaphrodite, does that mean you are like… hermaphroditeual?”

Daesung stared at Seunghyun for a long moment. “And this is when I remember just how much younger than me you are,” he sighed.

“What? It’s an honest question! I mean, for all I know you could only like somebody that’s like you!” Seunghyun’s hand dropped from Daesung’s jaw.

“Let me put it this way,” Daesung murmured, “I have yet to meet someone whose gender impacted whether or not I felt attracted to them. Personality, intellect, and – for what it’s worth – bravado mean a good deal more to me.”

“Oh.” Seunghyun nodded slowly. “That’s…good. Sensible.”

“You know, I think I could use a nap after all that excitement,” Daesung drawled. “If you want to use me as a nightlight, you might as well help keep me warm while I do so.” Seunghyun was very good at taking the hint and lay back on the stone floor. He easily pulled Daesung onto his chest and allowed the man to snuggle into his warmth. Then, after a moment, Daesung sat back up and folded his shirt up. It was then carefully tucked under Seunghyun’s head. “So you’re comfortable too,” the alien then explained. Daesung then snuggled back into Seunghyun’s warmth.

The three days in total darkness was not easy on Seunghyun: He had several more panic attacks and was frequently pressed up against Daesung in the times between. Surprisingly, Daesung handled the situation quite well and told Seunghyun of his journeys to help calm the man. Seunghyun also managed to ask even more personal questions – like why Daesung dressed as a man (because Daesung personally identified as more masculine than feminine), how D’relin carried pregnancies (on their backs under a hard plate that formed after insemination), and even how many lovers Daesung had had (none of Seunghyun’s business, thank you) – before their time in the cave ended. When the door did finally open, both the D’relin and the human blinked up at Suzy in confusion. 

“I feel hungover,” Seunghyun complained. “Except worse because ouch. That light… It’s like I went on the bender to end all benders or something.”

Suzy moved easily into the room and crouched down, staring intently at them. “Have you gone mad?” she asked, smiling sweetly at the pair.

Seunghyun shook his head. “No. But I do kind of want kick WooYoung in the fork.” Because Seunghyun had decided that the three days in the darkness had to be blamed on someone, and the blue-haired alien seemed like as good a scapegoat as anyone. After all, he had been the one that had ordered them to be tossed in the void-like cell. So, clearly it was his fault.  

 Something about Seunghyun’s garbled answer seemed to satisfy Suzy, because she motioned for the two men to follow her. “Come! The god-come-down wishes to see you both,” she declared with a happy wiggle.

Moving slowly, Daesung got to his feet and pulled his shirt haphazardly on. Seunghyun followed, dusting off his pants as he did so. “What did she say?” Daesung murmured.

“We’re supposed to follow her.” Seunghyun shrugged. “Something about a god wanting to meet us.”

Daesung nodded slowly before silently taking Seunghyun’s hand in his. The D’relin was not entirely certain why, but life just felt better with the calloused lengths of Seunghyun’s fingers between his own. He may have even tucked his body in close to the human’s side – though he would never admit to doing so if you asked. As they walked down the passageways, Daesung noticed the numerous aliens – who all seemed to be from different species – gathering to watch them pass. Most had wide smiles on their faces, though the disgruntled guard from the very beginning still seemed unhappy to see them.

When they arrived at the wide cave that seemed to serve as their temple, Daesung nearly stopped short at the sight of the man standing atop a platform. Draped in red and gold robes, with a wide grin on his face, sat none other than Seungri. He beamed down at Daesung and Seunghyun, looking for all the world like a benevolent parent, and rose to his feet. “My friends! You are alive.” The Pandarin skipped lightly down the steps and swept both of them into a tight hug. He whispered, “Dude, you’ll never believe it, but they actually think I’m a god because of my hair. It’s been the best three days of my life!”

Pulling out of the hug, Seunghyun smiled down at Seungri. “I will kill you later for leaving us there for three days. I hope you know that.”

Jiyong and Youngbae, who were also dressed in ridiculously flowing robes, came wandering out of the temple. “Dae! Seunghyun!” Ji declared with a bright grin, his eyes glowing gold. “You’re alive!” He pounced on the pair as well, making it a proper group hug.

“Barely,” Seunghyun pretended to grouse. “No thanks to you lot. If it weren’t for Daesung, I –“ Realizing what he was saying, the human went silent.

Jiyong just smirked knowingly at the man. “Well, I am glad you had Daesung with you, then. Be a shame if the great T.O.P was no longer the top of his field and top of the intergalactic wanted lists.”

“Come on,” Youngbae called. “I bet you two are hungry. Mr. God-come-down can see that you two get some fresh clothing while you eat – it’s the least he can do.” The Soldata shot the youngest of their company a sharp look, earning him a wide grin in return. “And then you can tell us what on Soldara happened to you both!”

Daesung chuckled softly and allowed Seunghyun to tug him up the temple steps. He was glad, in a way, that they had managed to crash land on such a crazy little planet. The D’relin would never admit it, but three days in the darkness with Seunghyun had done more to ease his loneliness than a decade traveling with Seungri, Jiyong, and Youngbae. There was something about the human that seemed to fill the empty spaces of his heart, and it gave the D’relin hope for the future. Perhaps his quest to find a mate would not be in vain. 

---

Okay, so clearly this won't be a one-shot. I am not sure how, but the thing spun wildly out of control. I will warn you, though, that this fic will be episodic in nature - think of it like sitting down to watch Star Trek or Firefly. "Episodes" may have one to two parts, perhaps even three. Time jumps will be indicated as clearly as possible, but I make no promises on being great at that. Also, this fic will be slow to update. I desperately want to get You Only Live Twice further along, so I am going to be working more specifically on that one. Once that one is out of the way, I will be juggling only two crazy stories. ^^' 

... I don't know why I do this to myself.

Anyway, if you liked it, please let me know. I struggle with motivation if I think people don't like a story, so my updates become really sluggish if I don't get feedback. (I am more of a diva than Heechul.) Also, if you have requests for future episodes, feel free to let me know! Or even if you have someone you'd like to see cameo, I can definitely work with that too. :) Much love to RoseFangedLion, who beta read this story for me. I've never had something betad before, so this was a whole new world.

As always, I love you~