Chapter Text
"Umbra, you look suddenly more pissed than usual." Excalibur pointed out, wondering if he should back away from his mentor.
“Well, how would you feel if you missed a chance to do something you love doing?” Umbra shot back at him. Then he relaxed, straightening. “Nevertheless, you can still show me what you learned,” He said, a hint of smugness in his voice. Excalibur looked at Garuda, who shrugged helplessly.
"I..uh...I learned Verdandi is probably smarter than me."
Umbra paused, unsure of what he had heard. “Okay, we can work with that.”
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The new frames were getting to know their way around the relay and meeting the other frames. Sol turned out to be very social, while Mani hung back, keeping an eye on her but not really interacting, except when she dragged others over to meet him. Sol was a small wonder among them, with her bright colors and wings, which she kept folded against her arms when not in use.
Mani was being watched by most of the male frames, as he was something of a curiosity. They had heard how he did not need weapons, and they all wanted to get their own look at this new frame. He knew they were watching, feeling their gaze on him, but never spared them a moment. He was busy making sure his sister was okay, watching out for any sign of backstabbing from anyone. He got a bad impression from Saryn, but nobody else.
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Valkyr hunted down Alad, who despite looking dead on his feet, agreed to answer her questions before he passed out.
“So, did you ever make any sort of breakthrough to opening the cryopods?”
“If I had, Valkyr, I would have done it. But no, the means for getting into them from outside was beyond me. But that's not what you're really here to ask, is it?”
"Fine, yes, it's not. I still want to know about your dreams."
Alad paused, unsure if telling her would break his promise. “I...don’t know that I can tell you. Promise me you won't tell Loki.”
“I promise. I’ll even pinky-promise if it will make you feel better.”
“Hardy har. I don’t even know if you’ll believe me, so reserve your snark for after, ok?”
“Fine.”
Alad looked around nervously, feeling his skin crawl. “I highly doubt you’ll believe me, but here goes. I met someone, someone powerful. I...he...his name was Loki. But not our Loki, this one was different.” Alad peered over his shoulder.
“What, are you afraid he’s watching you, or something?”
“Kind of yes. I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you’d met him...there was something so eerie about him, the way he moved, the way he spoke, languid, almost ghostly, and I can’t help but feel that if I say the wrong thing he’ll come to me in my sleep again, only this time he’ll slit my throat.”
Valkyr looked incredulously at him. “How is that possible? You can’t kill someone in their dreams, right?”
“I don’t know, that’s just how it felt!”
“Obviously kind of like how you feel now?”
“Obviously. I just...I don’t know, it’s all so strange, and I can’t even be sure that dream was real, and yet when he left all those flowers died and our Loki got better, so it must have been.”
“Well, what did he say?” Valkyr was curious now.
"Well...he wanted to meet our Loki."
“Um, how is that possible? We’re talking about different dimensions here, aren’t we?”
"Magic, I guess."
“Well, we’ll worry about that when we get there, I guess. What else did he say? Why does he want to meet him? If that jackass thinks he can just waltz into our dimension like that and do whatever he wants to my Loki, I'll punch him in the stomach and watch his guts fly out the other side!” she proclaimed, balling her fists. Alad noted her saying "my" Loki, but wisely chose not to bring it up.
"I don't know how successful you'd be in that."
Valkyr decided to hold her words, wondering whether he noticed her little slip. “When is he coming?”
"He won't be, at least for a while. He said he felt a link to ours because the Orokin gave him his name. Apparently that invoked him somehow? In any case, he didn't realize he was harming our Loki until I told him. He actually seemed very guilty about it. "
“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about that for a while.” Valkyr visibly relaxed. "All that matters is that our Loki is ok."
"And that we all made it out of there alive."
“Well there’s that dream covered.”
“Did I mention another one?”
“Well, you also mentioned that you dream of me killing you?”
“Oh that! Yeah, it’s a recurring thing.”
“Why? As far as I’m concerned, we’re even. You ripped me open, I beat you to near death on Jupiter, and even if I wanted to kill you, Lotus says that’s a big no no.” she fell quiet for a moment then added. “Are you afraid of me?”
“I...yes. I guess I am. It’s fair, isn’t it?”
“Well, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it a long time ago. For example, when you first came here, I could have done it then, maybe even killed you, or hunted you down on my own time before you came here, or killed you while you were a mutalist. Back then, it might have been worth the wrath of the Lotus, but who knows? I...don’t hate you now, which is surprising, even to me. How about you? How do you feel about me?”
“Uh...guilty, mainly. I did what I did in the name of science, without thought or time for a conscience. I didn’t think you were living or had any sentience. I thought you were all robotic, and even when I opened you up and found that I was wrong, heard you screaming in pain and pleading for mercy I kept going. Maybe...I keep having that dream because...it’s what I really deserve. You really should have hunted me down, and torn me open. I would apologize, if it would help, but it won’t.”
Valkyr wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She wasn’t used to the feeling of having someone apologize for experimenting on her, taking her apart, and putting her back together. Did he really mean it, or was this another one of his experiments, his mind games, to gauge her reaction? She looked into his brilliant silver eyes, and saw no malice, only remorse. Looking inward, she was surprised to find she felt no anger for Alad anymore, no red-hot fire of revenge. Only sadness remained, the loss of a large portion of her thought process leaving only a pit in its absence. She wondered what to say.
“Alad, I...I accept your apology.” She was stunned to hear those words aloud, spoken by herself.
Alad, in turn, was also surprised. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I said, Alad, I accept your apology.”
“Are...are you sure? I did some terrible things to you, don’t apologize just to make me feel better.”
“That’s not it at all, Alad. I’ve been holding this anger inside of me for a long, long time, and I think it’s time to let it go. I forgive you, Alad.”
“I...thank you for your mercy. It’s not what I would have done, but maybe that just means you’re that much better of a person than I am. Change comes too slowly.”
“Too much change at one time will break a person, at least that’s what Oberon says.”
Valkyr stepped forward and embraced a shocked Alad, who lost his balance as soon as she released him.
“Don’t go thinking this is going to make me soft on you, Salad.” Valkyr said, trying to hide the catch in her voice.
“I won’t, considering that felt more like it was from Tyl Regor. You’re a tough kitty.”
She huffed at him, but couldn’t hide the smile in her voice. “I am what you made me, Alad.”
“Maybe now you can help make me into something better.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you there.”
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Loki was in a corner of the relay, cleaning his weapons. They had sustained quite a few stains on their adventure, some of which were proving hard to remove. Just as he was ready to call it quits for the day, Excalibur walked up with Wisp by his side.
“Hey, Loki, are you okay after all that? Some major things happened to you, and we were just wondering if you needed something?”
“Oh, hello. I’m fine, surprisingly. I feel better now than I have in weeks. Whatever was going on seems to have...dissipated.”
“That’s great, we’re glad to have you back to your normal self,” Wisp said softly. Turning to Excalibur, she said, “We should really check on Alad, shouldn’t we?”
“Yeah, just to make sure that he doesn’t have any...lingering effects. Bye, Loki!”
“Until later, Excalibur, Wisp.” Loki turned his attention back to his weapons, considering resuming polishing them. Then, shaking his head, he stood up, only to have Valkyr run right into him.
“Hey, Valkyr, how’s it going?” he said, not quite looking at her.
“Oh, just fine, considering where we just were. How are you?” she asked, tentatively.
“Me? I’m great, much better now, thanks.”
The two fell into an awkward silence. Valkyr considered telling him about the other Loki, but rejected the idea. She had something more pressing to ask him about.
“This is hard for me to ask but...are you in love with me?”
“Uh...we just got back from a record defense mission, and that’s the first thing you worry about?”
“Kinda, yeah! I mean, we’re all alive and well, and honestly if I don’t ask you now I doubt I’d ever be able to overcome the awkwardness.
“Well…” Loki was unsure how to answer. “I...well yes, I am, but I’m not sure how safe that actually is.”
“Safe?”
“Well...what if what happened, happens again? What if it’s worse?”
“You really think I couldn’t handle you?” she said, even though that annoying little voice reminded her that he’d gotten the better of her when the first met. She told that annoying little voice to go f*ck itself/
“I don’t doubt that you could, but what if you didn’t get to me in time? I just...don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t even know if you like regular me.”
Valkyr couldn’t believe what she had heard. “You don’t even know...If I didn’t like the regular you, Loki, I wouldn’t be here right now. When you’re not going bananas for some reason, you’re probably the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. I like that, honestly. You’re not trying to act all tough and badass to impress me, you’re just...sweet and cute. I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but I like the way you act.”
Loki looked flustered, and if he had had a visible blush, he would be as red as the Lycoris.
“I’m in love with you, Loki. That’s why I’m here right now, instead of somewhere else. That’s why I care about you, Loki. I just want to know if I’m just being foolish, if I should be wasting my time somewhere else.”
"You saying that now just made all ten of those days worth it."
Valkyr was overjoyed, but wanted to make sure. “I want to hear you say it, Loki. Do you love me like I love you?”
"I love you, Valkyr. You've done more for me than even Oberon, and he practically saved my ass while you were beating it."
Valkyr made a sound reminiscent of a happy kavat, and hugged Loki. He returned the embrace readily, then looked up to notice Excalibur, Oberon, and Umbra standing behind them. Loki immediately released Valkyr, who also turned around, then almost fell over in surprise.
“Uh...how long have you been there?” Loki asked the group.
"A while, this was all Umbra's idea." Excalibur said quickly.
Loki looked at Valkyr. “Well, it looks like the secret is out, huh?”
"I tell you all this from the bottom of my heart. f*ck you." She said, before grabbing Loki and running off into an abandoned corner of the relay.
“Should we follow them again?” Excalibur asked, excited.
“No, let them have their time.” Oberon knew exactly how they felt, and knew they needed their space. "Maybe she'll be able to get to the bottom of this whole mess." He added, almost as an afterthought.
Umbra turned to Excalibur, saying, “Be prepared for training tomorrow morning, we’re going into action. Extra-heavy action.”
"We'll prep your coffin." Oberon said to him quietly as he walked past.
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Alad stood on the edge of the relay, looking out into the void of gleaming stars cast out over the blackness like a silvery net. His heart had an odd twist in it that he couldn't quite put a finger on. Mani came and stood next to him.
"It's beautiful." the black dragon whispered, gazing outward.
"A beautiful mess, but yeah, it is."
"Makes me worried about what I got my sister and I into." he joked.
"You'll both be fine, you're Warframes. I'm just an ex Corpus scientist trying to get by on a new team."
“I know you’ll do fine. You did well for us, and we’re both grateful for your efforts.”
"I didn't do much, all things considered. Thought that counts?"
“Thoughts count for much more than many people realize, you know.”
The two stood in silence for a moment. Then, Mani put his hand on Alad’s shoulder, saying, “You aren’t as bad as the others made you out to be, Alad. I see much good in you, and you will do much in the time to come to further the Tenno cause.”
Alad V looked at him, and nodded his thanks. All in all, today was a good day. Maybe this would become a trend, these good days.
