Futuristic Come on! Not agaain! -Sincerely, Adrian.

[Laine]

“Well perhaps if you didn’t act like such a spineless coward, I would treat you li-” Adrian paused at the sound of the commotion, sitting up slightly. He felt his chest tighten at the sound of the boots against the stairwell, fearing the worst – Zise was back to terrorise them, or perhaps Cassidy had taken a stupid risk again and he was going to be punished. He instinctively shuffled towards the Anshik, despite being hateful towards the creature. He cast a look at the reptile, snorting at the panic on his face, although the pale-skinned doctor probably just looked just as scared. “What, worried Zise is going to come back and throttle you for being such a wimp…?” He sniggered nervously.


His mouth fell agape when the Lieutenant actually burst through the door, gunning down the reptile and shouting commands into his hopper. “Wha…?” He mumbled, blinking hard to dispel any trace of wishful thinking. He stumbled towards the other as he shouted the command again, crashing into his right side without even thinking, half-expecting to travel right through the hallucination of his lover. Still in disbelief, he grabbed the arm and held to his chest, widening his eyes at Cas’ pained yelping. “Holyshit,” Ade yelped as the blue light began to surround them, “C-Cassidy?!”


Loud shouting could be heard behind him, and the doctor span around just in time to see two of Keve’s goons, sliding down the stairs, armed to the teeth and bleeding from multiple wounds.


----


They both crashed onto the beaming area of the small transporter ship Lydia had laid out for them in the 51st century, Ade’s arms firmly clamped around his lover in terror. Being unused to having a 6’2 doctor clinging to a completely broken arm, Cassidy failed to make his usual clean entrance, and instead found himself laying beneath the awestruck Ade. He gasped and heaved from the time travel for a few moments, oblivious to his partner's obvious pain of being trapped beneath him.


Adrian squirmed on top of Cas, a tearful grin stretched on his face as he cupped his nailless hands around Cas’ cheeks. “Oh my god,” He breathed, hands shaking violently, “It’s really you.” His twisted his head around to look at their location, still sitting painfully on his lover’s chest. Ade gasped heavily in disbelief, “Whuh-where are we? Where’s Keve?!”

 

[chellemrys]

Cas slammed into the floor of the ship, causing all the air to escape from his lungs. He gasped, trying to recover from the wind being knocked out of him. His feet kicked uselessly, and his eyes flung open, as he tried to suck in air. He recovered quick than Adrian always did, of course, because of being used to the trips. He was just unused to the pain in his right arm.


Once he regained a bit of control over his breathing, he wheezed out, "Arm. Helmi, my arm." He huffed and puffed, squeezing his eyes shut as tears welled in his eyes, "Adrian Mason get the fuck off my arm." He hissed through his teeth, sounding irritated and in pain simultaneously. He wriggled under the other, keeping his eyes shut because he knew he may throw up if he got dizzier than this.


He replied quickly to the other, as he hurriedly scraped himself off his chest, "Killed Keve." Killing was obvious, because of the amount of blood clinging to Cas' hair and clothes. He looked like he just went on a machete massacre; he was covered head to toe with the crimson fluid, from various creatures, and the occasional splatter of yellow or blackish purple blood from others. "Now, my arm got-" He sat up slowly, groaning and twisting up his face in pain, "Got snapped. Do something, you're a doctor. It's broken-" He tried to move it, earning a sharp wince and cry, "Helmi, oh yeah, he broke it."

 

[Laine]

Adrian chuckled, “Helmi.” He repeated the future word as if he couldn’t believe it, leaning down and planting a kiss on his lover’s lips, “Oh, Helmi, I’ve missed you.” Cassidy groaned beneath him, pained gasps breaking through Ade’s relieved voice. He sat up and stared at the Lieutenant in confusion, taking a few seconds to process what he was saying. Suddenly he felt a nauseating crunch below his knee, and he realised he was leaning on what appeared to be a very broken and painful-looking arm. “Oh. Arm.” He mumbled guiltily as he shifted off the Lieutenant, placing a hand on his back and supporting him as Cassidy painfully sat up.


Suddenly concerned, Ade lifted the arm with his good hand and cradled it in a neutral position, using Cas’ facial expression to gauge the least painful place to keep it in. He looked around for something to bind the injury with, at first thinking to tear the material from either of their clothes. But there was barely a complete outfit between the two, with Cas missing half a shirt and wearing bloodstained khaki’s, and Ade wearing only the torn remains of his pajama pants. He sniggered at the thought of turning up to the TA wearing almost nothing, and suddenly spied a large medical kit on the table beside them. He leaned over to grab it with his still-injured right hand, which was in a rudimentary cast Anshik had made him. The doctor felt a guilty pang towards the reptile as he thought of his last few moments alive, but pushed the thought out of his mind as he focused on his actual partner.


Cas’ own broken arm was beginning to swell with fluid as Ade started to construct a sling from the bandages included, and he tenderly leaned Cas back against the wall to prevent the Lieutenant from squirming.


“You killed Keve…?” Adrian murmured in confusion, wrapping the material around Cas’ elbow, “But….wasn’t he your old comra-?” The auburn-haired doctor looked up as he said it, and spying the dark look in his partner’s eyes, knew it was perhaps better not to ask. He sighed softly, leaning forward to loop the material around Cas’ neck. What he was wearing was caked in blood – and it didn’t only look like human blood, either. “…At least you’re okay. I had no idea what he was going to do to you, or where you were going. And least you took Zise with you.” He flourished the comment with a dry, fearful chuckle.


Before he wrapped it completely in the bandage, Ade squinted at an angry red-and-white wound on Cas’ forearm – where the cuff had been and electrocuted him many times, the skin had been hideously burned, and was weeping yellow foul-smelling fluid. He dug out sterile wipes and gently began to wipe it, recoiling as his partner winced in pain and wrinkled his purple nose. “You sure know how to party, Petar. In four months working A&E I haven’t seen anything as bad as this.” The agent suddenly cried out as Ade struck a raw nerve. “Sorry.” He murmured, stroking the arm softly as he tipped it back to rest against the Agent’s chest, held by the sling. By this time, Adrian’s nailless fingertips were burning from the strain on his nailbeds, but he ignored it, engrossed on the premise of being useful for a change. He turned his attention to a deep cut on Cas’ left leg, which one of Keve’s goons had left after putting up a rather brutal fight on the ship back to Vos.


----


After another half hour of meticulous wound-inspecting, Cas was patched up to the point where he could at least be comfortable. Ade helped the other move onto the couch at the side of the small cabin, wrapping his good arm around his waist and tugging him to his feet. Cas sat on Ade's lap, leaning back on his bruised chest until the doctor jumped suddenly, letting out a yelp as the Lieutenant pressed against a cracked rib. The doctor doubled over in pain, holding his side and groaning a little.


“You’re getting heavy, Cas.” He joked at his lover's concerned expression, gasping with a weak grin. He twisted himself into a more comfortable position, hugging his arm around Cas' chest almost protectively as they leaned back against the couch. "You'd better lay off the pizza..." Adrian murmured, poking his lover in the stomach and kissing the top of his head. "...Otherwise my mother will think I want to marry a piece of chubby alien trash." He rested his chin against the other's dark wispy hair, gently breathing in his scent as he tried to ignore the reek of body odor and blood coming off him.

 

[chellemrys]

Cas sighed in relief when Adrian finally realized he was crushing his arm, and backed away. The agent's eyes drooped as he was held by Adrian upright, and his head fell forward in exhaustion. His legs were numb, along with the rest of his body, despite his inflamed arm. Laying still was heaven to the Lieutenant, after all that exertion to reach Adrian. Every once in a while he opened his eyes, to remind himself of why he needed to kill Keve. Adrian. It did not matter that Keve was his old comrade. He was not anymore, that time had long passed. Now he had his Scottish damsel, rather than a traitorous, sadistic mongrel for a friend.


Another sigh of relief escaped from Cas' parched lips, after Adrian was through fixing him up. Gingerly, he moved with Adrian to the tiny couch in the ship. The room was dim, and dark- the only lights coming from the surrounding buttons and devices around the room. They were in deep space once again, travelling quickly to Andromeda's main time agency base.


The dim cabin was relaxing. As he had dreamed about earlier, he found himself once again tangled up in Ade's. He tried his best not to squash Adrian's tender ribs, moving carefully until both of them were comfortable. He paid his head against Adrian's chest, head immediately drooping forward so his chin rested on his own chest. "Don't tell me what to do..." With a stifled laugh, he reached over and poked Adrian's stomach back. Unlike his own, which had barely budged under the pressure of Ade's finger, Adrian's squished down at the touch, and he mockingly whispered, "Lay off the pizza, Ade."


Cas was drifting off already, but straightened slightly at the phrase, 'I want to marry a piece of chubby alien trash'. He initially looked confused, "Marry?" He repeated, blinking through his drowsiness, "Isn't that... Some type of..." Drawing his brows together, he bit his lip as he tried to remember, "That's like a binding ceremony." His eyes rose up, connecting with Adrian's in surprise, wider than before.

 

[Laine]

"Mhmm. I'll lay off the pizza when you lay off the voffs and cigarettes." Ade tipped his own head back, leaning back against the sofa cushion in mental exhaustion. It was the first time in days he felt truly relaxed, and the doctor began to drift off to sleep himself as he sighed deeply. He winced slightly as Cas wearily repeated his fleeting words. Did I really just say that?


He tentatively opened one eye to find Cas staring up at him, looking shocked more than anything else. He chuckled, using a smirk to mask his nervousness. "What? No...it's nothing like that." He poked the Lieutenant in the ribs to distract him, "It's just a...stupid...outdated...Earth thing I was thinking about doing some day. Nothing serious." He said.


During the months they'd been together, the idea had crossed often his mind - usually during the quieter shifts at work, where his lover was all he thought about - but he'd been to bashful to bring it up with Cas seriously. He wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing. We've only been dating for half a year. I haven't even met his family - and meeting my family would be a complete disaster. These were just some of the issues he'd considered, and he knew there would be countless more if he thought about it for long enough. Adrian scrunched his face up at the Lieutenant pressed against him. Vos had changed his perspective of things, but Ade quickly decided it would have to wait until they were safe and back home. Neither of them were really in the right place of mind to be ordering breakfast, let alone discussing marriage.


"Speaking of moms..." Adrian murmured, hastily changing the subject as he yawned again. "When am I going to get to meet your folks?"

 

[chellemrys]

Cassidy narrowed his eyes at the quick denial, and pursed his lips, staring at the other awkwardly. He nodded, "I don't know exactly what it is to 'marry' someone though. But I imagine it's a binding ceremony for more... Primitive times." He sniggered, looking away to rest his head again.


Despite the look of shock, and the mocking of the ceremony, Cas began to ponder the subject. Get bound to Adrian? He pictured the other, from head to toe, a tiny smile gracing his lips. It wouldn't be the worst thing... He had never really thought he would do that, a binding ceremony. It seemed... Out of character for him. Not his style. But when he thought about it, despite it's simplicity, his stomach did little flips- of happy nervousness.


At the question about his folks the lieutenant suppressed a laugh, "Helmi, you want to meet them?" The agent began chuckling, and shook his head, "A-zaa, you must really be serious about this whole... Binding thing. To want to meet some Gliesian aliens, and go into deep space again." He slid his good arm across the front of Ade's waist, squeezing him gently, "We can do that soon. I suppose they should meet the person I get to live with for the rest of my life. They'll be delighted- lemme tell you."

 

[Laine]

The doctor poked Cas in the ribs again, "I never said anything about any....alien binding ceremony." He smirked. Marriage was big for him, and from what Cas had told him before the binding ceremony sounded quite...permanent. "What, do we tie our tentacles together and swear to Helmi to never let go?"


Ade frowned at the thought of meeting Cas' parents, sliding his hand down to rest on the Lieutenant's. "Mhmm. Delighted, you think?" He chuckled, "Or will they be upset that you're bringing a primitive swine into your house?" There was a joking tone to his voice, and he pressed the other closer into him.


There was some truth to his words, however - meeting Ade's brother had been a mess in its own right, and the doctor worried that Cas' parents might be just as difficult. "Well. At least they won't have a problem with me being a guy. So they're already hands-down better than Gus." He chuckled drily. Adrian gave a deep sigh, looking at Cas quizzically as he fiddled with his ring finger, "...You think they'll like me?"

 

[chellemrys]

The Lieutenant laughed loudly, "Tie our tentacles together. A-zaa." He rolled his eyes, and squeezed the other gently, "I may be an alien, but I don't exactly have tentacles, Ade." He slowly began to explain, "A binding ceremony is done in private... It's a legal binding, declaring you two are life partners. Unless you want a divorce later. But that's complicated, because basically after it is done, you are counted as one person. You are physically two people, you know, but anything you earn, or you own, or you inherit, or anything is yours together."


He paused, trying to explain the ceremony. "They tattoo you." Pulling out his good hand, he pulled Adrian's hand into his lap, and pointing to the top of his hand gingerly. "They'll my name here." He poked into the center of skin, "And-" He flipped the hand, "They paint my planet here, like an artistic watercolor thing." Cas finished the explanation, sliding his thumb across the spot, which was the inner wrist under Ade's palm. "Opposite hands too, so your names and planets touch when you- you know." He blushed slightly. Cas had never really thought about the ceremony much, and now began to enjoy the idea of having Ade's name permanently engraved into his hand.


Cas confidently smirked, nodding slowly, "Oh they will think you're primitive. But they will like you. I can see it now..." He pictured his moms fawning over Adrian, pretty much harassing his boyfriend. They would not be able to keep his hands off him. That is why he had never brought one of his partner's home. He grinned to himself, laughing at the scene in his mind. "Oh, yes, they will love you."

 

[Laine]

Ade watched as the dark olive skin traced his own pale hand, purposely turning his hand over and sliding his finger’s between Cas’. “…Like that?” He murmured, frowning as he lifted their joined hands. He twisted them slightly, looking the back of his palm, and then Cas’, imagining the name tattoos across them, their wrists pressed against themselves as their imaginary planets crashed into each other. Cas had been right – it did resemble marriage to an extent, although it appeared to be disturbingly more permanent and signify a much stronger commitment than marriage did.


He winced at Cassidy’s amusement, groaning softly as he tried to imagine the Lieutenant’s parents. “…They sound…” Cassidy rarely mentioned his family – about as much as Ade did really, perhaps even less, and so it was difficult to know where to even start. His Dad is probably some military-type who’s super strict. That must be where Cas gets his authoritative streak from. He thought to himself, guessing from the fact that Cas had mentioned him the least. Mom must be nice, at least…good at cooking. And singing. Probably quite quiet, though…He thought, picturing Cas’ mom as a gentle, elegant woman who slinked around in fancy clothes, pulling a not-amused facial expression as her son pulled a trillionth prank at her expense. And as for the sister…? He drew a blank. If Cas looks as feminine as he does, then maybe Amir just looks like a male version of Cas…? He snickered at the thought of Cas’ older sister sporting a full beard, matching Ade’s height and having a deep, bellowing voice. “…They sound as if they’re going to eat me alive.” Adrian chuckled drily, curling his fingers tighter around Cas’. He glanced at the back of Cassidy’s hand again, scrunching up his face as he deeply considered the nature of the conversation. I wonder if his parents did the binding ceremony…?


“…But…tattoos…?” Adrian suddenly chuckled, “How…corny. I didn’t know the 51st century folk were such saps.” He squeezed Cas’ hand in his own to let him know he was joking for the most part, nuzzling him affectionately on the neck. He suddenly groaned and released his grip as he realised his injured fingertips were sending red hot pain signals shooting up his forearm, and he rested his palm on Cas’ lap instead. The concept of the alien family and alien ceremony swirled in his head as he felt his eyelids begin to droop again, overcome with mental exhaustion and enjoying the warmth of their two bodies pressed together. “Mhmm. Well..would you want to get it done, Mr. Petar?”

 

[chellemrys]

Cas sniggered, at the notion, "They'll absolutely..." He paused, finding good words, "Rip you apart." He sounded cheery, rather than menacing. The tone was quite ironic, and a smile went with it nicely, before Cas laughed evilly. "So..." The Lieutenant smiled, enjoying the idea of his mothers fawning over Adrian. It was be comedy, to watch his love struggle to survive in his household. "So, we will go visit them."


The agent lifted a brow at the criticism, "Corny?" He shook his head, snorting, "A-zaa, no, they are more militaristic. They scan, like a bar code when you are completing legal transactions- like buying a home, or opening a bank account. If you have one, you have to scan it. The planets are more of an artistic thing... Because originally it was only text, and people wanted a less militaristic marking on their body."


At the question, he froze, and pressed his lips together, thinking about the ceremony. A small smile broke out across his face, "Apparently you like the idea of it, Mr. Critical." He whispered, as he shifted his eyes in thought, from side to side, "Well..." His eyes met Adrian's, and he internally melted in his spot, from the warmth that rose in his stomach as he looked back into his love's eyes. What have you got to lose? You practically are bound to him, already, and plus- you would never flit around like you did in your earlier love-life years. "I suppose..." He paused, holding his breath as he gave it a final thought, "Yes. But, really, it's not that big a deal. It's just a legal confirmation." He was slightly embarrassed he had agreed- he never had thought he someday ever would have gotten 'hitched'.

 

[Laine]

Adrian sighed, squirming at the thought of his lover’s parents ripping him apart. “Mhmm. You might have to tell them to take it easy on me. I am just a primitive being, after all.”


“I didn’t say that-” Ade said, lifting his head from Cas’ neck and frowning at him. “I just asked if you ever would do it. You don’t…seem like the type to want to bind with someone, even a piece of chubby Earth trash like me.” Adrian sat back, regarding the Lieutenant with a cheeky grin as he mulled it over. Ade chuckled as he replied, taking Cas’ hand again.


“Oh, no,” He said gravely, tapping the top of Cas’ palm, “It’s a really big deal. You’d have my name written on your hand. Permanently.” He stroked over the skin, a playful smirk still carved into his face as he carried on, “Everyone would know you were bound to me. All your TA buddies would be like; ‘Hey, you married that 21st century Earthling? That tall, ginger one who believed you had mind powers and threw up on a street performer?’”


He slid his arm down to Cassidy’s waist, drawing him in closer and practically whispering into his ear, “Mr. Petar, settling down with that Aderian Maysoon? He must be crazy. That guy’s naht even a real doctoor.” He said in a mock-alien accent. Even though he was joking, in the back of his mind, he was worrying about the exact same thing. ‘What’s that alien stuff written on the back of your hand? Who’s Cassidy? I’m sorry Doctor Mason, we don’t hire people with visable tattoos’.


Marriage certainly seemed like the less fussy option – but the binding ceremony seemed more…fitting, considering their situation. After all, Cas was tasked to watch Adrian until he died, so whether he liked it or not he would be with Ade his whole life. A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he grinned. "We'll worry about all that stuff after we get back to the TA. And after we're done meeting your parents. Who knows, they might decide I'm not good enough to bind to their beautiful, brave, strong, intelligent son, who can dispatch a whole warehouse full of gun-toting goons...but can't even cut a tomato properly." He giggled at the Lieutenant, poking him sharply in the ribs and nuzzling him again. Adrian closed his eyes sleepily and sighed. And while I'm there, I can ask his parents...

 

[chellemrys]

Cas laughed evilly at the shaky reply, "You're afraid of them." He murmured, "Adrian is afraid of the scary aliens from Gliese~" He teased, poking the other gingerly in the ribs. "And, what, you afraid of commitment?" He teased back, grinning wildly. The thing about Adrian was that... Before it was always about the bedroom acts. And with Adrian, he could sit here and joke and tease, feeling at home more than ever.


He was covered head to toe in gashes, bruises, and even had a broken arm and nose. But he never had felt more comfortable, or at home, than in moments like these. Awful injuries or not. You're going to die by age thirty, most likely. And Adrian is literally your future, no matter what. So... Why not?





Cas was pulled from his thoughts at the mock-accent that reached his ears, and he began laughing loudly, "You-You think we talk like that?" He rolled his eyes, stomach doing flips from the silly idea of getting bound to this primitive doctor. "Okay, Aderiyaan Maysoon, you catch mee." He whispered, "My acceent eez completaal-ee faake." (My accent is completely fake.) The Lieutenant was too giddy to care about something like blowing his cover around Adrian. "They trained me." Cas pressed his forehead into Adrian's cheek, "Wee were tra-eened to disguiise ze acceent. You like eet."


He kept his forehead there, "We will go see them, after going to Andromeda. So you can... " He pinched the other sharply, at the remark about his ability to cut tomatoes. After a roll of his eyes, he let his eyelids droop, "We have a long ride... And it's been days since I've slept." He whispered, his mind beginning to swell with warm dreamy thoughts about binding ceremonies and having a long rest. Cas pulled Adrian down sideways, careful not to jostle his arm. He drew his arm up around his neck, and his leg around his waist, almost immediately falling into a snooze.