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Castle in the Sky 4/?
Finally. :)
The apples did not do much to satiate their hunger.
They waited a whole day before Henry came in with some porridge. “Sorry that this is all we have to give you. We’re heading back to Reg- well, we’re on our way to get more supplies.”
Ryeowook grinned at him as he handed a bowl to Donghae and they both attacked the food with gusto. Henry stood uncertainly for a few moments, as if he wanted to say something else, but he soon left without another word.
Donghae nudged Ryeowook with the foot of his good leg. “He was staring at you.”
Ryeowook blushed. “What? No, he wasn’t.”
“He was,” Donghae pressed, “It was funny, actually.”
Ryeowook sniffed, but secretly, thought that he didn’t mind so much. Henry was cute.
It became something of a ritual. Henry was come in blushing and stuttering with food, sometimes alone, sometimes with Eunhyuk, and then left. Donghae found it all very amusing; Ryeowook refused to admit that he found it adorable.
They had just finished with a meal (their fifth on board the Castle,) when the door opened cautiously and Ryeowook’s eyes widened as Mei-yin poked her head inside.
“Hi!” She whispered excitedly.
“Um,” Ryeowook said, “what...”
She continued to grin at them. “Everyone’s busy so I thought it would be the perfect time to properly introduce myself. I’m Mei-yin, with a dash, because it's cool. What’s your name?”
Ryeowook blinked, “Ryeowook,” he finally said, “This is Donghae.”
“Ooh,” Mei-yin shut the door behind her, “I’m so excited. I’m not supposed to be in here, but I really wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
“You said you weren’t Outliers,” Mei-yin said as Donghae scooted back against the wall, “You aren’t, right?”
“We’re not,” Ryeowook confirmed.
She smiled and sat cross legged in front of a very dubious Ryeowook. “What are you then? Dome dwellers?”
“Yes?” Ryeowook said, unsure. He had never heard that term before.
“Do you have questions? I have so many questions. We should answer each others! Also, let’s be friends. I don’t have many.”
“You remind me of myself when I was younger,” Donghae said, “and it’s actually kind of scary.”
Mei-yin continued to smile. “What do you want to ask me?”
Ryeowook looked at Donghae, who shrugged. He supposed it couldn’t hurt.
“What’s outside the Dome?”
Mei-yin frowned. “Which Dome?”
“Which...what?” Donghae whispered, “What do you mean which?”
Mei-yin scooted closer. “There’s more than one Dome, silly. You didn’t know that? Gosh, this is going to take forever. There’s five Domes, and they’re all run by Outliers,” she explained.
“F-five?” Donghae gaped.
“What is...around the Domes?” Ryeowook asked.
“Air, earth,” Mei-yin gestured vaguely, “You know. That kind of thing.”
Ryeowook listened intently as Mei-yin explained that Castles ran supplies between the five Domes, Outliers, and villages that lay outside the Domes. Supplies, he discovered, meant glass, wood, metal, cotton, and canvas. Each Dome lacked one of these is large quantities and used a form of it as currency.
“So, the other Domes have glass in large quantities?” Ryeowook asked, amazed.
“Yes,” Mei-yin said, “The Castles are made of all five supplies; hence, they sort of represent all five Domes.”
“How many Castles are there?”
“Five,” Mei-yin replied, “But only two are working at the moment. This one has been having some trouble, so...we’ll see how long it lasts before we have to send it in for repairs as well. Kibum was able to stop the jerking, because he’s something of a genius, but it’s only a matter of time before something happens and someone who knows more than he does has to step in to fix it. Heechul, maybe.”
“Who’s that?”
“Another Castle owner. Also, the son of the Outlier leader. He’ll inherit everything when his father dies, which actually might be soon.”
Ryeowook’s head was reeling.
“So who are you?”
Ryeowook got the impression that Mei-yin had divulged all that information just so they would feel obliged to return the favor. Donghae answered for them both, telling their story, leaving out the bit about Ryeowook being a former Outlier now thief, and the part about Donghae hating the Outliers with a burning passion.
“Well, I’m sure Kibum will come talk to you soon,” Mei-yin said, “and then you can get out and look around.”
“Can you...tell us about him?”
“Kibum’s the Captain. Or rather, he owns this Castle. I call him Captain because baba said that I should, but only when I have to listen to him as a leader. Otherwise I call him Bummie, because it's fun to call him. He doesn't like it much, but because he likes me, he tolerates it." She laughed and then sucked in another lungful of air, "He’s really smart,” she said, stretching out the really until she almost an out of breath. “Baba is his second in command and appa is in charge of weapons and security. Eunhyuk and Henry are just...they sort of just exist,” she finally said, “they do whatever needs to be done.”
“What’s Regnum?” Ryeowook asked, remembering the word as soon as Henry’s name was mentioned.
“Regnum’s...Regnum is where Kibum and Heechul keep their Castles when they’re not flying around. It’s the Castle base, I guess you could say.”
“What does it mean?”
“Kingdom,” Mei-yin replied, “I think. It’s some, old language that no one knows anymore. Boring,” she pulled a face, “What’s important is that it’s a lovely place and you’re going to really like it.”
She stood, rather abruptly, “I should go, before someone misses me. I’ll come again. Nice meeting you!”
And then she was gone and Ryeowook stared after her for a full minute before letting out a long breath. “She’s crazy.”
“Really reminds me of me,” Donghae muttered, “when I was young and carefree. Scary as shit.”
Ryeowook flopped down beside Donghae and followed the pattern of grain in the wood. “I’m a little disappointed,” he finally confessed.
“Oh?”
“I thought...I dreamt that they were different than Outliers. That they didn’t work with them. A revolution and all that.”
A hand rested on Ryeowook’s head and stroked at his hair. “Me too,” Donghae whispered, “me too.”
*
When Henry came in the next day with food, he checked Donghae’s knee and poured more antiseptic over it, changing the bandage and promising that someone more capable than himself would look at it soon.
They ate quietly, pleased that they were still being fed. They played word games and talked about what Mei-yin had said, and lamented the fact that really, they hadn’t gotten away from the Outliers after all.
But, they were outside the Dome, and that was something.
The next day, when Ryeowook woke, Donghae was moaning, gritting his teeth and clutching at his knee.
Ryeowook blinked the sleep from his eyes and hurriedly pulled the pain killer from his pocket, carefully administering a few drops. It took a few minutes, but soon Donghae had relaxed. “Do you think it’s infected?”
“No,” Donghae said, “it’s just painful, that’s all. It actually looks better than it did, so that’s good.”
They were interrupted as the door creaked open and they looked up to see Glass Man and the man he had yelled at for a pillow come inside (not Henry, Ryeowook noted, but rather the man who had originally dragged them into the room and had wanted to just leave them there. Bastard.)
Ryeowook, while not intimidated much by Pillow Man, found Glass Man (and the gun he wore at his hip) rather intimidating. He slid slowly behind Donghae who didn’t seem to mind and so Ryeowook hid more of himself, his eyes peeking over Donghae’s shoulder.
Glass Man coughed.
“How’s your knee?” Pillow Man asked, adjusting his glasses delicately.
“Hurts like hell,” Donghae replied, “Who are you?”
Ryeowook was sure that prisoners usually didn’t demand answers from their captors, but Pillow Man didn’t seem to mind, because he smiled.
“My name is Kibum,” Pillow Man said, “and this is Hankyung. Hangeng, really, but most people from the Domes find the latter a little hard to pronounce.”
Ryeowook thought it was a nice name.
The two men sat themselves on the floor, Hangeng fingering a holstered gun. It was about as subtle as an Outlier building in the middle of a canvas village.
“First,” Kibum said, “we’re sorry for ignoring you as long as we did,” his eyes flicked briefly to the part of Ryeowook’s face that was showing over Donghae’s shoulder, “we should have at least fed you sooner.”
Donghae shifted, readjusting his position, “that would have been nice.”
“Secondly,” Kibum continued, as if Donghae hadn’t spoken, “we’re sorry about your leg. We’ve done what we can, but you’re going to have to wait for proper treatment until we get back to Regnum. However, before that happens, we’d like to know who you are.”
There was a beat and then, “I’m Donghae. This is Ryeowook.”
Kibum appraised him a moment before saying, “You fly like shit, so I suppose it’s safe to assume that you’re not an Outlier.”
Ryeowook wrapped an arm around Donghae’s middle to keep him from lunging at Kibum’s throat.
“We’re not Outliers,” Donghae ground out, “and I’m not a shit flier.”
“You crash-landed on my lawn and ruined it,” Kibum pointed out, his tone suggesting complete disinterest in Donghae’s irritation, “all the evidence points to your not being very good.”
“We were being shot at.”
Kibum eyed them both and Ryeowook shrank under the scrutiny.
“And you were both hit and you destroyed your craft and part of my Castle. Sorry, but I’m not convinced. Which is good, because if you were a good flier, I’d be more suspicious of you and not have been as nice as I have.”
Donghae growled angrily; Kibum ignored it.
“Now, if you please, explain why there is a trashed outercraft lying out on my very expensive grass.
Donghae blinked, mood changing almost immediately and asked, “You’re grass is expensive?”
“Everything on this Castle is expensive. Talk.”
It didn’t look like Donghae was planning on doing anything but spit into Kibum’s face, so Ryeowook cleared his throat and very calmly explained their story. He left out the bit about being a thief, and glossed over the more intimate parts of Donghae’s life story (Ryeowook himself didn’t even know the whole thing anyhow,) and both Kibum and Hangeng seemed much more relaxed.
“So here are the repercussions of you trying to get on this castle. My expensive grass is ruined and I now need money to replace it. So this is what is going to happen; the two of you can work for me until you’ve paid for the cost of fixing my lawn. Or, I can toss you off the side in your trashed Outercraft and harbor no guilt whatsoever.”
Ryeowook swallowed. “What would we do?”
“What are you good at?” Hangeng asked.
“Cooking,” Ryeowook said.
“I already cook for everyone,” Hangeng replied, “what else?”
Ryeowook floundered in his brain for a moment.
“You’re not always here, though,” Kibum butt in, “and there are times that I could use you but can’t because you’re making food. I think having another cook could be good. Can you clean?”
Ryeowook nodded.
“The kitchen is a disaster. You can start by cleaning. How does that sound?”
“Fine,” Ryeowook said.
“What about you?” Kibum turned his gaze to Donghae.
“I’m a mechanic.”
“Which you do better at than flying, I hope.”
"He's a good mechanic," Ryeowook spoke up in Donghae’s immediate defense, deciding to leave out the small fact that Donghae usually made the problem worse before eventually figuring it out (if given enough time.)
"With Outlier equipment, maybe," Kibum said, "But Castles are a little different."
"I can learn," Donghae said.
Ryeowook squeezed Donghae's middle in an attempt to provide some comfort.
"Well, we'll see, won't we? We're almost at Regnum, another hour or so, I should think." Kibum watched them both carefully, before sighing. "All you you need to know now is that Regnum is outside the Domes, and yes, there's more than one."
"We know," Donghae said, "she already-" and then Ryeowook clapped a hand over Donghae's mouth before he could say anything else. It had not been the plan, to get Mei-yin in trouble.
"What?" Hangeng asked.
"Nothing, I just, already overheard? Um," Ryeowook swallowed as Hangeng stared him down, "Don't even worry about it."
"The only she on this Castle is my daughter," Hangeng said levelly, "so if you talked with her, you will tell me, or you can forget about leaving this room."
Kibum seemed to totally expect this and just waited silently, arms folded across his chest. He looked very unimpressed and Ryeowook shrank a little. Trust Donghae to just blurt it out without even thinking.
"Mmph," Donghae said around Ryeowook's fingers, and the thief reluctantly let him go, but not before savagely poking him in the side. "She came to talk to us. You shouldn't be mad, she was very polite. We learned a lot."
"She came and talked to you?” Hangeng's eyes very nearly popped out of his head as he stood hurriedly, "are you lying? If you're lying to me..."
"Why would I lie?" Donghae countered, "She was very sweet," and then he proceeded too describe Mei-yin and recount exactly what she had said, as if he felt the need to prove himself. Which, he had to, Ryeowook supposed. He just felt bad because he was sure Mei-yin was in for something a long lecture, and, if he remembered Hangeng's threats correctly, a very long grounding...possibly forever.
After Donghae's redemption speech, Kibum seemed a little more put out than Hangeng. "I'll come and get you when we've landed," he and then as they left, said to Hangeng, "I don't know what you need to do, but this has to stop. She can't go spilling everything to complete strangers and--"
The rest of his sentence was cut off as the door slammed shut and Ryeowook let out a shaky breath.
"Why are they so upset?" Donghae said, “and do we have to stay in here still? I thought he said he trusted us.”
Ryeowook whacked him on the top of his insensitive and forgetful head. Idiot.
*
Kibum was furious. Livid. Pissed off beyond all belief. Possibly angrier than Hangeng, and that was saying something.
He strode down the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time, vaulting up to the second floor and towards Hangeng and Siwon's living quarters.
"Kibum, let me handle this," Hangeng said.
Kibum whirled, "That's what you keep saying," he hissed, "every single time. I can't just stand by anymore. When I'm done yelling you can let your parental wrath descend, but as long as she is on this Castle and ' a part of the crew' than she is subject to me and my temper. I'm not going to hit her," he added, features softening a little, before striding through the door and searching for the girl's face.
"Bummie!" was the squeal and he saw her sitting comfortably on a couch, Siwon across from her, the two of them engaged in a game of cards.
"He's Captain, right now," came Hangeng's soft voice, and Kibum heard the layered danger in his voice.
So did Siwon and his eyebrows raised.
"Kibum?" Mei-yin said carefully.
"I just heard the most interesting tale," Kibum began slowly, hyper aware of the parents, knowing that even though she had asked to be part of the crew, and asked to be treated as one, he couldn't yell too much. A very disappointed Siwon and and angry Hangeng, or vice versa, or whatever, would always be worse than anything he could say.
"We spoke with those two men you were so interested in a few days ago."
"Really?" Mei-yin asked, looking excited.
"Yes. We tried to explain the situation to them but it was a little awkward, because somehow, they already knew everything."
He waited for a few seconds, turning his gaze to Siwon. He looked confused for a moment or two, and then Kibum applauded his friend’s ability to piece two and two together as Siwon let out a little groan. "Mei-yin..."
"Appa?" she asked, and oh, the little devil was such a good actress.
"They said you talked to them," Hangeng said softly, "that you told them all about Domes and the Regnum, and who was on the ship and what they did and everything."
Siwon looked horrified.
"I," Mei-yin started, "Um..."
"Do you understand, at all, the gravity of what you did?" Kibum asked, "At all, Mei-yin?"
She wasn't denying it, Kibum noted, as she bit her lip.
"Mei-yin, how could you," Siwon breathed, "Mei-yin, Mei-yin, if Heechul hadn't told us they were harmless, if they were Outliers..."
"It was really stupid," Kibum supplied, "because theoretically, they could have sent all of that information to the Outliers, and everything that we worked for, everything that will eventually be accomplished, and everything we’ve shared with you will disappear and you would go back to what Heechul saved you from. Do you want that?”
Mei-yin chin was trembling a little as she shook her head.
“You’re thirteen,” Kibum said, “I understand that you’re still just a kid, and you don’t always think everything through and that you’re sort of insane. But that’s why you have parents and that’s why you do as they say. If you don’t start listening to the people around you, I’m not sure I can afford to have you on this Castle.”
“K-Kibum!” She looked horrified, but Kibum pressed on and forced down the stab of guilt in his stomach.
“I need you to make a decision, kiddo, because this is serious. Okay?”
She chewed on the inside of her cheek for what seemed minutes before nodding, “Okay.”
Kibum turned around and left. He shut the door on Hangeng’s very quiet, very scary, “what were you thinking?”
Oh, yes, he was glad to be an adult, and he was very glad that he did not have Siwon and Hangeng as parents. Not that they weren’t loving (actually, they were possibly the most loving parents he had ever come across,) but he was sure that Mei-yin would be moping for days. If he saw her at all. She was probably not going to be let out of their quarters for a very long time. He supposed he should have told Hangeng that he still wanted her to show up for her cleaning shifts.
He grumbled all the way back to the control room. Henry was reading a transmission that was printing when he walked inside.
“Kangin says to hurry the hell up,” he said casually, clearly unfazed. Kibum had pat himself on the back for that one. Henry had been so timid when he had left the Outliers to live here.
Kibum flopped himself down in a chair and fiddled with some controls whilst pinching the bridge of his nose. He was getting far too many headaches recently.
“Talk go well?”
“Didn’t do much,” Kibum mumbled, “Mei-yin beat us to it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“Should I go make sure Hankyung isn’t killing her?”
“Funny,” Kibum rolled his eyes, “I hear you’ve been feeding our guests.”
Henry blushed and looked at the floor. Kibum raised an eyebrow. “Why are you blushing?”
“Um,” Henry said, “Um, well, if it was me I would be really hungry, you know? And since Heechul said they weren’t dangerous I figured that if I feed them now, maybe they’ll not be so mad when we release them. Maybe.”
Kibum was torn between pointing out that Henry hadn’t answered his question or asking why Henry cared about what the “guests” thought of them. Instead, he said, “One of them is going to cook. I’m going to try and teach the other one some basic Castle mechanics, though I feel that it will be a lost cause.”
“No one’s better than you,” Henry said, smiling.
“Thanks,” Kibum reach around to ruffle the other’s hair. He felt better; he should make Henry morale officer or something, the kid could always make anyone smile.
“Hey,” Henry pouted, and Kibum laughed.
He turned his attention to his monitors and began to prep the Castle for it’s entry into Regnum.
“Transmit back to Kangin that we’re almost there, will you? And tell him that if he’s not there when we arrive, I’m going to be pissed that he made us hurry for nothing.”
Henry typed furiously and Kibum found his mind wandering back to Ryeowook and Donghae. Donghae. The little self-proclaimed mechanic so full of himself and his abilities that he was close to bursting.
Kibum tried to forget them, but Donghae’s faced loomed in front of him like some sort of evil omen that wasn’t evil and made Kibum want to stare.
“Kibum?”
Henry was looking at him with a tinge of concern on his face, and Kibum realized that his eyes had glazed over and he had been staring into space.
“Sorry,” he said, “didn’t sleep much.”
Kibum pushed Donghae out of his mind and focused on his controls. Stupid Dome dweller, making me lose my focus. He was all too eager to get to Regnum and find Heechul so that he could complain. Yes, that’s exactly what he needed. A good bitch session. He checked his instruments again, mood lifted. He could hardly wait.
~~~~
I think I have a handle on this mess, finally. I am pleased.
The apples did not do much to satiate their hunger.
They waited a whole day before Henry came in with some porridge. “Sorry that this is all we have to give you. We’re heading back to Reg- well, we’re on our way to get more supplies.”
Ryeowook grinned at him as he handed a bowl to Donghae and they both attacked the food with gusto. Henry stood uncertainly for a few moments, as if he wanted to say something else, but he soon left without another word.
Donghae nudged Ryeowook with the foot of his good leg. “He was staring at you.”
Ryeowook blushed. “What? No, he wasn’t.”
“He was,” Donghae pressed, “It was funny, actually.”
Ryeowook sniffed, but secretly, thought that he didn’t mind so much. Henry was cute.
It became something of a ritual. Henry was come in blushing and stuttering with food, sometimes alone, sometimes with Eunhyuk, and then left. Donghae found it all very amusing; Ryeowook refused to admit that he found it adorable.
They had just finished with a meal (their fifth on board the Castle,) when the door opened cautiously and Ryeowook’s eyes widened as Mei-yin poked her head inside.
“Hi!” She whispered excitedly.
“Um,” Ryeowook said, “what...”
She continued to grin at them. “Everyone’s busy so I thought it would be the perfect time to properly introduce myself. I’m Mei-yin, with a dash, because it's cool. What’s your name?”
Ryeowook blinked, “Ryeowook,” he finally said, “This is Donghae.”
“Ooh,” Mei-yin shut the door behind her, “I’m so excited. I’m not supposed to be in here, but I really wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
“You said you weren’t Outliers,” Mei-yin said as Donghae scooted back against the wall, “You aren’t, right?”
“We’re not,” Ryeowook confirmed.
She smiled and sat cross legged in front of a very dubious Ryeowook. “What are you then? Dome dwellers?”
“Yes?” Ryeowook said, unsure. He had never heard that term before.
“Do you have questions? I have so many questions. We should answer each others! Also, let’s be friends. I don’t have many.”
“You remind me of myself when I was younger,” Donghae said, “and it’s actually kind of scary.”
Mei-yin continued to smile. “What do you want to ask me?”
Ryeowook looked at Donghae, who shrugged. He supposed it couldn’t hurt.
“What’s outside the Dome?”
Mei-yin frowned. “Which Dome?”
“Which...what?” Donghae whispered, “What do you mean which?”
Mei-yin scooted closer. “There’s more than one Dome, silly. You didn’t know that? Gosh, this is going to take forever. There’s five Domes, and they’re all run by Outliers,” she explained.
“F-five?” Donghae gaped.
“What is...around the Domes?” Ryeowook asked.
“Air, earth,” Mei-yin gestured vaguely, “You know. That kind of thing.”
Ryeowook listened intently as Mei-yin explained that Castles ran supplies between the five Domes, Outliers, and villages that lay outside the Domes. Supplies, he discovered, meant glass, wood, metal, cotton, and canvas. Each Dome lacked one of these is large quantities and used a form of it as currency.
“So, the other Domes have glass in large quantities?” Ryeowook asked, amazed.
“Yes,” Mei-yin said, “The Castles are made of all five supplies; hence, they sort of represent all five Domes.”
“How many Castles are there?”
“Five,” Mei-yin replied, “But only two are working at the moment. This one has been having some trouble, so...we’ll see how long it lasts before we have to send it in for repairs as well. Kibum was able to stop the jerking, because he’s something of a genius, but it’s only a matter of time before something happens and someone who knows more than he does has to step in to fix it. Heechul, maybe.”
“Who’s that?”
“Another Castle owner. Also, the son of the Outlier leader. He’ll inherit everything when his father dies, which actually might be soon.”
Ryeowook’s head was reeling.
“So who are you?”
Ryeowook got the impression that Mei-yin had divulged all that information just so they would feel obliged to return the favor. Donghae answered for them both, telling their story, leaving out the bit about Ryeowook being a former Outlier now thief, and the part about Donghae hating the Outliers with a burning passion.
“Well, I’m sure Kibum will come talk to you soon,” Mei-yin said, “and then you can get out and look around.”
“Can you...tell us about him?”
“Kibum’s the Captain. Or rather, he owns this Castle. I call him Captain because baba said that I should, but only when I have to listen to him as a leader. Otherwise I call him Bummie, because it's fun to call him. He doesn't like it much, but because he likes me, he tolerates it." She laughed and then sucked in another lungful of air, "He’s really smart,” she said, stretching out the really until she almost an out of breath. “Baba is his second in command and appa is in charge of weapons and security. Eunhyuk and Henry are just...they sort of just exist,” she finally said, “they do whatever needs to be done.”
“What’s Regnum?” Ryeowook asked, remembering the word as soon as Henry’s name was mentioned.
“Regnum’s...Regnum is where Kibum and Heechul keep their Castles when they’re not flying around. It’s the Castle base, I guess you could say.”
“What does it mean?”
“Kingdom,” Mei-yin replied, “I think. It’s some, old language that no one knows anymore. Boring,” she pulled a face, “What’s important is that it’s a lovely place and you’re going to really like it.”
She stood, rather abruptly, “I should go, before someone misses me. I’ll come again. Nice meeting you!”
And then she was gone and Ryeowook stared after her for a full minute before letting out a long breath. “She’s crazy.”
“Really reminds me of me,” Donghae muttered, “when I was young and carefree. Scary as shit.”
Ryeowook flopped down beside Donghae and followed the pattern of grain in the wood. “I’m a little disappointed,” he finally confessed.
“Oh?”
“I thought...I dreamt that they were different than Outliers. That they didn’t work with them. A revolution and all that.”
A hand rested on Ryeowook’s head and stroked at his hair. “Me too,” Donghae whispered, “me too.”
*
When Henry came in the next day with food, he checked Donghae’s knee and poured more antiseptic over it, changing the bandage and promising that someone more capable than himself would look at it soon.
They ate quietly, pleased that they were still being fed. They played word games and talked about what Mei-yin had said, and lamented the fact that really, they hadn’t gotten away from the Outliers after all.
But, they were outside the Dome, and that was something.
The next day, when Ryeowook woke, Donghae was moaning, gritting his teeth and clutching at his knee.
Ryeowook blinked the sleep from his eyes and hurriedly pulled the pain killer from his pocket, carefully administering a few drops. It took a few minutes, but soon Donghae had relaxed. “Do you think it’s infected?”
“No,” Donghae said, “it’s just painful, that’s all. It actually looks better than it did, so that’s good.”
They were interrupted as the door creaked open and they looked up to see Glass Man and the man he had yelled at for a pillow come inside (not Henry, Ryeowook noted, but rather the man who had originally dragged them into the room and had wanted to just leave them there. Bastard.)
Ryeowook, while not intimidated much by Pillow Man, found Glass Man (and the gun he wore at his hip) rather intimidating. He slid slowly behind Donghae who didn’t seem to mind and so Ryeowook hid more of himself, his eyes peeking over Donghae’s shoulder.
Glass Man coughed.
“How’s your knee?” Pillow Man asked, adjusting his glasses delicately.
“Hurts like hell,” Donghae replied, “Who are you?”
Ryeowook was sure that prisoners usually didn’t demand answers from their captors, but Pillow Man didn’t seem to mind, because he smiled.
“My name is Kibum,” Pillow Man said, “and this is Hankyung. Hangeng, really, but most people from the Domes find the latter a little hard to pronounce.”
Ryeowook thought it was a nice name.
The two men sat themselves on the floor, Hangeng fingering a holstered gun. It was about as subtle as an Outlier building in the middle of a canvas village.
“First,” Kibum said, “we’re sorry for ignoring you as long as we did,” his eyes flicked briefly to the part of Ryeowook’s face that was showing over Donghae’s shoulder, “we should have at least fed you sooner.”
Donghae shifted, readjusting his position, “that would have been nice.”
“Secondly,” Kibum continued, as if Donghae hadn’t spoken, “we’re sorry about your leg. We’ve done what we can, but you’re going to have to wait for proper treatment until we get back to Regnum. However, before that happens, we’d like to know who you are.”
There was a beat and then, “I’m Donghae. This is Ryeowook.”
Kibum appraised him a moment before saying, “You fly like shit, so I suppose it’s safe to assume that you’re not an Outlier.”
Ryeowook wrapped an arm around Donghae’s middle to keep him from lunging at Kibum’s throat.
“We’re not Outliers,” Donghae ground out, “and I’m not a shit flier.”
“You crash-landed on my lawn and ruined it,” Kibum pointed out, his tone suggesting complete disinterest in Donghae’s irritation, “all the evidence points to your not being very good.”
“We were being shot at.”
Kibum eyed them both and Ryeowook shrank under the scrutiny.
“And you were both hit and you destroyed your craft and part of my Castle. Sorry, but I’m not convinced. Which is good, because if you were a good flier, I’d be more suspicious of you and not have been as nice as I have.”
Donghae growled angrily; Kibum ignored it.
“Now, if you please, explain why there is a trashed outercraft lying out on my very expensive grass.
Donghae blinked, mood changing almost immediately and asked, “You’re grass is expensive?”
“Everything on this Castle is expensive. Talk.”
It didn’t look like Donghae was planning on doing anything but spit into Kibum’s face, so Ryeowook cleared his throat and very calmly explained their story. He left out the bit about being a thief, and glossed over the more intimate parts of Donghae’s life story (Ryeowook himself didn’t even know the whole thing anyhow,) and both Kibum and Hangeng seemed much more relaxed.
“So here are the repercussions of you trying to get on this castle. My expensive grass is ruined and I now need money to replace it. So this is what is going to happen; the two of you can work for me until you’ve paid for the cost of fixing my lawn. Or, I can toss you off the side in your trashed Outercraft and harbor no guilt whatsoever.”
Ryeowook swallowed. “What would we do?”
“What are you good at?” Hangeng asked.
“Cooking,” Ryeowook said.
“I already cook for everyone,” Hangeng replied, “what else?”
Ryeowook floundered in his brain for a moment.
“You’re not always here, though,” Kibum butt in, “and there are times that I could use you but can’t because you’re making food. I think having another cook could be good. Can you clean?”
Ryeowook nodded.
“The kitchen is a disaster. You can start by cleaning. How does that sound?”
“Fine,” Ryeowook said.
“What about you?” Kibum turned his gaze to Donghae.
“I’m a mechanic.”
“Which you do better at than flying, I hope.”
"He's a good mechanic," Ryeowook spoke up in Donghae’s immediate defense, deciding to leave out the small fact that Donghae usually made the problem worse before eventually figuring it out (if given enough time.)
"With Outlier equipment, maybe," Kibum said, "But Castles are a little different."
"I can learn," Donghae said.
Ryeowook squeezed Donghae's middle in an attempt to provide some comfort.
"Well, we'll see, won't we? We're almost at Regnum, another hour or so, I should think." Kibum watched them both carefully, before sighing. "All you you need to know now is that Regnum is outside the Domes, and yes, there's more than one."
"We know," Donghae said, "she already-" and then Ryeowook clapped a hand over Donghae's mouth before he could say anything else. It had not been the plan, to get Mei-yin in trouble.
"What?" Hangeng asked.
"Nothing, I just, already overheard? Um," Ryeowook swallowed as Hangeng stared him down, "Don't even worry about it."
"The only she on this Castle is my daughter," Hangeng said levelly, "so if you talked with her, you will tell me, or you can forget about leaving this room."
Kibum seemed to totally expect this and just waited silently, arms folded across his chest. He looked very unimpressed and Ryeowook shrank a little. Trust Donghae to just blurt it out without even thinking.
"Mmph," Donghae said around Ryeowook's fingers, and the thief reluctantly let him go, but not before savagely poking him in the side. "She came to talk to us. You shouldn't be mad, she was very polite. We learned a lot."
"She came and talked to you?” Hangeng's eyes very nearly popped out of his head as he stood hurriedly, "are you lying? If you're lying to me..."
"Why would I lie?" Donghae countered, "She was very sweet," and then he proceeded too describe Mei-yin and recount exactly what she had said, as if he felt the need to prove himself. Which, he had to, Ryeowook supposed. He just felt bad because he was sure Mei-yin was in for something a long lecture, and, if he remembered Hangeng's threats correctly, a very long grounding...possibly forever.
After Donghae's redemption speech, Kibum seemed a little more put out than Hangeng. "I'll come and get you when we've landed," he and then as they left, said to Hangeng, "I don't know what you need to do, but this has to stop. She can't go spilling everything to complete strangers and--"
The rest of his sentence was cut off as the door slammed shut and Ryeowook let out a shaky breath.
"Why are they so upset?" Donghae said, “and do we have to stay in here still? I thought he said he trusted us.”
Ryeowook whacked him on the top of his insensitive and forgetful head. Idiot.
*
Kibum was furious. Livid. Pissed off beyond all belief. Possibly angrier than Hangeng, and that was saying something.
He strode down the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time, vaulting up to the second floor and towards Hangeng and Siwon's living quarters.
"Kibum, let me handle this," Hangeng said.
Kibum whirled, "That's what you keep saying," he hissed, "every single time. I can't just stand by anymore. When I'm done yelling you can let your parental wrath descend, but as long as she is on this Castle and ' a part of the crew' than she is subject to me and my temper. I'm not going to hit her," he added, features softening a little, before striding through the door and searching for the girl's face.
"Bummie!" was the squeal and he saw her sitting comfortably on a couch, Siwon across from her, the two of them engaged in a game of cards.
"He's Captain, right now," came Hangeng's soft voice, and Kibum heard the layered danger in his voice.
So did Siwon and his eyebrows raised.
"Kibum?" Mei-yin said carefully.
"I just heard the most interesting tale," Kibum began slowly, hyper aware of the parents, knowing that even though she had asked to be part of the crew, and asked to be treated as one, he couldn't yell too much. A very disappointed Siwon and and angry Hangeng, or vice versa, or whatever, would always be worse than anything he could say.
"We spoke with those two men you were so interested in a few days ago."
"Really?" Mei-yin asked, looking excited.
"Yes. We tried to explain the situation to them but it was a little awkward, because somehow, they already knew everything."
He waited for a few seconds, turning his gaze to Siwon. He looked confused for a moment or two, and then Kibum applauded his friend’s ability to piece two and two together as Siwon let out a little groan. "Mei-yin..."
"Appa?" she asked, and oh, the little devil was such a good actress.
"They said you talked to them," Hangeng said softly, "that you told them all about Domes and the Regnum, and who was on the ship and what they did and everything."
Siwon looked horrified.
"I," Mei-yin started, "Um..."
"Do you understand, at all, the gravity of what you did?" Kibum asked, "At all, Mei-yin?"
She wasn't denying it, Kibum noted, as she bit her lip.
"Mei-yin, how could you," Siwon breathed, "Mei-yin, Mei-yin, if Heechul hadn't told us they were harmless, if they were Outliers..."
"It was really stupid," Kibum supplied, "because theoretically, they could have sent all of that information to the Outliers, and everything that we worked for, everything that will eventually be accomplished, and everything we’ve shared with you will disappear and you would go back to what Heechul saved you from. Do you want that?”
Mei-yin chin was trembling a little as she shook her head.
“You’re thirteen,” Kibum said, “I understand that you’re still just a kid, and you don’t always think everything through and that you’re sort of insane. But that’s why you have parents and that’s why you do as they say. If you don’t start listening to the people around you, I’m not sure I can afford to have you on this Castle.”
“K-Kibum!” She looked horrified, but Kibum pressed on and forced down the stab of guilt in his stomach.
“I need you to make a decision, kiddo, because this is serious. Okay?”
She chewed on the inside of her cheek for what seemed minutes before nodding, “Okay.”
Kibum turned around and left. He shut the door on Hangeng’s very quiet, very scary, “what were you thinking?”
Oh, yes, he was glad to be an adult, and he was very glad that he did not have Siwon and Hangeng as parents. Not that they weren’t loving (actually, they were possibly the most loving parents he had ever come across,) but he was sure that Mei-yin would be moping for days. If he saw her at all. She was probably not going to be let out of their quarters for a very long time. He supposed he should have told Hangeng that he still wanted her to show up for her cleaning shifts.
He grumbled all the way back to the control room. Henry was reading a transmission that was printing when he walked inside.
“Kangin says to hurry the hell up,” he said casually, clearly unfazed. Kibum had pat himself on the back for that one. Henry had been so timid when he had left the Outliers to live here.
Kibum flopped himself down in a chair and fiddled with some controls whilst pinching the bridge of his nose. He was getting far too many headaches recently.
“Talk go well?”
“Didn’t do much,” Kibum mumbled, “Mei-yin beat us to it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“Should I go make sure Hankyung isn’t killing her?”
“Funny,” Kibum rolled his eyes, “I hear you’ve been feeding our guests.”
Henry blushed and looked at the floor. Kibum raised an eyebrow. “Why are you blushing?”
“Um,” Henry said, “Um, well, if it was me I would be really hungry, you know? And since Heechul said they weren’t dangerous I figured that if I feed them now, maybe they’ll not be so mad when we release them. Maybe.”
Kibum was torn between pointing out that Henry hadn’t answered his question or asking why Henry cared about what the “guests” thought of them. Instead, he said, “One of them is going to cook. I’m going to try and teach the other one some basic Castle mechanics, though I feel that it will be a lost cause.”
“No one’s better than you,” Henry said, smiling.
“Thanks,” Kibum reach around to ruffle the other’s hair. He felt better; he should make Henry morale officer or something, the kid could always make anyone smile.
“Hey,” Henry pouted, and Kibum laughed.
He turned his attention to his monitors and began to prep the Castle for it’s entry into Regnum.
“Transmit back to Kangin that we’re almost there, will you? And tell him that if he’s not there when we arrive, I’m going to be pissed that he made us hurry for nothing.”
Henry typed furiously and Kibum found his mind wandering back to Ryeowook and Donghae. Donghae. The little self-proclaimed mechanic so full of himself and his abilities that he was close to bursting.
Kibum tried to forget them, but Donghae’s faced loomed in front of him like some sort of evil omen that wasn’t evil and made Kibum want to stare.
“Kibum?”
Henry was looking at him with a tinge of concern on his face, and Kibum realized that his eyes had glazed over and he had been staring into space.
“Sorry,” he said, “didn’t sleep much.”
Kibum pushed Donghae out of his mind and focused on his controls. Stupid Dome dweller, making me lose my focus. He was all too eager to get to Regnum and find Heechul so that he could complain. Yes, that’s exactly what he needed. A good bitch session. He checked his instruments again, mood lifted. He could hardly wait.
~~~~
I think I have a handle on this mess, finally. I am pleased.
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thx for reading <3