i command armies

[autokinetic]

Sue graduates from Tactical School a year early, he's barely fifteen. He's toned down the flirting - he treats Aegis completely platonically, in particular - and has cut down on the unhealthy amount of sleeping-with-everything-that-wants. And he's apparently, via his independent study, gotten far enough through the curriculum that they're nudging him along to Command.

They've given Sue a strange old man for a tutor, who appeared in his room and started a physical confrontation, which Sue won; Sue related this story to her with something between amusement and irritation.

And a quicker-than-average flurry of notes has been piling up in the psych data since about that time, according to the timestamps.

Aegis knows before they tell her that they're going to send her to Command early too. She's just barely fifteen herself when she gets another update of the psych files and sees that Sue's had - well, the files aren't terribly clear, some of the communication is happening via in-person conversation and memos that don't get stored in these folders, but Sue's had some kind of breakdown and the only things they can think of to get him out of it, get him back into shape to train and fight, are her friendship and Howlett. They have mixed feelings about both - Howlett's insubordination problem; their bewilderment that Aegis and Sue can be so close when "she's the one person he can't link!" - but they're desperate.

Bird? They don't talk as often over the long distance, just as there was a lull when he went to Tactical ahead of her; their schedules have nothing in common and their contexts less. But he knows her, and he can reach this far if he tries. And she wants to know what's wrong.

Comments

[autokinetic]

"What?" she asks, giggling.

[pythbox]

"You look," he says gleefully, "like a bird's nest."

[autokinetic]

"Pfft," she says, and she grabs her comb and starts fixing her hair and twists it up in a bun.

[pythbox]

Sue giggles and bounces on his bed.

[autokinetic]

They don't have classes anymore, but there are still books to read, and Aegis calls up a book and reads it.

She winds up staying awake a bit later than usual on this day, mostly so she can know right away how Sue's linking-in-his-sleep experiment goes.

[pythbox]

He goes to sleep.



A few minutes later, there's a dim golden glow from under his blanket.

[autokinetic]

That's weird.

Aegis didn't see this when it happened in the sim room, but she's got fewer distractions now. Maybe he's trying the experiment and this is a visual effect his mutation gets when overclocked or pushed in this way? She goes on watching.

[pythbox]

It lasts for a few seconds, then fades.

He curls up like he's hugging a teddy bear, but whatever his arms are wrapping around, it's all under the blanket.

[autokinetic]

Aegis debates for a while, but after a minute she gets up and pads softly across the room to peel back the blanket and see what's going on.

Her fingers brush fur, and she feels suddenly, bizarrely, like she's birding and Sue is pouring himself through the link at her - but there's no actual transfer, he's not linking normally if that's what's going on.

Under her fingers is a fluffy critter of some kind. Like he literally conjured up a stuffed animal.

[pythbox]

Except that this fluffy critter is definitely not stuffed. Its nose twitches; Sue stirs.

He blinks up at her, still cuddling the fluffy thing, and smiles sleepily.

[autokinetic]

"Sue?" Aegis says. "Where'd this - fluffy - critter - come from?"

[pythbox]

"Muh?" he says, and the fluffy critter blinks and shakes herself and says excitedly, "Hey! I exist!"

[autokinetic]

Aegis pulls her hand back. "You talk," she exclaims in a surprised whisper. "What's going on?"

[pythbox]

"Pet me again," says Ivy, sitting up on her haunches and reaching her paws toward Aegis, "we love you, pet me again!"

"...It's Ivy," says Sue. "I dreamed about her, remember? What the fuck?"

"I'm Ivy!" agrees Ivy. "I'm your daemon! I exist!"

[autokinetic]

"Why is your dreamed daemon sitting on your bed being fluffy?" Aegis asks, halfway stretching her hand towards Ivy before remembering to be bewildered and cautious about the spontaneous mammal.

[pythbox]

"Because I'm me and we're us and I exist," says Ivy, inarguably. "And I like being fluffy, it's cuddly, look, I'm so soft," and she ducks her head under Sue's hand and he pets her with an expression of helpless, bewildered fondness.

[autokinetic]

"But - you weren't there a minute ago, there was this - golden glow, and then you were there, if you exist why didn't you exist a minute ago?"

[pythbox]

"Dunno," she says, unconcerned. "Pet me some more, we like it when you do that, it's better than hugs."

[autokinetic]

Aegis flings up her hands and then pets Ivy again.

[pythbox]

Ivy becomes a long-haired cat and commences purring industriously. Sue looks like he would be doing much the same if he had the appropriate vocal equipment.

[autokinetic]

Aegis sits on the edge of his bed and goes on petting Ivy. "How in the world did this happen? Didn't this happen in a dream? You're a telepath, not a - dream-things-conjurer."

[pythbox]

"I exist," says Ivy. "I exist just like he dreamed me. And I remember all his dreams but I remember the Milliways ones different. I think it's a real place," she says, rubbing her cheek against Aegis's side.

[autokinetic]

"Okay, but if it's a real place that doesn't explain why you appeared now and not right when Sue - went there," Aegis says. "...Sue, can you even talk right now?"

[pythbox]

"Mmmm," says Sue. Ivy giggles.

[autokinetic]

"...Is this something more complicated than 'better than hugs?'" Aegis asks Ivy.