Starstruck [CLOSED APPLY FIC]

(2)

"Have you all read the brief?" Errick was standing at the head of a long table, looking at each of his squad members in turn. They nodded. "Good. Tolerate the rest of your squad and follow the orders I give you and we should have no problems. Any slackers will be chucked off the ship without question, got it?"

Locksley felt a little intimidated: he'd never seen his friend like this before. He supposed this must be how their other classmates had seen him, when they'd called him sir and shown him utter respect. Locksley only hoped Errick would let them see the real him soon enough, once the nerves had settled.

His eyes wandered, examining the room around them. Someone was missing.

"I must apologise for my lateness, Alpha," a Syldrathi girl, dark hair plaited back immaculately, wearing what looked like a freshly ironed uniform, nodded her head and sat at the seat opposite Locksley. He waved, and she glared back at him. They weren't going to be friends, that was for sure.

"No problem, Sanii. I was just updating the squad on our task."

First name terms. Locksley raised his eyebrows. If Errick wasn't gay, he'd be jealous.

"When we arrive at our ship, we need to make sure everything is in good condition before we set off. Locksley, I want you and Bryony to go to the flight deck and make sure everything is up to scratch."

The girl who must be Bryony then smiled at him. She had a weird blue streak through her hair, much like the boy next to her. (Maybe it was some weird couples thing?) He smiled back.

"Sanii, check the main engines and make sure they're good to go. Take Ronnie with you. Val, I need you to investigate our location, make sure we're fully equipped. Oh, and Aurelia? You can sit this one out. We need brains, and I believe that's not your area of expertise."

The muscly blue-haired guy next to Bryony stood up, hands balled into fists. He was a decent head taller than Errick (wasn't everyone) and looked like he could rip Errick to shreds without breaking into a sweat.

"You little—" he growled, glaring at the Alpha.

"Alpha who could ruin your future career?" 

Aurelia blanched, visibly restraining himself from reverting to violence. If Errick hadn't made that last comment, he'd be mincemeat. Not that Locksley didn't totally support and believe in Errick's fighting skills, he just had to be a reliable narrator.

"Trent, it's not worth it," Val, the Betraskan girl (perhaps she was the only one here who was almost as short as Errick), whispered to him, black eyes wide.

Nobody moved.

"That's what I thought." Errick moved past him. "Let's head to Bay 8. Somebody better babysit Aurelia when we get there, I don't need him to be any more annoying than he has to be."

—

Sanii was stalling. She'd finished what she'd been assigned to do, but she knew if she went back, she would become Legionnaire Aurelia's personal bodyguard so that the Alpha could make a point.

"You done with your bit?" Ronnie came over to her from their engine check.

Sanii cursed under her breath in Syldrathi. Now she'd have to go back. "No."

Ronnie frowned. "Looks pretty good to me. But hey, uh, if you want to chill back here for a bit while the boys have a catfight, I bought a pack of Wispa bars if you want one." They slid a brightly coloured packet out from their sleeve.

Sanii didn't know what Wispa bars were, but she figured it was a Terran custom, so she agreed.

They turned out to be a brown bar that was light and fluffy on the inside with a hard, dark shell around it. She peeled back the wrapper and copied the Terran, biting into it. It was almost pleasurable.

"So, uh, why'd you come here?" Ronnie was munching on her own bar as they spoke, licking stray chocolate from around their mouth. "The Academy, I mean."

She paused before answering. "A friend of my parents' went here, and I knew I could succeed as a Gearhead."

"Oh, cool!"

Sanii hesitated. She supposed she should ask them about their reasoning behind joining too. "And you? Why did you join, I meant to ask."

Ronnie grinned. "I love space. The stars just call to me, and I guess it also made me feel less different." They played with their side swept hair, and Sanii saw the white patch of vitiligo they had been covering.

"It does not change your beauty."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You are welcome."

Sanii didn't tell them that she hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Bryony poked her head round the corner, humming an unfamiliar pop song. "Ready to go, guys?"

"Of course."

"Then it's time to take off." 

A/N

Hi! I realise this isn't long but I rewrote it so many times I'm just glad I can finally give y'all something. I hope you enjoyed it, this is sort of me testing out the relationships between various characters, part 2 of relationship building and take off/you finally find out where they're headed/the story finally starts is gonna be next chapter and as I'm on Easter break I'm going to try and get that done tomorrow! (Also Shashi don't worry Trent's gonna get his own back.)

Who would you like to see interact next? Sanii will probably have another scene bc I love her too much.

See you in the next one!