Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 51 - Army Parasite

-x-

Scott had new scars the next time Xander saw him, which landed about the same time he moved to Scott's bunk. Izzy beamed at him as one of the other implanted wheeled him into their section. It wasn't a room; it wasn't cordoned off. The implanted living space was designed to maintain connections, giving enough privacy that no one felt on show. Layered cubicles were the easiest way to describe it.

The regular army slept in capsule bunks stacked on each other with a locker for possessions, but they had a door to shut down and block the rest of the ship out. Implanted had more room but no cover to block out the sounds of the rest of the room.  Maybe there was no difference when there was a mental link. The bunk had enough height for someone to sit in bed but not enough to stand up. Similar to the regular army, there were lockers, but the implanted had hangers. The bed was bigger, which wasn't a surprise, but one touch of the material let him know it was much better quality. 

Scott and Izzy had a queen bed with enough room for Xander to join them. Izzy helped gather Xander on the bed and placed him in the centre with a pillow behind him for support. Xander liked Izzy. He was nice to the regular army grunts. 

"That's a nasty look," Izzy said, eyeing Scott's dark expression. "Are you realising the error of your ways?"

"Fuck off." 

Xander wished he could curl up and vanish. Scott got punished because of him. Well, because of Scott's behaviour towards him, but he'd been the one to bring it up to their front mind. Scott kicked off his boots and collapsed in bed next to him. Izzy hummed disapprovingly and moved to deal with the errant footwear as Scott plastered himself over Xander, careful not to touch his left leg.

"What do you think, Xand? Am I ruined or still handsome?" Scott fluttered his eyes in a mock schoolgirl impression.

"You were never handsome," Izzy said.

Xander's face burned. Scott's eyes narrowed, but his crooked grin appeared. "Come on? Do you think I'm handsome?"

"I think you're an arse." The scar curled on his cheek, tracing where the battle visor sat. The scar on his face wasn't punishment. It was from saving Xander. The lack of cosmetic help to heal it was punishment.

"Not an answer."

Scott's lips were cracked, and he had a slight tang of toothpaste on his breath, but the kiss was good. Xander didn't fight it. He could. Units needed to be compatible. if it wasn't Izzy and Scott', it would be someone else, and Scott wasn't wrong to pick up on a connection/ he pulled away and smirked. Xander pushed his face away. Scott laughed but got off Xander.

"He's not linked up yet," Izzy reminded, reclining next to them and bumping their shoulders together. "He can't hear that."

A growl answered. Scott turned away and pulled his top off. Izzy laughed and moved the covers so they settled over them. Xander curled under the covers, heart beating a touch too loud in his ears. 

It didn't take long for the two to finish getting ready for bed and to slip in either side of him. Scott pressed up behind him, engulfing him in heart. Izzy faced him but didn't press skin to skin. The cubicle dimmed, and the noise from outside softened.  

They didn't need shutters to dim sound. Xander winced but tried to settle.

"Implantation is never without its traumas," Izzy added, voice soft in the dim. "Even those of us who wanted it, who competed to be chosen, have some trauma. Thanks to how bad they set it up last time, you'll be going in worse."

"Thank you for the reassurance."

Izzy shrugged. "Ould you rather I lie or tell the truth?" 

There was no easy answer to that. Xander shifted, trying to get used to the arms and legs pinning him down. His shins ached. His survival rested on being implanted. 

"The first time someone realised that I was a natural with computers, it was a good thing. I was going to go far and do things no one else had ever done." Xander gave his own admittance. "it's childish looking back, but I was so excited to be good at something."

"We all have talents we want to be proud of," Scott rumbled. 

"He wants you to sleep," Izzy added with a yawn. "I think letting you get this off your chest is far better." 

Scott made an unhappy noise. 

Xander chuckled, tears in his eyes. "You don't even know I'm good with them, do you? All you know is I got expelled from the academy for cheating."

"Did you?"

"Cheat?" Xander shrugged, "I guess you'll find out soon enough." He flicked his wrist, or rather the gauntlet embedded in his wrist. The lights on the ceiling shifting configuration. Swimming in a sea of LED lights, a pattern emerged, creating a starscape on the ceiling.

Scott let go of him to look up at it. Izzy murmured, amazed. "I didn't know the ceiling could do that."

Xander laughed until he sobbed. They didn't bother trying to reassure him as he cried. They held tighter as if that alone would bury comfort into his bones.