ATF!Verse Fic First Things First: Lessons
Oh, ATF!-verse, how I've missed ficcing it. Well, to make up for that, here's another installment of First Things First, the ATF!Darkstat and ATF!Angela relationship. He's really feeling like a parent about now...and that makes itself evident towards the end...I hope. Inspired by a recent RP in which handsthatsmile said that Angela has never feared Darkstar for himself. Thank You for that. It made me really want to explore one of those situations...and I came up with this!
First Things First: Lessons
“Angela, can you tell me what this is?” Darkstar asked, gesturing at one of many cloning tubes.
Bobbing up and down in the thick liquid of the cloning vat was a small blue body. Its face was covered by a breathing mask and several tubes and wires were inserted into it at various junctures. This did little to restrict the movement of the vat’s occupant. It seemed to move back and forth with the simulated tide within the tube. A leg jerked occasionally as a nerve ending developed.
Angela looked the subject up and down with wide, studious eyes. She chewed on the end of her pen before she looked back to Darkstar.
“A Kinecelerean. A female Kinecelerean,” she amended, nodding keenly.
A smile crossed tight, dry lips.
“Very good,”
Angela shimmered a little and her eyes flitted between the floor, the tube, and Darkstar.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said.
They moved at random through the facility, looking at and discussing the particulars of each species. It would be years before a majority of them were removed from their tanks as Darkstar had purposely slowed most of their growth rates, a few species had long gestation periods and hadn’t needed any tampering at all. That was good. It gave Angela plenty of time to catch up with each of them. She could anticipate their needs and practice with Marbella and perhaps later, a few other more diverse creatures at a later date. At the thought, Darkstar cast a wary glance at two vats with rather...exotic occupants. In one, a small blob of pink twisted over itself and in another, a large infant with mismatched limbs and a striped tail sucked instinctually at one of its many fingers. Darkstar would have to make a list of special instructions regarding those two specimens.
At last, they came to a vat with what appeared to be a very human toddler in it. A few ginger curls framed the child’s face.
“And what is this, Angela?” he asked.
Angela looked puzzled for a moment, then placed her hand on the glass. With a gasp, she pulled it back as if the glass was hot.
“A human with an Anodite spark, Boss!” she answered brightly.
“Yes. And are they food for us?” he inquired, drawing out the word “us” and gesturing between the two of them.
Angela chewed on the tip of her pen for a moment.
“Yes,” she answered.
The single syllable word caused a complete change in Darkstar’s mood and aura. Angela could tell, and her ability to sense mana had nothing to do with it. His face suddenly went sullen and a hand went to his chin where his thumb and forefinger squeezed taut cheeks. He shook his head and Angela got the distinct feeling she had answered the question wrong, which didn’t seem to make any sense to her since the subject had felt like such a strong, deep source of nourishment. Angela didn’t understand how it couldn’t be a source of food. Her cheeks felt hot with embarrassment at not being able to produce either the correct answer or the reasoning for why it wouldn’t be considered food. She heard Darkstar sigh, as if burying something deep inside him.
“No. No, no no. Never, Angela, Never. Never one of these, do you understand?” he asked, suddenly gripping Angela’s shoulders and squeezing her tightly. His eyes became wider and more wild than usual, as if some fever had him in its grasp.
It surprised her, as he rarely used force of any kind with her. A puzzled, possibly nervous look crossed her face.
“You must promise me, Angela that you will never, ever feed off of anything like this. Nothing that can manipulate mana. Promise me!” he sharply demanded.
It sounded desperate and almost afraid, which in turn frightened Angela. Her eyebrows creased and her lower lip began to quiver slightly.
At this, Darkstar’s features softened and his pale blue eyes grew slightly misted. Angela felt his grip on her shoulders ease.
“Oh...Oh, God, Angela. I’m...I’m so sorry. I must have frightened you...I’m so sorry,”
It seemed to be all he was capable of saying.
Darkstar pulled her close to him and stroked her golden hair with one of his gloved hands. His touch was gentle, soothing, and protective. Angela awkwardly hugged him back, eyes darting around the room, wanting to look at anything but him, she certainly hadn’t meant for anything like this to happen. She felt him take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds before exhaling.
“I’m so sorry, Angela. I shouldn’t have gotten upset. You didn’t know...but...it is dangerous to feed off of any being that can manipulate mana...or any energy for that matter. They can...they can hurt you terribly by forcibly reversing the energy flow if you do and it is awful. I can’t imagine that for you, my wonderful, smart, beautiful Angela. So, you must promise me that you won’t ever even try to feed off of that or anything like it? Understand me?”
Angela swallowed and nodded.
“Yes....yes, Sir. I promise that I won’t. Heh, no NomNoms on them, got it,” she promised, not quite, but sort of understanding why he was upset.
It was a trick, she understood that...like brightly colored frogs were poison...or so her learning programs told her. These...Sparks looked pretty and nutritious, but they were lures...false and dangerous.
She felt him kiss the top of her head.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered.
First Things First: Lessons
“Angela, can you tell me what this is?” Darkstar asked, gesturing at one of many cloning tubes.
Bobbing up and down in the thick liquid of the cloning vat was a small blue body. Its face was covered by a breathing mask and several tubes and wires were inserted into it at various junctures. This did little to restrict the movement of the vat’s occupant. It seemed to move back and forth with the simulated tide within the tube. A leg jerked occasionally as a nerve ending developed.
Angela looked the subject up and down with wide, studious eyes. She chewed on the end of her pen before she looked back to Darkstar.
“A Kinecelerean. A female Kinecelerean,” she amended, nodding keenly.
A smile crossed tight, dry lips.
“Very good,”
Angela shimmered a little and her eyes flitted between the floor, the tube, and Darkstar.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said.
They moved at random through the facility, looking at and discussing the particulars of each species. It would be years before a majority of them were removed from their tanks as Darkstar had purposely slowed most of their growth rates, a few species had long gestation periods and hadn’t needed any tampering at all. That was good. It gave Angela plenty of time to catch up with each of them. She could anticipate their needs and practice with Marbella and perhaps later, a few other more diverse creatures at a later date. At the thought, Darkstar cast a wary glance at two vats with rather...exotic occupants. In one, a small blob of pink twisted over itself and in another, a large infant with mismatched limbs and a striped tail sucked instinctually at one of its many fingers. Darkstar would have to make a list of special instructions regarding those two specimens.
At last, they came to a vat with what appeared to be a very human toddler in it. A few ginger curls framed the child’s face.
“And what is this, Angela?” he asked.
Angela looked puzzled for a moment, then placed her hand on the glass. With a gasp, she pulled it back as if the glass was hot.
“A human with an Anodite spark, Boss!” she answered brightly.
“Yes. And are they food for us?” he inquired, drawing out the word “us” and gesturing between the two of them.
Angela chewed on the tip of her pen for a moment.
“Yes,” she answered.
The single syllable word caused a complete change in Darkstar’s mood and aura. Angela could tell, and her ability to sense mana had nothing to do with it. His face suddenly went sullen and a hand went to his chin where his thumb and forefinger squeezed taut cheeks. He shook his head and Angela got the distinct feeling she had answered the question wrong, which didn’t seem to make any sense to her since the subject had felt like such a strong, deep source of nourishment. Angela didn’t understand how it couldn’t be a source of food. Her cheeks felt hot with embarrassment at not being able to produce either the correct answer or the reasoning for why it wouldn’t be considered food. She heard Darkstar sigh, as if burying something deep inside him.
“No. No, no no. Never, Angela, Never. Never one of these, do you understand?” he asked, suddenly gripping Angela’s shoulders and squeezing her tightly. His eyes became wider and more wild than usual, as if some fever had him in its grasp.
It surprised her, as he rarely used force of any kind with her. A puzzled, possibly nervous look crossed her face.
“You must promise me, Angela that you will never, ever feed off of anything like this. Nothing that can manipulate mana. Promise me!” he sharply demanded.
It sounded desperate and almost afraid, which in turn frightened Angela. Her eyebrows creased and her lower lip began to quiver slightly.
At this, Darkstar’s features softened and his pale blue eyes grew slightly misted. Angela felt his grip on her shoulders ease.
“Oh...Oh, God, Angela. I’m...I’m so sorry. I must have frightened you...I’m so sorry,”
It seemed to be all he was capable of saying.
Darkstar pulled her close to him and stroked her golden hair with one of his gloved hands. His touch was gentle, soothing, and protective. Angela awkwardly hugged him back, eyes darting around the room, wanting to look at anything but him, she certainly hadn’t meant for anything like this to happen. She felt him take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds before exhaling.
“I’m so sorry, Angela. I shouldn’t have gotten upset. You didn’t know...but...it is dangerous to feed off of any being that can manipulate mana...or any energy for that matter. They can...they can hurt you terribly by forcibly reversing the energy flow if you do and it is awful. I can’t imagine that for you, my wonderful, smart, beautiful Angela. So, you must promise me that you won’t ever even try to feed off of that or anything like it? Understand me?”
Angela swallowed and nodded.
“Yes....yes, Sir. I promise that I won’t. Heh, no NomNoms on them, got it,” she promised, not quite, but sort of understanding why he was upset.
It was a trick, she understood that...like brightly colored frogs were poison...or so her learning programs told her. These...Sparks looked pretty and nutritious, but they were lures...false and dangerous.
She felt him kiss the top of her head.
“That’s my girl,” he whispered.