[fic]
title: Space: it's a big, big thing.
rating: G
fandom: Super Junior
characters: Henry, Donghae, a blip of Shiwon.
summary: Space. It was a big, big thing. Really. Awesomely huge. Beyond comprehension. There was a reason it was called space, after all.
notes: AU, space!fic.
Space.
It was a big, big thing. Really. Awesomely huge. Beyond comprehension. There was a reason it was called space, after all.
And Henry stared out at it, through what he could only hope was the thickest, most indestructible, transparent material known to man. Actually, scrap that, known beyond man, because, as he suddenly recalled, all of the best starships and space-technology came from non-humans.
Looking out into that endless nothing, Henry wondered what had compelled him to make this journey in the first place. It had seemed a good idea at first, he supposed, joining the International Space Academy; it would guarantee him a job when he graduated, unlike so many other career choices. Starships were always in need of good navigators.
But, as he gazed out at the millions and billions of burning stars and revolving planets, out there beyond his little pocket of world, he realised that he'd yet to think about the full impact of his choices. He would, predominantly, spend a large portion of his career on a starship, out in space.
And it was so terribly, terrifyingly huge.
There was a sharp nudge in Henry's side, a razor-elbow to his ribs, and he let out a small squeak of annoyance.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
He turned to see the smiling face of his friend, and fellow space cadet, Donghae. "You look like you've just seen the ghost of a Zarlenx."
That, Henry thought, would have been less terrifying than space; Zarlenxs were not only the largest, deadliest creatures so far discovered in any system, they were also ancient, and terribly mythological. Space, on the other hand, was real, and right in front of him.
Fingers curled around his upper arm, and Henry felt himself being pulled away from the window; it was probably for the best, really.
"Where are we going?" He asked, finding himself being tugged through the corridors of the ship alongside his friend.
Donghae turned to look back at him, a grin on his face. "You need a drink."
Henry looked scandalised. "Donghae! This ship is full of Academy professors!"
It didn't stop Donghae's tugging him along, however, and Henry's spirits began to sink ever further.
It was stupid of him, he knew now in retrospect, to have joined the Academy in the first place. And stupid of him, to have come on this cadet training mission. It was all well and good, teaching the new recruits all the ins and outs, the academia of their chosen path and profession - Henry could recall easily most all of the so-far discovered systems, which planets and moons they comprised of, and all the navigational routes within and between them - but it was all useless without actual experience of being in space.
There were several of these trips throughout a cadet's training, to get them used to being in space, to seeing it, and experiencing how what they had learnt in classrooms down on solid earth applied to real situations. This was the first of such a trip for Henry, and he was beginning to think that it may also be his last.
Belatedly, he realised that Donghae had drawn to a stop, and when Henry looked around at their surroundings he saw that it wasn't the canteen that he'd been brought to. It was the navigation room. Small, in comparison to other parts of the starship, and there were only three navigators needed to work at a time. None of them, dressed in the uniform of a qualified navigator, paid the two cadets any attention; it was common to see them roaming the ship and exploring.
"What are we doing here?" Henry turned to Donghae, his eyebrows creasing together.
Donghae, waving an arm around somewhat wildly - and almost hitting Henry in the face - said, "This is where you'll be. When we graduate, I mean, this is where you'll be working. I thought you should get a proper look at it."
There were no windows in the small room, but in front of the main navigation console was a long, large screen, which showed the view from outside the ship. Right now, as they were moving only very slowly, at normal speeds, the view showed Henry what he had seen from the main deck; endless bright points scattered throughout the blackness of space.
This wasn't the only screen in the room, however, and scattered throughout were smaller screens, and these all contained different images. One was of the system that they were currently making their way through, all the planets and stars and moons named accordingly, with labels over the ones that contained life. And Henry knew, if one was to touch the screen over a particular planet, it would focus in, and give a full read-out of the planet, what kind it was, the general terrain, the level of gases in the air, the thickness of the atmosphere, the kind of life, if any, that had been found there, and countless other things.
And then on other screens were larger maps, with many systems, with colourful lines of navigational routes linking and intertwining and winding their way through and across and around them. Connecting the systems and the planets within, an invisible road that could lead a person to any number of adventures and experiences, to an uncountable amount of different planets.
Seeing Henry's enraptured face, one of the navigators moved over towards this screen, and with a few quick touches, enlarged the image, pulling out from the systems to show entire galaxies, and how these all connected also.
"Well?"
Donghae's voice, so close to his ear, startled Henry, and he fell out of his concentration.
"Well what?" He asked, looking over at his friend.
With a nudge of shoulder to shoulder, Donghae grinned. "How do you feel now?"
It never failed to surprise Henry, when Donghae was perceptive like this. As good a friend as he was, and as much as he was what Henry considered to be his best friend, he always thought of Donghae as being a bit daydreamy, oblivious to the things that happened around him. Much like a lonely planet, surrounded only by the vast emptiness of space around it, unaware and unknowing of what happened further within the system.
And yet, that wasn't Donghae at all, not all of the time. His was a quiet, surprising observation of the people around him, and Donghae had obviously seen the fear and the doubt in Henry earlier. It made him grateful, to have a friend like him.
"Isn't it exciting?" He continued, without waiting for an answer from Henry. "To see all the uncountable planets? All the places that we can go, now? And, because of you, we'll never get lost on our way!"
His enthusiasm brought forth a laugh from Henry. "Well, it's got nothing to do with me yet! We're still cadets in training. I won't be able to stop you getting yourself lost for a couple of years yet."
Slowly, they made their way out of the navigation room, and wandered along the corridors, on their way in a meandering, leisurely manner back to the main deck. "It'll be great, won't it?" Donghae said, musing out loud. "When we've graduated, and can start all the exciting adventures waiting for us."
"I don't know how many adventures there are to be had," Henry laughed, "but it could be exciting."
"You'll be navigating the ship," Donghae continued - to him, there would always be adventures to be had - "And I'll be down in engineering, making sure the ship can keep running its course. That's real team work, that is, navigation and engineering. Without us, a ship would be floundering in space."
"I think the pilots have something to do with it too," Henry added. "And the captain helps, with making the decisions and all."
Donghae waved a hand at him, as if swatting away an irritating fly, and Henry couldn't help but laugh. "Alright," he conceded, nodding. "You're right, and no one would get anywhere if it wasn't for us."
Donghae beamed, victorious.
Eventually, they found their way onto the main deck, where a few of the other cadets in their class were, either sitting around talking and taking notes, or observing their slow journey through space, as Henry had earlier. Donghae stopped to talk to one of them, Shiwon, who would be joining the pilot programme, once they all went off on their separate, chosen paths.
Henry found himself at the window again, and this time, the giant space beyond didn't fill him with the same awe-inspiring fear that it had before. Space was huge, uncomprehendingly so, and there were too many planets and moons and stars and rocks to be counted, too much life teaming within it, the majority, Henry suspected, still unexplored and unknown to humans.
And yet, for as many stars as there were, there were endless possibilities within each one, bright and burning and tempting.
This, he realised, was why he had joined the Academy in the first place. And it was this that would keep him in it, until he graduated, and could travel the invisible paths between the stars, between the possibilities.
"Hey! Henry!"
Hearing his name, Henry turned to see Donghae coming towards him, and pulling a rather embarrassed Shiwon behind him. There was that look in Donghae's eyes, the look that always shouted out 'mischief' to Henry, and he'd learnt long ago never to trust it.
"Shiwon here is feeling a little nervous on his first trip into space. Shall we go show him how to make it better?"
Henry knew it was a bad idea, because Donghae actually, honest to Zarlenx, winked at him. Shiwon was not going to be subjected to the same kind of 'making it better' Henry had just experienced.
And, judging by the slightly nervous, yet curious, look on Shiwon's face, and the friendly smile that he was giving them both, the poor bastard had no clue.
Who needed the endless possibilities of the galaxy, when Donghae was their friend.
(What Henry hadn't realised, those few years ago now, was that Donghae really had meant it when he'd said they would have 'exciting adventures'.
On their first mission together, on a starship captained by the even then notorious Heechul Kim, Donghae had accidentally discovered how to send a starship through space at a, as of then undiscovered, speed several times above the highest that engineers and scientists had built into the engine systems. It had been tough work for Henry, to navigate them through a particularly tricky system of planets, at speeds no one had ever travelled before, much less navigated their way through.
They'd come through that experience okay, with their jobs, and their qualifications intact, mostly because Captain Kim was as unconventional as Donghae. And after that, Henry quickly learned that most of their 'adventures' would be thanks to Donghae.
Though, the time that their ship crash landed onto an unknown planet would be Donghae's fault, and no one was grateful for that experience, especially when it lead them all to discovering a creature that seemed an evolved - evolved, but still dangerous - relation to the mythical Zarlenx.)
- end -
I...have totally lost the ability to write anymore 8D; but I kind of want to write more of HenHae's space adventures now >_>
rating: G
fandom: Super Junior
characters: Henry, Donghae, a blip of Shiwon.
summary: Space. It was a big, big thing. Really. Awesomely huge. Beyond comprehension. There was a reason it was called space, after all.
notes: AU, space!fic.
Space.
It was a big, big thing. Really. Awesomely huge. Beyond comprehension. There was a reason it was called space, after all.
And Henry stared out at it, through what he could only hope was the thickest, most indestructible, transparent material known to man. Actually, scrap that, known beyond man, because, as he suddenly recalled, all of the best starships and space-technology came from non-humans.
Looking out into that endless nothing, Henry wondered what had compelled him to make this journey in the first place. It had seemed a good idea at first, he supposed, joining the International Space Academy; it would guarantee him a job when he graduated, unlike so many other career choices. Starships were always in need of good navigators.
But, as he gazed out at the millions and billions of burning stars and revolving planets, out there beyond his little pocket of world, he realised that he'd yet to think about the full impact of his choices. He would, predominantly, spend a large portion of his career on a starship, out in space.
And it was so terribly, terrifyingly huge.
There was a sharp nudge in Henry's side, a razor-elbow to his ribs, and he let out a small squeak of annoyance.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
He turned to see the smiling face of his friend, and fellow space cadet, Donghae. "You look like you've just seen the ghost of a Zarlenx."
That, Henry thought, would have been less terrifying than space; Zarlenxs were not only the largest, deadliest creatures so far discovered in any system, they were also ancient, and terribly mythological. Space, on the other hand, was real, and right in front of him.
Fingers curled around his upper arm, and Henry felt himself being pulled away from the window; it was probably for the best, really.
"Where are we going?" He asked, finding himself being tugged through the corridors of the ship alongside his friend.
Donghae turned to look back at him, a grin on his face. "You need a drink."
Henry looked scandalised. "Donghae! This ship is full of Academy professors!"
It didn't stop Donghae's tugging him along, however, and Henry's spirits began to sink ever further.
It was stupid of him, he knew now in retrospect, to have joined the Academy in the first place. And stupid of him, to have come on this cadet training mission. It was all well and good, teaching the new recruits all the ins and outs, the academia of their chosen path and profession - Henry could recall easily most all of the so-far discovered systems, which planets and moons they comprised of, and all the navigational routes within and between them - but it was all useless without actual experience of being in space.
There were several of these trips throughout a cadet's training, to get them used to being in space, to seeing it, and experiencing how what they had learnt in classrooms down on solid earth applied to real situations. This was the first of such a trip for Henry, and he was beginning to think that it may also be his last.
Belatedly, he realised that Donghae had drawn to a stop, and when Henry looked around at their surroundings he saw that it wasn't the canteen that he'd been brought to. It was the navigation room. Small, in comparison to other parts of the starship, and there were only three navigators needed to work at a time. None of them, dressed in the uniform of a qualified navigator, paid the two cadets any attention; it was common to see them roaming the ship and exploring.
"What are we doing here?" Henry turned to Donghae, his eyebrows creasing together.
Donghae, waving an arm around somewhat wildly - and almost hitting Henry in the face - said, "This is where you'll be. When we graduate, I mean, this is where you'll be working. I thought you should get a proper look at it."
There were no windows in the small room, but in front of the main navigation console was a long, large screen, which showed the view from outside the ship. Right now, as they were moving only very slowly, at normal speeds, the view showed Henry what he had seen from the main deck; endless bright points scattered throughout the blackness of space.
This wasn't the only screen in the room, however, and scattered throughout were smaller screens, and these all contained different images. One was of the system that they were currently making their way through, all the planets and stars and moons named accordingly, with labels over the ones that contained life. And Henry knew, if one was to touch the screen over a particular planet, it would focus in, and give a full read-out of the planet, what kind it was, the general terrain, the level of gases in the air, the thickness of the atmosphere, the kind of life, if any, that had been found there, and countless other things.
And then on other screens were larger maps, with many systems, with colourful lines of navigational routes linking and intertwining and winding their way through and across and around them. Connecting the systems and the planets within, an invisible road that could lead a person to any number of adventures and experiences, to an uncountable amount of different planets.
Seeing Henry's enraptured face, one of the navigators moved over towards this screen, and with a few quick touches, enlarged the image, pulling out from the systems to show entire galaxies, and how these all connected also.
"Well?"
Donghae's voice, so close to his ear, startled Henry, and he fell out of his concentration.
"Well what?" He asked, looking over at his friend.
With a nudge of shoulder to shoulder, Donghae grinned. "How do you feel now?"
It never failed to surprise Henry, when Donghae was perceptive like this. As good a friend as he was, and as much as he was what Henry considered to be his best friend, he always thought of Donghae as being a bit daydreamy, oblivious to the things that happened around him. Much like a lonely planet, surrounded only by the vast emptiness of space around it, unaware and unknowing of what happened further within the system.
And yet, that wasn't Donghae at all, not all of the time. His was a quiet, surprising observation of the people around him, and Donghae had obviously seen the fear and the doubt in Henry earlier. It made him grateful, to have a friend like him.
"Isn't it exciting?" He continued, without waiting for an answer from Henry. "To see all the uncountable planets? All the places that we can go, now? And, because of you, we'll never get lost on our way!"
His enthusiasm brought forth a laugh from Henry. "Well, it's got nothing to do with me yet! We're still cadets in training. I won't be able to stop you getting yourself lost for a couple of years yet."
Slowly, they made their way out of the navigation room, and wandered along the corridors, on their way in a meandering, leisurely manner back to the main deck. "It'll be great, won't it?" Donghae said, musing out loud. "When we've graduated, and can start all the exciting adventures waiting for us."
"I don't know how many adventures there are to be had," Henry laughed, "but it could be exciting."
"You'll be navigating the ship," Donghae continued - to him, there would always be adventures to be had - "And I'll be down in engineering, making sure the ship can keep running its course. That's real team work, that is, navigation and engineering. Without us, a ship would be floundering in space."
"I think the pilots have something to do with it too," Henry added. "And the captain helps, with making the decisions and all."
Donghae waved a hand at him, as if swatting away an irritating fly, and Henry couldn't help but laugh. "Alright," he conceded, nodding. "You're right, and no one would get anywhere if it wasn't for us."
Donghae beamed, victorious.
Eventually, they found their way onto the main deck, where a few of the other cadets in their class were, either sitting around talking and taking notes, or observing their slow journey through space, as Henry had earlier. Donghae stopped to talk to one of them, Shiwon, who would be joining the pilot programme, once they all went off on their separate, chosen paths.
Henry found himself at the window again, and this time, the giant space beyond didn't fill him with the same awe-inspiring fear that it had before. Space was huge, uncomprehendingly so, and there were too many planets and moons and stars and rocks to be counted, too much life teaming within it, the majority, Henry suspected, still unexplored and unknown to humans.
And yet, for as many stars as there were, there were endless possibilities within each one, bright and burning and tempting.
This, he realised, was why he had joined the Academy in the first place. And it was this that would keep him in it, until he graduated, and could travel the invisible paths between the stars, between the possibilities.
"Hey! Henry!"
Hearing his name, Henry turned to see Donghae coming towards him, and pulling a rather embarrassed Shiwon behind him. There was that look in Donghae's eyes, the look that always shouted out 'mischief' to Henry, and he'd learnt long ago never to trust it.
"Shiwon here is feeling a little nervous on his first trip into space. Shall we go show him how to make it better?"
Henry knew it was a bad idea, because Donghae actually, honest to Zarlenx, winked at him. Shiwon was not going to be subjected to the same kind of 'making it better' Henry had just experienced.
And, judging by the slightly nervous, yet curious, look on Shiwon's face, and the friendly smile that he was giving them both, the poor bastard had no clue.
Who needed the endless possibilities of the galaxy, when Donghae was their friend.
(What Henry hadn't realised, those few years ago now, was that Donghae really had meant it when he'd said they would have 'exciting adventures'.
On their first mission together, on a starship captained by the even then notorious Heechul Kim, Donghae had accidentally discovered how to send a starship through space at a, as of then undiscovered, speed several times above the highest that engineers and scientists had built into the engine systems. It had been tough work for Henry, to navigate them through a particularly tricky system of planets, at speeds no one had ever travelled before, much less navigated their way through.
They'd come through that experience okay, with their jobs, and their qualifications intact, mostly because Captain Kim was as unconventional as Donghae. And after that, Henry quickly learned that most of their 'adventures' would be thanks to Donghae.
Though, the time that their ship crash landed onto an unknown planet would be Donghae's fault, and no one was grateful for that experience, especially when it lead them all to discovering a creature that seemed an evolved - evolved, but still dangerous - relation to the mythical Zarlenx.)
- end -
I...have totally lost the ability to write anymore 8D; but I kind of want to write more of HenHae's space adventures now >_>