music from a farther room
Title: music from a farther room
Character/Pairing: Yoochun (Jaejoong/Yunho/Yoochun)
Rating: G
Summary: AU. "The last thing Yoochun sees is the door slipping shut, the reflection of his own face in the glass falling towards him; then he knows nothing."
Author's notes: For
ranalore's prompt: Jaehochun, "human voices wake us"
The cryochamber is cold - too cold for thought, hope, memory, too cold even for dreams to keep you occupied while you sleep away the years. The last thing Yoochun sees is the door slipping shut, the reflection of his own face in the glass falling towards him; then he knows nothing.
When he comes back to himself, warmth leeching at last into the ends of his fingers and the tip of his nose, the first thing he registers is voices. Too quiet, Yoochun thinks somewhere beneath full consciousness. He shouldn't be able to hear speaking voices so easily over the hum of machinery that ought to be filling the room. Yoochun persuades his eyes to open eventually, blinking against the sprinkling of frost caught in his eyelashes, and sees that the door to the cryochamber is open and there are two men in front of him. They're wearing near-identical uniforms, but the taller one has an array of pens and gadgetry about his person - scientist in any language. The shorter one has a gun in his hands and another in a holster at his side, carries himself ready to use either - equally obviously, soldier. They're discussing something with a fair amount of urgency, but Yoochun can't quite make out the topic, the shape of their words falling strange on his ears.
Yoochun tries to speak. Nothing comes out, but he manages to half-raise an arm, and the movement draws their attention. “This one's awake!” the one Yoochun's pegged 'scientist' says, louder than before, and the soldier swings his gun in a token attempt to cover Yoochun, although from his expression he doesn't really think Yoochun's a threat. Yoochun's just relieved he can understand them - they're speaking galaxy Standard after all, though the vowels are longer than Yoochun's used to and their consonants are strangely clipped, chopping the words into unfamiliar syllables Yoochun needs to think about to make sense of. “What's your name?”
Yoochun has to clear his throat twice before he can speak. “Yoochun,” he croaks out at last. There are things he needs to ask, things he should probably be doing, but he can't even make his tongue function properly right now.
“All right, Yoochun,” soldier says. “Let's get you out of there.” They each grab one of Yoochun's arms, pull him out more gently than Yoochun had expected. Out of the corner of his eye, Yoochun catches - no other light above any chambers, no other open doors. That's not right. There were a thousand other people in this room, his friends and family among them, a thousand other blinking lights that should have been keeping them alive, keeping them with him.
He can't get together enough thought to ask, can't even get his legs to support his weight without wobbling. “Hey, careful!” scientist says, catching at Yoochun's elbow as he lists to one side suddenly, almost falling.
“You?” Yoochun asks. There had been more to that sentence in his mind, but the question seems to be understood anyway.
“I'm Yunho,” scientist says, “and that's Jaejoong. We're part of an Estrian exploratory mission.”
Yoochun has no idea what 'Estrian' even is - state, moon, planet, empire? “Long?” he tries.
“How long you've been in there?” Yunho asks. Soldier - Jaejoong - seems to be more occupied with looking around the room than answering Yoochun's questions. Yoochun nods, and Yunho lets go of him to poke at his hand screen. “Near as we can make out, 532 years Standard. And some change.”
Yoochun stares. The system was never designed for that long - a century, they'd been told. Maybe an extra fifty years if they were really lucky. If help hadn't come by then, it would be too late for them. The question that's been scratching at the back of his mind claws its way to the front.
“Others?” he asks. He can't keep the desperation out of his voice when he says, “Family?”
This gets Jaejoong's attention at last. There's sympathy in his voice when he replies. “Sorry,” he says. “So far... we haven't. Been able to wake anyone else up. The system-" he trails off, and Yoochun's heart pounds in his ears in the sudden restoration of silence. "We were barely in time for you,” Jaejoong finishes at last.
Yoochun knows what that means - father, mother, Yoohwan, Jihyun - that and the quiet, the lack of any other activity in the room. He's the only one left. His knees give way at the knowledge; this time it's Jaejoong who catches him, goes to his knees with Yoochun under their combined weight, holds Yoochun as he shakes with the realisation that he's all alone, five hundred and more years from everything he knows.
Character/Pairing: Yoochun (Jaejoong/Yunho/Yoochun)
Rating: G
Summary: AU. "The last thing Yoochun sees is the door slipping shut, the reflection of his own face in the glass falling towards him; then he knows nothing."
Author's notes: For
ranalore's prompt: Jaehochun, "human voices wake us"
The cryochamber is cold - too cold for thought, hope, memory, too cold even for dreams to keep you occupied while you sleep away the years. The last thing Yoochun sees is the door slipping shut, the reflection of his own face in the glass falling towards him; then he knows nothing.
When he comes back to himself, warmth leeching at last into the ends of his fingers and the tip of his nose, the first thing he registers is voices. Too quiet, Yoochun thinks somewhere beneath full consciousness. He shouldn't be able to hear speaking voices so easily over the hum of machinery that ought to be filling the room. Yoochun persuades his eyes to open eventually, blinking against the sprinkling of frost caught in his eyelashes, and sees that the door to the cryochamber is open and there are two men in front of him. They're wearing near-identical uniforms, but the taller one has an array of pens and gadgetry about his person - scientist in any language. The shorter one has a gun in his hands and another in a holster at his side, carries himself ready to use either - equally obviously, soldier. They're discussing something with a fair amount of urgency, but Yoochun can't quite make out the topic, the shape of their words falling strange on his ears.
Yoochun tries to speak. Nothing comes out, but he manages to half-raise an arm, and the movement draws their attention. “This one's awake!” the one Yoochun's pegged 'scientist' says, louder than before, and the soldier swings his gun in a token attempt to cover Yoochun, although from his expression he doesn't really think Yoochun's a threat. Yoochun's just relieved he can understand them - they're speaking galaxy Standard after all, though the vowels are longer than Yoochun's used to and their consonants are strangely clipped, chopping the words into unfamiliar syllables Yoochun needs to think about to make sense of. “What's your name?”
Yoochun has to clear his throat twice before he can speak. “Yoochun,” he croaks out at last. There are things he needs to ask, things he should probably be doing, but he can't even make his tongue function properly right now.
“All right, Yoochun,” soldier says. “Let's get you out of there.” They each grab one of Yoochun's arms, pull him out more gently than Yoochun had expected. Out of the corner of his eye, Yoochun catches - no other light above any chambers, no other open doors. That's not right. There were a thousand other people in this room, his friends and family among them, a thousand other blinking lights that should have been keeping them alive, keeping them with him.
He can't get together enough thought to ask, can't even get his legs to support his weight without wobbling. “Hey, careful!” scientist says, catching at Yoochun's elbow as he lists to one side suddenly, almost falling.
“You?” Yoochun asks. There had been more to that sentence in his mind, but the question seems to be understood anyway.
“I'm Yunho,” scientist says, “and that's Jaejoong. We're part of an Estrian exploratory mission.”
Yoochun has no idea what 'Estrian' even is - state, moon, planet, empire? “Long?” he tries.
“How long you've been in there?” Yunho asks. Soldier - Jaejoong - seems to be more occupied with looking around the room than answering Yoochun's questions. Yoochun nods, and Yunho lets go of him to poke at his hand screen. “Near as we can make out, 532 years Standard. And some change.”
Yoochun stares. The system was never designed for that long - a century, they'd been told. Maybe an extra fifty years if they were really lucky. If help hadn't come by then, it would be too late for them. The question that's been scratching at the back of his mind claws its way to the front.
“Others?” he asks. He can't keep the desperation out of his voice when he says, “Family?”
This gets Jaejoong's attention at last. There's sympathy in his voice when he replies. “Sorry,” he says. “So far... we haven't. Been able to wake anyone else up. The system-" he trails off, and Yoochun's heart pounds in his ears in the sudden restoration of silence. "We were barely in time for you,” Jaejoong finishes at last.
Yoochun knows what that means - father, mother, Yoohwan, Jihyun - that and the quiet, the lack of any other activity in the room. He's the only one left. His knees give way at the knowledge; this time it's Jaejoong who catches him, goes to his knees with Yoochun under their combined weight, holds Yoochun as he shakes with the realisation that he's all alone, five hundred and more years from everything he knows.