Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 16B - 3

"Can you explain?"

"Not particularly," Felix said, working with Buster using his knees as pillows. His brother snored, not fully recovered from the virus and sapped of power from the binding. Buster's presence hummed in the back of his neck, floating in the euphoria of being warm again. Felix knew Buster suffered, but this was worse than he thought. His mind would have started cracking soon, even with Buster's sons to help buoy him above the waves of loneliness. 

"Try, please," Darius asked, adding the request a little too quickly. 

Felix could decline. He probably should. Darius planned to dethrone him and take over. They both knew it, but Felix was a little floaty himself from regaining his brother in the web. "You don't have an equivalent sense to compare it to," Felix settled with, not answering or refusing to answer. 

"Buster cried. He's soft, but not that soft." Darius crossed his feet on the table, fiddling with a pad that Felix shouldn't let him have. 

Felix wasn't going to fight that battle. He was going to wake up with his neck slit and everyone was going to say he was an idoit for letting Darius have so much freedom. Yet, he trusted Darius. Or maybe it was, he knew Darius would protect his people, which meant playing nice with Felix and Stone. 

"He's not an agent, Felix agreed. "He cries easier." 

"Not that much easier."

Felix hummed, disagreeing. Buster cried easily when they were younger. Being a grown man didn't remove the fact that Buster felt his hurts stronger. He felt everything stronger. It was why he ran off to clutch without permission. He wanted his sons badly. His mother called him a sensitive soul. Their father called him a crybaby. Felix never had that opinion. 

"Being cold is never fun. He's suffered for a while," Felix said, "You know I've set lures for him before."

"Buster has never been alone. We kept him company."

"Not in the way that mattered. It's not a criticism, you couldn't be what he needed." None of the variations outside of Djinn had a spiritual bond in the same way. A few had similar bits of spice to their genetics but it wasn't the same. 

"I wasn't going to sleep with him. I like Buster. Sleeping with him could ruin the dynamics and I valued him far more as a friend," Darius grumbled. 

"Not every relation is sexual unless you think I'm about to commit incest?" Felix lifted an eyebrow. As far as he knew, every variant had incest as a taboo. Some let siblings be in the same relationship pods, but not sexually. Some variants had large family groups that made it difficult for it to be any other way.

"I assumed being blood related offered alternative routes," Darius said. 

Felix nodded. "You're not wrong, but plenty of adult Djinn are bounded without sleeping together. Thinking about it, maybe Pax would be the closest person to give Buster what he needed. None of you are weavers, but he has some empathic abilities. The boys helped." 

"One day, I'll understand." Darius shook his head but accepted that he couldn't comprehend why Buster had collapsed. "Will you need to do the same to the kids?"

"Jet and Wind are connected to me through Buster. I won't need to bind them unless they no longer want Buster as their primary." 

"I'm glad."

"It's not painful for kids. Adults don't bound like this normally, or rather not to one person only. It's a web," Felix forced the word. "We'll find others, one day." Felix and Buster couldn't be the only adult Djinn survivors. They'd found others of other 'extinct' genotypes. There were other Djinn recorded but none that had talent to get assigned on S-level ships.

Darius nodded, a hand petting Buster's hair. "Are you planning to train Buster up as an agent?"

 "He's too soft for that," Felix said. Their General asked the same question. Darius needed loyalty training and a healthy oath or two to keep him in check, but it made sense for him to continue as a spy master. Most under Felix's care would continue, if with alternative paths than expected. They didn't need a new communications officer. Felix was Buster's superior in his other useful skills, and he had an excellent team.

The truth was if Felix didn't need another Djinn around, there would be no excuse not to put Buster on a sister ship. Not everyone could be integrated on a fully staffed vessel.

"We agree on this"

"My brother is good at his job. We'll find a place for him," Felix said, knowing Darius broke into the assignment records early to check their plans for everyone. "Maybe Pax could train him to assist in the docks?"

"They trust Dockin, not strange Websters," Darius said. "Can't you transfer one of your officers to give Buster a place on the list of comm stuff?"

"None have any blackmarks on their records. The one rule was we couldn't let the reassignments overrule people who earned the right to come onboard. Zoe, Lex and Cade all do good jobs." Felix checked Lex and Cade close before letting them near his daughter. Lex had family money and name fueling her drive; she needed to impress and go far. Cade had more blood on his hands. The man was a slumrat who fought to earn the right hand.

"I'll arrange something."

"Darius."

Darius rolled his eyes. "There will be other roles, Buster can fulfil, but I want him close. He's too soft but family." 

"I'll find something. It will be easier now he's awake," Felix said, brushing Buster's hair out of his face. "Don't sabotage the brats because they are inconvenient. Buster's not going anywhere."

"Spoilsport," Darius relaxed against his shoulder. "I'll leave them alone for now."

"The bigger question is what to do with you."

"I'm good. I have my own things to achieve," Darious shrugged. "You can try to assign me a job if it makes you feel better. I'm not giving fealty until Pax does though."

"I need to deal with that too"