Chapter Text
Rowni never expected that, when she put the photo of her with Langa and his human companion on The FEED, that it would go viral. She just figured everyone in her class would be super jealous and it would be fun to flaunt her photo in front of the snotty boy whom she knows for a fact loves Langa. Rowni expected that her Mother would send the image to her friends and they would say, “how cool!” and then bring it up in conversation next time the Star Children or Langa were mentioned.
She really didn’t think it would be a big deal.
Turns out, Rowni posting a photo of her with The Langa and his human companion on The FEED went viral.
While the Star Children were certainly celebrities, Rowni hadn’t necessarily paid that close attention to them. There were other Idols and entertainers she liked more and plus she was helping her Father fix up an old hoverbike; plus plus Suuta lessons and hanging out with her friends. Rowni was a busy girl!
At only ten solar cycles, Rowni knew that the Star Children were living treaties with other planets in the Coalition and something bad happened on the planet that Langa was from so he wasn’t allowed on Anrora for a while. She didn’t think that was a big deal, but apparently it was.
Rowni’s photo was reposted on The FEED 30,000 times in 4 hours. Unsurprisingly, there was a video taken of the interaction as well. The fist bump was now making waves as the new popular trend. Rowni’s name was attached to everything. She cried to her mother to help with all the messages, most were spam offers to be interviewed on more popular pages. Rowni’s mother was overwhelmed but did see this as maybe a small blessing in disguise.
They agreed to one interview the following morning.
The Headline read, ‘Star Child Langa and his human companion stop to teach child Earth greeting! Rowni says, “Humans are actually really cool!”
~*-*~
Langa dreamt of being at a snowboarding competition. The air was cold but the sky was clear… a bluebird day his Dad always said. He felt the hazy recognition that his parents are here, helping with the event as volunteers, eagerly keeping track of line up to be sure to watch Langa’s run. Langa felt the friction of snow under his board as he turned to stop at the starting point… someone shouted his name from the equipment tent… the event volunteer ski slippers… one of them was really cute… a boy… he felt embarrassed at the revelation…
Langa dreamt of the 6th grade science fair; his Dad taking pictures of his shitty model solar system that he made with his Mom. Even though his Dad advised against it, he added a little space ship around Europa. The teacher gave him points for ‘creativity.’ He dreamt of the car next to theirs not starting afterwards, his classmate’s purple mini van. His Dad offered to help then teaching Langa how to jump a car battery… a heavy hand on Langa’s shoulder… the warm breeze of the late April night… the sound of spring peepers…
Langa woke up as Reki crawled over him in the early morning (afternoon?) to use the bathroom. When he returned, Langa snuggled up to his side and fell back asleep as Reki ran his fingers through his hair and traced little patterns on his horns.
Langa dreamt of ski lift rides… just the two of them. Speaking in french and playing I Spy to pass the time. He dreamt of warm fires as they thawed from the surprise winter squall. The look on his Dad’s face when the bartender (who his Dad and his friend always see on Tuesdays) asked why Langa wasn’t in school…
He dreamt of the party on Anrora when Ru turned two solar cycles. The food was better than usual, he ate for most of the event. His Dad scolding him during but complimenting him afterwards, saying he was due for a growth spurt…
Langa woke up a second time when Reki untangled himself from his arms with apologetic kisses and a promise of ‘you can stay in bed’. Langa knew Reki was usually an early riser or at least one that couldn’t stay still for long after he had woken up.
Langa dreamt of the CSA annual banquet. He dreamt of his Mother’s pretty gold dress and having to redo his tie in the bathroom. He dreamt of an explosion… smoke… a gas bomb… his Dad yelling his name… his Dad without his camouflage? His heart raced. Confusion. Fear. He dreamt of running with the CSA agents as masked Anrorans searched for him. Langa heard blaster guns shooting at the reinforced door… the door failed… the weapons aimed at him…
Muffled voices emanating from the other rooms and warm fingers caressing his cheek pulled him into consciousness. Langa blinked his eyes open to see Reki sitting on the edge of the bed, his mouth stretched into a soft smile. Langa’s heart rate was elevated, his chest tight, his mind grasped desperately to the last strings of the dream. It was bad; whatever that dream was… but Reki. Reki was here now. That was good.
“Morning sleepy head,” he whispered, trailing the backs of his fingers down Langa’s face. And fuck, it felt nice. Langa hummed and closed his eyes again to bask a little longer in the comfort of the sleepy haze and Reki’s touch. The panic was fading from his body from whatever he had dreamt.
“How did you sleep?” Reki’s voice was closer to normal volume.
“Good,” his throat was dry but his voice was even, his heart rate was back to normal. Any hope of recovering what the dreams were was gone. “I think I had some weird dreams.” He stretched his arms under the blankets with a groan making Reki laugh.
“Really? I was literally dead to the world. That incense is amazing. Like, seriously. That was the best night's sleep I’ve had in years!” Reki exclaimed, patting a hand on Langa’s chest. “Can we bring some home?”
Langa shook his head with a yawn.
“Damn,” Reki’s shoulders slumped, he looked out the window getting distracted by a brightly colored hologram advertisement. He got up with an adjustment to his sweatpants, moving to the desk, “I just wanted to get my Language thingy and wake you up.”
“Are people here?” Langa sat up, adjusting the pillows behind him.
Reki’s eyes refocused on him. “Popka and her parents. They brought some stuff for breakfast, and figured you wouldn’t want to miss that.” Reki grabbed his ear piece from the desk and fit it back in his ear. “I was doing pretty good with just your Dad, he speaks Japanese pretty well. And I was surprised Popka knows English! But my English sucks sooo,” He trailed off, getting distracted by the scene outside the window again.
“Yaaa,” Langa said, stretching his arms. He should probably get dressed, and go be social, and eat something. The latter was the most convincing. He semi-reluctantly rolled out of bed and stiffly made his way to his duffle bag. “English is one of the suggested languages we were supposed to learn,” he meant the Star Children but Langa felt that was a given. “I think Popka learned because of me.”
“Wait, so,” Reki turned to watch him struggle to balance while putting on his prized flannel pj pants, shaking his head slightly. “How many languages do you know?”
“Um, well I’m fluent in English, Japanese, and I guess Mamnai,” He paused to think for a moment. “My French is really rusty but it's probably passable. I know a little of Popka’s, Schuh’s and Fairlop’s native language but I haven’t used those in a long time.” Reki’s face became increasingly more shocked. “Oh and some Spanish and Italian, they’re pretty similar and close to French.”
“What the hell, dude? That’s literally crazy!” Reki ran a hand through his hair.
Langa shrugged, turning to look for something that would fit him in his closet. It was way easier to pick up languages the more you learned. Every Anoran is taught at least three languages but many know eight or more.
Reki let out an exasperated sigh as Langa pulled a mustard colored shirt from his pile of clothes at the bottom of his closet. It was oversized last time he was here so hopefully that meant that it fit him properly now. He carefully put all his arms in the long sleeves and pulled it over his horns. He turned back to Reki to find him looking at him with a weird warmth, almost an adoration in his eyes. No no, only Langa got to look at Reki like that. It was rare to see the redhead give the same kind of softness.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Langa felt flushed.
“You’re just full of surprises,” Reki chuckled lightly. “And I think I’m finally getting used to seeing you like this.” He blinked. “Hey, wait. You think my English sucks?”
Langa only shrugged again, eyes darting away from his boyfriend and toward the door. “I mean, you said it, not me.”
“Whatever man,” Reki scoffed. He grabbed Langa’s Language Tech and took the three steps over to Langa. “Not that you need this but, here.” He handed over the ear piece and squinted at his shirt.
Langa looked down as he put the tech in. Maybe it was dirty? There was a logo for a charity event they were a part of and shit… there was a stain. Something oily must’ve discolored the shirt just under the lettering but it was barely noticeable.
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just an actual color besides blue.”
Langa smiled, “I think you said before that you liked how yellow looked on me? What do you think?”
Reki regarded him again, looking mischievous. He took another step closer, he placed a hand on Langa’s chest that quickly traveled up to hold his chin in place for a surprise searing kiss. The kind of kiss that made his stomach flip with fluttering butterflies. The kind of kiss that made his mind go blank except for the warm touch of Reki. The kind of kiss that left him breathless.
He gasped when Reki slowly pulled away, his eyes locked on Langa’s. “I think,” He started as he backed away. “That red looks good on you too.” Reki smirked, obviously proud of himself.
“Reki, you are gonna kill me with stuff like that,” Langa whispered, touching the control pad to open the door. He took a breath hoping it would center him as Reki snickered next to him. Langa wished that they were alone. So badly. He wanted to tackle Reki to the bed and take his time making him feel just as he had made him feel. But he couldn’t. People were waiting for them in the kitchen, his Dad was in the kitchen. He can’t have a repeat of the changing room incident.
Reki grabbed his wrist before they made their way to the company in the kitchen, “Hey, I was talking to your Dad and wondering if you wanted to try skating today?”
Is this the code word? He was supposed to come up with something else but he forgot. He thought that Reki wanted to try the bikes? “Is this the code word? Do you not want to go out there?”
“What?” Reki’s eyebrows narrowed and then relaxed as he remembered. “No, dude, I’m fine. I was talking to your Dad and he said they have compact hover generators.” He talked with his hands, miming the shape of the size of the generators. “They're like this big and on these like roller skate things. I think I could swap out the wheels on your skateboard and then you wouldn’t have to change back.”
Langa smiled to himself. He really shouldn’t be surprised that he would try to make something out of the new tech he had access to. All Langa knew about hover tech was that it uses super powered magnets.
Langa bent down to grab his board that was laying next to his bag and handed it to Reki, “Yeah dude, it’s your creation anyways. You know I’ll try any board you make.”
Reki’s face erupted with a toothy smile. “Sweet!” He took it and started inspecting the trucks. “Upgrading the L2S! She’s gonna be so cool!
“She?”
“Yeah! Your board is totally a chick.”
“If you say so,” Langa could smell something cooking now. He was eager to see what it was, but Reki’s hand came up again to stop him.
“I just wanted to uh,” Reki fidgeted with the wheels. “I had a good time last night.”
Oh. Langa felt his face heat up. Reki hardly ever talked about their… encounters after they happened. Maybe they had moved too fast?
“Like really good. And I was thinking since I said I wanted to go slow and I’m not sure if we’ve actually been doing that or what. But I wanted to check to see if you wanted to- ah I guess, I’m fine if we um, I-I don’t mean go all the way! But I think I would be okay if we go a little further, if you want.”
Reki played with the wheels of Langa’s board the entire time he was talking, unable to make eye contact with Langa whose brain was trying to process. Reki wanted to go further?!? Like further than hand stuff? Was that… like, oral? …Sweet… That was totally fine with Langa. He wanted whatever Reki wanted. Langa remembered he needed to answer.
“I… had a really good time too.”
Reki’s eyes darted quickly to Langa’s then back to the skateboard.
Langa continued, feeling his face blush. “And ya, I’m fine with whatever you want.”
Reki pursed his lips, obviously displeased.
“Seriously!” Langa held up his hands in defense. “If there’s something I’m uncomfortable with, I’ll let you know.”
Reki rolled his eyes but seemed satisfied with that response. “Promise?” He held up a pinky.
Langa smiled. “Promise.” He said earnestly, connecting his pinky from his primary right hand. He squeezed it and brought Reki’s hand up to place a firm kiss on the back of his hand. “I love you, Reki.”
Reki squeaked and mumbled it back, the redhead suddenly embarrassed looking anywhere but at his boyfriend. There was a sudden clang from the kitchen then Popka’s laugh. Reki started to pull in that direction.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom and meet you out there.” Langa squeezed his hand again and released it.
Reki nodded, “Oookay!” He turned with a hop and scampered back to the living room clutching the blue skateboard like a prize.
~~***~~
Langa couldn’t help but think about blow jobs and had a difficult time using the bathroom.
~~***~~ ~~***~~ ~~***~~
When Langa arrived in the kitchen, Popka could see he was a little surprised by the arrangement of people. Her friend was notoriously hard to read; he had obviously changed and grown since she’d last seen him, but it was in the way his fingers fiddled with the hem of his shirt that let her know he was unsettled. And to his credit, having Reki here must be very strange for him.
However, Reki seemed unphased. He was tinkering with the board and the compact hover tech in the middle of the couched area, with tools provided by Langa’s Dad strewn across the decorative rug. He looked up as Langa entered the room and flashed him a bright smile, his oversized hoodie sleeves bunched up around his elbows. Popka never expected Langa to attract someone with such a sunny disposition, but they seemed to be a perfect compliment.
Popka and her parents had taken over the kitchen. Her mother was cooking sausage-shaped food in a pan while her and Uroco, her mother’s partner, arranged a tray reminiscent of a charcuterie board. Her family was a flurry of fur and tails, used to making themselves right at home in Nek’s condo.
Meanwhile, Nek stood with his arms crossed in the open doorway of his bedroom clearly on a call. His demeanor changed significantly when he first answered the call. He told her to check her FEED in a hushed tone before stepping away to nod and ‘mhm’ to the agent on the other line. What she found on the social site was just as alarming as it was exciting.
“Langa! Good morning!” Popka yipped, her tails gave small happy wags as she placed a jar of fruit spread on the board. “You aren’t going to believe this!” She wiped her hands (paws?) on her flowy brown knit garment.
“Is it about the food?” Langa leaned on the counter to inspect the many delicious foods they had set out.
Popka rolled her eyes and passed him a slice of bread, better to feed him a little so he could focus. “Nooo,” she pulled up a screen on her P2P and turned it to him. She adjusted the language on her device to English with two taps and Langa was reading all about Reki and his passing moment with the child at the train station. The number of shares and comments was overwhelming.
The FEED, a social media-esque site Langa had told her reminded him of something called Twitter. All the Star Children had accounts, some that were run by someone who works with Nek and some that they managed themselves. Popka knew that Langa never even had the install on his P2P.
“What’s going on?” Reki asked from behind him, leaning his arm on Langa’s shoulder. Popka tapped again and the language switched to Japanese.
“You guys are viral!” Her golden eyes darted over Reki’s face to gauge his reaction as he read. She prided herself on her ability to read body languages, something her Vulpaen genes made natural, plus Reki was very obvious with his excitement.
Langa had once told her that he always felt a bit like a bug under a magnifying glass when he was on this planet. Like he was under constant observation and he could ignite in flames at any second. Popka hoped being away for so long had helped him, but given the circumstances in which he was forced to leave… perhaps it's more frightening than she initially thought. Nevertheless, Reki was excited.
“Duuudeee!” Reki’s hand squeezed Langa’s shoulder. “That’s so... I don’t know, like, weird to hear humans talked about like that.”
Langa gave a small hum in acknowledgement, his eyes glazing over slightly as Reki scrolled through comments on her device.
“I think the call your Dad is on is about this,” Popka gestured with her secondary hand to Nek and his disgruntled posture. He glanced up at them, having probably felt their eyes on him. He gave a small wave and a weak smile before struggling to get a word in but the person on the other end must’ve had a lot to say.
“This is good, ya?” Her mother placed the cooked ‘sausages’ to cool on a serving dish. “This is beneficial for Earth. Good exposure, ya?” She set the pan in the sink, running her hand along Popka’s back, she made her way around to squeeze Langa’s shoulders. “Oh, Little Kit! Don’t stress!” Langa’s face winced slightly at her mother’s claws as she massaged his tense muscles. “Let’s eat and think about happy progress!”
Langa sighed but nodded.
“I wanna show you the board real fast,” Reki’s focus shifted away from her P2P device finally. “Do we have a little time?” He asked her mother who nodded.
“We gotta set the table and figure out how to get Nek off this call.” Her mother smiled warmly at the pair.
“We can help with the table, right Langa?” Reki offered, pulling at Langa’s yellow sleeve.
“I suuuppose,” Langa said through a yawn. He slid off the stool and he and Reki got to work getting plates and flatware. They idly chat about this skating board. Reki seemed to be altering Langa’s original with Anroran tech. Which is impressive, given that he’s been on this planet for maybe 24 hours and already feels comfortable with the technology.
“He’s quite a human,” Uroco commented when they were out of ear shot. He had experience working on the Star Child program’s research department and spent a lot of time with the Earth delegation.
“He sure is,” Her mother quietly yipped in agreement, her green eyes twinkling with a hint of mischief. “Grab the glasses and tray, please. I’m going to try to get Nek off the call.”
Popka gave a thin lipped smile at her mother, “Good luck, Mom.”
She felt strange watching Langa and Reki interact. While she really liked Reki, it was hard not to be protective of Langa, especially given the circumstances. Popka always took it upon herself to shield Langa of all the ridiculous shit that Epping dealt out. But seeing the way Langa looked at Reki when the red headed human pointed out the new changes on the board, it was obvious how much they cared about each other. Maybe the feeling was jealousy since she hadn’t found someone that looked at her like that.
With the table set, her mother causing a distraction, and Uroco making warm beverages, Popka cautiously approached the pair on the living room floor, catching Reki at the end of his explanation.
“- give it enough thrust to balance the force from just your toes, hopefully.” Reki glanced up to watch her. “I could explain it all again if you want? Basically these guys are twice as powerful.” He points to the two hover units on the right side of Langa’s board.
“And this is a snowboard for roads?” Popka squatted to sit, her tails curling in on her left side. She was one of the few people to actually know about Langa’s athletic skills. While a similar sport existed on Anrora, Langa liked to keep private about the things he enjoyed. And Popka respected that, accepting that she was allowed into his small inner world like it was a high honor.
Langa shifted to include her more, “Kinda actually. This is called a skateboard. Reki makes the best boards ever!”
Reki’s cheeks were shifting color, Popka couldn’t remember what beings without fur called that. “It’s really not that big of a deal, Langa!” Reki bumped Langa’s secondary arm. “I just wanted to figure out a way you could skate with the Anroran feet.”
“Oh,” She noticed Reki’s flat feet for the first time. She never realized humans walked on their heels. Skating with this board must need special weight distribution. “No, that sounds complicated. I’m impressed!”
Reki’s face grew more red. “Wha, I- just, ahh!” He stammered before setting the board down and pulling his hood over his face.
“Reki doesn’t like to be complimented,” Langa poked at his boyfriend’s side. “Is the food ready?”
With how much Langa had grown and changed, Popka was relieved to see some things never change. She rolled her eyes, leaning back to check on her mom. It seemed like they were having a whole conversation through hand gestures while Nek repeated, ‘Got it. Thank you.’ over and over to whoever was still trying to talk to him.
“The food is ready. We just gotta get your Dad,” She said while leaning back in to get a closer look at the board. The handy work did look very professional. The spare screws and wheels were organized in a small pile so they wouldn’t be lost. It was embarrassing for her that this was challenging her own beliefs about humans.
She felt Langa rise from the floor next to her, but she was still interested in the board. The top looked different than the painted design on the bottom. The grip was rough on the pad of her finger. Reki peeked out from his hood to watch her. The sweater had the most interesting smells on it, the longer she spent with Reki the more curious she was of all of the origins of those Earth scents.
“Langa, wait!” Nek’s voice from behind her exclaimed and she turned to look.
Langa had grabbed the device from his father’s wrist and was currently pressing the ‘End Call’ button.
“There.” He announced, handing the wristband back to Nek. “Now we can eat.”
Next to them, her mother clapped.
~~***~~