Apius and Caetia fell asleep in each other's arms on the lounge, game controllers, empty bowls and two empty bottles of alcohol. Caetia was the dominant spoon with Apius cuddling into her with his head under hers. Caetia woke up sighing as she slowly wakes up, rubbing the back of her beloved brother, squeezing him tighter into herself. It was moments like this that she dreams of, but with her father joining in. Despite missing her mother at such a young age, she truly didn't recall her enough to envision her joining as well. Thankfully she gets to have it one way or another, her love for Apius burned so strong even in the cold morning. She kept squeezing her brother into her more and breathing deeply, her lower region felt damp, sticky and feeling wonderful. She almost forgot that they had sex on the lounge before they went to sleep, her ass still slightly excreting some of her brother's cum. It was a damn good thing they had good cleaning materials as well as droids for the job. Both Caetia and Apius were very thankful for their personal droid and nicknamed them as 'Ana' because of the name the company they came from. 'Autonomous Neuroptics Automatons'. They were a group of Quarian and Geth designers who wanted to make really good robotic servants. They weren't a big company but delivered quality over quantity when it came to artificial intelligence alongside Geth ingenuity. The droids they made wasn't a Geth by any means but the flexible attitudes, personalities, physical structure and mobile features was clearly evident of being built off of the Geth design. The one that Apius and Caetia had was set to a calming nature, not too cheery and not too dreary. They set the personality to be a caring, parental figure with extensive knowledge of the both of them. It however wasn't a replacement, just with a data bank of all the knowledge the droid needed to know about the two siblings to make their life easier and comfortable. Ana was set to mostly clean, cook, shop for supplies and to remind the two of events and planning. Ana moved silently by sweeping the floor humming a soft and gentle deep note, it's facial scanning caught sight of Caetia awake. "Good morning darling." Ana said in a warm tone, it stopped sweeping and faced Caetia properly and bowed slightly. Caetia smiled and waved slightly back to Ana, "How was your sleep?" "Good." Caetia said back tiredly, she was still waking up and having her brother over her also made it slightly difficult to talk; not that she minded, Ana had good audio chips so Caetia could actually just whisper if she wanted to. "I'm glad you and your brother had a good time last night. Apologies for only getting started, I had to order your food and arrange for your tickets to be delivered. You two are going on that wondrous 'Jellyfish Flying Trip'. What would you like to eat for breakfast?" Caetia's mandibles twitched, she completely forgot. She patted Apius on his back and trying to move about to shake him away. "Api wake up, wake up!" Apius jerked up in an induced state of panic and fell off the lounge, bottles and bowls being knocked over in the process. "I'm sorry!" Caetia felt horrible, Apius caught up eventually and wiped his forehead. Caetia quickly joined him and hugged him close, he embraced her still trying to catch his breath. "It's ok it's ok. I'm ok." Ana started picking up the rubbish and cleaning up the floor. "What's going on?" "We're going on that Jellyfish ride, I completely forgot. We are going to have to leave in 2 hours. I'm so sorry for triggering you." "It's ok, I know you're sorry." Apius held his sister's head by the sides, eventually pressing their heads together. Apius and Caetia let go of each other and prepared to stand up together. "Thank you Ana, good morning. Sorry for the mess." "It is absolutely no problem. What do you want for breakfast?" Ana said warmly, their headlight display turned to a warm blue. "I feel like pancakes for breakfast." Apius started picking up some of the trash on the ground, "Let me help you out." "As you wish, darling." Apius followed Ana to the kitchen with the trash he picked off the floor. As he put it in the bin Ana had started the kitchen ready for cooking. Apius walked over to Ana in the hopes for a hug, Ana sensed him behind it and faced him. "Is something the matter? Or do you want a hug?" "I would love a hug please." Apius hugged Ana and pressed against their metal body, the cold surface was something he enjoyed. When Apius let go Ana's lights flashed in a pleasant pink, it beeped and then turned back to preparing to cook. Apius went back to the living room and sat on the lounge, Caetia was waiting for him to come cuddle up with her on the lefthand side of the lounge. She turned on the TV as Apius got comfortable, leaning into her as she stroked his side. Caetia loved being the big spoon as it made her feel like she was caring for her brother; Apius didn't complain as he was use to being the little spoon since his childhood. "-weather by the coast is windy with the likelihood of rain, but we're in luck that it shouldn't last long. If you're going to the mountains or the deep forest it will be cloudy, dark and windy but with no rain. So make sure you pack yourself with warm clothing. In our major cities up North-" Caetia changed the channel to one playing soothing music. A famous human artist called Enya from eons ago had made music that stood the test of time and space. Caetia squeezed her brother upper torso as she breathed deeply to sigh, "I think we got lucky, Api." "Yeah. I look forward to the pleasant gloomy weather. I'd say that I hope it to be as good as my dreams but, anything is better than my dreams." "Yeah, it's going to be really weird though. To ride on a giant flying jellyfish that is." "I just hope we don't fall off." "Don't they give you parachutes in case of something goes wrong?" "Maybe. Or maybe the thrill is to sit or stand on them without any harnesses and parachutes." Caetia smacked Apius on the side of his head causing him shield himself from the hits while also in a fit of laughter. "You're trying to make me scared!" "No shit! Maybe we should look as good as we can when we're up there. Make our corpses look amazing when found." Caetia smacked her brother even, Apius continued to defend himself half-assedly. "You're a fucking meanie. I should just push you off." "Really?" "Of course not!" Caetia joined in the laughter while pushing her brother of the lounge. As he stood up Ana strolled up to them with an upbeat tune. "Breakfast is reaaaady darlings~. I advise you two to put on some clothing for your trip. However before you eat Caetia you should have a shower. Cleaning fluid stains off of seats and surfaces are not enjoyable I must admit, but you also mustn't forget your cleanliness." Caetia groaned as she stood up and stretched, feeling some sticky residue from last night still down her leg. Ana wasn't kidding. Caetia agreed to have a shower first, to which Apius stopped going for breakfast and followed after Caetia. "I'll make sure your food's temperature doesn't change, no rush you two~." Ana's lights flashed a rosy pink, it was it's way of showing sweet affection. Caetia and Apius took turns of cleaning the other, wanting to be ever more closer to each other. Despite being in a different place and just with each other they still desperately needed each other to be around. The thought of sleeping, eating, showering and going out without each other still scares them too much. When they are together it's like two pieces of a completed person; able to bare with strangers, with shit on the news or the galactic web, to provide comfort for the other when overwhelming feelings suddenly take over. When they got Ana Apius was concerned it would still break it's fairly free programming rules and bounds. He was afraid of Ana resembling his father in any fashion, or that Ana would gain -through it's heuristics- an unwanted attention or affection towards either him or Caetia. Ana still to this day proved his worries wrong, much to Apius's relief. Suddenly Caetia kissed her brother on the mouth, catching Apius off guard. "Whoa, are you alright?" Caetia just started crying and rested against her brother's body. She didn't answer at first which got Apius concerned, he rubbed her back and embraced his sister. "I don't know, something just got over me. I- I just started thinking about Dad, because this trip is going to be so freaking cool. I know he's stuck there forever but I just know it, know that he would love to join us. I'm sorry, Api." Apius could see where she was coming from, despite not fully forgiving his Dad he agreed that Laius would have loved to come. This probably didn't help that the possibility to hear from him to happen during this week. One day Caetia was highly anxious, craving affection and over the top with trying to please him. He found out that she was highly worried that the one day that they weren't home is the day they would hear from their Dad. "It's ok, Cae. If he called while we are gone I'm sure we'll find out and then contact back. I'm sure of it. And I'm sure he will be happy to hear that we went on something wonderful." Apius comforted his sister as best as he could, while also trying to multitask to clean her back. "I hope so. Thanks, Api." She paused briefly as she softly pushed herself away and gestured to Apius to turn around. "How long do you think this trip will be?" Caetia scrubbed Apius's back. "No idea. I hope it isn't short. Speaking of short we should cut this short, I don't like the thought of cold pancakes." Caetia giggled back in response as they wrapped up cleaning each other. They hopped out of the shower and each took turns drying the other. Apius wrapped a towel around Caetia and placed his hands on each of her cheeks, kissing her and shivering with a slight twitch. She smiled back and said nothing. She could feel his anxiety and uncertainty with him and his nervous twitch; but she could see and feel that he was wanting her to feel good. Apius smiled back and breathed deeply. As they went to their room they dressed with a few feet between them. Caetia looked into a mirror to make sure her piercings were still solid and her clan marks still in good condition. She put on her tank top and put her stubbed leather jacket with various patches, badges and stickers across it. On the back of her jacket it had a naked Turian's back with angel wings, stretching out with their hands cupping underneath each of the wings with blue liquid pouring from the hands. The colours were very much like her clan marks as the turian was a slightly dark and paler blue and the the background was close to neon pink; the wings stood surrounded by the two colours with a non-intrusive white. Caetia got the jacket when she and Apius still lived with their Dad and was acquired when she saw it available online. The icon with the naked turian with wings was from a Post-Black Punk band called 'Penumbral Heart' of their album called 'Digital Grief' that spoke to both Caetia and Apius on an emotional level. Particularly with one song depicting solitude amongst a crowd with a desperate decree of wanting to scream. 'Though we scream our words are unheard, so we shall scream louder till our voices are dead.' She adored the band and the jacket she got, made her feel more comfortable when going out with her brother. She put on her short black pants with a few chains going across her hips and all across it; it had a Turian skull with a blue and pink love heart in the centre of it's forehead. She put on her big shin-high boots, but not before putting on her black stockings with fishnets along her legs. This is what Caetia would call "Casual clothing". Apius felt concerned for her that it might be too presumptuous or at times giving strangers the wrong idea, but he rather her be happy and comfortable than stressing about finding something more appropriate. Besides, the planet and town they live at is incredibly accepting. Something that scares Apius to which he felt strange about, it's just because he was always use to seeing what was right and what wasn't that a place like this where almost everything is considered right. What he and Caetia went through being one of the exceptions but it was things like cross-species, consenting bestiality, same-sex, open to sexualities and what got the two of them by surprise the most- incest. The people of the planet believed that any consenting participants in whatever act or relationship was acceptable and was treated equally like everyone else. 'Be kind, feel kind, act on kindness. Accept family, accept strangers, accept yourself' - Filaen's motto. Filaen's visually look like a anthropomorphic cat-bird. Where they had puffs of feathers on the sides of their heads with whiskers much like a cat while spotting a long feathery tail that went from half a metre to a metre long. They had the beak, the crest, and legs of a bird. Whilst their arms/hands, chest and waist were a combination of the two and the various breed of species across the globe. The majority that Caetia and Apius had in their town all had long feathers, crests, beaks and noticeable butt fluff of feathers. Even though they are so friendly, open and welcoming the two of them just couldn't go out of their way to connect after being so use to isolation they prefer to go out as little as possible; but they did like the feeling that the locals gave out for when they did have to go out. Caetia finished checking her piercings, her clan marks quality and clothing. She looked at Apius sitting on the bed waiting patiently and quietly watching as she got ready. "Sorry is this too much?" "Nah it's good. I just, love whenever you wear casual." Caetia smiled warmly back as Apius got up and held her hand. "I like what you're wearing, Api." She said as she directed him out with her. Apius wore a T-shirt under the same jacket that Caetia wore, his shirt wasn't plain however as it had a calming green colour of a tree across it; 'Tree of life' it said at the bottom. He wore straight black long pants with similar boots Caetia had however not as long. As they walked back to the kitchen Ana beeped and popped their pancakes out of a a air sealing container and placed them on the table. "Welcome back! I hope you enjoy you two." "Thanks Ana." Apius and Caetia said in unison. Instead of facing each other like they normally do when they eat Apius and Caetia decided to sit directly next to each other as closely as they could. Ana beeped a few times as it's HUD flashes a variety of characters, updating info or searching it's data bank. The pancakes were still warm and delicious, they ate quickly but thoroughly; it reminded Caetia of when her Dad made them which stung her with bittersweetly. When Apius and Caetia finally finished they said their goodbyes to Ana who waved back beeping and emitting a rose light. Ana had arranged for transport to come out to take the two to their destination, the mountain range of Higjarrk. When their transport arrived with the Filaen driver waving at them, the vehicle being a simple flying transport one with, Apius and Caetia held hands tightly as they walked over. "Good morning good morning!" The driver cheered, Apius and Caetia sat in the back smiling back to him. The sitting room was spacious and the seats were surprisingly comfortable to sit on with a calming scent throughout the vehicle. "Thank you so much." Apius replied, making sure he and Caetia was safely seated down. "So... we're off to Hifjaak! I love that place, the Marglyttians are wonderful." "The what?" Apius felt bad asking, he has never heard of that name. "It's what you offworlders called Jellyfish, to us they are the Marglyttians." The driver lifted off the transport shuttle and drove off. Apius felt stupid, so stupid. Something that Caetia quickly caught on and looked back at him with a concerned look. "I'm sorry," Apius paused and looked at his sister, "I didn't know what they were called." "Oh don't be! No point feeling sad about not knowing the names of the species we call them by. There's nothing to be sorry about." The Filaen driver was so cheerful, their race still odd to the two turians. It was the sort of cheeriness that wasn't obnoxious, but rather endearing, not intrusive and with plenty of warmth to it that doesn't feel or sound fake. The driver started whistling as he piloted them off towards the mountains. Caetia and Apius rested their heads against each other whilst trying to relax, their grip on each other not wavering. Apius closed his eyes and breathed slowly as he sat, waited and listened for the trip. As they grew closer to their destination Caetia nudged her brother incessantly, "Api look!" She pointed past him as he opened his eyes and followed. The Jellyfish were all drifting over in the distance seemingly heading towards the mountains. Apius gasped softly and kept looking out the window with Caetia leaning against him joining him in the process. The lights from one of the major cities below shined in amidst all the trees, rocky terrain and fog from below. Apius could already feel the joyous satisfaction of being on top of one, he smiled with a soft sigh of wonder. "Incredible..." He eventually uttered, letting go of Caetia's hand to wrap his arm around her; Caetia gripped against him back and grunted an affirmation. Some time passed that the two turian finally reached the summit of the mountain. A reasonably high-tech settlement that had layers of buildings much like skyscrapers but wider and in several sections. Plenty of windows were seen outside with decorations of a rainforest resort on the inside while having workers and customers were present. The door opened for Caetia and Apius to exit and they were met with a strong chill blasting them on their face, when the vehicle's jets were turned off they set their feet down on the ground. "Damn that was cold." "Yeah no kidding, but it felt so good." "No arguing there." Caetia looked around and saw plenty of trees and plants placed all over in a organized fashion. They weren't here to marvel at the scenery here though, something that Apius was heavily focused on. "I wish you two the best! I'll be in the employee's sector relaxing, when you two want to go back come find me!" The Filaen chirped as it left the vehicle walking towards them, he pointed at the building for them to remember for later. "Thanks. Um, what's your name? So we, er, can um. Call you out so you, can take us back home?" Apius struggled to get his words right, he fucking hated how stuttery he sounded. "My name's Sanzac and don't worry! Now you two have an enjoyable ride." He waved as he started heading off leaving Apius and Caetia together holding each other's hand tightly. As Apius turned away Caetia stood firmly still and jolted her grip to beckon at him, Apius couldn't look directly into her eyes feeling his head, body and mood shifting. "Hey, it's ok Api. It's ok." Caetia said sweetly yet warmly. Apius half sighed, a groan and closed his eyes. "I'm here with you. Come on, let's get going to the registry and get to ride some jellyfish." Caetia took off with Apius going along with her, he looked up and felt great comfort as his little sister directed him. The outside place was gorgeous. Offworld customers sitting on park benches, hanging around the buildings and walking through the gardens. Apius got up to walk by his sister's side as they climbed a long spiral stairway going up the establishment. They walked past a few alien species that they weren't aware of, one had four arms, a squashed face like a spider and furry all over. One had a few similarities to their race. It was slightly larger than the average turian with quadruple-hinged mandibles while looking relatively humanoid-reptilian alongside it. Apius and Caetia were in particular interest of what and who they are and asked a Filaen walking past with a stack of towels. "Excuse me," "Ho-ho! Good day good day! What can I do for you two?" "Um...-" "Yeah, we were wondering who those fellas are. The ones just over there." Caetia gestured to the unknown aliens. "Oh they're nice enough. Much like your race they're military oriented I believe. But," the Filaen nodded and waved at the unknown race, "they're nice to us. I believe they call themselves Sangheili, which I must say sounds lovely. Sorry to dash but they need their towels, good day!" The Filaen rushed off to the other group. 'Much like us?' The two of them thought and looked at each other. That overwhelming relief that they aren't in any military sec or out fighting suddenly came back to them. It was easy to forget that they never went harsh training and be taken away from home, yes it was bad for the both of them living with a grief stricken pedophilic father but they didn't have to train for things they didn't want to do. The 'Sangheili' group sure looked 'meatier' and unnerving but they acted and talked nice enough. Maybe they were like them, not wanting to be a part of military or war. If they saw them along the way back then Caetia would say hi for the two of them, but for now they had to get to the summit point. Final walkway was going along the side with a large grassy field with many guard rails around the edges, strong gusts blew across the summit with chains rattling from the guard railing. A Filaen looking over one of the jellyfish that was stationed at the summit, he was watering it with a long hose that went down the cliff to a building below. The turians assumed it to being washed to which amazed them because they didn't think or know about the Marglyttians having or needing to be cleaned. The head surface of the jellyfish was just at foot level for someone to walk off the summit and on top of it's head. "Hello?" Apius said feeling timid, the Filaen turned around with a wide and pleasant grin. "Hello hello, good to see you two!" He turned off the hose and dropped it onto the ground as he walked over to shake hands, Caetia was enthusiastic and chuckling while Apius cautiously smiled back. "We just cleaned it up so you two are ready to go when you guys are ready. Don't worry, we were expecting you two so please relax and prepare yourselves for your trip." They were 'expected'? They booked and contacted in the past but wasn't expecting to be recognized at all, Apius felt so relieved that he didn't need to introduce himself. "I'm glad to meet you!" Caetia laughed, "Is there anything we need to make sure we don't fall off?" "Don't worry, the Marglyttians are sentient and highly mindful of everyone. If you were to fall off it it's tentacles will grab you but you'll have to climb up yourself, which is really easy! It refuses you to fall off of it and you can dig your feet, heels or whatever to you need to climb up it. So no fear of slipping off down to your death, no fears of hurting it as you climb back up as the Marglyttian has got your back." "That's so cool!" Apius exclaimed feeling more confident and relaxed, "Oh definitely, yes! Climbing up it's tentacle is daunting without experiencing or hearing about it, that it is. So that's why we don't give any gear out because you won't need it. Now place any belongings you wish to make sure you don't lose with me and I'll store it away until you return. When you want to leave with your Marglyttian you sit down on it and pat it's head and it will fly off with you two. Pleasant trip!" Caetia and Apius gave some loose change and their valuable belongings with the Filaen, Caetia and Apius also accidentally giving the Filaen each a condom. Upon realizing it -which was instantly- the two blushed and started freaking out. "Oh god I'm sorry!" They both said, grabbing the condoms back. "Hey now, it's fine. Now I know you two are embarrassed but it's alright." The Filaen calmly said with a sweet smile and freely gave them back their condoms. "We've had people before perform sex acts on our Marglyttians, it's partially why we wash them -although we mostly do it to get rid of dust and dirt- but it's not uncommon." The two turians calmed down, their embarrassment subsiding and sighed. "We still didn't mean to. Like we didn't plan anything at all, we just carry them. I'm so sorry." "It's perfectly alright. Now I must go and put your stuff safely away, let go of your worries and have a wonderful time." The Filaen jogged off away with their stuff leaving the two of them by themselves with the Marglyttian. Caetia and Apius hugged each other tightly, breathing in deeply for a deep sigh before grabbing the other's hand to take a step on the jellyfish. It wasn't as squishy as they thought it might have been, it was like a firm squishy that reminded them of a mattress. When sitting down in the centre it became more clear of it's size. It was the size of a household pool except slightly smaller, it was just that big that made them feel like they could roll around on it's dome and not fall off. Apius kept pressing down and into the Marglyttian and rubbing all over it to feel the stern rubbery feeling while Caetia laid down on her back. "Ready Cae?" "Mhm!" Apius patted the Marglyttian and not so long after it started to move, drifting off with the current of the wind. Apius exclaimed at how magical this felt seeing them fly away slowly from the summit, the wind picking up at the most perfect time to go alongside it. Caetia sat up to hold onto her brother as she joined in the sightseeing. Small time passed with them seeing the summit getting more and more distant. The trees and mountains below were something else when they were actually above them, they could see many rivers going down the mountainsides and two different waterfalls. "God I envy those with feathers and hair, this wind is amazing." Caetia laughed, she slightly wobbled as she stood up but once she finally up she was solid. "It's so fucking good!" Apius couldn't contain himself anymore and stood up with his sister, Caetia embracing him in the process, "Fuck yeah! I love this!" He could hear his voice echo between the mountains, Caetia laughed more with Apius bouncing up and down. The height they were at no longer bothered them as they looked down, out and around as they were going at a moderate slow pace through the air. Apius cried loudly with joy as he felt his sister squeeze him close as they stood, the cold wind picking up that swept his tears away with the sound whistling past his earholes. His sister's warmth allowed him to keep standing through the freezing temperatures with the cloudy windy day along with being what felt like a KM above ground, Apius continued to weep with a smile that was still overwhelmed by everything. The two sat down after standing for a little while, Apius laid down into his sister's lap with her holding him still; Caetia parted her legs so Apius's head rested on her stomach. At times the Marglyttian made a deep, long guttural moan that echoed through the mountains; Apius and Caetia liked the sound of their ride that also made it rumble gently. "I love this, I fucking love this so much. I can't be sad or scared up here, with you. My god..." Apius kept crying, he didn't know what else to do but laugh and cry. Caetia stroked his head crying herself, but she couldn't utter a noise; it has felt like forever seeing her brother this blissfully happy again that it made her lightheaded. She was so used to seeing him looking his worst, pulling smiles and pretending he was alright when he wasn't, much like their Dad. Apius looked up at his sister with wanderlust eyes, "We HAVE to come back here, oh my god oh my GOD!" He was deep in euphoria. Caetia bent down and kissed her brother's forehead giggling, "Totally! I was like, secretly terrified and hoping it will turn out alright and now I'm just loving this." She lifted her brother slightly so she could wrap her arms under his to squeeze the life out of him. "I love you, Api." "I love you too, Cae." They looked into each other's eyes, Apius's more watery than Caetia's but both were as beautiful to the other. "Hey! I got an idea." "What is it?" "We should totally scream out our feelings and thoughts out, get it out of my systems like." Apius looked up at his sister in amazed wonder, his goofy smile was incredibly endearing. "Whoa that's a good idea, I've always wanted to scream my pent up thought out. Nows the time!" Caetia let go of Apius so both he and her could stand up, neither wobbled this time. "I MISS MY MUM AND DAD! I FUCKED UP OUR LAST HOME LIFE! I'M FUCKING SCARED THAT I'M A FAILURE AND I'LL LOSE MY BROTHER!" Caetia screamed with her voice echoing with great force and emotion. "I WAS FUCKED BY MY DAD FOR YEARS! I PUT UP WITH IT BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK TO DO! I DON'T KNOW IF I FUCKING HATE HIM OR WANT TO FORGIVE HIM! THE ONLY ONE WHO KEEPS ME GOING IS MY SISTER!" "I TOO WAS FUCKED BY MY DAD, BUT I LOVED IT! I OFTEN FEEL LIKE I SHOULDN'T HAVE LIKED IT AND THAT MAKES ME FEEL GUILTY AND HORRIBLE BECAUSE OF THAT!" "MUM WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM US WAY TOO EARLY! I-I-I FUCKING MISS HER SO MUCH, BUT I HARDLY REMEMBER HER ANYMORE!" "ME TOO! I DON'T REMEMBER HER AT ALL BUT I WISH I DID!" "WE'RE A DEPLORABLE COUPLE NOW, I FUCKING LOVE MY SISTER AND WOULD DIE IF SHE DIED BEFORE ME! SHE MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME!" "I COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY BIG BROTHER, HE'S THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE ANYMORE. I REFUSE TO SEE HIM GO!" They kept screaming and screaming into the distance, it felt like the clouds were taking their words and giving stronger winds back. The cold temperature was getting a bit much but they didn't want to care. The feeling of getting those feelings out, screaming them out till their throats got sore was the most cathartic relief they've had since ever. They continued to scream and yell without any words, just to get rid of the thoughts and feelings that they couldn't put to words. Even after sitting down together they kept screaming, until they started laughing that is. Caetia refused to let her brother go as she grappled him from behind as tears were pouring from the both of them. They laid down in out of breath remained silent to marvel at the sunset coming down behind the thick layer of clouds; purple and red lights shun through the clouds. Apius rolled over and embraced his sister with an our of breath sigh with the occasional laughter. As the Marglyttian drifted along the two turians kissed intensely both feeling the jittery feelings from screaming. When they paused to breathe the both of them muttered 'I got you' to the other, wiping the other's tear away before resuming kissing. It felt like an hour passed with the two on the giant flying jellyfish, both next to each other with arms around the other. The view hadn't gotten old, neither the wind or the occasional moan the Marglyttian made got old. Apius rested his head to the right up against his sister's head, they rubbed against each other while humming together. "I think, I think I finally came up with another song." "Yeah?" Caetia pushed her head against his to get him to continue. "Well. I just, I just wanted to write a song about how I am and what's important to me. What Dad did and how it happened. I know people wouldn't give a shit about it and that's why I haven't gotten around to it. But I think I got something." "Oh cool, Api! Do tell." "I think it would be easier if I did it at home though, have a guitar to assist." "No you don't I've seen how you make songs. Just share it dammit." Caetia laughed at Apius. "I need to write it down first, Cae. I hate to say it but I wonder when we arrive back." Apius checked his watch, their trip was just about over. "We definitely have to come back, being here with you gave me so much inspiration. Like the dark moody clouds, the waning sun and our screaming just help get those feelings out for me to place them." "Totally! I mean I'd love to come back and frankly I feel so good right now. I've always wanted to say what I said, I just didn't feel like it was earned or appropriate." Caetia leaned backwards and patted the surface next to her, "I mean of course it wouldn't be appropriate cause look us us!" Caetia laughed. Apius squinted his eyes ahead of them, he could see the summit now. "We're back! Dammit and yay!" Apius laughed, Caetia let go of her brother and stood up as they slowly drifted over. She erratically waved out over to the summit which got Apius to join in, both smiling and feeling light in their chest. As they got closer they could see a couple of Filaens waving back, one being the one they saw last. As the Marglyttian docked at the summit the Filaen's assisted the two turians off by grabbing their hands and instructing them how to walk, the feeling and effort to walk on the ground felt vastly different than being on the Marglyttian. "Welcome back you two! How was your trip?" "That was the best thing we've ever done." The two of them said in unison still feeling giggly. They were led back to sit on a wooden bench with some nibblies and water to drink, the two wasted nothing of what was offered in no time. One of the Filaens sought their belongings and brought it back to them and arranged transport back to their place. It felt like they were important, royalty even and they loved it. For the first time they wanted AND accepted attention from strangers. The Filaens helped them on their shuttle back home and jumped up and down waving at them as they left. Sanzac -who was again their shuttle driver- greeted and chatted with the two turians about their journey as he took them home. When they were finally home the Filaen hopped out of his shuttle, bowed with a cheery smile. "I am so glad you two had a great day! I look forward to being your driver again another day." Caetia felt anxious and excited as she slowly approached him, he looked up at her. "Something up miss?" "Can I... hug you before you go. I've never hugged a Filaen before and you lot look so cuddly." The Filaen laughed and nodded while gesturing to both Caetia and Apius to come hug him. The mix of fur and feathers were indeed soft and smelt wonderful, but perhaps that was perfume. "Thank you!" "Not a problem! Now goodbye and good night!" Sanzac hopped in his shuttle and took off with Apius embracing Caetia while they watched him go. They entered home and was greeted by Ana, "Hello darlings! My you two are looking good, did you have a good time?" "Fuck yeah we did!" The two turians laughed together, "Oh that's so good. I have something to report to you two," "What is it?" Apius still feeling the jitters of joy. "The Barracada Prison called, your father will be contacting you two in 2 hours." Caetia gasped in joy and shock while Apius felt all the breath leave him. "Oh god I forgot, I guess we got that to look forward to." Apius said feeling half sarcastic, he could feel his body itch and twitch with anxiety rolling over him; a sense of dread filling his stomach. Caetia looked at Apius with a concerned smile, ran and hugged him tightly. "Let's shower!" "I can't, I need to write down my lyrics." "Then do that, I need to check my messages." Caetia and Apius walked off to their working room with the computers and instruments placed neatly in it. Caetia sat at her PC while Apius hastily sat down and started writing his lyrics, he had in mind the chorus, a bridge and verses; by all means it wasn't going to be the best song but he stressed over it trying to get it just right. The added anxiety of having to talk to his Dad again still gnawing at him. ===== Each morning that I wake up, I see you with me I wished that things were better, so I didn't see you go wrong I feel like I should hate you, I feel like I should fear you and I fee like I should hide from you But this feeling I feel is bittersweet love, despite all you've done. Fractured glass is dangerous to tread on, you done it so much But I know you fought with yourself, you can't get what you want I thought I had to change for you, to become what you wanted But I know it wasn't to be, and we know it. So I scream! I scream and scream and scream! I want to rip my heart and guts out! That life isn't fair to you and me! Life now has you to a dark place you can't escape! That's how I have been feeling for so long, and we know it. And I can cry and cry all I want, but you've made your move. You are gone leaving me this confliction of hopelessness. And now... And now... And now... I'm a shattered soul in shattered armour now I count my blessings carefully, you gave me someone to keep myself me But the nightmares still come, I feel like I should hate you, I feel like I should fear you and I don't know how to feel But this feeling I feel is bittersweet farewells that you left me So I scream! I scream and scream and scream! I want to rip my heart and guts out! That life isn't fair to you and me! Life now has you to a dark place you can't escape! That's how I have been feeling for so long, and we know it. And I can cry and cry all I want, but you've made your move. You are gone leaving me this confliction of hopelessness. And now... And now... And now... This feeling of helpless, was something I felt a lot From you and how the way things were I know it hurt you when you hurt me But that's why empathy is such a fucking curse So I scream! (So I cry!) I scream and scream and scream! (and cry!) I want to rip my heart and guts out, (all over this fucking floor!) That life was such a travesty with all this depravity over me (inside me) And that's how I saw it, that's how I have been feeling for so long, and we know it. (and we know it) And I can cry and cry to shed this pain away, but it's hopeless (it's hopeless...) With the memories I'm forced to live with forever (forever!) And now... (and now...) And now... (and now...) And now... (and now...) And now I can't cry anymore ===== He proof checked the lyrics over and over, still feeling like it wasn't perfect for him to accept. He finally settled down with what he got, sighing. He envisioned a music video for it even if the idea sounded stupid and pointless. Screaming and growling on the edge of a narrow cliff into the nightsky with fragile books on his waist and flowers in his hands, when he moved the pages would decay and fly off and the flowers he held in his hands would occasionally lost it's petals. The ending had him lean over the edge to fall off. Suddenly he felt his sister creep behind him and look over his shoulder to read what he got. "I think that's pretty good!" "Thanks Cae, I just wish it was better." Apius felt slightly embarrassed but liked that his sister was good with it. "It's good enough! Come on let's shower I feel dirty." "Likewise." They stripped immediately in the room picking up everything that was easy to remove, walking out they handed it to Ana thanking it for cleaning their dirty clothes. They shouldered in their overly stressed way, sitting down together under against the wall with the shower on them. Both still catching their breaths from the excitement of what happened and the anxiety of what's to come. They looked into each other's eyes sighing and not moving knowing at some point they had to start to get clean. "Come on, we should probably put some effort into it. "I know, I just want to sit here for now." When they eventually got clean the two of them embraced once more under the shower before getting dry. Both decided to put on their black and blue shirt with the 'Digital Grief' album logo in the centre. They put on each other's underwear so they could feel closer to one another, Caetia's underwear was of the same brand and logo as their shirt while Apius's was a plain black. The notion that they wear the opposite underwear was a joke but a happy one at that, that way they knew they had another piece of their significant other on them at all times. Caetia loved wearing her brother's underwear as it had more space for her to get her hand down there to scratch an itch between her legs while Apius loved wearing his sister' underwear because it was prettier than his, tighter feeling but it was worth it. Putting on black pajama pants they headed out to go sit in the lounge room together. "How was your shower you two?" Ana queried to the two of them as they were passing it, Caetia smiled and giggled a little back. "It was good once we actually started getting clean, we kinda just sat there." The anxiety showing in her words, Ana nodded back. "I understand you are nervous, but don't worry precious. I have dinner organized and made sure the lounge is completely clean." "Thank you so much, Ana. I often worry if we make your life, er, job harder and being unfair to you." Apius said trying to be courteous. "I assure you I have no intention to rise against you." Ana laughed in it's own way which was a recording of Caetia's laugh a while ago, Caetia laughed back. "Now you two go and get comfortable, dinner will be ready when it's done." Caetia and Apius nodded and laid down in the lounge, Apius being the big spoon this time. They fell asleep without realizing on the lounge, everything just caught up with them. Ana noticed that they fell asleep and halted dinner plans and fetched a blanket for the two. As time crept really close to the call they were anticipating Ana nudged the two awake. Both looking and feeling dazed while feeling slightly grumpy from being woken up, but they appreciated Ana for waking them. "Do you reckon it will be on the dot?" "The time? I don't know." Eventually they received a video call a couple of minutes from being awoken. Caetia's mind rushed in excitement, panic and grief; worrying how her dad was and hoping to apologize for pushing him to breaking point. Apius's wasn't sure what to expect, he took deep breaths and sighed with fears of having to talk to him at all. He still wanted to know and hell even talk to his Dad but he was so unsure, conflicted. When the call was accepted and the screen before them turning on Caetia and Apius held hands strongly sharing their anxiety and grief with the other. "THIS IS AN ORGANIZED CALL FROM BARRACADA PRISON. A FAMILY MEMBER, FRIEND OR LOVED ONE HAS BEEN GRANTED ACCESS TO TALK FROM BEHIND THEIR SENTENCE TO YOU, YOU STILL RESERVE THE RIGHT TO HANG UP OR CONTINUE TO WAIT PATIENTLY. DIRECTING CALLS..." A extremely clear and robotic voice announced to them showing logos of the prison to the turians as they waited. The logo was a shield split in 4 with stars and guns as accents around it. The video feed changed to show a rugged, bruised and injured Laius smiling with tears pouring out of his eyes. Both Apius and Caetia were shocked, horrified even. Both of Laius's mandibles had been ripped off still showing the rough and tender flesh still showing, some of the horns on his head were also cut or ripped off shorter. His arms and shoulders showed bruises and cuts, both the turians assumed it was the same all over. Despite the pain he broke down in happy tears smiling longingly at his kids. "I'm so glad to see you two again. I hope you guys are alright, in a better place." Laius's voice felt hindered, probably caused by injuries. Neither Caetia or Apius answered immediately and instead stared in an induced panic or upset. "Hey, hey now you two. It's fine, I'm fine. This is not about me." Caetia sobbed into her brother's shoulder, "Cae, Cae it's alright. It's alright Cae." "No it's not alright! What have they done to you!" Caetia was mad, scared and upset; most of all she was shocked. "What I deserved, what was owed to me." Caetia couldn't sit still and hear her father defend his injuries, getting up to pace around. "Please relax, Cae. I'm fine, honest. I could be a lot worse." Caetia started screaming and sobbing. "I don't WANT to imagine what worse could be!" Laius looked to Apius in hopes he could help his sister. Apius stood up and embraced his sister, although initially she tried to fight against it. She gave in and screamed into Apius franticly, forcefully weighing herself against Apius as he tried comforting her with her bawling her eyes into him. Apius looked at his Dad, feeling insanely conflicted but mostly sympathetic. Apius got Caetia to sit down on the lounge and after a short while she calmed down just enough "Thank you Apius, you were always the better role model." Laius smiled his best, "Does it hurt?" Apius asked, curious and concerned. "Oh, yes of course it does but, erm. I'm use to it. The first month here was the worst of it. Since then I've been speaking a lot of counselors and detectives about my wellbeing, frankly I was expecting an execution or at the very least no sympathy." Caetia was containing herself better, sniffling she stared at her father longingly and reaching out to him whimpering. Laius started crying in a painstaking silence. "Dad... I'm sorry! I'm so fucking sorry! All this happened because of me and-" "Caetia it's ok! I forgive you, if it was even your fault." Laius took a deep breath, "This was a long time coming. I hate to say I was, well hoping, but rather waiting for something to get me to act. I was too comfortable, you gave me the right push and I love you for it. I love you and Apius so much, I know that still is so hard and, well awful for you to hear Apius. But the entire time I've been here I've only been thinking of you two, what I've done." Apius looked away feeling uncomfortable, "And I'm sorry I was everything wrong in your life. I stopped being your father and I lost your trust so long ago. The pain and injuries I suffered in here feels cathartic in that it gave me something to always reflect on, it really was nothing compared to what you went through, Apius. I felt the vulnerability, the pain, humiliation and I felt hopeless; through a concussion I saw you, myself before you. There won't ever be enough punishment for me." Laius laughed shedding a few tears. "But for now I'm so, so glad you two are doing alright. You two are together and stop dwelling on my wellbeing! When I've suffered enough punishment you are allowed to be worried for me." "I love you Dad!" Caetia cried out, "I love you two so much." Apius didn't respond at first. He felt happy to see justice but it hurt to see his dad in such a state. He had in his gut that his Dad hasn't changed despite what he sees and hears. The painful memories were still burned in his mind and body, but he felt now -something he didn't believe could happen- that he could forgive him or at the very least cautiously. "It does and doesn't hurt me to hear and see you, Dad. I... I think I-" "If you are going to forgive me then it should wait for another time. I haven't even come close to earning your forgiveness." "Oh shut the fuck up Dad, I forgive you!" Apius hated how his Dad keeps backing down from anything good, the pitifulness bothered him greatly. "You hear me? I forgive you! You still got a long way to go don't get me wrong but stop it! I mean it. This doesn't mean we're back to what we were or anything." Apius sat feeling frustrated, Caetia now embracing him instead. Laius nodded back with his tired eyes showing appreciation. "A long road to go, I know." Laius's tears had dried, "Thank you, Apius. I-I've been trying to do everything I can here to better myself, to continue to better myself. I will keep doing that so I'll never lose your forgiveness and achieve more of it." Apius faced his father on the screen crying silently. "I'll admit, it feels good to see you so hurt. Like, I hope this stays with you forever so you remember." "It will, don't you worry. I won't ever forget all this, I can't." Laius sniffed, coughed slightly and groaned softly as he lightly rubbed his right broken mandible. "Please you two, tell me how you two are going. Tell me everything you've been up to? I've been dying to hear just anything." Apius and Caetia explained their living conditions, the medication they take and how they support each other. Their hobbies and what they do for fun, what they eat, where they go if they ever left home. They described their journey with the Marglyttian, how kind the Filaens are, the new and interesting races they've come across. Apius even shared his lyrics to Laius whom smiled sadly back. "You're pretty good at writing lyrics, Apius. Despite everything here I still needed to know exactly how you felt. Thank you for sharing, I love it." "I wish it were better but it's good enough." "I really do think you painted the situation well, and you threw some agonizing flair in it I look forward to some day to hear your song when it's complete. I mean, you explained me and what I did. How it made you feel and all that I've done, it came from your perspective and that to me is haunting." Apius couldn't help but whimper with tears, a smiling breaking from his strong attempts to hold it back. "For now you two I'm doing my part here. I will treasure the forgiveness you gave me and improve on it. It will never make the past go away but I will make damn sure I'll put it more right than all the ignoring I've done." "I want you to come back, Dad." Wept Caetia, Laius shook his head firmly. "I know, but I'm here for now." "W-We could fight for your early release!" Caetia cried desperately. "God no, I love you Caetia but I'm not ready. I know you really want me back, but I'm afraid. I'm afraid to be around you two, it's hard as it is to communicate through this. Besides, I feel like my life has a purpose that Apius has given me his forgiveness, however small it may be. It's giving me the strength to stay. I want to better myself, no way I can do that if I'm back. Even if under house arrest, I feel like I need this place." Apius and Caetia nodded back. It was incredibly hard for Caetia to hear, for Apius he felt relieved and admittedly proud of his Dad; that he decided to keep that hope instead of passing it aside like he expected nothing. The three kept talking until the time was up and managed to lighten the mood up. Laius was so interested in hearing about their lives and loved hearing everything from them, from meeting Ana to Caetia's photos of her dressing up. When it finally came to Laius having to go, as in a buzzer going and someone off camera saying 'Your time is up." faintly in the background. Laius said his goodbyes and promised to be even better the next time they speak, the footage was cut leaving Caetia to start crying once more. Apius comforted his little sister by having them lie back down on the lounge with Ana providing a blanket once more for warmth. "Dinner at the graveyard shift?" Ana asked, the time was 10:40pm and they hadn't had dinner yet. "I think so, thank you Ana." "Not a problem." Ana replied warmly with a rosy pink blinking from it's head-display. It turned off the light, powered down and all was silent.