Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/13899576. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: Other Fandom: Original_Work Character: astra_tyqi Additional Tags: Transgender, Implied/Referenced_Incest, Age_Difference, Adventure, Beginnings, Science_Fiction, Implied/Referenced_Underage_Sex Stats: Published: 2018-03-07 Chapters: 1/? Words: 4046 ****** Astra and Tyqi 1 ****** by KallutoCeleste Summary A prologue of sorts. A hostile planet. A fated journey. Not what it sounds like. Warning : dickgirls an cute boys ‘They’re assholes. You shouldn’t listen to them.’ The boy was unfazed, grinning still. He stepped over the lowest edge of the outcrop, following her lead and said, ‘Gosh Astra. My innocent ears are burning and all that.’ Though he could only see her back, as she rather expertly navigated up the rocky incline, he felt like he could see her smirking. ‘Oh yeah. Innocent. Sure. As long as we're talking about fairytales.’ Tyqi pouted. His copper hair was matted with sweat, the long bangs plastered to his face. ‘It’s not a fairytale though. The priests said that those with pure hearts really can reach the starcastles.’ The dirt was a reddish brown that caked their books, each footfall releasing a little cloud of dust. Dust that glimmered. Astra wiped sweat off her forehead, fingers stained rust-red. She glanced briefly up at the sun, and then back to her hand. ‘They’re not called starcastles. And the priests are assholes.’ The boy stumbled a little, knocking a knee against the flat edge of a rock. ‘Wait. So they’re real? The starcastles?’, he asked. He wasn’t doing a good job of keeping excitement out of his voice. She didn’t seem to be listening to him, staring up past the horizon. After a while, she mumbled, ‘Cmon, we’re gonna get cooked if we stay here longer.’ ‘Hey, you didn’t answer! They’re real aren’t they? You came from there right? My friend said that everyone that-’ ‘They’re just called stations. Nothing castle-ish at all. Trust me.’ For a while the boy seemed lost in his own thoughts, hefting the small supply satchel that he was tasked with as he followed the dark-haired woman up the side of the steep hill. It was afternoon on the second day. The beta moon was up, the crescent shimmering through the hazy sky. They’d been on the move for a few hours now. This was the fourth place they’d checked out since they started. Luck had not yet been on their side. But it wasn’t the worst of her expeditions. Far from it. Truth be told, Astra had expected the boy to be a chore by this point. But his enthusiasm hadn’t faltered. Yet. She looked back at him, running her hand through her hair. The slight, soft- skinned boy’s thoroughly dishevelled, sweaty, dusty state was at odds with his smile and the far away look in his eyes. ‘What? Cat got your tongue?’ He shrugged, ‘I dunno. You can get into trouble talking about that stuff right? I didn’t really expect you to tell me.’ She smirked. It was increasingly easier to do so around him. ‘You’re concerned for me?’ The fifteen year old suppressed a wince as he scraped his other knee against something again. Sometimes he had the grace of a swan. Other times, the grace of a fish on land. His little grin returned quick as a flash though. ‘That’s right! I’m a real princess. Always -huff- thinking of others.’’ The woman waited till he was close enough. ‘Humble too. Here, take this’, she said, handing him one of her tool satchels. It was just as heavy as the pack he was already carrying, which wasn’t as heavy as he made it out to be. ‘Keep climbing for a bit. I need to check some signals.’ Tyqi whined. ‘I’m sposed to be your partner, not your pack mule!’, half- buckling under the weight of the satchel. It was barely a couple of pounds. But Astra suspected that’s how much he weighed too. ‘Your mom said to make use of you. I am. Get to it.’ ‘Ruuuuuuude! What if there are monsters up there?’ ‘There aren’t any. I checked.’ ‘How?’ ‘I have a scope.’ He looked like he had something else to say, but deflated instead. ‘Fine. But if i find any monsters up there-’ ‘I’ll come over and apologize.’ ‘That’s right’, he said cheerfully. Truth be told, Astra did not need to check on anything. She’d pulled out her transceiver, but it didn’t show anything new. She just needed a moment alone, right? Just a little bit to breathe. The harsh environment had barely much effect on her anymore. But the boy… She should’ve never let Demi talk her into taking him along. Truth be told, he wasn’t even really annoying. Sometimes even helpful. The cheeky bastard seemed just genuinely happy to be around her. And that aggravated her somehow. Maybe she was too used to working alone. Sunlight tingled at her scalp. Sweat rolled down her forehead. Deep breaths. She tugged at the crotch of her jeans, giving it some space to breathe. Astra glanced up the slope. His frame was not generous, but it wasn’t skinny either. There was a curvature to it that was easily missed, unless you looked close. And Astra had, though she’d never admit it to herself. Why did he wear those tiny shorts whenever she was around? Why did it matter to her? ‘Fuck it’, she spat. The quicker this was over with the better. Vigor somewhat- renewed, her boots crunched over dusty gravel again.   Craters covered the surface of the desert like pockmarks. Most of them weren’t natural. Debris, spacejunk, empty fuel canisters...they found their way to the surface. Since the re-colonization, traffic to the backwater planet had quadrupled. Fresh resources, fresh vistas to exploit. It might as well’ve been the galaxy’s tagline. The locals had their own problems, and now they had to deal with space trash slamming down over their planet. Someone’s trash was someone else’s treasure, however. As they neared the very tip of the crater’s rim, Tyqi huffed, ‘Jeez. Next time let’s take a speeder.’ Astra took her satchel back from the boy and started to rummage through it. ‘Yeah sure. Let’s get a speeder with a turbo and you can sit in the back drinking fruitmilk. It’s so obvious!’ The boy grinned, ‘That’s thinking I can get behind’, before a look of wonder blossomed on his face. They were finally over the slope, the massive concave stretched out before them. ‘This is the biggest one yet, Astra!’ ‘Yeah yeah. Just be careful. If you trip you’re gonna rolling all evening.’ He grinned. ‘You’d catch me right?’ ‘Nope.’ ‘Nuhuh, you totally will! You’ll catch me and make sure I was alright and look into my eyes and-’ ‘I’m going to kick you down.’ ‘Okay okay jeez!’, he giggled. It was much easier to climb down. Even Tyqi was used to it by now. Soon, they were in the shade cast by the steep edges of the crater. Heat seeped out of the rocks. Seeped out of them. It was like a load taken off them. Astra had her scanner out again, and was actually using it this time. ‘I hope we find something this time’, the boy quipped as they walked side by side on the crater’s floor. ‘It would be a shame if we didn’t.’ ‘Yeah, a shame. And I wouldn’t get paid.’ ‘And that. But it’s not the worst thing right? It’s not like-’ ‘Shh..’. She slapped the side of the scanner. ‘What? What is it?! Did you find something’ ‘Calm down. I think there’s a cave system here.’ ‘Whoa! Right under us? Dyou think the stuff could be there?’ ‘Crater’s old. Pre-colonization. It’s ideal for aelpherrite. ’ ‘How dyou know it’s old?’ ‘No scavengers.’ The boy looked around. ‘Are there really caves though? I don’t see an entrance.’ The woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn’t mind explaining, she just never expected that she would have to. She said, ‘We’ll make camp here. Remember to put your stuff down carefu-’ Tyqi was already unceremoniously dropping his pack onto the ground. It landed with a sound that made the both of them cringe. It was not a good sound. But it didn’t come from the pack. The source was the ground itself. It groaned. A low, heavy rumble joined by the sound of tiny rocks being dislodged. The ground shattered, a whiplash of a crack ripping through the air. The chasm swallowed them whole. --- ‘I’m alright, I swear!’ ‘Alright my ass. Just stay still.’ The boy tried to crawl backwards but Astra had her hand around his ankle. ‘I said, say still.’ Her voice was firm. He pouted, but then gave up. She made him lay his legs out straight. His shorts were cute on him, but utterly useless at protection. The little spray applicator in her hand wasn’t brand-name, but it would do. She pinned his leg to the stone floor as she sprayed over the deep cut bruise, the cleansing agent pushing dust and grit out of the wound and sterilizing it.   They’d fallen maybe three meters. The landing was relatively soft, and they were lucky to have avoided the shards of stone poking out of the sand. The sand was red like blood, glittering metal and as fine as talcum. The shards were dark obsidian, but were cut through with glowing blue patterns. Hexagons. Right angles. Each one was different Tyqi bit his lip, hands clenching against the sandy floor. The stinging sensation was familiar to him. His mom had lost count of the number of times he’d come home scraped and bruised. He was not graceful. Astra let go of his leg and reached into his pack, searching for bandages. ‘I’m sorry.’ Astra threw him a glance. He wasn’t grinning anymore. He was still. Downcast. He could’ve gotten them killed. She’d warned him about this only yesterday. Did he even understand what could’ve happened? He shouldn’t have even been here, he had no business even- ‘These things happen. But now you know. Stay still.’ Like a light, the smile was back on- until Astra tightened the bandage that is. He hissed as she tied the knot. ‘Dyou think it’ll leave a mark?’ She smirked. ‘What? You don’t want scars?’ ‘No. Scars are for like...big buff badasses.’ ‘And you don’t wanna be strong?’ ‘Nuh. I’m a flower.’ ‘And you came along on a scavenging hunt out into the desert. With a stranger’ ‘That’s right. Wait, you’re not a stranger.’ Astra pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn’t know how to deal with him. She was skilled in situations that began with , ‘How much?’ and ‘Fuck off’. That was her scope. He broke the silence, ‘I know we gotta get back by tomorrow but, can we take a bath first?’ She opened her eyes. And stared into his with an flat intensity. Her expression beyond incredulous. ‘We’re thirty miles from civilization. We’ve fallen into an underground cave. We’re low on supplies, and it’s burning hot outside. And you want a bath. Did you hurt your head?’ It’s what she wanted to say. But she wasn’t as eloquent as her thoughts. A tilt of her head and ‘What?’ communicated the same sentiment. ‘A bath. You know, that thing people do to get clean. Usually with water?’ ‘Where are we going to get water?’ He pointed behind her. It was dark but for the blue patterns woven across the rocks. Astra narrowed her eyes. The patterns were mirrored. As she moved closer, eyes widening. The pool of water was reflected her incredulous face. She reached out and cupped some of it in her gloved hands. It was clear, and cool. A quick sniff betrayed nothing. She hesitated..and then brought her hands to her lips. It was pure , unsullied water. Filtered through the ages. Delicious. She’d been hunting aelpher for a couple of years now. She’d never seen anything like this. It was incredible. Tyqi shuffled beside her, ‘It’s not too deep right?’ he said, hopping on one foot. From the reflection, Astra could see that it wasn’t his injury that hobbled him. He was kicking his shorts off, his top already pulled off, the boy’s bare, soft sweat-drenched skin shimmering on the water. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked. Why was her voice suddenly hoarse? Why was her chest tight? His young boyhood dangled, the barest hint of fuzz wreathing it as he gingerly dipped a toe into the water. Astra knew it wasn’t uncommon for some boys to embrace femininity. But as she watched a shiver run up his long, supple legs, she wondered if he hadn’t been born with it. Even his cock was more adorable than anything else, his foreskin like a cute pout atop the smooth length. The boy didn’t answer. With a bite of his lower lip, he slipped into the water, sighing as the cool water embraced him. She tore her sight away from him as he sank deeper, until everything below the waist was submerged. ‘Aren’t you coming in? Astraaaaaaaa- cmon, this is so good!’ She gulped. Given the tightness in her pants...she couldn’t risk this. ‘I’ll pass, thank you.’ ‘Aww cmon, it’s okay. I won’t look, if that’s what you’re afraid of-’ She dared to look again at him, his easy smile and his soft untoned body illuminated by the aelpherrite. It frustrated her. She wasn’t meant to look, she wasn’t meant to think. The water was too clear. And then something tugged her back to reality. Something that incensed her. ‘I just put that bandage on! You dumbass!’ The boy peered down at himself. ‘Oh’. To his credit, he did look genuinely sheepish. ‘I uh... thought it was waterproof?’ Astra pinched the bridge of her nose. She’d done it a lot today but it wouldn’t be the last, that was certain. But truth be told she was relieved. His clumsiness pulled her away from those dangerous thoughts. He was young, sure, but there were more reasons for her trepidation. ‘Just...be careful. And don’t stay in there for too long.’ ‘Kaaaaaaaaaay’,’ he sang before simply dunking himself underwater, bursting out of the water a couple of moments later. Astra sat down on nearby rock, and picked up a smaller obsidian piece, the aelpher patterns on it in perfect concentric circles. As the boy happily bathed himself, washing away what was probably a week’s worth of grime compressed into two days, Astra took a deep breath. ‘You know we’re stuck here right?’, she asked The boy rubbed at his arms, ‘We are? I’m sure we’ll find a way out.’ ‘You’re not worried?” ‘I was, at first.. But you’re with me so I’m not.’ Silence reigned, except for the sound of water. Astra didn’t really know what to say. He spoke again, looking away from her. ‘I know, by the way’ ‘What?’ ‘You. Mom. You and mom.’ ‘That’s...it’s not how… Look, we’re just...like-’ ‘I know my mom. I know what she’s like. She doesn’t do it for just anyone. She’s not like those kinda girls.’ Silence. And then Astra spoke finally. ‘Just having sex doesn’t mean that I love her.’ ‘Yeah. It doesn’t. But you love her. Don’t you?’ Drops of water dripped off the tips of his drenched hair and into the placid surface of the little lake. He turned to look at her. She shook her head. ‘Yeah. Yeah.’ He grinned wide. ‘Knew it!’ he cheered, and then dunked himself into the water again. When he resurfaced, it was with a question. ‘Hey. So why did you say the priests are assholes?’ ‘Cause they are. Don’t say that word.’ ‘What? Assho- Okay fine!’ he amended at a look from her. ‘So...why?’ She thought about it for a while. ‘If you saw something...great. Something beautiful or something like...fantastic. You’d want to share it with your friends right?’ ‘Yeah. Yeah.’ ‘The priests keep it for themselves. And they tell everyone that the only way to get it is if they do as the priests say.’ ‘It’s not?’ ‘It’s like this lake. Imagine there was a lake like this but big enough that you couldn’t see the end. So you’d never run out. And everyone could have as much as they wanted.’ ‘Is that what the starcastles are like?’ ‘They’re just stations. They’re like...gates. To other places’ ‘Where do they go to?’ ‘Many places. Hundreds. Thousands.’ His eyes were wide. ‘And anyone’s allowed to go?’ Astra smiled wanly. ‘Listen kid. There’s only two people in the whole universe that can tell you if you can or can’t do something. You, and the person you’re doing it to. That’s all there is.’ He tilted his head in question. She said, ‘It’s just something someone told me once.’ ‘It’s a nice idea.’ ‘You’ve been in there long enough. Cmon. We got work to do.’ ‘Ummm...Did we bring a towel?’ Astra pinched the bridge of her nose. --- The moons were out. From the chasm they’d inadvertently opened, they had a good view of both. Astra looked up at the stars. Why had her life gotten so complicated? Before Demi...it had all been so simple. She’d drag ass through some backwater planet too remote for a science delegation. Make enough money selling mineral samples to afford lodging and whores. And when interest in the planet dried up, all she’d have to do was hitch a ride to the next one. And then she’d met the boy’s mother. Just thinking about Demi made Astra smile. She’d never really felt like this before. That feeling in her chest. The tightness. But for an aimless soul like Astra, loving a woman was complicated. A woman with a son? Square it. A woman like Demi, with a son like Tyqi? It was almost too much to comprehend. Her feelings towards him were...she didn’t even want to think about it. She glanced over. The boy was asleep on his belly, using his pack as a pillow. Her jacket was his mattress. His tank top was his blanket. It barely covered his naked body. She looked away. The sky was painted a deep midnight blue, stars sprinkled like crystal powder. Maybe she was just frustrated? If she could just...relax a little. All the thoughts would go away? The lake was placid, undisturbed. Silence reigned but for the distant whistle of wind. It was short work to pull herself out of her jeans. Curse her foolishness in denying herself that bath. It would have been so good. Her thighs were sweaty. Her cock was erect. The thin sheen of liquid that covered her foreskin-ringed bulbous head was not sweat. She had to be quiet. Tyqi was just there. The silence was gently disturbed. Her grip on her shaft was tight, the girthy rod rarely given to such treatment. Her breaths were half covered moans and the gentle slap of her fist up and down her length echoed gently around the cavern. It wasn’t loud enough to wake Tyqi up. She hoped. But the only way to make sure would be to glance over. He was out cold. The tank top was laid over his back, and just about covered his ass. Just about. It would be child’s play to tug it to the side. Just a little. Her hand hovered over him, frozen. Her other hand was the opposite. She held her cock with a deathgrip as her heartbeat thudded in her ears. Rational thought had long since fled her. Heavy fog stuffed her mind. A small eternity later, her fingers touched fabric. She tugged it aside. Her cock twitched in her hand. Her chest rose and fell. Quicker. She pumped her cock like it hurt, lust overwhelming her, her teeth gritted. His plump, pert young cheeks were almost like nothing she’d ever seen. The thought that she was jerking herself to the son of her lover only made her blood pump harder, precum leaking out of her tip, dancing with her strokes. ‘What are you doing?’ His eyes were wide open, overwhelming confusion in them. The growing panic of not understanding what was happening, of waking up to this. Astra froze, needles of ice entombing her heart. The look in his eyes alone was enough to shatter her, the weights of her guilt coming down on her in one.   And then the silence was invaded by something else. The sound of little rocks dislodging, splashing down into the water. It came from above. Confusion turned to sudden alert, fear. Tyqi opened his mouth only for Astra to hurriedly press a finger to his lips. Her eyes broadcasted a clear message. ‘Quiet!’ Their nakedness forgotten, the moment pushed aside, Astra crawled quietly over to her pack. She found her pistol. The touch of cold metal was reassuring. The sound of boots on dirt. Astra cursed herself. She hadn’t set up a sensor net. She didn’t have her scope out. She’d been totally unprepared. Her thumb hit the charge indicator on the pistol. It was full. It was hard to say exactly which side the sound was coming from. She scanned the edge of the chasm through her sights, her heart beating a million a minute. Scavengers? Cultists? Both were dangerous. You couldn’t reason with the latter, but the former were the crueler. She didn’t have time to wonder why they’d be here. They already were. A hint of a shadow on the lip of the chasm. She swiveled to face it through her sights, her grip steady. Dust trickled down as the shadow loomed over them, twin moons high in the sky behind it. It didn’t move further. Tyqi was under an outcrop of rock but Astra was bathed in moonslight. Plainly visible. The figure stood silent, as Astra kept the pistol aimed directly at it. Just far enough that she couldn’t make out the face. ‘-Hey!’, she shouted. ‘You! Show yourself!’ The sudden outburst echoed. The figure didn’t move. ‘Hey you!’, she yelled again. Did Tyqi speak cultist? She didn’t know. But she didn’t want to involve him. She didn’t want to reveal him. She thanked whatever gods that for once he was actually quiet. It was bad. If they had guns, the two of them would be dead before they knew it. Aelpher didn’t have much street value...but that had never stopped scavengers. She was about to call out again, when the figure moved. Her grip tightened on her pistol, her knuckles white. The moonslight revealed...feline features. Long whiskers, large irises...a cat’s face. Astra deflated. Gaulcats were about the size of a large dog, and largely just skin and bone. But they were about as harmful as a fly. They often waddled on their rear legs, to cool themselves off. It stared at Astra for a couple of seconds before scampering away. She swore, lowering the pistol. She let herself breathe. Deep breaths. ‘Is it..Is it gone?’ He was sitting up, holding his top up to his chest like it would protect him. His eyes were wide. She did her best to smile reassuringly. ‘Yeah. It’s just a gaulcat. Searching for food probably.’ ‘What...what kinda food?’ ‘Relax. It’s a herbivore’, she said, running a hand through her hair. ‘Jeez. You got spooked huh?’ she smirked. The boy pouted. ‘I only got scared cause you were all tense and you got your gun out and-’ ‘I was just being careful. Hah. You’re cute when you’re flustered. Like a princess.’ The boy coughed pointedly...and gestured towards Astra. She looked down to what he was pointing at. It had all happened so quickly...Her cock had only just softened. It dangled out of her pants, unattended, exposed. Blood rushed to her face along with the memory of the circumstances that began it all. Tyqi yawned. ‘I was having a nice dream. I think’, he stated flatly, before fluffing up the pack he‘d been sleeping on. His tank top was on him again. He snuggled against her jacket, getting comfy. She met his eyes, aghast. She didn’t know what to say. His smile was the same as ever. Just about. ‘Goodnight Astra’, he said, turning a little to his side. Deliberately, he pulled the fabric off himself...exposing his ass to her. ‘Don’t stay up too late. You’ve got to to think up a way out of here in the morning. And clean up if you have to, you won’t disturb me’, he mumbled and then yawned.. Within seconds he was asleep. Astra stared incredulously at the boy. Had he just said….did he mean…what… She pinched the bridge of her nose. 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