Core Memory (Lolix)

Chapter Twelve

The morning had gone by much faster than the previous one. They got their breakfast, walked around for a bit, and then returned to the ship to leave.

"Ahh, going back to the wonderful nothingness of space!" Felix exclaimed, walking through the ship's doors before making home leaning against the nearby wall.

"Only for about two weeks," Locus muttered, shutting the doors behind him. Unlike himself though, he wasn't too sure how long Felix would handle himself with almost nothing to do. Sure, he had his phone, but surely that would be boring after a while.

Felix shifted against the wall a big, leaning more on his one leg than the other, "I guess so."

A moment of silence had passed before Felix stood straight, stretching as his arms curled around his neck, "Well, I'll be in the room if you need me."

All Locus gave as a response was a light grunt.

                                                                                                   ---

Plopping down onto the bed, Felix pulled his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through a few apps to see if any particularly caught his attention at the moment. None did in the end, and he simply decided to put on some music for him to relax to. He made sure it wasn't too loud that it would end up bothering Locus from upfront.

He glanced over to the side towards his bag that laid against the other bags from the day before. He sighed a bit as he leaned over, zipping it open and taking out his pen and a few of the papers he had brought along. Might as well help the music pass time for him, right?

He repositioned himself on the bed to lean himself against the backboard of it, shifting the pillows around to make his lower back more comfortable. His leg crossed over the other, acting as a sort of make-shift desk to lean his papers against.

Then it just came to what he should sketch. He could sketch some of the things he and Locus had seen in Elysium, after all, there was plenty. When they had passed what he would have assumed to have been their main square, there was a wonderful fountain in the middle, where the little ones would throw in coins to make wishes. There was also the park. It was a much bigger park than that on Chamber, with multiple little playhouses and slides, and much more. It was hard for him to not stop and marvel at it, and he was rather happy when Locus decided to stop and look at it with him.

Locus...

A small smile crept onto his lips as the hand holding the pen began to move as the music played in the background.

'And there's nowhere left to hide it, someone's sure to find it...'

---

Locus gently rubbed the bridge of his nose after spending the last hour getting them off of Eridanus. Just staring for that long at the same damned map and the same damned view was enough to irritate his eyes.

He checked the time, and to his dismay, they were still a good well off from having to go to bed. There was always the option of taking a nap, but that would mean intruding on Felix's time...He paused at the sudden remembrance that the room was, in fact, his. Surely Felix wouldn't mind moving upfront while Locus took a bit of a break, right?

'Can't stop my heart from beating, why do I love this feeling?'

Music? Now he really felt like he was intruding, even if it was his own bedroom.

He peeked inside, and there Felix was, resting on the bed, listening to music and sketching away. When did he ever sketch before?

"Oh, Sam, wassup?" Well, there was no escaping back upfront now.

"I was..." He paused himself for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck, "I was just going to take a small nap, but-"

But Felix had beat him to it, scooting over to his side and placing a pillow down for him. "C'mere then, don't let me keep you from resting." Hell, he had even turned his music off for him.

Almost dumbfounded, Locus trudged his way over to the bed before stopping again. "Are you-"

"Yes, Sam, I'm sure. Plus, this is your bed, isn't it? Don't exactly need my permission to get on it."

"Right..." He muttered, sighing gently as he climbed on, resting his head on the pillow Felix had generously given him. He felt Felix pull up the blankets, not just over him, but over the both of them. It almost felt too domestic.

"So..." Felix started, causing Locus to cast his eyes over to him, "Why'd you think you had to ask to get into bed?"

"Old habit, I suppose."

"Oh..." A small frown had formed on Felix's face, making Locus regret his answer.

"Man, I used to just be the fucking worst, huh?"

"We both had our moments, Fe-...Isaac." Locus saw the way Felix's mouth slightly twitched into a smile at his correction.

"You don't have to do that."

"Do What?"

Felix looked to him, his head tilted slightly as if to study something about him. "Downplay how I was. You didn't back at the house, so don't do it now. I was a horrible person, wasn't I? Doing nothing but hurting those around me?"

Locus couldn't help but reach up, placing a hand onto Isaac's head, onto his hair. It was surprisingly soft to the touch...He could probably run his hands through it all day long-

He ruffled the tuft of hair on the other's head.

"I'm not downplaying anything. It doesn't matter who was worse than who anymore. We were both bad, and both did horrible things. All that matters is what we do from now on. We can't change the past, but we can make a better future."

Felix faltered a bit, looking away from Locus, "But how am I supposed to do anything if I can't remember shit? Before my fall there's just...nothing. I can't remember being a kid, or a teen, or even a fucking young adult. How am I supposed to fix shit when I don't even know what's broken?"

"I guess that's my fault..." Locus removed his hand, instead, now resting it against his chest as his other arm came to rest above his head.

"From what I can gather, I was rather batshit, and needed to be put down."

"You say that as though you're some kind of rabid animal." Locus sighed, fumbling with the cloth of his shirt.

"Was I not?"

Locus grew quiet before he shook his head. "No, you weren't. You were just...Just broken." He then nudged Felix's side with his elbow, "But just so you know, you're much better now."

Felix's shoulder slumped against the headboard, his papers now in his lap as his legs rested, "Did we hate each other?"

"Yeah, we did. Constant bickering, fights. We worked so well together though that it never seemed to matter. We were survivors, together."

Felix had gone quiet again, and Locus had assumed the conversation was now over, taking the moment to shut his eyes

Just as he was about to fully slip into unconsciousness, he heard it. It was soft, and almost a whisper, but he heard it almost as clear as day.

"Well, who I am now doesn't hate you, not one bit..."