But more than that, the Cryptids had lines connecting them to each other. One each…well, no, it was more like two lines that had twisted together in sort of a candy cane type way. That’s how it always was when there were multiple relationship connections between two people.
In whatever ways the people were connected, the various colored lines would twirl together to form a larger one. In this case, between the three men there were red and pink twirled lines. Pink, unlike red, meant romantic love. At least, he was pretty sure it did. Zenny had sort of been forced to figure things out on his own, as he hadn’t actually met another Cupid, as far as he knew.
The lines between Cyrus and Killian were older, with the red being darker in color, while the pink was brighter and more vibrant, telling him that their relationships were many years old. While the lines between them and Ender, not to mention the ones connecting them to Zenny, were very new.
He was sure they were showing the future, or what could possibly be the future. Zenny hadn’t actually figured out if new lines were something that was always meant to happen, or even if they were permanent. Mainly, as he hadn’t actually been around anyone long enough to watch what happened. So, hedidn’t know if the lines always deepened, or if they sometimes broke and faded away, like they never existed.
He hoped they wouldn’t. Zenny was smart enough to know that it was a possibility. He just hoped, with everything in him, that these specific lines would stay.
The lineshadchanged already. The one between him and Ender was deeper now than it was when he first spotted it, as was the one between him and Killian. Cyrus’ was still the same, but then, he hadn’t really been around the Fate much.
He had a moment to notice that another set of red lines had appeared, before someone clearing their throat had him jumping. Zenny glanced back sheepishly at the Harpy, who now loomed behind him.
Staring pointily, Soren drawled, “You are getting extra homework for that.”
“But—” he started to whine.
“No ‘buts’. I’ve told you multiple times that the halls are not a place for you to run.”
Zenny huffed, looking back at the water with a pout, but found his eyes drawing curiously to the lines that had appeared when the Harpy entered the room. There were four in total, though one was harder to see, since it connected to him and the man was behind him.
That line, and the lines between the Harpy, Siren, and Fate were new, and a cooler tone of red compared to the others. Zenny knew it still meant family, but the connection was different. He didn’t understand the threads enough to really say exactly what it meant, but in his mind it was probably a distant relative, or…maybe just not direct family?
The line between Ender and Soren, however, was the same tone as the other red lines, except it was possibly the deepest blood-red he’d ever seen. Which maybe meant it was just the oldest connection he’d seen. His best guess, based on havingbeen around the two men for months, was that they were siblings.
But something worried him about that line. As thick and solid as it looked, there was something wrong with it. Speckled on the deep blood red were black spots, almost like mold was forming, or as if it was rotting.
He’d spotted lines with it before. Zenny had never understood exactly what it meant, still he couldn’t help but think they weren’t a good thing. Which is why he’d ended up counting them about a month ago. He wasn’t sure how many there had been when he first got there, but since then, they had dropped in number, going from fifty-six to fifty. He could only hope they continued to go away, but Zenny figured it would be a good idea to keep an eye on the situation.
He’d gone from having no family, to possibly having four future family members, and he didn’t want to lose one. Wait, it was actually six, because of the babies! He’d have siblings! Oh…Zenny wasn’t sure he’d be that great of a big brother…
Wait, no! It was seven! Though that last line he saw had been almost see through, and he’d only caught a glimpse of it once. He supposed that one was very up in the air, and with the line between Ender and Soren possibly being in danger, he probably shouldn’t be too focused on figuring out the random ghost-like pink thread between Soren and the very pretty man who seemed to ruffle the Harpy’s feathers back on the spaceship.
“How are repairs coming on Red Herring?” Ender asked.
“Saffire informed me, as of last night, it’s completed,” Soren said.
Iphy cleared his throat. “It’s been completed, but be aware that we were low on most spare parts and out of anything related to ship elevation, boosters, and cores. Which is the main reason it took so long, as that basically sums up what needed to be fixed and replaced on the ship, and there was a lot we needed to track down.
“That said, this also means we are still out of most of it. Something that will need to be rectified, considering the…” The Dryad trailed off, obviously hesitating to say more as his gazeflicked to Ender’s new baby daddy stalker, who was standing behind him.
“Just pretend he isn’t here,” Ender said with a chuckle, before stating, “Contact Calico, have him ramp up his commandeering. Tell him I’ll pay premium for core parts.”
Cyrus started to instantly sputter, “Y-you—that’s—ENDER!”
Smirking, he slowly looked back at the very tall, and big tiddied man. Ender had to say, the glare aimed his way was mighty fierce. “Yes? Need something?”
“Yeah, I need to know why your ass is taking such a risk, a highly illegal one at that, when I know damn well you have enough funds to buy whatever the hell you need.”
Oh, he had the funds to buy whatever the fuck he wanted, that was true enough, yet… “Have you ever tried to buy spaceship parts on the black market, specifically anything pixie dust related?”
Cyrus crossed his arms, and though he was no longer glaring, he did look thoroughly annoyed. “You know I haven’t.”
“I feel I shouldn’t have to explain that having the means doesn’t mean jack shit when access is restricted, but I will. Most things on a spaceship can easily be replaced, because with most of it, if you have the raw materials, you can recreate it. And I’ll for sure be buying what I can in more legal fashions under aliases, but that doesn’t work with anything that contains pixie dust.
“Because of all the damn paperwork and checks in place, ship engine cores, boosters, and elevation plates are a pain in the ass to get your hands on legally. Most of it can’t be bought in bulk by individuals. The shit also doesn’t show up on the black market often. When something does, there is a massive and often murderous bidding war.”
“I can see how it could be an issue, but it’s not like you have many ships to begin with that you'd need to buy in bulk.”
