#thank you to ryn for reigniting my brain worms for this fic

[pawprinterfanfic]

All That Remains - chapter 13 preview

Happy Day 5 of @jatp-sci-fi-week!!

What better way to celebrate a Sci-Fi Media AU of JATP than with my beloved not-ghosts in space?

It’s been a while since I’ve done anything new with space boys (Willie and Alex from my fic titled All That Remains for those of you who are new). They’ve been on my mind recently (thank you Ryn), so I dug up the opening scene of chapter 13! This was written back in March and WOW do I ever miss them!!! It was fun to make a quick return to this doc.

Click below to read this tiny crumb of space boys! I hope you enjoy!

ALL THAT REMAINS, CHAPTER XIII: CALLIOPE

(you can read chapters 1-12 of “all that remains” on ao3!)

“I can’t believe you.”

“Me? What about you!”

“I’m not the one who took a wrong turn.”

“I’m not the one who crashed the speeder bike!”

“You are though because, look behind you, dude! You see the smoke? Crashed. Wrecked. Dusted. Kicked the bucket. I don’t know how to tell you this, but your bike is toast.”

“Yours is too! You crashed first!” A pause, then— “You started it!”

Alexander squeezed his eyes together and blew out a measured breath.

This was going to be a long day.

“Children,” he called out without turning around, “let’s all calm down.”

That only spurred his friends on more. Shoes scuffed against dirt. Dust was kicked up. A pebble hit the back of Alexander’s legs. Luke’s laugh was loud and giddy. Bobby’s cry was disgusted.

“I swear to all things good,” Bobby snapped, “get your finger out of my ear, Luke, or I will—”

Alexander rubbed his forehead. “And let’s keep our hands and feet to ourselves, yeah? Force, you two…”

Not even a second later, Luke’s arm was around Alexander’s shoulder, pulling him down to his height and jostling him out of pure joy.

“Aw, someone’s grumpy,” Luke teased. He glanced behind Alexander’s head at Bobby and smiled. “What do you think? He woke up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“We didn’t have beds last night,” Bobby pointed out dryly. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards, as if he was fighting a smile. “Plus, it’s more likely that something pooped in his rations to put him in this bad of a mood.”

“Oh, you’re so right,” Luke agreed. “Alex, you—”

Alexander shoved Luke’s arm off him and glared.

“Okay, first of all; it is Alexander. Alexander. It’s a full word, dude. And I’m not in a bad mood. I’m stressed. You’ve heard of that, right? Stress? Because we should all be feeling it right now.”

It was true. Alexander felt like he was suffocating in it. There was this weight pressing in on him from all sides — a weight that intensified with the knowledge that they were on a mission and already messing it up.

“Okay, we crashed the speeder bikes. Not a great start to the day.” He crossed his arms and blew out a breath. “I just… it’s our first mission alone — the three of us together. We need to make a good impression and I just— I want to take it seriously, and—“

“Hey,” Luke said quickly. His voice had softened. The mirth on his expression had washed away completely, leaving him more somber than Alexander could recall. “I’m just teasing. I’m a jerk. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, Luke’s a jerk.”

Luke ignored him.

“We are taking this seriously though,” he assured him. “This is important. The village is missing their food supply, and Palabee said—“

“Palabee gave us a boring job,” Bobby complained. “When you asked me to come to this planet with you, I wasn’t expecting to go on scavenger hunts for missing food. You know what? It’s probably an animal. That’s it. Once we get to the village, you’ll see! It’ll be—“

Bobby continued to talk. 

Luke leaned closer to Alexander’s ear. “Man,” he breathed, “he’s passionate, huh?”

Alexander wrinkled his nose and glanced down at Luke. “You are too.”

“Like I’d forget that. Palabee only likes to remind me every day.”

Alexander snorted. He said it as a joke, but it was true. Everyone pointed out Luke’s passion ever since they were kids.

There were still kids, really, but it was different now. They were Padawans. They were leading armies.

They weren’t the same kids they once were.

“I’m sorry,” Luke added quickly, “about your name. I forgot you don’t like the nickname.”

Alexander’s lips pressed tightly together. His fingers brushed against the fabric of his cloak, the path of his fingers familiar and worn.

“I don’t,” he repeated. “I just… Names are important. They have meaning. You and Bobby like your nicknames, but I… I like my name. My full name. It reminds me of my parents. Or… who I imagine my parents to be.” His expression remained stiff. Always hiding, always running. “Ever do that? Try to imagine what your parents were like? Wonder if they would’ve been good parents?”

Luke was silent for a long moment. Bobby must’ve heard Alexander’s question because he had fallen silent too.

“When I think of home,” Luke said slowly, “I don’t think of who my mother and father might’ve been. I think of you guys.”

Alexander clung to his words. Examined them. Pulled them apart and put them back together again.

Home.

Home with these two guys — these two guys he had known his whole life — these two guys that he cared about.

Alexander glanced from Luke to Bobby.

Yeah. It was a good thought.

“So,” Luke began, “listen, Alexander—”

//

“So,” Luke began, “listen, Alexander—”

“It’s Alex now,” Alex corrected quickly.

They had been here before.

Different planet, different friends, different life — same boy though. 

#willex #jatp #all that remains #jatp sci fi week #jatp sci fi week sci fi media au #hey yall... its been a while #hands up if you still remember space boys #julie and the phantoms #alex mercer #luke patterson #bobby wilson #if youre confused (because there is absolutely no context in this snippet) - this is set several years before the start of the fic!! #we love to see some flashbacks #thank you to ryn for reigniting my brain worms for this fic #everyone say thank u ryn