#deepspacexavier

@deepspacexavier

Well now they're both pouting. Two can play at that game.

"Well, I had to use up my vacations days somehow, Xavi."

@deepspacexavier || August Poetry Prompts - Accepting!

Hyori goes quiet when he says it.

“I left the door open… just in case the season, or you, returned.”

He stands there in his Lightseeker uniform—white high collar pristine against his throat, black and gold accents catching the corridor’s glow. The armored gloves rest at his sides, composed, disciplined. Prefect of the Starhunters. Top of their class. Her rival.

And yet he looks at her like that. Like the door was never about wood and hinges.

“Astra Knyght Academy is going to start rumors if the Starhunters’ prefect keeps making statements like that,” she says lightly, folding her arms to keep from fidgeting. Retreating.

Rivalry is easier.

Rivalry is safe.

But her pulse doesn’t agree.

They’ve spent countless hours crossing blades in the training hall, circling each other with sharpened focus. She knows the precision of his footwork. The calm in his blue eyes before he strikes. The way he never goes all out against her—and how much that irritates her.

And yet here he is, speaking as if she were something seasonal. Something awaited. Her gaze drops, just briefly, to the tassel on his sword.

The star.

The one some girl gave him.

The one she has always believed belongs to someone else.

Her chest tightens before she can stop it—jealousy?

“You shouldn’t leave doors open for possibilities,” she says quietly. “Especially not when Wanderers are appearing more frequently. You’re supposed to be focused.”

It comes out harsher that she intends, it sounds like a reprimand. It isn’t.

She steps closer anyway, stopping just shy of the threshold. Close enough to see the faint shift in his expression when she invades his space. Close enough to feel the steady gravity of him.

“You talk about Uluru like it’s a promise,” she adds, softer now. “A planet without Wanderers. Without politics. Without a throne waiting for you.”

She tries to say it teasingly. But the word throne lingers. She believes he’ll be crowned one day. She believes she’ll stand at his side as his Grandis Knight. She believes he deserves the crown, even if he claims he doesn’t want it.

Her violet eyes lift to meet his.

“You don’t have to leave doors open for me,” she says, though her voice betrays something warmer. “If I decide to step through, I will.”

A beat passes.

“And if you’re waiting for someone,” she adds carefully, too carefully, “you shouldn’t.”

Not unless it’s her.

But she won’t say that aloud. Instead, she tilts her chin slightly, competitive spark returning to shield the vulnerability.

“But don’t think I’ll go easy on you in tomorrow’s duel just because you’re being poetic tonight, Xavier.”

The faintest smile touches her lips.

Rival.

Friend.

Something dangerously close to more.

Dear Partner In Life, I should have told U on our first phone call. U rly R the Alpha Beauty.

As soon as she registered the urgency and he mentioned 'upstairs', Lily was rushing out of her apartment, only sparing enough time to grab her guns as a precaution.

"I'm on my way!" She reassured as she hurried upthe flight of stairs between them. Her thoughts were already racing a mile a minute, wondering what could possibly be causing Xavier of all people to struggle and call for help, especially without causing much of a ruckus.

The corner of his lips twirls in a smirk. "Don't worry, it's not anything profane. No more glass art for a while."

Inside a gilded large square box are a dozen vinyl records. Some contain a few unique compositions, others are recordings from stars from a far and distant place, sounds and songs unknown to earthkind. One is a personal piano composition, but he doesn't mark it that way. Only notes it as "Starfiend Nightbreak That Sounds Moody and Okay"

A notecard inside says,

I guess I'll never stop running into you at my good record stores. This might keep you occupied for a little while. Enjoy it on your birthday.

Sylus didn’t open the box immediately.

He let it sit on the table, gilded edges catching the low light like it was something meant to be admired before touched. Luke lingered by the door. Kieran said nothing. Mephisto, perched nearby, tilted its head with mechanical curiosity.

“His esteemed highness,” Sylus murmured, almost to himself.

A faint smile curved his lips, not mocking, not dismissive. L

He lifted the lid at last.

Vinyl. Real vinyl. Not replicas, not synthetic reproductions. His fingers hovered over them briefly before selecting one at random, eyes scanning the note with that same unreadable calm.

Starfiend Nightbreak That Sounds Moody and Okay.

A soft exhale left him, something between a huff and a restrained laugh.

“Still insufferable,” he said under his breath. But there was no bite to it.

Only recognition and respect.

Because Sylus knew what this was.

A gesture. A signal. The kind that didn’t need to be explained between people who operated on the same frequency, even if they refused to call it alignment.

His thumb brushed over the edge of the record, thoughtful.

“Not here for a fight,” he repeated quietly. “But not exactly here for peace either.”

Predators didn’t send gifts without reason. They circled. Tested. Pressed at the edges of territory, waiting to see if the other would bare teeth or step closer.

Sylus’ smile deepened just slightly. “Interesting.”

He set the record back into its sleeve with care, then glanced at Mephisto. “A last minute delivery to Linkon seems to be in order.”

The mechanical bird’s eyes flickered, processing.

---

Dear Prince,

You have a peculiar way of announcing you’re not here for a fight.

This feels less like a gift and more like a familiar dance. The kind where neither of us quite decides if we’re circling for territory… or testing the shape of an alliance.

An intricate and layered tune. I appreciate it.

A piano recently came into my possession. Not the kind that belongs in polite company. I suspect it might hold your interest, if you’re ever inclined to stop “dropping things off” and stay a while.

Until next time.

— Fiend

--

Mephisto launched without another sound, vanishing into the night beyond the N109.

Sylus leaned back, gaze drifting once more to the records as the personal composition played.

Xavier looked a little awkwardly at the stranger, sword drawn. This new rift in deepspace had taken him farther away than he'd expected. At least, he assumed from the unfamiliar stars in the sky.

TENSION   LINER   PROMPTS

@deepspacexavier

It was nigh unheard of that anyone had ever managed to find her little...'home away from home' so to speak. Traversing deepspace, through rifts or otherwise wouldn't lead here in most cases, as Uri had a hard enough time getting here on her own in most cases and she had already gone through deepspace before (however unwillingly it may have been when she was a Wanderer).

She couldn't exactly blame him for being so on guard though, little pocket areas like this weren't well known and for what looked to be another human here of all things must've been pretty jarring to say the least.

The stars were like the ones back in her home, a place she had nearly forgotten visually at this point and so that's why she found herself in this place so often despite the difficult journey. So pardon her uncertainty when someone else just so happened to stumble across the only bit of peace she could find without the anxiety of being found again weighing down her chest at every moment.

Although, perhaps she was a little too close but she hadn't been sure if he was even real in the first place. But his sword was very much real and the glint of the blade made her carefully step back a few steps, the sounds near inaudible, like the movements were practiced to not make a sound.

@deepspacexavier

If Emma had the capability to evaporate into the very air right now, she probably would've already been gone. If only the "this is just a really realistic dream" excuse worked here, but alas.

"Me?" Emma glanced around swiftly, thinking perhaps she was see-through and he was speaking through her. But of course he wasn't.

"Y-You've been waiting for me?" She pointed to herself as her gaze returned to the man before her.