In the midst of the fighting, Samuel had watched everything unfold. The fighters pulling away from the ship, to the larger ship their team had left to deal with the people on the bridge. Samuel saw his sister try and help Amy, and Samuel scoffed in his head. Amy should be the one who is there for them, but when they need her, she falters. Samuel lets out a sigh as he lets those thoughts leave his mind, maybe she didn't know the full extent of her power, he wished she would have tried, yet it seemed in the little situation they had, the others had made contact and had fooled the Ascendancy. There, Samuel had dropped his magic, knowing he didn't need to keep up this field, though not too tiring, it was annoying to do while making sure he didn't fry the ship's systems.
Iris was relieved that talking to Amy was enough to get her going again for now. With that, Iris waited for her to broadcast her message to the other ships. Iris was hiding this anxious excitement about finally using her magic again. The last time was at Proxima and let's say that she didn't really have a good time at that fight. Right as Amy was going to release her magic, the fighters came back through another ship, making this message unnecessary. Iris slumped back into Samuel as all that stored up tension released quickly with no payoff. Now she just felt sluggish. Iris released her magic and turned to Amy to see what she was doing now. Iris could see she was relieved that it was over and that she was heading over. As she gave the hug, Iris had a hard time resisting Amy's hug. She did give in and hugged her fully back to try to celebrate with her a little. As Amy left the communication room to tend to her headache, Iris had an odd feeling as she came off as someone who would usually not let a headache. Whatever the case, Iris turned to her brother and smiled towards him,
"You did great Samuel!" Iris ruffled his hair for a bit before getting off of him,
"I should check to see if anyone needs some fixing up. Want to come with?"Samuel threw a smile to Iris when she turned to him as she congratulated him, he sent the sentiment right back at her,
"You did great yourself". As she hopped off of him as she asked if he wished to come and greet the other, to which he responded with a
"Sure". As he got up from his sat as he grabbed her hand as they started to head to the hold where they all are. As he began to say hello to everyone who came back, to see each of them and how they fared. His eyes scanned each person, Tarak was fine, his suit was slightly cut but otherwise fine. Nero came back with a new toy and some released tension. Finbarr seemed like his old self. Yet Narvia came out a wreck as he saw her with enough burns on her to look like she had stepped into a microwave and decided to wear a tin foil mask.
Iris locked hands with Samuel as he grabbed it as they head to the bridge to see the people. She saw that almost all of the fighters had returned unharmed. Then her eyes had landed on Narvia. She was badly burned and seemed to be running on adrenaline. Iris pulled Samuel along with her as she made her way over to Narvia. Once she got close Iris did a quick assessment of her injuries. This wasn't to check how she should be healed but to try to understand what happened on the Arkeim Razor. Seeing the plasma thrower Iris had to assume that there was a pyromaniac using a fucking plasma thrower inside the bridge. Always a good idea to use it when he could melt screens and possibly any number of important instruments.
Well, whatever happened doesn't matter at the moment I need to heal her. Iris spoke lightly,
"Hey Narvia, hold still for a second and I'll get you looking all pretty again." Iris reached her hand out to an unburnt part of Narvia and gently laid a hand on her. The feeling Narvia felt would be a bit overwhelming at first as all the pains and aches she felt after the fight would vanish as if they were never there. The burns were all gone and not even a single scar to show for it. It is as if she never got hurt in this fight. Honestly, this magic can be a bit intensive if a lot is gone. Luckily she was just burned, technically not much was missing. Iris backed out of the group now having done her job as a healer.
Samuel followed Iris after everything was said and done. He knew nothing that happened on the ship, but he knew enough to get the sense that Narvia was caught in something dumb, she was the only one who had any injuries, well really she was the only one who seemed to have seen action. Either she went in and fought everyone by herself or, the likelier option, she was caught up in something she didn't see coming. Yet he wouldn't hold it against her, there are things they can't control, so he just shrugged it off as bad luck, as he now focused on just relaxing. They still had a long ride.
====================Nearing Plenty====================
Iris was pretty relaxed after the battle. She was still running around to update what people look like that way If any of them got injured she could help out. Amy was the exception to this rule though. Iris could tell that she wanted to be left alone and Iris frankly didn't want to force herself in unannounced. However, Amy's disappearance from the ship stuck in her mind as it was part of her job to see people. Slowly, thoughts of what Amy was going through started to weasel their way into Iris's mind even when she was off duty. Iris looked for distractions to keep her mind going in other ways. She looked at fashion, watched YouTube, And even read articles about stupid things like chihuahua being rats. The last one she'll choose to buy into though. After all this thought Tarak gave out our roles for the mission. Iris was just happy that she was going to be able to play an important part in all this. Working with Nero was new but hopefully, it will be fine. Tarak also asked her and Samuel to make some mini blackout zones. A project was a good distraction for the bit of guilt she was accumulating by leaving Amy alone. She worked on the design for around a day and came up with an innocuous steel box with magnets on the inside so it could stick to the walls of the ship. With that out of the way, she went to her brother to see if he was up to enchanting the box with her.
Samuel had spent his time doing little things around the ship, he cooked, cleaned, and did many of the more basic menial labor. He didn't think much on the previous mission, may it be the fact it was just so simple? Probably. The mission required little to no of his attention, and the afterthought was even less so. The only thought he was left with was the fact he had very little thought in the abilities of Amy. She froze up right from the get-go, sure the ship was getting attacked, but to freeze up because of a few potshots just seems stupid to him. Maybe he just not being considerate enough, but she chose to go against the government of humanity. And most beings know of the very hideous things they are willing to do, so to come here half-hearted just doesn't seem like something people would do. But who knows? Samuel is just doing his own thing as then he was approached by Iris to help make a magical EMC jammer. He was more than happy to help, honestly, something like this would be fun, combining magic with Iris is always an extremely fun thing to do, that is how they made her gauntlets and Greeves, so if this turns out well, they might be keeping these for other operations. However more than that, he is really happy to make something with his sister. So he went and sat at their desk so they could work in the comfort of their own room.
"Alright, Lets get started!" Iris said to Samuel as she pulled a second chair to their desk. The basic physical mechanisms for the EMP have been made so now it would just be Iris and Samuel talking like normal. The size and lack of complexity made it quite an easy task.
"So Samuel, have you made better friends with anyone yet?" Iris knew that Samuel's tendency can cause a bit of an issue when it came to friends.
The creation of the EMC jammers was of little trouble, and honestly of little importance. What he wanted to do is do something with his sister, and this makes for a great excuse for them to spend time together. As it seems Iris made the first move as she asked him a simple question he had no real trouble answering,
"No, I haven't really made the effort. What about you? Have you became closer to anyone?" Samuel didn't really think much on the topic, they only knew the crew for a few days, and were sent on a mission almost immediately, so socializing was not really on the to-do list for Samuel.
"Eh, not in particular. I have to go around and see people as part of my job but those are little things. If anything, I'm just getting better at talking to them in general." Iris pulls out some snacks for them as anytime is a good time for snacks.
"Working with Nero should be pretty interesting though. I am a little worried that I won't be able to stay stealthy though. What about you? I know you're much better at stealth than me but do you think you are Nero stealthy?""Mm thank you", Samuel says as he grabs some of the snacks Iris provides as she speaks. She brings up the idea of working with Nero, honestly, Samuel is interested in seeing Nero work, he is just concerned if he'll just drag Nero down. As he hears Iris has a similar fear,
"Honestly, I don't think I'm as good as Nero, I think I'll do okay enough. I just hope he'll be taking the initiative in the stealth and going ahead of us". After saying this Samuel gives a small chuckle because of this.
Iris feels a bit less worried that Samuel is also concerned by Nero's stealth ability. As she listened she downed like an entire Twinkie without thinking.
"He probably will, I think he is aware of how ninja-y he is." She went back to work for a bit and then back to talking to her bro.
"Is it cool if I get a subscription to a few things? They are absolutely essential, promise." Iris leaned on her brother, upping her cuteness in an attempt to stay under his radar.
As they talk and work, Samuel found himself in thought, thinking of how the plan could go. He ate a few things as they worked as he heard Iris speak again. There he heard words that fired off a near-automatic response,
"What are the subscriptions for?" Samuel had lived his life with Iris, she always pulled the same trick, talk to him, does something with him for a bit until he was distracted, and then go and ask for something. He has never once failed, as he had always stopped her from buying the dumbest of things, like when they were given some credits from their officer to get what they wanted from the local planet, there he stopped Iris from buying into money rats who were trying to sell Iris on a get rich quick scheme. However, even after all of these things, she still wanted to buy more nonsense.
Fuck. That response was so quick and so on point that it felt like she was just punched in the stomach. Iris turned to her brother and sat on Samuel.
"Well, you see, it's stuff for us to have fun with. So what do you say, can you do it big brother?" Iris pulled out the big brother card a strong card. Mix that with her sitting on his lap, Iris was sure she could get his credits out of him.
Samuel was waiting for this move, sitting on his lap and acting cute, yet even with expecting Iris to pull out this. He was not fully ready for the 'big brother' card. Yet as he tried to stop, he felt his defense waver as he looked away and said,
"Okay if that is what it's for I suppose it wouldn't be bad". Samuel knew he should have had more spine, yet he just couldn't keep hold when Iris pulls out all the stops.
Iris's slightly pouty face changed the instant she got the okay from Samuel. She put on a big smile and her eyes gleamed with excitement. She started to hug him and tug him around a bit,
"Oh! Thank you thank you thank you. I promise it isn't for dumb things like usual. They even say they got 100 billion members so I'm sure it isn't a scam!" Iris grabbed her multitool and started to go to Netflix to set up an account, showing Samuel. She also got a Roku, Hulu, and Disney+ membership.
"Now we can have movie days!", Iris says as she gives her brother a hug and some cuddles. As they went back to work she activated stage 2 of her plan of setting up her personal subscription services. They were magazines and things for adults like weekly digest or the cosmopolitan(not that way). And last but not least, the galactic swimsuit catalog. Iris has been needing swimsuits for a while and she thought it would be a good choice. After all, the magazine says it curated only the finest models for their high-end swimsuits. She didn't understand why the finest models were needed but that’s okay.
Hopefully Samuel didn't see this or he might start mumbling to himself again.When Samuel heard the first bit of glee, he was happy. Until she said something about 100 billion users, his suspicions grew as he asked to see what she was buying, there he saw some of the most basic subscriptions. He sighed as he thought something crazy was going to happen, as she exclaimed about having movie days, and honestly, that doesn't sound too bad. Yet as he worked he noticed Iris making a few other purchases on her Omni-tool. He wouldn't bring it up, he knew she wanted some other things, so he thought it'd be fine, after all, a magazine subscription or two wouldn't be bad. He just hopes this won't become a constant thing, and he hoped it isn't too expensive.
Iris started to scroll through some of her new fashion magazines, showing Samuel and hoping for his honest opinion on how she would look in them. Iris wasn't ashamed to show some of the more revealing clothing to her brother. In fact, She hoped he would get extremely red. Most of the revealing stuff she wasn't considering but it was fun to act like she was to confuse him.
come on little brother, BLUSH!Samuel had been working as Iris was scrolling through her Omni-tool as she asked for his opinion on the clothing she was looking at. He saw multiple very revealing clothing, as she was asking his opinion on what he thought. Honestly, he thought she would look good in it, however, he felt really weird with the thought of her being in these, as he started going red as he said while looking away,
"I think they would look great on you". He couldn't control his blush, but he can control his voice and how much she can see his face. He doesn't know what she is thinking but it seemed strange that she would choose such outfits.
Once Samuel started to turn his head away Iris started to get a really smug look like she one.
VICTORY! After winning she stopped teasing her
little brother and started to take their work seriously. She stopped talking to Samuel for at least an hour as she was working hard trying to push through the repetitious nature of making the mini-EMPs. Nearing the end of the construction period, Iris's lack of action with Amy came eating at her thoughts again. She would have let them pass on their own but she didn't have to. After all, her best friend was in the room with her.
"Hey Samuel, do you think Amy is doing alright?" Iris's face looked as if she was in some minor discomfort.
Once Iris seemed to finally get back to work, Samuel took this time to focus as well. He was used to making magical gear, making his weapon, making Iris', and making many others for the Ascendancy, he was used to menial tasks. Yet after a good little bit of time, the silence was broken as Iris asked something odd. Samuel tilted his head as he thought,
I don't think she is in any pain or distress that I know of. Maybe something came up and she is just caught up in it. Samuel was trying to build some understanding on the situation as he looked at Iris as he sees she looked discomforted like she did something wrong, yet he didn't know much about the situation they had together, so he'll play it safe,
"From what I can tell, she might be going through something, but I think she's alright overall. After all, she did do alright after your little pep talk, maybe she is just recomposing herself before the mission". Samuel didn't know much on Amy, her strange aura didn't make her very appealing to approach, Samuel felt off about her, but this could also be the fact she looks…different. But that is his own problems, he isn't one to force how he feels on to others, he is just hesitant near Amy, she seems too weird.
Iris sighed out and looked towards Samuel,
" I don't know, she didn't come to see how the boarding party was doing after they got back. That and I haven't been able to see her the last few day has me concerned to say the least. I know that she may have been shaken from the first fight but you know…" Iris looks like she is trying to put her words back in order to properly convey her discomfort for the situation.
"Bounce back? Yeah, I thought she would bounce back from her mistake and return to that cheerful person she had shown us. I can't help but worry that she needs someone to comfort her right now…" Iris slumped back into her chair and continued talking to Samuel,
"But your probably right Samuel. I'm probably just overthinking the whole thing." Iris sat back up and started to work faster, an old habit she got whenever she went against her gut.
Samuel saw as Iris seemed to look like she slowly seeps into her own fears. Maybe Iris was right, maybe Amy needed someone to talk to, however, what if she didn't need to talk to anyone? What if talking only hurts more? Samuel didn't wish to put them both through struggling with now even more painful emotions, with the ideas of weakness and the inability to help. So when he saw Iris quickly get to work and even go faster than normal, he knew she was going against her own gut feeling. Yet, Samuel stayed silent, knowing this had to be the best option.
====================Start of Operation====================
After collecting together to get ready before the operation is to begin, Samuel finds himself at the precipice of the begging of the end. He is about ready, he's all geared up with his weapons, equipment, and he will be giving the EMC jammer to Nero, because, well, Samuel is able to use his magic to do the same. As he sees Nero takes the initiative and stated exactly what he expected. Nero would be using his skills to go ahead and clear a path, as Samuel and Iris will be going and acting as support. Samuel saw this coming, honestly, he was more than happy to take the job, as he is more than ready to use his magic to help, and honestly, leaving the job up to the professional is more than up Samuel's alley.
Everyone gathered before the mission. They already distributed the mini-Emp's all that's left is to go off on the mission. The guilt for not trying to check on Amy had entered remission. That was until Iris saw Amy with a noticeable change in her mannerisms. At first, Iris thought this was do to Amy's efforts to steel herself for this mission. That analysis didn't hold for long as Iris started to notice some of the signal of distress she was giving off. Iris wanted to go over and try to help but she just couldn't find herself to distract herself from the mission. She forced herself to focus on the mission. Then she heard a dull thud coming from Amy's general direction. All that focus she had built up went away as Iris whipped her head towards Amy to see what was going on and she could just see Amy struggling. Iris was about to head over when Avelyn started talking to her. This tempered Iris as she continued to pay attention to the mission. She noticed Ariel even go comfort Amy. Iris felt relieved that more people were there for her but she couldn't help but be dissatisfied that she wasn't. Iris swore to herself that she would be there for Amy when they got best. Now she just needed to focus up and get it done.
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