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The only thing on Rokk's mind when he walked through the door was a taking a shower. His body was tired and dirty from working the mines, however, when he saw Pol holding a cool cloth to his eye as their mother, Ewa, soothed him, the shower became a distant worry. His needs became irrelevant as he fell into his self-imposed role of protector and provider for his family. "Pol?" Rokk numbly staggard to him on their couch. "What happened to your eye?!"
It was obvious that Pol had been crying, but with Rokk there he put up a stoic face. "S'nothing," he murmured and their mother gently removed the cloth so Rokk could see.
Rokk hissed at the angry dark bruise and swollen flesh. "What happened?" he probed again.
Ewa put the cool cloth back on it and urged Pol to hold it there. "Just a little fight, that's all Rokk," she answered him.
"A little?!"
"You s-should see the other guy!" Pol said bravely and he proudly flashed Rokk his knuckles, revealing how they too were scuffed and bruised. "A total creep attacked me, so I defended myself! Whooped him good."
Rokk's body relaxed as he leaned forward and kissed the top of his head.
"Pol, don't make a habit of this, you're lucky no one is going to jail today," Ewa tutted, then she turned to Rokk. "You look exhausted. And you smell like that horrible mine! Ah, go take a shower!"
"Sorry mom," Rokk apologized distantly but he was still fixated on Pol. "Defended yourself, huh?"
Pol nodded and there was a glitter in his unblemished, but puffy-red-rimmed eye. "Whooped them back."
Rokk patted his shoulder and leaned in close to his ear. "Good," he whispered. Rokk trembled as he walked to their bathing room.
He scrubbed his dirty pale skin until it was pink and even afterwards he still didn't feel like it was enough to get the mine off of him.
"Kid's a natural, never seen someone with such acute control over their magnetism before. See, look at this. Kid detected the ore through three meters of limestone ahead of our instruments. It was the biggest deposit we found in over thirty years from this location. We would have never found it without him. Bumped profits through the roof, and they keep climbing!"
"And only fourteen," mulled the blonde Braalian through his respirator. In the dark, his hair looked brown.
"Fourteen is fourteen, Falk. They made the age of majority fourteen ten years ago so they could put people to work sooner because of the war, and now that it's over, well, they don't see a need to roll it back. It's all perfectly legal. He's his own man taking care of his family."
Falk watched Rokk as he drilled through the mine with their sonic drill with confidence, the limestone rock crumbling into rubble, a sheen of sweat on his dirty forehead. "Yes, yes he is, isn't he?"
With a wheezy, joy-filled laugh, Rokk fell into the soft red lawn of his school, his teammates all letting out rambunctious howls with him as he was tackled.
"Dude I can't believe you made that shot!" hooted one, his tan fingers ruffling his coal-black hair.
Another one chortled as she squeezed him affectionately. "Play like that on Game Day and people are gonna give you a stupid nickname, because no Braalian should be able to do that!"
Their coach let them tussle each other a bit before they broke them up. "Okay! Let Krinn breathe, he's no use to us if you suffocate him before the game!" They all gave Rokk one last riff before they got off of him leaving him sitting on the red lawn, a jovial smile on his tired face. The coach noticed that no matter how often the boy smiled, it was always through exhaustion. "Everyone, go do drill number three for a couple clicks. Krinn? I'd like to talk to you for a moment."
Everyone departed, and Rokk got to his feet. "You needed to talk to me, Coach Wen?" he said around the sound of the magno-ball swishing through the air and the scuffles of his teammates.
"I do. Rokk, you're the best damn magno-ball player I have ever seen in my life, and I mean that. I foresee a future with you going professional in less than a year."
Rokk smiled in humility. "Gee, do you really think that fast?"
Wen nodded then touched his shoulder. "Yes, that fast. In fact, you're already being scouted. See that man over there next to the scoreboard?" Rokk let his blue eyes glide to the scoreboard in the distance and saw the man in question, he was dressed inconspiciously, which somehow made him stand out even more that he didn't quite belong on a magno-ball field. "That's Houff Danil, a professional sports talent-scout. He's found all of the last five star athletes in the last five years, and right now he has his eyes set on you. You play as well as you do on Game Day as you have all season, you're going to the stars."
Rokk didn't know how he felt being watched, but he would be lying if he said the concept didn't excite him. He never heard of a professional athlete struggling to pay the most basic of bills, and he knew he would never squander his earnings like some did. "No pressure, huh?" he murmured then as the reality hit him.
Wen suddenly got quiet, and serious. "I know you're pulling double shifts in that mine outside of town, and you've never once neglected your studies Rokk. You're already this school's number one student, our number one player, and I know your that mine's number one employee; but Rokk, you're overworking yourself."
Rokk's ocean blue eyes turned like clouds covering the sun. "I'm fine," he insisted bluntly. "I have a family to support-"
"I know all about your family situation, Rokk. I was right next to your dad Hu in the war, and he came out the worst in our whole unit. But, what I'm going to tell you is this; you set your life up with a lot of doors to go through and they are wide open for you - go through the magno-ball door. See the stars, be a star, then poverty will never touch you again. I'll support you in every way until you're shooting across the sky."
Rokk wasn't sure if the advice was useful, he couldn't neglect his job like Wen wanted him to. Years of extremely high debt had left his family destitute and his pay from the mine barely kept the food on the table as it was. Even losing one shift could mean a tight paycheck and someone going hungry. In his heart however, he knew Wen was right and he nodded in understanding, if only to make them happy. "I'll make sure to get some rest before the game."
"Good," Wen patted his shoulders then let him go. "Now, show them how to really play the game like you mean it!"
Rokk smiled. "Yes Xir!"
"Magno-ball game on the 17th?" Falk said as he watched Rokk strip out of his mining gear, dirt coming off of him in plumes of dust. "You must be excited."
Rokk ran his fingers through his hair quickly, releasing dust and grime as it filtered off him. "Ah, yeah. It's a big game. There's a talent scout that will be watching, if I play good, I might even go professional!" he enthused behind the respirator.
"If you go professional, I guess you'll be leaving the mine, then?" Falk questioned, staring at Rokk as he removed the respirator, then his filthy undershirt revealing his sticky bare fair skin.
"It will be hard to be both a magno-ball player and a miner at the same time, so, yeah?" Rokk replied then quickly got to work getting back into his casual wear. It had been a long day, and he was tired, and he still had a history report to write.
"I'm sure you'll do more than great, you look damn good with a drill in your hands covered in dust and sweat, and I'm sure you'll look good with a magno-ball in it too."
Rokk thought the comment was odd but he elected to put it aside; some people just phrased things weirdly. "Anyway, that's in the future. It'll probably take months to get there."
Cosmic Boy wished Lyle would just listen to him and trust what he was saying when he was saying it. "Kid! We need to make sure that Brainy's results can be duplicated before we actually implement it!"
"And I'm saying that Brainy has run this through simulations over a hundred times with consideration for anomalies you or I would never even think of! It's already safe and it will work!"
Shaking his head, Cosmic Boy refused to relent. "No. That's not how we do things unless it's an emergency. We've already seen the results of untested Brainiac 5 solutions, and I'm not risking it! We're not doing a damn thing until he can replicate that first result!"
Lyle seethed. "And I'm telling you that you're wrong. The plan will work, it's safe, and whatever fear you have about it, is based on paranoia! It's already been tested!"
Cosmic Boy felt his blood roil under his skin in his cheeks as he glared at Lyle. "No. Invisible Kid, stand down. That's an order. Do you understand me?"
Lyle scoffed as he rolled his eyes skywards. "Fine, whatever. Woof."
A basalt layer as thick as the one Rokk carved through normally would have given anyone else trouble, but to Rokk it crumbled around him like he had been a miner his whole life instead of three months. Falk watched him and whistled. "Krinn, you sure know what to do with something hard, don't you?" he grinned.
Rokk stopped as other miners chuckled in response. "Sir?" he asked, uncertain if he heard him correctly over the crumbling earth.
"Never mind me and my mouth Krinn, carry on, I'll just enjoy the view!"
Rokk felt a few jovial pats on his shoulder as his older coworkers laughed around him. "Ignore him Krinn, he only has one thing on his mind!"
Falk smiled. "Yeah, our monthly quota. Keep up the good work! Let's all thank Krinn's gorgeous ass he's leading this operation!"
Somewhere deep in Rokk's gut he felt a terrible awkward lump of dread - but through the laughter and the ticking of the clock that demanded his productivity, he ignored it and went back to work.
Rokk could tell by the look in his mother's eyes that he came home to bad news. She stared hopelessly into her omnicom, leaning heavily on their kitchen table. The sight told him all he needed to know. "Mom? Is everything okay?" he asked anyway, because maybe, just maybe she was only tired.
Instead, Ewa sniffled and gave him an apologetic look. "I wish they were. Your father's hospital bills just came in. They're not forgiving a single cent."
Rokk's blue eyes flashed outrage and horror. "What?!"
Ewa explained with a trembling voice. "They say his injuries are separate from the war between Titan and Braal, so they are not obligated to reduce the fee, and Veteran Affairs refuses to pay either because it's not a wartime injury."
"But he got hurt because of the injuries he received while on duty! His nerve damage made him loose his balance and he fell down the stairs!"
"I know Rokk, I know. But they don't see it like that. So we sniff we owe the full amount by the end of the month." Ewa broke down then, sobbing over her omnicom.
Rokk rubbed her shoulders soothingly as the reality set in, the unfairness of it all. "I'll take up more shifts in the mine," he announced then, because there was no other option. "We found a pretty big deposit, and I bet I can score a few bonuses by the end of the week."
Looking up, Ewa's eyes were bright red. "Rokk, you're working too hard! You already have too much on your plate. No. I'm going to work hard, try to find a job that will take me. You should be studying, playing, not supporting this family!"
Rokk didn't see any other solution; his father was unable to work due to his physical disabilities as a result of the war, a Titanian mind-blast damaged his brain so much he could no longer read, his little brother was too young to work, and his mother had difficulty securing jobs due to her own education and spotty work-history. "I'll be fine, mom. Let's see how much it is." He took a look at the amount and sighed - they were going to be hungry for a couple days, likely. "It's not that bad, we'll make it work and we won't be sleeping in the air cruiser again. Never again."
Ewa cried into his shoulder, ashamed, because there was no other way, and she hated it.
Rokk didn't want to look at Falk as he focused on his drilling, and he refused to pay attention to him and his comments.
"Krinn, you sure know how to make a man weak, you know that?" Falk smirked under his respirator as watched Rokk work from behind. "Keep up the good job," he recited with a seething edge then left him alone.
Rokk was glad when he left. Only a few more shifts, and it would be payday and he could pay off his father's hospital debt in full. He could tolerate the comments for his father.
Cosmic Boy was furious.
Both Lyle and Querl had gone against his wishes, against his judgment, and implemented the plan without any further physical testing like he asked, and the results were… expected.
Cosmic Boy was glad Querl and Lyle were correct, but the fact that both refused to listen to him poked something in him that he couldn't ignore and it made him turn into someone he didn't want to be - an absolute jerk.
"Monitor duty. Both of you. Separately. For a month. And suspension!"
Querl looked blankly at him then huffed. "Extreme, don't you think?"
Rokk smacked the desk with a balled up fist hard; if the material were weaker he would have cracked it, and his aggression made Querl and Lyle jump. "Grife! Brainy! Was it really too much for you to test it in live time again?! I gave you a direct order, a warning, and you refused to listen to me!"
Lyle pointed at him. "We don't follow orders just because they are orders, Cos!"
Cosmic Boy couldn't look at him, he was so furious. "Sometimes, you need to trust your leaders! Now, get out! I don't want to see either of you again for a while. And Lyle, I swear to everything holy in this galaxy, if you woof at me, I will double your punishment!"
Lyle stood up and stormed out, Querl following him.
Cosmic Boy smoldered in his seat. Why couldn't they understand that when he saw something, it came from a place of genuine concern?
A blinding midday sun shined overhead, not a single cloud in the sky as Wen spoke to Rokk. "I'm concerned about you, Rokk. You've missed five pitches and three goals."
Rokk stood up straight under the heat, but his equilibrium begin to shift and he wobbled. "I'm fine! I just need to get my head in the game!" he slurred and Wen slapped their hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling over.
Wen considered what was wrong with him; it couldn't be drugs, Rokk would never. "When did you last sleep?" they finally asked.
"Huh?" Rokk blinked.
"When did you last sleep?" they repeated.
Rokk thought about it for a long moment, pulling together the timeline and his eyes suddenly lit up in understanding. "Oh, two days ago."
Wen sighed sadly as they released him. "Rokk, go home. Sleep."
"No!" Rokk stopped wobbling as if he had a jolt that gave him a full night's sleep in a second. "I'm good to practice!"
"You are not! Go home. Sleep! In fact don't show up for practice at all this week."
Rokk looked horrified. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"I mean I'm giving you three hours every day to sprocking sleep. You're useless if you can't even stand straight! Now go. Sleep!"
Rokk instead worked the mines.
He rendered the earth into dust and rubble.
He found ore of riches. Handled veins worth more money than he had ever seen in his life.
And every now and then, Falk's eyes would be on him, would sear him, probe him. He would comment on his frame, his breath, the way how he sweated and panted and everyone would laugh as they patted his back.
The pit of dread in Rokk threatened to explode, but he kept it under control and worked.
Rokk had enough. At the end of his 7th day shift, he went to his advocacy voice for the mine, Vath Roag. He was an older Braalian who had worked the mines all his life. His lungs had been regrown twice due to Braalian Lung, and he believed that it was a status symbol of work ethic.
Rokk wished he had a different advocacy voice, but there were many things that were beyond his control. "Mr. Roag?" Rokk began from his doorway. "I'm here for my 1330 appointment."
Vath looked up at him and peered at Rokk in the doorway. "Rokk Krinn, right? Come in, sit down."
Rokk did so quickly. "I want to talk about my supervisor."
Vath's eyebrows rose. "What about him?"
Rokk looked him in the eyes, because Rokk read that it was easier to be believed if you maintained eye-contact, it was supposed to be a sign of honesty and connection. "Falk has been making comments that make me very uncomfortable."
"Uncomfortable?" Vath said with a soft laugh; Rokk thought it was from nervousness.
"Yeah. Comments about my, er, body. And when I use the equipment he makes innuendoes, like our GH67 is a… penis."
The older Braalian starting laughing. "Shit boy, are you serious, is that all?"
Rokk gave him a confused, probing glance. "Sir?"
"Krinn, you're 14, on our papers that makes you legal age so you can hear all the conversations adults have, and be privy to our humor. You're a man, and this is how adults speak to each other!" Vath explained under a snicker then he laughed again. "Boy, don't cause trouble. You'll learn how an adult acts soon enough."
"He makes me uncomfortable!" Rokk defended through Vath's giggling.
Vath's chortles ceased abruptly then he scoffed. "You're in a mine! What part of working in a mine is comfortable, Mr. Krinn? It's dark, it's too hot, it's too cold, there's never enough air, and you're reminded that it could bloody well kill you every damn hour. Do you think it's going to be as nice as the lawns of a magno-ball field under a nice sun and puffy little clouds? Get out of here."
"You don't understand, sir. I know how people talk, and the way he is approaching me is singling me out, it's not letting out steam or lewd humor he-"
The old man cut him off. "Look. Rokk Krinn. You're young, smart, talented, and yes, good-looking, with a bright future. So, do yourself a favor and just keep your head down, shut up, and focus on your job like everyone else! You're not in any danger from a few words! So stop trying to cause trouble!"
Rokk shook as he stood up and stalked to the door, feeling more helpless than he had in a long time.
"Cos, I dunno about this," Garth confided to Cosmic Boy after he was finished with his mission briefing. "I don't see any report that this creep raped anyone. That's not on any historical record."
"Trust me, he has," Cosmic Boy revealed flatly, the prickle of heat flushing his cheeks and neck at his boyfriend's doubt. "I happen to know personally."
Garth took a sobering breath. "Then I believe you."
Cosmic Boy closed his blue eyes and breathed. "Thank you."
The hovering magno-ball blotted out the sun. "Three days, everyone!" Wen praised as they focused on the ball, controlling it with their own Braalian magnetism. "I'm proud of all of you, no matter what happens."
"Hey! We have Rokk Krinn on our team, and as long as he's here we're indestructible!" boasted a very tall girl with black hair buzzed short.
Rokk smiled bashfully. "I'm pretty sure this is a team effort? It's not just me!" he said quickly.
Wen nodded in approval. "Well said from a natural leader! Even if he should sleep more!" They commanded the ball to zing to Rokk then, and Rokk deflected the five pound ball straight into the goal net. "I mean it Rokk, sleep!"
"Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!" his team taunted and Rokk smiled.
The ore was deep, and Rokk could sense it, feel its pull on his body, on his spine, the back of his skull, in his brain. It was a deposit formed over three billion years ago when Braal was in its most geologically active state. Pressed flat against the wall of limestone, Rokk focused with his eyes closed and felt his mother planet, Braal. It was a comforting pull on him, and he would always claim that there was a heartbeat that he could feel that matched his own pulse.
Alone in the dark with Braal as his only company led to an intimacy few Braalians understood, but was second nature to Rokk. It comforted him, and reminded him he was a living being tethered to a planet and seven billion years of evolution.
He stood with his eyes closed and listened to his planet live.
"Come to my office after your shift." Rokk jumped, his heart-rate skyrocketing as he spun to the voice. It was Falk. "I didn't mean to frighten you, Krinn!" he laughed. "But, come to my office after your shift. I need to go over something important with you."
Rokk look confused as he breathed heavily through the respirator, his pulse still searing through his body like lava. "Mr. Falk?"
"After your shift. It's in two hours, right?"
Rokk nodded cautiously. "Got it."
Hu Krinn's laborous wheezing had gone on for so long, Rokk considered calling for emergency services (again) but eventually the man eased up, drank some water, then calmed down. Taking a puff from an inhaler he let out one last cough, then he looked damningly at this son. "Dammit, Rokk. What did you say you did?"
Rokk answered him like it was the most normal conversation ever. "I picked up seven extra shifts. The mine lets me work as much as I want, so I did the math and calculated how much I needed to work to pay off your hospital debt, and that's how many shifts I would need to do to cover it all before its due!"
Hu looked horrified. "Rokk, this debt can wait! It's mine to bear, not yours!"
Rokk dug into his dinner, a hot, simple but immensely tasty grain porridge with thick cut vegetables and lab-grown meat. He made it himself while his mother was out with his younger brother leaving him alone with his father. "If it wasn't paid for by the end of the month, they would have added interest and might have ordered your arrest for neglect of debt," he educated him bluntly.
Hu looked like he was going to go nuclear in his chair, cane first as he gripped it tightly. "So be it, then! I can go to jail! You should focus on your own life, not a broken man like me!"
"You're my dad," Rokk insisted as he let his spoon settle into his dinner. "I'm not going let you rot in some prison cell when I can do something! Besides, if I do things right, I'll be playing magno-ball professionally soon and no one here will have to worry about debts or anything ever again!"
Hu sighed sadly, and ashamedly. "You silly, stubborn boy."
Rokk smiled, proudly. "I got it from someone."
"You get pissy whenever someone questions your authority, oh great dictator, Cosmic Boy! Let me bow before your great wisdom!" Gates flourished dramatically.
Cosmic Boy didn't have the spoons to deal with him. "You have your orders everyone, move out!"
"Woof!" barked Lyle sarcastically under his breath.
"I dunno Krinn, that's just how Falk has always been," said a woman nearing retirement age as she piled the ore they had just mined into carts with her magnetic abilities. Her skin was aged and sandy, beautiful and speckled with dark spots Rokk could only see a fraction of around her respirator. "I've known him from the other mine he used to manage, and he's always made silly comments like that to the boys."
"The boys, huh?" Rokk echoed and magnetically directed a pile of ore into a cart. "Samala, I'm uncomfortable with him," he revealed.
Samala stopped her work for a brief moment and looked sadly at him, her gray hair a halo around her face. "Just keep your head down, and no harm will come to you. And if it does, keep quiet about it."
Rokk felt his heart sink into the core of Braal. "I don't agree with that."
"I used to not agree with it either, but you age, you see, you prioritize what's important and begin to understand what's worth fighting, and what you can win. Do you want peace and to feed your family? Or do you want to make someone pay?"
Rokk considered her words as he pulled their spoils into the carts. "I actually just want him to stop."
Cosmic Boy curled into Imra's soft bare chest, Garth behind him and he breathed contentedly. He smiled as he felt her fingers rake through his dark hair.
Garth kissed him between his shoulders several times. "That, was amazing babes," he breathed against his skin.
Imra smiled and reached over to ruffle his hair too and Garth enjoyed it. "And thank you for demonstrating just how much you love us. It was… electrifying."
Cosmic Boy had never felt more at ease, or more loved. "I love you," he murmured softly and he knew he didn't need to specify who he was talking to.
His body trembled. This is what it was supposed to be like. How could it be anything else?
Rokk stood outside Falk's office still in his dirty safety gear, and for a moment he contemplated leaving. His body was so tired, so exhausted, he could blame that for simply forgetting that he was supposed to stop by first. But what if it was really important?
Taking a breath, Rokk knocked on the door. "I'm here, Mr. Falk," he announced then walked into the neat office. If it were anyone else, he might have felt bad bringing in so much dust and earth with him.
Falk didn't appear to be bothered as he looked at him from his desk. "Ah, close the door."
Rokk felt his heart hammer in his chest, he really didn't want to, but he did as he was asked. Maybe he was overreacting, his brain soothed him. Maybe his supervisor really was just crude and he didn't understand his intentions. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Rokk said quieter than he intended.
Falk blinked dramatically. "Rokk, I can barely hear you around that sprocking respirator. Remove it. You don't need it here."
They did muffle voices. Rokk unlatched it and the goggles with it, it felt good to breathe unfiltered air again. "Can you hear me now?"
Falk nodded. "And I can see your face. Now, I'd like to talk to you about your… performance."
Rokk regarded him quizzically. "Performance, sir?"
Falk's bright blue eyes burned Rokk as they fixated on him like sunlight through a magnifying glass. "Yes, your performance. You're a good miner, Rokk. We'd hate to lose you, and it seems like lately you've been distracted."
Rokk swallowed hard before he answered. He knew what that meant in professional terms. "I've been a little tired, pulling triple shifts, but I'm close to paying off my dad's hospital bill and once that's done I'll be back to normal! I promise this is temporary."
Falk cracked a grin, white teeth peeking between his lips. "Well, that is a relief, but what about your magno-ball?"
Rokk was confused. "Sir?"
Falk stood up from his desk and approached Rokk slowly. "You said you have a big game on the 17th-"
"A day I am scheduled off," Rokk interrupted.
"A day you do have off; but I'm really worried about what happens afterwards."
"Afterwards?"
"Afterwards," Falk parroted and he stopped just in front of Rokk. "You're the best damn miner we have, and to be blunt, your talents have made this mine the top performer in all of Braal. You're a legend, Rokk."
Rokk didn't feel special at all being a lowly miner, and he desperately wanted this conversation to end. "I just… want to make sure my family is taken care of, that's all."
"Of course you do, you're a hero," Falk said and he reached to touch Rokk's cheek with his pale fingers.
Rokk flinched away before he made contact. "I'm not comfortable, don't sprocking touch me," Rokk ordered, his blue eyes welling like a storm cell.
Falk smiled, amused, and his icy eyes still seethed and burned him like frostbite. "My boy, what sort of bargaining position do you think you're in right now?"
"We're done." Rokk stalked to the door and pulled on it, instead of opening it remained shut. Trying again, it was clear it was locked, and Rokk's breathing came on quick. "Open the door!"
"I can open the door, but Rokk, if you leave before this conversation is done, you're fired," Falk maintained as he stared at him impassively. "Think about your family, Rokk. How many paychecks could your family live without? Three? Two? No… It's one, isn'it it? Miss just one paycheck and you're looking for a new home, all your belongings tied to an old, outdated air cruiser, and fifty government food credits to split between four for a month. A disabled, war-beaten dad, an uneducated mom, and a little brother too young to be useful. They need you, Rokk, and you don't have the spine to pick yourself first. You're a man now, Rokk, you could have left them to fend for themselves, but here you are, sweating and filthy, for their sakes. Everything you do, is for other people."
"What do you want with me, Falk?" Rokk asked with the weight of a black hole pulling on him.
Falk smiled pleasingly and the sound of a zipper coming undone filled the deathly silent nice clean room. "Only what I'm aready paying you for; your body. I know you're good with with your mouth, and I need you to show it to me just how good you can use it. Consider it bargaining your pay."
Rokk's eyes went blank as he realized there was no escape he was willing to risk.
The magno-ball trophies mounted on the wall next to Rokk's bed were shiny even in dim light. Rokk shared a room with Pol, almost a perfect divide down the middle.
On his side, it was sensibly organized between his magno-ball trophies and a few rare physical books of history of various places in the galaxy that had piqued his attention, Terra being one of them.
Pol's side meanwhile was carpeted with images of various air cruisers, athletes of the past, cartoons Rokk could only name a third of, and drawings he did when he had peace.
Rokk only wanted him to have peace.
Rokk promised himself Pol would never work in the mines or know what hunger was.
Rokk looked at his trophies and let himself be proud of what he accomplished in so little time, he only started playing it when he was twelve.
Two years ago.
HE did this, no one else, no one could take magno-ball away from him or the joy he got playing it. He had a gift, and it wasn't for the mine, it was for whatever he wanted it to be and in that moment it was for his family.
Magno-ball was his, and he was sure it was where his future rested.
"Good boy. That was so good. Remove the rest of the gear, I want a good look at you."
Stadium lights never bothered Rokk before as he panted under them on the 17th. Under his suit, he was drenched in sweat.
"Rokk, come on, get your head in the game! We're five points behind!" Wen hollered at him during their break. "Where's your head at today?!"
"Sorry coach!" Rokk rasped under the roar of spectators. "I just… needed a warm up!"
Wen sighed and tossed him a water bottle. "We're only halfway through the game. I know you'll pull yourself up. Everyone else! I know you can play better, you can't all lean on Rokk to do the work!"
It was past midnight when Rokk heard the voices from his bed.
"He shouldn't be doing any of this, Ewa." It was his father's voice, ever gentle and slow, because he often had to think before he did anything. In the dark of his room, he heard his little brother Pol sleeping soundly, his breaths soft and level. Even though Rokk couldn't see him, he knew he was curled up to an old Wonder Woman plushie because he thought she looked like their mother.
Ewa's voice was fainter, and harder to hear through the glowing crack in the door. "I feel like such a failure of a mother, of a wife, of a person. When I married you, I said I could help build a life with you, and what have I done?"
Rokk closed his eyes and fought the urge to run into the living room and tell her it wasn't her fault.
"It was the war, Ewa, none of us could have helped that. If you're a failure, so am I, for letting that Titanian brain-blast me, take my body from me, my mind, my ability to read. I should have pulled the trigger, but I didn't want to. I had no reason to kill her. But she… damn it. I'm sorry Ewa. I'm sorry you married a useless coward that can't generate a dime to put food on the table."
Whatever his mom said in reply was muffled, broken by sobs and sniffles, and carried around it was his father's soothing voice urging that everything was going to be okay. Somehow.
Rokk's eyes welled with tears. He couldn't tell them what he so desperately needed to. What he wanted to. What he had been forced to do in the office.
It would break them.
He cried to himself in the dark, and tried to dream of magno-ball.
It took Falk 9 minutes to finish with him, but Rokk had no way of knowing how much time went by. "Your work is secure here, Krinn. Good job." The office was still neat and tidy, and Falk unruffled as he raked back his blonde hair with his fingers. "Thank you for this productive talk about your performance."
Rokk didn't say a damn thing as he pulled his dirty mining clothes on and craved home.
"I'll give you fifty credits for your thoughts."
Refusing to speak to him, Rokk latched the final fastening of his suit. The click it made was thunderous through his silence.
"I'm serious! Speak, boy! And fifty credits, straight to you, right now."
Rokk put his goggles and respirator back on his face, Falk couldn't see his devastated expression if he had them on. Once they were secure, he turned to him, eyes wet and glassy and hidden. "Did you get what you needed?"
Falk cracked into a laugh that sickened Rokk. "Krinn, you're hilarious. Well, I think I did. And here you go, as promised. Get yourself something good to eat. You're thinner than you appear. See you tomorrow, and, good luck on your big game. I know a lot of people are going to love watching you move."
"Are you nervous about that many people watching you?" Ewa asked Rokk during a rare time he was present to help her with dinner, because Hu didn't have the fine mobility to hold a knife to help anymore. Rokk peeled durgjan, a hearty starchy root, while she rinsed brown rice, a plant imported several centuries ago from Terra.
"Not really," replied Rokk. "I'm actually excited. It's a promise for a better future for us."
"Hmm," Ewa hummed and scooped the rinsed rice into a well-used pot, then filled it with vegetable broth she had made months ago and kept frozen. "What if nothing happens?" she asked and Rokk stopped his peeling.
"What do you mean?"
"What if you do all of this, and nothing happens? You don't make it to professional magno-ball?"
Rokk hated entertaining that idea and he went back to peeling. "I'll think of something. There's the mine still, and my grades to focus on, could go to a better school, study history, become a teacher. Maybe I'll go to Terra, there's better jobs there. I can get a job there, and send money back here. Or you three can come live with me there. The place is supposed to be much better now that President Thawne is out of power. And the war with Titan is over and-."
Ewa smiled as Rokk rambled and she kissed the top of his head. "You have a plan for everything."
"If your plan here is to get some sort of off-the-books settlement, Krinn, it's not gonna work!" Vath rumbled.
"Mr. Roag, he raped me in his office two days ago and threatened my job! I'm not trying to get hush-money, I'm trying to get justice!"
The police officer in the room looked stern as they typed on their omnicom. "We take all sexual assault allegations seriously, Mr. Krinn. Do you have any witnesses?"
"No! I was called to his office alone! And I was there alone. Do rapists typically invite witnesses?!"
Vath sighed. "Of course. Look, Krinn, are you sure what happened, was what happened? Could it have been a misunderstanding? You've been awfully tired lately and-"
"It wasn't a misunderstanding!" Rokk snarled. He actually snarled. "I told you weeks ago he was making passes at me and you dismissed them! What was it that you told me again? You told me that that's just how adults talk to each other. Well, is that true? Officer? Do you harass your coworkers? Lure them in your office and hold their jobs over their heads to force them to have sex with you?" Rokk trembled the last bit out as he breathed through his rage.
"No comment," the officer said quickly. "Look, we'll do our investigation. In the meantime the Braalian Workers Rights Act dictates that you comply with our investigation, and accommodate Mr. Krinn here."
Mr. Vath held up his hands innocently. "I wouldn't dream of dismissing a serious claim!" he said, his voice dripping with irony. "His job is secure here. He's our best!"
Pol smiled at Rokk, his eyes just as blue as his big brother's. "You're the best, Rokk! I know you're gonna whoop 'em!"
Rokk smiled at little and hugged him very tight. "You bet, this is all for you," he said softly into his hair.
Ewa and Hu pulled him into a tight hug as well. "Even if nothing happens, we love you," Hu said when he let them go, leaning on his cane for support.
Rokk huffed. "Well, I don't think nothing will happen. Something will happen after today, I just hope it's something good."
Purple Luornu was about to throttle Cosmic Boy. "Good grife! Cos! What the sprock do you think is gonna happen if you're wrong! Have you even considered, for a single moment, once, in your life, what might happen if your judgment is, Valor-forbid, wrong!? Well? Nothing! You're just wrong! Life goes on!"
"You can trust me on this; a lot can happen and it's definitely not nothing."
WARNING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION INTENDED FOR LISTED PARTIES ALONE.
Attention to those whom it may concern Re: Falk Dhur, Rokk Krinn, Vath Roag, Rysi Kren and Abigail Loft.
Investigation 6190 revealed no evidence of an assault against Mr. Rokk Krinn. The investigation revealed that Mr. Falk Dhur admitted to a consensual sexual event that took place in his office on the day that Mr. Rokk Krinn accused him of said assault. Investigation findings revealed that Mr. Falk Dhur claimed that Mr. Rokk Krinn approached him offering sexual favors for a raise in pay, which he admitted he agreed to and provided proof of payment in the amount of fifty credits from his personal account. As this is a direct violation of company policy, Mr. Falk Dhur will be transferred to another mine for management, and Mr. Rokk Krinn will be placed on company probation with limited hours pending review. We are taking into consideration Mr. Rokk Krinn's contributions to this company, his family's destitute status, state of known exhaustion, and his age before we come to a final determination concerning his future as an extremely valued employee.
A flash of bright red washed over Rokk when he hit the turf hard, the whole stadium hissing with him. Lifting himself from the ground, he could already feel the numbing hurt building in his nose. A small careful breath forced a spray of red that vanished in the turf, and he stilled and waited, felt the taste of iron in his mouth and was so glad it buried the taste of his assault three days ago.
This taste was all him, his body, his body was his and it was full of the iron he controlled as well as his own limbs. As well as the magno-ball.
He got up and the crowed cheered, a line of dark red running down his lips and chin. Glancing at the scoreboard he saw they still had a quarter of the game left, and they were in the lead.
The air cruiser's door was shredded off like it was a wrapped package by Cosmic Boy. Inside, the driver began shrieking in terror as he reached for his illegal pistol, and aimed at him.
A very quick sudden lighting bolt from Garth to his hand made him seize before dropping it with a disgusting moan.
Rokk frowned bitterly as he reached to pull on every fiber the driver was wearing that he could latch onto; his belt, his watch, the rivets in his shoes. "Out!" he barked and let him crumple on the pavement.
The disheveled blond man cowered. "Stop! I surrender! I'll tell you where the glisnerium is!"
Imra stood at a distance. "He's telling the truth, he's terrified."
"Good," Cosmic Boy said then he looked at him sniveling on the ground. Was this man really him? he wondered. "Falk Dhur, do you remember me?"
Falk lifted his head up from his whimpering. "Rokk Krinn," he answered. "I remember you. Last time I saw you was, grife, seven years ago!"
Rokk beat back the panic attack that was settling in him, latching onto his heart and squeezing his mind. No. Not now. "So you remember everything?"
"Sprock! I surrender! I want my lawyer!" he spat suddenly, then he grinned as he noticed a small crowd had formed in the street, witnesses. It was a grin Rokk recognized and he finally saw the man he expected - the man that smiled at him in a nice clean office. "Or do you want fifty credits first?"
Imra's eyes went wide.
Cosmic Boy grabbed ahold of the iron in Falk's blood with his senses, but the second he touched him, his vision blighted out and he felt himself fall like a planet kicked out of its solar system - directionless and blind. The world became flashes and darkness.
Houff Danil shook Rokk's sweaty, dirty hand enthusiastically. "That was the finest, most exciting game of magno-ball I have ever seen in my whole life, Mr. Rokk Krinn! I have never seen such a recovery!"
Rokk felt awkward with the praise, but he let the older man shake his hand until he himself found it to be an awkward amount of time and he pulled it away. "Well, I just had to get my head back in the game," Rokk admitted.
Houff smiled in awe. "Couldn't even tell you lost it to start! You have such intense and focused eyes, there was not a single moment when I thought you were not there. But, that last quarter, people are going to be replaying that forever!"
"Hope they're not squeamish about blood then!" Rokk attempted to joke and it drew a light chuckle from Houff.
"I want to sign you on, Rokk. I want you to play magno-ball with the big leagues, teach them how to really play like there's meaning to life beyond a paycheck!"
Rokk got very quiet.
"But you will be paid, and paid damn well son! I hear you're working in a blasted mine? Typical Braal. Well, quit that! Today! I want you knocking balls next week!"
"I'm looking forward to it!" Rokk choked out and he shook Houff's hand again when he offered it.
"We just need to get you a manager, I know a guy, Alex Cuspin! He's a little old fashioned, but he knows the industry! I mean it, boy! Quit that mine tonight and be ready to go to the stars!"
"He had a panic attack, and it almost turned into a sprocking heart attack," Garth said as he pet Cosmic Boy's dark, dark hair. He had been sedated an hour ago at the judgment of Dr. Gym'll when Imra balked at trespassing into his mind.
What she had overheard broadcasted from Falk's mind was enough, and she didn't want to overstep into something her lover clearly kept buried.
Grabbing Cosmic Boy's limp hand she brought it to her lips and kissed it. "Rokk, why did you keep this buried so deep? You should have never had to suffer for so long in silence."
Cosmic Boy couldn't answer as he slept, but Garth mulled it over.
"Maybe he thought no one would listen to him."
"Or maybe it's a lot deeper than that."
The train always swayed a little as it skittered down the tracks. To most people, the rocking was imperceptible, but to Rokk it was like a boat being rocked by waves on a lake. It was comforting to him, and allowed him peace to think during the half hour it took to reach home from the mine.
Today however he was at a loss for what to think, so he focused on what he could see.
Rokk saw the sun descending against the giant white capped mountains, some of the tallest in the galaxy. As the sun fell it bathed the world in a soft beautiful pink and lilac, two of Rokk's most favorite colors. The light distracted him from the hurt in his body from a place that never hurt before and the foul taste in his mouth.
Despite the ugliness of the world, there still was something that he found unspeakably beautiful.
The other people on the same train didn't question why he was crying, and just kept to themselves.
He only wanted to make sure his family was secure.
He wanted a shower so sprocking much.
"So, now you know."
Imra looked like she was going to hesitate answering with the truth, but she could never do that to Cosmic Boy. "I didn't mean to pick up on it, that horrible man was just-"
"Loud, I know," Cosmic Boy ended. He had no ill feelings for her, or Garth, for finding out. A part of him knew one day they would have found out eventually.
Garth looked the most hurt out of all of them as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest, parts of his hair sticking up from electricity and Rokk was willing to gamble Imra was probably encouraging him to calm down. (She actually wasn't.)
Cosmic Boy loved that about Garth, how free he was with his emotions, because Garth never censored anything.
"I hate his sprocking guts and hope they throw him in the worst pit in the galaxy," he announced and clenched his fingers tight, repressing everything he had to not punch something.
"I can't say I disagree with you," said Imra then she fixed her attention back on Cosmic Boy. "He's going to Takron Galtos for his part in smuggling the glisnerium from Braal, and they're reopening other cases against him."
"Good. I'm glad he's facing consequences finally," said Cosmic Boy under a weighted sigh.
"Tell us what you need from us," Imra asked bluntly. She knew he always preferred her directness, it was one of the many things he loved about her.
Garth calmed down a little as he turned to Rokk and moved very close to his bed, touching his shoulder with his left hand. "Imra's right, forget that scroach. What do you need?"
Cosmic Boy wasn't sure, and for the first time in a very very long time, he felt safe not knowing entirely.