Will Ortraz and martek get together? Cause damm I ship it. Do you mind telling us about their first impressions of each other/first meeting? 💘
Oh, they spent so long just being polite.
Martek didn’t really meet Ortraz until he became Commander Holt’s second. As a coder, he hid in the Hub for the most part, and only caught glimpses of the massive Galran in the dining hall during mealtimes. Martek wouldn’t be caught dead on the training floor. In the early days especially, he avoided anyone from the combat sector, illogically dreading being pulled into a session. Fortunately, Commander Zarra’s second didn’t seem to notice him at all.
When Holt and, subsequently, Martek were promoted, they became acquaintances from necessity, but they quickly bonded over the ridiculousness of their respective commanders. Holt has yet another burn on his arm that he will not take to Omontu. A sigh, a chuckle. Ah, yes, Zarra will not give me the fresh recruits yet even though her fur hides bruises from their clumsiness.
They’re comrades, first and foremost, although it doesn’t take long for them to become friends. Still, they’re polite. They calmly check in with one another. They exchange glances behind their commanders’ backs, Martek’s exasperated, Ortraz’s warmly amused. It’s a silent sort of perfect camaraderie.
As time goes on they get closer, they share more about themselves, they find themselves enjoying one another’s company more often without the addition of Omontu and !oshi. And then one day things just... settle.
They’re leaving the dining hall late together, commiserating over Holt’s latest stunt, when Martek asks Ortraz if he’d like to join him in his quarters while they continue to talk. Ortraz’s acceptance is split three ways: one part surprise, one part politeness, and one part his heart suddenly jumping into his throat.
Hours later, when he starts to make noises about the late hour, Martek calmly asks him to stay a bit longer. You are welcome to stay the night, he says, and suddenly their roles are reversed. Martek is the cool head while Ortraz bites back fretting excuses.
For a very long time, Leilani is the only one who knows. They can taste the silent joy even though the seconds’ outward manner and interactions haven’t changed one bit. The two of them keep it astonishingly quiet, considering how quickly gossip flies through the ranks of the Coalition.
Zarra is the next to know. She’s startled one evening when she answers a knock at her door to find not Holt, who she’d half expected, but Ortraz and Martek.
Once inside they calmly explain that they have been partnered for over a year and would like to solidify their bond, if she would officiate. She’s delighted to do it, of course. Holt got to oversee Rel and Baerl’s bonding ceremony and she was just a little bit jealous. Quickly and quietly, but with love saturating her quarters, she bonds them then and there at their eager request.
It’s almost another two years before Commander Holt gets wind of their partnership... and, well, it goes about as smoothly as anyone would expect. But that’s a can of worms for another day.
Why did they keep their relationship a secret for so long? Surely after they bonded (?) they will want to share a room or something?
Oh sharing a room wasn’t a problem. They spend nights together all the time once they get their relationship to that place, and no one ever noticed or questioned it. But making it official and all nice and neat and proper was easy. It was as simple as Martek asking !oshi to move their room assignments around. They weren’t really surprised that something had been going on with the two of them in the end. Martek and Ortraz think they’re subtle, but they are really very not, at least not when it comes to the four seconds and their time alone together.Ortraz is the silent and deadly type, but he’s got the biggest puppy eyes for Martek when he doesn’t think anyone is looking. And with most people he gets away with it. It’s not his fault that !oshi is always watching. It’s what makes them so damn good at their job. !oshi just smiled, moved their rooms, congratulated them both, and that was really the end of it. (I’m also gonna link this ask HERE, because I talk little more about the whole secret thing :) )
Hey so I don’t know if this would be considered spoilers or not, but how do you think Matt would react if he found about Martek and Ortraz?
i feel like we’ve answered this before but w/e i don’t trust my own brain i read 60 pages of academic analysis in my 2nd language today
matt DOES find out eventually. they’re not really trying hard to hide it. wait hold up we wrote this in skype somewhere... lemme dig it up and tumblrize it for ya. PLEASE HOLD
