Hongjoong shuffled into the base with his nose runny and his cheeks numb. As he kicked his boots off he scowled at San and Seonghwa who looked just peachy. San merely winked at him as Seonghwa worriedly rubbed his back. The warmth inside slowly seeped into Hongjoong's body like the pricks of thousands of needles.

Their way here had been a blur of white. Hongjoong had not seen much in the incoming snowstorm apart from some grey cliffs and white ice that surrounded them. The base was neatly tucked in the protective shadow of another cliff and shaped like a U. In the yard, Hongjoong had seen different kinds of vehicles and equipment for their research. However, since he had been freezing they had not dwelled and rather hurried right into the warm base.

Now, inside the white and rather sterile quarters that would become their new home, Hongjoong found the exhaustion of their journey catching up with him. He wanted to drop down on a bed and get some rest so his body could adjust to the gravity and surroundings of a planet, but he was left no second to relax.

Because in the next moment Wooyoung already came racing towards him from the adjoining room with a big smile painted on his lips. His youthful eyes were cheerful as he approached.

"Hongjoong! You're finally here!"

Hongjoong let him as the man happily wrapped his arms around Hongjoong's form. He patted Wooyoung's back tiredly while San wandered off to inform the others of their arrival.

"Yes, here I am. Can't say I missed this planet."

Wooyoung pulled back with a giggle, his face open and honest. Hongjoong couldn't even pretend to be mad at him. The physicist was obviously enthusiastic about their mission here and getting to stay with the group. Hongjoong couldn't help but soften at the man's excitement.

"Oh, but this time it's so different! Literally the only similarities between the two outposts are some minerals and Salty's friends!" Yunho and Mingi said that they have encountered a whole new palette of lifeforms here and boy, will you be curious about them!"

Hongjoong squinted at him while Seonghwa wandered off to put Salty in another container.

"So new leviathans, huh?"

At this, Wooyoung brought his hand up to shyly rub his neck.

"Yeah, also new leviathans... But I swear this will not be half as bad as last time! We got weapons to stun them now and if anything happens, we can come right back! There's also these cool-"

Wooyoung was interrupted in his rant as Yeosang and Jongho finally joined them. The android was wearing a patient smile on his lips while Jongho looked nearly bored. He hid his glee to see Hongjoong well, but if he looked closely, Hongjoong could still detect some happiness in his eyes.

"Hey, Joong! Did Eden finally let you go?" Yeosang was first to speak up.

"Filing Seonghwa as my android was a pain. He had to go through literally all the useless tests to assure his functionality as if they didn't know him. I didn't expect to even get back here within the year." Hongjoong rolled his eyes at the overzealous fuss the higher-ups liked to make about Seonghwa. Their relationship was disliked and considered playing favourites between the folks who regarded androids as exchangeable goods. Whenever they had things to discuss, their conversations tended to heat up.

"I can only imagine... We figured they would drop it as we reported on the Frozen Leviathan. They needed all hands here."

Hongjoong followed them to the sitting area where San had already settled together with Seonghwa. As they entered the room Seonghwa was just pulling back from one of their exchanges via a kiss. When the android noticed Hongjoong's jealous eyes on him he gave an apologetic look.

"Call me stupid but I have literally no idea how far you have gotten. I was swamped with paperwork and had not a second to look at the data. You have to explain it all over again." Hongjoong dropped down next to Seonghwa and linked their legs together with a sigh. The android wrapped an arm around him protectively, letting him rest against his shoulder.

"That's fine, showing might be the better method anyway. I can introduce you to the specimens we already checked for the bacterium later and after you got some rest we will set out to explain our surroundings. Well, and meet Yunho and Mingi, of course." Yeosang gave a soft smile that had Hongjoong nodding tiredly.

Yunho and Mingi had been brought over here after the team had asked for them specifically. After knowing of the bacterium declining and the plans to return, especially San had argued for their assistance. Alterra had been reluctant since they hadn't known how dangerous it might be, but in the end, they had flown them over. The two aliens were around here now and ready to help them search the waters for whatever they needed.

"Sounds good, yes. Thank you." Hongjoong copied Yeosang's grin exhaustedly.

Seonghwa shifted next to him.

"I shall prepare some food then. You get some rest and check the data."

"I will hook you up with the tech outside after dinner. I promise you, that will be fun." San nodded at Seonghwa with far more seriousness than his amused face showed. The fellow android frostily nodded back.

"Then Wooyoung and I will continue researching in the meantime. Not as if we could do much with the upcoming storm." Sighing, Jongho glanced at one of the big windows behind which the blowing snow was dancing through the air and bathing the view outside in thick white fog. Hongjoong assumed that this would not be the last snowstorm he would see here.

"Please also remember calling Eden about your arrival."

Hongjoong merely gave him a thumbs-up, then Wooyoung and Jongho left already, murmuring quietly to each other. They had gotten quite close ever since they had returned to their labs, spending lots of free time together. Hongjoong and Seonghwa had also found themselves roped into one of their gaming evenings more often than not. Even more so, Hongjoong had actually started to build up a social life out of work thanks to them, and they had seen each other a lot and connected over their past adventures.

Hongjoong would not quite consider them family, but his very close friends. Even if those friends sometimes bothered him at home at bad times, but Seonghwa had always been quick in putting on clothes, thankfully.

As Yeosang rose to gather their data, Seonghwa also peeled himself away from Hongjoong's side and replaced his body with a pillow. He wandered off towards the kitchens with San by his side, rambling about something. While Hongjoong waited and cuddled his pillow, he tried to recall as much information about this planet as possible. It had been a year and his brain had tried to spare him of too many bad memories, but there had been some things that kept reminding him.

For example Salty. Or the team. Or talks about Yongguk.

Yeosang dropped down next to Hongjoong and searched his face with his blue eyes for a second. He looked slightly worried.

"Will you be fine? If it's too much you can sleep first."

"No, let's talk. My mind is too loud at the moment for me to sleep."

"Good point." Yeosang tapped away at the holographic device and the computer on his wrist, hooking them up. Soon, a map of the surrounding ice area pulled up.

"So we are here. At Outpost Zero." He pointed at a spot on the map at the very far North. A little base was constructed by pale blue light as he zoomed in. Hongjoong nodded, overlooking the area they were responsible for. It was a sizeable piece of water just as well as land masses that most were made of ice.

"We have two main points of interest right now. Over here, the Frozen Leviathan that we will show you tomorrow. We discovered it three weeks ago. It's the main reason Eden hurried to send you over. It's a massive creature enclosed in ice. Bigger than anything we have seen before, well, apart from those skeletal remains down where I was trapped with Jongho."

Hongjoong grimaced at the reminder. Yeosang shrugged. He at least did not nearly go mad with the android that accompanied him.

"Then there's the Purple Vents. Mingi said there's something down there but they have trouble getting through since it's highly dangerous. So until they find a way to cross it we will focus on the stuff up here."

"Something down there like what? Another creature?"

Yeosang shook his head as he zoomed further into the area that was covered in water. Hongjoong already shivered at the thought of diving down into waters that were too dangerous even for their two half-native friends.

"Traces of Alterra remains. However, when asked about it, Eden said that they didn't set up a base there while they prepared for this expedition. It might be another ship that crashed here, so we are supposed to check it out. There's no hurry, though." Yeosang's tense glance supplied the unspoken words that there was nothing alive there by now anyway. Hongjoong understood.

"Yunho and Mingi are supposed to return from another expedition there by tomorrow. They can fill you in on the details as soon as they are back. I'm sure both will be very happy to see you. Yunho has been excited for weeks." A fond smile graced Yeosang's lips. His bright blue eyes that had made Hongjoong so uncomfortable many months ago were humanly soft.

"How are those two? Did the virus mess with them any further?"

Remembering Mingi's condition at that time had left them to ponder a lot how he was after some more months with the bacteria invading his body. Obviously, both Yunho and Mingi wouldn't be able to return to normal with how far the changes had already overtaken their bodies. Still, Hongjoong and the team had hoped a lot at home that them finding a remedy did not mess with their mutating bodies.

"They are fine. Yunho is considering going through a surgery and becoming a cyborg. He is smitten with San, they have gotten very close in the past few weeks. I don't know about Mingi, but he seems more stable. He hasn't shown any signals of aggressive behaviour so far either. Seems like the worst is over for them. According to Yunho they also stopped changing."

Yeosang's voice was smooth and soothing to Hongjoong's tired ears. He just wanted to lay down and cuddle up against Seonghwa to find some rest by now. The adrenaline that had filled his veins from the jump and arrival was starting to deplete. He was tired enough to fall right asleep.

However, first Seonghwa approached them with a tray of food he had prepared. The smell of grilled fish brought a palette of memories with it that had Hongjoong frown wryly. Back to the fish planet and eating fish.

Seonghwa neatly set the plates down next to the hologram before he settled next to Hongjoong. He sat with his back straight, legs closed, and fists on his knees, attentive for any orders. Even after a year of living together with Hongjoong he had not gotten rid of some of his rather unnatural habits, but Hongjoong found it adorable. Seonghwa looked like an overly-attentive toddler that took the world far too serious. The little frown he did when he concentrated never failed to make Hongjoong coo inwardly.

He reached over with a quiet thanks to the android, so he could eat on the side. Yeosang had gotten back to telling him about the climate here, about the low temperatures and the new suit he would need to survive in the water. It was impressive that there were so many flora and fauna, even things of a size class of leviathans around here since it was so cold. Hongjoong already speculated how they had adapted to live in these extreme weather conditions.

According to Yeosang, the cold also wasn't the only issue they had to deal with. Meteors crashing into the ice, blizzards, and avalanches were part of their daily worries. Hongjoong wasn't too keen on meeting the creatures that were accustomed to such catastrophes.

As he finished eating, Seonghwa and he returned to their shared cabin. Thankfully, they had enough place here to store their few items (Salty) in and a sizeable bed that felt heavenly under Hongjoong's body. He dropped down on it half-asleep by the time Seonghwa came over to carefully peel him out of his clothes.

They were wrapped around each other when Hongjoong finally managed to find some rest. Despite their new terrifying surroundings he slept deeply in the arms of his protective android lover.