the always open post v 3.0

[exastris_scientia]

get drunk on the good life, i'll take you to paradise.




1. pick a character and tag them in the subject line.
2. post pictures, starters, whatevs
3. profit!

Comments

[caelus]

[ Jim, only days before it all went to hell for he and his crew, had every intention of calling. He always calls her the day of. Always. Even if it's a blip in the void of space where he can just tell her that he's doing ok. Even if it's only a transmitted message cause they missed each other again.

They may not have what they once did, but they get by with what they do. Neither of them can make up for the failures that reside on either side of the line between them, but sometimes they can bridge the gap. Still, his relationship with his ma is better than the one he has with his brother, Sam. You don't get to talk about her! Boy, that'd been a hell of a conversation that he hadn't wanted to do over subspace comms that could glitch out at random.

Thirty years old this year, and in a way it feels like a victory. In a way it sits in his stomach like a rock, grows out and turns the rest of his chest tight like stone, and he forgets how to breathe. He hacked the comms in the Academy once. Hacked them to find answers about his dad that he never got from Sam or his mother or even Pike. Gaila asked him once if it would help, if he'd get answers from listening to it. He got enough, and she was the only person who ever knew that he had a copy of the final transmission of the USS KELVIN. They're looking for your halo. He remembers a fellow cadet telling him about the stares. They say angels have them. Even sons of angels.

Still, he puts on a show that isn't completely one when Bones throws him a party with the crew. He doesn't celebrate, Bones knows, but he doesn't want to spoil the day. He can't argue that it isn't one of the better birthdays he's had in his life, but it still weighs on him. Like there's that stone in his gut. Between that, the medical checkouts, the briefings, and everything else in between, he's barely had time to breathe, eat, and sleep. Forget about checking communications that aren't marked IMPORTANT or URGENT. He's half-asleep, coffee five hours cold, and eyes aching from the strain of the holos he's been sifting through when he finally reaches where his ma's had been buried. It warms him, more than he can really articulate even to himself, and he sends a quick response: I'll meet you at the docks. Love you too.

Even if it means he barely gets three hours of sleep in the interim after checking the docking schedules for the day.

He's waiting there in civilian clothes, black jacket, navy shirt, blue jeans, and boots. He's still sporting a hell of a shiner, but at least it is starting to fade. Protocol is the last thing he's thinking of when he finally sees her, tears in her eyes, and that tightness in his chest moves to his throat, cutting off his voice. He wraps his arms around her, ducking his face down against her shoulder, and ignoring the slowing steps and looks getting thrown their way.

When he finally finds his voice, it's rough with unshed tears, and muffled by her uniform. ]

M'sorry I didn't get a chance to call. [ A watery laugh. ] I was a little busy.

[cordera]

[Oh fuck the people who stare. They're always going to. They stared at when she was a grieving widow. They're going to keep staring because of everything Jim is and has done and will do. It's the first time they've been face to face in a few years now and that's the nature of their jobs but she's going to enjoy her hug, goddamnit.

He's tall, like George used to be, like she imagines Sammy is now though she hasn't made it out to Deneva to be absolutely certain. That relationship is probably even more broken then hers with her younger son and she won't thank Starfleet for it but working for the same organization helped. Winona presses her face against his hair, smothering a watery smile there. He's alive and safe, which is what really matters.]

I've heard that. [She picks up her head and ruffles his hair.] You look like shit by the way.