IC contact for lastvoyages

[cactusy]

[If I don't have an active post up, feel free to use this post to have your character call, videochat, text, or knock on Shaw's door.]

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[theydrewfirstblood]

…no. I’m not.

[The words are only just audible, and he’s been learning over the last year-plus just how true they are. He wasn’t worth counting until he proved he could fight, until he was a suitable weapon—and now he’s a broken one.

And the war is over, so it’s possible that’s okay. Maybe he can learn to find some solace in that—being here is part of it. Making it all count for something to help somebody who needs it. Maybe even forego the deal he was asked for, it seems selfish anyway.

How can a weapon find a new life? A new function? A gun is a gun, a sword is a sword, and a soldier is a soldier.

So while the words are soft, they come not unlike Sameen’s. They’re simple, matter of fact, lacking in feeling. They’re simply true, and there isn’t a lot of emotion tied up in simple truths like water being wet or stars twinkling.

Dad wouldn’t care he’s alive, because he doesn’t matter…and John is tired of hurting people. Even those who deserve it.

So…he doesn’t want to go home.]

[cactusy]

[Shaw studies him for a long moment, her expression serious but impassive. Eventually she decides that, fuck it, she's just going to voice the thought she'd had when she'd first met him, injured and bleeding in the hallway.]

This place is gonna eat you up like catnip.

[-- Hm. On second thought, clarity of phrasing might be in order.]

I mean, you're going to end up with a lot of friends.

[And people who want to take care of him, but she knows better than to say that out loud to a military man.]

[theydrewfirstblood]

[John looks at her, not sharply but suddenly at the 'catnip' remark, but when she elaborates he blushes and smiles sheepishly, shrugging.]

S' nice of you to say.

[He's pretty sure she's wrong, but--yeah. God, that would be nice. To not be alone anymore. And it feels really dangerous to hope, but...

He peers at her, unable to hide that hope in his eyes as his smile brightens just a little.]

And, I mean...I got at least one so far.

[...right?...]

[cactusy]

I guess.

[Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm, John - but to be fair, if Shaw herself is used as the measuring stick, that counts as an enthusiastic reaction. Without a previous relationship dynamic to fall back on, a significant chunk of her brain keeps reaching for the breach. She might as well get used to him, because they're getting married, they're going to America, they're going to settle in the west--

Except they're not.

She makes a small noise of frustration in the back of her throat, though it's not really directed at him.]

Is your mom really Navajo?