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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[cactusy]

[Shaw slots a knee in between Root's legs, giving her just the slightest bit of steady pressure as she finally activates the gun in earnest. She'd been planning to do پایه‌ام (my foundation, my support, my root), the way they'd talked about soon after Root's arrival - but at the last minute, she starts inking out something else instead. It's still a Farsi word, but a shorter one, with fewer strokes: زنده .]

[themostfun]

[ It does feel really nice. Sharp, scratchy, and mild. More importantly, it's Shaw doing this. ]

That was fast. What did you go with?

[cactusy]

[She doesn't answer; she's not done. Giving Root another slow, rolling grind, she inks down a second word, also short: ایدر .

There. Now she's done.]

[themostfun]

[ Best little slap on the wrist ever. Root bites her lip until Shaw's done, and then waits a few extra seconds in case she's not actually done. ]

What'd you give me?

[ She can't see it on her neck without a mirror, and with a mirror, she can't read Farsi. ]

[cactusy]

[Shaw still doesn't answer - not until she's cleaned off the tattoo site and affixed a bandage to it. Only then does she settle back against Root, resting her ear right over her heartbeat.]

Two words.

[She says, listening to the th-thump.]

Zende means "alive". And idar--

[She pauses, briefly.]

It's an archaic word. Something I'd hear in the classical poetry my mom read to me when I was a kid, not a word anybody would actually use these days. But it means both "here", and "now". Present in place and in time.

[themostfun]

[ This is cruel and unusual, Shaw. :( Yet as Shaw lies on her, Root puts her arms around Shaw; and as Shaw translates, Root holds her tighter, her heart beating a little faster. ]

Alive, here and now, with you. Us, together. [ She strokes Shaw's arm, savoring the warm, bare skin, the immediate confirmation that they're both here-and-now. ] I love it. Thank you.

[cactusy]

I still wanna do the other one.

[You're going to have Farsi all over you, Root.]

[themostfun]

I still want you to do it.

[ Root lays a hand on Shaw's head and gently runs her fingers through Shaw's hair. ]

And I still want to mess you up and take care of you after.

[cactusy]

Me, too.

[But.]

You can take your time getting there, though. It's okay. I don't want you to, uh... I see a therapist here, you know.

[It's not as much of a subject change as it might seem at first glance.]

[themostfun]

[ It's not, no, though Root is fairly sure she's not responding the way Shaw is hoping she will. ]

Are you finding it helpful to be in therapy?

[cactusy]

Kind of. More than I thought I would; I only started because I wanted a few different people watching me for, uh. Unpredictable behaviors.

[Simulation trauma. Root knows the drill.]

There's this guy, Kiryu, who I think would be pretty good for you.

[themostfun]

[ Ah. Yup. There it is. Root keeps stroking Shaw's scalp. ]

We already know that doesn't work for me.

[ Both heterosexuality and therapy, in fact. ]

[cactusy]

Well, he's not useless or a shithead.

[Shaw leans her head up, pressing a kiss to the hollow of Root's throat.]

You don't... have to. I just think it might help.

[themostfun]

[ It's hard to be firm when Shaw is being so affectionate.

Root sighs. ]

Not right now, [ she concedes. She doesn't like this topic. There are better ones. ] I'm glad it's been good for you. Really. I'm glad this place exists. That we get to make things right back where we're from.

[cactusy]

It's not that great. It's small and cramped, you're gonna see the same people over and over again, day after day... you're not gonna see the sun again for a long time.

[themostfun]

I get to see you every day. I get to sleep in the same bed as you. I know if we die here, we'll come back.

Seems pretty great to me.

[cactusy]

[Idly, she runs a foot up and down Root's leg, looking up at the loft area.]

You know, this is the first time I've really lived with somebody? A partner, I mean.

[themostfun]

Mm? Me too. Actually, this is the first time I've had a place of my own.

[ Her mother's house doesn't count. That was always just temporary. ]

It's really nice.

[cactusy]

I had an actual apartment before I was dead.

[Before the ISA tried to kill her and Reese and Harold faked her death, she means.]

Wasn't there much, though.

[themostfun]

That's what you based this cabin on?

[ Which now looks nice! ]

I would just crash somewhere convenient and move on when I finished a job.

[cactusy]

This cabin was based on the one I lived in for a while after that. The place you broke into that time.

[The hovel she'd lived in between fake dying, and needing to become Sameen Gray after Samaritan came online.]

The one I had as myself was nicer. Still not much in the way of decoration, but, uh-- no cinderblock walls, you know?

[themostfun]

Good to know that wasn't a preference!

[ She worries about you, babe. ]

We should get a whole new place when we get out of here. Start fresh. Furnish and decorate it from the ground up.

[cactusy]

I still think most of the decorating is gonna be on you.

[Shaw says, dryly but fondly.]

Do you wanna stay in the city?

[themostfun]

That's a relief.

[ She teases because she loves. ]

I think so. More to do. Easier to play hide and seek. Small town life isn't really for me.

[cactusy]

Me, neither. Gotta have that hustle and bustle. And you're probably going to be traveling a lot, right?

[She can't imagine that Root is going to want to stop running mysterious missions for the Machine.]