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.]

Comments

[themostfun]

Agree to disagree. [ Neither is changing the other's mind, and Root does not want to get into it even playfully.

She kisses Shaw cheek. ] Couch.

[ She'll help Shaw get comfortably settled, get the first aid kit from the bathroom, and sit next to her. ]

[cactusy]

[Shaw flops onto her back and reflexively dangles an arm over the side of the couch, before remembering that there are no dogs on hand to pet and withdrawing it, resting it on her stomach instead.]

Do your worst.

[She says, when she sees Root coming back with the first aid supplies.]

[themostfun]

For you? Never.

[ Gently, she shifts them both around so Shaw's head is in Root's lap, on a fresh towel. Root is even gentler as she starts to pull off the tape. ]

Tell me if it hurts too much.

[cactusy]

Do I look like a wuss.

[Shaw's injury is still raw, and it's a pretty gnarly one - but it had also been patched up well initially, and it's been well taken care of in the meantime. Just to see what Root will do, Shaw pulls a Root-like move: playfully snuggling her face against her stomach, using the proximity as an excuse to nuzzle.]

[themostfun]

Not the point.

[ The wound is pretty bad, yeah, but it's clean. That's the best outcome, given the circumstances last week. Root throw out the dirty gauze pad, soaks a fresh one in saline, and starts patting off the excess fluids on and around the wound.

Shaw's little nuzzle makes her chuckle. ]

Careful. You don't want my hand to twitch and make this worse.

[cactusy]

Revenge for getting gooey on me whenever I tried to patch you up.

[But she'll stay perfectly still, letting Root finish her job. ]

[themostfun]

Cute.

[ She leaves it at that until she's done, the wound clean and covered, the dressing secured. Root sets aside the kit and runs her fingers through Shaw's hair. ]

Would you rather eat or nap now?

[cactusy]

[As much as Shaw loves napping, and as tired as she is, she loves food even more - that, and she suspects that letting Root actively do something for her will go a long way towards making her feel a little better.]

Food.

[She murmurs, lifting the bottom hem of Root's shirt up a couple of inches so that she can press a kiss to her bare stomach.]

[themostfun]

[ Shaw is correct. Root absolutely wants to do something for her. Napping with her would count, but they can always pass out after they've had some cozy soup.

Her eyes close as she savors that kiss, warm and real, grounding, wonderful after all they went through this last week. ]

There should be leftovers in the freezer. The only problem is that I'll have to get up.

[ She doesn't want to do that, even though she does want them both to eat. ]

[cactusy]

[Another kiss!]

You'll survive.

Seriously, though, uh-- you don't actually have to wait on me.

[themostfun]

I'm waiting on both of us, [ Root corrects, and this time when she combs her fingers through Shaw's hair, she drags her fingernails gently along Shaw's scalp. ] I'm hungry and tired too, you know.

[ And whatever they decide to do, she wants them to do it together. ]

[cactusy]

[Shaw nods, scraping her forehead against Root's bunched-up shirt, and strokes her nails lightly over Root's abdomen.]

I really hate it here.

[themostfun]

I'm sorry.

[ Root runs her thumb across Shaw's forehead. ]

Is it because of what happened last week?

[cactusy]

I hate how it feels more like the simulations than real life. I hate how the standards and expectations are weird, and how there are no real rules or guidelines from the boss. I hate that the things that are prioritized and valued by my coworkers are the things that don't make any sense to me.


[She shakes her head again, and sits up, setting Root free.]

It doesn't matter. I'll keep doing the job.

[themostfun]

[ As Shaw sits up, Root lets her hand fall slowly, stroking down the side of Shaw's face.

It does matter. It matters to Root. It matters because Shaw deserves stability, and to know she's competent and appreciated. There's nothing Root can do about any of this, and that makes her feel like she's failed at supporting Shaw.

Time to push past that, though. Root stands and goes to the kitchenette to get them each a bowl of chicken noodle soup. ]

What does Will say about what you prioritize and how you do things?

[cactusy]

He gets it. We work well together.

[Shaw sighs, slumping back onto the couch.]

I'm lucky as hell I got paired with him.

[themostfun]

He's the one whose opinion actually matters when it comes to your wardening. I know that's an oversimplification, but it's still true.

[ She's working on the soup as she talks. ]

[cactusy]

Him and the Admiral. Yeah.

[Shaw's eyes unfocus, and then zero in on Root's back, her brow furrowing a little.]

... Things are pretty backwards here with you and me, huh. At home, you're the one with the important role and the higher calling.

[themostfun]

You have an important role too.

[ The Machine cares about Shaw as more than just an asset. She apologized for not being about to save her. She apologized to all of them. She apologized to Root because there was no scenario in which she would've survived that day. ]

I'm the one who's got things to work on, though. That's why I'm an inmate.

[cactusy]

Yeah, I know. I just mean...

[The furrow deepens as she tries to figure out how to explain this.]

I get why this is hard for you. Anyone who's close to you shares you. You're the Analog Interface; it's a given from the start. But you've never shared me before - you've either had all of me, or not had me at all. And when someone needs to run off on some special mission or task that they and only they can do... it's always been you. You've never been the one left behind. For that kind of thing, I mean.

[Shaw might not know all the details, but she definitely gets the impression that Root has a long history with abandonment and loss. But that's not the kind of thing that she's talking about here. For all that a warden's tasks are frustrating and vague, she's still working directly for the Admiral, trusted with special tasks and privilege and knowledge. Expected to put the mission first.]

[themostfun]

[ It's trud: she hates having to share Shaw this way. At home, they're both on the same team, working toward the same goal. Root knows what's going on, and if she doesn't, she can ask the Machine to check on Shaw for her, and She will because She's committed to keeping Shaw and the rest of them safe.

Being unable to really do anything is frustrating. Not the way it felt to be in Ridgewood; more like the way it felt when she watched Hanna get into that car, knowing it would end badly, and told the adults around her what she saw only to be dismissed or misheard or whatever else it might've been. And then there's just the fact that life, and people, and missions all keep getting in their way. Root doesn't want an idyllic, quiet life, but she does want some kind of stability. At least, she wants the security of knowing all the players on the board and the tools at their disposal.

Here, she doesn't have that. She's not even an interface. She's just analogue. Biological. An accident of evolution lile everyone else back home.

At least she makes good soup. She brings both bowls to the couch, a spoon in each, and holds one out to Shaw. Root is smiling like she's out in a crowd, a small, pleasant, vacant thing, done by rote, just going through the motions. ]

Guess I'll just have to get myself into some trouble. Then I'll be right in the middle of things.

[cactusy]

And I'll do my job and kick your ass.

[Shaw sits up; she takes her bowl. With her hands full, she carefully and deliberately leans forward until the top of the head presses against Root's arm, and with more gravity than Root's words or expression ask for, she says: ]

Thanks.

[But then her brow furrows again. ]

Root.

[themostfun]

That's Tim's job.

[ But this is really sweet, so Root doesn't sit yet. ]

Hm?

[cactusy]

You wanna do your fake-smile-for-other-people thing, that's fine.

[And she sounds like she means it; she isn't offended by the mask, even as she recognizes it for what it is.]

I just don't want you to feel like you have to, or that you're bothering me if you don't. Do it for your own reasons, whatever they are, but don't ever just do it for my sake. Okay?L

[themostfun]

Okay.

[ It's easy to just agree to that and move on, and she's glad Shaw always gives her that option. Root would much rather lean in and kiss Shaw on the forehead than discuss her nearly constant smile anyway.

That done, she sits next to Shaw on the couch and starts eating. ]