cactusy | IC contact for lastvoyages

Owwww.

[Complains the woman who likes more than a little pain during sex. Context is important, okay.]

Bear, foei, af, zit--

[Bear does as commanded, immediately jumping off the couch and sitting on the floor. Unfortunately, he's replaced by Jet a split second later - Jet, who is about twice as exuberant and a third as well-trained.

It's fine. Shaw's lip and tongue (which she may or may not have bitten when their teeth clacked together) are only bleeding a little bit.]

[ At least Root is more prepared this time, sort of. She's not relaxed and focused on just Shaw, at any rate, so they're both spared additional injuries. ]

Jet--!

[ Aaand she's immediately distracted by the blood on Shaw's lips. ]

Oh no, sweetie--

[ Time to fuss, gently wiping at the blood with her thumb. ]

[Jet snuffles Root's hair, and Root fusses at Shaw's mouth, and Shaw meets her eye... and grins. A little laugh even burbles out of her.]

Told you the dogs would mob you.

[ Everyone is okay, good. Shaw's laugh makes Root relax, giving a grin of her own. ]

I love it.

[ She kisses the tip of Shaw's nose and straighten up enough to get Jet off her back. Once the dogs are both settled in the floor, Root sits on the edge of the couch and positively smothers them with pets and scratches. ]

[Shaw sits up on her elbows, still grinning faintly as she watches them: her girl, her dogs.]

That's the first thing in days that's felt real.

[And now that you've admitted to that out loud, like an idiot, the simulation will try to trick you with more silly you-can't-make-this-shit-up moments.

She swallows, and pushes the thought away.]

[ Lucky that Root has the dogs to focus on so she doesn't react to that. She needs to graduate from here so she can go back and destroy Samaritan. She must. It can't get away with what it did to Shaw. It won't.

Satisfied for now with showering the dogs with affection, she shifts to face Shaw and smiles at her. ]

You really do look so good with blood on your lips.

You look good covered in dogs.

[Shaw retorts, grabbing Root's arm and trying to tug her back over.]

So what'd you say about pancakes?

[ Smug, Root grins and leans into Shaw, nuzzling her cheek. ]

I owe you a looot of breakfasts. I'll have to get creative to make up that difference.

Mmmm.

[This time, Shaw stays where she is, leaning her face into Root's cheek instead of trying to turn this into a makeout session.]

Sorry I wasn't with you when you woke up. It was weird sleeping up there.

It's okay. [ Root kisses her cheek, the barest brush of her lips. ] You're here with me right now.

[ However-- ]

Sorry I dropped the ball. I'll make pancakes in my underwear go make up for that.

It doesn't break easy. It's survived being thrown across the deck, being chewed on by the dogs, being waterlogged for two weeks--

[It's perfectly normal to stress-test your possessions like this, right?]

[ Yes, actually! ]

So... you don't want an extra special breakfast. [ Root trails a fingertip along Shaw's jaw. ] Okay.

How about doing it to make up for stealing the loft for two months?

[ She smiles against Shaw's cheek. ]

I can do that. And you can grab your cheat sheet and tell me what all those colors in the emotion ball mean.

All of them?

[Gray included?]

All of them.

[ Each and every one. ]

Do we have chocolate chips?

Top left cabinet over the sink. Cheat sheet's in the cabinet under the TV.

[Fetch it for her so she can be lazy, Root!!]

[ Grinning, Root kisses Shaw on the cheek. ]

Let me get changed first.

[ She has not yet noticed the t-shirt on the pillow, by the way. She's been preoccupied with her girl and their dogs!

'Getting changed' includes freshening up a little. When she emerges from the bathroom, she's in lacy black underwear. As soon as she dons her cute apron, she grabs the cheat sheet for Shaw and starts working on those pancakes. ]

[By the time she gets back into the main room, Shaw has retrieved her orb from underneath the couch, and is turning it around in her hands as she lies on her back. She takes the cheat sheet, but doesn't need it to explain the orb's current color; like she'd said, it's the only one she's looked up so far.]

Gray. N/A - not applicable.

[A pause.]

Neal left.

[She stares hard at the orb, waiting for a change.]

[ The sounds of preparing pancake mix stop immediately when Shaw says Neal left. The gray being no emotion-- that's completely fine. Root stands by what she said about gray being beautiful. But losing Neal...

Root leaves the ingredients on the counter and goes back to the couch, sitting right next to Shaw so they're shoulder to shoulder. ]

Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry. Did it just-- happen?

Yeah, actually. Which is weird.

[The gray clouds shiver, and a purple haze starts to swirl slowly underneath them, occasional shot through with orange bolts. Shaw prods at her front teeth with her tongue, checking for chips.

[ Root slides an arm around Shaw and gives her a little squeeze. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

[Finding a little chip on her left lateral incisor, she pokes at it with the tip of her tongue in lieu of answering.

Only for a few seconds, though.]

I don't really know what to say. I thought maybe the simulation was going to see what I'd do if it took people away one by one, but you're back now.

That does sound like something Samaritan would do.

[ When she finds Samaritan, she'll compress it to within a Planck length of its life, stuff it in a flash drive, fry it in a microwave, and drill into it until it's more holes than physical materials. And even that would be too kind a fate for it.

Discreetly, Root taps out the Morse for 4AF against Shaw's arm. ]

Hm. You said I was unconscious for about six weeks. That puts us in mid-February. [ A sharp little sigh. Root shakes her head. ] I missed Valentine's Day. On top of all the rest of what you've been dealing with...

[ She leans her head against Shaw's. ]

I don't care about Valentine's Day.

[... That probably sounds harsh in a way she hadn't intended, and she murmurs a quiet Sorry.]

I do care about you.

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