CATCH-ALL FOR DECEMBER; OPEN

[dow]

Characters: Spock/OTA
Date: Catch-all for December.
Location: Keeliai & Landfall in Bresilyk.
Situation: TBA.
Warning(s): TBA.

Markutte (Dec 3rd, Day #1. / Dec 9th, Day #7.) / Aihsohlow (Dec 6th, Day #4.)

IC Inbox for relevant messages. Start a thread here (with the date in the header) or pm/pp for a specific scene.

Comments

[wintershepherd]

Jack's head falls forward to lightly thump against Spock's shoulder, hiding his face in the many layers of cloth he wore. It muffles his voice slightly but not enough to distort the words.

"I never wanted to go back to feeling like this."

[dow]

It's easy to enfold Jack into the protective circle of his arms, staff and all. A thumb brushes over a thick hood to graze the bare nape of Jack's neck and he sends a wash of calm fondness through the contact, honest and deep without restriction to try and soothe the turbulent storm brewing within the spirit.

"If you wish to escape the others, you are welcome to stay with me whenever you feel it is necessary. You need not spend time in the house for the sake of socializing if that is not your intent and the window of the upstairs bedroom will provide entry. From today, I will leave it unlocked."

[wintershepherd]

The offer is sincere and thoughtful enough that Jack doesn't even know how to answer it. He doesn't have the ability to put physical distance between himself and his problems because of the barrier; no welcome jaunt up to the Arctic where he can enjoy the solitude. He's gone out to the mountains of Tu Vishan many times but even that he knows is only a stopgap when it's the emotional recluse he craves from time to time. For all the time he spent wanting to be able to connect with people, it seems rather ironic that he still needed the solitude to settle himself.

Jack tenses slightly at the touch against his neck, but it's only because it's unfamiliar there and lasts but a few seconds later he starts to relax again. Not enough to entirely dispel the tension but enough to make it clear it's not caused by Spock specifically.

"You always offer a place to crash to people who mess around with your brain?" he asks weakly.

[dow]

"No."

His breath is warm where it sighs into Jack's hair, his wards fully raised so he's protected from siphoning off emotion. Spock's chin rests atop Jack's crown for a moment, then he leans back enough to see him.

"Sometimes, Eridan tries to test my patience in other ways."

Get it? A joke.

[wintershepherd]

It might be startling how much repair a simple embrace and an easy joke can do, but that's exactly how it appears when Jack raises his eyes to meet Spock's again.

"I'm sorry," he says and it's for far more than just this incident. "I was really wrong about you."