Event | Landfall | Bresilyk | Countryside

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: December 3 - 11, 2013
Location: Bresilyk countryside (landfall)
Situation: Tu Vishan makes landfall at the winterbound republic of Bresilyk!
Warnings/Rating: Please include warnings in comment subject lines

OOC Post | Approved Items | Special Gifts
Aihsohlow | Phorezton | Markutte | Countryside

The countryside is layered with snow that is up to four meters deep, all fallen within the past two months as a cold season falls upon the country. There are numerous roads in between towns and small, domed minesteads and each road is oddly clear of snow and ice. Closer inspection reveals that the surfaces are heated by some technology buried beneath the black surfaces. Occasional construction crews can be seen tearing up or laying down new surfacing over a web of thick, coated wires that presumably provide the heat. Snow is often found sculpted near crossroads, taking artistic shape in anything from beautifully arched sculptures to recreations of local fauna.

Wildlife can be spotted here and there, with a large herd of antlered beasts making their way across the snowy grounds. Webbing between their toes (yes, toes) allows each of the large, white animals to traverse upon the snow-tops with barely a print left in their wake. Hunting parties can be seen chasing after the fringes of this herd while wearing some sort of hovering harness and it is evident that the beasts are a primary source of meat for the people. Birds flit back and forth, a few predatory mammals can be spied at the edges of the icebound forests, and there are a variety of serpentine pets kept by residents fortunate to live in the warmer domed towns.

Speaking of towns, the three within the barrier's reach are spaced roughly twenty kilometres away from one another, forming a triangle of commerce that sustains each. Aihsohlow represents the southernmost town, Phorezton the northernmost, and Markutte the northeastern one. There are a variety of small minesteads in between that would greet travellers, but only reluctantly allow them into their homes. Stories abound of troubles outside the domes and they are not apt to invite said troubles inside.

Roadways | Minesteads | Other

Comments

[jirk]

[More because it was the one major holiday his Mom always tried to be home for. He still misses her sometimes, but it gets easier every year.]

Okay, not that those aren't totally awesome things, but I was thinking you.

[imaginate]

[Oh, Jim's about to go on about a family thing, maybe. Kyle's gut wrenches, thinking of Thanksgiving. This'll be his first Christmas without his own mother - before, he'd skipped it, and it was easy just to request missions at the time.]

[That's home, and it feels long ago, far away.]

Little ol' me?

[jirk]

Said as if you are the farthest thing from remarkable there is.

[Jim glances once over his shoulder to gauge the fall distance into the nearest snowbank, and then he lets himself fall.]

You kidding, sweetheart? Angels make the holidays worth having.

[imaginate]

What, it can't be our secret?

[He ends up sprawled on top of Jim and laughs, dusting snow out of his hair - the white standing out sharply against the black. He shifts closer, putting his head on Jim's chest to listen to his heartbeat.]

[jirk]

What, you being awesome? I think there's a few people that've got it figured out by now.

[He sprawls comfortably in the snow. Cold's never bothered him much, and this is -- just fine by him.]

[imaginate]

Shhhhh.

[He kisses the side of Jim's mouth.]

Don't rob me of the looks on their faces when they figure out they were wrong about me.

[jirk]

Why's it matter?

[Sorry, genuinely curious about this point.]

[imaginate]

[Why do their opinions matter? he wonders. They didn't. (Did they?)]

I don't know. It's nice to be right about something?

[Most of his personality since getting the ring has been reactive. Keeliai has forced the opposite approach: but Kyle's got no idea what to do with the course of action. He always sees the big picture first and then fills it in. Painting as he goes isn't his style.]

[jirk]

[He snorts. Daniels. Honestly, as vindicated as he felt back then, knowing that a Commodore turned out to be such a coward? Maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised by Marcus.]

That's fair.

[imaginate]

[Kyle steals a kiss, and then curls up on Jim more snugly. They're puzzle pieces made to fit each other, and he's done this so many times he gets comfortable very easily.]

It's not about caring what they think, just so you know.

[jirk]

[Jim's silent, and he lifts a hand to stroke Kyle's hair. It's getting wet as the snow melts.]

Wanting to prove them wrong is caring a little, Angel.

[imaginate]

[He murmurs, contentedly. It's funny to do this out here, where someone might see, but it's also relieving. Not that it felt like hiding - he was accustomed to more privacy.]

[Quietly:] Guess I wouldn't have this job and keep it if I didn't care at all, huh?

[jirk]

[... Funny, he'd almost expected Kyle to fight him on that. The fact that he doesn't is a stark reminder of how far they've come, so fast. Leaping without looking. Right.]

It's not always a bad thing to care about people's opinions, man. Otherwise how'd we know what to reach for?

[imaginate]

[He shifts so that he's looking at Jim, expression curiously blank.]

Harps and vengeance. It's not usual.

[They are scared of what I've been made into.]

[jirk]

[He holds up his index finger.]

First of all, screw usual. Second of all, some of us like it that way.

[imaginate]

[He sighs, heavily, looks away, towards the wall.]

It's a tidal wave and it's hard not to drown. I have to choose my battles.

[He doesn't voice the rest: what is so bad about wanting to be normal?]

[jirk]

[Jim sits up, dislodging Kyle, though he steadies him with both chilled hands. He doesn't need to voice the rest, Jim can read it in his silences.]

What's up?

[imaginate]

You brought it up - I'm telling you the truth.

[Far from being defensive, he remains genuinely matter-of fact.]

I'm an exception of a different kind from you, okay?

[jirk]

I never said you weren't.

[His brow wrinkles in confusion.]

I didn't really mean with-- this. [A vague handwave, implying their conversation.] I meant you. Something's up.

[imaginate]

[Rather than argue, he frowns in thought, rubbing Jim's hands for warmth. There's very little wind out here and the sky is gorgeous to look at: with its streaks of red, and Kyle's thoughts drift to various topics before he just shakes his head.]

There might be? I don't know. I've never spent this long marooned somewhere.

[jirk]

[He snorts, a little bitter. It's something he tries not to show or think about or even dwell on, but-- t'is the season, or something.]

I really do not recommend it.

[But in more serious news... he leans in, kisses Kyle's forehead.]

You'll figure it out, sweetheart. Just know you're not alone, all right?

[imaginate]

[They both feel it - they just react in different ways. Kyle's become more withdrawn, methodical. He keeps to a rigid routine: everything in its place, and tries desperately to suppress everything and lock it away behind the doors in his mind.]

[Lately, it's just not working. He sees shadows where there should be none.]

Little too late.

[He squeezes Jim's hand.]

Guess that's kind of why I'm telling you.

[I don't want to be alone in this.]

[jirk]

[Jim's smile is affectionately lopsided. Somehow, along the way, Kyle's learned to trust in that, not being alone. Jim still has no idea how it happened (was it back in that airless room? It seems so long ago now) but it still does him a world of good, to see how far Kyle's come. He brings up their tangled hand and kisses his knuckles carefully.]

In this mess together, huh?

[imaginate]

[If asked, he wouldn't know. He invariably tries to carry the burden all by himself but Jim's dealt so much and fought so hard that Kyle's relented in this matter; learnt to overcome, and ask. It's a slow process, that of roots breaking pavement in search of more room, and it's a struggle, but step by step, he's walking.]

[Quietly:] Always.

[He tilts his head, watching Jim.]

Doesn't matter what happens. We'll be close.

[The sex, that might end. But knowing each other this well, that won't go away.]

[jirk]

[He's described Kyle as crew more than once. Not that Jim would ever actually sleep with a member of his crew - there's too much there that could be taken as an abuse of authority, and he's not a fan of those implications - but it's the only frame of reference he has for caring for someone enough that he'd die for them without a second thought. Like crew, but not quite. Just differently enough that they fit, that this works.

It might not be forever. They went into this knowing that. Hell, Jim's pretty sure both of them are still more-or-less straight, and damn does he miss having a partner with a great rack, but he's learned to look for other assets, and it's enough. The domesticity still weirds him out sometimes, but it's enough.

Jim kisses the tips of his fingers, thrilled a little at the public affection. Sure there's no one around for miles, but it's still somewhere other than the closed quarters of their (their?) suite.]

I care about you. That's not going anywhere.

[His tone's firm. He doesn't like using the word love, but he's never been one to dance around admittance of affection. Jim cares about everyone casually, it's part of why he's--

A good captain.

The revelation is like a blow, and Jim sits back against the snow with a thoughtful twist to his expression. All this time, all they've done, he's doubted himself. And now--

Just like that, it's gone. He may have come easy into a position he wasn't ready for. He's spent months thinking that maybe it was wrong, that he should have had more training, more time. That maybe Marcus wouldn't have tricked him if he'd just--

But whether or not it's happened to him in his timeline yet, it's over. Maybe it'll play out the same way, maybe it won't, but the Enterprise is his ship, and he's her captain, and maybe he never earned it, but he's fought to keep it just the same. And he's learning. One day he'll go back and be a better man than he was. Maybe some day he'll even deserve her.

He exhales once, it's a little unsettled noise, and then he hooks Kyle's knee and flips him into the snowbank.]

You're good for me.

[He says that, firm.]

And I'm good for you too. Everything after that's easy, Angel.