Bad Haiku
Christian and Joshua in the first week on Lucifer's Landing. Thanks, Jay!
Lucifer's Landing Landfall + 1 week
Joshua makes his way up to the door of Christian's house. Underneath his left arm is the moderate size package that Brian had given to Joshua back on the Decatur. At the time, Brian hadn't realized Christian was no longer on board, and had stuck a note on it saying "I bought this for Christian, but since he's not around, you can have it." Joshua had been saving it the entire time, unopened. He had forgotten about it when first arriving on planet. When he was organizing his room yesterday in an attempt to keep his brain occupied with non-Rina topics, he found it again.
Before knocking, he looks cautiously around. Rina and Lem were out working on a piece of the engine in the Summer's Gift - Lem seemed to be a mechanical genius of some sort and Rina was being the good mother, encouraging his talents. But he doesn't want to talk to her now, so her absence is a good thing. He knocks on the door politely and waits for Christian to let him in.
Three minutes can last an eternity when you're worried about running into someone. That's how long it takes Christian to answer the door. He's wearing a pair of running shorts and a skin tight tank top. He's soaked in sweat. In the background, loud music with a dance beat plays. He's been working out, it seems. "Joshua," he says, his voice a touch breathy from the exercise, "You don't have to knock. I don't lock the door."
Joshua sighs. "I knew that, but something about the whole domestic house scene..." He then walks in past Christian, nodding his head a little to the catchy music playing.
"If you're in the middle of a workout routine, I can just leave this and go." He holds up the package in two hands. "It's from Brian, for you."
"For me?" Christian seems genuinely surprised. He takes the package and sets it down on the counter, then opens it. True to form, he takes his time and unwraps it carefully.
Joshua watches carefully as Christian opens it, as curious as he is. When the packaging is unwrapped, inside is a mirror about the size of a makeup mirror with an articulating arm attached. Closer examination shows there are electronics attached to it. Joshua recognizes it as something he had seen in use in places at Blue Sun - a "real view" mirror. A high resolution camera and mirror-like monitor that shows you not your mirror image, but what you actually look like. The ones at Blue Sun also had a capture mode for saving images and a flashback mode for looking at up to 20-30 seconds ago. A really slick piece of equipment.
Christian would definitely get a long more use out of it than he would, Joshua thinks.
"Real view mirror. Very nice." Christian holds the gift up, appreciating not just the reflective surface but the little touches. The articulating arm. The electronics. "This is lovely. Thank you for carrying it all the way here." He sets the mirror down, "Would you like a drink? Something to eat?"
"My pleasure." Joshua acknowledges Christian's thank you and then nods. "I wouldn't mind getting something to drink. I can fix some tea if you don't mind me mucking about in your kitchen." He remembers from the other night with Rina that Christian is stocked for all sorts of teas.
"By all means." Christian says, "Give me a moment. I'll hop in the shower and get presentable. Feel free to join me if you want." He opens the cabinet where the tea is kept, then leaves the room. The mirror stays for now. It will journey out to the shuttle later. In only moments, the sound of water can be heard.
Joshua lets the offer of the shower flow right past him. He admires Christian's complete openness and general casual nature when it comes to things like shared showers, but Joshua isn't quite at that point yet. In the meantime, he picks out a nice basic green tea, something soothing. He preps the water and the cups and before long the tea is ready. Joshua sits down at the table and sips a little. Christian has good taste in teas, as in all things.
He's really not sure why he's staying. Politeness, perhaps. The decision to make a break with Rina is still fresh in his head and he's not really sure he can deal with talking with Rina if she were to come back. That would suggest he ought to be making excuses and leaving. But instead, he sits quietly sipping tea and waiting for Christian to come back.
It doesn't take long. Christian doesn't stop to style his hair or put on makeup. Instead, he simply steps in, lets the water rinse away the sweat, and steps out. When he returns, he's wrapped in a nice, fluffy terricloth bathrobe. "I'm having a copy of my recipe book made. It will be ready in a few days. It wouldn't take so long but having paper copies made requires a trip into the city."
"No rush, since I think we're going to be around for a while." Joshua takes another sip of tea. How does Christian manage to look stylish even in a bathrobe, fresh out of the shower? Joshua's first thought is Companion training, but his second thought is that some people are just naturally put together and look amazing no matter what. While Companion training probably didn't hurt, some things just couldn't be taught.
"It must be nice having the crew around for a while." Although Joshua was pretty sure Christian would get sick of having them around eventually. Probably about the same time everyone was ready to get off the ground again anyway.
Christian smiles, "I've missed the Gift and my family. We all move on, though. Life changes. We change. You'll understand better, I think, in time." He picks up a cup of tea and inhales the scent, sighing happily, "It can be hard to let go. Even when it is the best thing for you."
Damn. He was *good*. "Are you sure you're not a Reader?"
"Not the kind you mean," Christian smiles, shaking his head. "I've spent my whole life learning how to pay attention. To body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, to the way people interact. I don't doubt your abilities, Joshua, but I wonder how much is actual telepathy and how much is an innate genius at reading all those subconscious clues."
"I was mostly joking, but I really admire your ability to cut right though everything extraneous and find out what's at the heart of the matter." Christian wouldn't doubt his abilities had he seen his reaction to Brian and Nika's fight. But that was neither here or there. He didn't have anything to prove to Christian. At least not about his abilities.
"She doesn't know yet. " Joshua takes a sip of tea and then frowning a little, clarifies. "Well, she doesn't know that I've made the decision for her she couldn't seem to make. Not that it was ever really a true choice." His voice quavers a little as he says it.
"Love," Christian says with sympathy, "isn't easy and I've got nothing that can make it better for you. Except this, you're being brave, for both yourself and for her. You're making a decision to move forward towards the person you eventually want to be. In the end, you can't control her. You can't control anyone. Just yourself. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you for not doubting it is love, at least from my side." Joshua has a small smile quirk up. "I don't think she knows what it is on her side."
He takes another sip of tea and pauses, gathering his thoughts. "I don't know who I want to be. I know that if Rina could be by my side, I'd have her. But she can't. That's just how it is. Not any different from when we started. I don't know if that makes me brave or just observant of reality. But thanks."
"I can find you work somewhere else." Christian notes, "If you feel you need to stay away from her. That might make it easier to heal."
"You mean permanently? Or just dirtside?" Joshua had occasionally thought about leaving the crew when things had looked like he was going to be a huge threat. But they were too much his family now to want to leave. "If just dirtside, some work somewhere for a while wouldn't be a bad idea. We'll have to learn to work together without going crazy if we're going to be on ship with each other. But I don't think I'm ready for that right now." He thought about the other night. No, he was *definitely* not ready for that right now.
"You've been training as a pilot, correct?" Christian asks, "I have a number of deliveries that need to be made at different points on the planet. You can borrow my shuttle. I'll give you a schedule and credentials this afternoon, if you like."
Joshua nods. "That'd be great. Good practice and it would be nice to feel useful." He's finished the cup of tea and he makes his way over to the sink to clean it out.
"Thanks for the job." He pauses. "And thank you for confirming I made the right decision. Because hell, it doesn't feel like the right decision right now."
"I fell in love with Harry." Christian says, "I don't know if you've met her. From Nika's old crew. She's... amazing. She did not fall in love with me, though she was my lover. It was not an easy situation. There is no simple fix except to move forward. Writing bad poetry might help. Expressing your feelings, even in private, can."
"I met her for ten minutes and really wished I had more of a chance to know her." It was oddly comforting to know Christian struggled with the same sort of issues. Joshua takes the now clean cup in his hands and puts it away in the cabinet.
"I should probably get going before Rina gets back. Would you mind running that schedule and credentials by the Gift when you get them? Or let me know when there might be a Rina free time to drop in?"
"I'll bring them over a little later today," Christian promises. He finishes his cup and stands, walking over to the sink. Like Joshua, time aboard the Gift taught him the value of doing dishes right away. "You're going to be alright, Joshua."
"I hope so. And I hope she'll be okay too." He makes his way out towards the door. "Thanks again. I promise I won't make you read any of the bad haiku I need to be writing."
And Joshua walks out back towards town, away from the Gift and Rina, feeling a little better about his decision. On the walk there, his mind starts running phrases through the five - seven - five.
See what lies ahead/Lonely moments in the Black/Close but yet far away
Yeah, that's bad enough, he thinks as he begins another.
Go back to Timeline, Season Three
Go back to TIMELINE
