Clarion

(Andy is just plain genius at making me push that envelope. Thanks, Andy!--Maer)

Saturday, 16 Nov 2025
Kuiper II class, Summer’s Gift
Willow Parish, Muir
Blue Sun (Qing Long) system
1900hrs, local time

When they made it back to Rina's room, they fell back into each other comfortably, like they had never stopped. Different though. Everything somehow felt more serious, with more weight. No play, no teasing. As they moved along, their roles started to reverse as well. Rina was normally the one to take the lead, confident in what she wanted. But this time, she was content to let him lead, to guide how they moved, how they touched. Which suited him in this moment. She needed to be comforted and he could be that comfort for her. Needed to be that comfort.

As they approached a climax together, it felt almost subdued, secondary to what had come before. When they were finished, he held her tight in his arms as they lay there silently in the stillness of her bunk. He let his warmth against her and the touch of hands take the place of words.

 ***

I'd paused long enough to flip the kill switch on the way out of the engine room and everything went dim after that. I was ratcheted up as tight as I could go. I barely noticed Joshua had taken me to my quarters and led me inside. I tried to draw strength from his kiss, from his caress, from his tenderness, but I was tired, so dreadfully tired of fighting the dragons the Universe kept delivering to my door, tired of fighting my inner demons. I just wanted a moment of peace from both, to win a bit of space so I could stop, lick my wounds and breathe.

All this and more I needed, and Joshua gave freely and without stinting. He pulled the battle standard from my hand, removed the armor that cased me, took my blunted sword and let it fall away. He soothed my tangled nerves, he deafened my ears to self-hatred and doubt. He kept me from flying apart at my crooked seams as we went to the edge and over it. He held me up as I soared and cushioned me as I fell.

He succored me in that stinking hellish swamp and for a blessed moment offered me a taste of Heaven. Poured me my cup and let me drink my fill. And when I was done, let me rest until I could pick myself up and move on.

But not yet. I would move, but please God, not yet.

 ***

As he lay next to Rina, Joshua leaned over her slightly to give her a kiss on the cheek. As he did, he translated the time glowing on the door keypad. 19:00hrs = 7pm. Well, crap. Dinner was now officially an hour late. Hopefully, nobody on board was particularly hungry, because he felt no urge to get up. His steward duties could remain shirked for a while longer. As he pulled his head back, he stopped long enough to whisper in her ear. "Hi. Welcome back."

 ***

I felt him shift, knew without looking that he'd seen the time, and I burrowed deeper into the crook of his arm, reluctant to face what I knew waited for me.

Welcome back.

Where had I heard those words before? How many times after battle had they greeted me upon my return? Only a few, but all significant.

A monastic cell. A hospital bed. A lover's arms.

Each utterance represented an ending and a beginning. The loss of my first love and the discovery of my second. The resolve to put behind the bias of my past for an open stance for my future. Of surrendering completely and finding not destruction but strength.

It was nothing less than an affirmation of survival and a reminder of my duty to the living. To my ship and my crew. To the man who held me and the man who couldn't. It was time to pick myself up and move, so I heard the call and I answered it.

"I am." I rose, caressed Joshua's face, and kissed him feather-light on the lips. "Thank you."

 ***

Joshua smiled even as he missed her presence beside him. "It always seems backwards when you say that. I'm the one that should say thank you." He maneuvered himself to a sitting position. "But you're welcome. You're always welcome." As he said the last, the slight change of emphasis on the last word made it clear that he was always open for her presence.

"I suppose I have to fix dinner," he said with a bit of a sigh, looking for his clothes. The spell had been broken, at least for now. Magic worked and psyches healed, the performers in the oldest ritual always eventually had to return to the real world and the responsibilities that entailed. But, Joshua thought, both of them now carried a little bit of that magic for a while to act as a reminder that the harsh stark lines of reality were not the totality of life.

 ***

Since this season turned out to be RP heavy, it's only fair to include the link to everyone's efforts.

Go back to Command | Skip to Dark Places.
Go to Peripatetica - Rina's Journal entry and RP log
Go to Rina's Russian Glossary
Go to Rina's Crew Page
Go to EPISODES or TIMELINE