[ There's no response necessary, Claire knows that. As much as she knows he can feel the warmth in her spilling through the communicator, bleeding over his hands and sinking into his skin. That's what they do, deal in strength and support. If there's anyone on this ship she can't stand losing in a less than tangible sense, it's him. Whatever tether she can build is more than enough. ]
Yeah, knowing you I'll have to drag you back to your room to make sure you're getting some rest.
[ A fond smile works its way around her tone, gently ribbing, trying to lighten the mood even a little. ]
I never said I was gonna be camping out in front of Nathan's pod twenty four, seven. It's just convenient that i'm already there in the medbay. Might just take an extra shift or two to keep an eye on things.
[ He's egging her on in the simplest of ways even if he's talking in half truths and no lies. He has every intention in the world to slip his way down there as much as possible, take seat and watch as Nathan sleeps. He'd be there now if it wasn't already ridiculous but he can't help himself with thinking that Nathan needs to be watched. Just like they all do; they're the only ones here that can stand for each other. That know in ways no one else does and can fill in the gaps between thoughts. They know what's happened in ways no one else can touch and the loss of recognition, the loss of valued connection is a terrifying one. ]
I plan on giving him all the company he'd complain about if he was awake. [ She's not the only one who can lighten the mood. Or at least try to. ]
[ That earns a laugh, small and soft but present, and she's reminded so much of their conversation in Angela's kitchen that it spreads warm, heavy fingers across her breastbone and down into her rib cage, remembering his attitude, what came next. Maybe this time she can do it right. ]
No you're not. You don't want to see me get into that much trouble.
[ Not that he thinks Nathan would ream him out too much but he doesn't want to hear it, either. Instead he'd rather hear Claire laugh, reminiscent of times that were easier or felt lighter somehow. Neither of them laugh nearly enough and neither of them have had enough time to talk like this. ]
I'm making up for lost time. [ Ain't that the truth. ] I never had a chance to get you in trouble when it was age appropriate. I'm making the most of it now.
[ She won't tattle, for the record, not only because she isn't nine-years-old but because the thought of having something, however dire, to share with Peter again is nice. They really need to get hobbies that don't involve their loved ones' questionable mortalities. ]
Don't know what you would've gotten me in trouble for. You were too little when I was busy sneaking out of the house and I got in trouble for that all on my own. [ except... ] Unless you told on me for sneaking you over to my apartment for pizza and zombie movies. I moved out right after highschool.
[ There's parts of his life that he's just never told Claire about - they haven't had the time amidst all the other mass chaos and he can't help but want to take advantage of his Uncle Rights. The chance to get the one to spoil for all the reasons they haven't alrady shared. Even if it's only with stories and impossible fantasies. ]
You underestimate me. And I underestimated your corruption capabilities.
[ There's a pang here, not necessarily in her voice but definitely in the center of her chest. So many missed opportunities and chances, all out of her hands. For as much as she doesn't want to grow complacent here, it would be so easy to let it happen, creeping over her like vines, indulging in ways that their lives don't allow. Not that the Tranquility would allow for too much of that, but the thought is there. She wants to hear everything. ]
Right after high school? Is that why life got better?
[ No gentle ribbing or sarcasm there. Genuine curiosity. ]
You forget I had two nephew's to corrupt with video games and late night ice cream.
[ He's not trying to be cruel though for a moment or two he thinks it is to even bring it up at all. But the truth is the truth and there's nothing that can be done about any of it at this point. Going back in time is an impossibility - not really, but it is for all the complex reasons it should be - and yet leaving it be is equally so. It just means finding other ways to go about it and if that means taking advantage of time given, maybe there's nothing wrong with that.
They don't have to love being on the Tranquility to abuse the doldrums it occasionally brings. ]
Maybe. [ He almost snorts but thinks better of it, knowing the topic is an oddly important one. ] It's part of the reason, sure. I mean, it got better because I wasn't in high school anymore, but once I got out of the house it made everything a little easier. And yeah, it was right after high school was over. Got a job to pay the rent and started taking paramedic classes.
[ She's not, really, and that shows in her voice. For as much as not knowing her biological family had left something open and aching in her, her family had provided enough in that respect that she can joke about it now. And anyway, Claire had Lyle, and she'd never wish that fate on anyone, as all older sisters do with their brothers. ]
Maybe that's what I should have done. Just skipped the whole college thing and gone straight into working and paying rent.
[ Somehow this feels like a conversation they should have had years and years ago. Or at least years ago. It's strange in its normalcy, especially when thrown into such sharp contrast against the heaviness of what had been discussed previously. But they're both good at displacing, as much as they are compartmentalizing. ]
[ He knows you too well, Claire, to know if you're trully spiteful or not. To know whether or not families are the sole sum of their units and even if Claire wasn't involved, she had as much of her own to love her as they ever did. Peter could've been one more but she has him now. And that's what matters ]
I didn't skip the whole college thing- I went to nursing school. [ He sounds vaguely admonishing for a minute before it's turned into amusement, teasing at the very least. ] I just had to get a job first so I could actually live somewhere. And eat sometimes. And once it was actually a job I wanted, I could get a degree in something else I wanted just as much.
[ It is a conversation they would've had years ago were circumstances different but now's as good of a time as any. And while it's not only to break apart the sting of their earlier conversation, it's a good of a reason as any when they're both just that good at distracting themselves. That doesn't change the fact that the normalcy of it is something he wants to share with her; something that belongs. ]
[ Very matter-of-fact, with a biting tease. She doesn't envy him that cost of living, though she does admire him for making a go of it on his own. He probably would have been just fine if their world hadn't gone to hell. ]
[ That earns a snort, just amused enough to count. He's not sure he'd trade in living somewhere else but sometimes he thinks it would've been easier. That it still would've been easier. But home is home and far too often that's more than enough. ]
No, for a while I didn't. Nobody was much help when it came to deciding but you probably could've guessed that.
[ Sometimes Claire thinks that Peter did things certain ways just to annoy Angela, even if she seemed proud and pleased in her own way that he had done them. ]
I'm glad you didn't end up doing either. It would have made it very difficult to trust you right from the get-go.
I lived with him for seventeen years, I should know. [ a second's pause accompanied by a sigh. ] And I know what he does. I mean- In my future.
[ Which Peter makes sound somehow complicated if only because it actually is in theory. In actuality it wasn't all that complicated, just sincerely painful and Peter's not entirely sure he's over it. If anything, he just thinks about it far less than he used to. ]
[ She's halfway to a teasing comeback before he gets there first, trumping her with truth and forcing her to stall out. Being so far ahead of him is hard, especially knowing what it is that she does, eventually, and how mad at her he might be once he finds out. It's its own brand of difficult, with events in the past, things that have happened to them, just as hard to parse through. ]
We should really... sit down and figure out what it is that we know, sometime. And whether or not we want to know anything else.
[ And Peter just happens to think he knows it all. Maybe not all all but enough of it to know what he's talking about. Seen it, heard it, maybe not been there but close enough through Nathan's mind. It's been a rough few months sussing it all out but Peter's come to the conclusion that maybe it's better out than in. Better to talk about it than pretend it doesn't exist in ways he refuses to admit to and so he nods, even if she can't see it. ]
When're you free? [ Sooner's always better than later, right? ]
I didn't say- [ He wasn't actually planning on the medbay but the idea is strikingly convenient. However gross it might sound, it's not actually all that bad, and they'd have to share the space of any kitchen on board.
The medbay's usually all too quiet, especially the pods anytime that isn't a jump. ]
Even if it wasn't, it's not like we have anything to worry about. But it's as hygienic as anywhere else, the place is clean the rest of the time.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
voice;
Yeah, knowing you I'll have to drag you back to your room to make sure you're getting some rest.
[ A fond smile works its way around her tone, gently ribbing, trying to lighten the mood even a little. ]
voice;
[ He's egging her on in the simplest of ways even if he's talking in half truths and no lies. He has every intention in the world to slip his way down there as much as possible, take seat and watch as Nathan sleeps. He'd be there now if it wasn't already ridiculous but he can't help himself with thinking that Nathan needs to be watched. Just like they all do; they're the only ones here that can stand for each other. That know in ways no one else does and can fill in the gaps between thoughts. They know what's happened in ways no one else can touch and the loss of recognition, the loss of valued connection is a terrifying one. ]
I plan on giving him all the company he'd complain about if he was awake. [ She's not the only one who can lighten the mood. Or at least try to. ]
voice;
I'm gonna tell on you when he wakes back up.
voice;
[ Not that he thinks Nathan would ream him out too much but he doesn't want to hear it, either. Instead he'd rather hear Claire laugh, reminiscent of times that were easier or felt lighter somehow. Neither of them laugh nearly enough and neither of them have had enough time to talk like this. ]
voice;
[ She won't tattle, for the record, not only because she isn't nine-years-old but because the thought of having something, however dire, to share with Peter again is nice. They really need to get hobbies that don't involve their loved ones' questionable mortalities. ]
voice;
[ There's parts of his life that he's just never told Claire about - they haven't had the time amidst all the other mass chaos and he can't help but want to take advantage of his Uncle Rights. The chance to get the one to spoil for all the reasons they haven't alrady shared. Even if it's only with stories and impossible fantasies. ]
voice;
[ There's a pang here, not necessarily in her voice but definitely in the center of her chest. So many missed opportunities and chances, all out of her hands. For as much as she doesn't want to grow complacent here, it would be so easy to let it happen, creeping over her like vines, indulging in ways that their lives don't allow. Not that the Tranquility would allow for too much of that, but the thought is there. She wants to hear everything. ]
Right after high school? Is that why life got better?
[ No gentle ribbing or sarcasm there. Genuine curiosity. ]
voice;
[ He's not trying to be cruel though for a moment or two he thinks it is to even bring it up at all. But the truth is the truth and there's nothing that can be done about any of it at this point. Going back in time is an impossibility - not really, but it is for all the complex reasons it should be - and yet leaving it be is equally so. It just means finding other ways to go about it and if that means taking advantage of time given, maybe there's nothing wrong with that.
They don't have to love being on the Tranquility to abuse the doldrums it occasionally brings. ]
Maybe. [ He almost snorts but thinks better of it, knowing the topic is an oddly important one. ] It's part of the reason, sure. I mean, it got better because I wasn't in high school anymore, but once I got out of the house it made everything a little easier. And yeah, it was right after high school was over. Got a job to pay the rent and started taking paramedic classes.
voice;
[ She's not, really, and that shows in her voice. For as much as not knowing her biological family had left something open and aching in her, her family had provided enough in that respect that she can joke about it now. And anyway, Claire had Lyle, and she'd never wish that fate on anyone, as all older sisters do with their brothers. ]
Maybe that's what I should have done. Just skipped the whole college thing and gone straight into working and paying rent.
[ Somehow this feels like a conversation they should have had years and years ago. Or at least years ago. It's strange in its normalcy, especially when thrown into such sharp contrast against the heaviness of what had been discussed previously. But they're both good at displacing, as much as they are compartmentalizing. ]
voice;
[ He knows you too well, Claire, to know if you're trully spiteful or not. To know whether or not families are the sole sum of their units and even if Claire wasn't involved, she had as much of her own to love her as they ever did. Peter could've been one more but she has him now. And that's what matters ]
I didn't skip the whole college thing- I went to nursing school. [ He sounds vaguely admonishing for a minute before it's turned into amusement, teasing at the very least. ] I just had to get a job first so I could actually live somewhere. And eat sometimes. And once it was actually a job I wanted, I could get a degree in something else I wanted just as much.
[ It is a conversation they would've had years ago were circumstances different but now's as good of a time as any. And while it's not only to break apart the sting of their earlier conversation, it's a good of a reason as any when they're both just that good at distracting themselves. That doesn't change the fact that the normalcy of it is something he wants to share with her; something that belongs. ]
voice;
[ Very matter-of-fact, with a biting tease. She doesn't envy him that cost of living, though she does admire him for making a go of it on his own. He probably would have been just fine if their world hadn't gone to hell. ]
Did you always want to be a nurse?
voice;
No, for a while I didn't. Nobody was much help when it came to deciding but you probably could've guessed that.
voice;
[ She's glad that he doesn't have that disposition, for the record. ]
voice;
[ You can almost hear the blech in the intonation of his voice. ] At least that was an easy veto to make.
voice;
I'm glad you didn't end up doing either. It would have made it very difficult to trust you right from the get-go.
voice;
If only that rationale had worked on my dad.
voice;
Yeah, well, I'm not sure a lot really worked on your dad.
voice;
[ Which Peter makes sound somehow complicated if only because it actually is in theory. In actuality it wasn't all that complicated, just sincerely painful and Peter's not entirely sure he's over it. If anything, he just thinks about it far less than he used to. ]
voice;
We should really... sit down and figure out what it is that we know, sometime. And whether or not we want to know anything else.
voice;
When're you free? [ Sooner's always better than later, right? ]
voice;
[ That takes about ten nanoseconds, considering her calendar is mostly occupied only by annoying Severus Snape with her friendship. ]
It looks like I'm free... any time.
voice;
We should have lunch soon, then.
voice;
[ The casual arch of her eyebrows is just as expressive in her voice as it would be anywhere else. ]
That's probably not hygienic.
[ But it would be killing two birds with one stone. ]
voice;
The medbay's usually all too quiet, especially the pods anytime that isn't a jump. ]
Even if it wasn't, it's not like we have anything to worry about. But it's as hygienic as anywhere else, the place is clean the rest of the time.
voice;
If I find any jump goo in a sandwich, I'm gonna protest.
voice;
voice;
voice;