text;

[nostraightlines]

Who: José Ramse and YOU
Broadcast: fleetwide text
Action: the Starstruck
When: now!

Celeste Blackwell went home. At least, I figure that's where they sent her. So much for my plan to be as boring as possible to get sent back.

...

Does anyone here know where I could get sleeping pills or anything like that?


[ Ramse can be found on the bridge of the Starstruck, staring down at the unfortunate moon. He's definitely in a mood. ]

Comments

[nostraightlines]

Yes.

[passingthrough]

I can't exactly say that's not hard, but it gets easier. You probably already know that from Eudio though. [Unless there were people from home there.]

[nostraightlines]

It might be easier if I could get a decent night's sleep without her. [ There were, and then they left, but he had Celeste and Sheva. He's.. rather attached. ]

[passingthrough]

I didn't realize you were involved. [She assumes that means they were sleeping together.]

[nostraightlines]

[ He hesitates because they were, and kind of are, but it's a complicated relationship to explain. They're not a couple but they do sleep together. And in the fleet were literally sleeping together more nights than not. ]

Yeah... it's. We're close.

[ It's hard to think of her as being gone from his life for good, so he's still using present tense. ]

[passingthrough]

[She nods.] It's hard to get used to an empty bed. [She hasn't yet, and it's been almost four months now.]

[nostraightlines]

You're telling me. I just need a hand getting past it.

[passingthrough]

[She's quiet for a few beats.] I usually just keep busy until I can't keep my eyes open anymore and then drop off to sleep. Not sure if it's better than a pill. [Leads to some pretty uneven sleeping patterns.]

[nostraightlines]

What's keeping you awake, Kitty?

[passingthrough]

[She sighs softly realizing she should probably be honest since she's been asking him personal questions and he's been answering.] A much older heartbreak.

[nostraightlines]

Why don't you come by? We've got tea.

[passingthrough]

[That offer surprises her, but she nods.] Now? Which ship are you on?

[nostraightlines]

[ It just doesn't seem like the kind of conversation to have over the comms. ]

No time like the present. I'm on the Starstruck.

[passingthrough]

Storm's ship.

Sure. I'll be there soon then. [Luckily she was on the Windrose and not somewhere out on the moon when she started the conversation. And true to her word she will be heading over after just a minute of sitting there wondering how this is supposed to go. But even if she's not sure she'll be heading into the Starstruck's cargo bay.]

video > action

[nostraightlines]

See you soon.

[ He turns off the feed and heads for the kitchen to put on some water for them, then to the cargo bay to meet Kitty, all the while wondering who Storm might be. It's a better nickname than Meathead, anyway... ]

[passingthrough]

[So much better than meathead. It is a little funny the way sometimes codenames or real names roll off the tongue for her. She looks around as she steps out of the shuttle.] Hey. [She kind of feels like she should be better company to be here when he's going through something rough. Someone who would naturally give him a hug. Instead she stops in front of him with a nod.] So here I am.

[nostraightlines]

Hey. Kitchen's this way.

[ He leads her though the ship. The kettle isn't quite whistling yet, so he gets out the tea and mugs. ]

I figured heartbreak was better with actual company.

[passingthrough]

Yeah, I mean, like I said, it was a long time ago for me. Four months or so. [Which feels like a life time especially with the time divided between the fleet and the prison. She finds herself looking around the ship, taking it in. She hadn't actually visited it before even with Ororo aboard.]

[nostraightlines]

Four months is no time at all. [ The kettle whistles and he takes it off the heat, pouring the water over the tea. ] What happened?

[passingthrough]

The person I was with...Reid, he disappeared one day. It was less than a week before he was back. [But that wasn't common for people to come back so quickly. She didn't know if she'd ever see him again.] When he came back he remembered me, but he remembered being in love with someone at home too. He'd just watched her die moments before they brought him back. It made things...complicated.

[nostraightlines]

That's... more than complicated. I'm sorry.

Did it mean you couldn't be together anymore?

[passingthrough]

No, but him breaking up with me did. [Voice softer.] We were both in bad places and the prison doesn't make it easy.

[nostraightlines]

[ Ramse nods, sympathetic even if he doesn't fully understand. Being in a bad place is more reason to be with someone, to him, for help working through it. For less loss. But they're different people. ]

Prison doesn't make anything easy, huh? [ He fiddles with his teabag string. ] How long after that did you wind up here?

[passingthrough]

Every few days they throw something new at us. Maybe just a party. Maybe they erase our memories or make us think we're married to someone we barely know or turn us into monkeys or make it rain fruit punch or attack us with dinosaurs. [You kind of get used to it and ride it out, but when things are already broken it definitely doesn't help.]

[She was the one who kept fighting for them to stay together. She wanted to make things work and weather the hard times together. Part of his reasoning—not that he shared it—was that he was hurting her by being such a mess, but what really crushed her was him ending things. She'd never felt so unwanted which probably wasn't fair but the turmoil had brought up a lot of things she'd never dealt with. It all might have been easier if she could have just been mad at him, but she knew how much he was hurting and she just wanted to help. While he wanted her out of his life.]

After the break up? About two months. But I came here immediately from prison if you're asking if I went home first.

Things were starting to get better between us again. [Maybe it was kinder that the Atroma grabbed her before those seeds of hope really took root.]

[nostraightlines]

Those are some crazy things to throw at you. [ And she sounds so nonchalant, like she's used to it -- he doesn't think he could ever get used to being turned into something else or being attacked by dinosaurs. ]

At least you didn't leave on a bad note? I got pulled to Eudio... after something really awful.