i brought you something. (closed)

[noscope]

who. north (noscope) and carolina (myturn)
what. north brings home a burned varren pup after the event.
where. their home in zeta district.
when. right after the event.
warnings. sap and north generally making up for making Bad Decisions before now.

The whole mess with the water supply being offline, the space monkeys and the fire and the varren had been a lot for him to handle. Granted, he knew things weren't exactly going to go smoothly when they showed up here, but he'd at least thought they might catch a break since the last bit of nonsense they'd encountered.

.. Yeah. Like he could ever catch a real break. Even outside of the Project, things weren't that simple.

It wasn't until he was walking around on his own, trying to scope out the damage to see if there was anything he could help fix when he saw it. A tiny little thing huddled up in a corner, curled in on itself and whimpering. North couldn't help but to squint at it, because if it was what he thought it was? He couldn't imagine one of those things whimpering for anything.

Except, when he got closer, it was exactly what he thought it was.

He crept closer, worried that the varren would react as most injured animals do - but to his surprise, the little thing practically crawled into his arms the second he got close enough to it, and there was no way in the world that he could leave it behind. Looking down at it, even as he was making his way back to their home, he was already wondering what Carolina was going to think when she saw it.

He really was hoping she would take pity on the thing, considering it had a burned paw and had probably lost its mother to the fire. Which .. was really damn depressing.

".. Roxie?" he called as he stepped through the door, peeking into their living room looking for her. "I .. I have something to show you."

Comments

[ex_myturn41]

Things here were definitely different, their living arrangements attested to that. Something she wasn't complaining about in the slightest, really. It was nice to de-stress here with him, to have quiet moments with him whenever she wanted, and it was more relaxing than anything has been in some time.

The fact that the thing in Evan's lap was all but begging them for attention just prompted more rubbing from Carolina, even if she wasn't thinking too much about it. She was more focused on Evan's question, though, and the fact he really did seem interested in keeping the varren. Neither of them knew exactly how to raise a varren- not that it would be impossible to look it up- and she wasn't sure what sort of attention it would require. It clearly wanted as much attention as they could spare right now, sprawled out as she was on Evan's lap, and who knew if they'd have the time?

She's scratching under the varren's chin, letting out a soft sigh. "Do you think we have the time to take care of her?"

[noscope]

That was something that he'd more than been able to get used to, especially given the fact that they hadn't exactly been able to enjoy living together on the Tranquility before they'd been transported back to the MoI. And even though they hadn't come here on the .. best of terms upon their arrival, he was glad to now that things were getting better.

That they could finally settle down, just a little, and enjoy each other's company like he'd been wanting them to for so long .. especially since he'd been finding her practically training herself to death before they'd ended up here. This was something of a vacation for her. For the both of them, really.

Even if they had no idea why they were there or how they were going to get back home.

Evan brought his thoughts back to the matter at hand, though. If Roxie really didn't want to keep the pup, they would have to find something to do with her - though he didn't really think there were going to be many options for them. Still, if push came to shove, he wouldn't ask her to keep the little thing again. It just wasn't in his nature.

The varren let out another pleased-sounding noise at the scratches to her chin, stretching out on her back a little more, and he couldn't help but to be amused. "I don't see why not, really. It's not like we have any pressing matters that need our attention right now."

[ex_myturn41]

It had been a bit disappointing, to say the least, when they'd only managed to live together for a short time before they'd gone home. She'd been happy to go home, certainly, but giving up all the free time she'd had with him had been difficult. She'd had to push it aside along with so many other things once they'd been home. There had just been too many other things on her mind.

She didn't think her training was any sort of problem- and nothing North could say would convince her of that- but it was nice to be with him again. To have some time to actually enjoy being around him.

Roxie looked at the creature as it sprawled out, looking content as anything, and let out a contemplative hum at Evan's statement. She supposed he was right, there wasn't a lot of pressing issues to attend to around here. Even with all the chaos going on, it wasn't as if they had many things on their plate. "We'd need to figure out what to feed her... what she needs..."

[noscope]

They'd both been happy to go home, of course. Even given the stress that came with getting their old lives back together, the path the Project was taking, it was most assuredly preferable to being on a ship for an unknown reason. Than not knowing where they were, or what they could do to get back to where they belonged.

Of course there would have been nothing he could have said to make her think that her training was too intense - which was precisely why he'd chosen to keep his mouth shut on the matter. It was enough that she felt that she had to train that hard in the first place. He knew she didn't need him lording over her, worrying about what she was doing to herself.

Even if that was exactly what he was doing from afar.

That she wasn't outright saying 'no' to his suggestion of keeping the pup, that she was actively thinking of taking care of her .. it had something warm spreading in his chest, and he couldn't resist the urge to lean over and press a small kiss to the curve of her cheek. "Considering I've seen a few people keep them as pets, I'm sure it wouldn't take too much to figure any of that out. Not that I expect anyone here to be exceptionally helpful .." He paused, shrugging with a laugh. "I'm sure, between the two of us, we can handle it."

[ex_myturn41]

And that ship had been dangerous above all else- dangerous in ways that their normal line of work wasn't. Getting lost in mazes and dying of mysterious illnesses- something she still didn't like to remember and dwell on- it was all entirely worse than what they had to face at home.

The fact that he kept his opinion to himself on that one was something she was grateful for. She didn't want to be coddled and treated like a child- she knew what she was doing. And she knew North, above all other people, would understand that.

That little kiss, though, had her blinking. Made her look up with some small bit of confusion even if she didn't put words to it. He looked oddly pleased but she can't put her finger on why, even if she's glad he is. She nods to his comments, looking down at the pup in his lap again with some contemplation. "We can try it. If it's too much, we'll have to look into something else, but... we'll give her a try."

[noscope]

The fact that they both remembered dying - the fact that they'd died period was traumatizing enough - but remembering it was something else entirely, and knowing that they'd actually come out of it all right was something that he was willing to forgive and let go.

Because if he'd somehow managed to lose her indefinitely .. there was something about it that he just couldn't think about, and that was all there was to it. He couldn't think about being without her. In any capacity.

But she was still agreeing to keeping the pup - at least for the time being - and that alone had him smiling wider than he thought he had in a while. At the very least, since he'd been able to start spending more time with her again. "Really? You're sure?"

[ex_myturn41]

Dying had been terrible, certainly, and remembering it even worse. She had been so glad to wake up in the gravity couch after that, to find him afterward and hang on to him, that she doesn't think she can ever forget that. Even if some nights she wishes she could.

The thought of losing him is something she doesn't want to entertain. She's seen what something like that does to people, and she doesn't ever want to have to live through it herself.

She was more than a little amused with how much he was smiling about it and she nodded to his question. The pup in his lap looked pleased as anything and, well, it was pretty easy to keep delivering rubs and scratches to the wiggling creature. "I'm sure. If those weird looking bastards with too many teeth can handle these, I think we'll be ok."

[noscope]

The one thing that he would never forget about that - aside from the pain - was that he'd been terrified that it would be permanent. That he would never get to feel her close to him again, see her smile. Know that she was safe and taken care of, and once they'd found each other again once the whole thing had blown over, it had been incredibly difficult to let go of her.

If he'd been just a little protective of her since then, even more than he usually was, well .. he didn't think he could really be blamed for that. Not in the slightest.

It was ridiculous, really, how much he was smiling about something as simple as keeping an alien dog. (That was what he was calling it, even though it sounded just a bit .. not-nice, but he didn't think the varren would know the difference either way.) The laugh he gave at her response was genuine, pleased. "Well, then .. what should we name her?"

[ex_myturn41]

She's been more than a little protective of him, too. While being back home had her relaxing just a little, because at least then she knew what the threats were, having died with him on the floor of that ship made the idea of losing him all too real. If he's been more protective of her, well, she hasn't exactly noticed.

The only person who's been overprotective of her these days is York, as far as she can tell. And she doesn't exactly appreciate it.

But he seems pleased about the pet, even if she's a little bemused by the entire thing. She never pegged North for wanting a pet so much, but she's glad to give him this. It will be a welcome distraction, at least, to focus on training this little thing. "Hrm, we're sure she's a she?" she wondered, looking the animal over.