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model_pilot ([info]model_pilot) wrote in [info]kobols_legacies,
@ 2008-05-02 17:53:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:(c) alice starkweather, (l) avalon

Long Walk
After watching Sting be towed to the lift up to the flight deck, Dani gave a small sigh and shook her head. The whole situation with Anika and Jill just sat wrong with her, it seemed out of character for Jill to attack another person without cause and for the life of her she couldn't think of what Anika could have done to deserve that.

Another head shake and Dani put the thoughts out of her mind for now. She had a long walk to get back to her quarters and she wasn't looking forward to it. The trip down here had taken a lot out of her, and if it hadn't been an emergency she wouldn't have left the quarters she shared with Rhys at all.

Thread open to [info]primitive_soul, [info]rhys_gaither

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-02 10:29 pm UTC (link)
Alice was aware of having a certain reputation among the other mechanics of the Avalon, that they considered her sour and difficult to work with. They didn't invite her to their card games and she didn't offer to come have a few beers with them after their shifts were up. What socializing she did was limited to how many people she wanted close to her at any given time, and she much preferred to spend time alone with a book or writing in her journal.

That particular afternoon, she was crouched down beneath the wing of a Raptor, squinting through sparks as she welded bits of metal back together. Even without imminent danger from the Cylons, there was always something that needed patching up, and now was no exception. Alice turned the blowtorch off, lifted her goggles out of the way to inspect her work. Her knees were already starting to complain, and she worked herself out of the crouch before picking up the water bottle she kept with her during the day.

She had just put the cap back on when she saw Lt. Kypros moving slowly across the open expanse of floor, and the crewman paused to consider addressing her before doing so. The officer was pleasant enough, but speaking up would mean conversation.

Nathan would want her to speak up.

"Afternoon, Lieutenant," Alice said, offering a fairly crisp salute. "What finds you all the way down here today?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-02 10:55 pm UTC (link)
Dani looked over at the direction of the voice and realized that crewman Starkweather was the speaker. The last time she'd seen her was at the wedding reception, but she heard about the goings on down in the hangers from Rhys and was up to date on the people under his watch.

She smiled and straightened herself up a bit to return the salute. "A friend needed my help," she said simply, deciding better not to go into detail. Alice probably had already heard all about the dust up from some of the other deck crew even if she hadn't seen it herself. "That's done and now I'm going back to where I should have been all along: my bed."

Dani wasn't interested in stopping, that meant standing on her feet and she wasn't as steady as she used to be these days. Still, she didn't want to cause offense and she slowed her waddling gait just a bit. "Rhys tells me you've been doing good work down here, are you still enjoying yourself?"

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-02 11:10 pm UTC (link)
"Yes, sir," Alice replied with a nod, falling into step beside the other woman without much thought. "Things have been quiet since the last encounter with the Cylons, what you see going on now is mostly clean-up work." She gestured behind her, where other cremembers tended to their own tasks among muted conversations.

Her eyes dropped to the grounded pilot's belly, then quickly wandered to something less obvious. "If you were planning to retire to your quarters I could accompany you," she offered, managing to sound only a little awkward. "Does Gaither know you're down here?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-02 11:27 pm UTC (link)
Dani nodded. Even in peacetime conditions there had been regular maitenanace and upkeep that needed to be done on the Vipers and Raptors, and those tasks were only magnified during wartime. Hopefully one day they could return to something approaching peacetime conditions.

"I would appreciate that, Starkweather, thank you," Dani accepted the other woman's offer to escort her to quarters. If something were to happen and there wasn't anyone else around at least Starkweather could go get help.

The glance at her belly hadn't gone unnoticed, but Dani didn't take offense. She was beyond huge at this point, and the other woman had kept the look short and discreet.

"I don't think he does, it was something of an emergency or I wouldn't have come down at all." She wasn't looking forward to Rhys' reaction to her travelling all the way to the hangers and back. He was very aware of the doctor's order that she rest as much as possible...not quite strict bedrest but just shy of it.

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-02 11:51 pm UTC (link)
"I had heard that things were...difficult," Alice offered as she and Lt. Kypros began tio make their slow way away from the flight deck. "I don't pay that much attention to gossip, but sometimes its unavoidable. I hope that everything is well."

It occurred to her that she could - and probably should - ask about the pregnancy and when the children were due, but she was always reticent about personal subjects. Inquiries inevitably led to questions about her own life, and she wasn't sure she was ready to talk about it yet, at least not with a comparative stranger. Still, she was making an attempt to come out of ber shell a little.

"How are you adjusting to married life?" she asked the other brunette, dipping a toe into the conversational pool. "Does it suit you?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-03 12:31 am UTC (link)
"As well as can be expected when you're in your third trimester with twins who seem to be inheriting their father's size." Dani replied, her hands patting her badly swollen middle for emphasis. "I'm taking it very easy these days, this is the first time I've been in a uniform for weeks."

She glanced over at Starkweather as they stepped onto a lift that would take them up to the causeway above the hanger and the hatch into the main part of the ship. "It's been an adjustment, especially since our backgrounds are so different. We've had to figure out a lot of things as we go." And the little ones hadn't made the task any easier. But they loved each other and so far they'd been able to muddle through without any knock down drag out fights.

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-03 01:04 am UTC (link)
"Girls or boys? Or do you know which you're carrying?"

In the past, she might have asked to put her hand on Dani's stomach, but she was a different person now. Alice pulled her goggles off and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the lift start to move. "And marriage is always work, I think. Gaither seems as though he is a good husband and will be a good father. He is...steady."

Gods, that had better not be envy in her voice. She didn't want to embarrass either herself or the lieutenant. The mechanic allowed a silence to fall between them, then attepted a subject change.

"I am still considering taking up pilot training," she told the other woman. "Its been a tough decision to make. I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-03 02:13 am UTC (link)
"I don't know for sure," Dani admitted, "I want to be surprised, but I think they're both boys." She didn't have any evidence since she'd been clear at the begining that she didn't want to know. "I know Rhys is hoping at least one is a girl, so we'll see when they come out."

The lift carried them up and then came to a stop, and Dani stepped out onto the causeway. "Rhys is a good man, one of the best I think. I might be a bit biased though." She winked at the other woman and grinned. Rhys was one of the best things to ever happen to her and she wouldn't trade him or the babies for anything, with the exception of the Colonies not being destroyed.

They made their way to the hatch to leave the flight pod and Dani nodded at passersby.

"Really? What's been holding you back?" She was surprised that it was such a hard decision. "The fleet's going to be seeing action soon, you're going to be pretty busy down on the deck. If you're going to make a desicion its probably best to have the paperwork in before the shooting starts."

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-03 12:30 pm UTC (link)
"I have been below decks for some time now," Alice replied, looking straight ahead as she exited the lift. "It isn't where I thought my life's path would take me, but it has become familiar. Almost comfortable." Her shoulder went up and down in a shrug of acceptance. "Considering change is difficult."

She thought about it for a minute, the vast blankness of space and being out in it, and a not unpleasant chill ran through her. She might be trying to poke her head out of the hole she'd lived in since the Colonies fell for Nathan's sake, but actually getting out there and doing something like becoming a pilot was far more than she had planned on. Still, it wasn't...it didn't feel wrong.

"I'll take another day or two, then make my decision," she said, squaring her shoulders. It was time to start living again, after all. "What of you? Will you return to flying once the children are born?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-03 05:52 pm UTC (link)
"I can understand that," Dani nodded thoughtfully as she remembered her own difficult decision. "I was well on my way to a career in Holy Orders when I saw Vipers in flight at an air show and I knew that I wanted to try and be a pilot. It was very hard, leaving the familiar comfort of the Sisterhood for a military life."

She glanced over at the other woman and put a hand on her arm. "If there's anything I can do to help you make your decision, please let me know. I should be here another day or so before they evacuate all the dependents off the ship."

"As for going back to flying..." She looked down at her midsection, a curious expression on her face. "I don't know. Part of me wants to get back out there as soon as they'll let me. Another part wonders if it's time to turn the page."

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-03 09:49 pm UTC (link)
Evacuate. She had put it out of her mind deliberately, ignoring the gossip on the subject because it was too reminiscent of being air-lifted off of Canceron in a military transport. She'd spent half of that final night pleading with her fiancee to change his mind, and then the other half wrapped around him in a desperate passion when he wouldn't. She fiddled with the strap of her safety goggles, looking at the featureless face of the bulkhead as she and Dani walked.

"Where were they go?" she asked, her expression unreadable. "I've heard talk, but I suppose I wasn't really paying attention. Is there to be another selection process?"

She hated how bitter she sounded, but she couldn't help it. They had gotten so far, worked their way back to civillation only to find that taking place, as if they'd become less than cattle. She kept her eyes determinedly away from Lt. Kypros' midsection.

"What have you heard of their destinations?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-03 11:55 pm UTC (link)
"There aren't that many of us," Dani commented, trying to ignore the bitterness in the other woman's voice. "Barely seventy on the entire ship. It's only temporary, until after the upcoming operation." She hoped.

"It was left to us as to where we wanted to go, if we had friends someplace in the fleet we wanted to bunk with. From what I hear everyone made their own arrangements so Command didn't have to make them for us. There's about twenty of us going over to Shangri-La and the rest are scattered about the fleet."

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-04 12:19 am UTC (link)
Idiot. Of couse the selection process was a thing of the past now. As hard as times still were, they weren't as desperate as they'd once been, and there was no need to leave people behind anymore. Alice pulled in a breath, looked down at her goggles, then put them back on so that they dangled by their strap around her neck.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Kypros," she said stiffly. "I don't mean to sound as if I'm questioning orders from above. I know the...process....was necessary." She had to force the words past the remembered pain of her loss, and her hands plucked restlessly at her leather tool belt, finally hooking over the top of it to make themselves still.

"If I do decide to take up pilot training, who would I report to?" Another subject change, to save her from talking about it anymore. "I wouldn't know the first thing about it."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 12:40 am UTC (link)
"I didn't have anything to do with those decisions, Starkweather. Way above both our pay grades, but you'll note that Canceron had a mission devoted to it while nothing was done for Virgon."

Dani's tone was a bit stiff as well. She was a pilot, grounded currently it was true, but a pilot. The only role she'd had in the selection and evacuation process before they'd left the Colonies was flying combat missions over the landing zones. Whether Starkweather had intended it or not, Dani felt like she'd been accused of deciding who'd lived and who'd died three years ago.

"As a pilot you'd report to the squadron commander of whatever squadron your assigned to after completing the training. During the training program you'd report to the flight instructor."

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-04 12:53 am UTC (link)
Don't you lecture me. Not with your huge, pregnant belly staring me in the face. I know you didn't do it. But once there was a boy who loved me. All the things you have now are the things I should have had. So keep your lecture to yourself.

Resentment was an old companion for Alice, and she greeted it as silently as she said the words that ran through her head. She knew Lieutenant Kypros meant no harm, that she didn't even know, but that didn't make it any easier.

"I hope the rest of your pregnancy treats you well." The only olive branch she could offer.

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 04:15 am UTC (link)
"Thank you, I just hope I can carry them to term." Dani accepted the olive branch, letting her tone soften as they walked. She was going to strip out of this tight uniform, slip into something that actually fit, and collapse onto the bed once she got back to her quarters with Rhys. The whole trip down to the hanger and back was exhausting, and if it hadn't been for the panic in Anika's voice she probably never would have left quarters.

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-04 06:49 pm UTC (link)
If Alice had been prone to take to drink, she'd have needed one after just this short walk. But she'd promised herself that she was going to make an effort with her fellow crewmembers, so she might as well start with Lt. Kypros. It wouldn't be as easy to shunt people aside if she joined the flight training program, so she'd have to re-learn how to socialize.

"Thank you for getting me an information packet," she said once the two of them had almost reached family quarters. "Change isn't easy, but it will probably be good for me in the long run."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 07:10 pm UTC (link)
"I was happy to help. If there's any other questions I can answer please let me know." Dani told the other woman truthfully. She really did want to help.

They rounded the corner and Dani breathed a sigh of relief as the hatch to her quarters came into view. "Thank the gods," she muttered to herself under her breath. The trip had exhausted her and she knew she'd really pushed herself to her limits and beyond, what with how late she was in the pregnancy.

"Thank you very much for walking with me."

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[info]primitive_soul
2008-05-04 08:13 pm UTC (link)
Alice offered the other woman a genuine smile, no matter how tentative it might have been. It would be nice to have a friend again. Maybe she would try to drop by before Kypros was due to give birth, just to see how she was faring. She saw hatch come into view and was about to take her leave when a male voice spoke up from just inside the next room.

"Where the frak have you been?"

Gaither was suddenly looming large and annoyed in the doorway, his wide shoulders seeming to take up all the space there was in the confined space. His arms folded across his chest as he spoke, and he looked down at the mechanic before directing his attention to his wife. Alice jammed her hands into the pockets of her coverall, flushing with embarrassment. A domestic dispute was the last thing she wanted to bear witness to.

"Daniella?" The new Chief Petty Officer was clearly trying to keep his voice down, and Alice took a mincing half-step backwards. "I think I'll just..." Sink down into the floor and disappear, thanks...

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 08:31 pm UTC (link)
Dani winced at the tone in her husband's voice, but ignored him long enough to turn to Starkweather and give her a tight smile of apology. "Thank you again for escorting me back, good luck with whatever you decide."

With that, she put the other woman out of her mind and focused on her husband. "Rhys, I'd like to come inside?" She gestured toward the hatch and when he moved out of the way, brushed past him into their quarters, pressing the button to close the doors behind her.

As soon as the doors closed she was already undoing the buttons on her fatigue jacket, waddling toward their bed at the same time. "I had to make a trip down to the hangers, an emergency." She told Rhys over her shoulder, slipping out of the jacket and tossing it on the back of a nearby chair as she sat down heavily on the bed, sighing in relief at being off her feet again.

"Anika was stuck on board Avalon for a while, they were going to impound her ship for a recon mission I think. The poor thing was frantic and I went down to see if I could help her." She knew that the comments would not help Rhys' mood any, but she didn't believe in lying to her husband and frankly there wasn't anything she could say to make the situation better.

She unbuckled her belt and undid the fly on her trousers, wanting nothing more than to just throw on her pajama bottoms again and crawl under the covers.

"I know you're upset, but it was an emergency."

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[info]rhys_gaither
2008-05-04 08:50 pm UTC (link)
Alice was still hovering there uncertainly, and Rhys took pity on her long enough to growl, "That'll be all, Starkweather, thank you." She made a bad attempt at a salute, then moved off in the opposite direction as if she'd seen a ghost. He waited until she'd rounded the corner, then turned and went into his quarters, the hatch closing behind him.

He waited until Dani had explained, then nodded his head slowly. "An emergency. Mmm-hmm." His mouth was tight at the corners, and he folded his arms again because he couldn't decide what to do with his hands. Upset? Upset didn't begin to cover it.

"Did it occur to you you could have asked someone else?" he inquired in a controlled voice. He seldom yelled, and it took him a long time to lose his temper, but he could feel the anger simmering down in his guts. "I'm sure Anika has other friends to clean up her messes." He liked the woman, but for his very-pregnant wife to go trundling down to the frakking hangar bay just to help her with something was a little beyond the pale.

"You could have at least asked for a wheelchair. Frak, you could have asked me." Rhys scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "Was it that big of an emeergency?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 09:18 pm UTC (link)
"And where would I find a wheelchair on short notice?" Dani asked. "It isn't like they've got one around every corner." The truth was she hadn't thought of a wheelchair, which sounded like a good idea from now on.

It was a good thing Jilleen hadn't looked down past Dani's very pregnant belly or she'd have found that the pregnant officer hadn't put on the regulation footwear with the uniform. Instead the young woman had kept her slippers, the boots that went with her utility uniform were far too small for her swollen feet.

Now those slippers were kicked off, and Dani finished the process of slipping out of her uniform.

She wasn't ignoring Rhys, exactly, just very focused on the task at hand.

"You didn't hear her voice. She was practically hyperventilating. And when I got down there!" Dani shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it."

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[info]rhys_gaither
2008-05-04 10:04 pm UTC (link)
He was tracking her with his eyes as she moved, following her from place to place without moving as she talked. Silent and patient, like an inert volcano. When she was through, he pivoted to face her, pointing at his expression.

"Do you see this face?" he asked, his index finger a rigid line. "Is this the face of someone who cares whether or not some civvie pilot is having a bad day?" Poor word choice, but like he gave a frak. "Anything could have happened to you on the way down and back, and then what? Sure, Starkweather's pretty good in a crisis, but she's not a baby doctor."

The mechanic blew out a breath through his nose, sounding like nothing less than an annoyed bull. "Don't make me tie you to the bed, okay?"

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 10:28 pm UTC (link)
Dani looked up at his face from her position on the bed and sighed. "You're right," she admitted softly, "it was a stupid thing to do, but I didn't think about it until I already was down at the deck."

The young woman put her hands on her belly and rubbed it in slow gentle circular motions. She realized that what she'd done could have been disastrous, but at the same time she couldn't have just abandoned Anika to whatever fate Major Simmons would have dreamed up had she not been there.

She reached for her pajama bottoms and slipped into them before lying down on her side, fully resting on the bed now. Dani couldn't help but chuckle at his comment on tying her to the bed. "I told Anika you have my permission to do that if I try anything so crazy again." She lifted her head to get a better look at him.

"I'm sorry, Rhys."

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[info]rhys_gaither
2008-05-04 11:00 pm UTC (link)
"Just..."

Rhys unfolded his arms, dragged his fingers through his hair. He wanted to yell, just not at Dani. Not now, not when she was in this condition. He could feel a muscle jumping in his jaw as he stood there, his large frame tense with annoyance. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe...

"Don't do it again. Okay? Promise me." He was going to track down Anika and have a word with her. Even if his wife had gone to the pilot's aid of her own accord, he'd been worried, worried and scared in a way he hated. He pushed another breath out through his nose. Yeah, he was going to have a word with the civvie. Her he could yell at.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Softening towards her now, if only just a fraction. "You're probably hungry after your big adventure."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 11:11 pm UTC (link)
Dani could see Rhys was still upset, but there wasn't much she could do about it. "I promise honey," she told him, using a term of endearment that she still was getting used to. "From now on if I go anywhere I'll use a wheelchair, not that I'm planning to go anywhere. This was enough for me."

Of course, she wasn't going to have a say about leaving Avalon before the upcoming operation. At least she'd be with friends there.

"I did have some soup earlier. There should still be some left in the thermos on the table." Large meals were impossible for her these days and had been for months.

She was definitely ready for the babies to come out, but at the same time wanted them to stay inside until it was safe.

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[info]rhys_gaither
2008-05-04 11:26 pm UTC (link)
"I'm not hungry." A testament to how he felt right now, since he could usually eat a horse. But his stomach wanted nothing to do with food at the moment, not even with soup. Breathe. He sounded like a bellows, the way his father used to sound in those rare times when his parents argued.

The big mechanic sat down on the edge of the bed gingerly, careful not to jostle Dani as he rested his elbows on the knees of his workpants. "They kickin' you much?" he asked, trying to normalize his voice. There was already enough stress in the room, he didn't want it affecting the kids, who weren't even born yet.

He looked at her over his shoulder, then stared back down at the floor. "I'll get you a chair from somewhere. Its on my to-do list as of now."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-04 11:46 pm UTC (link)
"A little, but they're running out of room in here so they can't move around as much as they used to." Dani left one hand on her belly, and reached for Rhys with the other.

"I'm sorry, Rhys," she apologized again. It bothered her to have him upset with her, and she knew he was holding back his anger due to her condition. "I won't do it again, I promise." Even with a wheelchair she didn't plan on leaving bed more than absolutely necessary. Life or death kind of necessity.

"Come here," She urged gently, tugging for him to lie down beside her. Daniella Kypros had given her heart to this man, and she didn't like seeing him upset. "I love you, you know, and our children."

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[info]rhys_gaither
2008-05-05 12:10 am UTC (link)
He felt suddenly shy about going to her, as if his bad mood might rub off on her, but he went anyway. She was his comfort, his safe place, and he loved her so much. One arm went around her as the mattress sagged further under their combined weight, and he let out a breath that was a little easier.

"You scared me, all right?" he confessed, his face hidden from view as he hooked his chin over her shoulder. "Don't do it again." Their stomachs touched, and he felt one of the babies kick as if the child recognized his presence. That made him actually smile.

"Love you. You and the kids." Yeah, he was still angry, but this was helping. "For all the time I've got left."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-05 12:52 am UTC (link)
"I won't," Dani promised again. If it would make him happy she would keep promising.

She rubbed his back, trying to ease the tension visible in his muscles. Dani knew she'd scared him badly and this was one way to try and make amends.

"Don't talk like that," She didn't want to think of him dying. "We're going to be together for a long time, long enough to be doted on by our great grandchildren when we're old and fat."

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[info]rhys_gaither
2008-05-06 05:57 pm UTC (link)
The tension worked its way out of Rhys' muscles a fraction at the time under Dani's hands, and he sighed heavily. "I wouldn't mind being old and fat with you," he mumbled. His boots were on the bed, and it occurred to him that he should at least kick them off, but that would mean disengaging from his wife and he didn't want to do that.

"Our kids are going to be fine and strong, like us," he added. He could let it go for now, but the next thing on his to-do list was to speak to Anika. In a closed environment, people gossiped, it was a fact of military life; he'd likely hear much more on the subject than he wanted to before he saw the pilot again.

"Are you all right? I can warm some soup for you later."

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[info]model_pilot
2008-05-06 09:18 pm UTC (link)
She continued to rub his back, ignoring her own aches and pains and concentrated on her husband. Nimble hands worked to find knots and massage them loose, feeling him begin to relax under her efforts.

"With a bit of luck they'll grow up someplace with fresh air and sunshine, and know what real weather is like." She dreamed of a planet full of green growing things with no more war and their children growing up in peace.

She yawned despite herself, the trip down and back had taken a lot out of her. "I'm not hungry right now, just tired. It's nice to just lie here and cuddle, we don't get to do this often enough."

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