Jyn Erso (mystardust) wrote in saveatlantisic, @ 2018-03-17 17:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, *jeanna, *natasha, jyn erso, marcus cole |
March 4
Jyn Erso + Marchus Cole
Coffee Me Better | G
Jyn and Marcus discover they are both geeks who like to read in coffee shops
Complete
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Jyn had come to enjoy just hanging out in the coffee shop. She always enjoyed talking to Emily if she was working and if she wasn’t, the other baristas had come to know her and sometimes gave her free drinks. Which wasn’t a bad thing at all. She’d stopped in after dinner and had ordered a hot chocolate and was sitting at her favorite table with a book when a familiar face walked in. She’d seen him on the network and they’d spoken several times but this was the first time she’d seen him in person. “Marcus? Hello,” she said. “It’s Jyn. I’m not sure if you recognize me when it’s not just my face.” She laughed, referring to the small photos that appeared next to their messages on the network. For all his occasional complaints about being planet bound, Marcus appreciated certain things about Atlantis. The variety and availability of foods and books and little luxuries was strange. The little time he'd spent on Earth (in training during the war and then in small town Texas) did not prepare one for Atlantis. One of the little luxuries he’d come to appreciate was hot chocolate, far richer and creamier than the packaged variety that he occasionally tasted on the colony, and more appropriate to the weather outside than it had ever been in the heat of Tumbleweed. Truth be told, Marcus wasn't very skilled at relaxing. Even after nearly two years away from Babylon 5, he tended to be constantly prepared for battle. So today, he was making the effort at recreation - and if he learned something - anything - useful in the process, that was a bonus. So relaxation was still a work in progress. He had a book on his tablet and an order in mind when a voice greeted him. “Jyn Erso.” He did recognize her after the first moment. She’d lived a life not dissimilar to his own, as he remembered, with the past tense being just as singularly appropriate. “We had the same idea,” he said, noting her book and steaming cup. “Hoping for warmer days?” “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” she said with a smile. “Have a seat, some company would be nice,” Jyn had promised herself that she would get to know more people, branch out beyond the ones she worked with or were from some version of her world. It wasn’t always easy but she thought she might be managing pretty well. “I don't mind if I do.” Marcus sat down, angling himself automatically with a view of the room. It had been quite a crowded month, and even the immediate dangers were past, he wouldn't be surprised to see another crisis rear its head any moment. “I hardly ever saw snow before I left the colony,” he said. “Or much after.” Mount Weather had been the exception. “You?” He knew from their conversations that Jyn’s experience had been, in some ways, similar to his own. “The last labor camp I was in before I was rescued was very snowy. That was about the only time in my life that I’d seen much snow. We moved around a lot when I was young,” she said. The planet where Krennic had eventually found them and killed her mother had been the place she’d stayed at the longest. Even then she’d known they wouldn’t be there forever. They’d be going somewhere else, they always did. “I think this is probably the longest I’ve ever been anywhere without either being in prison or being on the run. I like it.” “Ariana III was volcanic. Most of the planets where Quantium 40 can be found aren’t very hospitable, so we lived in domes or orbiting colonies. Manufacturing snow would have been a waste of resources. There was some out near the poles, but we were discouraged from going there.” He and William had attempted an expedition once as children, but their parents had put a stop to that. Marcus glanced around, taking in not only the coffee shop but the city outside the windows. “For the centerpiece of a war, it’s almost idyllic. I don't usually trust idyllic,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “But it reminds me of the place I was trained as a Ranger.” In many ways, Atlantis was nothing like Tuzanor. It had a more playful atmosphere than the solemnity of the City of Sorrows, but the ancient spires amid the modern shops such as this one, and the devotion to a common cause were familiar. “It’s worth saving.” Innocence was precious enough to deserve preservation. Jyn nodded. “It is. This place isn’t like anywhere I have ever been. Even with all the strange things that happen sometimes, I don’t mind it. I’m grateful for the chance to live and creativity is certainly worth saving, I’m more than happy to help.” Sometimes she found it ironic that the place she died had been so beautiful. She had never been to Scarif until that day and even though the Empire had built over nearly every square inch of it, she could still see its beauty. “At first I didn’t entirely trust it either. The first time I went on a mission I was convinced that I wouldn’t come back, that it was some way of weeding people out and I was surprised that it turned out to be exactly what they said it was. It was hard for me to get to know people, I’d spent so much time on the run but then my friend arrived, Cassian, he’s one of the field commanders. We actually died together which sounds strange to say but it’s true. He’s more outgoing than I am and he encouraged me to put myself out there and I’m glad he did. I’m happy here now and like most things, it’s not perfect, but it’s good to be here.” “You might have been more cynical than me,” said Marcus. “I’ve been cannon fodder before. I suspected it to be similar, but like you I found people I knew here.” He wasn't close to the other former residents of Mount Weather and Tumbleweed, but they’d fought together. He trusted their judgment. “I applaud your decision!” he said brightly. “There’s something about the point of death that makes one value life. Seize the moment, I say.” It was, perhaps, hypocritical of Marcus to say. Delenn had told him long ago that he needed to move on from the destruction of Arisia III, but attempts to practice what he preached had only led him to that point of death. Twice, in fact, although he’d still trade his life for Susan’s or for Laura's, given it to do over. “I’m more cynical that most people,” Jyn said with a wry grin. “I’m not entirely sure my friend quite knew what to do with me sometimes but he did teach me that hope is important and I’ve tried to remember that.” Cassian had told her that rebellions were built on hope and he was right but she’d come to see that most things in life were built on hope. “I will say that I’m a much more pleasant person than I used to be and I am very grateful to be here.” “Faith manages,” Marcus murmured. He could hear Delenn’s voice. “My friend would have agreed with your friend, I think.” He smiled. “And I agree with you. It’s good to be here.” |