InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Taste my justice!"

Maria Barton-Stark (mariahoneycrisp) wrote in spinningcompass,
@ 2021-10-12 18:41:00

Entry tags:

maria barton-stark, miguel o'hara (other)

Who: Maria and Miguel (newer)
Where: One of the parks.
When: Monday the 11th - Afternoon
Status: Closed, ongoing
Warnings: None.

Maria arrived early at the park and actually did look at the leaves as she waited for Miguel. It was easy for her to get wrapped up in working on the station and other projects, without taking the time to enjoy nature. Even now, she was thinking over ways to make the air in this park feel more fresh and crisp. For her, having grown up on the station, this was the outdoors and she liked to feel that way.

Smiling, she reminded herself that she should stop planning and start experiencing it more. She suspected Miguel would appreciate the park too, maybe even more. She doubted he had the experiences she did, with all the doors she'd been through in her life.

Just as she thought of them, her earrings vibrated to let her know there was someone entering the park. Maria turned and gave a wave as she saw him.

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s_man
2021-10-13 10:04 pm UTC (link)

Miguel smiled as he waved back and walked over to where Maria was waiting. Lyla was listening where he couldn't so he knew he couldn't be ambushed by anyone, and his HUD glasses were tucked away in a pocket for the time being. The contact lenses Sarah had made for him were more than enough.

The last time he'd been in one of the parks, he'd been just getting over the 'flu, and Loki had set off a panic attack, so he hadn't stayed very long at all. The time before that had been on the other version of the station, and those parks were pretty much no-go areas. Miguel had never really had time to look at the park, to see what sort of plants there were or to look at the view out into space. He knew what plants his other self had cataloged, but that was nothing compared to actually seeing and touching them.

And yet, he didn't look around. He just headed over to Maria.

"Hi, did you wait for long?" he signed, and then added, "You look lovely."

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-10-15 08:29 pm UTC (link)

A light tinge of pink blushed Maria's cheeks as she blushed. "Thank you." She had put a little bit of extra effort in getting ready, wanting to look nice for him. She appreciated that he noticed. "You look handsome." She thought that no matter what he wore.

"No, not long." Maria answered his original question. It had slipped her mind for a moment. "Just long enough to see that we might be the only ones here." She smiled. She was fine with that. "Shall we follow the path?" She suggested. It would give them a good look through all of the park, and she did prefer having a bit of order over random walking.

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s_man
2021-10-16 11:15 pm UTC (link)

Time was, Miguel would have taken it for granted that he looked handsome. Back when he was Alchemax's hotshot new genetics guy, climbing the corporate ladder in leaps and bounds. But then, he'd had his accident and everything changed, physically and mentally. And then he'd wound up on the other station for ... he had no idea how long, actually, but everything had changed again. And then again, with Higgs. Sure, he could try to slip back into the persona of Hotshot New Genetics Guy, like when he'd tried to be confident around Maryanne, and he could almost act like his other self, but it never stuck any more, not after all that had happened to him. Not that he wanted to put on a persona around Maria. So when she told him he looked handsome, it took a moment for him to process it, realize that she meant it and then respond to her.

"Thank you," he signed, before nodding at her suggestion to follow the path through the park. He glanced up, noting that the 'sky' was slowly cycling from its day into night, and then he finally looked round at the plants. For most biologists, this place would have been great, with the sheer variety of plants. For one who'd only really ever studied plants from holos, models and texts, this place was beyond words. "I have never seen plants like this before. There are so many! Those ones are glowing, can you see?" he signed, and then pointed to the plants in the distance that were starting to give off bioluminescent light. This place was amazing, already, and he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather share this moment with than the person who was already with him. He looked back at Maria, unable to remember the last time he'd been so happy.

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-10-19 10:26 pm UTC (link)

Maria smiled, glad she'd chosen the park. There was something undeniably charming about watching Miguel experience it for possibly the first time. She could swear that he was almost glowing too. "I see them." She signed back, walking towards the glowing plants. "They have a bioluminescence similar to the plants on Pandora." She had to finger spell Pandora, not sure if he'd know the sign for it given that there hadn't been any doors there in his time on the station. "Fortunately, these can live in our air." Covering their faces with oxygen masks would have been a shame.

Maria took a few more steps and stopped, reaching out to touch the petals of a small, gold flower. She then signed "This one's not glowing much now, but when as it gets darker in here, it'll get a little brighter." She paused and gave an amused smile. "When I was a child, I snuck a flower like this into my room and used it to read tech manuals when I supposed to be asleep. Almost like a flashlight."

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s_man
2021-10-24 11:19 pm UTC (link)

Miguel followed after her, his head on a swivel as he looked round at all the plants they were walking past. Lyla buzzed a little against his wrist when Maria started signing again and he was looking at a succulent of some sort, so he looked round quickly to see her explaining about the little flower. He smiled as she confessed to illicit reading times; he'd done much the same when he was a small boy, although obviously not with a glowing plant. "What sort of tech manuals?" he asked, before going on to make his own confession. "I had a tablet that I filled with all sorts of textbooks that I downloaded from the cybernet. It was supposed to just have kid's stories on it and reading books for homework, but I hacked into the settings and removed all the restrictions on it. I was allowed to read a story to my little brother when it was bedtime, and when he was asleep, I was supposed to read the chapters for school but instead I'd read the textbooks."

He reached over to touch the plant after Maria did, being careful to keep his talons folded flat against his fingertips. He didn't want to damage any of the plants.

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-11-02 10:46 pm UTC (link)

"Mostly for space-faring vehicles." Maria signed. "They were easier to get back then." There hadn't been as many conflicts on neighbouring worlds and the family had done more travelling. At least her timeline, where she'd had her whole family. "I thought I would build a starship someday. I read manuals I found on the station too. Sometimes, they'd show up at Christmas as my gifts. I was already thinking of how to make the station better too." She smiled at his story. "We were a real pair of rebels." She teased and added. "Did you teach your brother to hack into the settings when he was old enough?" Family was so important to her.

Maria let him experience the plant for a moment, then signed. "That tree, right there.." She pointed to it as she signed. "When you touch it, you can feel a beat, like a pulse in a person. It's from the sap inside, the way it moves in the tree. It has a pattern to it, a rhythm. It's music to me."

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s_man
2021-11-03 08:11 pm UTC (link)

Miguel nodded as she explained about the manuals, and laughed a little at her calling them rebels. And then she asked about Gabri and he stopped to think. "I don't know if I had to," he admitted, "on purpose, at least. Gabe's always been good with computers, and he watched me a lot when we were kids. He's an artist now, he designs and programmes 3-D landscape holograms for schools. He freelances as well, but the holograms are his main job. Lyla, do you have any of his work saved?"

Lyla manifested off to the side of them both, and suddenly vanished. In her place there was a small diorama, roughly a cubic meter in size, of a Native American settlement, with people going about their daily business in the background. The main characters appeared to be a couple of young women talking to each other and giggling while two young men lead horses past them. All of it looked extremely realistic, despite the fact that it was all colored yellow and slightly see-thru.

"All the characters would be interactive if it was Gabe's actual work, and the people are life-size. The holos are usually designed to fill a classroom, so that the kids can learn things by talking to all the different people," Miguel signed, "but the projectors in my watch are nowhere near as good as the ones that are installed in schools."

Talking about his brother was nowhere near as interesting as a tree with a pulse, though. Miguel waited until Maria was finished explaining and then made his way over to the tree in question. He placed the flat of his hand against the trunk and waited.

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-11-04 08:23 pm UTC (link)

Maria paid careful attention as he talked about his brother, and then took a good look at the diorama, taking in every detail. "Your brother's a very good artist. It looks as if he really wanted the students to know about life in the settlement. Interaction is the best way to learn." She signed "Maybe one day, maybe he'll invent a real life holodeck." She gave a teasing grin, but there was a bit of seriousness. His brother's displays were already life-sized and interactive. That was close.

Maria followed him to the tree and put her hand next to his, able to make out the beat easily through the bark. "You feel it? It's beautiful. There's a lot of unique beauty here." She signed, slower since she was only using her free hand. "The sap is tasty too. Sweet and a bit spicy. I think I like it better than Lacey's maple. Don't tell her that." That might led to a cooking contest, or other competition. She did know the people of the station well, despite not always being social.

"We can even dance to it." Maria gently wrapped her free arm around Miguel and swayed to the beat, with her other hand still on the tree. She watched his face carefully to make sure it was okay with him.

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s_man
2021-11-06 09:33 pm UTC (link)

Maria gently wrapped her free arm around Miguel, and his first instinct was to freeze in place. Only for a brief moment, until the thinking part of his brain caught up with the skittish instant-reaction part of his brain that had been trained to shy away from any touch. "Sorry," he blurted out, speaking without thinking, before he blinked and looked round at her. She seemed happy and relaxed, like she really wanted to be doing what she was doing.

He also wanted her to be doing what she was doing. He could relax. What was happening was a good thing, after all. So he gave Maria a smile, small but genuine and clearly not forced, and hesitantly moved his free arm so that it was round her shoulders. Then he began to move in time with Maria and the beat of the tree, watching her the whole time as well.

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-11-09 10:22 pm UTC (link)

Maria was about to pull away, thinking she had really messed up a potentially good thing, when Miguel smiled. She kept swaying gently with him to the beat and looked down, checking to make sure she wouldn't step on his feet as she moved even closer.

She gently rested her head on his shoulder for a couple of minutes, still moving to the beat. It was a moment of pure trust and closeness, more so than with a hearing person in her opinion. After all, her hands were her voice.

Eventually, she kissed his cheek and slowly moved away. "See? Unique beauty." She signed with a smile, after taking her hand off the tree.

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s_man
2021-11-11 11:50 pm UTC (link)

Miguel turned his head towards her as she let her head rest against his shoulder and could scarcely believe what was happening. It had been a very long time since someone had shown Miguel that amount of trust, and he did his utmost not to ruin the moment. He kept moving in time with Maria, paying far more attention to her than to the (admittedly very cool) tree. Her kiss interrupted a minor internal debate about what he should do next (risk pressing a kiss to her hair or her forehead? let his cheek rest against the top of her head? would that mean his beard would get tangled in her hair? maybe he shouldn't...) and he managed a blink and a rather shaken smile as she stepped back and signed at him again.

He nodded, and replied with "Beautiful," as he continued to look at Maria. Then he deliberatly stepped forward and reached for her hand. He hesitated (as always, it seemed) before carefully taking her hand in his and raising it to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it.

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-11-23 12:48 am UTC (link)

Butterflies. Maria felt an actual sensation of butterflies in her stomach when he kissed her hand, in the best possible way. Excitement was bubbling up inside of her, over such a sweet, romantic and simple gesture. Anyone who knew her would be surprised by it. She wasn't the type to get infatuated so easily.

Maria could feel herself blush and returned Miguel's smile. "So beautiful." She signed with her free hand, hoping she didn't come across too ditzy. Beautiful was simply the best word for the moment. She leaned in close and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips this time.

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s_man
2021-11-23 11:02 pm UTC (link)

Her kiss was gentle and brief. Too brief, Miguel thought, and when they separated, he took enough time to catch a breath before chasing after another kiss. No hesitating this time, since they both clearly wanted the same thing and Maria had already shown him just how much she trusted him.

His first kiss was just as gentle as hers had been, and almost as brief. Just long enough for him to let go of Maria's hand and bring both of his own up to rest on her shoulders. His hold on her was light, easy to pull free from if she wanted, and he wouldn't catch her hands in case she wanted to say something. And then he was kissing her again, more insistent this time, wanting it to last longer so he could continue to feel this happy for as long as possible.

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mariahoneycrisp
2021-11-29 09:14 pm UTC (link)

Maria smiled as his hands touched her shoulders. As he kissed her again, she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close. She let her eyes slip shut only for a moment, then they were open again as she found herself wanting to look into his eyes. They were dark and mysterious, a little less mysterious now. Still very handsome.

She lowered one of her hands, letting it glide down his back, feeling the muscles through the fabric of his shirt. She felt more butterflies in her stomach, but she wasn't about to complain.

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s_man
2021-12-04 10:58 pm UTC (link)

Miguel moved in as close as he could get when Maria's arms wrapped round his waist, the feeling of simply being held almost as amazing as their kiss, and his eyes slid shut as the kiss deepened. He was unaware of Maria's eyes on him for a short while, only opening his eyes again as he felt her hand slide down his back.

He couldn't help but smile against her lips after that, and then when they broke apart so they could both catch a breath again, his smile became a grin so wide his fangs were clearly visible. He leaned his forehead against hers and kept eye contact as he brought a hand up to rest against her cheek.

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