InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I am your god!"

Lady Mary Crawley (ladycontrary) wrote in toboldlyrpg,
@ 2017-06-16 19:58:00

Entry tags:

! enterprise, ^ log, leia organa | star wars, mary crawley | downton abbey

WHO: Mary Crawley & Leia Organa
WHEN: 226406.15 Thursday
WHERE: Observation Deck
SUMMARY: Mary and Leia have a chat about life
WARNINGS: Possible sex talk

Mary was slowly adjusting to being back on board the ship after spending time on land. She hadn't spoken to Jim since their conversation about not pursuing a relationship, and that was just as well with her. Her feelings had mellowed a bit in the past few weeks, but she still kept mostly to herself, performing her duties on the ship and then going back to her room. She had at least cut down her visits to the Downton simulation in the holodeck. Pike was right in that it wasn't good for her.

Today, she was sitting in the observation deck at a small table with a pot of tea. Sometimes she just liked to look out at the stars. On the ship, it was the closest to being 'outside' that she could be. Mary heard someone moving behind her and looked up to find Leia standing a few feet away from her.

"Hello, General."

(Post a new comment)

mirrorbright
2017-06-17 12:16 am UTC (link)

Leia turned and smiled at the young woman. "Hello, Mary," she said. She was leaning against the railing. When she was tired of being in her quarters, she enjoyed spending time here, watching the stars. "How are you doing?" she asked. She hadn't seen the other woman around much lately, not since they'd spent some time speaking together back at Admiral Pike's ranch on Earth.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	ladycontrary 2017-06-17 12:23 am UTC (link)
	Mary sighed gently. "Oh, well enough," she replied. Better than before, at least. She wasn't as miserable or as disagreeable. "How about you? Would you like some tea?" There was an extra cup sitting rim down on the tray next to the tea pot. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mirrorbright
2017-06-19 08:26 pm UTC (link)

Leia considered the invitation for a moment before nodding and taking a seat beside her. "Thank you," she said. She didn't keep much company on this ship, outside of family and Admiral Pike. For someone who had spent years around many others, even though those beings she had spent so much time with tended to be subordinates. "Adjusting to being back on the ship after that leave?" she asked.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladycontrary
2017-06-20 12:06 am UTC (link)

Honestly, Mary didn't keep much company either. She never had. At Downton, it was mostly her family and whatever beau was trying to court her. Never girlfriends. While she could be very social at parties and the like, Mary found herself alone more often than not.

She sighed as she poured some tea for Leia. "As well as I can, I suppose," she replied. "I had lived my whole life on that planet before coming here."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mirrorbright 2017-06-23 12:11 am UTC (link)
	Leia nodded. She didn't know many people who had spent their entire lives on one planet, though she knew they existed. Her brother, for one, might have done so had he never left Tatooine. "Earth, right? It was nice. There were some parts that reminded me of Alderaan, my home. I liked the chance to be there for a while." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladycontrary
2017-06-23 12:43 am UTC (link)

"Yes," she said with a nod. "I had never been to that part of it either. It's a very big planet."

Mary stared at her tea for a moment and sighed. "I realize that we do not know each other terribly well, but I was wondering if I might ask you a personal question based on something you told me previously."

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to ask, but Mary would appreciate advice from an older woman.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mirrorbright
2017-06-26 01:41 am UTC (link)

"There seemed to be many other places we didn't get to visit," Leia agreed. She had studied what she could have of Earth, and she knew what they were able to see was such a small part of it.

Leia looked to Mary in surprise and, perhaps, a little trepidation. But she nodded. "Of course, you're welcome to ask me anything. I can't promise any answers, but we'll see."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ladycontrary 2017-06-26 01:47 am UTC (link)
	Mary wouldn't really be surprised if she didn't want to talk about this, although she had been quite open before. She would understand if Leia didn't want to answer. "How do you... have casual sex with a man and not develop some sort of an attachment?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mirrorbright
2017-06-28 01:10 am UTC (link)

Leia arched an eyebrow. While she was used to hearing her troops talk about sex so casually back at the base, it wasn't usually directed at her. Not that she had any issue with it. Sure, thirty years ago she might have blushed and stammered a little bit, but not anymore. "I imagine it's different for everyone," she said. "For me, I learned how to turn off my emotions years ago. It doesn't work that way for other people."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladycontrary
2017-06-28 01:24 am UTC (link)

Mary laughed slightly. "Oddly enough, my emotions were off when I was younger, before I got married. Then I met my husband and I realized that I was not made of complete stone. He made me vulnerable. Since then... I think I have looked for a man to make me feel how he did, and not just physically."

Maybe that was silly. She would never replace Matthew, and she highly doubted that she would find his replacement on this ship. Men here weren't like men at home.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mirrorbright
2017-07-06 12:10 am UTC (link)

Leia nodded, understanding what Mary meant. She had found something strong, immediate, and emotional with Han, something that she knew would never be replicated. It wasn't even replicated with Han. "I've found that there's a time for emotional attachment and a time for physical attachment. I can't say that I will always be able to turn off an emotional attachment, but I suppose I've spend enough years doing so that I know how to pull back when I'm getting too close."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ladycontrary
2017-07-06 12:34 am UTC (link)

"Do you always want to pull back when you're getting too close?" she asked.

Mary stared out the window for a moment. "Perhaps I am simply a product of my time. I know women in my time had casual sex, though I technically never did. The last man I slept with at home was courting me, even if we did not end up getting married. Here I tried to have something casual but I found that it did not work... I felt that I wanted something a bit more."

And her choice of partner in that particular instance had not been the best. Mary never really expected the devil to be a loving and faithful partner, but the experience had solidified that she did want more of a tenderness to her liaisons.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mirrorbright
2017-07-09 10:24 pm UTC (link)

Leia didn't admit that this wasn't a usual situation that she found herself in. She hadn't pulled back with Han, all those years ago, and look where that got her. With Kes, it had been different. That was loneliness and passion without the emotion attached to it. Here with Chris it was something else entirely, something she wasn't sure she needed to (or, more, wanted to) define.

"I think maybe we're wired to always want more and get close," Leia said casually. "I grew up expecting to make a political marriage," she admitted. "I'd marry someone from one of the other royal houses or even a off-world prince, if that's what was needed at the time. In the end, after Alderaan was destroyed, as we settled in to rebuilding the government of the galaxy, it probably should have been even more important, but I chose love." She shrugged. "It didn't work out," she said, "and here I don't have to make any choice, either way. I can simply enjoy what I have and what I can have." Leia looked at her. "Maybe it's because I've spent my entire life working for other people and being who it was expected that I'd be that here, even with sex, I can just be me and do what I want."

(Reply to this) (Parent)