Miguel Silvera (timetorun) wrote in warrantlogs, @ 2016-01-08 19:29:00 |
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Gemma didn't last long at the party. She always had trouble excusing herself from social situations, nervous it would come off as rude, so she waited as long as she could handle it. This was the first time she was at a RAC Christmas party alone. She went before as Rachelle's date. Those were bright memories, full of dancing to bad jingles, drinking spiked punch, and laughing their way back to the tiny apartment they shared when The Cherry Bomb was docked. She tried her best not to look miserable, and she exchanged a few nice conversations. Most of her attention was on watching others from her position as a wallflower, and those details were mulling around in her brain when she finally made it back to the Whiskey Sour. She was back earlier than most and set aside some hangover cures for the morning, in case anyone would need it. The best thing about joining the RAC was the constant need people seemed to have for someone to look out for them. Yes she complained and told them to stop getting hurt, but then she hummed cheerfully while doing sutures and applying bandages. Gemma dressed up a little for the party, but now she was more herself, with sweatpants, a clean face, and dark braids. She finished her nightly check at the med lab and she was on her way back when she saw someone leaving Jaime's room. It was right by hers, so it was difficult to miss, and she was absolutely positive his was empty. "Hey," she said as she walked up, recognizing the body without needing to see the face. She was a medic. She knew all of their bodies well. "Candy cane?" Gemma took a few, and she cautiously offered it. Like someone might offer a chew toy to an aggressive dog. A very apt description of Liam at that very moment; he was all coiled rage, shoved down into a small box that struggled to contain it. Two were taken, one snapped in half as Liam slid down onto the floor, legs spread out in front of him. "Yeah, thanks." One of the broken ends held like a cigarette between his lips. "Why are you here?" Dark eyes studied him, concern radiating from her like heat from a furnace. Gemma's heart was ensnared by specific people, whether they were in her life or not. She unwrapped the bottom of the one in her hand and sat across from him. Her legs were crossed and hooked up underneath her, even now having an instinct to take up less space, to be not in the way. "Because I managed to feel completely alone in a room full of people, so I figured, might as well actually be alone." That was flat truth when she would ordinarily shrug it off, but that was because of her next gentle push. Giving sometimes meant getting. "Want to talk about where the cold shoulder came from?" She meant from Jaime. It was blatant to anyone watching. The second piece of the candy cane was thrown in Gemma's direction(but not at her, Liam wouldn't do that to Gemma, he liked her). Nothing else at hand he could throw except a punch and frankly the poor ship wall hadn't done anything to him; not to mention that any dents might upset the captain. "He's probably upset about what I did on the bounty. Not that I care." Punctuated that last sentence with his unbearable petulance. "I'm a killjoy, it's my job." Okay, so stabbing them with an ice pick he'd picked up from the freezer had been a bit of an overkill. But someone had to deal with the lackeys while Kira got the main target. Gemma didn't flinch when he threw it, because she didn't believe for a second he was throwing it at her. Instead she mournfully watched part of a good candy cane go to waste, but she did offer it to him knowing it might end up smushed. She thought about what he said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Violence can be unsettling for some people. It's your job, you're good at it, and you like doing it, but it's not for everyone, otherwise we'd be surrounded by killjoys." Her own opinion on the matter was neutral. Violence didn't come naturally for her, but it certainly did for her wife, who wanted desperately to be a killjoy. "Did he tell you he was upset about that?" She twirled her candy cane in her hand, looking just to the right of him since extended eye contact was not very comfortable for her. "Maybe he wants you to care." Liam's sharp laughter was - in his mind - a suitable answer for those questions, and if it had been anyone but Gemma, he would have bitten out a nasty reply. He didn't care if Jaime ignored him, it just annoyed him. "If didn't notice, the asswipe is not saying a word to me. So he could be mad about anything or nothing, probably too busy getting laid right now." He stared at Gemma for a beat or two longer and then withdrew, staring at his shoes. "Whatever, I fucking hate holidays anyway." "I did notice. It was pretty blatant." Gemma waited a beat and then scooted across the hall to sit next to him instead of across. She bumped one of his shoes with her bare foot, but otherwise didn't touch him. "So do I. Did your family celebrate them? Mine never did. She loved Christmas." Gemma didn't often use her wife's name anymore, like the name weighed so heavily on her tongue that she'd rather not casually fling it out into space. Their wedding band was still on her, but she rarely looked at it. "I feel like we need alcohol." Or something that didn't lead to him getting into a bar fight or any kind of a fight. Because then they'd just be doing this again, only in the med lab. Liam gave a long suffering sigh, "When do we not need alcohol?" He chewed the candy cane, audible crunch sounds and mouth half opened. No manners at all. "I got some in my room and Jim isn't here, so." Clearly his room was the best place for a drinking marathon. "Good, because I have zero, and I was looking to bum it off you." Gemma pushed to her feet, glad for it considering the hallway wasn't the most comfortable place. She reached down to tug at his shirt sleeve, like the annoying sister she wasn't. "Come on, grumpy." ------ Gemma wasn't much of a drinker and that was fairly obvious considering it only took a few shots for her to start getting fuzzy. More than that and she was looped. She was in that nice in-between place at the moment, running fingers through her hair and sighing. "Did you two always have so much sexual tension or is that a new thing? I'm usually good about picking up on vibes. Ish." Yeup, she had enough to drink to ask him the real questions. Issues that Liam didn't want anyone asking him. Ever. He pressed the rim of the glass against his lips. "Eh, it's not new." Evidently someone else had had enough to drink, answers came unbidden to his mind and found their way out through his mouth. This was a fucking disaster because upon realising that he had actually spoken, a scowl settled. "Does it matter? He is like an expert at the walk of shame by now." "It matters when you come out of his room looking like that," she gestured toward his face, which was looking pretty similar to how it'd been before. Gemma had been sitting on Jim's bed, careful not to muss it, and she got up to pour herself more booze. Just what she needed. She was not very physically comfortable with people, but there were a few exceptions. With Liam, it didn't bother her to touch his hair. A light pat of fingers. "Let me tell you something, okay?" Maybe Gemma was more drunk than she thought, but oh well. "Life is really short. You've killed people, you know how quick it goes for them, but for us? It goes that quickly too." She knew that better than most. "So personally I'm like …." She sipped her drink and shrugged loosely. "You should hit that. Again, I mean, since it isn't new." She paused. "If he was sleeping with you, would it be a walk of shame, cause it's like … twenty feet away." "I've never shagged Jaime." A frown, as if the realization of that fact made the whole issue with Jaime seem stupider. They were not involved. They were not anything. Nothing. Zero. Nada. (Those thoughts actually stung more, relighting the frustration). "It would be a walk of extra shame." Liam waved his free hand to gesticulate just how big, lost his balance and slid on his side. Jim's bed was currently taken over, and Liam didn't even think of trying to keep it neat. Whatever. It was just a bed. "I mean can you imagine, plus poor Jim. He doesn't deserve that, seeing Jaime naked or something." "Maybe that's the problem. The tension is because you haven't done anything." Gemma wasn't about to smush their faces together and say kiss, but she also didn't want to see that look on Liam's face more. She loved Jaime. They had history too. She knew how he was. She was also a big dumb romantic. She saw him slide on the side and snickered. She hadn't gotten drunk like this in awhile. At least it wasn't the numb kind of drunk. It was the funny kind. "Ehhhh. I'm not attracted to men, so I would rather not have naked men in my bunk, but I don't know if Jim's into them. He could be like Liam and Jaime naked, yay." It's not like everyone sat around discussing their orientations. Or if they did, she wasn't in on it. "Knowing you're a killjoy and seeing you do something violent, those are two different things." Gemma wasn't afraid of violence and blood, which was a good thing for a medic, but she sympathized with people who was. "He cares about you though, pretty obvious, otherwise he wouldn't be acting this way." People were so dumb when it came to feelings. She remembered all of her stupid actions for those actions, before Rachelle just kissed her and shut them all out. It was there briefly, a flicker that poked from behind: raw, bleeding and dangerous(not to Gemma, Liam would never hurt her). "I sometimes want to be done with him." A hand covered his left eye briefly, the action tucking away that palpitating ache. "But," he lifted his head slightly to knock back the rest of his drink, "here you are playing matchmaker, one day I might do the same to you." He reached over. Fingers running over the wedding band and taking her hand. Gemma smiled when he did that, a smile that was both painful and tender. She couldn't imagine her hand without the ring on it. "But, only when you're ready." A crooked smile and he released her, slumping down again. She finished her drink and set it to the side. Gemma crawled next to him and settled down. "I know you're going to hate when I say this, so I promise I won't tell anyone, but you are so sweet sometimes." Gemma leaned down to kiss him on his brow, right over his left eye. "I love you, jerkface." If there was one good thing about joining the RAC, it was being with them again. |