( CLOSED ) bill nye saves the world, but he can't save the people on this spaceship, can he?

[fujita]

WHO • lucas (scarecrowed) & dorothy (fujita)
WHERE • one of the crew quarters on floor 2
WHEN • day 4
WHAT • lucas is cold, but he has toto. what about dorothy?
WARNINGS • gross feelings? cuddling huddling for warmth

[ it's cold. it's really, really cold on this spaceship and somehow, that just drives home the reality that she's in a big piece of metal hurtling through space right now, which is not a great thought. it's not, but dorothy has some practice not letting herself linger on all the things that are not great in her life, so she tries to blend it out. she's found some blankets, at least, and so far she's always managed to fall asleep sooner or later (it's hard to tell time in space, so she's been following her watch, maintaining some kind of rhythm), huddled under those blankets.

she's almost managed today, too, when there's a knock at her door. she doesn't really want to get up; doing so will mean letting out what little body heat she's managed to keep under the blankets and besides, she's tired and so close to just drifting off —

but it could be important.

she stands, keeping one blanket around herself like a cape, and opens the door only to find lucas (roan) standing in front of it.

Comments

[scarecrowed]

[ Dorothy had told him she didn't want him to stay away from her exactly, but when it comes to time to sleep on the ship, they do so in separate quarters. No more sleeping next to each other anymore which is understandable after what Lucas did (will do?). Sleeping beside Dorothy is all he knows since she rescued him so to suddenly switch to sleeping alone is a hard adjustment. He has Toto to keep him company but he doesn't cuddle with the dog like Dorothy and Sylvie did, so he might as well be alone (it's his own fault, he could cuddle with Toto, but he won't, probably because he reminds him too much of the woman who brought the dog into his life, and thinking about Dorothy hurts lately).

By Lucas' logic, if he feels cold tonight, Dorothy must be freezing. The dog should be with her, helping to keep her warm, not him. So he makes his way to Dorothy's quarters, Toto alongside him, and hopes he hasn't woken her upon knocking.

His inkling was right; she's shaking, but then maybe it's seeing him - fearing him - that has caused her to shake, and he looks devastated at the thought. ]

The dog should stay with you. [ Frankly he doesn't know why Toto has stuck by him anyway. Maybe he pities Lucas, which is all the more reason for him to pass Toto off to Dorothy. He doesn't need a dog's pity. ] He'll keep you warm, protect you...

[ Do all the things Lucas wants to do. ]

[fujita]

[ it's cold with only one blanket around her, but it was cold with more blankets, too. toto's body heat will help that and the dog shouldn't be cold, either — but neither should lucas and right now, exhausted and on the brink of sleep, dorothy can't stand how downtrodden he looks. this isn't the kind of problem she can fix with medicine, by applying a bandage or administering some pills.

it's still something she can fix, and yet she hesitates. ]

Thanks. [ she mumbles, crouching down to hug toto to her chest. the dog licks her cheek and dorothy can't help but smile. she also can't help but remember nights curled up next to lucas, under the leather of his coat, their legs tangling. the night at the farmhouse, too, before it all went to hell. before he chose glinda.

it's all he remembers, and dorothy wants to go back to it so badly. right now, as tired as she is, the million reasons speaking against it (first and foremost that he tried to kill her) don't seem as pressing, as immediate. there's a problem here. she can fix it; they can fix it.

and she wouldn't be so damn cold. ]

Do you - [ she can't look at him. ] want to come in?

[scarecrowed]

[ Lucas smiles a little when she smiles. Technically Toto made her smile but Lucas is the one who brought the dog to her, which means he's kind of responsible for her fleeting moment of happiness.

He looks taken aback by her offer. Of course he wants to come in and he's about to tell her as much when he feels something pull on his leg, dragging him into the room, teeth against his skin-- ]

Ow. [ Toto pulls him into the room by his trouser leg and Lucas lets out an unexpected throaty laugh. ]

[fujita]

[ dorothy doesn't see his smile, which is a pity because no matter what happened between them, there'll always be a part that wants to see him smile. that wants to see him happy. she could have lived with him choosing glinda, maybe, if at least he'd seemed happy with the choice. (if he hadn't tried to kill her, too. she literally couldn't have lived if he'd succeeded.)

she doesn't see his smile, but she hears the laugh and for a moment, she's laughing, too, and all is right with the world. that moment can't laugh, but maybe she can pretend for just a little while. just until she's no longer tired and cold.

it's the same recklessness that made lucas so angry at her for rushing into danger. here's a man who's had his hands around her throat, and dorothy says — ] C'mon then. [ nodding to the bed. ]

[scarecrowed]

[ It only lasts a second but for a moment they're both laughing and smiling and it feels like a blast from the past. If it were the past, it'd be the perfect opportunity for Lucas to pull her in for a kiss, pick her up and carry her to bed...

But the cold forces him back to reality. Toto is already curled up at the foot of the bed, the perfect spot to keep their feet warm, waiting for them. He walks over, sitting on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes, then lies down, slipping under the one of the blankets Dorothy found.

Suddenly this doesn't feel like a good idea, to be sharing a bed with her when they're nothing more than... what? Friends? What was he to her now? A stranger? He's too afraid to ask. ]

[fujita]

[ maybe it isn't a good idea. maybe it's a terrible one, something she'll regret in the morning — but it wouldn't be the first time that dorothy sneaks from a bed that still has a man inside, leaving it and him behind and trying to go on. so far, she's always managed, and if she's still mending from the wounds that her break with lucas caused the first time, well.

glinda isn't here, is she? only dorothy knows what roan has done and if she can forget it, if she can be warm for one night, why shouldn't she take that chance?

so she gets into the bed next to him, her feet warmed by toto and lucas' bulk by her side, all but radiating heat. she closes her eyes and leans in, head on the pillow but forehead brushing his arm.

it's not the same. it can't be, when she remembers his hands around her throat as much as she remembers the night they made love (because right now, the lights flickering off again, she can admit that's what it was, at least to herself). it's not the same, but it's something. ]

[scarecrowed]

Can I put my arm around you?

[ He couldn't do it without her permission. He can't presume that sharing a bed means it's okay to touch her. He expects he can't ever touch her without asking ever again.

He'd be okay with her rejecting him, but it's worth a try. And it's mostly for her benefit, to keep her warm. Her forehead against his arm feels cold, like she needs more than just his warm presence beside her. ]

You can move it. [ Let her take control, put it where she feels comfortable. ]

[fujita]

[ she's still cold, but not nearly as cold as she was before. dorothy has never really wished for more fat or more muscles, but now she thinks either could have served as insulation of some sort. it isn't so bad now, though. lucas is warm, and so is toto at their feet.

his offer still gives her pause, though. she wants to say yes. she probably shouldn't, but she wants to, and so she hums her assent, ] Hmhm. [ and reaches for his arm, dragging it to rest across her shoulder. it feels less intimate there than her waist and for a moment, she wishes he'd let it drop down there, but — no. this is good enough. this is more than she imagined she'd ever have again with him. ]

[scarecrowed]

[ There are better places Lucas could position his arm to keep her warm but what matters most is what Dorothy feels comfortable with. He's lucky to have gotten this far, lying in the same bed as her, and that's without bringing physical contact into the equation. His arm against her is a very big deal right now, of which he'll cherish every second of it happening.

He's decided he won't sleep tonight, because if he does, it'll be morning too soon and then they'll have to separate. He wants them to stay like this forever, connected somehow.

Maybe she's asleep by now and if so, his question will go unanswered. Or maybe she's on the perfect brink of barely being awake and tiredness that she'll answer Lucas honestly. ]

Are you happy - back in Kansas? [ Without me? ]

[fujita]

[ dorothy hasn't been sleeping well, or much at all. not in kansas and not here, though it's worse here. she'll sleep and she'll be glad for it and maybe, maybe she'll do this again with him, sleeping like this because it actually lets her sleep instead of leaving her to tremble under her blanket.

so she isn't trying to stay awake, but she hasn't drifted off entirely just yet. still, her answer doesn't come immediately. ]

It's strange. [ she says, in the end. it feels right to tell lucas this, to be honest with him. he's the one who knows her best, even if he's only known her for such a short time. even if she might not have really known him at all. ]