( sometimes felix catches sparse, fleeting glances of the kid he used to know, years ago. never one to bitch about the sun or the heat even as felix withered away beside him because almost 18 years with tribute's mild climate spoiled him. he's used to the heat now. used to the cold now, too. nothing will ever feel quite as painfully rigid as the exact moment before the brain submits to cryo, or the first few seconds while waking, body flushed with epinephrine to jump-start the heart. the kind of cold you can feel in your bones, that lingers. corpse-cold.
he lifts his coffee to his mouth, blowing lightly over the surface. )
Nah.
( just a pitstop. felix needed to decompress, find his bearings. drink and fuck himself stupid. chorus isn't so far away that they're both not still feeling the emotional resonance of its consequences. locus is still out there. the freelancers are still out there. ephemera eats, and felix watches him from over the rim of his paper cup.
he almost blew him out a fucking airlock. wouldn't have even known until later, when checking the records. a moment to reconcile it, to compartmentalize it, and then he'd have been collateral damage with everything else he's torn to shreds following his fall from grace. another body. another consequence. another reason to drink.
ugly way to meet after years apart. it doesn't phase him anymore. the universe is full of horrors; he's just one of them.
he lowers his lashes and stares at the sunlight reflected in the shimmering surface of his coffee. )
Got us a job, next system over. ( something easy, not complicated. shit to keep them busy, to keep ephemera busy without overloading him. back to basics. ) Tiny little planet glassed back when the Outer Colonies were getting royally fucked, around 2530ish. It's being mined for silicates now, owned by some fucked up corporate family, but they're having a little trouble with another corporation encroaching on their territory. Rat problem, I guess.
no subject
he lifts his coffee to his mouth, blowing lightly over the surface. )
Nah.
( just a pitstop. felix needed to decompress, find his bearings. drink and fuck himself stupid. chorus isn't so far away that they're both not still feeling the emotional resonance of its consequences. locus is still out there. the freelancers are still out there. ephemera eats, and felix watches him from over the rim of his paper cup.
he almost blew him out a fucking airlock. wouldn't have even known until later, when checking the records. a moment to reconcile it, to compartmentalize it, and then he'd have been collateral damage with everything else he's torn to shreds following his fall from grace. another body. another consequence. another reason to drink.
ugly way to meet after years apart. it doesn't phase him anymore. the universe is full of horrors; he's just one of them.
he lowers his lashes and stares at the sunlight reflected in the shimmering surface of his coffee. )
Got us a job, next system over. ( something easy, not complicated. shit to keep them busy, to keep ephemera busy without overloading him. back to basics. ) Tiny little planet glassed back when the Outer Colonies were getting royally fucked, around 2530ish. It's being mined for silicates now, owned by some fucked up corporate family, but they're having a little trouble with another corporation encroaching on their territory. Rat problem, I guess.