out of measure, in sync
Jan. 25th, 2019 09:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paradoxicalrenegadeokay so here's the thing... a couple years ago i started talking about some alien characters of mine on tumblr, and a couple of folks got pretty attached to them and then i got pretty attached to them. and then i got writer's block and graduated college and started playing games more often than not so i set that project aside.
and then dora decided to make a character that was basically an expy of an older noble character they'd been playing in an rp group we were both in and i was like hey... what if i made our favorite silly crack pairing canon by pairing your stuffy noble with my space pirate captain?
and the rest is history.
this is canon for that story but it's not going to be IN the story proper. it's just sort of a teaser for what's to come, since i'm going to write the main story... eventually. florence/jethro and the first conversation they get to have in private after florence comes onboard the altair.
Being on the Altair was... chaos, to say the least. Even in the days when Victoria had been in command of the fleet things were done in orderly fashions, with regiments and schedules and all sorts of other things. Jethro's crew was... nothing like orderly.
Florence found themself tripping over weapon parts nearly every other day, because she'd holed up in an airlock to clean her weapons. They passed the cockpit and found Elila in conversation with seemingly no one, laughing at jokes only she could hear. Winona always stared with her huge eyes, even once Florence had passed her by. And Percy... well. Percy was half human. That was only the tip of the iceberg of weirdness that was Percy.
Varira was nice enough. And besides, Florence wasn't here to take charge of this fleet. Nor were they here to be a part of this fleet. This was a favor. Just a ride to Leminn Prime. Nothing more.
Even if... if Jethro was here.
It had been so long since last they'd seen each other Florence hadn't expected Jethro to remember them, let alone remember the last time they'd left each other. And Jethro hadn't said anything, but there was a recognition in their eyes that shook Florence like nothing had shaken them before.
It was late one night while Florence tried and failed to work on their knotwork in the common room that they heard stumping on the staircase and a sharp intake of breath. "Oh," Jethro said, and their usually jovial voice was quiet. Florence set down their shaking hands to meet their eyes. "I can leave if y'wanna be alone."
"No. No, it's alright." Florence drew their work close to their body. "Please."
Jethro moved further into the room and settled into the seat across from them. Florence looked back down at their work, but they couldn't concentrate on it for very long, too aware of Jethro's presence at their side.
When they looked up, it was to find Jethro studying them with such intensity in their eyes that Florence thought they might drown in them. "Have I said yet," Jethro said quietly, "that I'm glad you're a'right?"
So they did remember. Florence set down their knotwork, knowing they would not be picking it up again. "I would have thought it didn't matter to you," they said, regetting their stiffness but unable to hide it, "whether I lived or died."
"I ran away to become a pirate captain," Jethro said. "That doesn't mean I forgot that I was your bodyguard. Nor does it mean I stopped caring about your wellbein'."
"It didn't seem that way to me."
Jethro sighed and leaned back in their seat. "You've not changed a bit, Florence."
"You have." Florence says, and they hate to admit it but it's for the better. "You've got a much larger life than you ever had merely being my bodyguard." Awkwardly, they add, "I'm glad for it."
Jethro stared at them oddly for a moment, and Florence wondered what was on the front of their mind that they weren't saying. "Thank you," they said, finally. "You know you're welcome in my private quarters if you ever need a break from the madness of my crew. P'rhaps you can even teach me some of your fancy knotwork."
Florence nodded slowly. "I would not be averse," they replied.
"Good," Jethro said, and stood. "I need sleep soon, but I have somethin' for you before I do."
Mystified, Florence watched Jethro rise and disappear down a side corridor for a moment. They could not fathom what Jethro would have for them, not knowing that they would cross paths again or even that Florence was alive still. They looked down at the knotwork in their lap and wondered what it meant that it looked almost netlike.
"Here," said Jethro, and Florence looked up to see them holding a stack of papers in their hand. Envelopes, Florence realized, and Jethro held them out. "I wrote one every year on your birthnight. Didn't think I'd be able to deliver 'em, but... thing change, h'suppose?"
Florence was frozen, staring at the crinkled pages in Jethro's hands, and then slowly looked up to meet their eyes. They wore a sheepish smile and carefully placed the letters on the table.
"You don't gotta read 'em." They shrugged their stump of an arm. "Just didn't wanna pretend I hadn't writ'em, cause I did."
"I... see..." Florence said, faintly.
Jethro nodded, jerky. "S'all." They took a step back. "G'night, Florence."
"Good night, Jethro." Florence said, and when Jethro had gone they did not move for a very long time.
(The letters went into the drawer of the table by their bedside, and there they would stay. Florence was afraid to read them, and so read them they would not.)
and then dora decided to make a character that was basically an expy of an older noble character they'd been playing in an rp group we were both in and i was like hey... what if i made our favorite silly crack pairing canon by pairing your stuffy noble with my space pirate captain?
and the rest is history.
this is canon for that story but it's not going to be IN the story proper. it's just sort of a teaser for what's to come, since i'm going to write the main story... eventually. florence/jethro and the first conversation they get to have in private after florence comes onboard the altair.
Being on the Altair was... chaos, to say the least. Even in the days when Victoria had been in command of the fleet things were done in orderly fashions, with regiments and schedules and all sorts of other things. Jethro's crew was... nothing like orderly.
Florence found themself tripping over weapon parts nearly every other day, because she'd holed up in an airlock to clean her weapons. They passed the cockpit and found Elila in conversation with seemingly no one, laughing at jokes only she could hear. Winona always stared with her huge eyes, even once Florence had passed her by. And Percy... well. Percy was half human. That was only the tip of the iceberg of weirdness that was Percy.
Varira was nice enough. And besides, Florence wasn't here to take charge of this fleet. Nor were they here to be a part of this fleet. This was a favor. Just a ride to Leminn Prime. Nothing more.
Even if... if Jethro was here.
It had been so long since last they'd seen each other Florence hadn't expected Jethro to remember them, let alone remember the last time they'd left each other. And Jethro hadn't said anything, but there was a recognition in their eyes that shook Florence like nothing had shaken them before.
It was late one night while Florence tried and failed to work on their knotwork in the common room that they heard stumping on the staircase and a sharp intake of breath. "Oh," Jethro said, and their usually jovial voice was quiet. Florence set down their shaking hands to meet their eyes. "I can leave if y'wanna be alone."
"No. No, it's alright." Florence drew their work close to their body. "Please."
Jethro moved further into the room and settled into the seat across from them. Florence looked back down at their work, but they couldn't concentrate on it for very long, too aware of Jethro's presence at their side.
When they looked up, it was to find Jethro studying them with such intensity in their eyes that Florence thought they might drown in them. "Have I said yet," Jethro said quietly, "that I'm glad you're a'right?"
So they did remember. Florence set down their knotwork, knowing they would not be picking it up again. "I would have thought it didn't matter to you," they said, regetting their stiffness but unable to hide it, "whether I lived or died."
"I ran away to become a pirate captain," Jethro said. "That doesn't mean I forgot that I was your bodyguard. Nor does it mean I stopped caring about your wellbein'."
"It didn't seem that way to me."
Jethro sighed and leaned back in their seat. "You've not changed a bit, Florence."
"You have." Florence says, and they hate to admit it but it's for the better. "You've got a much larger life than you ever had merely being my bodyguard." Awkwardly, they add, "I'm glad for it."
Jethro stared at them oddly for a moment, and Florence wondered what was on the front of their mind that they weren't saying. "Thank you," they said, finally. "You know you're welcome in my private quarters if you ever need a break from the madness of my crew. P'rhaps you can even teach me some of your fancy knotwork."
Florence nodded slowly. "I would not be averse," they replied.
"Good," Jethro said, and stood. "I need sleep soon, but I have somethin' for you before I do."
Mystified, Florence watched Jethro rise and disappear down a side corridor for a moment. They could not fathom what Jethro would have for them, not knowing that they would cross paths again or even that Florence was alive still. They looked down at the knotwork in their lap and wondered what it meant that it looked almost netlike.
"Here," said Jethro, and Florence looked up to see them holding a stack of papers in their hand. Envelopes, Florence realized, and Jethro held them out. "I wrote one every year on your birthnight. Didn't think I'd be able to deliver 'em, but... thing change, h'suppose?"
Florence was frozen, staring at the crinkled pages in Jethro's hands, and then slowly looked up to meet their eyes. They wore a sheepish smile and carefully placed the letters on the table.
"You don't gotta read 'em." They shrugged their stump of an arm. "Just didn't wanna pretend I hadn't writ'em, cause I did."
"I... see..." Florence said, faintly.
Jethro nodded, jerky. "S'all." They took a step back. "G'night, Florence."
"Good night, Jethro." Florence said, and when Jethro had gone they did not move for a very long time.
(The letters went into the drawer of the table by their bedside, and there they would stay. Florence was afraid to read them, and so read them they would not.)
