cptnpike

[cptnpike]

CHRISTOPHER PIKE An Obol for Charon

#˗ˏˋ ― his very skin was of another weave. ， appearance. ´ˎ˗ #he just hits different

[cptnpike]

❛⠀⠀⠀believe it or not, number one, but sometimes people are only willing to share things in private, ⠀ ⠀ ❜ ⠀ ⠀ he says, words pointed but brief. leave her to chew on that when he is trying to wrangle out a diplomatic deal with a stubborn species who is barely willing to meet with starfleet. sometimes, you need to make concessions to get what you want. it is the art of deal-making, and even of friendship.

like, right now, he refrains from reacting at her petulance. moves on with only a slight sideways glance back at his first officer, making a mental note to ask for a detailed analysis of his communicator from spock before he leaves for his next away-mission, the bright look in her eyes leaving him with a funny feeling.

❛⠀⠀⠀try not to change everything while i’m gone. ⠀ ⠀ ❜ ⠀ ⠀ a moment later, he disappears in a flurry of gold, chief jay's timing perfect as always.

she presses her lips tightly together to resist the sigh pressing down upon her chest. inevitable, that he would not take her conditions as she offered them. ❛ captain, ❜ she protests, though it is nearly his name she speaks instead, diverted with a forcible reminder that, while she may be as exasperated at her friend as at her captain, in this moment he is her commanding officer. ❛ what need could you possibly have for a closed door meeting. ❜ at least, not one that couldn't be witnessed by two security officers.

with a stubbornness that edges towards petulance, she adds under her breath, ❛ and no one would need to know your communicator was active. ❜ for that matter, una could almost certainly rig the device to remain active even when closed... the thought is an intriguing one, and though she followed him through the door, stepping up beside him once more in the corridor beyond, she gives him a considering look.

if she had more time, she could almost certainly do so without his knowledge... unfortunate, that she had no means to beat him to the transporter room and adjust the equipment.

next time.

#an end to a thread??? #who are we #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #owedfavors

[cptnpike]

it is exactly the wrong time for her to be a smart ass — which is why he laughs.

nothing was the same. her hand might be in his right now, closer than they usually allow themselves to be, but there is a galaxy of confusion and secrets standing between them. but this terrible joke, the fact she couldn't help but correct him when he was already furious with her, made him soften and shake his head, grip tightening around her hand.

❛⠀⠀ are you sure? because i'm pretty sure the astrophysics professor back at the academy called me that once,⠀ ⠀ ❜⠀⠀ ⠀ he volleys back, head tilting to the side as if in thought. if the professor called him that or not was immaterial. she was never going to accept an expert's opinion that wasn't hers, the only reason he says anything at all is to tease her, see if even here he can get that specific furrow between her brows he became so fond of during their discussions.

because if they can't agree on anything, if the world demands a sacrifice out of him — if she does, he refuses to comply, the gentleness of his character wholly independent of his stubborn streak. if there was a will, there was a way, and christopher pike was born with enough will to carry the two of them out of this blasted, cruel ending.

he was already haunted with enough unforeseen destinies.

❛⠀⠀and just so we are on the same page: i don't care.⠀ ⠀ ❜⠀

❛ I suppose that now is the wrong time for me to point out that unstoppable forces and immovable objects are both mathematical impossibilities. ❜ to say nothing of mutually exclusive. it's easier to utter the joke, however half-hearted, however her voice nearly breaks on it, her wry smile feeble, than it is to face reality, than it is to contend with the prickling in her eyes that heralds tears that she will not permit to fall.

nothing good, she wants to offer by way of a more earnest answer. for such things can only meet in a collision of such force that all the impossible energy they contain must go somewhere, dispersed into the universe to shatter all around it.

but nothing good feels like a lie, because if the answer were nothing good, then they would not be standing here in this predicament. if nothing good were true, they would both have breathed a sigh of relief in that transporter room what feels like another lifetime ago.

she has no answer. if she did, this moment would feel less like an impasse, impossible to move forward from.

❛ but so that we are completely on the same page: I will not be respecting stupid decisions this time if they entail making a fuss with starfleet. ❜

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

wasn't he supposed to be winning this conversation?

christopher can distinctly recall — as if he would ever forget anything she said — una crowning him the victor of this particular dance. shouldn't he be leading them for a change? ❛ ⠀ my ego, ⠀❜ ⠀ he asks, question vibrating with amusement, silent laughter threatening to make its presence known. ⠀❛ ⠀ i think it is your ego, number one. trying to weasel out of doing your job. ⠀❜

❛ but it is fine to bother your first officer with it? is it not his job as much as mine to ensure our captain is fit for command? ❜ she's confident he'll catch the smile others would miss, the one she keeps — barely — from glimmer of preemptive triumph. ❛ but, as I am not sure your ego can endure such an indulgence, captain, it seems to me best for ship and crew that I not repeat myself. ❜

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

“We’re like a threaded needle, never to be separated.”

Lust, Caution (2007) dir. Ang Lee

#˗ˏˋ ― deeply woven into my destiny. ， owedfavors. ´ˎ˗ #thinking about them holding hands in the cafe #and feeling very emo about it

[cptnpike]

❛⠀ ⠀ an excellent question! i'm glad you took the conversation in this direction, i was hoping you would catch where i was going with this.⠀ ⠀❜⠀ ⠀⠀is there an escape hatch near her? she would know. but he can't ask her this time, so he can only pray for a red alert, or for la'an to barge in with a question. where is spock and his badly-timed experiments when he needs him?⠀ ⠀❛⠀ ⠀ because we never know what we really need until we are in the middle of it. how is someone supposed to objectively prepare for every situation? ⠀❜

a hand raises in her direction, crooked smile warmed by the affectionate glint in his eyes. ⠀ ❛⠀ ⠀ and by someone, i don't mean you.⠀ ⠀❜⠀

his phrasing does not buy him the time he desires. ❛ if someone misjudges what they need, how are they wrong by society's judgment and not by objective measures of what they require? ❜ she no longer knows if chris plays with her, words deliberately nonsensical, or if he is as lost as she, or if he truly is as wrong as his words would claim him to be. or perhaps, even after two and a half decades of life amongst human, she simply still cannot understand them.

it does not matter, either, which it is, her voice remaining devoid of judgment, no matter how fervently she attempts to rein the discussion back to something she can grasp.

#do you know how hard i hold to hold myself back from going: LIKE GOLDILOCKS #i cant make him mentioning disney his thing - #it is ridiculous #but she keeps making him do it #also i love how often pike goes: you don't count #like... sir #do you want to think about that a little more #how you always think of una as being someone apart from everyone else #like... do you realize she is an alien subconsciously??? #or is it just because she is una #and she is special to you #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗ #owedfavors

[cptnpike]

❛⠀ oh, you really have never gotten a bad grade,⠀⠀❜⠀⠀⠀chris says, tone laced with genuine curiosity.

una was wholly and completely devoid of an ego. it wasn't charm or affectation; this lack of pretense came naturally to her. ❛⠀⠀how about we make a trade? explain it to me again, and i'll answer your question.⠀⠀❜⠀⠀his game was bound to end eventually. sooner or later, she would decipher his tells, figure out how to read him as she did everything else, and realize he was playing the fool.

at least, this way, he got to indulge in his new favorite past time a tad longer.

❛ no, it did not. ❜ and above it all, she believes they are discussing completely different scenarios, neither contradicting the other. and above it all, there remains the fact that his is completely illogical. ❛ why would you insist you did not care instead of merely... trying again? and this time, better? ❜

control the situation, ensure there's no second opportunity for disappointment. she tucks away the tiny voice in her mind that points out that, yes, she has in fact ( once ) found herself in such a position. she is happy to label it as different, and in being different, unique circumstances, therefore void the hypocrisy.

#˗ˏˋ ― yearned for a thing i cannot name. ， lieutenant. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #owedfavors

[cptnpike]

she was right. the captain had said something along these lines this morning, albeit as a suggestion. lieutenant brushed it off, deeming that there only should be one fool in the shuttle. he was already willing to take risks nobody else would; there was no need to add someone who would catalogue the architecture lucifer chose to build the archway to his realm into the mix.

❛⠀⠀don't make promises you can't keep,⠀⠀❜⠀⠀he says, arching an eyebrow. ⠀

this time, he didn't dismiss the idea so quickly. if he brought a science officer along, he could focus wholly on flying and wouldn't need to deal with the grumblings from the chief science officer when his readings weren't up to par. it was a pretty good idea, which didn't surprise him. the timing of it, however, was another question. eyes narrowing, he taps his fingers against the padd, puzzle pieces coming together in his mind.⠀⠀❛⠀⠀wait. is this why you offered to help me, angling for a seat in the shuttle?⠀⠀❜⠀

❛ not bad? ❜ the question not offended, per say, but surely arched, tone matching the curve of her brow. as ever, she does not linger upon it, however, pride too impractical a matter to waste additional time upon. ❛ speaking of my day job, if you intend to prove that there is life, you should have a science officer with you. ❜

any other ensign in her right mind would phrase it rather as a question. for una, it is simply an observation, a statement of face. a flicker of a smile tugs at her expression, gone the moment later. ❛ I promise not to ❜ — she pauses: what was the human phrase? — ❛ back seat pilot? ❜ it comes out nearly as a question of the phrase, though she doesn't mean it to.

#˗ˏˋ ― yearned for a thing i cannot name. ， lieutenant. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #owedfavors

[cptnpike]

❛⠀ ⠀dumbo? the small circus elephant who learned how to fly?⠀ ⠀❜⠀ ⠀chris is repeating himself, he is awake, but he can't really help it, the revelation she doesn't know anything about dumbo leaving him dumbfounded. to be fair, he barely remembers the movie. a flash of an animated grey elephant flying is all his mind can conjure all these years later, but it is such a part of the lexicon, that he didn't think there was a chance anyone didn't know about dumbo.

following her in the direction of the equipment, he stops on the other side, waiting her instructions.

❛⠀ ⠀he could, you know,⠀ ⠀❜⠀ ⠀he says, continuing, tone hesitant as a shade of awkwardness stains his cheeks. adding salt to injury, he couldn't help but somewhat mimic the movement, hands rising to his ears.⠀ ⠀❛⠀ bat his ears.⠀ ⠀❜⠀

❛ — dumbo? ❜ the question comes more tentative than is her wont, after pause, during which she sought back through memory, seeking familiarity that continued to elude her. how rarely a reference eludes her, and it's never a feeling she enjoys, the sudden shifting grounds on which it leaves her, context lacking. and without context, she cannot form own judgments, own argument.

it's enough to make her shift from his side, to move in the direction of the equipment previously arrived. still, it's not an avoidance, not with him: she merely seeks something to occupy herself with, something within the bounds of what is known. she's safe to admit, however, ❛ I'm not familiar. ❜

#˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #owedfavors

[cptnpike]

hearing his senseless argument volleyed back at him is a test to his character work. silent laughter threatens to unspool him, but he presses on, tilting his head as he tries to tie together something that could be deemed as an appropriate response.

❛⠀ ⠀ more the first, less the latter.⠀ ⠀❜⠀ ⠀a safe start. requires her to actually think back to what she's said, and when the nonsensical sequence of letters streams through her brain, she'll hopefully need a second.⠀ ⠀❛⠀ ⠀ and by we, i don't mean you and me, i mean we as a society, who have the benefit of hindsight and, well, tricorders.⠀ ⠀❜⠀

he might not be wont to frame his arguments as human-centric, no. person-centric, yes. of the two of them, he has the better grasp of people, and she the better grasp of the physical sciences. but she has lost the thread of their conversation, a rare occurrence that una knows she will not hear the end of. she can attribute it to fatigue, and part of her knows she ought to banish him from her quarters for the sake of them both. they have earned the rest, the dwindling day long and demanding, the chaos of the day-to-day of starship operations awaiting them tomorrow.

conceding, yielding to her exhaustion, however, means losing this, however briefly. it's been too long for her to willingly cut short an easy conversation. ❛ are you saying the people who misjudge what they need, or deserve are only wrong because we decided they are, or that the philosophers and scientists of the sixteenth century are only wrong because we decided they are? ❜

#˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #owedfavors

[cptnpike]

christopher can count on one hand the amount of times evers initiated some sort of physical touch. perhaps that was a slight exaggeration, but it was not nearly as far away from the truth as one would think. it was a rare thing. so rare that the thought they are touch telepaths briefly crosses his mind as an explanation as to why she always seemed to know everything, only for her voice, crisp with an undercurrent of dry amusement, to point out the sentences contradict each other.

no, she wasn't a touch telepath. she was simply una, and there must be a hell of a reason for her to pierce her customary shell. masking his surprise behind a warm smile, he allows his gaze to fall on her, blue softening — not for show, but merely because it was her. it was una, by his side, so impossible and alive that there was no artifice in him now, and that vulnerability allowed him to read her better than his previous disgruntled determination could ever perceive.

❛⠀⠀we were just talking to that couple. lovely, lovely. i meant to ask him a follow-up, but it seems they are busy now, ⠀ ❜ ⠀ he says, mostly at una at first, as if thinking about the conversation, before looking at the ambassador again, a hint of humor crinkling in his eye. and then, he waited. waited, and waited for less than five seconds for her to take the bait.

oh, stay with me. you don't want to go there just now. minister volodnin will keep you tied up until the next moon cycle. the ambassador replied, mirroring the good humor he threw at her.

❛⠀⠀ah. don't i know those types. ⠀ ❜ ⠀ don't we know, but the plural isn't appropriate anymore. ⠀ ❛⠀⠀but, back to what you were saying... ⠀ ❜

it's all una — for all her impeccable self control, for all her well earned reputations for professionalism, both cultivated over decades — can do to maintain a neutral expression, to not interrupt and point out the times ( just the first dozen that come to mind... ) when he had certainly earned himself the fame he would attribute to other captains while exempting himself. to do so now would undermine them both, to say nothing of the way in which it would divert from the matter at hand.

the detail he offers is the proof the ambassador needed that his supposed interest in her planet was not merely empty pleasantries. it's not that she lets her guard down — not remotely — but the edge leaves her voice as she informs him that, alas, many historians considered that particular tale to be apocryphal or, at the very least, an oversimplification of the truth.

as the ambassador continues, offering the historically accepted alternative to the tale he had heard, una lets her primary focus drift to the periphery of her vision. to all appearances, aside from an occasional, natural glance away, her attention remains fixed upon the conversation at hand, polite acknowledgment of the ambassador's words perfectly placed. ( it is a learned behaviour that she still disdains; on illyria, the merest sound of encouragement would be perceived as an interruption, and decades have not been enough to erase the deeply ingrained impressions of childhood ).

the features of the man whom una had previously seen conversing, clearly disgruntled, with chris' newfound friends catch at her attention. still he remains upon the edge of the proceedings, looking as little pleased to be here as una herself feels yet dares not show. he's close enough now to be within their line of sight — close enough that a remark, a query, about his identity would not seem glaringly out of place.

una cannot be the one to ask the question. she is not even certain that chris stands upon solid enough ground with the ambassador for it to avail them and not go awry. not for the first time, una wishes, too late, that they had actually discussed a plan. she had not even told him of her earlier suspicions that the man might be minister volodnin — she had set that aside for later to focus instead upon his friends.

foolish. they were better than this. or, at least, they had once been better than this, slipping in and out of roles, changing and adapting plans, with no more than a glance needed between them.

they have lacked their former synchronicity this evening, and una knows she takes a gamble that he will not understand when she takes his elbow to draw his attention. the smile she offers him is not for him, but rather for the ambassador, to pass the gesture off as casual. he, una hopes, will recognize both as being uncharacteristic of her and therefore designed for some end. she tips her head in the direction of the man in question and hopes that he will follow the gesture and ( somehow ) put together the pieces.

// @otherrpens.

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

regret and him are old friends. companions of way back when, a shadow which attached itself to his side in his youth and never went away. but he has never regretted the time he spent deciphering her ways. being attuned to her was a source of pride, a balm to his soul after a long mission that didn't turn out as he hoped. with a glance to the side, he could find the comfort he needed to stay as enterprise's pillar of strength.

when she says his name and only his name, chris flinches, hearing the plea behind it. more than anything, he wishes he couldn't hear it, so he could stew in his anger a while longer, unjust righteousness warming his chest in a way disappointment and missing her never did.

only he can. and it is not in his nature to torture her for something she can't control.

the fact he needs her too is not a question. barely a statement of fact. it is a truth, stamped on his soul. he has always been open about that, of the gap she's left behind on enterprise, one he didn't rightly appreciate during his time on discovery, the ever-changing mystery keeping him on his toes almost as well as her.

❛ ⠀i'm here,⠀❜ ⠀he says, in lieu of an apology, finally replying to her original words as he should have before.

sometimes, she can tug them off the ledge of confronting the inconvenient truth that their reality, that her past choices, which he can never undo, will never satisfy him. that the anger instilled in him by an inability to undo all that was done and find the impossible solution that would have avoided this will never fully ebb. other days, he tugs right back, digging in his heels and leaving them here.

I am glad to know that I leave such a weak impression that even something so characteristic of me as that can fade from memory, she might retort, an attempt at humor far too likely to go awry, transforming into a snippy sarcasm. that old easy rhythm of theirs, while still always within easy reach, now sometimes slips through their fingers like water, impossible to hold.

her lips purse in lieu of the restrained remark, and a moment, then two, passes in silence. she can hear the bitterness lurking behind his words, knows it by heart now, even as she knows there to be nothing she can do to assuage it. not that sometimes she doesn't wish she might undo all that was done, not because she second guesses that she made the right choice, but in order not to have inflicted this upon him. ❛ chris. ❜ she speaks no more than his name alone, but her tone says more: both this is not productive and please, let's not continue to argue.

after all, what is she to say to that that won't spark further argument?

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

❛ ⠀i don’t see why i should bother the good doctor about something you could solve. indulge me, for once, number one. ⠀❜ ⠀ ⠀his first officer is already backpedaling, calling it luck. that won’t do. he won this round fair and square, and to the victors go the spoil. in this case, an admission of defeat from the most stubborn person alive; unadulterated and without an eye-roll, please and thank you. ⠀❛ ⠀it is a simple request. ⠀❜

rare though her laughter is, and for all she'd only just conceded defeat, she nearly does laugh at the way he circles back to it, so caught off guard that she would yield that he realizes only after he'd continued arguing a point already surrendered. ❛ do not push your luck. ❜ she does not repeat herself under normal circumstances, and certain things ( I'm sorrys and you're rights included ) are a gift to begin with.

❛ do you need to see doctor m'benga about that buzzing? I would hate for you to miss something important on the bridge because you could not hear clearly. ❜

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

GOD LOVES YOU BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU 🗣📣‼️

#˗ˏˋ ― to lose the battle in advance. ， musings. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

I wanted to thank you - for following orders and maintaining our cover, despite your Captain’s impairment. And by impairment, I mean having a phaser go off in my chest.

#˗ˏˋ ― his very skin was of another weave. ， appearance. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

❛⠀⠀⠀ah, i disagree with you there, tsk. come on, haven't you ever gotten a bad grade, or -⠀⠀⠀❜⠀⠀blue eyes skim to her blue outfit, the annoyance emanating from her eyes, and quickly corrects himself with a laugh, ⠀⠀⠀❛⠀⠀ okay, uh... you never got an--⠀⠀⠀❜⠀⠀christopher meant to say an invite to a party, but stopped himself, feeling that wasn't nice, ⠀⠀❛⠀⠀ okay! i got it. stick with me. have you ever been disappointed and instead of just admitting to yourself you wanted something, you said: it's not like i cared about it, anyway? most people pretend not to understand to give up.⠀⠀⠀❜

snapping his fingers together at the end of the speech, he smiles triumphantly down at her, feeling quite good about the yard he was spinning to make her talk. the expression, however, does relax at her words, softening into something warmer, still crooked and dancing with humor, but victory seeps off his face, unimportant.

❛⠀⠀⠀yeah... and that didn't help one bit, i bet.⠀⠀⠀❜⠀

❛ I have every faith in my talents. ❜ and every knowledge that reading people, and not rendering herself a thorn in their side, is not one of them. that she is certain she repeatedly proves a thorn in his side, and yet he still deigns to speak with her, is another matter entirely. ❛ but it is easier ❜ — by which she means more socially acceptable — ❛ to claim not to understand than to say that you do not care. ❜ and so people say the one when they mean the other: a foolish habit.

expression shifts with just a hint of a scowl, and she hesitates a moment, loath to finish the thought, when finishing the thought means conceding to a shortcoming — even one she's certain they're both fully aware she possesses. ❛ I cannot always tell the difference. ❜

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― yearned for a thing i cannot name. ， lieutenant. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗

[cptnpike]

❛⠀ ⠀ i'll pretend for your sake you didn't say that. we both know it is a dirty lie. a second rarely lasts as long as you think a second actually lasts.⠀ ⠀❜⠀ ⠀for once, the nonsense leaving his lips makes some sort of sense. it is utter nonsense at a technical level, but that doesn't mean he is wrong this time.

just as he knows, albeit not consciously at the moment, that the rare sound of her laugh created a time paradox of its own. he stopped, looking down at her with a half smile, soaking in the moment in exquisite detail, only for time to leave him behind a moment later, rushing past him when he was distracted and leaving him only hearing the end of her speech, the words questionable aerodynamics of an octopus slipping into his consciousness without context.

❛⠀ ⠀all those legs, i'd say he pulls out a page out of dumbo's playbook,⠀ ⠀❜⠀ ⠀he retorts with full-confidence. ⠀

his all-too-accurate accusation is enough to startle her from the calculations she was, in fact, in the midst of. she loses track of where her equipment ought to be on its journey to her, and where once that might have frustrated her, now she merely smiles, a half-smile meant only for herself. it's not surprising, not anymore, the way he can anticipate that which she gives no voice to, the way he knows the workings of her mind as none else ever have. it's not surprising, and though she all but laughs at herself for startling, she doesn't think she'll ever truly cease to be caught off guard by it.

aloud, she merely protests ( albeit a protest for protest's sake ), ❛ captain, a second is a second, no matter whether one thinks of it or not. ❜ what she does not add — what she cannot add — is that her mind perceives time differently, tracking it with a precision that preempts the human, subjective understanding.

she tacks on an extra minute and twenty nine seconds to her estimates to account for her lapse, though she knows herself now to overestimate. if anything, it's an indulgent nod to his conception of time, as if by surrendering any true effort at precision, she will cease to track the ticking hands of the clock.

her overestimation, however, does not mean that she is any less aware of the soft hum of the transporter, the glimmer of light in the corner of her eye, and the materialization of the equipment she requires. still, while in other company she would go to it immediately, snapping back to her task in a heartbeat with next steps now feasible, she lingers a moment longer.

( she does, after all, have a useless and unwinnable argument to win. )

❛ swimming requires resistance the resistance of water. otherwise, we would all be able to fly. what would it take to keep a whale aloft? to say nothing of the questionable aerodynamics of an octopus. ❜ though, by the time they're measuring aerodynamics, it was hard to surpass all the cumbersome land creatures they had mentioned, and a whale far surpassed them all for being well-suited to the task.

#owedfavors #˗ˏˋ ― i was expecting a red thing. ， interactions. ´ˎ˗ #˗ˏˋ ― the best of starfleet. ， enterprise captain. ´ˎ˗