owedfavors

[owedfavors]

finished reading dune late last night, so I'll be on my multi for a few days losing my mind about it, probably. then I'll be back here to regularly scheduled writing!

#⤷ file / from the writer’s desk. #brain continues to buzz so I'm @pathlit

[owedfavors]

finished reading dune late last night, so I'll be on my multi for a few days losing my mind about it, probably. then I'll be back here to regularly scheduled writing!

#⤷ file / from the writer’s desk.

[owedfavors]

she glances up from the equipment which ought to have been her sanctuary to stare at him instead. ❛ a circus elephant flies by batting his ears, ❜ una restates, disbelief apparent in the flatness of her voice. ❛ why... ❜ but she does not know where her question is going, what she truly intends to ask.

surrendering to the inevitable, after discarding half a dozen possible iterations that might help her understand the human inclination towards... whatever that was, she says only, ❛ that is not how physics works. ❜ though she still holds a scanner in her hand, it is all but forgotten.

she supposes, in the end, it is no worse than talking frogs and mystical matter transformation, the folly of earth fairy tales extended. she picks a different question, half-rhetorical though it is. ❛ what appeals about these impossibilities? ❜

❛⠀ ⠀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.⠀ ⠀❜⠀

#cptnpike #cptnpike:007 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores. #is it mean of me to laugh at his discomfiture #when he brought this on himself #asking for a friend

[owedfavors]

he rambles, and her eyebrow arches, silently accusing. and under other circumstances, she might have left it at wordless acknowledgment that he's floundering, a 'do not think I did not notice' that offered a satisfying enough victory. tonight, considering the circumstances of their mutual return to enterprise, and the slightly bruised pride involved, she is more inclined to make a point of it. ❛ I'm afraid, captain, I have certainly not caught where you are going with this. ❜

❛ it seems to me, that we have jumped from a discussion of whether needs can be objective, or if they are always subjective, to whether ❜ — and here she falters, for she does not understand this middle stage, and the rest of the statement comes with the faint edge of a question — ❛ people are objectively wrong, or merely wrong by society's evaluation? and now to the need for, or feasibility of, objective preparation. these would seem to be three separate points, only tangentially related. ❜

at last, she takes pity, accepts the last at face value and not as a continuation of the previous. ❛ however, as concerns the last... you objectively prepare by anticipating all factors, evaluating all possibilities, ensuring that no variables are unaccounted for. ❜ it is that simple, her tone says.

❛⠀ ⠀ 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.⠀ ⠀❜⠀

#cptnpike #cptnpike:009 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores.

[owedfavors]

❛ a compliment — in both cases? ❜ una teases, despite the even tone of her words. ❛ well, I'm afraid I cannot accept credit for the latter. it would require first confessing to deliberate understatement. ❜

she fools no one, of course ( no one who pays attention, at any rate ), and she makes no efforts to. many of the times she has bent the rules exist on record in her personnel file. if occasionally downplayed. as such, there's no hesitation to offer a challenge, ❛ unless, of course, you have proof. ❜

La'an grins back. She doesn't laugh, not yet, but it's close to bubbling past her lips. It surprises her, just how much she's missed the easiness of Una's company. Life aboard the Enterprise has simply been too busy as of late.

"I believe it's both," she replies, amused by the phrase, one of many she had to learn again when she settled back on earth. "And I would consider it a compliment."

#fyrewalks #fyrewalks : la'an noonien-singh #fyrewalks:003 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores.

[owedfavors]

⤷ ✧ @ltnsingh said, ❝ who were you talking to? ❞

she had ended the call at the approach of footsteps, though some of the sudden tension drains from her shoulders at la'an's voice. not that her answer is any less evasive: ❛ someone who may be able to shift this situation back into our favor. ❜

she would not yet declare their mission gone awry, but they head swiftly in that direction, pieces tumbling that she struggles to rebalance. with enterprise out of reach, completing its own mission before circling back to retrieve them, it seemed time to reach in the direction of favors owed.

she is often close lipped about the many individuals on whom she can call at need, and she offers a smile now to la'an to soften her avoidance. ❛ did you have any luck? ❜

#ltnsingh #ltnsingh:asks #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores.

[owedfavors]

⤷ ✧ @prcspcr / continued.

she follows half a step behind from the turbo lift, far enough to think that the shake of her head and glimmer of a wry smile will go undetected. ❛ I believe my orders, roughly paraphrased, were to solve the problem. solving does not stop at finding a solution. ❜ their science officer is not wrong: she teaches him what most would label a bad habit, albeit one of the guiding stars of her own modus operandi, by encouraging him to circumvent the usual chain of command.

his admission, however, offers her all the justification she could have needed for the careful phrasing of her earlier instructions. trusting himself is something to embrace. ❛ and what would you do, say, were the captain and I both unavailable, if you do not trust yourself? ❜

#prcspcr #tag later #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores.

[owedfavors]

it's a tradition she has rarely broken, to greet their newest crew members as they step from the transporter pad. overkill, anyone might have told her. a waste even, perhaps, of a first officer's time. she had never found it a waste, and on more than one occasion it has instead helped save time instead.

with her own padd tucked in the crook of her elbow, una suppresses a smile as their newest addition juggles hers. una might have spared her the effort, but she raises her own hand too slowly in a gesture to stop her. instead, she accepts the handshake, grip firm but fleeting. ❛ welcome to enterprise. I've been told ❜ — and here an edge of something, hovering between amusement and exasperation, slips into her tone — ❛ to pass along the captain's apologies that we were late to pick you up. ❜

someone else might have offered then a generic, placating statement — hopefully the few days weren't too burdensome, or some such. she does not. instead, she launches straight into practicalities, taking a half step back to invite her to follow her from the room. ❛ we'll get you settled. ❜

@owedfavors // liked for a starter

Ellie was nervous. A familiar sensation, as synonymous with her existence as breathing. But for once the edge of the feeling was tinged with excitement. A tight hold maintained on the straps of her duffel bag in one hand and her padd in the other. There was definitely space for it amongst her clothes and personal items, but she couldn't put it down, lest she give in to the desire to bite her thumbnails. So she stood there waiting, wishing for something to do with her hands, as the transporter tech muttered away from behind the console.

Mercifully, it wasn't much longer before the room dissolved before her eyes and the Enterprise appeared.

She gazed around the room with a grin. It wasn't her first ship, but it was the largest and like everyone at the Academy she had heard the tales of it's crew, the things they saw. The type of research she would be able to conduct over the next years would be fascinating and she couldn't wait to get started.

Lost in thought, she doesn't realise there's a welcome committee waiting for her until they've locked eyes, "Commander Evers. Sir," extending a hand, the one still holding her padd, "I'm sorry," quickly passing it to the other before offering her hand again, "It's a pleasure."

#bartletsellie #bartletsellie:001 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores. #thank you for this and I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to! #I am slow at the best of times alas

[owedfavors]

a bad grade in academic coursework, no. ❛ you would not say that if you had seen my evaluations from my cadet rotations on the sojourner. my commanding officers felt that my people skills were lacking, that I 'cultivated friction with my fellow crew'. ❜ montgomery had laughed when she'd quoted that particular evaluation to him, and una had no doubt that his own evaluation had done much to ameliorate the academy provost's perception of her.

not that she has exactly upheld the trying again, better part of her proposed response to a disappointment. then again, it had not been a disappointment, merely expected. the rest of her evaluation ratings more than made up for it.

❛ you really want me to explain it again? ❜

❛⠀ 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.

#cptnpike #cptnpike:026 #⤷ file / interactions. #cptnpike au tag tbd #'his new favorite past time' I'm crying

[owedfavors]

incredulity, and a touch of outrage, wrenches from her control as she repeats, ❛ offered to help you? ❜ he shows up, interrupts her work, demands an opinion... but, yes, she has ulterior motives. perfectly sensible, very logical. she can't even begin to fathom the thread of thought from point a to point b that would lead him here.

not that that's saying much. increasing years in their midst do not seem to make the human mind more comprehensible to her.

❛ I am not the one who interrupted the other's work with the question what if I'm wrong and refused to leave until I'd helped, lieutenant pike. ❜ the latter part was paraphrased with slight creative liberties... he had made no overt refusal, yet his obstinacy had left her little choice but to help. ❛ take bauer or neeyutnee if you prefer. perhaps then I will actually get my own work done. ❜

she half shrugs, as if it's no concern to her. never mind that his conviction that there's something to be found has her curious, nor that it would be a more interesting exercise than running tedious calculations. never mind, too, that she's objectively better than both bauer and neeyutnee, despite their seniority.

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?⠀⠀❜⠀

#cptnpike #cptnpike:015 #⤷ file / interactions. #cptnpike au tag tbd #god I love young una so much #she's obnoxious as fuck and it's amazing...

[owedfavors]

❛ precisely what part of my job description is it that you feel I am weaseling out of? ❜ she has taken great liberties with her job description over the years, nothing unfulfilled but plenty borrowed from his own, along with those of others. irony, to suggest that she of all people might seek to avoid her job. this time, she keeps amusement from both voice and expression, settling into simple, efficient neutrality.

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. ⠀❜

#cptnpike #cptnpike:022 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores. #if she gives you an inch you don't take a yard pike you know this #she conceded the victory but you had to gloat about it #so now she's got to turn the tables #god I love them but they're ridiculous

[owedfavors]

in disagreement about what to do, and in agreement to respect each other's stupid decisions, he had said, but rather it is in disagreement what to do and in agreement not to respect the other's stupid decisions. and if so it must be, then so it must be. she will be hard pressed once they leave this planet to ensure he can do himself no damage, but even from a distance she can do so.

she quells the rare edge of anxiety that leaving the matter unresolved instills in her with the reminder that she can split her focus: she can run section 31's errands and take the measures necessary to intercept, preempt, and obfuscate whatever efforts he insists upon taking. she can manage both as adeptly as either alone. she must, and so she shall. there lies the beginning and the end of it.

his laughter makes her regret her final statement, her stubborn insistence not to let drop their quarrel, for they might have slipped for a moment into something resembling normalcy. she grasps for it again now, despite the interruption, and this time her words lack the unsteadiness they held before, ❛ are you telling me you cannot distinguish between a professor's metaphor and scientific fact? that explains a great deal. ❜ his loose interpretation of science that has been the bane of her existence ( though not nearly so much so as his refusal to stay out of trouble ) for so long.

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.⠀ ⠀ ❜⠀

#cptnpike #cptnpike:010 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / section 31 | the bright day is done‚ and we are for the dark.

[owedfavors]

❛ the beginning is more complicated, too. what constitutes a beginning? ❜ first memories, early years. formative in ways una has never cared to examine closely. she turns her scientific brain, with its constant calculation and evaluation and need for answers, ever outward, and never upon herself, save in brief moments when she has no other choice. or perhaps the beginning is instead the day atten dared her and roe into the forbidden wreck of the borealis.

but una's question is rhetorical, more explanation for her prior statement than it is a question in its own right. she draws a breath, steadying herself. ❛ when I left, the expectation was that I would return. ❜ illyrian convention, expectation of responsibility to her community, these are hard to explain. she leaves it instead at ❛ every year, ksarine sends one or two of its brightest students to illyria. schooling complete, they all return. ❜ it's the first time she's spoken that name, the illyrian name for their colony and not the federation designation of the planet ( dorvien iv ). the first time she's spoken an illyrian word in decades, and she flattens it to syllables alone, no lilting inflection. doing so does not give her the emotional distance she had hoped it might.

una doesn't need to add the 'all but me' that hovers in heavy implication, and so she doesn't. nor does she add that her farewells to her family had been insufficient for the separation she then embraced, nor that she does not know how they have handled her departure or how they have fared since. whether they live, what they do. she might have asked an old friend to learn for her, but she did not, and he did not offer.

with a sigh, her mind tips sideways, away from the personal and into the pragmatic, as it always does. and having started to speak, it is easier now to continue, to find the place to start she could not before. ❛ but that's not relevant. what is relevant is that they ❜ — by which she means the colonists below — ❛ are by no means xenophobic as you would understand the term. in no way fully isolated. but illyria keeps to itself, except when it has cause. however, the federation's distrust is, at this point, shared. they'll doubt our intentions. ❜ and if only, if only, she'd been able to give more than vague hints to that effect before the landing team departed.

christine was well aware of the fact there was a lot more to the story. only, she never really thought she'd get a chance to hear it. despite her curiosity, her need to wring out every detail so she could look at a situation from every corner, getting una to do something she didn't want to do was like arguing with a brick wall.

impossible, and ultimately, left you tired and feeling useless.

❛⠀⠀it is where you are from. ⠀ ❜ ⠀ not her home. even without details christine had been able to piece together that una did not long to feel familiar packed ground underneath her feet as she did. it was a past she'd left behind. successfully, until now.⠀⠀❛⠀⠀the beginning is too common place a request for either of us. so, why not start on the day you left? ⠀ ❜ ⠀

#nursc #nursc:008 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores. #watch me write you an entire goddamn novel #I do love her indulging for 2 seconds the 'talk about you' suggestion of christine's 'start at the day you left' #and then steering with a hard left away from it

[owedfavors]

oh, no, spock, she thinks to herself, quiet thought tucked away with a dash of humor and a trace of sadness, I do realize. and she might turn the statement back upon him, for she understands far more than he realizes. she had told him the day they met, in her own slanted way, though she hopes he'll never know half of how well she knows.

❛ you toy with me. ❜ she accuses instead, tone dancing somewhere between accusatory and amused. ❛ merely a moment ago, it was 'I am vulcan, we consider all emotions to be flawed in some way.' ❜ she snatches his precise words easily from her memory. ❛ now, it is 'it is unfounded to assume that I see it as only this'. which is it to be? ❜

despite her challenge, the two points of view are not truly contradictory, of course, unless you decree that all must be black and white. she never has. if he wishes a test, however, it can be this: the precise defining of nuances that defy explanation and definition.

❝ apologies , sir . it was merely CONFUSION on my part , i was not in full view of what was being presented , ❞ spock dipped his head slightly before then pausing to create thought . whilst it was true that vulcans thought all emotions flawed in some sense , it was ILLOGICAL to assume that spock felt the same of all emotions . there is curiosity that passes over onyx eyes && spock shifts his weight thoughtful for a moment .

❝ vulcan logic teaches us that we must consider emotions illogical && true knowledge comes from external stimuli , ❞ he gave a pause . ❝ it is unfounded to assume that i , a half-human , sees it as only this , ❞ another tilt of his head . ❝ i find tests fun , theological conversations are always complex && interesting -- a way of diving into the mind && uncovering thoughts without the use of mind-melds , ❞

the vulcan noted . ❝ i FIND it benefits me , perhaps a lot more than you realize . i have never worked alongside humans before , i am CURIOUS as to ascertain their approach on these matters . ❞

#prcspcr #prcspcr:003 #inter #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores. #apparently I forgot to add this to my tracker #and only realized today when I was looking at what I owed and went 'wait a moment...'

[owedfavors]

and by the time this catalyst has served to determine whether they are sincere, the federation's hands are tied by agreements binding. she understands, she does, but everything in her quails, as always it has done, at too-quick action. at a dearth of information. ❛ are you quite sure, ❜ she begins with a ghost of humor, for a moment setting aside both his question and careful response to his arguments, ❛ that coffee is the right solution? ❜ considering his recent outburst, caffeine would seem to be adding fuel to fire.

humor dissipates as quickly as it arises, question left without need for an answer. ❛ what do you believe would compel them to accept a strong federation presence? they have been resistant to our... meddling, as they perceive it, in the past. I believe it has, in fact, been one of the primary hindrances to any formalized collaboration in the past. ❜

Jim's  internal  appreciation  of  the  lady's  composed  manner  remains  unspoken,       yet  it's  an  aspect  he  is deeply  grateful for.       her  tranquil  approach  is  a  necessary  balance  to  his  more  tempestuous  nature  much  like  Spock's  role  as  his  foil.       despite  his  inherent  fire,       he  shows  a  remarkable  level  of  self-discipline  during  the  briefing  with  Una       &       listens  without  interruption.      

he  finds  that  pacing,       his  usual  method  for  calming  himself  in  these  situations,       doesn't  quite  achieve  the  desired  effect  this  time.      

taking  a  deep  breath,       he  refocuses  on  their  discussion.       ❝          do  you  have  any  idea  what  our  third  alternative  could  be       ?       because  think  about  it     :       EVEN       if  they  have  bad  intentions  for  their  former  colonies,       we  will  see  that,       with  or  without  them  joining  the  Federation.       couldn’t  this  serve  as  a  catalyst  for  us  to  figure  out  if  they’re  sincere       ?          ❞       his  inquiry  is  aimed  at  presenting  a  different  perspective,       not  to  impose  his  views  but  to  collaboratively  seek  the  most  beneficial  strategy.      

❝          i  believe  that  if  we  lay  out  proper  terms  and  get  them  to  agree  on  a       STRONG       Federation  presence  on  Zentar  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  planets  in  their  solar  system,       we  could  potentially intervene more effectively.          ❞       Jim  turns  with  a  sigh       &       heads  towards  the  food  replicator.       ❝          i  need  more  coffee                                ❞

#darehearts #darehearts:001 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / kelvin | tho’ much is taken‚ much abides. #I know you're not feeling long things really right now so I tried to rein this back in a little bit! #I'm so sorry that it's been... literally four months

[owedfavors]

❛ — 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. ❜

❛⠀ ⠀ 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. ⠀

#cptnpike #cptnpike:007 #⤷ file / interactions. #⤷ verse / enterprise | to unpath’d waters‚ undream’d shores. #apparently disney films were not part of una's self-education in earth culture #just grimm brothers fairy tales lol

[owedfavors]

❛ 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.

leaning against the console, chris watches the scene with the same rapt attention he might direct towards a previously uncharted nebula, or vulcan's desert plains. it requires a comparable amount of attention. navigating between dust clouds can be as much as a challenge — but not almost — as reading the flickers of emotion in her expression, that almost vulcan serenity giving him little to go on.

some people approach problems by looking at the structure. he's always looked at the people first, finding it the quickest path for sketching out the bigger picture. understand the people, understand the problem, but his powers of deduction, his natural way of reading people that got him so quickly promoted to lieutenant, struggles to find a way in.

❛⠀⠀⠀does it?⠀⠀⠀❜⠀⠀⠀he asks, humor coloring his question as he reads over her suggestion, eyes flickering up as he reaches the end. she is not wrong. but she is not wholly right, either. head tilts as his gaze returns to the padd, charting a new path close to hers.⠀⠀⠀❛⠀⠀⠀i'll take that into consideration.⠀⠀⠀❜⠀⠀⠀

❛⠀⠀⠀not a bad job, though. well... wouldn't give up your day job.⠀⠀⠀❜

#cptnpike #cptnpike:015 #⤷ file / interactions. #cptnpike au tag tbd #I appreciate the irony of 'wouldn't give up your day job' #when there's a universe in which she pilots his ship lolol