twenty-eighth jump;

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond.
WARNINGS: Maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: It could just be the standard sensation of air on wet skin, but if you bother to check, you might notice the steam rising from your body, barely there and gone within a minute. By the time you get to the showers, it will be clear that it's not just taking you time to adjust. The room is cold — colder than usual, but no worse than the last jump. While it's nothing dangerous, it's certainly motivation to hurry through the usual routine and get dressed quickly.



It's getting closer.




YOUR EYES ARE OPEN.

KEEP LOOKING.

You wake up in darkness.

There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.
There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

Comments

[doesntdohumble]

[Eric raises his eyebrows at that question. Just what are you trying to get at with that comment there exactly, Tauriel. "Feel for him"? What are feelings...]

What exactly are you getting at?

[They have their reasons for the bond. They had their reasons for strengthening it. And now they have their reasons for wanting to maintain it. You are very curious, elflady.]

[woodlander]

[ Listen, Eric. You're bloodbonding with her King. She doesn't truly understand what that signifies, but she means to. ]

I am speaking of the nature of your intimacy, that is all. You are connected to him. You claim that he belongs to you, and I wonder at that.

I wonder if it means that you love him? If I must ask the question so bluntly as that, I will do it, in the hope that it will make the answer clear.

[doesntdohumble]

[Eric regards her levelly. Of course she would be so blunt as to ask him that directly. A memory of his not-so-distant past flashes in his mind, triggered by this moment.

'He's your maker isn't he?' 'Don't use words you don't understand.' 'You have a lot of love for him.' 'Don't use words I don't understand.'

Eric is quiet and still as the grave for a long moment, although a muscle in his jaw twitches despite his best efforts to remain unaffected by her question when he finally speaks up to answer:]

...he is my bondsmate. [He says this as if it explains everything and answers all. And perhaps it does, to those that know him. To Tauriel, however... Well, he will soon find out what she will gleam from this response.]

[woodlander]

[ Tauriel simply watches him, her expression unchanging. She'd hoped to ask him a question direct enough that he could not evade it. Apparently she had underestimated his versatility.

She tilts her head just a little, and regards him with clear green eyes. ]

I understand that you are bonded, because of blood.

I want to know if you are bonded at the heart, as well - if this connection of yours is romantic in nature. Is it? Or do I ask questions that you do not wish to answer?

[doesntdohumble]

[Wow, is she persistent. Although if she were more observant she would not ask whether it was a question he wished to answer or not. Unless she added that on less as an out and more as a statement of the obvious. He regards her for a long moment. He knows that this is one of Thranduil's people. He knows that his answer might very well make it back to Thranduil himself. He also knows that answering poorly will loose him what little favor he has.]

It is my understanding that he is married. [Eric responds finally. Which is the truth, even if it is a bit of clever evasion as well. A small, bitter part of him wants to add on a comment about how he has never forced Thranduil into anything that he didn't agree to in the first place, but that would be leading her on. Their relationship is deep. On a level of connection that is hard to explain, to an outsider. Does he love Thranduil? His bondsmate is like a part of him. Is it romantic in nature? He will never so much as think of doing anything without Thranduil's invitation. Out of the love and respect that he does have for your pseudo-father figure, Tauriel.

It's too bad he'd never actually admit any of that aloud.]

[woodlander]

[ Of course it's obvious. It couldn't be more obvious; her questions clearly make Eric uncomfortable. She doesn't ask if he doesn't want to answer because she's in any way uncertain of that fact.

She asks it to illustrate the problem she has, with all of this. If the relationship between them is so deep as he's implying, then surely he should be able to speak of it. It should not be something that is hidden, or secretive - unless of course there is something shameful in the connection.

The way he evades her makes Tauriel wonder if Eric is ashamed, or possibly if Thranduil is. Perhaps this was a bond neither one of them intended. Perhaps they would like to undo it.

She looks up at him, and withholds a sigh. If there's any expression to be read on her face, it's sympathy - though it's slight. ]

Marriage is a sacred vow.

But it does not preclude that one may love another person, and I asked not whether he loved you. That, I think, is a question only the Elvenking should answer, regardless of who feels his feelings.

I seek only to understand what is between you. Whether that is love is a simple question that requires a simple answer. That you cannot - or will not, give it - is answer in itself. Thank you for that, Eric.