ataraxionlogs | happy anniversary [open]

Entry tags:

happy anniversary [open]

CHARACTERS: Rey and YOU.
LOCATION: Various.
WARNINGS: Blood and violence for the third prompt.
SUMMARY: Rey Does Stuff: The Log. Just the kind of stuff you'd expect on your fourth year anniversary, woo.
NOTES: I've got some prompts, but if you want a super special awesome starter just for you, I can whip one up as well. Or you can. Whichever.

I. Make Your Bed The River (Outside the Tranquility, Early December)

It's strange every time Rey thinks about how she's not living alone anymore. She had only ever lived with one person on the ship, and they weren't around to make sure her head stays on straight.

She is used to living a spartan lifestyle. Having too much useless stuff was never her thing. But now that she isn't the only person living under the roof she's made out in the jungle, she figures it's worth going scavenging for extra supplies. At least in the places she can immediately access...

The Tranquility creaks and groans before her, sunk into the earth and teetering over the ledge of the cliff. She assesses the damage first before she begins climbing into the opening, leading into the medbay.

II. It's A Trap! (Jungle, Anytime)

Max may have given a public service announcement about his similar endeavor, but Rey hadn't been quite so thoughtful as to give warnings about her traps just yet. Mostly because she's still working on them. Hoping that she could catch game or, even better, whoever or whatever is out there that they haven't been introduced to yet.

Plus, she's convinced that whoever murdered that crew member the previous month was not one of their own. This much she was positive when she found the spears in the stampede not too long ago. With the masks and the storm, though, you can never be too certain.

Red X marks have been placed near her little pet projects. You can either find Rey digging a hole somewhere with a makeshift shovel she's put together, or setting up a wire trap or a tree spring noose made from things she's collected from the jungle and the ship.

Either that, or you may find yourself taking a seven foot plunge down one of those many holes she has made.

III. Oh, To Be An Animal... (Anywhere, After the 17th)

It isn't the first time Rey has encountered subjects of horrific diseases. Hell, at a few points during her tenure aboard the Tranquility, she had been a victim of some of those illnesses.

Suppose it was a matter of time before something like this would happen. After all, they're aliens to this world, introducing new bacteria and such to the wildlife. It's just a surprise that the natives have fallen prey to these mutations first.

One can either be passing by when they happen upon a tree-dome made of wood and metal overhead. There's a noise of frenzied, animalistic screeching coming from the inside. A window opens, and the corpse of one of the sickened creatures come flying out.

After a while, she has come to observe the mannerisms of these afflicted animals, watching their behaviors from a distance. You can also find her lurking among trees -- above or below -- watching one of them ripping into their own faces.

Whether one of them is attacking you, or you stumble upon her putting one of them down... Well, the timing is pretty unfortunate, either way.

The worst part is, it isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened.

She's seen something akin to this before.

And that never bodes well. For anyone.

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There really isn't time to waste. And that's why Rey doesn't hesitate to shake her head. "We already have what we need here -- I just need to put them together." She shrugs. "We can't board up the windows completely, but we can at least have something more secure."

A brief smile stretches her mouth as she taps Firo's shoulder.

"Could use your help, though." Sort of.

Way to take the wind out of his sails. "...Oh. Yeah, okay."

But, wait, time to be useful? Firo's so ready. He stands at attention (well, as close as a slouchy gutter punk gets to 'attention,' which may not be impressive to a soldier like Rey) without even thinking. "With what?"

...

Rey hadn't really thought through what she needed help with. Her arms drop to her sides as she has to seriously think about it. Mostly she just felt the need to say something to keep Firo from running off, as impulsive as he usually is.

"Could use a hand in putting up the scrap metal once it's welded. They're pretty wide for just me."

Yes, that works.

She nods at the storage nook behind Firo. "Should have some in there that we can use."

"Got it. I'll go--"

He wobbles in the middle of turning, his mind suddenly too far away to focus on where he is or how to balance. He's been practicing with this empathy stuff, but evidently not enough to prevent leaks like this.

There's a woman before him, a redhead. Rey's speaking to her, and it sounds cordial at first, if a little awkward.

At first.

How long did it take for you to figure she was gone, before you found her body?

His hand springs to the side of his head as he comes back to Earth (or whatever planet they're on); his eyes are scrunched shut until he turns to face Rey. The expression on his face can only be called befuddlement. "Jesus, what the fuck? The hell did she ever do to you?"

Even Firo knows that's not how you woo a lady.

The moment she sees Firo go unsteady, Rey starts towards him. If he's going to strip or pass out for whatever reason, she doesn't want him to fall over the hard ground.

That's when he speaks. His words coming as a genuine surprise, and for a few seconds she doesn't even know what to say. She's just frozen. Is this some sort of joke? It doesn't sound like a joke.

After moments pass and she realizes she still hasn't said anything, she forces out a curt, incredulous laugh. "What're you talking about? Who...?"

It's sad to think that Firo's words could apply to more than one person. That speaks volumes for all the messed up things she's done in her many lives.

Firo calms down once he realizes what just happened: yet another wave of memory coming from outside the house. Fun, he'd missed these. He exhales slowly, straightening to face her.

He doesn't know that lady, but he knows Rey. She deserves the chance to explain, because she's his friend. This other woman doesn't mean anything to him.

"You and some lady. Red hair. You were talkin' about somebody else--somebody who hurt you. I think the other lady knew her--she was pretty upset when you talked about how she died."

He doesn't yet mention what Rey was responding to: the woman asking if she was okay. He's not surprised that Rey wouldn't answer, but he's sure as hell not pleased with it.

Knowing that Firo had seen something like that, if even for a brief moment, is enough to make Rey's stomach churn. Because the fact was, he had seen that side of her before, albeit a much more brutal version that acted out of desperation to push him further away. This was not all too different.

An explanation is what Firo would expect, she knows. But no amount of explaining would properly excuse what she had said at the time--

"That could be a lot of people," she insists stubbornly. "Don't suppose the conversation had been about Rhodes? Isobel... Rhodes?"

--So she makes the 'prudent' decision to delay the inevitable, and to confirm before even attempting to defend her life choices at that time.

Firo nods. "Rhodes. That's it."

Where does he even begin? He reminds himself to breath, exhaling slowly.

"Sounds like there was a lotta history there." He supposes most of it's none of his business. But... well, much as he loves her, he can't deny that Rey was kind of acting like an ass. He doesn't know if it was deliberate, but maybe this is a good opportunity to try to help her out with some of her interactions. "Not sure why you'd think that was a good thing to bring up, though. I'm not an expert, but I think that redhead was gonna cry when she left."

Being told that you almost made someone cry is something no one should take great pride in. But Rey doesn't allow herself to look ashamed or even repentant about what she had done. Quite the opposite, in fact. She just crosses her arms and shrugs a shoulder, as casual and unbothered as though she had made said redhead about to cry over spilled milk rather than a dead wife.

"Good. Serves her right for trying to act nice." The harsh words slip out more casual than anything else, detached of the proper emotions that Rey should be feeling at the moment.

She also knows that Faye wasn't 'acting nice', but was genuine in her concern. And that was the greatest problem, because of the kind of person Rey was.

"The history isn't that complicated. It was war, we were on opposing sides. I killed her wife. That's it." She doesn't even have to try to make it sound hard to to talk about it now as she had then.

Maybe the lady had been trying to manipulate Rey? But no one would be that obvious, and Firo's pretty sure he could tell that she was being honest. Who the hell knows why.

He reels at Rey's dismissiveness and takes a step closer to her.

"Shit, Rey, you know what I'd do to somebody who killed my--" Er, wait, did she just say her wife? Firo's forehead wrinkles in confusion, but he quickly decides that's something to sort out later; Rey probably just misspoke. "--anybody in my family? I sure as hell wouldn't talk to 'em as nicely as she did to you."

He shakes his head. "You shoulda' been thankin' her, not treatin' her like she just crawled out of a dumpster."

"That part is complicated," she quips in when she has the chance.

The fact that she had been in the care of Faye for three months while catatonic probably doesn't help simplify matters, among other things. Rey had given her chances to take revenge, but for some reason Faye never took the opening.

She huffs, her arms tightening over her chest. "So what if I was?" Her expression hardens like steel. "I was doing her the favor of reminding her of who and what sort of person I was... am. She had no reason to talk to me like that."

Even if it was a mere 'Are you okay?' on Faye's part.

Of course it comes back to that.

Firo can't think of Rey as a malicious person--at least, he's pretty sure that her primary goal is self-flagellation, even when she hurts others to get there.

"Fuck that." He's angry now and doesn't try to hide it; he doesn't bother to leave much space between them now, moving to get up in her face. "You call that a favor? All you did was hurt her more. And I know that's not the kinda person you are, so you can go ahead and shut your mouth about that."

While not expecting Firo to get so close, Rey doesn't move to retreat or anything but standing her ground. Her visage remains unchanging as her friend speaks, only solidifying a pointed look. She tries to hold onto that as she falls silent for a moment, unable to find her words through the red clouding her vision.

It's a paradox, really. She would want nothing more than that woman's forgiveness, while at the same time knows she's undeserving of it. The worst part is how their paths are too entwined to go their separate ways, especially now.

"It's the kind of person I was, and it hurt her. And despite my feelings, I can't--" She bites her tongue, finally breaking her gaze from Firo's for a moment. She can't even meet him in the eye when she can't help but ask: "How do you even start to mend something that broken with someone?"

Because she can't. Or she feels that she can't. So she feels the only way to go is the opposite direction.

"It'd be easier if she just keeps hating me," she mutters, absent of the former cold and callous tone.

Firo leans to try and follow her eyes--he can't let her escape that easily. Now that she's at least not sounding so cruel, his tone loses its anger while remaining firm.

"That's not your call to make. It's hers."

Whether you want someone to love or hate you, Firo's adamant that you can't force it. Their feelings aren't yours to manhandle.

"Hurtin' her just because you think it's what she should want isn't gonna help anyone. If you wanna fix somethin' like that, give her reasons."

When Firo puts it that way, it sounds easy; he's right about this and she knows that. Rey had never felt this conflicted about anyone before -- in fact, she's never felt much this way about anyone. Which makes it all the more confusing.

"Don't know if I have the right to give her reasons," she mutters through clenched teeth. She brings a hand to the side of her head, her fingers digging into her scalp out of frustration. "I don't know if I'll even have the chance to give her reasons now."

Rey didn't exactly come back from her last 'trip' home at a convenient time.

"Don't bother with 'right.' That's for her to decide, and it seemed like she was at least keepin' an eye out for it before."

Like complimenting her and spending time with her. Firo's dense, but he can see what's at least an attempt at friendship.

"Chance you can't do too much about..." Well, knowing Rey, she could lock herself away in her room and never give herself the chance, but Firo hopes she's past that now. "You don't know what happens in the future, right? So who knows what'll happen--if she's still around and you're still around, there's still a chance."

Though he does wonder just how bad it is...

"And that's her problem. She should know better." To keep an eye out, that is. Far as Rey is concerned, she's the same person then as she is now -- or, at least, all of those women she had once been are part of her. It isn't fair to just dissociate herself from one just because it isn't favorable to what she would want a perfect world. In a perfect world, Rey wouldn't have done what she did and she would possibly just be someone else.

She tries to take a step back, only to just pin herself to the wall then. Her hand comes up to the back of her head as she looks downward, her fingers digging through the spikes of her hair.

"I know enough about what's happening. I told you before that my brother got captured. Well, so did she." Her jaw tightens when the image of Faye in that cell flashes through her mind. "I also know that it was my fault she got taken by these assholes years ago, and back then they tortured her for months. If she has to go through that again... If I fuck up or can't get them out or something happens...

"It isn't something I'd be able to forgive myself for."

The magic words. Because it was bad enough that some of Faye's last words to Rey before she had been taken by the synthetics was for her to try and forgive herself. Where she is standing right now, that just doesn't seem possible.

He reaches for her wrist; he knows he can't hold her back if she decides to resist, but he tries anyway.

"It's their fault. They're the ones who took her."

He imagines the words are pointless--didn't he feel pretty responsible when Ennis was threatened? But at least he knows it's the truth in this case.

"You can't be responsible for everybody's screw ups. Just your own."

Not her enemies', not her past selves'. Not even Faye's.

It would be all too easy to resist. Rey could throw Firo like he was a sack of flour and not have any trouble with it.

But she doesn't. There is only a moment in which she shakes when he goes for her wrist; she knows that he would just keep trying.

"And it's mine as well. I can't just pass off the blame to off someone else because it's more convenient."

She doesn't want to tell him that he's wrong, but it isn't exactly right, either. It's just possible not to take all the faults. Perhaps even Firo could accept that much, though.

Edited 2016-01-12 05:37 (UTC)

Good. Firo hangs on and nods slowly. "No, you can't. So you need to take responsibility for your own behavior and treat her the way she deserves if you get her back from those people."

He won't pretend that it's a certainty, because that just wouldn't be fair. And he's sure Rey wouldn't be fooled either.

That's not really something they can do anything about right now, so onto the next thing, he decides.

"You know what I mean, right? None a' that nasty crap unless she starts it."

The fact that he agrees comes as a dreaded comfort. It means that she's right about that much, at least.

She lowers her hand from her face, still not bringing herself to shake Firo off. Oddly, she doesn't mind the contact and it comes as solace more than anything else. "Yes, I get you. I'll try -- the two of us are pretty much stuck together, anyway." She shrugs. "But I can't make any promises that I can bring that back home."

If there's ever going to be a next time. Rey would rather not think about that, though.

"Sorry you had to see all that."

He breathes out a laugh. "Unless you personally decided to lob that into my head, you don't need to apologize. Not that it was exactly fun..." Not her action, though, so not her fault.

He plants his other hand on his hip. "If you need some pointers--for starters, it's probably not a good idea to talk about killin' her... friend."

If anything, he has a point. Rey wouldn't drop that sort of thing on her friend if she could help it. "I'll try to work on controlling it better so it doesn't happen again."

On one hand, Firo's 'pointer' should be a no brainer. On the other hand...

"Wife," Rey corrects. "Not friend. They were married."

It doesn't occur to her just how weird Firo would find this factoid.

He holds up one hand to stop her. "Don't bust your ass over it. We can barely control it as it is."

Plus it's better to know too much about her life than too little, he thinks.

He blinks. She says it like it's nothing, but... "...Er, what?"

"Practically have a PhD in busting my ass." At least she's making jokes again.

And then Rey gives Firo a look. It's easy to forget what time Firo is from, and why some things don't register to either of them as normal.

She gesticulates to try and make the matter more clear. "Ma-rri-ed?" Rey says slowly, as if that would help. Maybe he just didn't hear her right. "Suppose you could say they were friends, but I'd figure they were more than that since they were wed. Together."

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rey das SO RUDE

The rudest

and getting ruder

>:( Reeeey

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