it's no use crying over split milk

[attitude]

While Faye heard about the apartment explosion in Ocean View some months ago, she still feels an initial wave of surprise when she hears that Jim has moved out of the urban setting and into a bonafide house.

Granted, the shock doesn't last long. There's something about his enthusiasm that Faye thinks would play out nicely in a house, where the main goal is to make a comfortable living space for a family. With all the devotion that Jim's shown over a crew that isn't even present in Darrow, a house makes the most sense for him while he's still caught in the city. The slightly more domestic alternative to the giant ship Kirk had in the sky.

She waits outside of the construction area, relaxing her shoulders so that she gives off less of the air that she's been waiting for him. Even though that's exactly what she's been doing.

Laid out on top of the ship's modest hull, Faye lets the cigarette smoke pass gently between her teeth, rising up into the air. If she glances up at the sky enough, she can forget, for brief patches of time, that there's an invisible cage lining the top. Sooner or later, she'll face that challenge directly.

It just requires some due diligence.

The sound of approaching footsteps has Faye glancing to the side, arching a brow as the cigarette remains neatly held between her lips. "I met him, you know. Spock," she says.

Comments

[to_boldly]

"Have you come to extend your congratulations?" Jim asks, covered head to toe in plaster dust and wearing a wide, if tired smile. He's not entirely surprised to see her here, and not least because he set up digital surveillance on the property before they even broke ground.

Faye's just the type to wander. "Landing tall, dark and handsome wasn't easy, you know."

[attitude]

"You know what's not charming? Flaunting your love life to someone who's clearly lacking in that area," Faye points out with slightly narrowed eyes, though there's a hint of friendliness in the smooth line of her shoulders. There's a guilelessness about Jim that makes him likable, albeit something of a whirlwind at times.

She pulls the cigarette away from her lips, delicately balancing it between her fingers as she exhales a slight stream of smoke, pointedly avoiding hitting Jim. "Seriously though, how does it work? Unless you're the type who gets off on being scolded all of the time."

[to_boldly]

Jim's grin only widens, and it's very obvious that he absolutely is. He tries not to goad Spock too much - but as much as Jim enjoys getting fussed at in Spock's uniquely cutting fashion, he's just as sure that Spock himself loves it, too. What's the point of all that beautiful superiority if he has nowhere to aim it, after all?

"What can I say, we're fated, in a very literal, temporal wormhole sense. Where'd you meet him, anyway?"

[attitude]

"I'd landed my ship in Petros Park. Which, what can I say, sometimes I really like showing her off," Faye says with a light flick of her wrist. There might come a time when she reverts to hiding Red Tail away again, but for the time being, none of the Darrow natives seem to bother getting too close to the thing. Save for the people at the research labs.

But even they seem to know not to incur Faye's wrath.

"He saw her and veered right towards me. Also told me off for smoking in the park, which. Well." Faye rolls her eyes with a grin. "Maybe I deserved that, but it was a struggle not to blow smoke right in his face after that diatribe."

[to_boldly]

"Girl, not even I would dare," Jim laughs. "Trust me, an angry Vulcan is heat you do not need." But it warms his heart to know that when presented with a fine, interplanetary aircraft, both Mr. Kirks had made a beeline.

"And how is my second favorite girl in Darrow?" Jim asks, slipping past Faye towards the Redtail.

[attitude]

"I would argue that anger can lead to very good things sometimes, but... well, you've probably got that covered," Faye says with a small scoff, turning to watch Jim as he rounds her in favor of her ship. Doesn't surprise her. A person can keep involved through conversation. A ship needs to be constantly touched, tuned, and flown.

She grins.

"I got her engine swapped out. Fuel won't be an issue for some time to come. There are a few folks over at the research labs who are incredibly interested in making her ship-shape for their own purposes. Military, space exploration, who knows what it is, I don't have the clearance to know. Can't complain too much, though," she admits, hands on her hips as she takes her time walking over to Jim's side.

[to_boldly]

"You're letting them get their hands all over her?" Jim asks, frowning even as he puts his hands all over the hull, prying away metal to get at this new engine.

"You don't think they'll try taking her, do you? Because I can install a failsafe that responds only to your DNA, that way, ain't nobody flying this lady but you."

Jim widens his eyes even as he lowers his lids, an act he knows very well makes him extra pretty. "And your closest friends."

[attitude]

"Only when I'm in the room. It was either that, or trying my best to steal all of those materials. I might be a great thief, but even I'm not going to make that big of a gamble here," says Faye, leaning against the metal further down the ship and shifting her arms until she has them loosely crossed over her chest.

"Anyway, they try taking her? I'd put up a fight. I trust you to put in a failsafe, though, so go ahead," she adds, lips slightly pursed in amusement when she waves her hand. "And you're allowed to fly her, but I still want you to ask first. Unless it's a dire emergency."

[to_boldly]

Jim arches a particularly Spock-like eyebrow. "'Emergency' has variable definitions," he says, and fully intends to apply the most liberal of those definitions at first opportunity.

"If these twentyfirst century jerks manage to get into space before I do..." he mutters, turning his attention back to the engine. "What do you think happens if we stowaway on a Darrowmade craft? We get spit out as soon as we reach the upper limit?"

[attitude]

"Emergency means that I'm somehow incapacitated," Faye says, making sure to hold Jim's gaze. "And I get to control who I grant and revoke that level of access to. I've been burned before, Jim, both by a general lack of good sense and by another person's selfishness. I don't plan to let it happen again."

Scratching at the back of her neck, Faye arches a brow. "Hey, I'm only from the twenty-second century. Watch your mouth," she warns, crossing her arms. "I think what happens on a Darrowmade craft would be the same thing that happens on the train. Fall asleep the moment it gets interesting. Come back as soon as we're within the limit. And no one thinks to wake us up during."

[to_boldly]

Jim groans, well used to the injustice yet completely unable not to respond to it. "Only surefire way out is to die," he says. "Awesome." He folds his arms, pillowing his body against the engine. "You ever notice this place only takes those least suited for captivity?"

[attitude]

"You sure about that? I've heard a lot about ghosts lingering in this area," Faye points out with a slight shrug. "You never know who might be lingering and trapped in this snowglobe of a city."

With a deep breath, Faye shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think this place only takes those ill-suited to be trapped. I think that we're just a lot louder than the rest. I've encountered a few folks who seem to be happy enough. I mean..." Faye glanced over towards the city thoughtfully. "It's not like this place is the worst place to live."

[to_boldly]

No. There are worse. It's hard to be comforted by that, however, for a man who once had the universe at his feet. "I guess," Jim concedes, "If you were dead, and got to be here, alive, instead..."

He frowns, admitting it with a face screwed up in protest, "That's not the worst thing to ever happen."

[attitude]

Faye laughs, almost with a cough. Her brow arches as she leans forward, trying to catch Jim's expression. What kind of life he led to lead him to that sort of belief, she doesn't know.

"I'm not sure that's the line I'd draw. Especially considering death isn't the worst thing to happen to a person," she says, crossing her arms over her chest. Sounds trite, but after knowing Spike, Faye can't put that sort of positive value on life anymore. It's never that simple. "Not everyone needs access to the sky. Some people are just trying to make ends meet, or just trying to keep themselves safe. I've seen the Earth practically decimated by irradiation. This is... kinder than that. Most people I talk to seem settled, not always unwillingly."