flourish_or_perish: ([an] flying in my flying clothes)
Faye Valentine ([personal profile] flourish_or_perish) wrote2021-08-02 02:15 pm

Spaaaace, just outside of Mars' orbit | Monday Afternoon

Mars was the closest planet in the solar system, regardless of whether you went to the robot-inhabited version of 2021 or caught a portal to take you to the densely-populated version of Faye's time, and so that was where she had decided to take Stark for that promised, non-hole-related ride in her ship. They could have gone further, but Faye didn't especially feel like passing through a gate and paying the associated toll -- or, honestly, letting her ship be seen at an official checkpoint, if she could help it.

Plus, Mars had cities, which meant nightlife. And this was, after all, a date. Faye could even admit it.

"All right," Faye noted quietly -- given that it was still a very snug fit in the Red Tail's cockpit, she really could keep her voice fairly low -- as she gestured out the windshield to a green spot on the red planet. "So that's Tharsis, where we're headed. Still doing good?"

He seemed like he was doing fine, but Faye had found that checking in with Stark was just a thing she'd started doing since the whole hole thing, regardless.

[for the space date and NFB for distance, self.]
stykera: (ok)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm fine," Stark assured her just as quietly. And he was. Once he'd gotten settled and comfortable within the ship he'd relaxed a bit. "Better than the last flight." He wasn't clinging tightly, this time, or hiding his face.

"But...I appreciate that you check."
stykera: (eye)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"It wasn't a bad flight. Given the circumstances. But this is better." In multiple ways, really. Longer, more relaxing, and this was the first time Stark had been out among the stars in a long time. "Thank you."

"What did you do there?" he asked, turning to get a better look at that very conspicuous wheel. Why would she possibly be avoiding a former employer? Surely she wouldn't do that.
stykera: (little smile)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"I haven't played many card games. Definitely not for money." Stark might have a halfway decent poker face if he could manage to stay calm and focused but that was a big if. "Maybe you could teach me." That would end well, right?

"Were you there long? Or where we're headed, on the planet?"
stykera: (little smile)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"Fandom is the place I've stayed the longest voluntarily. People staying just seems to happen," Stark said.

"I'm glad you stayed," he added, leaning forward just a bit to place a very soft kiss on the back of her neck. "Very glad."
stykera: (side view)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, ignore those brain alarms, Faye! Everyone will be happier that way.

"It has that effect, I think. I'm not sure it's the candy canes. The people? The people help. Part of why I stay is the people. Maybe it's the wildlife?" Not the raccoons, obviously, they were the worst. "Late night alarms I think are easy to find."
Edited 2021-08-02 22:18 (UTC)
stykera: (mask)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"I wouldn't expect that most places." Nobody had handed Stark alcohol when he first arrived in Fandom though. "Definitely not where I was before. Maybe on the ship, if I go back. Someday. But what will they do when we land?"

Did he need to be prepared for someone pulling a gun for no reason?
stykera: (ok)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-02 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"Occasionally it was fun there." In between all the traumas. So many traumas. "Sometimes I miss it. Mostly the people. Moya was home, for a while."

"But I think we can handle a fee and pickpockets." He didn't carry much with him, usually. "And what do you have planned, once we land and pay the fee?"
stykera: (awkward)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-03 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Faye knowing about pickpocket behaviors? Just because she came home with Stark's pockets full of phones and cash after Summer's birthday doesn't mean anything!

"I am not," Stark reminded her, "someone who dances often." Or maybe ever. Especially in public. "I suppose I could try." Going to the bar first might help.

"Or we could stay here." Because yes, that did sound fun. "...but it seems a shame to come all this way and see the planet at all." There was plenty of time later.
stykera: (little smile)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-03 01:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Stark could absolutely sway a bit to some music like some sort of large prop. He might even enjoy it! Right now he was just going to enjoy the kiss. Perhaps even steal another.

"You'll be watched," he said, eventually. By Stark, absolutely, and quite possibly by other people. Faye was eye-catching! "While you dance. Definitely watched if we come back out here. But just by me, then. I hope. Or we could go somewhere else."

He really was not an exhibitionist. At all. But they had been in such close quarters this entire flight and doing something about that was sounding more and more appealing.
stykera: (serious)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-03 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"I had noticed that," Stark admitted. He could be shy enough for the both of them, and Faye could soak up all the attention. It evened out. "I do like watching you," he added quietly. In case he hadn't made that very clear over the past few months.

"And I didn't think you'd take me somewhere the mask would be a problem." Because he trusted her, no matter how many times she might protest that he shouldn't. He would still be a little nervous about it. He was always a little nervous about something. Was that degree of nervousness why he was wrapping his arms a little tighter around Faye when they started the descent? Maybe. Or maybe that was just an excuse.
stykera: (cling!)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-03 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
But Faye hadn't done anything to Stark that would make him not trust her! She hadn't even run off with any of his belongings. At least not that he'd noticed.

"I don't think there's much space travel at all, in the usual Fandom time. Or a lot of Earths, really. I only ever met the one human before Fandom." And now there were so many humans to keep track of! "I don't know about gates. We don't have those where I was before, either. Just ships. But I think I'll like Mars." It looked interesting, at least, from here. And he had a lovely tour guide. That helped.
stykera: (eye)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-03 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Leviathans, like Moya, can Starburst," Stark said, turning a bit so he could get a better look around as they approached. "Other ships have Hetch drives, for faster than light travel. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to get far. Things were very spread out. Are very spread out." So spread out they called a good portion of inhabited space Uncharted!

"It's still strange, sometimes, knowing there aren't others around who aren't human, most places." It was a little lonely, really.
stykera: (looking sideways)

[personal profile] stykera 2021-08-03 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm not the only one who isn't human," Stark said, after thinking about it for a moment. "But there aren't many of us." And only one other alien that he could think of, who also happened to be glowy!

"There have been others, other times. Even ones I knew from before. This looks," he said, gesturing outside, "more like Earth than I would have thought." Just a vaguely futuristic Earth. "None of your planets had people before you got there?"

The multiverse was odd like that. Some places you had countless intelligent species. Some places you only ever found the one.

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