dark_ages | landing party ( for thecanarylives )

landing party ( for thecanarylives )

[ He comes to with his head pounding, his vision blurred, and a persistent ringing in his ears. It takes him a while-- a good while, maybe seconds or maybe minutes, to even regain his vision properly, and to take in his surroundings. He's in a shuttle, which is completely wrecked, panels broken and burnt, wires hanging from everywhere, sparks going off and small fires here or there. They're also tilted forward slightly, so he can feel his weight pushing against the belts keeping him strapped to his chair. He looks beyond the window and he sees a lush forest just outside, trees and blue skies as far as the eye can see. It'd be pretty if not for the fact that they've clearly crashed on the planet they were supposed to land on.

Shit. Holy shit, they crashed. How the fuck did they crash? Leonard just wanted to gather some samples from the surface, it didn't even warrant a landing party bigger than two people, how the fuck did they end up like this?

That thought gets his brain into gear. Because he's not alone. He looks over to find Sara passed out, though at least thankfully still strapped to her seat. He lets out a shuddered breath, trying not to panic as he struggles to undo his own safety belt. ]

Sara!! Come on, you piece of shi-- [ His panicked grousing is cut off as his belt comes undone, and he just barely manages to brace himself against the controls rather than slam right into them. Head still spinning, he nevertheless forces himself to stumble towards her, looking her over briefly for possible injuries before he cups her face, trying to wake her up. ] Sara. Hey, can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes...

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[ Now who's the nonsensical one.

Then again, she's now torn between fiddling with the controls to try and boost the signal and scaring that signal away, so she just sits there, frozen in place as she stares at the device.

After a moment, though, she glances over at him. ]

Look at you, sounding almost optimistic. [ She offers him a smile in return, shifting slightly to lean back against the stone again. ]

Better get comfortable. We won't be heading back to the cave any time soon.

[ Probably best not to do anything right now, no. If there's a signal, weak though it may be, then the Enterprise will pick up on it. No point in doing anything that might ruin that. ]

I know! Must be the drop in oxygen up here. [ He snorts, following her as he settles back against the wall again. ]

Great. Let's get huddled up for the night, then.

[ That one gets a genuine laugh out of her, relief evident in the ease of her breath. Shifting a little closer to him, she tugs the blanket up to her shoulders, eyes still lingering on the device even as she settles in. ]

Can't exactly light a fire up here, since there's a good chance the natives'll see us. But if it gets too cold, let me know. We'll figure something out.

[ He's still smiling a hint as he settles next to her too, scooting as close as he can manage so they can at least share some body warmth. At this point the awkwardness will have to be set aside for the sake of both their well-being. ]

It's alright. Let's just get under the same blanket, body heat should help some.

[ It does help that their clothes are fairly insulating, too. No cold feet either, hopefully. ]

[ She leans in so their shoulders are flush against each other, shifting her blanket over to him and then overlapping his blanket on top. Double insulation and shared body warmth should help against the wind, which is conveniently picking up.

She's about to say something flirty, but manages to bite her tongue, tucking her feet underneath the blanket to anchor it in place. ]

I'm assuming you've been stranded on a foreign planet like this before?

[ The proximity and sharing the blankets does help in conserving the warmth, so hopefully they won't feel the chill quite as much. It's probably a lot to hope that the ship will be able to beam them up before they get to the really cold hours of the night, but who knows. They might be able to get out of here sooner than they think. ]

Couple of times, yeah. Not usually on a crashed shuttle, though. More often than not we were beamed down and then there was just something keeping us from beaming back up.

[ She's fairly comfortable, save for the nip of the wind at her nose and cheeks. The wind chill is likely to pick up soon enough, though, so hopefully the ship can hone in on their signal sooner rather than later.

Hopefully.

She rests her arms on her knees underneath the blanket, testing the ache in her shoulder with small movements where the wound from the crash is still healing. ]

Really? I can't even tell you how many times I've been a shuttle crash. Or a ship wreck. [ She frowns. ] Most of which were totally not my fault, if that's what you're thinking.

Who, me? Of course not. I know how good a pilot you are.

[ Leonard's pretty good at it himself, he just doesn't like it at all. But he can certainly recognize that same skill in others. And besides, her track record speaks for itself. ]

To be fair, you're probably sent on shuttle missions more often than I am. Mine, I'm usually just beamed down to the planet.

Sweet talker.

[ She quirks a small smile, eyes still lingering on the tangle of devices and slight, flickering light that emits from it. It's not a steady signal, but hopefully it's enough to catch someone's attention.

She chews on her lip. ]

Guess you're right. Though I do prefer not sending pieces of myself across the galaxy and hoping they arrive in the right order on the other side.

What can I say? It's a talent.

[ His lips quirk into a small smile, and he shakes his head. The playful banter does help in keeping him distracted, at least, awkwardness momentarily set aside.

He laughs at her comment. ]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I absolutely agree with you on that one. Definitely don't trust those goddamn machines. But... well, it's part of the job. I can just complain and yell loudly about it, I guess. Jim loves it when I do that.

Careful, doc. You'll end up just as bad as the Captain.

[ She chuckles, shifting to cross her legs underneath herself. The temperature's dropping fast around them as the night grows darker, though a planet with no technology or light pollution means a vast, bright array of stars lighting up the night sky. ]

You? Yell loudly and complain? I can't imagine. [ She grins, gaze soaking in the view. ] I bet he does. Probably why he complains and yells so loudly when I kick his ass in the training room. It's a sick cycle we've made up for ourselves.

I don't know. A lot of people seem to appreciate that about him.

[ Leonard can be plenty charming when he wants to be. It's just that usually he aims it at very specific people, under very specific circumstances. It's too easy to fall into that with Sara, he'll admit, especially when he knows it'll likely end up with him getting some form of feelings involved, which he knows she won't appreciate. ]

He likes to whine. Poor him. Kick his ass, he's askin' for it getting onto the mat with you.

Not once morning comes. Though I guess all his sweet talking's done by then.

[ To be fair, he can be pretty charming even when he doesn't want to be. Once you get past all the grumbling, anyway. Either way, he's honest and he cares, which is more than Sara thinks she deserves or would even know how to handle, if she tried.

It's been a long time since she's let herself form real, true feelings for another person. ]

Oh, like you don't enjoy whining a little bit, too. [ She nudges an elbow into his. ] And trust me, I do. Doesn't help with the whining much, though.

Wouldn't know. Never been one of his bed mates.

[ Never really considered it, either. Jim's his best friend, though, and Leonard does think he's far more considerate now than he used to be in their Academy years. Leonard's also fairly sure he hasn't quite indulged as often, but he hopes that he's gotten mature enough to show a little more respect than that.

Either way, Jim's charm applies to plenty areas of his life, and Leonard should know. He's been on the receiving end of it often, whenever Jim wants to convince him to do something dangerous, crazy, or otherwise ill-advised. Leonard's charm, on the other hand, is hidden under some layers of grump and pessimism, and is reserved to specific occasions. ]

You're tellin' me. He just comes whining to me after about how mean you are. [ He chuckles. Then a thought comes to mind and he asks before he thinks twice of it. ] He never... you know, tried anything with you?

Guess we both dodged a bullet there, huh?

[ The Captain certainly had calmed down quite a bit since she'd first joined The Enterprise. He'd earned himself quite the reputation around Starfleet for both his recklessness and his long list of bed mates, but a five year mission in deep space seemed to have taught him a few lessons in maturity.

Not that he'd necessarily turned over a new leaf entirely. While the mission might feel a little isolated at times, it wasn't exactly boring. And she was the last person with the right to judge anyone for being reckless and a little... open in the bedroom.

In any case, she's been on the receiving end of the Captain's charm enough times to know that she appreciates Leonard's more subtle approach. God knows the Doctor can turn it on when he wants to. ]

And I'm sure you're very sympathetic. [ She laughs, slouching a little and resting her temple lightly against his shoulder. At his question, she barks out a laugh. ] Plenty of times. Even got close a time or two, when I first joined. [ She shrugs. ] Back then, he would've slept with anything that moved.

Guess we must have.

[ Aside from Jim's tendencies, Leonard doesn't want to think about what sleeping together might've done to their friendship, even if he may not have considered it. The truth of the matter is that he was in a pretty low place when they first met, and it probably wouldn't have taken much for Jim to wiggle his way into his bed, and he's immensely grateful that Jim never tried. Their friendship is one of the most precious things in Leonard's life, he doesn't know where he'd be without that in his life.

Also, he's quietly very glad that he didn't manage to wiggle his way into Sara's bed, either. Not that it's any of his damn business, but anyway. ]

Right, [ He hums, remembering those days well. ] Pretty much, yeah.

[ Sleeping around with anyone at the start of a long mission in deep space was a bad idea at all angles, and thankfully she'd managed to steer clear of any of that drama... for the most part, anyway. Present company excluded. But despite the playful flirtation, she liked to think she and the Captain had a good rapport. Not as close as he and Leonard were, by any means, but they'd been on enough missions together over the years to trust each other implicitly in the field.

Still, she's thankful she was smart enough to dodge the awkwardness that would've come with having slept with two commanding officers on a deceivingly small ship.

The windchill nips at her cheeks and nose now, the terrain quickly growing dark around them. ]

What about you? He never tempted you into the Casanova life?

[ Yeah, that probably would've been awkward. Not that Jim tends to tell him who he's slept with. Leonard sort of knew at the Academy, but that's mostly because the concept of privacy was entirely alien to Jim, and at all times it was public knowledge who was the last pretty face that Jim had managed to charm into his bed.

At least he exercises some discretion, these days.

He lets out a soft laugh, shaking his head. ]

We've gone out a couple times, back at the Academy. I'm sure his idea was that we'd be each other wing men. But... it's never been my style. Sleepin' around.

[ She'd joined the team a few years into the five year mission, and even then Jim's reputation had preceded him, and the story of the Enterprise's maiden voyage had been a buzz around the Academy for a long time afterwards.

She smirks at the image of the Captain dragging Leonard to a bar to meet women. The grumpiness that would've ensued. ]

Kind of a shame to waste that talent. But I get it.

[ At least these days Jim's admired and applauded by the good he does, not just talked about and mocked. It gives Leonard a modicum of happiness, knowing Jim's appreciated as he should.

Well actually he is pretty good at meeting women, he doesn't do too poorly in that regard. The problem comes when he's not the casual hookup type and it's sort of hard to have a relationship when he's never around. ]

I can still use my legendary hands in my own field of work, at least. Reckon that's better than nothing, don't you think?

[ Even back then, despite Jim's reputation, she still had to admit he knew how to get a job done. Even if he broke about a thousand rules in the process.

She chuckles, shrugging a shoulder. ]

I guess I can live with knowing it's not a total waste.

[ He smiles quietly, not looking at her. Silence lingers between them for a while, though he finds it surprisingly comforting, with Sara sitting next to him, her head resting on his shoulder like that.

Eventually he speaks up. ]

You should try to get some sleep, Sara. I'll keep watch first.

[ An easy silence settles between them, and with it the weight of the day starts to take hold. They'd been hiking the bulk of the day, and with her injuries still healing and a concussion lingering around the base of her skull, soreness and exhaustion starts to tug quickly at her senses.

Welcoming the urge to get some sleep - even if the chill of the night air means it won't be all that restful - she tugs her blaster from its holster and rests it between their legs. ]

Wake me in two hours. Earlier if you hear anything.

Will do. Don't worry.

[ He does know how keeping watch works, and Sara certainly doesn't have to worry about him trying to play hero just so he won't wake her. If anything happens, either with the device or anything else anywhere near them, he'll wake her up.

It's about coming up to two hours of him being alone with his own thoughts, an arm put around her shoulders in the meantime just to keep her warmer and more comfortable, that static noise starts coming through the comm device hooked to the improvised satellite. Leonard straightens up, then he nudges Sara awake. ]

Hey. Sara, wake up. I think they're trying to send a message through.

[ Sara's a light sleeper as it is, and she's fairly used to only getting a few hours at a time. She's up as soon as she feels him stir, blinking her eyes open and hissing in a breath. ]

Mm? [ Her eyes focus on the fluttering light in front of them, brighter than it was when she fell asleep, the static noise hissing against the wind. Shifting the blanket off herself, she crawls over to fiddle with the signal a little, attempting to coax the message out of it. ]

Shit. [ She frowns, casting a gaze around them and using the edge of the blanket to cover the blinking light. ] Hopefully none of the locals have seen it. You hear anything come through?

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