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...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ 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?

[ Leonard moves after her, kneeling next to the device and peering over her shoulder while she tries to get it to work properly. It's faint, but there seems to be some kind of tapping noise coming through, rather than words. ]

Yeah. Hold on. [ He's quiet then, holding a hand up for her to be silent. ] You don't happen to know Morse code, do you? I'm a little rusty, myself.

[ He can make an attempt, but... yeah. ]

[ Her attention is still on the patch of darkness to their left, brow furrowed at the trail that lead them up the mountain. ]

Hm? [ She glances at him distractedly, falling silent at his direction and listening curiously at the taps of static coming from the device. He's right. It's been ages since she's heard Morse Code - it's not exactly the most current way to communicate, but they'd spent a brief amount of time on it at the Academy.

Reaching for her bag, she rummages around for a knife and starts to scratch the pattern into the stone behind them. ]

[ Leonard falls silent, aware that she's focusing on what's coming through the message. Morse code is admittedly odd and unusual, and it makes him wander what could be affecting communications so badly that they can't even send an audio message through.

He looks between the device, Sara, and the stone she's carving into, only speaking up when she stops, and it really looks like she's done. ]

So? What is it?

(( ooc: figure it could be a message about some ongoing storm that's affecting ship's systems and that they should wait out the night? but if you have something else in mind roll with it! :D ))

[ For a moment she scratches the pattern of dashes and dots into the dimly lit stone, pausing a moment when the sounds start to repeat themselves. Frowning, she divides the words up and fills in the vowels she remembers, then the consonants, eventually spelling the brief message out in full. ]

Solar storm. Stay put. Sunrise. Scotty.

[ She shrugs, glancing over at Leonard with a brow cocked. ]

I give him bonus points for alliteration.

(( ooc: yesss rolling with it! ))

[ Leonard heaves out a sigh, then nods. A storm. That's good, actually. Really good. Means that when it passes, communications should be fine again and they can get beamed the hell out of this rock.

At her last remark he snorts, moving to sit against the rock again. ]

Wouldn't put it past him that he did it intentionally. Anyway, we may as well get some sleep while we wait.

[ The fact that he's not grumbling in pessimism at the message is a relief in and of itself, really. Sunrise won't be horribly far away, and at least they don't need to get trekking God knows where else in the middle of the freezing night to get picked up.

She nods, gaze shifting back to the trail behind them for a moment before returning her attention to him. ]

You get some rest. I'll keep watch for a while.

[ Any message is an improvement right now. A message they can actually understand, and one that promises that in a few hours they should be back on the ship and back to safety, is a pretty damn good reason for him to practice some optimism. It won't do them any good to start grumbling right now, anyway.

A hundred things could go wrong before then. The way she keeps looking at the path they came from is leaving his hairs standing on end already, his own eyes darting back to it before he looks back to her. ]

It's alright. I'm not that tired. [ He shrugs. ] Maybe we can keep each other company 'til sunrise.

[ At least he's selective about his grumbling. She hesitates a moment, thoughtful before a small smile settles on her lips. ]

Got any puzzles? Board games? Deck of cards, maybe?

[ She settles back into her spot next to him, leaning back against the stone. Her blaster is still nestled between them, her fingertips grazing against the handle. ]

I'm afraid I didn't pack that up for the journey, no.

[ He pulls the blankets up over them, crossing his legs so he can get as much of himself under the covers as possible. ]

There are always stupid question games, if you want to distract yourself. Not sure my life's that interesting, though.

I'll try and find it in my heart to forgive you.

[ She smirks, tucking her knees up to her chest and huddling in next to him. ]

What, like truth or dare?

Thanks. All my emotional stability depends on that.

[ He jokes back with a snort, particularly when she asks that question. Yeah, putting it like that makes it sound childish and stupid, but... ]

Yeah, sure. Something like that. Should keep us distracted, so why not?

What emotional stability?

[ She flashes him a grin, leaning back against the stone wall again. ]

Alright, fine. But I'm picking dare first.

[ He snorts at that, shrugging promptly. ]

Fine, then. I dare you to cluck like a chicken in the middle of a crowded mess hall, once we're back to the Enterprise.

[ Surely she was expecting a totally ridiculous and embarrassing dare. ]

[ She bubbles out a laugh, flashing him a grin. ]

You're sorely underestimating my shamelessness, but okay.

[ She shrugs a shoulder. ] Aren't you supposed to dare me to do something right now, though? We may just end up with a long IOU list otherwise.

Exactly what kind of dare would I come up with that's ridiculous but won't put you at risk, here?

[ He's not exactly looking to doing stupid shit down here while they wait for rescue. So yeah, he was thinking of just tallying dares to fulfill once back on the ship. ]

What sort of dare would you give me? Hypothetically. If I were to ask for a dare.

I dunno, Doc. Guess you're gonna have to get creative.

[ She grins, a glint of mischief in her eye, huffing another laugh at his question. ]

Oh, c'mon. You can't just test drive a dare. [ She shakes her head at him, glancing over at him curiously a moment. ]

Alright, fine. I dare you... to eat a piece of that meat I cooked this morning.

Not sure I have it in me to get creative right now.

[ Hell, he's not exactly the most creative mind to begin with. But anyway.

He looks at her with wide eyes, whole face twisting into a disgusted frown. ]

Good God. You still have some of that with you?

I think you don't give yourself enough credit.

[ She shoots him a wink, bursting out into another laugh at the look on his face. ]

I just cooked it this morning! It's practically fresh. [ She leans over to grab her pack, fishing around for the package of meat and handing it over to him. ] Go on.

[ Leonard rolls his eyes, both at the comment about giving himself enough credit, and the meat being freshly cooked. That's not exactly the problem he had with it, but sure. ]

You know, I agree it is a little odd to get meat exclusively from replicators, but at least I don't have to watch the poor creature get slaughtered and gutted.

[ He's still frowning almost comically as she hands him the package, uncovering it with a displeased noise. ] Christ. The shit you make me do.

[ Heaving a sigh, he takes the smallest piece of the meat and mouths it, chewing and swallowing it down quickly. At least it's not dripping blood everywhere and the memory of her preparing it is more distant, and the taste isn't the worst thing he's had. ] There. Happy, now?

Circle of Life, doc. You should know that better than anyone.

[ She takes another piece from the package, popping one into her mouth and chewing on it as he struggles to keep his down. Laughing and tucking the package back into her bag, she nods. ]

Very. Alright, my turn. Dare.

[ Leonard snorts, shaking his head. ]

You're absolutely no fun.

[ Is she going to pick 'dare' every single time? He's got a feeling she will. ]

Alright, then. Take an embarrassing picture of yourself and post it as a profile picture.

[ You know, on whatever social media she uses. Even Leonard has one, come on. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject