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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[ 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. ]

Hey, you take that back. I'm a fucking hoot.

[ She laughs, settling back in next to him. And for the record, yes. Dare is a hell of a lot easier for her than truth, every single time. ]

You're really overestimating my sense of shame here, Doc. [ She digs her comm out of her bag this time, fiddling with it a moment before shifting it into camera mode. Pulling the most ridiculous face she can muster, tongue out and double-chinned, she pans the camera over to take a shot of the both of them before setting the file as her profile photo. ]

It won't upload until we're back on the ship, but there you go.

[ Yeah, it's true. She is pretty damn fun, but then he's just teasing her, here. ]

I'm sure I am. But I'm not very inventive when it comes to dares.

[ He could probably think of a few more exciting ones, but... well, they'd be more the type that'd likely cross some lines and make things awkward between them, so.

He glances over and is surprised to find her aiming the camera at both of them, but all that'll be on her picture is Leonard by the corner with a raised eyebrow, like he's not entirely sure what he's doing there. ]

Charming. [ He chuckles, sighing. ] Truth.

[ See? A hoot, damnit. ]

I guess that's alright. It's not exactly on the CMO job description, anyway.

[ She's still laughing at the picture even after it's ready for posting, tucking her comm away before glancing over at him. Chewing on her lip, she contemplates a good prompt. ]

Hmm. When was the last time you were embarrassed?

[ They don't really teach that in medical school, no. Sometimes at the Academy they'd be challenged to be more inventive with problem solving, especially those in the Command path, but it just comes more naturally to some than others. ]

About ten seconds ago, when you took that picture?

[ But he chuckles. That's not the real answer, he wasn't actually embarrassed then. With a sigh, he leans his head back against the rock. ]

When I woke up next to you, I think. I was pretty damn embarrassed, then.

[ She doubts any class trying to teach inventiveness would be very good at it, anyway. She mostly learned the hard way. Fighting for survival means finding creative ways to stay alive.

She laughs, nudging him with an elbow when he mentions the picture. She's actually kind of fond of it now.

When he gives her a real answer, her head perks up in surprise, eyes gazing at him curiously. ]

Really? That's... definitely not the answer I was expecting.

Seriously?

[ Well, now he's the one who's surprised to hear that. He looks over at her, eyebrows knitted together in curiosity and mild amusement. ]

What kind of answer were you expecting, then?

I... I don't know. [ She shrugs. ] I guess it just wasn't that embarrassing for me. [ She frowns. ] That might not reflect all that well on me, though.

What was embarrassing about it?

[ Oh. Oh. He definitely hadn't meant it that way, and immediately he sits a little more tensely when she puts it like that. ]

No, don't say that. It's not a comment on you, it's just...

[ He shrugs. The kind of person he is, he supposes. It certainly isn't a comment on who she is or how she views casual relationships. ]

Just... waking up thinkin' I hadn't behaved properly with you, the night before. That bottle of scotch loosened me up a whole lot more than I was counting on.

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