Ronin - S02E03 Interlude Aside - Alone Time

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<<< Continued from Ronin - S02E03 Interlude - Hablong, home of the Verses most famous potato museum >>>

"Victoria, I have no plans to leave you again." "If only these bandages were no longer necessary ... V, let's see how fast we can get you moved into my quarters then at least you could sleep next to me tonight."

"Weren't we going to plot and conspire, first? Let's take care of business, and then we can start worrying about where I'll be staying tonight. Shall we?"

Lin and Victoria made their way back to Lin's room, it was bare, definitely could have used a womans touch.

[Victoria Dare]

After the briefing was done, and Lin was filled in on what had happened in his absence, Victoria headed to her quarters to begin packing things up.  It wasn't an elaborate affair--she was only carting her things down a few corridors, so there was minimal wrapping or packing going on as she tucked items into boxes and stacked them by her door.

Contrary to her jest with Lin earlier, she really didn't have that much to move.  Many of her weapons were stored in the armory, while only her favorites remained on display in her quarters.  Her clothing was also not as abundant as may have been expected, since she only needed a few outfits for everyday wear around the ship.  The rest remained in storage unless needed for a dirtside excursion, keeping the clutter in her quarters to a minimum.

About all that remained were her "memories".  Victoria had always struggled to remember things from very far back, thanks largely to what the Academy had done to her mind.  She'd found after joining Ronin's crew that maintaining a physical connection to people and things could keep memories fresh in her mind, and help her to recall that which she had lost.  Into the box she tucked an old, worn coin, a small golden cat, a grease-soiled rag...  Some of her treasures had the possibility of being genuinely valuable antiques, while others were little more than rubbish that likely would have been thrown out if she hadn't claimed it.  To Victoria, however, they were all irreplaceable, and each item was packed with the same amount of care, regardless of it's value.  With each item she placed into the box, she would pause momentarily and remember the person it had come from, feeling a mixture of fondness, sadness, and in some cases, amusement.

At last, she had packed everything up.  Feeling accomplished and exhausted, she grabbed a box that contained her most necessary of necessities and headed for Lin's quarters...

Our quarters, she reminded herself with a smile.

[Lin Kuei]

Most of his stuff had been packed up and set aside after he left. Lin made an effort to put some back where it was meant to be. He'd already had a sizable room left over from when he had originally stayed onboard before leaving. He reminded himself to find out if anything had changed beyond the Alliance's attempts to shoehorn Ronin. It was not something he was going to just let happen. This was his home. It was Victoria's home. It was their home.

Lin gave himself a smile as he proceeded to move some of the other material around the room to make sure that Victoria had a good place for her stuff. He took a moment to set a kettle to boil for some tea only to look up and see Victoria entering the room. It was a good feeling and caused something to stir inside of him. "I've left you that area of the room to do with as you wish." Lin gestured in general fashion as he pulled out two teacups for them to use once the water had boiled. He would need to get new ones soon.

[Victoria Dare]

"I've left you that area of the room to do with as you wish."

Victoria nodded in response and headed for the freshly-vacated space before setting down her box of items with a weary sigh.  Though she hadn't had to pack much, all of the events of the day had caught up to her, and fatigue was quickly setting in.  Suddenly feeling the need to sit down, she paused only long enough to retrieve a familiar blanket from the top of the box--Lin's blanket.  She turned to her Captain with a look on her face that was a mixture of playfulness and embarrassment, still hugging the blanket in her arms.

"When you left, I..." she paused and the sheepish expression grew, "I took it rather hard.  I also took your blanket.  I'm sorry."

She looked at him with a half-grin, and offered the blanket to him.

"I found it to be a poor substitute," she added.

[Lin Kuei]

Lin had just set the teacups down on the saucers when Victoria brought out the blanket. "I'm sorry." He stood up and stepped next to her looking at the blanket. "I'm sorry you had to make do with just the blanket. I can only imagine how much of a poor substitute it was." There was a sorrowful smile beneath the bandages on his face. Without any warning, like he really needed it, Lin suddenly picked up Victoria off the ground in a bearhug. The blanket was trapped between them as he held her close. "I really wish these bandages could come off so you can see what an ugly pus-filled face devil I've had them make me into ... just for you." A laugh came out past the bandages. It was good to be back home and holding Victoria again. The next thing needed was some tea and the water was almost to the boiling point.

[Victoria Dare]

Victoria grunted involuntarily as Lin scooped her up in another embrace, unable to return the gesture with his blanket still held in her arms.  As he squeezed her, she let out a soft squeak of protest and strained to put her feet back on the floor.

"You are smooshing me," she complained, but there was a smile on her face as he laughed.  When at last he set her down, she coughed softly, regained her composure, then turned to spread the blanket back out on the bed where it belonged, taking her time to make it tidy with her usual habit of neatness and order.

"I don't care what you look like," she commented as she made the bed.  "You're still Lin in every way that matters to me."  She turned back to face him, her voice soft and gentle in the stillness of his cabin.  "I don't know if I ever got a chance to tell you this, but... I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.  At the time, of course, I had no clue, but in retrospect it was obvious..."  She sidled up beside him and rested against him, breathing deeply of his scent and feeling comforted by the warmth of his presence.  "I could kick myself for waiting so long to tell you how I felt."

[Lin Kuei]

"Smooshing? ... I think that will come later once these bandages come off." Lin placed his hand around behind her back and on her hip. "Please do not kick yourself too hard." He gave her a soft smile and reached for the kettle which had just started to whistle. Lin grabbed the kettle and quickly poured the water before dumping a tea bag into each cup. Replacing the kettle, he quickly set each saucer on top of its respective cup so it would steep for a bit before they drank it.

Lin softened in general around Victoria now. In fact, he spoke in a soft whisper at this particular point. "Hmm... the first time I saw you. You were still with Wraith at the time on board the ship. Becker had given you your room only as a courtesy and you had hardly even been allowed into the kitchen at the time. You seemed like a little lost bird so long ago and Lenore was trying to play mother to you as well." Lin bowed his head in recollection for a few moments. "She passed on and Becker became afflicted all within a month or two of each other. I just took over and, seeing what had done in the kitchen previously, it seemed the most natural fit. You needed a home, a place to belong and feel safe in. I felt the same for you." Lin gave her a soft firm hug that did not crush her but made her feel even more wanted than she may already have felt.

[Victoria Dare]

"That's 'smooching'," Victoria corrected with a slight roll of her eyes and a laugh, "And your'e damn right it will--with a vengeance!"

As Lin went on to prepare the tea, he began to talk about things from long ago, bringing up names and memories nearly forgotten.  A wistful smile crossed her features as she reflected on the early days of Ronin, and of the crew that was now long-gone.

"Actually," she amended.  "Captain Becker stuck me in the galley from the start.  He asked me, 'can you cook?' And I said 'yes' and voila... Victoria the chef."  She giggled softly before sobering a bit.  "Of course, he never truly recognized my other talents... It wasn't until you took charge that I really became involved in missions.  Before that, the only time I got to tag along was if I somehow tricked or forced him to let me." 

As she spoke, she retrieved a hair brush from her box of belongings and took the hairsticks from her hair.  Long, copper-brown tresses cascaded over her shoulders--a rare sight since Victoria almost always had her hair pinned up and out of her way.  Her hair was surprisingly long, falling easily to the middle of her back as she carefully brushed it out.

"It's strange to look back," she remarked, her eyes on her tea as the steam twisted and danced from the cup.  "Strange to realize how much has changed... how much I have changed."  Her eyes moved from the table to meet his gaze, and she got an odd smile.  "In a strange sort of way, I think I really grew up on this ship.  When I arrived here, I only remembered the past four years or so of my life.  I had no family, no experience in the 'Verse beyond the Academy... The Academy taught me how to be a weapon, but life on Ronin is what taught me how to be a human being.  Life around you..."

She set her hairbrush down and delicately removed the teabag from her cup, setting it on the saucer before taking a sip.

[Lin Kuei]

"Smooching..." Lin said it really slowly like it was something he had never heard before. He had not heard her giggle in some time and had forgotten what it had sounded like. He smiled as he looked at her. "I'm looking forward to the idea of seeing if you are actually ticklish anywhere." A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he placed his hand on her kneecap and massaged it gently for a few seconds to see if he could get the giggle back that he knew she now had. Lin took a sip of his tea and midway through it decided to drink more of the cup. His thoughts ran to the mask he still had to wear and how he wanted to just rip it off his face as soon as possible. It would not be a wise move.

Lin set his cup back in the saucer which was placed back on the table and felt the bandages on his face. "I need to talk to Rhiannon about accelerating an already accelerated process. ... I want these bandages off. I want this face healed up so you can actually place your hands on my face and I can actually feel them. ... It will allow us to get even closer before to perhaps show you something that could happen between us." Lin quickly picked up the teacup and drained the contents. He was irritated about the healing process and for once, he was more agitated than Victoria.

[Victoria Dare]

"Ticklish!?" Victoria repeated, looking alarmed.  "Of course not!  Don't even try it!"

His caress on her knee wasn't enough to inspire a giggle, but it did make her smile, and she leaned a little closer to him.  As his mood turned to aggravation, she sensed it immediately, picking up on his frustrations even before he voiced them.  Her amused smile shifted into something gentle, loving... understanding... and with both hands, she gently held his bandaged face and kissed him tenderly.

"Such a strange turn of events that you would be living in the future and I in the past," she whispered softly as her hazel eyes gazed into his.  "Perhaps we can meet at the middle and live together in the present, wo de airen*."

*my love

[Lin Kuei]

Lin had to resist snorting with laughter at Victoria's response to being ticklish. He enjoyed her smiles. He always did given what he knew about her past, what she had gone through, and how things had changed for her as her life on Ronin had progressed. She had grown from a slip of a girl to woman who deserved more respect than she ever got. Victoria had changed Lin's life irrevocably for the better.

Music

He had become frustrated with the mask and wanting it off of his face as soon as he got back to the ship. Now, his patience was wearing thin for having to wear it so long. In a switch of the past several years, it was Victoria calming him down and telling him things were going to be okay in the end. The tender kiss, he admitted, would have felt that much better without the mask on. The kiss itself though is not what brought him calm. It was her eyes and her words. "Bao bei, wa huì yang yaan
ài na.*" Lin pulled her to him so she sat straddling his lap and rested his head on her shoulder.

*Sweetheart, I will love you forever

[Victoria Dare]

As malleable as clay, she offered no resistance as Lin drew her onto his lap, resting her head on him as he did on her and closing her eyes with a content sigh.  She wanted nothing more than to be a close to him as she could be, to hear his heart beat and his breathing as though they were a part of her and to bask in the warmth of his body.  Silence fell over her, and she held him close as a feeling of bliss swelled within her.  In all of her troubled life, she had never before been this happy, and she never wanted this feeling to go way.

"Tomorrow will become today," she whispered after a long, still moment,  "today will become yesterday, and I will be here ever by your side."