gimmethemap | 72 - [Private to West]

...

Very well. Your quarters or mine?

The last time we had a sit-down, the common area turned out all right.

Do you want to try that again, or are there some matters you'd rather discuss in seclusion?

There are no matters I'd rather discuss. I'd assumed you were interested in discussing something. As it is, I have no preferences.

The common room on your floor then. I'll be along shortly.

Fine.

[West is hardly enthusiastic about this, but he shows up nonetheless]

[Like last time, she brings tea on a tray. King Charles is on her shoulder when she comes, tail coiled about her neck and clicking at their surroundings with interest. It's one of the least difficult things to make, she's learned. After her meeting with Libby, she feels at least a little more confident.]

Here we are.

[She sets the tray down on a table and sits in the place she sat last time.]

[West eyes the monkey warily. Filthy creatures.]

Right.

[He sits down, as well. As is usual in his talks with his warden, he's not offering much in the way of conversation]

[Morgan knows West isn't fond of King Charles, which is why before pouring her own tea she picks up a sugar cube and hands it to the small creature. King Charles sings in response, and she utters a quiet "psstpsst" noise at him. He climbs down from her shoulder and ambles toward the way out. He stops just before West, rises up his full monkey-height, and salutes him, a bulge in his left cheek where he is holding the cube in his mouth. He makes a few more clicky-whistly song noises before departing.]

Right.

[Morgan leans forward and serves up two cups, scooting the tray closer to him so he can add cream and sugar as he likes while she steeps her own.]

I didn't call this meeting to tell you what you were doing wrong or anything. I just haven't seen much of you since you came back, and decided it was high time we catch up.

[He has to GRUDGINGLY admit that the monkey's a little cute, but he's still wary of the little creature. When it leaves, West takes a cup and blows on the tea, cooling it off some]

I suppose so. There isn't much to report, to be honest.

Then let's start off simple: How are you?

[She raises an eyebrow.]

But you've got to change it up a bit and tell me something other than 'I'm fine.'

I'm f--

[Damn it.]

I'm well.

[It's like pulling teeth.] I see what you did there. So tell me about it. What's good? What's less than good?

I don't--

[He shrugs, barely]

I feel trapped here, but I'm trapped with somebody I care about, which makes this entire trip less distressing than it once was.

[Morgan nods and takes a sip of her tea to keep from showing a visible smile.]

Things are going well with Billy, then. I know that this recent flood was probably the last one that should have come up, given current events. People weren't exactly nice to the two of you, and they weren't last time, either.

It wasn't too bad, actually. I don't have too many complaints about that flood.

Wish I could say the same. Not gonna say anything terrible happened to me; it's just more like I came away feeling like I should have something to complain about.

Why?

It's just the first time in a long time that the person I became didn't really have anything about them that echoed back to me, I guess. Which is weird on one hand because the last time we were those people, I didn't have that problem. That Morgan was making some changes, though. I'm just not sure how I felt about them.

I don't really follow. What sorts of changes?

She was spending a lot of extra time on her hair and clothes and things. She didn't want to play football anymore. And she was getting a lot quieter.

[She doesn't want to say it felt a little like how she felt when she tried all those stupid domestic things for Rube's sake. The cooking. And -- well, fine, just the cooking.]

She was going to college and knew she couldn't do all of that for the rest of her life, I guess. It was more thinking about the future than I ever did at that age.

I see. The transition into adulthood can be unfortunate, sometimes.

What about you?

[He shifts uncomfortably and speaks with reluctance] I went on a pretend-date with Billy. Pretend, because we didn't leave the Barge, really.

Yeah? What'd you pretend to do?

We went to see a rather juvenile film. [He takes a sip of his tea. He'd never actually seen The Goonies before, and he's not certain if it's just influence lingering from his floodtime alter-ego, but he secretly enjoyed the film] It was... normal.

There's been a lot of that going around lately. I think the Admiral's been aiming for it. [She swallows] Normal, I mean. Sure, the floods aren't by their very nature 'normal', but there's been less of the violence, the hard-to-believe. Y'know. We took on water before you came back that led to a bunch of people regressing in age again, y'know.

I heard. I have to admit, I'm happy I missed it.

You weren't such a bad kid. [She smiles.] A little over energetic sometimes, but you had your head in the right place.

[He smiles a little] You weren't a bad child, yourself. Although, I have to admit that 'motherhood' didn't suit me at all.

It's weird how it tends to end in bonding, though. I mean -- I'm sure you don't much like the idea of having been a child, but it broke the ice.

[Which makes her think of Captain Janeway.]

I wound up spending the entire time this last time with someone I absolutely hated, and I'm not so sure I feel that way anymore.

That's true, I suppose. [He shifts uncomfortably, takes a sip, and finally admits something he hadn't told her before:] I hated Billy before that... 'high school' flood came about the first time.

[Morgan does look a little surprised, but when she rolls it over in her head, she realizes she remembers and had just never thought of it before. She just liked him hanging around Billy more than him hanging around -- well, Charlie and Ralph. Rather than let that incongruity roll in her head for very long, though, she carries on with the conversation.]

Yeah, I noticed you two didn't spend a lot of time around each other before that. It's something that can be said for the floods at least, right? It takes away who we are temporarily but it lets us see things from perspectives we don't already have.

It's true, yes. [He shrugs] But more often than not, the results are nothing short of horrifying. I see no purpose in floods.

There isn't supposed to be. We don't take on water because the Admiral intends it.

72 - [Private to West]

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how do I keep missing that it's my turn??

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