Post by Ensign Mandy Bergin on Apr 18, 2014 13:57:30 GMT -8
"Bacon should always be happy a thing. So should life, do what you want, no regrets... No one interfering."
"I don't suppose you remember the time we had so much bacon on board, we ate it for weeks?" Mandy asked with a tiny, lopsided smile his way. That had been right after she'd come aboard, and it had stymied her for a little while. It had been so odd, that whole thing--people forgetting who they were, regressing to childhood, in many cases, wandering about a starship that was equal parts marvelous and frightening. Or, in her case, simply frightening. She'd had no idea what was happening, or where she was, or even who she was, properly. That happened when a ten year old woke up inside a child's body.
Silence settled between them for a minute or two as Sig left and Bruce occupied himself with his bacon and what were apparently thoughts. Rather deep ones, judging by the serious expression on his face. He settled into an actual chair, and she felt his eyes on her for a moment before he spoke again. "Do you like fairy tales? What's your favourite?"
She thought about it for a moment without looking at him before she answered. She loved fairy tales, truly, because they were so...not real. There was nothing like real life in them, there were never people who didn't like talking to other people or insurmountable problems. In the end, there was a fairy godmother or a pleasant witch who could snap the bad things out of existence and fix it all. Mandy had had books full of the tales that she'd devoured when a child--and she'd retold them, too, in the few times she'd actually summoned up the courage to speak in class. People had loved her fairy tales. Finally, she spoke.
"There's a Norwegian fairytale, one of those ones people don't ever talk about," she said, still staring into the middle distance, somewhere between the bulkhead and the window down the wall, "called East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It's about a girl who has to go live in a palace with a huge bear. Someone visits her every night, sleeps beside her. She never sees him, but when she does, she discovers he's a beautiful prince, but now that she's seen him, she's condemned him to marry a troll princess. And so he goes off, and she follows, having to find the four winds and ask them to carry her to the castle east of the sun and west of the moon." Mandy paused, glancing at him to see if he was listening. Last time she'd met him, he'd seemed...well, he hadn't been precisely the sort of person you'd talk about fairy tales with. But he seemed to be listening quite raptly, so she kept on.
"In the end, she outwits the troll princess and the prince's mother, and they free the prisoners in the castle and take all the gold, to live happily ever after." Her story done, Mandy turned her head to rest it on her knees, looking at him sideways where he sat. "The girl knew what she wanted, and she was willing to go so far to get it. It's beautiful." She bit her lower lip, abruptly pulling herself upright again, realizing just what she'd said. She'd just told him a fairy tale, this man she'd met once and who'd been...strange, and so obviously flirtatious. Why was she here, again? Oh, right. The stars. She looked down in confusion, at her shoes, reaching out to pick at her shoelace. "Yes, I like fairy tales," she said belatedly, coloring once more, just a little. There was another silence, this one a bit more awkward--at least, more awkward in Mandy's mind.
When she spoke again, it was rather breathless, rushed so that she could get it over with. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have a favorite?"
Tag: @brucesplint
"I don't suppose you remember the time we had so much bacon on board, we ate it for weeks?" Mandy asked with a tiny, lopsided smile his way. That had been right after she'd come aboard, and it had stymied her for a little while. It had been so odd, that whole thing--people forgetting who they were, regressing to childhood, in many cases, wandering about a starship that was equal parts marvelous and frightening. Or, in her case, simply frightening. She'd had no idea what was happening, or where she was, or even who she was, properly. That happened when a ten year old woke up inside a child's body.
Silence settled between them for a minute or two as Sig left and Bruce occupied himself with his bacon and what were apparently thoughts. Rather deep ones, judging by the serious expression on his face. He settled into an actual chair, and she felt his eyes on her for a moment before he spoke again. "Do you like fairy tales? What's your favourite?"
She thought about it for a moment without looking at him before she answered. She loved fairy tales, truly, because they were so...not real. There was nothing like real life in them, there were never people who didn't like talking to other people or insurmountable problems. In the end, there was a fairy godmother or a pleasant witch who could snap the bad things out of existence and fix it all. Mandy had had books full of the tales that she'd devoured when a child--and she'd retold them, too, in the few times she'd actually summoned up the courage to speak in class. People had loved her fairy tales. Finally, she spoke.
"There's a Norwegian fairytale, one of those ones people don't ever talk about," she said, still staring into the middle distance, somewhere between the bulkhead and the window down the wall, "called East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It's about a girl who has to go live in a palace with a huge bear. Someone visits her every night, sleeps beside her. She never sees him, but when she does, she discovers he's a beautiful prince, but now that she's seen him, she's condemned him to marry a troll princess. And so he goes off, and she follows, having to find the four winds and ask them to carry her to the castle east of the sun and west of the moon." Mandy paused, glancing at him to see if he was listening. Last time she'd met him, he'd seemed...well, he hadn't been precisely the sort of person you'd talk about fairy tales with. But he seemed to be listening quite raptly, so she kept on.
"In the end, she outwits the troll princess and the prince's mother, and they free the prisoners in the castle and take all the gold, to live happily ever after." Her story done, Mandy turned her head to rest it on her knees, looking at him sideways where he sat. "The girl knew what she wanted, and she was willing to go so far to get it. It's beautiful." She bit her lower lip, abruptly pulling herself upright again, realizing just what she'd said. She'd just told him a fairy tale, this man she'd met once and who'd been...strange, and so obviously flirtatious. Why was she here, again? Oh, right. The stars. She looked down in confusion, at her shoes, reaching out to pick at her shoelace. "Yes, I like fairy tales," she said belatedly, coloring once more, just a little. There was another silence, this one a bit more awkward--at least, more awkward in Mandy's mind.
When she spoke again, it was rather breathless, rushed so that she could get it over with. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have a favorite?"
Tag: @brucesplint