07-22-2024, 03:16 AM
Fitting comfortably against him, Ju seemed happy with how the last few moments had progressed between them, a smile forming on the lips that he’d just finished praising with his own. It wasn’t often that Damian found himself tongue tied, yet that was exactly what had happened to him. Though he was slightly relieved when Ju seemed to be in the same state too. Both of them sat there, unsure of what to say, as they had boldly taken a step forward in their relationship. He wondered if it was better to say nothing at all, and let their actions speak for them. If that was for the best, Ju’s stomach clearly had other plans, as it protested the interruption of their meal loudly.
Damian broke into a laugh, which matched with Ju doing exactly the same. Within, he made a mental note to always make sure he had some snacks on hand during any future dates with Ju. If there was the threat that her stomach could interfere so vigorously, he needed to be armed and ready; as guts never negotiated. Ju’s head hit his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her tenderly.
“It is,” he responded to Ju, helping her up from him and back to her seat.
Returning to the food, Damian was happy to take her offer of a lettuce boat filled with fixin’s in one big gulp. He’d considered doing something similar for her, but Ju moved fast, making sure she made one for herself directly after. Sparing a moment, Damian picked up his glass with soju and took a sip of it. It was then that Ju started chatting, and Damian listened intently to her.
Whatever had happened on the Philly, it hadn’t gone well for Ju. There was a brief moment where he wondered if Ju was even going to give him the details, or if she would have preferred to keep it under wraps. If she had, Damian would have respected that choice. It would be too easy to just launch into her files and read up on her entire life. However, that kind of thing bothered Damian for a myriad of reasons. And now that they were an item, it was an even bigger reason to avoid such a situation; passing it off to Tyra instead would be the likely move in that case.
Ethics aside, it was also because he didn’t want to know absolutely everything about her career. Damian wanted to learn such things from Ju, if she so chose to share those things with him. Not just out of respect to her own agency, but also out of interest. If he magically just knew everything there was to know about her, then a lot of intrigue and mystery would be lost so very quickly; discovering a partner was part of the fun in building a relationship.
Eating some of the food, Damian was grateful that she was going to talk about what had happened. It was something that was in the back of his brain, wondering how it came to be that she had put in for a transfer to the Artemis. It hadn’t gone unnoticed from him, as Damian watched Ju load up on some liquid courage before speaking further. In an act of solidarity with her, Coleman drank several sips from his beer. Then, as Ju started her story in earnest, he kept his movements to a minimum. Both to keep from distracting her as she spoke, but also to more intently listen.
The beginning wasn’t a surprise. Damian had seen plenty of fresh eyed Midshipmen come aboard, excited and sometimes nervous, biting at the bit to get right into things. Every officer was different, yet those from the same departments tended to have similarities. The number of freshly minted security officers that wanted to get straight into combat were innumerable. And Coleman had worked with enough engineers to know that they wanted to see the ship at warp, or in the case of the Artemis to see the Slipstream in action. It did make him wonder what exactly medical personnel wanted. Surely they wouldn’t want to see patients.
“...There we find out that there’s been a mutiny and we must pick sides…”
Damian’s face changed instantaneously. The word hung heavy in the air, and his brows furrowed deeply, while his chopsticks hovered as if the artificial gravity had turned off; his bite of food floating, waiting. He’d heard that something had gone down on the Philadelphia, but not mutiny. A million questions seemed to assault his mind then, wanting to know every excruciating detail about what had happened. Damian held his tongue though, and also lowered his chopsticks as he continued to drink Ju’s words like some drought parched creature.
Under other circumstances, Coleman might have beamed proudly at Ju for standing up for herself. Or even heartily chuckle at the sassy come back regarding her candy that wasn’t at all bubble gum. Instead, he tried to contain his emotions. Somehow, he was going to have to tell Ju about his feelings, as Damian was sure that she would see his reaction. She needed to know that it wasn’t her, or her story, that had caused the raging feelings just barely being contained.
“It’s not why I requested a transfer, please don’t think that, it’s just.. when you brought me here for Christmas it felt like family. It felt warm. I really wanted that kind of environment. But what happened back there surely didn’t make it hard to leave…”
At that, Damian did manage to soften his face, and even cracked a small smile. He was glad he’d sent the invite, and even more so once he heard how it had affected her. That they were able to give her that feeling of warmth and family, it made Damian proud of his crew. The fact that it opened up her eyes to a landing pad, especially after a fiasco like a mutiny, was another bonus too.
“I’m glad that we made you feel at home. And that you are home now,” Damian finally spoke, the smile fading from his face shortly after the words lost volume.
“I should tell you something. It isn’t a story I bring up, especially not on first dates… is this technically our first date? Anyway, I’ve never actually told this story to anyone aside from Captain Crawford. But I need to tell you about it so that you can understand why I reacted the way that I did to your story.”
Now it was Damian’s turn to swig some of the booze on the table, taking and finishing the soju from his glass.
“What feels like a long while ago now, I had served on the USS Atlanta under Captain Peck. He was a mixed bag of a Commanding Officer. Narcissistic, aggressively confident, and honestly he could be pretty damn abusive. For some reason though, he took a liking to me, even though I nearly broke his nose on my first day.”
Damian chuckled as he remembered the surprised look on Peck’s face when Coleman did as was ordered, and threw a punch at his new CO with his boxing gloves on. If the FO hadn’t been right behind Peck, he would have fallen to the floor. Shocked faces in the crowd were uncertain, until they saw Peck smirking like an idiot.
“Do you always follow orders like that?” Peck’s voice was full of mirth.
“Yes sir.”
Laugher erupted from all around them…
“It wasn’t an easy life living under the thumb of Peck, who ran the ship incredibly tight, and if you didn’t perform up to expectations, he made sure that you paid for it. Though the rewards for being in his circle were incredible. Again, I somehow made that cut. Not sure why, or how, but I did.”
Damian let out a sigh and reached for his beer, his throat somehow feeling parched as he came to the part that he hated. His expression changed with the feelings too, as Coleman’s face almost seemed to react to the beer as if it were bitterly sour.
“After a couple of missions, there were several incidents that had come up. The first couple had seemed pretty harmless, and even simple accidents. But once he started putting the pieces together, it was becoming obvious that someone was actively sabotaging the ship. It culminated in an EPS relay exploding half a minute before Peck was supposed to be walking past it. What had been a silent rebellion had turned into a full blown attempt on his life, and mutiny.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, Damian relived the briefing that took place directly after the explosion. Peck wanted blood. And just about everyone in that room felt the same way.
“It was disgusting to me, and still is, how cowardly the officers that tried to take his life had been. There were plenty of ways they could have gone about seeking change. I would never defend Peck’s antics, because he could be a real sonofabitch, but that didn’t mean the man deserved to die. It’s why I react to that word… to mutiny… the way that I do. Not just because of what nearly happened to the captain back then, but what I had to do to help bring the mutineers to justice.”
When Damian finally found Ju’s eyes, he wondered if what he’d just done was smart.
“That’s not fair of me, dumping all that on you,” he said, his voice calming with a hint of worry.
“But… I just felt like you should know. It is something that deeply affected me, and when I hear about similar situations, I can feel myself getting fired up again. As if I was back on the Atlanta and having to look over my shoulder all the time.”
Looking at the table, Damian noticed he’d drunk all the booze on his side. Reaching for some water instead, he sipped at it. It didn’t have any burn, and that was what his throat was craving. Something that would dull the raging inferno in his veins, as he tried not to think of Ju being put in such a precarious situation.
“More drinks?” he offered to Ju, hoping at a chance to stretch his legs.
== tag Ju ==
Damian broke into a laugh, which matched with Ju doing exactly the same. Within, he made a mental note to always make sure he had some snacks on hand during any future dates with Ju. If there was the threat that her stomach could interfere so vigorously, he needed to be armed and ready; as guts never negotiated. Ju’s head hit his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her tenderly.
“It is,” he responded to Ju, helping her up from him and back to her seat.
Returning to the food, Damian was happy to take her offer of a lettuce boat filled with fixin’s in one big gulp. He’d considered doing something similar for her, but Ju moved fast, making sure she made one for herself directly after. Sparing a moment, Damian picked up his glass with soju and took a sip of it. It was then that Ju started chatting, and Damian listened intently to her.
Whatever had happened on the Philly, it hadn’t gone well for Ju. There was a brief moment where he wondered if Ju was even going to give him the details, or if she would have preferred to keep it under wraps. If she had, Damian would have respected that choice. It would be too easy to just launch into her files and read up on her entire life. However, that kind of thing bothered Damian for a myriad of reasons. And now that they were an item, it was an even bigger reason to avoid such a situation; passing it off to Tyra instead would be the likely move in that case.
Ethics aside, it was also because he didn’t want to know absolutely everything about her career. Damian wanted to learn such things from Ju, if she so chose to share those things with him. Not just out of respect to her own agency, but also out of interest. If he magically just knew everything there was to know about her, then a lot of intrigue and mystery would be lost so very quickly; discovering a partner was part of the fun in building a relationship.
Eating some of the food, Damian was grateful that she was going to talk about what had happened. It was something that was in the back of his brain, wondering how it came to be that she had put in for a transfer to the Artemis. It hadn’t gone unnoticed from him, as Damian watched Ju load up on some liquid courage before speaking further. In an act of solidarity with her, Coleman drank several sips from his beer. Then, as Ju started her story in earnest, he kept his movements to a minimum. Both to keep from distracting her as she spoke, but also to more intently listen.
The beginning wasn’t a surprise. Damian had seen plenty of fresh eyed Midshipmen come aboard, excited and sometimes nervous, biting at the bit to get right into things. Every officer was different, yet those from the same departments tended to have similarities. The number of freshly minted security officers that wanted to get straight into combat were innumerable. And Coleman had worked with enough engineers to know that they wanted to see the ship at warp, or in the case of the Artemis to see the Slipstream in action. It did make him wonder what exactly medical personnel wanted. Surely they wouldn’t want to see patients.
“...There we find out that there’s been a mutiny and we must pick sides…”
Damian’s face changed instantaneously. The word hung heavy in the air, and his brows furrowed deeply, while his chopsticks hovered as if the artificial gravity had turned off; his bite of food floating, waiting. He’d heard that something had gone down on the Philadelphia, but not mutiny. A million questions seemed to assault his mind then, wanting to know every excruciating detail about what had happened. Damian held his tongue though, and also lowered his chopsticks as he continued to drink Ju’s words like some drought parched creature.
Under other circumstances, Coleman might have beamed proudly at Ju for standing up for herself. Or even heartily chuckle at the sassy come back regarding her candy that wasn’t at all bubble gum. Instead, he tried to contain his emotions. Somehow, he was going to have to tell Ju about his feelings, as Damian was sure that she would see his reaction. She needed to know that it wasn’t her, or her story, that had caused the raging feelings just barely being contained.
“It’s not why I requested a transfer, please don’t think that, it’s just.. when you brought me here for Christmas it felt like family. It felt warm. I really wanted that kind of environment. But what happened back there surely didn’t make it hard to leave…”
At that, Damian did manage to soften his face, and even cracked a small smile. He was glad he’d sent the invite, and even more so once he heard how it had affected her. That they were able to give her that feeling of warmth and family, it made Damian proud of his crew. The fact that it opened up her eyes to a landing pad, especially after a fiasco like a mutiny, was another bonus too.
“I’m glad that we made you feel at home. And that you are home now,” Damian finally spoke, the smile fading from his face shortly after the words lost volume.
“I should tell you something. It isn’t a story I bring up, especially not on first dates… is this technically our first date? Anyway, I’ve never actually told this story to anyone aside from Captain Crawford. But I need to tell you about it so that you can understand why I reacted the way that I did to your story.”
Now it was Damian’s turn to swig some of the booze on the table, taking and finishing the soju from his glass.
“What feels like a long while ago now, I had served on the USS Atlanta under Captain Peck. He was a mixed bag of a Commanding Officer. Narcissistic, aggressively confident, and honestly he could be pretty damn abusive. For some reason though, he took a liking to me, even though I nearly broke his nose on my first day.”
Damian chuckled as he remembered the surprised look on Peck’s face when Coleman did as was ordered, and threw a punch at his new CO with his boxing gloves on. If the FO hadn’t been right behind Peck, he would have fallen to the floor. Shocked faces in the crowd were uncertain, until they saw Peck smirking like an idiot.
“Do you always follow orders like that?” Peck’s voice was full of mirth.
“Yes sir.”
Laugher erupted from all around them…
“It wasn’t an easy life living under the thumb of Peck, who ran the ship incredibly tight, and if you didn’t perform up to expectations, he made sure that you paid for it. Though the rewards for being in his circle were incredible. Again, I somehow made that cut. Not sure why, or how, but I did.”
Damian let out a sigh and reached for his beer, his throat somehow feeling parched as he came to the part that he hated. His expression changed with the feelings too, as Coleman’s face almost seemed to react to the beer as if it were bitterly sour.
“After a couple of missions, there were several incidents that had come up. The first couple had seemed pretty harmless, and even simple accidents. But once he started putting the pieces together, it was becoming obvious that someone was actively sabotaging the ship. It culminated in an EPS relay exploding half a minute before Peck was supposed to be walking past it. What had been a silent rebellion had turned into a full blown attempt on his life, and mutiny.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, Damian relived the briefing that took place directly after the explosion. Peck wanted blood. And just about everyone in that room felt the same way.
“It was disgusting to me, and still is, how cowardly the officers that tried to take his life had been. There were plenty of ways they could have gone about seeking change. I would never defend Peck’s antics, because he could be a real sonofabitch, but that didn’t mean the man deserved to die. It’s why I react to that word… to mutiny… the way that I do. Not just because of what nearly happened to the captain back then, but what I had to do to help bring the mutineers to justice.”
When Damian finally found Ju’s eyes, he wondered if what he’d just done was smart.
“That’s not fair of me, dumping all that on you,” he said, his voice calming with a hint of worry.
“But… I just felt like you should know. It is something that deeply affected me, and when I hear about similar situations, I can feel myself getting fired up again. As if I was back on the Atlanta and having to look over my shoulder all the time.”
Looking at the table, Damian noticed he’d drunk all the booze on his side. Reaching for some water instead, he sipped at it. It didn’t have any burn, and that was what his throat was craving. Something that would dull the raging inferno in his veins, as he tried not to think of Ju being put in such a precarious situation.
“More drinks?” he offered to Ju, hoping at a chance to stretch his legs.
== tag Ju ==