neverjoinyou | lastvoyages IC Inbox

You did what?

[Ford clearly doesn't know what has begun to happen across the ship.]

How? Is this a space w-- a Jedi thing? Can you bypass access filters somehow?

Edited 2019-01-25 23:53 (UTC)

[Luke frowns.]

What? No. I mean. [Wait.] I don't think so? Didn't feel like that. I think it's a Barge thing.

You mean there's a flood going on, right now, that's letting other people into my dreams?

...

I should have known something like this would happen.

All right, which one was it? What did you see?

I don't know about other people--but I've had some weird ones. [Luke sighs.] Bill was there. And this... machine? Like a hologram, or a wormhole, or a... hologram of a wormhole? And Bill--

[Luke's mouth snaps shut for a moment.]

Maybe it's not yours. I don't know. I don't think it's mine. But it felt personal, and we don't have to talk about it, but if you wanted... we can.

[Oh.

Ford's eyes go wide, very wide indeed. The details of that particular dream are fuzzy -- impressions, mostly -- but it's a dream he wouldn't want anyone to witness. He looks worried a moment, like he's casting about for something to say, then clears his throat.]

Oh.

Well. Yes, I think it's for the best if we don't discuss that dream at all. Ha ha, it's a shame! If it had been the one about the Mothman, I'd have told you all about that!

[It's jovial, and very much a diversion toward a subject Ford is more willing to talk about.]

[Luke is silent for a moment, biting his lip gently as he thinks.]

Look, Ford, I don't want to pry into your privacy. I get that there's... history, here. And I didn't go looking for this, I hope you know that. But... at some point, you're going to have to talk about it. With someone.

[He looks up, as if to imply that he, the guy who knows Bill and has gone through his own share of heartache and betrayal and is infamous for not taking things personally, might be someone.]

Come on, Luke. There's nothing to talk about! All you saw was a series of electrical impulses generated by a sleeping brain that my sensory cortex turned into recognizable patterns. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

I know you don't expect me to believe that.

Why does it bother you so much? The thought of talking about what happened?

[Ford grimaces, and his eyes dart off to the side.

It's embarrassment. The expression on Ford's face is anxious embarrassment.]

I've already said all there is to say about it. I was a fool, and he tricked me -- played on my ambition, made me mistrust my friends. It was the worst mistake of my life.

I've told my family all about it and wrote it out in the third journal. Isn't that enough?

[Luke thinks back to some of the advice he'd received in his time here. About dealing with the past.]

Okay. But let me ask you this--how long ago did that happen? Are you over it?

[Ford opens his mouth, but it's not clear if he's about to say of course or of course not!

A pause. Then, more quietly:]

I'm...trying to be.

I'll never forget what he did, to me and my family. I'll certainly never forgive him! But, for the sake of the progress he's made, I've tried to move past it. To not let it get in the way.

[He looks at Luke and gives a shrug. Sincerely and without malice, he asks:]

What good will it do here?

[Dragging up old grudges over a ruined life -- ruined lives -- isn't going to help anyone.]

I do appreciate that. [Luke is utterly sincere--he's impressed, actually, with how civil Ford's been.] But right now, I'm not even talking about the benefit to Bill. I'm talking about something that bothers you so much that you want to deny it happened. I'm talking about how it might benefit you to... to have someone else understand.

[He leans back, flushing slightly.]

Then again, I don't have a choice about having my secrets broadcast to everyone, so maybe I shouldn't talk.

[Oh, ouch. Luke has the winning card there as far as broadcasting secrets is concerned. Ford gives a wince.]

Give it a few more floods, and they might as well have been.

Anyway, I'm not denying anything that happened, I just don't want to talk about it.

I'm sorry. [Luke raises his hands.]

Honestly, I didn't mean to pry.

[Ford gives a sigh, the kind of resigned-but-slightly-apologetic sigh that means he knows it's not Luke's fault.]

I know. It's not your fault.

It's this darn Barge, letting you think it's safe to dream behind an access filter and then ripping out the rug from under you as soon as the right flood hits.

Yeah. It's always nicer when it's just kissing people you don't know.

[Ford shudders.]

Yes, well, the less said about that, the better.

Anyway, at least this one's avoided a bit more easily than some of the others.

[Well, shit. He hadn't meant for that to land with quite that thunk, but oh well.]

Uh... how, exactly? By not... sleeping?

Precisely! I can put on a pot of coffee for you too, if you like.

Ford...

[Luke stops himself, rubbing his face. He's not going to win this argument, at least not like this.]

Actually, I'd love some coffee.

[Ford seems to notice exactly none of Luke's frustration.]

Excellent. Come by my cabin. I'll have enough for two people ready by then.

[Luke nods and signs off, smiling slightly because the word 'coffee' is still funny and cutesy to him, but he sobers soon enough when he reflects on the dream. And, even more, Ford's response. He's sorry he pried, however inadvertent, but now that he knows, he's pretty sure there's something here other than Ford being chagrined over past errors.

But he won't say any of that, at least not right off the bat. Instead, he'll head to Ford's room, which he's been meaning to do anyway for awhile, what with everything they've been through.]

Thanks, [he'll say when Ford opens the door and lets him in.] I guess eventually I need to learn how to make the stuff.

I could put together one of your own, if you like.

[The machine Ford pulls a coffeepot out from under is...homemade. It's blocky and has blinky dials and a LCD clock. It certainly does the trick of heating water and sending it through grounds and a coffee filter, and unlike, say, a french press, this one has a timer.

He pours two mugs of steaming caffienated bean water and passes one to Luke.]

You could. [But Luke examines the machine as he wraps his hand around the mug, peering at it from several angles.] But that would take the fun away from me.

[Ford waves a hand unconcernedly.]

Eh, suit yourself.

[He settles on the sectional that serves as a bed, pushing the blanket that lets it serve its dual purpose off to the side. He doesn't have any objection to Luke looking the machine over and makes no move to stop him.]

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