open/closed — is it really living if i'm just surviving?

[rescapee]

Who: La'an + others
What: Settling in, seeing unfamiliar faces, dealing with trauma, etc.
When: Late April & early May
Where: Milton area.

Content warnings: Talk of death, TBA. (Plus her usual warnings.)

Open and closed prompts below! Or leave her a starter if we've discussed it.

— open: meeting people around town ( x )
— closed to McCoy: visiting her grave ( x )

Comments

[homeostatic]

She did.

( What else is there to say? The La'an in this simple grave, the La'an beside him, and the others populating this dismal place; every one of them deserve better than to be here.

McCoy reaches out to lay a hand on her shoulder. )

You've a right to be angry, you know. To grieve. Wanting better for her, even if there's nothin' to be done now. It doesn't mean you can't do anything in the future.

[rescapee]

[ That simple physical comfort is precisely what she needs. It anchors her to this moment and the future she gets to live — the one she has to fight for. La'an lets the snow fall completely from her hand and offers McCoy a small smile in gratitude. ] Thank you.

[ Reaching up with one hand, she covers his on her shoulder and applies a gentle pressure. ] Has anyone ever told you you'd make a good therapist?

[homeostatic]

( He smiles in turn, and there's sincere modesty in it, in the way he ducks his head briefly, just pleased she seems to be feeling better. That's all the thanks he needs. La'an's fingers are chilly against his, damp from the snow, but that soft squeeze fills him with warmth. )

Not for a while, no, ( Bones confesses, and his smile threatens to break into something broader, while he offers her a hand up with him from the frosty earth, ) But if Spock from my universe ever shows up here, I need you to promise me you'll tell him that. I'd like to see the look on his face.

[rescapee]

[ There's something in this new connection with him that makes her feel... safe. With him, anyway. For him to know this terrible part of her past and simply be with her while she processed another chapter in the tragedy of her life, it means a lot. And since he has yet to comment or show any outward reaction to her name, she has to assume that either he doesn't know about her ancestor, or he does know and doesn't care. She hopes it's the latter, for all that hope is worth in times like this. ]

I would, too, [ she admits with a growing smile of her own as she accepts his help with standing. ] If he's anything like the Spock I know, it would be an interesting sight.

[ There's real affection in the words despite the way she teases the man who isn't with them. Spock has become a real friend over the last year, and she misses him dearly. ]