grand_fallguy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
grand_fallguy) wrote2015-04-21 04:27 pm
grand_fallguy) wrote2015-04-21 04:27 pm
The Lost Sea
In high school, Tim had had a recurring fantasy. It consisted of him lying, under a cherry tree, dying. The girl of his dreams cradling his head in her lap, stroking his hair and weeping, lamenting all the lost opportunities.
It was a fantasy born of self-pity and unrequited love. It had become less attractive when he came close to dying for real several times, and he actually got together with the girl of his dreams. He should call T'ing, he hadn't talked to her in a while.
They had dated, saved the world, expressed their eternal love for each other, and eventually drifted amicably apart.
So Tim was not surprised to find that the woman cradling his head in her lap was not the 'lovely and aloof' T'ing Hau Kaplan, but the just as lovely but not aloof Gwynn Hood. He was surprised however to find himself having this dream at all.
Ah, dream.
He struggled to consciousness and when he got there, changed his mind. His stomach lurched, and his head hadn't hurt this much since Pippi Longstocking had knocked him senseless.
He groaned and, knowing it was a mistake even as he did so, tried to sit up. Which was when he realized that his head was in fact, being cradled in a woman's lap. She pushed him back down gently.
"Woah there Tiger." she said. "Take it easy, you took quite a clonk on the head there."
"Gwynn?" Though it clearly wasn't. His head was foggy, but the hair color was wrong, as was the voice.
The woman laughed softly. "No, no I'm not Gwynn. My name's Mera."
Tim's mind gradually cleared, and he saw that he was being tended to by a pretty red-haired woman. The events leading up to his incapacitation were still just out of reach.
"What happened? Where am I?"
"You got hit in the head." she answered. "And as for where you are...honestly I'm not sure of our position. But that doesn't matter right now anyway. What's important now, is that you relax."
She smiled at him, and he couldn't help a slight shudder. Though that might just be the mild nausea. But though her tone was kind, and her hands gentle, there was something about her smile that was unsettling.
*****
Mera stepped into the wheelhouse, and leaned against the chart table. Marsh never looked away from the horizon, his hands steady at the helm.
"How is he?" he asked.
"He'll live." she answered. A moment later the irony of what she'd said sank in and she began to laugh. Marsh smirked.
"How'd the Nilbog operation go?"
"We lost three, but got the girl."
"Who?"
"Mr. Kessler killed R'lon and Makar. I don't think you ever met them. Good men, a little boring though. Not sure who took out Mthk. Pythona and her new friend will meet us later."
"What about the other thing?"
Marsh sighed. "There was...a complication there."
"What do you mean? Did what's her name get away?"
"Not...exactly."
Mera scowled. "What, happened?"
But Marsh didn't answer. Instead, he let out a quiet gasp of exultation. "There it is."
Mera's concerns were forgotten in an instant, as her gaze followed his pointing finger. Just coming into view was an island.
Mera's breath caught in her throat. She'd dedicated her entire adult, and much of her pre-adult life to this moment, but still she'd hardly imagined she would see this.
"It's beautiful." she said, eyes brimming. If only Michael had stuck it out, and was here with her. "Marsh, we're home."
It was a fantasy born of self-pity and unrequited love. It had become less attractive when he came close to dying for real several times, and he actually got together with the girl of his dreams. He should call T'ing, he hadn't talked to her in a while.
They had dated, saved the world, expressed their eternal love for each other, and eventually drifted amicably apart.
So Tim was not surprised to find that the woman cradling his head in her lap was not the 'lovely and aloof' T'ing Hau Kaplan, but the just as lovely but not aloof Gwynn Hood. He was surprised however to find himself having this dream at all.
Ah, dream.
He struggled to consciousness and when he got there, changed his mind. His stomach lurched, and his head hadn't hurt this much since Pippi Longstocking had knocked him senseless.
He groaned and, knowing it was a mistake even as he did so, tried to sit up. Which was when he realized that his head was in fact, being cradled in a woman's lap. She pushed him back down gently.
"Woah there Tiger." she said. "Take it easy, you took quite a clonk on the head there."
"Gwynn?" Though it clearly wasn't. His head was foggy, but the hair color was wrong, as was the voice.
The woman laughed softly. "No, no I'm not Gwynn. My name's Mera."
Tim's mind gradually cleared, and he saw that he was being tended to by a pretty red-haired woman. The events leading up to his incapacitation were still just out of reach.
"What happened? Where am I?"
"You got hit in the head." she answered. "And as for where you are...honestly I'm not sure of our position. But that doesn't matter right now anyway. What's important now, is that you relax."
She smiled at him, and he couldn't help a slight shudder. Though that might just be the mild nausea. But though her tone was kind, and her hands gentle, there was something about her smile that was unsettling.
*****
Mera stepped into the wheelhouse, and leaned against the chart table. Marsh never looked away from the horizon, his hands steady at the helm.
"How is he?" he asked.
"He'll live." she answered. A moment later the irony of what she'd said sank in and she began to laugh. Marsh smirked.
"How'd the Nilbog operation go?"
"We lost three, but got the girl."
"Who?"
"Mr. Kessler killed R'lon and Makar. I don't think you ever met them. Good men, a little boring though. Not sure who took out Mthk. Pythona and her new friend will meet us later."
"What about the other thing?"
Marsh sighed. "There was...a complication there."
"What do you mean? Did what's her name get away?"
"Not...exactly."
Mera scowled. "What, happened?"
But Marsh didn't answer. Instead, he let out a quiet gasp of exultation. "There it is."
Mera's concerns were forgotten in an instant, as her gaze followed his pointing finger. Just coming into view was an island.
Mera's breath caught in her throat. She'd dedicated her entire adult, and much of her pre-adult life to this moment, but still she'd hardly imagined she would see this.
"It's beautiful." she said, eyes brimming. If only Michael had stuck it out, and was here with her. "Marsh, we're home."