coesmos

[coesmos]

the way i wish i had muse for sam right now but i have NOT opened the game since i got 100% achievements. :F if y'all would like to find me currently, i'm over at @penddraig !!! the muse whose head i can get into easiest. x

[coesmos]

A rest between grav jumps

[coesmos]

hmmmmm...

[coesmos]

I ASSURE YOU THIS ACHIEVEMENT IS EXHAUSTING TO GET.

[coesmos]

Constellation Station

[coesmos]

@spidrclone:

Huh... Space Cowboy quoting Plato, it sounded so weird and yet to Ben, it wasn't the strangest thing to hear. That prize would have to go to the 'You're a clone of Peter Parker!' bit of his life, it had really set a high bar for everything that followed. Still, Ben finding himself in space wasn't really anything new, both he and Peter had experiences with space travel and most of Ben's science knowledge applied here... Plus, his stick 'em powers really came in handy with Zero-G. "Right. And you are wiser precisely because you admit you know nothin' else, rather than just, you know, pretending you know something and fumbling that." He remembered enough from his philosophy classes to know what that phrase meant, and he had to admit, it was a somewhat valuable thing to admit and know. Not many people said it. "Name's Ben. Ben Reilly, and you are?..."

❝        yeah,      exactly  like  that.      somethin’  about  being  smarter  for  knowing  that  you  don’t  know  everything  in  the  world.          ❞        it’s  not  often  he  gets  to  quote  philosophy.      actually,      it’s  not  often  he  does  quote  philosophy  anyways.      the  only  reason  the  quote  popped  into  his  head  is  because  he’s  just  finished  reading  up  on  one  of  cora’s  books  for  her  little  book  club.      their  book  club   -     a  two  person  thing,      but  it’s  worked  out.      for  now.        ❝        at  least,      i  think  that’s  how  that  saying  goes.      if  i’m  wrong,      you  didn’t  hear  it  from  me.          ❞

he  lets  out  a  huff  of  a  breath  through  his  nose  in  amusement.        ❝      my  name’s  sam.      coe.      it’s  good  to  meet  you,      ben.      don’t  think  i’ve  met  many  people  who  know  what  i’m  talkin’  about  when  i  say  that.        ❞

[coesmos]

he  gives  her  a  sidelong  look  at  her  description  of  space.      it’s  so  different  from  any  way  he’d  ever  describe  the  scene  that  he  just  has  to  insert  his  two  cents  into  it.        ❝        hey.      don’t  knock  space  till  you’ve  sat  at  your  window  for  an  hour  lookin’  at  the  stars  and  tryin’  to  figure  out  which  system  they  belong  to.      you’ll  be  surprised  how  hard  that  actually  is.      new  system  ?   new  set  of  stars.      now,      if  you’re  talking  about  the  temperature  ?  yeah,      that  could  be  better.        ❞        even  with  the  spacesuit  on,      the  whole  expanse  of  space  still  feels  like  it  slips  through  and  chills  him  to  the  bone.

leaning  back  in  his  seat  more  comfortable,      he  continues  with  his  calculations.      he’s  nearly  finished  when  ivy  asks  her  next  question,      and  he  clicks  his  tongue,      watching  her  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye  this  time  instead  of  taking  his  eyes  off  the  screen.        ❝        i  might’ve  been.      plenty  of  other  coes  out  there  to  help  with  those  terrormorphs.        ❞        his  lip  twitches,      though,      and  he’s  quick  to  relent.        ❝        but    …    yeah.      don’t  think  that  means  i  like  the  uc,      though.      still  can’t  stand  them.        ❞        he’ll  call  it  all  propaganda  before  he  helps  them  any  more  than  that.

❝        right.      hold.        ❞        he  glances  to  her,      makes  sure  she’s  strapped  in,      then  flicks  the  grav  drive  into  power.      once  it  warms,      they’re  off    the  space  outside  shifts,      brightens  intensely  as  they  stretch  through  hyperspace  and  across  the  lightyears  at  much,      much  faster  than  light  speed.    

when  they  arrive,      he  stretches  in  his  seat,      checking  the  calculations  before  settling  comfortably  again.        ❝        right.      time  to  find  your  landing  space.        ❞

she has to offer a smile, - he's good company at least. the search for another rock with the lazarus plant has proven fruitless thus far , but the freestar's council of governors did not trust the united colonies to have divulged all its secrets. " - alright ! you can go with me ; i don't think i can take any more arguments. " he'll see by the growing grin that she teases as she tries to get comfortable on the ship's sofa. & truthfully , the transportation was pleasant too. they would sink or swim in style, at least.

" no - i really can't blame you. " she'll give it a few more minutes before she jumps to her chosen seat. " truthfully i'm not a fan of space. it's cold and the stars are only beautiful for a while. you've seen one, you've seen most. " plants were her darlings, her children, and her study. her life was dedicated to what the green had to offer.

and if the stories about the lazarus plant were true - the implications were vast. it would be good to see it used to help colonies grow instead of housing their killers. the box is slipped underneath the couch and she huffs as she straps in. " were you part of the fight against terrormorphs? i swear i heard someone tell me a coe was helping someone else that was helping the colonies. hope no one at the rock hears. "

give her about twenty minutes and she'll ask - are they there yet?

[coesmos]

It's literally so easy to check your biases against women in media and yet none of you seem to be able to do it. Why is it so hard to just think would I still hate this character if they were a man, the amount of you I see dragging a female character through the mud for doing something morally grey whilst also saying you forgive your male fave for literal warcrimes. I'm starting to believe some of you are misogynists for real.

[coesmos]

Starfield 79/?

[coesmos]

he  is  relieved  ,      incredibly  so  ,      to  see  her  familiar  face  .      in  this  universe  ,      he  hasn’t  found  a  single  other  member  of  constellation  .      not  anyone  at  the  lodge  ,      nor  anywhere  our  in  any  of  the  systems  .      their  little  home  had  been  untouched  ,      as  if  everyone  had  simply  vanished  out  of  the  galaxy  .      he’s  really  not  sure  what  that  means  ,      and  asking  around  hadn’t  done  much  good  :      no  one  else  knew  anything  about  it  .      andreja  is  the  first  starborn  that  sam  has  met  here  so  far  .

but  then  she  says  the  words  ,      and  every  other  thought  he’s  had  in  his  head  vanishes  ,      and  all  he  can  feel  is  the  sudden  ,      blossoming  warmth  of  hope  in  his  chest  .      this  is  her  .      this  is  the  andreja  he  knew  before  .      it  has  to  be        but  she’s  so  different  …  more  confident  .      he  refuses  to  think  there’s  a  possibility  that  another  universe’s  andreja  and  sam  thought  up  something  like  that  .      that  can’t  be  the  case  .

it  takes  him  a  good  few  seconds  to  finally  stop  gaping  at  her  and  remember  what  it  is  he’s  supposed  to  say  in  response  .      as  he  speaks  ,      he’s  already  closing  the  gap  between  them  .        ❝        is  that  what  we’re  callin’  our  children  ,      now  ?      groats  ?        ❞        forgetting  his  manners  ,      he  wraps  his  arms  around  the  woman  ,      pulling  her  into  a  tight  embrace  .        ❝        i’ll  be  damned  .      are  you  really  my  original  andreja  ?        ❞

she dares not get her hopes up. at least this one does not come to fight. she hears no cruelty , sees no weapon. it is only her first day through the kaleidoscope of stars in this universe. andreja looks about the room , noting ancient familiarities. there have been many worlds where constellation was nothing but ash and bone. some worlds , she has slain their own.

but the woman searches for a peace she thinks they cannot maintain. they are starborn. they are not meant to be still.

she will not tell him that she had not seen his face in many years. as universes collide , time does not answer to human's understanding. how many times has she seen her birth? how about her death? " wow! " her face lights up as she puts her helmet on a side table. " i haven't seen you in quite a lot time, sam. or any version, of course. " they are the chosen sailors of the blackest sea sailing to temples erected in their honor. and perhaps these lifetimes have given her what a singular one could not: confidence, compassion.

she has been evil , and she has been kind. she is not sure if she hopes he is the same. " i do not know if you will think this is silly, but.. " she remembers the heartache when they decided upon this phrase. what it meant. the words were repeated to useless effects all times before. her hopes are not high. " i have seen a groat wearing a cowboy hat. "

[coesmos]

˚ ✩ I throw wishes 𝐼𝒩𝒯𝒪 𝒯𝐻𝐸 𝒩𝐼𝒢𝐻𝒯 ━━━━━━━━━━━ and wait for the stars to 𝒞𝒜𝒯𝒞𝐻 𝑀𝐸 ✩ 。

[ independent & selective FREESTAR RANGER from starfield , loved by rebel. ] ©.

[coesmos]

you know. aliens' xenomorphs and starfield's terrormorphs would get along so well.

[coesmos]

a  marker  and  what  ?      a  marker  and  what  ???      sam’s  so  caught  up  trying  to  hear  what  she’s  about  to  say  that  he  can’t  help  the  massive  ,      heavy  disappointment  that  settles  across  his  back  and  shoulders  like  a  weighted  blanket  .    even  so  ,      he’s  still  grinning  ,      because  he’s  pretty  sure  he’s  just  pegged  what  it  is  she  was  going  to  say        jumping  to  conclusions  isn’t  a  thing  he  likes  to  do  often  ,      but  for  this  ,      he  feels  it’s  entirely  warranted  .    really  ,      maybe  even  required  !        and  it’s  a  funny  image  he’s  got  in  his  head  .    somewhere  on  her  body  ,      mayhaps  :      anywhere  is  good  enough  for  him  .

but  he’s  not  going  to  feign  disappontment  .    mostly  because  he’s  feeling  pretty  confident  about  himself  now  .    leave  it  to  abigail  to  fuel  his  ego  .    it’s  not  as  if  he’s  been  vying  for  her  attention  or  compliment  .    not  really  ,      anyways  .    it’s  not  a  goal  he’s  working  towards  …  or  anything  .    she’s  playful  with  everyone  ,      and  he’s  not  special  .    but  in  the  moment  ,      he  thinks  he  is  .    that’d  be  something  to  talk  about  ,      if  cora  or  the  rest  of  constellation  were  here  .    but  none  of  them  are  ,      and  he  surely  won’t  be  teased  to  shreds  over  the  fact  that  he’s  practically  strutting  out  of  the  elevator  and  onto  their  floor  ,      a  glint  in  his  eye  .

❝        yeah        yeah  ,      i  think  they’d  think  you’re  a  pretty  strange  woman  if  you  up  and  tell  them  somethin’  like  that  ,        ❞        he  says  with  a  lighthearted  laugh  in  his  voice  .        ❝        ain’t  gonna  lie  ,      but  knowin’  the  uc  ,      they  might  put  you  on  some  sort  of  watch  list  for  a  comment  like  that  .        ❞        he  pitches  his  voice  into  his  throat  ,      waggling  his  fingers  :      ❝        ‘famed  pilot  abigail  cormac  uses  friends  for  own  gain  only  .    treats  her  friends  like  a  spacer  in  an  airlock  .  ’  that  means  in  a  bad  thing  ,      by  the  way  .        ❞        he  pauses  for  a  second  to  think  ,      and  then  continues  .        ❝        ‘and  some  of  her  friends  know  that  and  let  her  do  it  anyways  to  them  ,      which  begs  the  question  ,      why  in  the  universe  would  someone  in  their  right  mind  let  her  do  that  ?’  well        ahem  ,      i  can  answer  that  .    it’s  ‘cause  they  want  to  .        ❞

he  gazes  at  her  .    the  look  is  long  ,      a  bit  absent  ,      mostly  pensive  .      ❝        better  find  that  marker  real  soon  .    you  owe  me  .        ❞

it's her best defense, humor: she's coped with a lot using humor. she's learned through many experiences that sometimes humor isn't warranted, and abigail's SMARTASS remarks and unfiltered comments have landed her in hot water on more than one occasion — famously, no one in the crimson fleet, no one on the key could take a fucking JOKE, absolute fun suckers the lot of them. but sam? she can't figure out how sam hasn't throttled her yet. joking with sam is easy, he quips right alongside her, keeps her on her toes — there are even moments when she takes longer to respond because she can't think of anything witty. it's refreshing.

he leans against the rail as the elevator descends further, and she looks back at him. he calls himself OLD FASHIONED, and abigail steals a moment to fully take him in, eyes raking up and down his person. old fashioned: he's a regular space cowboy, like most of the akila men who traipsed through the astral lounge, but something strikes her as different. she supposes it's that COE lineage, but abigail knows the wild west; she grew up farming on new homestead, there were plenty of them who kept to the backcountry earthly ways, hell, she earned a lot of money leaning into the BUCKLE BUNNY aesthetic on neon. something about sam is different — something about sam is real. old fashioned, she hums silently, mind traveling to the old earth documentaries she used to watch: rock n' roll stars with girls who'd throw their bras on stage. “ i don't have a pen and magazine, but i do have a marker and my — actually, nope, uh . . . i'm not gonna say that one out loud. oh look, our floor. ”

oh, she's so stupid. she's so fucking stupid. abigail is squeezing through the doors before they can even fully open, practically PRYING them open with her hands. she eyeballs the floor for any company — empty. insane. stupid, stupid, stupid. why did she even start that sentence, for the joke of it? she wouldn't let sam sign her — “ you know, i do think i'm gonna tell the next SSNN reporter who asks me what my hobbies are, though. ” deadpanned, as she turns her attention back to him, “ that i enjoy watching my friends use their connection for my benefit. i derive some sick sense of pleasure from it. do you think they'd leave me alone if i did that? ”

[coesmos]

looking  pretty  ugly  .      if  he  could  say  anything  in  the  world  to  her  without  any  fear  at  all  that  she  would  take  it  then  wrong  way  or  lose  what  little  pride  she  must  be  feeling  ,      with  her  body  broken  and  bartered  and  bruised  and  bleeding  and  her  clothes  left  to  the  wayside  ,      he  would  say  ,      simply  ,      that  anyone  with  sense  could  see  that  she  was  dying  .      maybe  not  in  the  complete  way  that  most  people  consider  dying  to  be  ,      but  enough  that  lack  of  proper  care  might  leave  her  incapacitated  for  months  .      or  years  .      the  possible  death  of  whatever  physical  life  she’d  come  to  know  ,      then  .

of  course  ,      he’s  always  been  dramatic  .      a  storyteller  for  the  ages  :  he’d  learned  that  in  order  to  be  liked  on  akila  ,      he’d  have  to  become  a  great  storyteller  .      so  he  had  .      she’s  not  actually  dying  .

but  he  works  as  if  she  is  .      it  doesn’t  take  him  long  before  he’s  wetting  a  cloth  with  sterilising  alcohol  and  wiping  around  her  wounds  ,      washing  the  blood  and  sweat  from  the  skin  of  her  arms  and  shoulders  and  neck  .        ❝        when  i  was  workin’  for  the  trade  commission  ,        ❞        he  says  ,      as  he  moves  her  hair  out  of  the  way  ,      leaning  around  to  get  at  the  bruises  and  open  wounds  at  her  sides  ,        ❝        i  got  caught  in  a  firefight  so  bad  i  thought  for  sure  i  was  gonna  die  .      and  i  almost  did  die  .        ❞        he  folds  the  dirty  cloth  ,      tossing  it  to  the  floor  and  grabbing  a  tube  of  ointment  out  of  his  kit  .      he  squeezes  some  onto  his  fingers  ,      leans  over  again  ,      and  dabs  lightly  on  her  wounds  .        ❝        to  the  point  where  i  couldn’t  make  it  up  for  myself  .      the  rangers  were  the  ones  who  got  all  caught  up  in  it  ,      before  anyone  could  actually  finish  me  off  .      weeks  of  that  pain  only  made  me  wish  they  had  .      i  wouldn’t’ve  been  like  you  ,      wouldn’t’ve  looked  for  anyone  to  help  me  ,      i  don’t  think  .      so  .        ❞

once  he’s  finished  with  one  side  of  her  .      he  starts  on  the  other  .        ❝        so  thanks  .      for  comin’  here  .      promise  i  ain’t  gawking  .      i’ve  seen  some  pretty  bad  shit  .        ❞

the way his voice softens has dolores looking at him , the worry in his eyes was obvious , and a part of her felt terrible for turning up on his doorstep like she had , and scaring him with her appearance . but who else could she have possibly turned to ? seeing the way he was looking at her just gave her more reason to be thankful that cora was asleep in the other room — dolores would not want the young girl to see her in such a grisly state . . .

she watches him as he settles beside her , and pops open the med kit . she already knew how much it would sting , but she honestly didn't care . she had gone through worse just surviving long enough to turn up at sam's apartment , so a bad sting would feel almost like a relief to her .

at first , she nods . of course she would let him take care of her — he was the only person she could trust enough to let take care of her . the fact she would have strip herself of her clothes did cause slight hesitancy in her , but she still smiled at him . ❛ doctor coe has a nice ring to it . ❜ dolores jokes with a pain-filled chuckle . ❛ but yes , i'm okay with that . it has to be done , right ? ❜

with her bottom lip between her teeth , she slowly adjusted herself to sit up a bit more , her hands shaking slightly as the adrenaline continued to make its way out of her system . with a small pause , she avoided sam's eyes as she slowly lifted her tattered and torn t-shirt , it slowly revealing her bruises and cuts , and burns , like the old earth quiz shows showing off the grand prize to the contestants .

❛ looking pretty ugly , eh ? ❜ she can barely force the smile as she also sees the results for the first time . she knew it must have been bad , but it didn't half knock her self-esteem just by looking at it . . .

[coesmos]

scoe is the type of dad to let cora curse ( within reasonably boundaries, never at anyone ) and just shrug, “but don’t ever let your grandpappy hear you cuss or he’ll whoop MY ass”

[coesmos]

[coesmos]

babygirl i’ve misread social cues you can’t even imagine