Illuminated

[in_extremis]

WHO: Open! Treat this as a mingle, there's a big thing in the middle of the city
WHERE: Right in the middle of Temba, by the fountain
WHAT: A big display of festive spirit. Bring your own traditions!
WHEN: After freed from the ships
WARNINGS: That's up to you. Mark your threads accordingly.


a. the fountain
The brief had been 'Rockefeller Centre', and Tony wasn't going to deliver anything less when Jan asked, but the impact was still yet alien, and honestly underwhelming in the glare of sunlight. The tree selection had already been slim, between their strange colours and threateningly putrid sap, and complicated further by the blanket of ash that still clung to many boughs and had left swaths of the nearest forested area suffocated and brittle. The ultimate selection was more purple than Tony had been envisioning, and while he would readily call it coniferous, if that was a reasonable designation given the circumstances, its 'pines' were tiny cups that had to be shaken vigorously in its transfer into the city to divest it of gathered ash and bugs.

It was impressively massive, though, and those cups, now stationary, could be made festive. At least, Tony hoped that was how they would look, once the sun went down. At the moment, the lights that he had installed throughout the branches and the water that glowed with pollen from Sh'ka didn't make much of an impact unless he cupped a hand over a branch, careful not to disturb it too much and spill all of the water out, to check that any of it had actually made it into those little leaves. Maybe he could salvage this with the rest of the decorations before Jan got back to check on the progress. They were scattered around the pavement by the fountain, mostly scraps from the forge that caught the light well, or had been dunked into the wealth of glitter so generously provided by the Agrii. There were strips of fabric, bent utensils, and baubles that for the most part looked like stars, though in a great variety, from dimpled copper suns to strings of glass constellations. There might have been enough to make the tree look richly cheery. Now that it was securely upright, the problem was going to be reaching the top of it. Someone was going to have to reach those upper branches, and find something to crown the Christmas tree at the very top to really finish it off.


b. make a wish
"It's how it works," Tony encouraged. "The tree isn't complete until you've made your wish. Whole thing will fall apart without it."
Everything had been prepared and the process couldn't be easier, so you might as well make a wish. Take an envelope from the basket at the base of the tree and write the thing you hope for the most inside. Maybe it will come true once you tie it onto a branch with the attached big, red bow.

Comments

[cactusy]

"Is it some kind of... alien magic?" she asks, casting her eyes up and down the length of the tree. It sounds nuts, but then again, she wouldn't put it past this place.

[in_extremis]

This time, Tony did look offended, enough to drop the basket to his hip and lift a delicate hand to his chest at the implication that he would be taking part in magic. "Just the good ol' American Christmas kind. Excess and glitter," he corrected. That might have sounded like a good reason to just walk away, Tony realized, so he flapped a hand to continue quickly, "You might not have been here very long, and, hey, if you're lucky, that won't last. Some of these beautiful people, though, they've been stuck here a few years, and it hasn't given them a lot of opportunities to make beautiful, happy memories. So, listen, I think, maybe, a Christmas tree, and something to look forward to, that's worth the time it takes you to tie a bow."

[cactusy]

"You know something? I'd be okay with this lasting. I've been in the market for a new job, and rebuilding a planet and fighting aliens on behalf of other aliens? That's at least interesting."

She drops her envelope back into his box, unused.

"Whatever you're putting together here is nice and cozy and admirable or whatever. Not really my scene, though; sorry. The pretty lights are good enough for me."

[in_extremis]

"You're already here," Tony pointed out; it had to be at least temporarily her scene, while she was still standing in the midst of it. He watched the return of the envelope with a resigned slouch of his shoulders and small nod of acceptance, shifting the container away from her as he rebalanced, focus back on the tree. He should have set someone else up to make the sales pitch, or maybe just left a sign. "Not a people person," he mumbled, "Sure."

She was by far not the only one who wasn't particularly eager to get back home, and Tony filed it as part of the pattern he hadn't quite worked out yet. What wasn't so common was how readily she volunteered that position. "You seemed proud of your whole military thing, before. Led with it, anyway," he pressed.

[cactusy]

"I led with it because it was relevant. You guys are my coworkers now, basically; I figured I should share my qualifications."

Her gaze flickers back to the tree again. This is true, but it's also not anything close to the whole story; she pauses, then picks out another thread that she's okay with sharing.

"I am proud of the work I did: before the military, in the military, after the military. I, uh-- I learned a lot in every job I had, even if sometimes it was learning about the kind of person I didn't want to be."

Another, briefer pause.

"But nothing lasts forever, so. I'm okay being done with Earth."

[in_extremis]

'Coworkers' wasn't exactly how Tony would have put it, but it wasn't a philosophy he could readily argue against either, leaving him considering her with a thoughtful hum and inquisitive narrow of his eyes, asking if that was really where she wanted to land, too. "That was a very job-interview answer," he observed, a hint of the teasing glint in his eye returning. "You been looking long? Lucky you, landing on this recruiter's desk."

He sobered again, focus flicking over her shoulder as he agreed, "Got that right. We're all destined to the future, no point trying to hang on, she's stronger than any of us. I don't think I'm going back, either." He tilted his head, considering how to construct the why, "Being the worst person here has a much lower impact than being the worst person in a population of a few billion."

[cactusy]

Shaw sloooooowly turns to look at him, eyebrow raised - faintly and dryly amused, but faint and dry enough that it's as easy to miss here as it had been over text.

"So introducing yourself with a job-interview answer is weird, but introducing yourself with 'I'm the worst person here' isn't?"

[in_extremis]

Was this some kind of test? Tony tried to mirror the expression, but his eyebrows furrowed with confusion, and he gave a glance to either side like he could spot the trap that he was being led into. Those weren't his words, and trying to argue against the accusation was not going to do him any favours.

"Oh," he seemed to realize, eyebrows jumping up. "You like to watch, that's the fun part. Hey, have you met Jon yet?"

[cactusy]

"No...?" Shaw says - confused by the sudden subject change, but willing to roll with it. "Let me guess. Another 'not a people person'?"

[in_extremis]

"Depends on the perspective," Tony replied, with a faint smile like they shared an inside joke. "But I don't see him here, so I'm going to guess that you'd like his scene a little better. He's also got a thing for watching people squirm. You'd made a diabolical team. Try to keep the threats in the tank, though, would you?"

[cactusy]

"Over text, I couldn't tell if you were actually pissed about that, or just playing along," she asks, and then waits, curious to see if he'll elaborate.

[in_extremis]

She had to be feeling a little awkward about it, if she thought she had to ask; one should always be courteous to their coworkers, after all, especially when trapped with them for an indefinite amount of time. Tony only considered for a moment, though, eyes narrowed in thought and his impish smirk in place, and assured her, "I've had worse things thrown at me on a first date." She would have to try a little harder to really rattle him, if that was her goal. "I'm serious about Jon, though. You play that game with him, everyone's going to go home crying, you're not going to get what you want."

[cactusy]

Shaw blows out a breath, rolling her eyes to look up at the tree again.

"You took it way more seriously than I meant for you to." Hardly the first time that that's happened, but she supposes she should clear things up with this guy, if she's going to be living in close quarters with him. Harold and John would be so proud.

She doesn't dwell on that thought.

"I'm trying really hard not to call you a baby again."

-- Okay, maybe Harold and John would be less proud.

"But seriously, no games. Not my thing."

[in_extremis]

That might have been the limit of Tony's reassurance, because he immediately shot back, "Pick one," sounding impatient and expectant. Sameen didn't get the chance to wonder what exactly he might have meant, because Tony was happy to keep talking, "Either its not that serious, or its not a game. You're racking up a list of things that you're not all that jazzed about, but so far they all seem to be in your head, this reinvention of yourself that you're going through isn't coming together yet. Maybe try working from the other end, come up with something you do like. Hey, you could even make a wish about it."

[cactusy]

"Oh, dude, come on--"

She throws up her arms in exasperation.

"You have to know there's options between 'I'm throwing around deadly serious threats' and 'I love to watch the peons squirm, it brings me sadistic joy'. You're being really weird about this."

[in_extremis]

One of them was definitely being weird, but Tony was fairly confident that it was the person who insisted on being irritated instead of taking the chance to think about something she wanted for Christmas. That was an impulse Tony was getting better at recognizing, and he studied her frustration like a chemical reaction, tongue between his teeth, searching for the source of the guilt. "Or are you just being a big baby who deserves to be punched in the face?" he eventually prompted. It didn't sit for long, just enough time for Tony to grimace and keep talking, "You're right, that felt terrible, I can see why you're struggling."

[cactusy]

"No more jokes about physical violence in front of you," she says, holding up two fingers like it's an actual oath. "Scout's honor. Lesson learned and all that crap."

[in_extremis]

Tony snorted, feeling like he should take that as seriously as his own salute, and struggled to control his smirk enough to nod graciously, hand to his heart. "Great. Any boundaries of your own?" he offered, only to immediately add, "Nope, don't answer that, you can't say 'everything', you're impossible. Maybe a safeword, so we can explore a little."

[cactusy]

"People who can dish it out but can't take it: yellow."

Buuuuuuut hey, at least yellow isn't red?

[in_extremis]

"I'm sorry," Tony insisted, clearly not sorry at all, free hand out flat to balance this scale, "Have I said something to make you feel threatened? Run it back for me, I just asked you to make a wish, nobody's under threat of punishment here. Except for the kids who aren't going to have their wishes come true, because someone was too cool to participate. It's okay, they're used to it, a day they're not being chased by giant spiders is a win for them."

[cactusy]

Shaw groans, rolling her neck back to stare up at the sky hard enough that her muscles crack.

"Yeah, okay. Great new example of not being able to take it. Good job, I guess."

[in_extremis]

The answer Tony was looking for wasn't up there, either; he looked up with Sameen to helpfully check as well, tapping with innocent curiosity at his beard. Someone else was going to have to chase that mystery down. It would have sounded just as innocent if Tony's sharp eyes weren't steadily back on her to tease, "Why don't you make me?"

[cactusy]

"Has anyone ever actually taken you up on that?" she asks, making - and holding - eye contact again. "And if they did, how much did you freak out and backpedal?"

[in_extremis]

"Stalling," Tony shot back immediately. "You do a lot of that. While imagining how you think I should react, which, listen, I'm a big supporter of pursuing your passions, I hope whatever I'm doing in there," he twirled a finger by his ear, "is doing it for you."

[cactusy]

"Never kissed a woman in your life," she says, mutinously.