Concerns of a cousin
“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”
- Neil Gaiman
Bel typed into the computer next to her, the instrument a bit foreign to her. She learned the minor things, hooking up her cortex to it and transferring files to it so she can have better records of her patients. She flipped through the manual and reaches up to rub at her cheek, almost not hearing the dinging of her cortex of the incoming message. She looked at it for a good couple seconds before she answered it. The vision of her cousin flashed on the screen and she smiled happily.
“Xav! Oh, Baio ge! Its so good to see you.” She peered at the screen and smiled. “You need a haircut and a shave.” She touched the screen and smiled, tracing her fingers along the digital image of his chin. “Oh.. Baio ge, I missed you.”
“Baio mei, it’s kinda hard to get a shave and haircut when there are no barbers around.” He smiled brightly at her and she can see that he did indeed look very good. “How are you doing, Bel? You look thin. Tired. I can see the circles. Is your head hurting? Do I need to do another scan?” He looked concerned and she knew he was right. She was overworking herself. Spending every free minute filled with patients and getting supplies for Hale’s and Blackburne. She was making sure she didn’t have a free minute to spare to think about anything at all other than what she needed to be thinking of.
“Its been busy here. Reavers and raiders right after each other. I haven’t had time to rest. My head doesn’t hurt, and I am still seeing black and white, but that means I could be healing or just really really calm.” She had explained her theory to her cousin and he scoffed a bit at her, not realizing that sometimes these things happen when you are born and raised on a radioactive moon. “Im okay, Baio ge. Seana and Sabrina want to take me to Ariel for their wedding and to get a good rest from all the chaos.”
“I don’t know, Bel. This thing between the Alliance and Shadow may erupt in an all out war. I don’t want you anywhere near Shadow or any core planet. Not when this could boil over.” He cussed some in Mandarin and she winced at the language, her usually calm cousin getting more vocal the longer he is on that ship. She sighed and nodded at him before she stopped his curses.
“I promise, Xav… if it starts to boil over, I will let you take me to wherever you want to take me.” She was serious. She knew that her cousin wouldn’t accept anything less. She realized he knew when she was fibbing towards him.
He seemed to stare at her before he finally nodded and seemed satisfied with her response. “Okay. Fair enough. You are the only family I have left. And…” He looked off as if looking at someone or something out of camera’s reach and he nodded. “I read your mom’s diary. We need to stick together. We need to make sure our family lives on, Bel. Promise me you wont do anything stupid.”
Bel nodded and sighed. “I promise I wont do anything stupid. But I am going to Ariel with Seana and Sabrina if they want me to. Okay?”
He nodded after a few moments, glad he won most of the battle. Could have done worse. They spent the better part of an hour chatting about the crew and what she has been doing and how Bridgette was. He showed her a ring, a beautiful gold and diamond right. Said it cost him a pretty penny, but he will be proposing to Bridgette that night. He asked when the time came, if Bel would attend the wedding. Of course she would! Wild horses couldn’t keep her away.
After a few tearful moments of goodbye, Bel shut the cortex off and leaned back in her chair, her head tilting back to look up at the ceiling while she stared at the familiar water stain on the wall.
Maybe she needs to slow down. Maybe it was time to relax for once.
- Neil Gaiman
Bel typed into the computer next to her, the instrument a bit foreign to her. She learned the minor things, hooking up her cortex to it and transferring files to it so she can have better records of her patients. She flipped through the manual and reaches up to rub at her cheek, almost not hearing the dinging of her cortex of the incoming message. She looked at it for a good couple seconds before she answered it. The vision of her cousin flashed on the screen and she smiled happily.
“Xav! Oh, Baio ge! Its so good to see you.” She peered at the screen and smiled. “You need a haircut and a shave.” She touched the screen and smiled, tracing her fingers along the digital image of his chin. “Oh.. Baio ge, I missed you.”
“Baio mei, it’s kinda hard to get a shave and haircut when there are no barbers around.” He smiled brightly at her and she can see that he did indeed look very good. “How are you doing, Bel? You look thin. Tired. I can see the circles. Is your head hurting? Do I need to do another scan?” He looked concerned and she knew he was right. She was overworking herself. Spending every free minute filled with patients and getting supplies for Hale’s and Blackburne. She was making sure she didn’t have a free minute to spare to think about anything at all other than what she needed to be thinking of.
“Its been busy here. Reavers and raiders right after each other. I haven’t had time to rest. My head doesn’t hurt, and I am still seeing black and white, but that means I could be healing or just really really calm.” She had explained her theory to her cousin and he scoffed a bit at her, not realizing that sometimes these things happen when you are born and raised on a radioactive moon. “Im okay, Baio ge. Seana and Sabrina want to take me to Ariel for their wedding and to get a good rest from all the chaos.”
“I don’t know, Bel. This thing between the Alliance and Shadow may erupt in an all out war. I don’t want you anywhere near Shadow or any core planet. Not when this could boil over.” He cussed some in Mandarin and she winced at the language, her usually calm cousin getting more vocal the longer he is on that ship. She sighed and nodded at him before she stopped his curses.
“I promise, Xav… if it starts to boil over, I will let you take me to wherever you want to take me.” She was serious. She knew that her cousin wouldn’t accept anything less. She realized he knew when she was fibbing towards him.
He seemed to stare at her before he finally nodded and seemed satisfied with her response. “Okay. Fair enough. You are the only family I have left. And…” He looked off as if looking at someone or something out of camera’s reach and he nodded. “I read your mom’s diary. We need to stick together. We need to make sure our family lives on, Bel. Promise me you wont do anything stupid.”
Bel nodded and sighed. “I promise I wont do anything stupid. But I am going to Ariel with Seana and Sabrina if they want me to. Okay?”
He nodded after a few moments, glad he won most of the battle. Could have done worse. They spent the better part of an hour chatting about the crew and what she has been doing and how Bridgette was. He showed her a ring, a beautiful gold and diamond right. Said it cost him a pretty penny, but he will be proposing to Bridgette that night. He asked when the time came, if Bel would attend the wedding. Of course she would! Wild horses couldn’t keep her away.
After a few tearful moments of goodbye, Bel shut the cortex off and leaned back in her chair, her head tilting back to look up at the ceiling while she stared at the familiar water stain on the wall.
Maybe she needs to slow down. Maybe it was time to relax for once.
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