donkeyballs | Reverie: IC Inbox

anything you want to tell me.

[That might be too broad when he's this upset, though.]

what does melas want to be when he grows up?

[ There's a pause.

A long pause.

A long pause. ]

i don't even know

don't even know if he'd recognize my face if he saw it

he wanted to fly, once

[Oh, Alex.]

you think he still wants to?

no idea

never was all that interested in my stories

always wanted to hear about pirate raids and fightin the enemy

never had the heart to tell him i never did any of that

it doesn't matter what you did or didn't do in the mcrn. saving the system a few times tops that any day.

yeah

just ain't compatible with bein' a father

if i'd been able to be his dad when he needed me too, i ain't never would have ended up on the cant

i was a shit father, gunny

maybe she ended up findin him a better one

hey, listen to me.
maybe you screwed up, but you love him. that's more than a lot of kids can say about their fathers.
everyone makes mistakes. sometimes things don't work out the way we plan. at least you want to make it right.

only way to make it right is to go back

and even if i could

it wouldn't work
she's got every right to be pissed as hell, but i just ain't never gonna be what they need

i never was

forget about talissa for a minute. what about melas?
say we figure out a way back. you don't think you could make it right with him?

If your dad ran off when you were barely old enough to remember him, you think he could ever make that right?

yeah, i do.
it would take work, but you're not a monster, alex.

[ There is no reply, for a long time.

Until finally: ]

i don't know what to do if he's dead, gunny

I just don't know.

[God, he's breaking her heart.]

where are you?

bar

stay there.

[Bobbie heads down as quickly as she can, spotting him easily enough. She joins him at the bar, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze as she does, her voice soft.]

Hey.

[ He's already a few cups in, when she gets there, and there's a very real sense of shame that comes with her finding him, but he hadn't moved. Hadn't attempted to disobey. He barely raises his eyes when they fall back to his glass. ]

Hey.

[It's a good thing he didn't leave—she's worried about him, and the concern is obvious in her voice.]

I'm so sorry, Alex.

[ The emotion chokes in his throat, and he can't reply for a few seconds, even if he knew how the hell to reply in the first place. Instead, his head sinks a little, and he stares down into his cup. ]

... Sorry, Gunny. Thought I'd - thought I'd hold up better than this.

[Bobbie lets out a breath, hand still on his shoulder.]

Hey, you don't have to hold up. Not after that.

Yeah, I do.

[ He slumps, the weight of his shoulder pressing into her hand. ]

We all knew we were... The likelihood of us bein' close - time wise or space wise... We always knew it wasn't gonna be...

I know.

[She rubs his shoulder gently.]

But it's different to know for sure.

... Yeah. [ Heavily. ]

Yeah, it is.

[ He looked like he wanted to say something more after that, but the words failed him, and instead he just looked miserable as he poured himself another drink. ]

[Yeah, that was pretty obvious. Bobbie studies him for a moment, waiting for him to spit it out, but he doesn't.]

What? You were going to say something.

I just - I still don't know for sure, right? It's just like this - extra proof to the worst but it ain't solid. 'Cause I already figured... I already figured this couldn't be our universe.

Hell, you and I are the only two on the whole damn rust bucket who have even been to Mars.

This can't be our universe anyway, right?

Clara and Wash said they'd seen Mars colonized, but their versions were... Different.

[Which she's still trying to wrap her head around.]

Maybe you're right. Maybe we're in a different reality altogether.

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