(no subject)

[nonsurvivor]

One thing that the Barge did was open up the possibility of wandering not just around the jagged continent he was born on, but into other worlds.

His own world has been given new life, and he honestly thought he'd never want to see another sand dune again. But one night on the deck, while he is still deciding if he wants to wait for a new inmate or leave for good, he asks Rey: "If I was there, would you show me Jakku?"

He says it with a tip of accent, hard to say which one; he shifts between a few. It isn't his native Australian. But it's not her accent, either, and it makes him sound even more uncertain.

Comments

[garbagepilot]

She's honestly a little surprised by that question, and it shows when she glances toward him and away from the empty space that's stretching out from the deck.

"I- Yes, if you wanted to see it. There's not much to see." She says after a moment, and it's after she answers that she thinks she might know why he asked. He's got nothing keeping him here now, so he must be thinking of his future. "I'd have the Falcon, though, so I could show you any of the planets you wanted to see."

[nonsurvivor]

He doesn't argue, even though there's always something. There are people. There are the vicious lifeforms that cling to the rocks and slither over the sand. There are sunsets and wastelands yawning in front of you.

"I don't know any other planets," he admits with an apologetic shrug. He's heard some people tittering and gushing over Luke and Han, over the Falcon itself. He's aware that a movie existed that mentioned one or more of those things, and probably planets too. But he was busy running by the time the movie hit theaters, and he never saw it.

[garbagepilot]

Over time Rey has gotten better about physical contact, so it's easier now to reach out and touch Max's wrist than it ever has been been before. She's come to like him in the time they've been spending together, after all, and when she can see there's something bothering him it's not as much of a stretch to try to do something to help.

"I don't either, really. We could just look at star charts and pick at random until we find one you like."

[nonsurvivor]

And Max, who had seemed to dislike being touched gently, now lets his wrist drift closer to her. He now lets himself relax and lean, ever so slightly, toward her like he's cold and finding warmth.

"Mm, and your ship would keep us from going through stars? Into black holes?" He saw enough Star Trek to gather that it was one of Many Concerns With Space Travel.

[garbagepilot]

They've both come a long way when it comes to behaving like normal, functional humans, but it's times like this that make Rey realize just how little she actually wants Max to leave. It helps, talking about him going with her to her own world, but there's still a possibility they won't have this one day.

"The Falcon is the best ship in the galaxy, I'll have you know," she says lightly, leaning over to bump his shoulder with hers. "I would never fly her into something so dangerous."

[nonsurvivor]

There will always be quirks between the two of them, little glitches in the way they perceive the world, because the two of them are survivors first. A lot of surviving is knowing when to run, and a lot more of it is running before you're even sure you need to.

Max runs much less from Rey than he does from most people, whether it's through subtle touches like this, or through talking to her rather than offering stony silence.

"More worried about the Falcon than me on board?" Sometimes, he even jokes.

[garbagepilot]

"Only a little," she says brightly, giving him one very quick smile. "But as long as you're inside it you'll be as safe as you could ever want to be."

She turns so she can lift herself up to sit on the railing, facing Max now instead of looking at the stars. It's odd how closely she's considering what kind of life they might have but it's so easy that she can't help it, just keeps going.

"There are planets that are just water, you know. Some of them have islands, but some have no land at all and everyone lives in man made structures on the tops of the ocean."

[nonsurvivor]

Max tries to picture that, the complete opposite of what he knows, but the images don't come.

"Sounds dangerous." Not that danger bothers him, not really. "Have you been there? How do they get food?"

[garbagepilot]

"I've been to one with islands. There were places to farm there and a spring of fresh water, it'd be perfect for just a few people."

She talks about it fondly because it had been nice, the smell of salt and the air so humid it was like an entirely new world after the dry, hot winds of Jakku. That had been where Luke had hid, though, so it's perhaps not somewhere she'd want to stay forever.

"I think we'd probably want somewhere with a few more trees, though, don't you?"