[IC INBOX | lastvoyages ]

[mothmansplaining]

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credit

"Stanford Pines. Leave a message."

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[tetractys]

If one knew precisely where to look, and were on exactly the right access filter, they might hear scratchy, serene music: floating notes from a piano, almost too faint to hear. A half-drunk champagne flute sits utterly still, without a single ripple to disturb the bubbles as they rise to the surface. A record player running smoothly, without a single skip, the same words, over and over and.

Nobody's there. The piano gleams blue at the edges, its glossy paint catching the light that fills the space. The source of the light is a colossal, spinning ring-shaped doorway, and the console beside it displays a bar that is nearly, nearly full. A digitized female voice speaks her warning calmly over the record: Coordinates located. Barrier ingress in 5...4...3...2...

But all that's somewhere else. Somewhere no one knows to look. Not yet.

[mothmansplaining]

A countdown clock had seemed like a great idea at the time.

Really, it's still a good idea, objectively. It is very good to know precisely how many seconds are left until the rift opens.

It's just that even when Ford isn't looking at it, he's hyperaware of it. It's like it's looking at him, which is a stupid thing to think. He can feel the numbers ticking down.

He holds the champagne glass in a time before it was still and serene and takes a sip from it that is more bracing than celebratory. He watches the light from the portal glow, antsy and uncertain.

[tetractys]

Bill has the big black piano out again, and is picking out forties songs to try to drown out the record and the countdown.

"FOOORDSYYY, CHEER UP! WE DID IT!"

[mothmansplaining]

"Isn't it a little early to be celebrating?" Ford asks, turning to face Bill, still looking away from the clock. "We've got a rough road ahead of us. Any number of things could go wrong!"

[tetractys]

"YOU SOUND LIKE ME THE OTHER DAY."

The other day, when they held hands for a long time.

[mothmansplaining]

"Ugh, don't say that." Ford rolls his eyes without rancor.

He's really tense. Anxious. Wound up with nowhere to go, kind of like a doomsday clock.

"I feel like I can see that clock out of the back of my head," he grumbles.

[tetractys]

Bill drifts up off the bench and towards Ford. The piano keeps playing itself without any input.

"COME ON, WE GOT SO FAR! THERE'S A LOT WE GOTTA DO, BUT RIGHT NOW WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR AGES IS DONE!"

Bill's been into the champagne and he wants to celebrate, damn it.

[mothmansplaining]

"And now we wait," he says, "and hope that the ship doesn't come apart before we get there."

[tetractys]

"I'VE BEEN STABILIZING IT. IT'LL GET A LITTLE BUMPY, BUT WE'LL GET THERE BEFORE IT DISINTEGRATES!"

After that, the Barge can come apart if it wants to, Bill doesn't care.

He gently touches Ford's jaw.

"YOU HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS?"

[mothmansplaining]

He looks up at Bill.

"No," he says. "I'm committed. There's too much riding on this to give up now."

Besides, if you think Ford Pines would give up on a plan just because it was dangerous, you haven't met him.

[tetractys]

"YEAH, I KNOW YOU ARE. BUT YOU'RE WORRIED."

Committed, not confident. Bill elbows him a little.

[mothmansplaining]

"Of course I am. If we miscalculated..." He huffs out a breath, looks away. They both know how close they're flying to total disaster. He doesn't want to have caused the deaths of everyone on board this ship.

[tetractys]

"HEY, YOU KNOW I'M SMART, RIGHT? WOULD I LET THAT HAPPEN?"

This is pure manipulation, but he is justifying it as being for a good cause.

[mothmansplaining]

Ford looks back at Bill. Turning his head to look at Bill necessitates turning his head towards Bill's hand. He is not deliberately brushing his face against Bill's hand; it's just sort of happening, unavoidably, a hard-to-detect leaning into the touch.

"Ah, not if you could help it. Not with what you're gambling on this."

His voice has a note of relief: he does feel a little better, thinking about it in those terms. He's still tense, but his brain is chewing on that worry-thread a little less insistently.

[tetractys]

Man, it's tempting to turn this into petting Ford. Square jaw, very classic human. Seeing him vulnerable always makes Bill want to dig claws in.

Nope, focus. We're cheering him up.

"YEAH, EXACTLY. AND YOU'RE NOT BAD YOURSELF, YOU KNOW."

[mothmansplaining]

Mmm. Maybe he isn't.

"I should look for a complementary way to reinforce the ship," Ford says, ignoring the way the hand on his face is creating a feedback loop with the champagne to make his face feel hot. Nope. Ignoring that. "Something that can operate as a backup if yours doesn't hold."

[tetractys]

"SURE, KNOCK YOURSELF OUT. I'LL HELP IF I CAN, I WANNA LIVE AS MUCH AS THE NEXT GUY."

Possibly more. Bill is very motivated by not-death.

[mothmansplaining]

He nods. "Between the two of us, we'll get it there in one piece."

His heart rate is still up, higher than normal. When that clock hits zero, everything is going to change. Ford wishes it would hurry up.

[tetractys]

"SO RELAX, HUH?"

Bill pauses. The piano is still playing itself. This past week has been a lot of ...

Well, something. He's never had people around during this phase of a project before, never had to negotiate terms to get things done.

"I KNOW... I KNOW COMING THIS FAR WITH ME AND TRUSTING IT'S NOT ALL GONNA FALL OUT FROM UNDERNEATH YOU IS TOUGH, I.Q.. IT HAS TO BE."

[mothmansplaining]

Almost as tough as believing that this is just Bill trying to calm him down and not Bill buttering him up for something. Ford is trying -- in his mind, he knows the logical conclusion is he's not being lied to, but the fear that he is is still there.

The chuckle Ford lets out is quiet and short, bubbling up like carbonation inside a pressure seal, rising to the top but not really letting off any of the stress. "You have no idea."

[tetractys]

Hmm this made it worse somehow, damn.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, NO MANAGING. I'M JUST SICK OF BEING NERVOUS!"

Bill takes his hand away to sit on the end of the piano, drums his fingers.

[mothmansplaining]

"Ah, you weren't wrong," Ford offers, going to lean against the piano next to Bill, relenting a bit. "You were trying to make me feel better, right?"

[tetractys]

"YEAH! YOU'RE BRINGING THE ROOM DOWN."

Bill is staring at the countdown now. Oh no. It's contagious.

[mothmansplaining]

"It was nice of you," Ford mumbles at his champagne flute. "I'm just -- it's just that I'm always wondering what it is you're trying to get me to do."

[tetractys]

Ha ha, valid. Bill is absolutely that guy!

"YEAH, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BE NICE! I JUST KNOW HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO DO STUFF."

Bill swings his feet, sips his drink. He was just using his 'get Ford to do things' tactics to get the thing he wants Ford to do to be to cheer up. When all you have is a hammer...