no more yielding but a dream

[adaptiveimmunities]

Who: Shaun Mason and Mahir Gowda
What: Fissure aftermath
Where: Mahir's cabin
When: The morning after the Fissure (before Una's announcement)
Warnings: Profanity definitely. Viruses probably. Two people who are bad at emotions.

It's morning. Whatever else is going on--and Shaun sure as hell hopes it was some weird fucked up dream--he and Mahir have a standing morning appointment. They'd worked it out within the first day. With none of the modern technology to check someone's viral load and see without a doubt if they're about to amplify, they're resorting to old fashioned methods, which means a morning check-in, every day. Response time, pain perception, mental acuity.

If there was ever a morning he wanted to skip it, it would be this one, but that's not going to happen. He knocks at the door. "Good morning sunshine!"

God, he wants coffee.

Comments

[fishandclips]

“...Something like that,” Mahir says slowly. “Actually, I believe I completely sucked at shuffleboard.”

He had. Largely because Shaun had made a game of distracting him every time his turn came up, aaaand right, not thinking of that, no. His complexion does a lot to hide a blush, but not enough.

[adaptiveimmunities]

Shaun is good at self delusion. Really good. He has a whole talking delusion with its own personality that he has regular conversations with as though it's not just another part of his own psyche. His delusion, though, is as married to the truth as the person it represents.

[Shaun...]

"Yeah, I know." He sighs. "I'm gonna hope I'm wrong about this, but let's see. You were terrible because A: it's really fucking boring, and B--" The fact that he manages to keep a straight face and not blush is based in years of being in front of a camera. "Someone was being really distracting."

[fishandclips]

Mahir did not have the upbringing Shaun and Georgia did, and he has never been fond of being in the spotlight. Even if he had, he would never have anything like Shaun's poker face.

Which really means that Mahir's face hides nothing as he looks back at Shaun wordlessly: confusion, disbelief, growing horror and embarrassment.

"Shaun."

[adaptiveimmunities]

And that reaction is pretty much all the confirmation he needs. He nods and steps back toward the door. "Neat. I'll catch you later, okay? Gonna work a bit on that seed project. Glad we're both not zombies yet."

He has no idea what else to say, so he just leaves. The ship isn't big enough to actually avoid Mahir, and he can't anyway, considering their situation, but he needs to think. The best way for him to do that right now is somewhere else.

[fishandclips]

Mahir watches Shaun go, feeling stunned more than anything else. Did that just happen? The door shuts behind Shaun, and--Yes. Yes, it did just happen.

It's a good thing Shaun left when he did, because if he hadn't, it would have been much more difficult for Mahir to hide in his cabin and never leave again.

He groans, drops back in bed and covers his face with his blanket.

"...Fuck."