the mutineer

and his choice is made. she’s right that it already had been. it’s difficult to change jim’s mind once he’s set it. something about having her support behind him makes him PROUD. she may not be the gem of starfleet, but he had always believed she was a great commander. that she’d be an even better captain. “you can trust me, burnham. i APPRECIATE your support and i promise it won’t be misplaced.”

“That’s brilliant!” Tilly steps beside her and starts plugging in numbers. “I mean, we don’t have the same access to the mycelial network as before, but maybe we can find a way to get back in.”

Even with everything May had done, Tilly couldn’t help but consider the Jahsep her friend.

“If you could time travel anywhere, where would you go?”

“ IF WE COULD just know whether this theory works or not, it will give us enough information -- and we could find a way in later. ” Michael said, as she worked in the screen next to Tilly’s. A few moments passed, and then her friend asked her a question that made her hands stop. This wasn’t Michael’s first time considering when she’d go if she could time travel --  “ I’d visit my parents. I know you shouldn’t mess up with family but... if it was up to me, I’d go back to when my parents were still alive and I’ll see them again. ”

jim is, of course, personally familiar with the results of her actions and he knows he was one of the lucky ones. too many of their friends DIED as a result of this war. some wars, however, are unavoidable. this was all bound to happen eventually: no one can live in peace forever. jim hasn’t ever lived in peace at all.

“is that some sort of high-grade vulcan advice i hear?” he teases, deflecting the real topic. he knows how to choose his battles. he always has. he just has an unlucky streak of choosing the ones that he SHOULDN’T. jim’s stubbornness is hard to rival, after all. once his mind is set, it’s in stone.

Feeling alleviated of his baseless fears, he smiled reassuringly. “It’s understandable. There’s no reason to feel down about something that, no matter what, was out of your control. If it’s a dream, that’s fine. If it was…. someone or thing toying with your mind, we can’t do anything until we know more. But either way, I want to know that you’re going to be alright.”

    𝙳𝚁𝙰𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙽 𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝙲𝙷𝙴𝙴𝙺 𝙱𝙻𝚄𝙴 𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂,     a thin light from the screen dances.  under the disguise of a star-like glisten,  pike’s greenish-blue eyes light up like torches.  a jaw-straining tension shapes his voice flat and hard like a bite   ‘  yeah,  well,  neither was my old man  ’   it rasps mid-sentence,  and he has to clear his throat.  all rigid muscles relax.  there is no rest for his spear-like gaze as he follows the sinuous half-curve of a wise smile quickly strewn across michael’s lips,  swallowed then by a new opening and closing and sucking breath in.  he delves not in those words and the well they dig.  

   ‘  so i’ve been told  ’   he dismisses.  truthfully,  christopher pike has been more than told :  he’s known from the glances on the bridge,  the mouths forcefully pulled shut,  that to exorcise the wariness he’d have had to exorcise the ghost of gabriel lorca.  space is too strange a place to wrestle the dead without some backward voice clinging to a man as his own echo.   ‘  that’s the least i can do.  burnham —  ’   a grave pitch grows in his otherwise steady voice.  there’s so much that has been kept from him   ( pike feels the frustration could eat him alive ) ;  not this,  not the well-being of his own men.   ‘  speaking for the rest of the crew aside.  are you okay?  ’

MICHAEL WAS NEVER a specialist in human behaviour, and she was starting to doubt what she’d learnt in all her years aboard human ships. Everything she thought she knew about emotions didn’t match whatever Pike was showing her, and she wasn’t able to pin down what he was thinking... which annoyed her. “ Of course, Captain. ” She nodded her head, trying to lose eye contact as little as possible. “ Why shouldn’t I be? Are you? ” 

                                               repost  &  tag  away !  

                                             BOLD all that applies to your muse.                                            italicized  -  applicable in some verses

• eyes:   blue | green | brown | hazel | gray | gray-blue | other • hair:   blond | sandy | brown | black | auburn | ginger | grey / white | multi-color | other • body type:   skinny | slender | slim | built | curvy | athletic | muscular | chubby | overweight • skin:   pale | light | fair | freckled | tan | olive | medium | dark | discolored • gender:   male | female | trans | cis | agender | demigender | genderfluid | other | doesn’t like labels | don’t have any definite headcanon either way • sexuality:   heterosexual | homosexual | bisexual | pansexual | asexual | demisexual | other  | doesn’t like labels • romantic orientation:   homoromantic | heteroromantic | biromantic | panromantic | aromantic | demiromantic | unsure | doesn’t like labels

• species:   human | undead | shapeshifter | demon | angel | witch | ghost | incubus / succubus | werewolf | alien | mutant | god • education:   high school | college | university | master’s degree | PhD | other: Vulcan Science Academy • i’ve been: in love | hurt | ill | mentally abused | bullied | physically abused | tortured | redacted | brainwashed | shot

• positive traits: affectionate | adventurous | athletic | brave | careful | charming | confident | creative | cunning | determined | forgiving | generous | honest | humorous | intelligent | loyal | modest | patient | selfless | polite | down-to-earth | diligent | romantic | moral | fun-loving | attractive | charismatic | calm • negative traits: aggressive | bossy | cynical | envious | shy | fearful | greedy | gullible | jealous | impatient | impulsive | cocky | reckless | insecure | irresponsible | mistrustful | paranoid | possessive | sarcastic | self-conscious | selfish | swears | unstable | clumsy | rebellious | emotional | vengeful | anxious | self-sabotaging | moody | peevish | angry | pessimistic | slacker | thin skinned | overly dramatic | argumentative

• living situation:   lives alone | lives with parent(s) / guardian | lives with significant other | lives with a friend | drifter | homeless | lives with children | other • parents/guardian:   mother | father | adoptive | foster | grandmother | grandfather | deceased • sibling(s):  sister(s) | brother (s) | none | other | adoptive • relationship:   single | crushing | dating | engaged | married | separated | it’s complicated

• i have a(n):   learning disorder | personality disorder | mental disorder | anxiety disorder | sleep disorder | eating disorder | behavioral disorder | substance-related disorder | PTSD | mental disability | physical disability

• things i’ve done before:   had alcohol | smoked | stolen | done drugs | self-harmed ( thoughts only ) | starved | had sex | had a threesome | had a one-night stand | gotten into a fist fight | gone to hospital | gone to jail ( juvie ) | used a fake ID | played hooky | gone to a rave | killed someone | had someone try to kill them