#astrosavior

[ TXT ] : send me your location. — @astrosavior.

send 📐 to compare heights. accepting.

door.   hold a door open for my muse. — @astrosavior.

❛ and they say chivalry is dead. you know, colour me a little skeptical, but the last time you took me to an unknown room, otherwise known as earlier today, i made an idiot of myself in front of a board full of— ❜ the words die in his mouth as he braves the trespass into the doorway stratt presents, the quarters both entirely unfamiliar and somehow reminiscent of his apartment. he recognises his possessions amidst the otherwise sparse room, eyes unable to take in all the details but noting an overarching care for where each piece was placed just so. his toiletries lined up like ducks in a row, a desk complete with his own personal tchotchkes and supplies. the bed is not his, but the clock that is mounted above it is, a reminder of the looming deadline upon them. there is an attention he hadn't anticipated, a careful hand that renders him more comfortable setting further foot into the premises.

i'm still a little peeved that they went through my stuff without asking, that i didn't get the chance to pick out my own duffel bag and select what i would bring should i live on a boat, but i can still appreciate the thought. it was more than i'd expected. there are sticky notes labelling things i may need or seek — how considerate — and when i look back at stratt her expression is expectant, brows raised in bided time for what i presume to be feedback. i don't have much to offer, admittedly still a little stunned.

“work fast.” — @astrosavior.

❛ you know, i really don’t subscribe to this idea that emphasising a deadline this much has any effect on the perceived speed of said results. ❜ he has escaped from the lab for a brief stint, rid himself of gloves and suit and an intently focused mindset in favour of stretching his legs for a walk and debrief of findings so far : not many. ❛ and need i remind you, you’re the one who told me to take a break. much to my reluctance, might i add. ❜ there is no malice in that which he points out, in fact not much of anything but a soft professionalism instead of anything overly playful. their footsteps synchronise to a mutual patter, they sip their coffee at the same time, a harmony abundant if only they were able to tap into it. ❛ they’re crafty little rascals, the astrophage. i know it looks like i’m doing a whole of nothing, but it’s only because they’re giving me a whole lot of nothing. ❜ each new interaction or lack thereof ticks a box off a list, and he’s not sure what to do should he reach the bottom of it and get nothing. there has to be something, some trigger that brings them to sol, then venus, then back again. ❛ and while i’m at it, the live audience doesn’t exactly help. i don’t know if you know this, but some of us get stage fright. ❜

indulge + reverse. receiver finds sender drinking to cope. — @astrosavior.

❛ permission aboard ? ❜ it has become a lingering callback between them, his go - to introduction of his presence when she seems to otherwise steep in her own company, like a tea dispersing and bitter amidst hot water. it is late, his gym bag slung over one shoulder, a pit stop made when he sees the light on this late. even before he had seen its source he knew it was stratt, the only one he can imagine lucid at this hour — other than himself, that is.

i can’t help but feel like i’m interrupting something, which is a feeling i typically get with her but that is ever amplified now. a whiskey glass swirls in her palm, cigarette wisping smoke in the other as if she is at battle as to which bad habit to indulge in first. i know better than to scold eva stratt. but i don’t know better than to remark on it.

❛ coffee not the only thing you double up on, then. ❜ it is said jovially and without judgment, teetering his way into the room like mildew on a wall, slow and quiet, perhaps unwelcome. ❛ i don’t mean to intrude on your nightcap— ❜ throat clears with the acknowledgment of his being there, shoulders still carrying the weight of a workout, forehead just barely carrying the luster of perspiration. he knows it is her doing, or perhaps better to say suspects, but her presence is ever felt and bountiful, the task force wanting for nothing should she provide it. dr. grace doesn’t underestimate the difference a morale boost makes.

❛ i just figured i had you to thank for the late night opening. ❜ he waggles his duffel once again in gesture, suddenly at odds with having come, recognising the inappropriate timing of it harshly. ❛ but maybe i could’ve waited until the morning. and, you know, after a shower. ❜