#highaver

there was laughter on the air, people milling about at a casual pace, so at odds with the darkness and despair they had just come from... and celeste was grateful for the levity of the circus troupe. the smiles on the faces of adults and children alike had managed to lift her spirits, which had been weighted and heavy since they had realized that an army marched on baldur's gate.

though, they hadn't seen a hint of the army since their arrival — something to worry about... eventually. for now, she was marveling at the wonders of the djinn with his hoard from trinkets and the artist currently working their magic on karlach's face.

but bal's words pulled celeste's focus, bringing her gaze to him and the euphoria of normalcy crashing to a halt. "what makes you say that?" she asked, then immediately realized her error. "other than the general... circus-y nature of things, that is?" she stepped closer to him, looking around at the various performers and on-lookers, trying to offer a more critical view of things.

the totally canon shenanigans of captain christopher pike, first officer la’an, chief of security balfour cousland and nurse christine chapel.    after number one is taken away by starfleet for breaking their laws on genetic manipulation, the enterprise is left without a first officer and a chief of security, as la'an is still on leave helping a young girl they found on a mission .   

as loathe as he is to risk the girl’s safe return to her family, pike requests that la’an return to act as his first officer, a role she has successfully fulfilled in several missions in the past year.    however, that still did leave them without a chief of security.    before starfleet can get any ideas, pike invites balfour cousland, the chief of security from the northumberland, to join the team.    —    they had recently gotten stranded on a planet together, and navigated their way out together.   he had been impressed with the younger man, and, most importantly, he trusted him.

it didn’t hurt that the cousland family is well-respected within federation circles, making it difficult for starfleet to raise an objection to this transfer.

❛⠀⠀⠀You invited me,⠀ ⠀ ❜⠀ ⠀ she mumbles into his neck, as if it was that simple, as if she didn’t receive the invitation when she was halfway across the quadrant during an away mission that would have given him a heart attack. Because it was.⠀From the moment the invitation pinged on her padd, visiting him became a question of when she could swing some shore leave;⠀it never crossed her mind to say no or later.

It took a few more weeks to get here than planned: an unexpected mission made her miss her transport on starbase twenty-three, and when she got there, it took her two days to charter a shuttle to the sol system.⠀

❛⠀⠀⠀Of course I came.⠀ ⠀ ❜

@highaver gets a starter.

it wasn't the intention, usually, for people around these parts to be unwelcoming. on a good day, the north east was the friendliest place in britain, as the people there would happily boast. the strikes, however, had made everyone more than a little sullen — some through paranoia, some through bitterness, and some through sheer hunger. when an unfamiliar face entered the pub, all eyes were on him.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾                      @highaver​ asked:  ❛ “I was so sad the day I met you. I can’t remember why.”

The revelation startles her.     That day is seared into her memory, a precious memory of a day that changed everything.    From the outside, there was no noticeable change:   she was still the same old Christine   —    bright and obnoxiously brilliant, the life of every room she had ever walked into, as white-haired and strange as ever.    However, under everyone’s nose, she underwent a transformation, blossoming into a better, happier version of herself:   finally meeting your best friend has that sort of effect on a girl.

How was it that in all of her ruminations of that happy day, she had never picked up on the fact he was sad?   Sure, she hadn’t learned how to read him yet, he was still a stranger, nothing more than Elspeth’s brother that she had only heard about in passing.    Whatever negative emotions she had picked up coming from him, she had just dismissed it as him being annoyed at the fact his well-earned shore leave by his sister had been crashed by a stranger  (   a decision she never found it in herself to be embarrassed by   )   and failed to analyze it later when she started to know better.

  ❛       Yeah?      ❜     a small smile glimmers at the corner of her lips, holding back a few dozen questions behind it.      ❛       Hmmm, that’s my favorite day.      ❜

 They left that day well on their way to being best friends, but they were still strangers.   As well as she got to know him, he held his emotions close to his chest, she had to piece together a lot, go through unbearable sadness to pierce through his walls.  

 ❛      I —       ❜    she puffs out a small breath, resting her head on his shoulder.       ❛     I don’t remember that.       ❜