Adia Costas (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chiron_survivor) wrote2017-12-03 12:26 pm
chiron_survivor) wrote2017-12-03 12:26 pm
Epilogue, Part III
“No. Absolutely not. There is no way I am letting you waltz back into our lives like nothing happened!”
Adia had brought Caspar home. Specifically, the plot of land she shared with Seth and Maggie, and their baby Jason. Two wooden cabins sat on the property, along with a large garden and an outdoor cooking area. The space had a communal, welcoming feel to it, but unfortunately that was not the impression that Caspar was getting at the moment.
She had expected the yelling, but from Maggie. Instead it was Seth who was red in the face with anger, shouting like a madman as he stormed up to them. Maggie, by contrast, was watching Caspar with a cool, unreadable expression, her baby sleeping peacefully in a colorful sling wrapped across her chest.
“You’re a liar and a traitor! I don’t want you here!”
“Seth…” Adia raised a hand placatingly, her other still holding Caspar’s. “It’s okay. The Quorum pardoned him.”
“I don’t care if Zeus pardoned him, he’s not welcome here! Not after what he did!” He loomed over Caspar, using his height and broad physique to full advantage. “I was part of the Resistance, I know all the terrible things your model did to get information out of people. How many people did you torture, Caspar? Or were you too busy signing death warrants to keep count?!”
“I didn’t torture anyone.” Caspar’s voice was quiet, but level. He held Seth’s gaze without shame.
“Tell me what you did do, then,” Seth growled, getting right into Caspar’s face. “And don’t you dare lie to me.”
“I maintained the servers at the Detention Center. Made sure that the data wasn’t lost or corrupted.”
Seth’s eyebrow twitched. He snorted. “You’re telling me you were the IT guy?”
“I’m telling you that I only handled the servers at the Center. I didn’t interrogate or otherwise interact with any humans.” His gaze dropped slightly, something like discomfort passing over his otherwise neutral expression. “I did witness some unpleasant things, and I likely voted on decisions that directly contributed to your people’s suffering.”
“And I’m sure you’re real broken up about that.”
Caspar frowned, looking Seth in the eye again. “We were at war. Shit happens. I’m not asking for you to feel sorry for all the Cylons who died on —“
“You blew your brains out! Right in front of her!” Seth threw out a hand towards Adia. “Was that just some shit that happened?”
Caspar snapped his jaw shut. She could feel his hand tremble in hers.
“Do you know how long she was trapped in there with your dead body?” Seth continued hotly, uncaring of the way Caspar flinched or how the color drained from his face. “Do you know what she was like, when we finally got those doors open?”
“Seth. That’s enough.” Adia let go of Caspar’s hand and moved between them, forcing her friend to step back. “Caspar and I already talked about this, and I accepted his apology.”
Still furious, Seth glared at Caspar as best he could with her in the way. “Adia, for gods’ sake, I’m trying to protect my family here, you included!”
“I know,” she said. “I know.” She kept her voice calm but insistent. “And if that means Caspar can’t live here, that’s fine, we’ll find somewhere else to go. But you don’t get to decide who I love, and you don’t get to decide who I forgive. Do you understand? We’re family but I can make my own decisions about that.”
Behind her, she could hear Caspar breathing deeply, trying to regain his composure. She reached for his hand and felt him grab onto it for dear life.
“I won’t hurt her again,” he said quietly, his voice shaking ever so slightly. “Or anyone she cares about. I know my word means nothing to you, but I’m dead serious about this. She means everything to me, Seth. Everything.”
Seth said nothing, his mouth pinched in frustration as he tried to come up with another furious rebuttal.
It was Maggie who broke the silence, sighing theatrically and looping her arm around her partner’s. “C’mon, honey. Admit that you’ve been beat.”
“I have not been —“ Seth turned to gape at her. “Don’t tell me you’re okay with him living here.”
Maggie gently patted the back of her baby, who was starting to stir. “The war’s over, and Adia’s forgiven him. There’s no point in holding onto past grudges. Besides, you don’t seem to have any problem with Julia or the other Cylons who come ‘round to visit.”
“That’s different,” Seth protested, but Maggie shook her head.
“No, it’s not. Not really.” She let go of him and walked up to Adia. “Girl, if this is what you want, I’ll support you a hundred percent. You know that, right?”
Adia smiled in relief. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Maggie.”
Her friend turned her gaze onto Caspar, all the warmth leaving her expression. “As for you,” she hissed, getting as close to him as she could with her baby in the way, “You break her heart again, and I’m gonna make you wish that you got sucked into that black hole, you understand me?”
“Duly noted,” Caspar replied with a raise of both eyebrows.
She stared at him a moment longer, then apparently satisfied with whatever she saw, returned to Seth’s side and tugged on his arm. “Let’s give them some privacy.” She headed back to their cabin, Seth following reluctantly.
“Well,” Caspar commented, once they were gone, “That went better than I expected.”
Adia sighed audibly, letting go of the tension in her shoulders. This was a battle she was going to have to fight again, she knew it, but for now she was relieved that the conflict between her and her friends was over.
“Come with me,” she said, and Caspar obediently walked with her into her cabin. It was one room, more spacious than her quarters on the Chiron, but so far mostly empty except for a nice wooden-framed bed in the corner. It was wired for electricity, but currently she had most of the circuits off to conserve the energy from the solar cells that lined the roof. The afternoon light from the windows was enough to give everything inside a warm, cheery glow.
She headed to the fireplace, checking on the remains of the previous night’s fire. “I should get this started soon. Did you want some tea? I have an electric pot if you don’t want to wait.”
When she didn’t get a reply, she turned to look at Caspar. He was watching her, his expression unreadable. “Did you mean what said back there? To Seth?”
“Hmm?” She thought back to their argument. “Yeah, there are places to live, other than here.” Lots of other places, if one counted the Nexus. “I mean, we’d have to build a new cabin, but —“
“No.” Caspar stepped closer. “That you love me.”
Oh. She felt herself grow nervous, far more nervous than when facing down Seth’s anger. “I… yes, I did, but, um. If that’s too much for you, I can —“
He silenced her by brushing a thumb across her lips, followed by his own mouth, his kiss warm and petal-soft. “Adia,” he murmured, pulling back to look into his eyes. “Do you know how much I love you? There’s over 744 million miles of genetic code in my body. If the word ‘love’ was engraved on each molecule of those hundreds of millions of miles, it would not equal one one-billionth of the love I feel for you. I love you, Adia, more than there are atoms in the universe. More than anything or anyone. I love you.”
She stared up into his tender, adoring gaze. To the love that shined through them. A heat rose up within her, warming her from the inside out.
“Frak me,” she said.
Caspar blinked. His gaze unconsciously flicked towards her bed before looking back at her. “Really?” The corners of his mouth twitched as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to smile or not. “Right now?”
She swallowed and licked her lips. Stared at his. “Yes,” she insisted. “Right now.”
Letting out a soft huff of amusement, he pulled her in for another kiss, then made a sound of surprise when she grabbed at the fabric of his jacket and tugged him in even closer. Their kiss was fire this time, burning away all the awkwardness between them, erasing any uncertainty from her mind. She reveled in the present, in the feeling of his mouth, his hands.
When they finally parted for air, she was already working on his belt.
“H-hey,” he panted, plucking her hand away. She whined in protest and he laughed, kissing the palm in appeasement. “I’m completely on-board, I promise. But let’s take our time. Okay?” He traced the curve of her face, her neck, his fingers ghosting over the outline of her collarbone. “I want to appreciate what I’ve been missing.”
“Okay,” she whispered, before he kissed her again.
Later… much later… she was grateful for the suggestion.
~*~
Caspar moved his things in the next day. He had a few personal items including a shaving kit and some clothes.
A lot of clothes.
In between cooking and gardening and helping build the settlement, Caspar got to work on constructing a wardrobe. It was so surreally domestic that she caught herself more than once simply staring at him, enamored by whatever mundane chore he was doing.
(If he caught her gaze, he’d smile back. Kiss her, if she was close. More than kiss her, if they had the time and the privacy.)
He set the wardrobe into the wall of the cabin, and left enough space for her clothes, which were previously stuffed inside a storage trunk. As she unfolded her clothes and hung them on hangers, he picked up the t-shirt that Harrowheart had given her for Christmas. The one with a map of the Earth on it and the slogan, The World’s Greatest Planet on Earth written underneath.
“Where’d you get this?” he asked with a bemused smile, holding it up to her.
She stared at the shirt. At him.
And then she told him about the Nexus. All of it.
She told him about the mysterious portal that had opened up on her ship. How she had stumbled into a world where reality itself bends on a whim. She pulled out her PINpoint and scrolled through the contact list of the friends she had made. Mages, starship captains, supernatural beings.
A talking polar bear.
She showed him the pictures that she had taken for Captain Agathon to convince him that the Nexus was real. Pictures of the Plaza, the Crossroads Café, the Wilds. She told him about magic and breathtaking technology that melded seamlessly with the mundane.
When she finally stopped talking, it wasn’t because she had run out of things to say. She would never run out of things to say about the Nexus. But Caspar hadn’t said a word the entire time, just listened with a curious expression on his face. “What do you think?” she asked.
The wheels in his head turned a moment longer. And then he smiled at her. “I think, Adia Costas, that you are full of surprises.”
“Do you want to come with me?” she asked, grateful that he believed her. That he accepted this part of her.
He looked down at the PINpoint with a small, thoughtful frown. “Yeah. Not today, but… soon. I’ll go with you soon.”
Relieved, she kissed him, hugged him while he chuckled in surprise. Finally, she had someone to share her secret with. To share the Nexus with.
She couldn’t imagine anyone better.
Adia had brought Caspar home. Specifically, the plot of land she shared with Seth and Maggie, and their baby Jason. Two wooden cabins sat on the property, along with a large garden and an outdoor cooking area. The space had a communal, welcoming feel to it, but unfortunately that was not the impression that Caspar was getting at the moment.
She had expected the yelling, but from Maggie. Instead it was Seth who was red in the face with anger, shouting like a madman as he stormed up to them. Maggie, by contrast, was watching Caspar with a cool, unreadable expression, her baby sleeping peacefully in a colorful sling wrapped across her chest.
“You’re a liar and a traitor! I don’t want you here!”
“Seth…” Adia raised a hand placatingly, her other still holding Caspar’s. “It’s okay. The Quorum pardoned him.”
“I don’t care if Zeus pardoned him, he’s not welcome here! Not after what he did!” He loomed over Caspar, using his height and broad physique to full advantage. “I was part of the Resistance, I know all the terrible things your model did to get information out of people. How many people did you torture, Caspar? Or were you too busy signing death warrants to keep count?!”
“I didn’t torture anyone.” Caspar’s voice was quiet, but level. He held Seth’s gaze without shame.
“Tell me what you did do, then,” Seth growled, getting right into Caspar’s face. “And don’t you dare lie to me.”
“I maintained the servers at the Detention Center. Made sure that the data wasn’t lost or corrupted.”
Seth’s eyebrow twitched. He snorted. “You’re telling me you were the IT guy?”
“I’m telling you that I only handled the servers at the Center. I didn’t interrogate or otherwise interact with any humans.” His gaze dropped slightly, something like discomfort passing over his otherwise neutral expression. “I did witness some unpleasant things, and I likely voted on decisions that directly contributed to your people’s suffering.”
“And I’m sure you’re real broken up about that.”
Caspar frowned, looking Seth in the eye again. “We were at war. Shit happens. I’m not asking for you to feel sorry for all the Cylons who died on —“
“You blew your brains out! Right in front of her!” Seth threw out a hand towards Adia. “Was that just some shit that happened?”
Caspar snapped his jaw shut. She could feel his hand tremble in hers.
“Do you know how long she was trapped in there with your dead body?” Seth continued hotly, uncaring of the way Caspar flinched or how the color drained from his face. “Do you know what she was like, when we finally got those doors open?”
“Seth. That’s enough.” Adia let go of Caspar’s hand and moved between them, forcing her friend to step back. “Caspar and I already talked about this, and I accepted his apology.”
Still furious, Seth glared at Caspar as best he could with her in the way. “Adia, for gods’ sake, I’m trying to protect my family here, you included!”
“I know,” she said. “I know.” She kept her voice calm but insistent. “And if that means Caspar can’t live here, that’s fine, we’ll find somewhere else to go. But you don’t get to decide who I love, and you don’t get to decide who I forgive. Do you understand? We’re family but I can make my own decisions about that.”
Behind her, she could hear Caspar breathing deeply, trying to regain his composure. She reached for his hand and felt him grab onto it for dear life.
“I won’t hurt her again,” he said quietly, his voice shaking ever so slightly. “Or anyone she cares about. I know my word means nothing to you, but I’m dead serious about this. She means everything to me, Seth. Everything.”
Seth said nothing, his mouth pinched in frustration as he tried to come up with another furious rebuttal.
It was Maggie who broke the silence, sighing theatrically and looping her arm around her partner’s. “C’mon, honey. Admit that you’ve been beat.”
“I have not been —“ Seth turned to gape at her. “Don’t tell me you’re okay with him living here.”
Maggie gently patted the back of her baby, who was starting to stir. “The war’s over, and Adia’s forgiven him. There’s no point in holding onto past grudges. Besides, you don’t seem to have any problem with Julia or the other Cylons who come ‘round to visit.”
“That’s different,” Seth protested, but Maggie shook her head.
“No, it’s not. Not really.” She let go of him and walked up to Adia. “Girl, if this is what you want, I’ll support you a hundred percent. You know that, right?”
Adia smiled in relief. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Maggie.”
Her friend turned her gaze onto Caspar, all the warmth leaving her expression. “As for you,” she hissed, getting as close to him as she could with her baby in the way, “You break her heart again, and I’m gonna make you wish that you got sucked into that black hole, you understand me?”
“Duly noted,” Caspar replied with a raise of both eyebrows.
She stared at him a moment longer, then apparently satisfied with whatever she saw, returned to Seth’s side and tugged on his arm. “Let’s give them some privacy.” She headed back to their cabin, Seth following reluctantly.
“Well,” Caspar commented, once they were gone, “That went better than I expected.”
Adia sighed audibly, letting go of the tension in her shoulders. This was a battle she was going to have to fight again, she knew it, but for now she was relieved that the conflict between her and her friends was over.
“Come with me,” she said, and Caspar obediently walked with her into her cabin. It was one room, more spacious than her quarters on the Chiron, but so far mostly empty except for a nice wooden-framed bed in the corner. It was wired for electricity, but currently she had most of the circuits off to conserve the energy from the solar cells that lined the roof. The afternoon light from the windows was enough to give everything inside a warm, cheery glow.
She headed to the fireplace, checking on the remains of the previous night’s fire. “I should get this started soon. Did you want some tea? I have an electric pot if you don’t want to wait.”
When she didn’t get a reply, she turned to look at Caspar. He was watching her, his expression unreadable. “Did you mean what said back there? To Seth?”
“Hmm?” She thought back to their argument. “Yeah, there are places to live, other than here.” Lots of other places, if one counted the Nexus. “I mean, we’d have to build a new cabin, but —“
“No.” Caspar stepped closer. “That you love me.”
Oh. She felt herself grow nervous, far more nervous than when facing down Seth’s anger. “I… yes, I did, but, um. If that’s too much for you, I can —“
He silenced her by brushing a thumb across her lips, followed by his own mouth, his kiss warm and petal-soft. “Adia,” he murmured, pulling back to look into his eyes. “Do you know how much I love you? There’s over 744 million miles of genetic code in my body. If the word ‘love’ was engraved on each molecule of those hundreds of millions of miles, it would not equal one one-billionth of the love I feel for you. I love you, Adia, more than there are atoms in the universe. More than anything or anyone. I love you.”
She stared up into his tender, adoring gaze. To the love that shined through them. A heat rose up within her, warming her from the inside out.
“Frak me,” she said.
Caspar blinked. His gaze unconsciously flicked towards her bed before looking back at her. “Really?” The corners of his mouth twitched as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to smile or not. “Right now?”
She swallowed and licked her lips. Stared at his. “Yes,” she insisted. “Right now.”
Letting out a soft huff of amusement, he pulled her in for another kiss, then made a sound of surprise when she grabbed at the fabric of his jacket and tugged him in even closer. Their kiss was fire this time, burning away all the awkwardness between them, erasing any uncertainty from her mind. She reveled in the present, in the feeling of his mouth, his hands.
When they finally parted for air, she was already working on his belt.
“H-hey,” he panted, plucking her hand away. She whined in protest and he laughed, kissing the palm in appeasement. “I’m completely on-board, I promise. But let’s take our time. Okay?” He traced the curve of her face, her neck, his fingers ghosting over the outline of her collarbone. “I want to appreciate what I’ve been missing.”
“Okay,” she whispered, before he kissed her again.
Later… much later… she was grateful for the suggestion.
~*~
Caspar moved his things in the next day. He had a few personal items including a shaving kit and some clothes.
A lot of clothes.
In between cooking and gardening and helping build the settlement, Caspar got to work on constructing a wardrobe. It was so surreally domestic that she caught herself more than once simply staring at him, enamored by whatever mundane chore he was doing.
(If he caught her gaze, he’d smile back. Kiss her, if she was close. More than kiss her, if they had the time and the privacy.)
He set the wardrobe into the wall of the cabin, and left enough space for her clothes, which were previously stuffed inside a storage trunk. As she unfolded her clothes and hung them on hangers, he picked up the t-shirt that Harrowheart had given her for Christmas. The one with a map of the Earth on it and the slogan, The World’s Greatest Planet on Earth written underneath.
“Where’d you get this?” he asked with a bemused smile, holding it up to her.
She stared at the shirt. At him.
And then she told him about the Nexus. All of it.
She told him about the mysterious portal that had opened up on her ship. How she had stumbled into a world where reality itself bends on a whim. She pulled out her PINpoint and scrolled through the contact list of the friends she had made. Mages, starship captains, supernatural beings.
A talking polar bear.
She showed him the pictures that she had taken for Captain Agathon to convince him that the Nexus was real. Pictures of the Plaza, the Crossroads Café, the Wilds. She told him about magic and breathtaking technology that melded seamlessly with the mundane.
When she finally stopped talking, it wasn’t because she had run out of things to say. She would never run out of things to say about the Nexus. But Caspar hadn’t said a word the entire time, just listened with a curious expression on his face. “What do you think?” she asked.
The wheels in his head turned a moment longer. And then he smiled at her. “I think, Adia Costas, that you are full of surprises.”
“Do you want to come with me?” she asked, grateful that he believed her. That he accepted this part of her.
He looked down at the PINpoint with a small, thoughtful frown. “Yeah. Not today, but… soon. I’ll go with you soon.”
Relieved, she kissed him, hugged him while he chuckled in surprise. Finally, she had someone to share her secret with. To share the Nexus with.
She couldn’t imagine anyone better.