text | un: m.cabrera

[naloxone]

[ turns out? space doesn't give a single fuck about your circadian rhythm. or maybe insomnia is just that attached to her that even the absence of a sun dictating her internal clock doesn't faze it, like an old friend you wish would just forget you already.

one night (?) late into the early hours (???) marta finds herself drifting out of the room she's come to assume will be hers for the indefinite future, passing through stark white walls with all the sterility of a hospital, but none of its familiar chaos.

she's still getting used to the earpiece. still getting used to hearing other people's voices in her head. she doesn't mean to add another in the void, but one of her own thoughts blares out too vividly as she stares out into an actual void: ]

—but where are the stars?

Comments

[bossily]

[Clara's getting the impression this person is likely new here. And probably new to the whole space thing, which she feels sympathetic about. She can still remember the overwhelming feeling she had the first time she had popped off on an adventure with the Doctor. The wonder and excitement, but also the incredibly humbling realization of just how small and insignificant your entire planet is in the grand scheme of things.]

I've seen so many different stars before coming here. For me, the sunlight room ones are almost as lovely even knowing they aren't real.

I've named just about all the stars that are projected here. Mapped constellations and named those too. I wouldn't mind pointing them all out, if it'd help you feel a bit of comfort and familiarity.

[naloxone]

You must have been here for a while.

[ or maybe they were just very dedicated to the stars. they sound to have been around so many, yet still seem to hold a reverent wonder for them. it's admirable. ]

Is that alright to do? Sitting around, appreciating their sky.
Aren't we supposed to be — helping?

[bossily]

Fraid the only chance we have to help is during the missions. We just came back from one, and no one's exactly sure when the next one will be. So this is downtime, I suppose. You showed up at exactly the right time.

Seeing as we have nothing but time for appreciating stars.

[yeah, she's a nerd for space and stars. She might be embarrassed by it when they meet face to face, because Clara's insisting on showing off the fake ones here.]

[naloxone]

[ missions... thing #83728 marta wishes she'd known about before subconsciously agreeing to circumvent her guilt. ah, well. hindsight, and all. ]

I'd like that, then.
I never stopped to appreciate the ones back home. I may as well get to know the ones here, even if they're not real.

[ they are, for better or for worse, her new reality at least. ]

[bossily]

I'll grab my notebook and head to the sunlight room then. There's no time like the present to get acquainted.

--> act shaun

[naloxone]

[ the sunlight room is one marta has only been to once before. it's beautiful, and calming, up until she starts to think on it too much, and then it becomes eerie and uncanny and overall unnerving. she's not one to usually think about malicious or ill intent, but somehow she hasn't yet been able to bring herself to accepting the one room on this station that reminds her the most of earth.

like somehow accepting it feels wrong... after agreeing to leave it behind for her own personal gain. ]

...Hello?

[ her voice echoes in the evening field unlike it would in the real openness of the outdoors, but she notices it only because she's looking for it. she tries to focus on the smoosh of the earth beneath her shoes instead, walking further and further into the field. ]

[bossily]

[Aha. There her company is. Clara flips her hand up into a wave, offering a lopsided grin.]

It feels more real the less you think about it.

[She thinks back to the conversation they've just had over the earpiece, and doesn't want to freak her out. A new arrival having their mind totally blown right away probably won't bode well for them sticking around for the mission.]

Are you from Earth? I never did ask.

[naloxone]

[ marta smiles politely in return, not nearly as big or as easy as the other's, but sincere all the same. she makes her way over, walking carefully through the taller grass in the field. ]

I am, yes.

[ marta tries to place the other woman's accent; can only surmise that if she were from earth — that line of thinking is definitely going to take some getting used to — she'd probably be from great britain or something. australia? her ears never were able to make out the nuanced difference. ]

Marta, [ she adds as a hasty afterthought. not nearly as reflexive as the apology that follows: ] Sorry, I forgot to say.

[bossily]

Clara. [She introduces herself, having to shift her hold on her notebook so she can press her hand against her chest as she's speaking about herself.] I used to be a schoolteacher from London.

[Marta looks and seems so normal. Not like someone like so many of the others here that have powers and strength or two hearts. Marta is more like her, just a regular human that's been thrust into a grand adventure.]

I'm guessing this is your first time out in space.

[naloxone]

[ marta's smile eases, and she can feel a weight gradually lift off her shoulders. meeting another from a world that seems just as plain as hers — it's a comfort she didn't think she would be so desperate for since waking here. if a schoolteacher from london can make this work, then why not her? ]

The closest I got was the top floor of the Prudential Center. [ likely a building clara wouldn't recognize, but marta can still remember making the visit when she and her family settled back in boston. how new and exciting it had all been, this bustling american city full of hope.

she glances down at clara's notebook, but more than the object itself she can notice the ease with which the other woman carries herself. ]

Have you been here long?

[bossily]

Five or six months now? Definitely for three missions, with downtime between each one.

[She has to take a minute to think about it. Fiveish months sound about right, so she shrugs her shoulders.]

Long enough that I've decided to take up mapping the stars during our downtime.

[That's a joke. But really, there's not a ton of things to do here. Sometimes she goes a little stir crazy. She's got to find ways to keep busy.]

[naloxone]

[ marta could sympathize with that. one day in, and she's already feeling so aimless she's striking up random conversation with other sleepless people for the sake of it. normally, she would just keep to herself. ]

It must be helpful for you, if you're taking so much care with it.

[bossily]

I typically spend my time reading. But I've run out of books, so this'll do. For now.

[She tries to hide the fact she's a huge space nerd by covering up with more acceptable forms of nerdery. Like reading.]

[naloxone]

[ the mention of books perks marta up, even though there is a twinge of wistfulness that comes along with it. ]

There are books here? In English?

[ dare she even ask if any are in spanish? that might just be a pipe dream. ]

[bossily]

I have books here that're in English. Though if you ever find any in the supply drops or on mission that aren't, our earpieces should auto translate for us.

[There's a pause as she realizes she should add on something else.]

Would you like to come by and take a look at the books I've collected? You can borrow whatever you like.

[naloxone]

[ marta has never been very good at hiding her emotions, so when clara makes that offer there's no denying how her expression immediately brightens. ]

If you don't mind, I'd love that. Thank you.

[ it feels almost surreal to think about having something so normal and familiar readily available to her on this station... she almost wonders if she should be allowed it.

chewing on her lip, she finally gestures to the notebook in clara's hand. ]

Are those your stars?