A short scene from a sci-fi character and setting I've been developing. A sad little moment about relationships that just... ended.
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Elena had been ready to crawl into her bunk before she saw the thumb drive sitting on her desk. She just stared at it for some long moments, and his words intruded into her head again.
"I found some old photos of… Us. You don't have to keep them. I just thought you should have them."
She still stared at it for a long time before muttering "What the hell…" to herself. If she was thinking about it this long, she wouldn't be able to sleep without knowing. Exhaustion didn't improve her mood any as she waited for them to load up. The glow from the monitor was the brightest light source in her quarters as she impatiently cycled through the files. She hadn't seen anything new yet, just the odd photos of them from the war.
Scrolling through them had almost become so automatic she nearly jumped past the one she didn't remember.
"When did…"
It was from a selfie angle, so she couldn't see enough of the background to know when or where it was. They were both out of uniform, so one of the rare breaks they had during the last war. They always wound up spending time together when they could. At the time she was too cold to realize just how sweet those moments were.
This moment, however, that had been immortalized and saved, was of her leaning back against him like a drunk, passed out. No wonder she didn't remember this photo.
"Why did…"
Somehow he'd managed to stay sitting up when she slumped against him. It was hard not to look for the differences in herself between then and now. Skinnier, for one. Or rather, bonier. In her pilot days she had to watch her size, not out of concern for appearances but just because she was already almost too tall to squeeze into the cockpit, she couldn't afford the extra bulk.
But then she was driven to take mission after mission and stopped needing to worry about it.
Her eyes were starting to burn as she saw her face again. Pale. Sunken cheeks. Dark bags beneath her eyes. Thin hair. They didn't have enough pilots at that stage… And the hate meant she wasn't going to back down. Her neck ached all on its own as she remembered injection after injection to keep her going on patrols.
So why did he look so happy?!
In contrast to the skeleton slumped against him, his reddish-brown skin seemed radiant with warmth. Even if it was missing the gloss, his curly hair was trying to pull into its usual ringlets. And for some reason he was smiling. Not in a cruel way, not like he was saving an embarrassing photo to humiliate a friend with. But seeing her lose the battle to exhaustion, letting her collapse against him… That was what made him smile this way?
Her eyes were burning too much to keep looking at the scene. Her breath came in hitches and shudders as she buried her face in her hands. But no tears came. When was the last time that she cried? It had been so many years she didn't remember. How did he feel when he saw it? Did he remember this date…?
Her quarters on the freighter weren't large but still they felt cavernous right now. Why was she alone now? Because she couldn't handle it then? Was she handling things now?
"Goddamnit Sal…" With her eyes closed she fumbled until she could turn off the monitor and sit in near darkness. It was better than risking seeing that photo again. Why did she even accept them?
She didn't keep track of the time it took for her to put the mask back on. Bury the emotions deep down again. She did know that sleep wasn't going to be an option for her any time soon. She shoved away from her desk to get ready to head to the ship's small gym. Forcing herself into exhaustion would be better than wallowing in the things she tried to tell herself she wouldn't regret.
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Elena had been ready to crawl into her bunk before she saw the thumb drive sitting on her desk. She just stared at it for some long moments, and his words intruded into her head again.
"I found some old photos of… Us. You don't have to keep them. I just thought you should have them."
She still stared at it for a long time before muttering "What the hell…" to herself. If she was thinking about it this long, she wouldn't be able to sleep without knowing. Exhaustion didn't improve her mood any as she waited for them to load up. The glow from the monitor was the brightest light source in her quarters as she impatiently cycled through the files. She hadn't seen anything new yet, just the odd photos of them from the war.
Scrolling through them had almost become so automatic she nearly jumped past the one she didn't remember.
"When did…"
It was from a selfie angle, so she couldn't see enough of the background to know when or where it was. They were both out of uniform, so one of the rare breaks they had during the last war. They always wound up spending time together when they could. At the time she was too cold to realize just how sweet those moments were.
This moment, however, that had been immortalized and saved, was of her leaning back against him like a drunk, passed out. No wonder she didn't remember this photo.
"Why did…"
Somehow he'd managed to stay sitting up when she slumped against him. It was hard not to look for the differences in herself between then and now. Skinnier, for one. Or rather, bonier. In her pilot days she had to watch her size, not out of concern for appearances but just because she was already almost too tall to squeeze into the cockpit, she couldn't afford the extra bulk.
But then she was driven to take mission after mission and stopped needing to worry about it.
Her eyes were starting to burn as she saw her face again. Pale. Sunken cheeks. Dark bags beneath her eyes. Thin hair. They didn't have enough pilots at that stage… And the hate meant she wasn't going to back down. Her neck ached all on its own as she remembered injection after injection to keep her going on patrols.
So why did he look so happy?!
In contrast to the skeleton slumped against him, his reddish-brown skin seemed radiant with warmth. Even if it was missing the gloss, his curly hair was trying to pull into its usual ringlets. And for some reason he was smiling. Not in a cruel way, not like he was saving an embarrassing photo to humiliate a friend with. But seeing her lose the battle to exhaustion, letting her collapse against him… That was what made him smile this way?
Her eyes were burning too much to keep looking at the scene. Her breath came in hitches and shudders as she buried her face in her hands. But no tears came. When was the last time that she cried? It had been so many years she didn't remember. How did he feel when he saw it? Did he remember this date…?
Her quarters on the freighter weren't large but still they felt cavernous right now. Why was she alone now? Because she couldn't handle it then? Was she handling things now?
"Goddamnit Sal…" With her eyes closed she fumbled until she could turn off the monitor and sit in near darkness. It was better than risking seeing that photo again. Why did she even accept them?
She didn't keep track of the time it took for her to put the mask back on. Bury the emotions deep down again. She did know that sleep wasn't going to be an option for her any time soon. She shoved away from her desk to get ready to head to the ship's small gym. Forcing herself into exhaustion would be better than wallowing in the things she tried to tell herself she wouldn't regret.