FIC: Press Play
People had been kind. They avoided touchy subjects and left her little presents. Books, perfume, special food, treats, even flowers. TJ didn’t wonder how someone had found her flowers. She smiled and said thank you but she wasn’t touched by any of it. Mostly, in her free time, she lay in bed, her arms wrapped around herself. She didn’t want to see anyone; she didn’t want to speak to anyone, even though she’d gone back to work already. TJ was a very good automaton. In the mornings she ventured out to have a shower early, before the rest of Destiny woke up. At night, she wandered around the less frequented areas of the ship. She rarely encountered anyone.
She avoided the people she was closest to: Matt, Chloe, and by extension, Eli. Camille Wray she could put off easily. Greer hovered for a while before she used her rank to force him away. The one person TJ couldn’t order about was Colonel Young so with him she used their relationship. He had no hold on her now and she could see him floundering. She said, “Yes, sir,” and “No, sir,” and a noncommittal, “Sir.” Eventually, he left her alone, too.
Nothing could touch her. Smiling was always so easy before.
One night she drifted past the control interface room, just as Rush walked out. He stopped to avoid bumping into her. He didn’t say anything. TJ lowered her head and hurried away. He hadn’t looked sympathetic; there was really no expression on his face at all.
Opening the door to her quarters the next morning after her shower, she picked up a small bunch of flowers just inside. They smelled like lavender. There was a container as well, with a note that read, “This tastes like pannacotta! How did they do it? Camille.”
She put the container and flowers down then noticed something else. It was a set of earphones, still in their wrapper, on her bed. Next to it was an iPod with a post it note.
Written in pencil, it said, “Press play.”
She didn’t. It was Rush’s scrawl. Instead she lay down on her bed and wrapped her arms around herself as usual, shutting her eyes. She didn’t sleep. Eventually, she opened them and glared at the iPod. He’d been the one person who hadn’t tried to make her feel better. He’d ignored her completely on the few occasions she’d seen him, like the previous night, and she resented him being exactly like everyone else. TJ sat up, grabbed the iPod, pulling the earphones out of the plastic. She did as instructed, pressing play. She lay back down, listening.
TJ didn’t go anywhere for the rest of the day, waiting for people to go to bed. Slipping out carefully to avoid late night stragglers, she made her way to the control interface room. Rush was alone, only glancing at her as she sat on the bench. He said nothing, continuing to press buttons and scribble in his notebook. It took her an hour before she was able to say anything. Her voice was accusing.
“Chipmunks,” she said. “You gave me chipmunks.”
“Värttinä,” he said. “From Finland.”
“Chipmunks,” she said.
“Yes,” Rush said in his dry voice. “Chipmunks.”
He hadn’t looked up. TJ frowned at him, biting her lip. He had no reason to be nice to her, not anymore, and of anyone on Destiny, he was the one person she didn’t want to be beholden to. He made it easy for her because he barely acknowledged she was there. He didn’t stop working.
“I thought you only listened to opera,” TJ said, trying not to sound friendly. “And that Gàidhlig stuff.”
“No,” he said.
“Oh,” she said. “Okay.”
He didn’t respond to this witticism, flipping a page in his notebook and writing something down. She sat and watched him.
Eventually, she asked quietly, “Do you have any other music I might like?”
He looked up and tilting his head slightly, nodded.
TJ stood, handing him back the iPod.
“Don’t wipe the chipmunks,” she instructed.
He nodded again and she felt herself smile.
FINIS
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Note: Try YouTube for Värttinä. They’re vastly talented, enormous fun, and yes, they really do sound like chipmunks.