ficlet: Singularity [pg] Picard/Crusher for grav_ity
the fantastic grav_ity wanted something post-Nemesis where Beverly and Jean-Luc talk about their shared thoughts on Kesprytt.
And she's been fantastically patient.
He tangles his hand into her hair and Beverly turns towards him. She has her head on his shoulder, her hand on his stomach with her palm turned up towards the sky. Betazed has weak enough lights that the stars are bright overhead. Even if she doesn't recognise them the way she could on Caldos, it's beautiful.
Jean-Luc's thumb rubs across her forehead. "Do you ever miss hearing each other's thoughts?"
"Wishing you were Betazoid, Jean-Luc?"
He laughs and she rubs her hand along his chest.
"A mental bond connecting us forever might be useful. I have moments where I miss knowing what was going on in here."
Catching his hand and kissing it is easier than rolling up and looking at him.
"I've already been in your head."
What they shared then terrified her and maybe it's time she told him why.
"We were so lost then, weren't we?"
"Literally or metaphorically?"
She thumps her hand against his chest to punish him for the jest.
"I loved you. I just..."
Jean-Luc lets it trail off and politely waits for her to finish. She'd interrupt, were their positions reversed, but he has more than his share of patience. Probably some of hers too.
"If I said it, and you died."
Jean-Luc slides out from underneath her, staring down at her with his face barely visible in the starlight. He leans down, kissing her cheek then her chin before he curls half on top of her, as if protecting her from the universe.
"I might still die."
"Maybe I'm braver."
He kisses her softly, hovering over her mouth. "Beverly?"
"It would be easier if you could read my mind."
She brushes his face with her fingers, feeling the stubble beneath. Sighing and looking past him as her eyes sting and fill with tears, Beverly finally looks back at him.
"Jack was my husband, and Wesley's father. When he died, he left a void in my life. He was gone and I was so empty. I locked that away, pushed it down so far I didn't even realise it was still there until those damn implants let you into my head. How could you?"
"What?"
Trailing her fingers down the back of his neck, she smirked. "How could you love me, having seen that?"
Jean-Luc kisses the corner of her eye, catching one of her tears.
"I thought-" she catches his chin, turning his gaze even with hers, "-losing you would make that void bigger than I could live with. You're my best friend, my only family other than Wesley and I- I won't. I won't survive that. I'll collapse like a quantum singularity."
"I've always found your attraction inescapable."
He's smiling and she wants to smack him. That Jean-Luc senses and pauses, chuckling.
"You are stronger than anyone I have ever known. Beverly, I love you because you make me feel safe."
Now she laughs, squirming beneath him in surprise. "You?"
"Seeing into your mind made me realise how lost I'd be without you. You're my point of reference."
"Like a starchart?"
He kisses her again, banishing the urge to push him off and laugh.
"Beverly, if you were a quantum singularity, you'd be the one in the centre of my universe."
"That still may or may not exist according the Federation's Stellar Cartographers." She puts her fingers on his lips, shaking her head against the grass.
Jean-Luc rolls off, lying back and laughing. "Life is full of uncertainty."
"And love."
"Especially love."
And she's been fantastically patient.
He tangles his hand into her hair and Beverly turns towards him. She has her head on his shoulder, her hand on his stomach with her palm turned up towards the sky. Betazed has weak enough lights that the stars are bright overhead. Even if she doesn't recognise them the way she could on Caldos, it's beautiful.
Jean-Luc's thumb rubs across her forehead. "Do you ever miss hearing each other's thoughts?"
"Wishing you were Betazoid, Jean-Luc?"
He laughs and she rubs her hand along his chest.
"A mental bond connecting us forever might be useful. I have moments where I miss knowing what was going on in here."
Catching his hand and kissing it is easier than rolling up and looking at him.
"I've already been in your head."
What they shared then terrified her and maybe it's time she told him why.
"We were so lost then, weren't we?"
"Literally or metaphorically?"
She thumps her hand against his chest to punish him for the jest.
"I loved you. I just..."
Jean-Luc lets it trail off and politely waits for her to finish. She'd interrupt, were their positions reversed, but he has more than his share of patience. Probably some of hers too.
"If I said it, and you died."
Jean-Luc slides out from underneath her, staring down at her with his face barely visible in the starlight. He leans down, kissing her cheek then her chin before he curls half on top of her, as if protecting her from the universe.
"I might still die."
"Maybe I'm braver."
He kisses her softly, hovering over her mouth. "Beverly?"
"It would be easier if you could read my mind."
She brushes his face with her fingers, feeling the stubble beneath. Sighing and looking past him as her eyes sting and fill with tears, Beverly finally looks back at him.
"Jack was my husband, and Wesley's father. When he died, he left a void in my life. He was gone and I was so empty. I locked that away, pushed it down so far I didn't even realise it was still there until those damn implants let you into my head. How could you?"
"What?"
Trailing her fingers down the back of his neck, she smirked. "How could you love me, having seen that?"
Jean-Luc kisses the corner of her eye, catching one of her tears.
"I thought-" she catches his chin, turning his gaze even with hers, "-losing you would make that void bigger than I could live with. You're my best friend, my only family other than Wesley and I- I won't. I won't survive that. I'll collapse like a quantum singularity."
"I've always found your attraction inescapable."
He's smiling and she wants to smack him. That Jean-Luc senses and pauses, chuckling.
"You are stronger than anyone I have ever known. Beverly, I love you because you make me feel safe."
Now she laughs, squirming beneath him in surprise. "You?"
"Seeing into your mind made me realise how lost I'd be without you. You're my point of reference."
"Like a starchart?"
He kisses her again, banishing the urge to push him off and laugh.
"Beverly, if you were a quantum singularity, you'd be the one in the centre of my universe."
"That still may or may not exist according the Federation's Stellar Cartographers." She puts her fingers on his lips, shaking her head against the grass.
Jean-Luc rolls off, lying back and laughing. "Life is full of uncertainty."
"And love."
"Especially love."