Post by nimue on Aug 11, 2007 13:06:25 GMT -5
// I'm a cheesy writer. I know it. And I love it. 
// Inspired by Mel's strawberry fantasies (from the SUNSHINE fan forum) as well as HHr's pumpkin pie origin.
WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE
The rest of the crew are asleep. In the dead of the night, all Cassie can hear is the soft rumbling of the ship's machineries. She can't sleep. Most of the time when she closes her eyes, all she can see was the surface of the sun - piercing, nauseating, burning... and yet strangely beautiful.
"Maybe some mild reading would do me some good," she thinks to herself. She gets up from her bed and approaches the diminutive desk propped up against her closet.
"What the-?"
Cassie looks down to see that she has stepped on a cake. "How did...?" and then she remembers. Mace. It had been her birthday and the whole crew decided to celebrate it during dinner earlier.
She was quite moved when she found out that they still managed to give her presents. She received a handsome silver pen from Kaneda, an extra 10 minutes in the Comms Center from Harvey, a magnificent poetry book from Trey and aviator sunglasses from Searle. "Now you'll look like a real pilot," he quipped.
Corazon gave her a plant. She smirked at Cassie's bewildered expression and added, "Water it twice a day, birthday girl. If it dies... trust me, you don't want to know."
Mace gave her what looks to be an expensive perfume. "I bought it for you weeks before we left for our mission. There's more... it's a cake. I placed it in your room. I made it myself. Ok, maybe Trey helped... but just a little. Ok, a lot. Ok, he did everything but it was my idea."
"Thank you, Mace. That's really sweet of you." Mace beamed.
The strangest thing she received was Capa's. He waited until everyone finished giving off theirs before he decided to approach Cassie. He walked towards her with those quiet awkward steps, hands clasping something he's been hiding from the rest of the crew. "Happy birthday, Cass..." he held his gift in front of her and it revealed to be a pair of wooden dancing shoes.
Mace snickered. "Dude, seriously. You're a world-class scientist and that's all you got her? You could have at least got her decent looking ones."
Cassie shot an annoyed glance at Mace before looking Capa straight in the eyes. "Capa, I love it. It's just my size too. Besides, I love to dance."
Capa gazed at her shyly and said in almost a whisper, "I know."
Cassie smiled. "I'll definitely use it if..." she caught herself in time, "...when we get back home."
Capa nodded sadly.
The dinner ended with an unsynchronized singing of "Happy Birthday."
Cassie smiles as she wipes off the cake from her foot. "Sorry, Mace..." she says to herself. She throws the trodden cake on the waste basket. "Well, he doesn't have to know."
Instead of approaching her desk to read a book as she originally planned, she heads to her closet and pulls out Capa's present instead. She sits on the edge of her bed and then slips on the wooden shoes. She's right. It's exactly her size. "How did he know my shoe size?" she wonders. She is then distracted with a very small crumpled paper jutting out from the right shoe. She pulls it out and opens to read it.
Put this on later tonight.
- Robert
Cassie's eyes widens in surprise. She hesitates a bit before making up her mind and slips back the shoe on her right foot. She grabs a hair tie from her desk and ties her hair up to a ponytail, a few curls escaping her grasp. She stands up and looks at herself in the mirror. She laughs at how funny she looks: a messy ponytail, un-ironed PJs and wooden but comfortable shoes. She shakes her head in amusement before heading out to Capa's room.
It is a journey she knows so well. It is a journey she made often. On some nights when she couldn't sleep, she usually goes to Capa's room, sit on the edge of his bed and just watch him as he's deep in slumber. She'd sit there and just watch him for hours on end. He never seemed to mind waking up to her gazing at him. They'd greet each other with an occasional "hey" before heading off to breakfast together.
As she reaches Capa's door, she breathes a nervous sigh before entering.
"Capa?"
No answer.
"Capa, it's me. You told me to wear the shoes? What's this about?"
Still no answer. She switches the lights on. Capa is nowhere to be seen. But something is on his bed. It's a beautiful and elegant white empire-cut dress. On it is another note.
Something to go with the shoes.
Meet me in the Payload Chamber.
- Robert
She can't believe her eyes. She never owned a proper dress before. And this is beyond anything she's ever imagined. She takes off her PJs and replaces them with the dress. Like the shoes, it's a perfect fit. She examines herself in front of Capa's mirror. She almost doesn't recognize herself.
"Woah. If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have believed I grew up wearing army boots."
She smoothes out the dress one last time and then exits Capa's room excitedly.
She finally arrives outside the Payload's entrance. She pushes a button.
"Capa, it's me."
The door slides open. She makes her way through the catwalk and nervously enters the Main Payload Chamber.
The place is barely recognizable. It's bathed with colourful pulsating blue and white lights. Confetti is all over the floor and lilies are everywhere.
Cassie finds Capa leaning on the wall at the opposite end of the room. He straightens himself up when he sees her and approaches her very carefully. He's in a classic black and white tux with a huge (and very rare) smile plastering his face.
"Hey. I was beginning to wonder if you ever got my notes."
Cassie's jaw drops. "I did. I... this is amazing."
Capa beams. He then turns around and reaches out to a stereo. He switches it on and music instantly filled the room. He turns around to face her again. He reaches out a hand.
"Care for a dance?"
Cassie smiles and closes her hand on his. "Of course, I love to dance."
He gently pulls her to him and whispers in her ear, "I know."
They lightly sway to the music.
Dancing where the stars go blue
Dancing where the evening fell
Dancing in my wooden shoes
In a wedding gown...
Cassie leans her head on his shoulder. Capa slowly slides his hand across her back, caressing her.
Where do you go when you're lonely?
Where do you go when you're blue?
Cassie pulls her head back and looks at him straight in the eyes... Her heart skips a beat. They're so blue, it can almost drown her.
"You did all this?" she asks.
"Well, not exactly. Corazon assisted me with the confetti and flowers. She's the only one who knew. However, I got the tux, the dress and the shoes long before we left for the mission. I also took care of the lights. I commanded Icarus to loop the bomb ignition test exclusively on this specific stage... Sorry, I'm rambling."
Cassie laughs. "No... I love that you're rambling because when we're with the others, you barely say anything."
Capa frowns. "I'm sorry if I'm like that. I... I am not very good with the art of conversation."
"You seem to do fine with me."
"You're different. You're Cassie."
Cassie playfully pokes Capa's nose. "You know what?"
"What?"
"You're nuts."
"Is that a compliment?"
Cassie laughs luxuriously and answers, "Possibly."
Laughing with your pretty mouth
Laughing with your broken eyes
Laughing with your lover's song
In a lullaby...
Capa pulls out Cassie's hair tie. Her long brown curls fall exquisitely on her shoulders. "You're so beautiful." Capa tells her.
Cassie blushes subtly. "It's this dress."
"No. No, it isn't. You. You are beautiful. You can wear muddied clothes for all I care and you'd still look like... like the sun."
Where do you go when you're lonely?
I'll follow you...
Where the stars go blue.
They stop dancing as the music leads to an end. Capa leans closer, brushes some curls away from Cassie's face and tucks it behind her ears. He cups her head with both his hands and kisses her forehead. Cassie closes her eyes and links both her hands behind his neck. Capa's lips slowly brushes Cassie's nose. And finally, he reaches her lips. They spend a couple of moments locked in a sweet but heartfelt kiss.
Cassie then pulls away.
Capa quietly says, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."
Cassie looks back with pain in her eyes and says unconvincingly, "It's okay."
"Cassie..."
"Really. It's okay. More than a year ago, things happened between us that one night and we agreed the following day that it was a mistake. You're right. There's so many things that we have to deal with... responsibilities we have to honor. This mission, for one. It was a mistake that we can't afford to happen again... But can you do me a favor?"
Capa looks at her sadly. "What's that?"
Cassie looks back with tears in her eyes. "Just this one night... Just before I leave this room, can we pretend that things were different... and can you kiss me again even if it's for the last time?"
Capa nods and they kiss a bittersweet kiss.
"Happy birthday, Cassie." Capa whispers gently.
"Goodnight, Robert." Cassie said before turning to leave.
"Cassie?"
Cassie glances back. "Yes?"
"Strawberries."
Cassie looks confused. "What?"
"You taste like strawberries."
Cassie leaves the chamber with a smile on her face. And she knew that no matter what happens on the days following this, she'll always have the memory of this one night to hold on to.
THE END
// By the way, Cassie's dress looks like this:
// Inspired by Mel's strawberry fantasies (from the SUNSHINE fan forum) as well as HHr's pumpkin pie origin.
WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE
The rest of the crew are asleep. In the dead of the night, all Cassie can hear is the soft rumbling of the ship's machineries. She can't sleep. Most of the time when she closes her eyes, all she can see was the surface of the sun - piercing, nauseating, burning... and yet strangely beautiful.
"Maybe some mild reading would do me some good," she thinks to herself. She gets up from her bed and approaches the diminutive desk propped up against her closet.
"What the-?"
Cassie looks down to see that she has stepped on a cake. "How did...?" and then she remembers. Mace. It had been her birthday and the whole crew decided to celebrate it during dinner earlier.
She was quite moved when she found out that they still managed to give her presents. She received a handsome silver pen from Kaneda, an extra 10 minutes in the Comms Center from Harvey, a magnificent poetry book from Trey and aviator sunglasses from Searle. "Now you'll look like a real pilot," he quipped.
Corazon gave her a plant. She smirked at Cassie's bewildered expression and added, "Water it twice a day, birthday girl. If it dies... trust me, you don't want to know."
Mace gave her what looks to be an expensive perfume. "I bought it for you weeks before we left for our mission. There's more... it's a cake. I placed it in your room. I made it myself. Ok, maybe Trey helped... but just a little. Ok, a lot. Ok, he did everything but it was my idea."
"Thank you, Mace. That's really sweet of you." Mace beamed.
The strangest thing she received was Capa's. He waited until everyone finished giving off theirs before he decided to approach Cassie. He walked towards her with those quiet awkward steps, hands clasping something he's been hiding from the rest of the crew. "Happy birthday, Cass..." he held his gift in front of her and it revealed to be a pair of wooden dancing shoes.
Mace snickered. "Dude, seriously. You're a world-class scientist and that's all you got her? You could have at least got her decent looking ones."
Cassie shot an annoyed glance at Mace before looking Capa straight in the eyes. "Capa, I love it. It's just my size too. Besides, I love to dance."
Capa gazed at her shyly and said in almost a whisper, "I know."
Cassie smiled. "I'll definitely use it if..." she caught herself in time, "...when we get back home."
Capa nodded sadly.
The dinner ended with an unsynchronized singing of "Happy Birthday."
Cassie smiles as she wipes off the cake from her foot. "Sorry, Mace..." she says to herself. She throws the trodden cake on the waste basket. "Well, he doesn't have to know."
Instead of approaching her desk to read a book as she originally planned, she heads to her closet and pulls out Capa's present instead. She sits on the edge of her bed and then slips on the wooden shoes. She's right. It's exactly her size. "How did he know my shoe size?" she wonders. She is then distracted with a very small crumpled paper jutting out from the right shoe. She pulls it out and opens to read it.
Put this on later tonight.
- Robert
Cassie's eyes widens in surprise. She hesitates a bit before making up her mind and slips back the shoe on her right foot. She grabs a hair tie from her desk and ties her hair up to a ponytail, a few curls escaping her grasp. She stands up and looks at herself in the mirror. She laughs at how funny she looks: a messy ponytail, un-ironed PJs and wooden but comfortable shoes. She shakes her head in amusement before heading out to Capa's room.
It is a journey she knows so well. It is a journey she made often. On some nights when she couldn't sleep, she usually goes to Capa's room, sit on the edge of his bed and just watch him as he's deep in slumber. She'd sit there and just watch him for hours on end. He never seemed to mind waking up to her gazing at him. They'd greet each other with an occasional "hey" before heading off to breakfast together.
As she reaches Capa's door, she breathes a nervous sigh before entering.
"Capa?"
No answer.
"Capa, it's me. You told me to wear the shoes? What's this about?"
Still no answer. She switches the lights on. Capa is nowhere to be seen. But something is on his bed. It's a beautiful and elegant white empire-cut dress. On it is another note.
Something to go with the shoes.
Meet me in the Payload Chamber.
- Robert
She can't believe her eyes. She never owned a proper dress before. And this is beyond anything she's ever imagined. She takes off her PJs and replaces them with the dress. Like the shoes, it's a perfect fit. She examines herself in front of Capa's mirror. She almost doesn't recognize herself.
"Woah. If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't have believed I grew up wearing army boots."
She smoothes out the dress one last time and then exits Capa's room excitedly.
She finally arrives outside the Payload's entrance. She pushes a button.
"Capa, it's me."
The door slides open. She makes her way through the catwalk and nervously enters the Main Payload Chamber.
The place is barely recognizable. It's bathed with colourful pulsating blue and white lights. Confetti is all over the floor and lilies are everywhere.
Cassie finds Capa leaning on the wall at the opposite end of the room. He straightens himself up when he sees her and approaches her very carefully. He's in a classic black and white tux with a huge (and very rare) smile plastering his face.
"Hey. I was beginning to wonder if you ever got my notes."
Cassie's jaw drops. "I did. I... this is amazing."
Capa beams. He then turns around and reaches out to a stereo. He switches it on and music instantly filled the room. He turns around to face her again. He reaches out a hand.
"Care for a dance?"
Cassie smiles and closes her hand on his. "Of course, I love to dance."
He gently pulls her to him and whispers in her ear, "I know."
They lightly sway to the music.
Dancing where the stars go blue
Dancing where the evening fell
Dancing in my wooden shoes
In a wedding gown...
Cassie leans her head on his shoulder. Capa slowly slides his hand across her back, caressing her.
Where do you go when you're lonely?
Where do you go when you're blue?
Cassie pulls her head back and looks at him straight in the eyes... Her heart skips a beat. They're so blue, it can almost drown her.
"You did all this?" she asks.
"Well, not exactly. Corazon assisted me with the confetti and flowers. She's the only one who knew. However, I got the tux, the dress and the shoes long before we left for the mission. I also took care of the lights. I commanded Icarus to loop the bomb ignition test exclusively on this specific stage... Sorry, I'm rambling."
Cassie laughs. "No... I love that you're rambling because when we're with the others, you barely say anything."
Capa frowns. "I'm sorry if I'm like that. I... I am not very good with the art of conversation."
"You seem to do fine with me."
"You're different. You're Cassie."
Cassie playfully pokes Capa's nose. "You know what?"
"What?"
"You're nuts."
"Is that a compliment?"
Cassie laughs luxuriously and answers, "Possibly."
Laughing with your pretty mouth
Laughing with your broken eyes
Laughing with your lover's song
In a lullaby...
Capa pulls out Cassie's hair tie. Her long brown curls fall exquisitely on her shoulders. "You're so beautiful." Capa tells her.
Cassie blushes subtly. "It's this dress."
"No. No, it isn't. You. You are beautiful. You can wear muddied clothes for all I care and you'd still look like... like the sun."
Where do you go when you're lonely?
I'll follow you...
Where the stars go blue.
They stop dancing as the music leads to an end. Capa leans closer, brushes some curls away from Cassie's face and tucks it behind her ears. He cups her head with both his hands and kisses her forehead. Cassie closes her eyes and links both her hands behind his neck. Capa's lips slowly brushes Cassie's nose. And finally, he reaches her lips. They spend a couple of moments locked in a sweet but heartfelt kiss.
Cassie then pulls away.
Capa quietly says, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."
Cassie looks back with pain in her eyes and says unconvincingly, "It's okay."
"Cassie..."
"Really. It's okay. More than a year ago, things happened between us that one night and we agreed the following day that it was a mistake. You're right. There's so many things that we have to deal with... responsibilities we have to honor. This mission, for one. It was a mistake that we can't afford to happen again... But can you do me a favor?"
Capa looks at her sadly. "What's that?"
Cassie looks back with tears in her eyes. "Just this one night... Just before I leave this room, can we pretend that things were different... and can you kiss me again even if it's for the last time?"
Capa nods and they kiss a bittersweet kiss.
"Happy birthday, Cassie." Capa whispers gently.
"Goodnight, Robert." Cassie said before turning to leave.
"Cassie?"
Cassie glances back. "Yes?"
"Strawberries."
Cassie looks confused. "What?"
"You taste like strawberries."
Cassie leaves the chamber with a smile on her face. And she knew that no matter what happens on the days following this, she'll always have the memory of this one night to hold on to.
THE END
// By the way, Cassie's dress looks like this:
that was so beautiful! I thought I was the only one who liked Capsie... well not as much as JXL but still. And I also thought the baby might be his.... specially when he said "Cassie... there's not much time I need to know" I thought he was gonna ask her about that. I still feel glad that this relationship wouldn't develop in the predictable corny way of Hollywood romances (cough Armageddon cough) but instead they developed a subtle complicity between the two. But this story... wow. It was very very sweet and heartbreaking! Congratulations and CB for U
