Peebee - Tumblr Posts
First delve in to MEA. Been playing for a little while. I also posted this on my AO3 account, Ace_Strider, just in case someone notices it over there and thinks I stole it.
***
“Arrogant.”
Her room was quiet, probably the only place on the Tempest that was. Even SAM seemed muffled as he informed her of six new emails that needed her attention when she had the time. Ryder threw her jacket onto the couch and made her way over to her bed. She kicked her boots off as she went.
“Your father was the one with the vision.”
She had to resist the urge to just fall face first onto her bed. Instead, she sat on the edge and reached down to pull off her socks. She hadn’t been wearing them long but she still threw them towards the laundry basket. One made it in but they separated halfway through the air, landing the other about five feet from its destination.
“But first you have to be the Pathfinder you pretend to be.”
She stripped off her outer shirt and sent that to join the sock in the basket. Her bra came off second and she just dropped that to the floor. Easier to find it later if she was forced to go out again. That left her in her tanktop, almost comfortable. She undid her belt and let it drop beside the bra.
“Forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.”
Slowly, she crawled back on her bed. She laid back even slower, feeling each part of each limb hit the mattress. When her head hit her pillow, she stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes began to unfocus, the details in the metal going fuzzy.
“You’re just like your father. You think you can do all of this yourself. Go to Hell, Pathfinder.”
Ryder turned on her side, drawing her legs up so her knees nearly reached her chest. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath that shook on the way out. Her meeting with Tann had gone about the way she had expected. He’d congratulated her for what she’d done so far while also dropping major hints that she wasn’t working fast enough. That there were things he had expected her to be making more progress on than she had.
Normally, it didn’t bother her. But she’d just gotten back from helping the Nexus ambassador to Aya and, despite her best efforts, only one Angaran had agreed to live on the Nexus. The failure was still fresh and having Tann needle at her like that…And it hadn’t helped that the second the meeting was over, Addison had stopped her. Her exact words had been, “When you’re done giving the angarans all your attention, our people need you too.” As if Ryder was neglecting their people. As if everything Ryder did wasn’t for them in the first place. As if the angara weren’t vital in getting them more outposts for their people.
The door to her quarters opened. Ryder could tell by the bootfalls who it was and stayed where she was, not even bothering to open her eyes. Peebee sat down by her feet, Ryder could feel the mattress dip. “Hey you. How ya feelin?” Peebee asked, sounding like her usual chipper self. Ryder stayed silent but shrugged. “I know it’s kinda the pot calling the kettle black and all that, but would you mind using your words? We can't really get all touchy feely if you don’t say anything.” Peebee said.
Ryder opened her eyes and moved her head just enough to look right at Peebee. She was smiling but Ryder could see the concern in her eyes. “I’m tired.” Ryder admitted and she hated how close to tears she sounded. Peebee scooted closer, placing a hand on the side of Ryder’s thigh. Just resting, offering a little comfort. “It didn’t go as well with the angarans as I’d hoped. And then Tann did that whole jumping down my throat thing without actually saying anything. And Addison acts like I’m ignoring our people even though literally everything I do is for the Initiative.” Ryder let out a deep sigh. Her bottom lip started to tremble and she focused on Peebee’s eyes. On her unwavering gaze. On her absolute focus. It was a little overwhelming, sometimes, but Ryder also knew what it meant to have Peebee’s attention the way she did. “I just wish I was enough.” Ryder whispered.
“You’re enough to me.” Peebee told her. Carefully, watching so she didn’t accidentally knee Ryder’s legs, Peebee crawled over her and onto the other side of the bed. Her hand stayed on Ryder and gently pulled on her till Ryder turned onto her other side. Peebee laid down beside her and smiled, hand coming out to play with Ryder’s hair. “Don’t worry about Tann and Addison. If they could do what you do, they’d already have done it. But they can't and they screwed up big time before you got here.” Peebee leaned forward and kissed Ryder’s nose, surprising a laugh out of Ryder as she pulled away. “And Jaal said you still got one of the angarans to move onto the Nexus. One is better than nothing, right? And one’s enough! Picture it, the second that one starts telling everybody else what its like, they’ll all want a spot.” Peebee declared, a big grin spread across her face.
It was contagious, Ryder smiled softly back at her. She was right. Of course she was right. Ryder’s chest warmed as she stared at her girlfriend. She was so lucky to have Peebee in her life. So lucky to have someone understand her the way Peebee did. So lucky to have someone who could drag her out of her funk and make her feel light again. “I love you.” Ryder said. She leaned forward and Peebee quickly met her. Ryder had to crane her neck a little uncomfortably to kiss her but it was worth it. They were both grinning when they separated.
“Love you too, Ryder.”
anvilcat, jim jams, and peebee
AC and Peebee jammin' to some tunes (stream pebble brain <3)