Summer fic challenge 2018, part 1.
Sep. 9th, 2018 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merikuru posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
volieredeatoriTotally doing the thing, I swear.
"Is something the matter, sir?"
The words, and the cup being set in front of him, startle Kenny out of his thoughtful brooding, and he glances up to see Heinz - datapad in hand as usual, holoscreen broadcasting some dull report or another - giving him a concerned smile, and a brief familiar feeling of fond gratitude washes over him as he shakes his head. "No - of course not. I was just considering some things," he pauses, reaches for the cup and drinks; it shouldn't surprise him by now, as long as they've worked together, but he's still somehow a little pleasantly baffled that Heinz always remembers precisely how he takes his coffee, no sugar but a generous splash of cream to cut the bitterness of the sludge that HQ functions on like some sort of life-giving elixir. "Nothing you need worry about. But...thank you."
"No need to thank me," Heinz says, as he always does, takes a brief glance at the datapad and then seems to merely dismiss its contents from the way he turns his head away, instead pulling out a chair so that he can sit down across from Kenny and quietly watch him. It's sort of a routine, by now; it's unlikely that either one consciously realizes they're doing it until they've already begun, but all the same, neither makes any real effort to stop it either (as if they'd ever really want to, far too used to the comforting familiarity of it all.) "I don't suppose there's anything I can help you with? It's a bit unlike you to be so...distracted."
Kenny blinks - has he been distracted? He genuinely hasn't noticed (which, perhaps, is the point, he finds himself thinking wryly, and he nearly laughs.) "No, I don't think there's anything. You could say I'm...merely trying to wind down a bit. It's been one of those days where I can't seem to get work off of my mind--" and that's something he'd never admit to anyone else, but after so long, any fear or embarrassment he might have had about letting Heinz see him so vulnerable has long since vanished. "...That in mind, there is one question that I'd like to hear your answer to, however. With each passing day, we get that much closer to our eventual goal. When we get there - what do you think is going to happen?" A loaded question, and he knows it, but if he can't get the thought out of his head, maybe a trusted opinion can at least help him relax a bit - as cruel as that might be, he can at least be sure it won't cause offense.
Heinz considers, lips pursing briefly, and sets the datapad absently down in front of him, reaching up to slowly adjust his glasses in the way that means he's thinking hard about how precisely to answer. "When we get there," he begins slowly, trails into another long moment of silence and then shakes his head a bit. "Honestly, I've thought about this a fair bit myself and I'm still uncertain. Best case scenario, I suppose, is that it's everything we've been looking for - a new home, a safe home, where we can start over and pray we don't repeat the same mistakes once again. On the other hand, worst case..." he shrugs helplessly, and the briefest of discomfited looks crosses his face, but it's a testament to his control and willpower that it's gone almost too quickly to notice. "We never find it, and everything's been for naught. I doubt it's going to end up at either one of those extremes, however. We're going to be needed for quite a while to come, even if we reach that goal...us, and our successors. Consider it job security of a sort."
Kenny snorts a laugh before he can help it, shaking his head, and he's pleased to see the smallest of smiles on the corners of Heinz's lips for a moment. "Hah - job security, indeed," he murmurs, lets another chuckle slip and then goes serious again, giving a slow nod. "That's precisely how I feel. Thank you - and I'm sorry for the uncomfortable question." He considers a moment, eyes Heinz, and then abruptly slides the coffee across to him with an apologetic smile. "I think you need this a bit more than I do right now."
"Do I look that tired, sir?" But Heinz smiles wryly, already knowing the answer to that, and obediently reaches for the cup, taking a long drink as he half-closes his eyes. He's never really been much for coffee, especially this sludge that masquerades as an actual beverage, but this is more a symbol of familiarity - sharp bitterness tempered by the slightest note of something more innocuous and unoffensive, and he's smiling more genuinely by the time he lowers the cup.
He doesn't say anything; he doesn't need to. Neither of them does.
He merely finishes off the sorry excuse for coffee, and as he reaches for the datapad again, absently licks the film of cream from his lips.
"Is something the matter, sir?"
The words, and the cup being set in front of him, startle Kenny out of his thoughtful brooding, and he glances up to see Heinz - datapad in hand as usual, holoscreen broadcasting some dull report or another - giving him a concerned smile, and a brief familiar feeling of fond gratitude washes over him as he shakes his head. "No - of course not. I was just considering some things," he pauses, reaches for the cup and drinks; it shouldn't surprise him by now, as long as they've worked together, but he's still somehow a little pleasantly baffled that Heinz always remembers precisely how he takes his coffee, no sugar but a generous splash of cream to cut the bitterness of the sludge that HQ functions on like some sort of life-giving elixir. "Nothing you need worry about. But...thank you."
"No need to thank me," Heinz says, as he always does, takes a brief glance at the datapad and then seems to merely dismiss its contents from the way he turns his head away, instead pulling out a chair so that he can sit down across from Kenny and quietly watch him. It's sort of a routine, by now; it's unlikely that either one consciously realizes they're doing it until they've already begun, but all the same, neither makes any real effort to stop it either (as if they'd ever really want to, far too used to the comforting familiarity of it all.) "I don't suppose there's anything I can help you with? It's a bit unlike you to be so...distracted."
Kenny blinks - has he been distracted? He genuinely hasn't noticed (which, perhaps, is the point, he finds himself thinking wryly, and he nearly laughs.) "No, I don't think there's anything. You could say I'm...merely trying to wind down a bit. It's been one of those days where I can't seem to get work off of my mind--" and that's something he'd never admit to anyone else, but after so long, any fear or embarrassment he might have had about letting Heinz see him so vulnerable has long since vanished. "...That in mind, there is one question that I'd like to hear your answer to, however. With each passing day, we get that much closer to our eventual goal. When we get there - what do you think is going to happen?" A loaded question, and he knows it, but if he can't get the thought out of his head, maybe a trusted opinion can at least help him relax a bit - as cruel as that might be, he can at least be sure it won't cause offense.
Heinz considers, lips pursing briefly, and sets the datapad absently down in front of him, reaching up to slowly adjust his glasses in the way that means he's thinking hard about how precisely to answer. "When we get there," he begins slowly, trails into another long moment of silence and then shakes his head a bit. "Honestly, I've thought about this a fair bit myself and I'm still uncertain. Best case scenario, I suppose, is that it's everything we've been looking for - a new home, a safe home, where we can start over and pray we don't repeat the same mistakes once again. On the other hand, worst case..." he shrugs helplessly, and the briefest of discomfited looks crosses his face, but it's a testament to his control and willpower that it's gone almost too quickly to notice. "We never find it, and everything's been for naught. I doubt it's going to end up at either one of those extremes, however. We're going to be needed for quite a while to come, even if we reach that goal...us, and our successors. Consider it job security of a sort."
Kenny snorts a laugh before he can help it, shaking his head, and he's pleased to see the smallest of smiles on the corners of Heinz's lips for a moment. "Hah - job security, indeed," he murmurs, lets another chuckle slip and then goes serious again, giving a slow nod. "That's precisely how I feel. Thank you - and I'm sorry for the uncomfortable question." He considers a moment, eyes Heinz, and then abruptly slides the coffee across to him with an apologetic smile. "I think you need this a bit more than I do right now."
"Do I look that tired, sir?" But Heinz smiles wryly, already knowing the answer to that, and obediently reaches for the cup, taking a long drink as he half-closes his eyes. He's never really been much for coffee, especially this sludge that masquerades as an actual beverage, but this is more a symbol of familiarity - sharp bitterness tempered by the slightest note of something more innocuous and unoffensive, and he's smiling more genuinely by the time he lowers the cup.
He doesn't say anything; he doesn't need to. Neither of them does.
He merely finishes off the sorry excuse for coffee, and as he reaches for the datapad again, absently licks the film of cream from his lips.
