April
Senna arrived at the farm in a torrent of rain. She hadn't heard from Jay the entire month, and was worried for them. The last time they were together, they seemed distant. Now, she found them, sitting on a stump stool, in the pouring rain, staring forward at nothing. She tried to call out to them, but the rain was drowning out all sound besides itself. When she got close, she saw something more apparent. Their knuckles were split, and scabbed. They looked up at her with surprise, having not heard her, and went inside, holding the door politely, despite the flood of rain.
In front of the heater, Jay stripped wordlessly, sighing, while Sen simply watched. Their naked body revealed a surprisingly chubby weight, somewhere around 220-230 LB, given the circumstances and situation. Jay blushed, covering themselves, or at least making an attempt to. "I uh, I stress eat."
But it wasn't the weight that caught her eye, it was the extensive scarring around their bare arms, and a distinct tattoo on their back. No, not a tattoo. A brand. By the Everbloom... She thought to herself. "How long were you there, darling? In the rain?"
"Uh, long enough to get wet, I suppose..." The dry humor is lost on Sen. Walking over to the heater, she sits in her usual spot, to eye them up some more. "Jay." She says, with just the subtlest hint of sternness to her voice. Jay looks at her, and shrugs. "Just..an hour. It helped me think."
Her vision shifted back to the hands. "Frustration?" She asked. "Yeah." They replied, flatly. She gestured to their chair. "Go on, sit. It's time to talk some more."
Dejected and naked, Jay looked at her, from a tilted head. "What do you want to hear now?" There's a tone of angst, and exhaustion, and Senna takes a deep breath, exhaling, simply to warn Jay to change their attitude.
"Tell me about the slavers." She folds her hands together, and settles her vines. Jay nods.
"Alright. They were slavers, they saw an easy mark...they got me. I was in there for 2 years. Alone. In a dark box with nothing to keep me company but my own thoughts, and regrets. And, well, the first dead body I'd ever seen, the last tenant. Turns out, a slave that can't work doesn't sell well. It's...on the fringes of terran space, it was a bad, bad place."
"I can tell there's a large part of history you're leaving out. How did you get there? Where was your family? You couldn't have been so young, and on your own completely..." She shifted in her sofa. "Or...were you?"
They looked her in the eyes, and continued the story. "I played dead. Didn't eat for 3 days. Didn't move. When they opened the cell, I made a break for it, got to the ship...then, well, here."
They stood up, walking over to her, and standing to match her eyeline. "Do you see why I'm so hesitant to agree to this? Why I want to just stay here, make a home, live a life of my own and die myself?" Their tone was raising. "You care, I know you care, but...I want to be an individual. I want to be me. And when I finally get that through pure luck, you show up." Sen's expression just exhumes pity. She sees a scared, young, vulnerable sophont. "Jay..."
She stands now, towering over the terran once again. "Jay, you must understand that everything that happened to you, the pain, the trauma, it's all the result of having that choice. Your people, they survive by being stronger than the others. You...you are strong, but you don't have to be anymore. The world, the universe, it is changing, my love. Everything you know is...it's wrong, love. Do you really want to live like this? Alone? Eating raw lettuce and carrots, strange dried things from the cupboard?"
Jay looks up at her, determination in their eyes. "Yeah. I want to live for myself."
Senna feels her heart break, and looks down at them, her expression telling it all. "Then I will see myself out, love. Don't forget to call if you...if you need help." She sulks her way to the door, and leaves in the rain.
Jay stands in the heat of the hearth, reflecting on their actions. "Damn it..."
