VESPER
The moment Jack lets go, Vesper staggers as if the sand beneath him’s given way, shadows jerking like startled animals at his heels. Heat lashes into his skull, not flame but something crueler—every tether inside Jack flayed raw, seared through, the neat weave of a mind turned into a snarl of frayed threads burning at both ends. It’s too much, too fast, and he nearly doubles with it before forcing himself upright, breath ragged, teeth clenched.
For a heartbeat there’s no focus, no horizon—just the molten sprawl of pain and shame and bitter memory, Flora’s outline bright as a knife. He drags his gaze away before it cuts too deep; call it professional courtesy, but even with Jack's shields down, there were things Vesper thought it better he not see. Instead, his grip sharpens on the one face that rises in the fire like smoke through dry timber: Kaisel. Smirking at a birthday, needling until the room turned sour, and now, somehow, tangled in the reason Jack’s walking away.
The shields slam back into place and Vesper exhales like he’s surfaced from drowning, breath a hiss that rattles in his chest. He doesn’t look at the captain—can’t—not with his own jaw twitching under the weight of what he’s just felt, instead letting his eyes lock on the black sea near the horizon.
For a moment Jack’s words just hang there, and Vesper flinches as though they’ve struck him. His expression shutters, eyes darkening to cold steel, and the words slip out like a blade drawn quiet and sharp. "An’ what if it weren’t you dyin’?" he asks, low and flat, a childlike naivety that things could just be fixed, dangerously mingling with the outcome of having Jack and Safrin as parents. "Ain’t there someone else whose absence might actually make things better?" He doesn’t name Kaisel, but the shape of the thought glints clear as glass between them.
For a heartbeat there’s no focus, no horizon—just the molten sprawl of pain and shame and bitter memory, Flora’s outline bright as a knife. He drags his gaze away before it cuts too deep; call it professional courtesy, but even with Jack's shields down, there were things Vesper thought it better he not see. Instead, his grip sharpens on the one face that rises in the fire like smoke through dry timber: Kaisel. Smirking at a birthday, needling until the room turned sour, and now, somehow, tangled in the reason Jack’s walking away.
The shields slam back into place and Vesper exhales like he’s surfaced from drowning, breath a hiss that rattles in his chest. He doesn’t look at the captain—can’t—not with his own jaw twitching under the weight of what he’s just felt, instead letting his eyes lock on the black sea near the horizon.
For a moment Jack’s words just hang there, and Vesper flinches as though they’ve struck him. His expression shutters, eyes darkening to cold steel, and the words slip out like a blade drawn quiet and sharp. "An’ what if it weren’t you dyin’?" he asks, low and flat, a childlike naivety that things could just be fixed, dangerously mingling with the outcome of having Jack and Safrin as parents. "Ain’t there someone else whose absence might actually make things better?" He doesn’t name Kaisel, but the shape of the thought glints clear as glass between them.
Push, shove, a little bruised and battered
oh lord, I ain't coming home with you
oh lord, I ain't coming home with you
☆ has a pale star tattoo beneath his left eye, and freckle-sized constellations move across his skin
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
