Anniversary

[Tabitha Cobb]

City of Akrotiri
Engine Rooms
0003

It must have been a sight to anyone who happened to be passing through the engine rooms. Tabby lay on her back on her creeper, the thing that allows her to easily roll out from under the engine block. It was not easy work, trying to make the Ancient systems and the Earth systems talk to each other, but that's why the two of them were there.

For the past two hours, they said little more to each other than what steps they should follow in order to get things back up and running. This particular engine, used mostly for sublight steering, decided that it only wanted to work in two speeds: nothing or SUPERMEGAFAST. There was no variation and, while it was only one engine out of the whole, it cause major problems for precision. So, meticulously attaching tiny wires into various tubes and resealing them took a great amount of time...especially when there were over 75 different tubes....with at least 200 different wires that were possibilities in each tube.

Needless to say, it was fraying nerves. In fact, it was so mind-numbing that it was even putting a bit of a cloud over Tabby's generally cheery disposition.

"Forty-nine down, twenty-six to go," she said with a sigh, rolling her creeper out from under the engine compartment and reaching for her water bottle. Unscrewing the cap, she caught a glimpse at her watch. It was 12:03am....on June 7th. Tabby blinked a moment at the watch, then glanced up at her brother who seemed focused on whatever he saw on the screen.

"It's June 7th," she said, after a moment, looking at her brother, but her thoughts were ticking away. Today, three years before, their parents died. They were on their way to Tabby and Zane's graduation from MIT, but never made it. What made it worse was that night...which was the last night that she saw Zane. Until just a few months ago, when they were reunited in Colorado. Even then, they never spoke of their parents, or that night.

"So, I was thinking," she started, after taking a sip from her bottle, "Maybe we could take some flowers to one of the airlocks this year. They have some flash-frozen in storage, just in case. I could ask Colonel Loveridge or whoever if we could use some for today. I don't think they would mind."

It was something she had thought about for a while. Even though she was technically an adult when their parents passed, some of their friends from back home, old neighbors and such, helped with the funeral arrangements. She had been such a wreck after that, that the funeral and everything was such a blur. The years after that, she did a little something on her own to remember her parents, but this year, now that Zane was there, she thought they could do something together. As brother and sister.

[Zane Cobb]

City of Akrotiri
Engine Rooms
0003

This was not his field. Well - it was in many ways, but he preferred to be curled up in a chair, breaking down firewalls and getting through various forms of security with his over-sized headphones flattening his normally poofy hair. Music that was probably too loud to be good for him, would be pounding in his ears - his eyes not blinking enough while staring at the (hopefully not CRT) monitor before him. Probably a bag of some sort of something salty in reach. Yeah - that was ideal. Especially with a videogame paused behind him, so the reward of finishing would be to finish a level. Or...this is how Zane's mind worked. In reality, he only got to do that a few times in his life - and mostly after he moved away from it all. It was his way of dealing with things.

Now, however, he was helping his twin sister deal with a strange engine. It actually required some of his skills to monitor its readouts and even figure out what it wanted. Well not like FEED ME SEYMOUR - but rather what little things needed to be tweaked in order to get it to run functionally. As it currently stood, it would either be off...or in hyperdeathmodeofdoom. One word.

The twins had been working at it for over two hours at this point, and it honestly felt like nothing was accomplished. They learned how the engine worked a bit better, but it wasn't actually applying to anything helpful. But alas - they had to keep going. This wasn't just some random project that dad had put them on...they were working now. In space.

His inner Scifi nerd was still "capsing" (his term for feeling something strongly - which he relates to the internet way of holding down shift or caps lock and going crazy) at the fact that he wasn't on Earth at the moment. Zane was living his childhood dream of being in space doing what he loved. It was always such a far-fetched dream at the time. Him? Space? He had asthma and didn't do people well. That didn't exactly make "spaceman" material. Yet here he was - working in secret with people who were exploring space. Whenever he found himself in a bad mood in this strange place, he just reminded himself of that...then a large grin would spread over his face.

Back to the present.

He and his twin sister had exchanged little more than directions toward each other since this project began. It was strange to be so distant from the girl he had known since birth. In reverse, it was even strange to see her. Zane had left her what felt like ages ago to "move on" with life. Then he got in trouble with the government and got them both a job here. No regrets.

But it still felt...weird.


"Forty-nine down, twenty-six to go," Tabby reported.
"Yay."
"It's June 7th."

Zane froze, feeling that rushing sensation of something happening you really didn't want to happen - or that's how his brain perceived it.
"Really?" he asked quietly, scratching his neck.

"So, I was thinking," Tabby continued, drinking from her water bottle as she gazed over at Zane, "Maybe we could take some flowers to one of the airlocks this year. They have some flash-frozen in storage, just in case. I could ask Colonel Loveridge or whoever if we could use some for today. I don't think they would mind."

"Nah," Zane replied a bit too quickly, "It's just kind of...rubbing the salt in the wound, ya know? It's fine."

Zane wasn't one to like to dwell on unpleasant things. Ever. If something bad happened, he preferred to just move on and never think about it. Ever. Ever. In all honesty, Zane had never dealt with their parents' death. He had broken down upon learning the news. Hard. This included a massive fight with Tabby, which led to him moving out. On his drive away, he had to pull over a few times to recover himself.

Since that day, however, he tried not to dwell on any of that. The death. The fight. The trip. It was locked away deep inside Zane...and he wasn't planning on letting it free.

<Tag Tabbs>

[Tabitha Cobb]

City of Akrotiri
Engine Rooms
0004

Though she wasn't really sure what she expected Zane's response to be, his instant 'no' caught her a bit off guard. At first, she just stared at him a bit, then almost physically seemed to wilt after he stated his case. Her brows furrowed a little bit as she twisted the cap back onto her bottle and set it to the side. Instead of rolling right back under the engine block, she sat there a moment, her arms rested on her bent knees in thought.

"But...it isn't like rubbing salt in the wound," she said, mildly confused, "I just thought..." She paused. In her head, she couldn't see why he did not want to do that. It wasn't like they were going to replay a funeral for them. It was such a small gesture. "I thought it would be nice for us to do something, you know...together."

Since we didn't get to before, she thought, half tempted to say them out loud, but she didn't. In fact, even as she thought it, she remembered how abandoned she felt in the days - weeks - that followed. They didn't do any of that together. She couldn't quite figure out why he wouldn't want to make up for what he had missed. What had he planned on doing today anyway? Pretend it did not happen? Because, it did happen.

"It won't be anything big," she said, wondering if that's what it was. Maybe he would just feel awkward if other people on the city-ship saw them standing at an airlock. "Just you and me. We're supposed to drop out of hyperspace to let the engine cool for a while around midday today. I thought that would be an okay time."

As she spoke, she stretched a bit, trying to work out the stiff muscles in her arms and shoulders from working with them above her face for so long. She even tried rubbing away the marks that she's sure the safety googles had left on her nose and around her eyes.

[Zane Cobb]

City of Akrotiri
Engine Rooms
0004

As soon as he spoke, Zane realized that he was still bad at being a twin. She wanted to honor their parents in a way that would bring them back together. But he quite simply didn't

"But...it isn't like rubbing salt in the wound," Tabby replied - her voice lightly confused, "I just thought..." she trailed, causing Zane to frown, "I thought it would be nice for us to do something, you know...together."

And just like that, guilt rolled over the young man, causing his eyes to close. Thoughts he had previously repressed started to crawl to the forefront like demons out of hell. When she needed him, he left. He drove off to some guy he had never actually met in person. Why? Because he couldn't handle any of this. The thought of his parents being gone simply didn't compute - and he didn't want it to. He wanted to stay idly numb and unsure what was happening. Sure - it hurt at first...but being in a new place quickly made him forget. And that's all he wanted to do. That's all he ever wanted to do. How else did people deal with things? Think about them and cry? How did that solve anything? Ever?

"Tabs..." he replied, looking away from the screen to his twin, as she sat on the thingy that slid under the engine. He never knew what it was called.

"It won't be anything big," she continued, "Just you and me. We're supposed to drop out of hyperspace to let the engine cool for a while around midday today. I thought that would be an okay time."

Zane's eyes dropped. It was almost a bit annoying that she kept pressing for it - even though he had said no. Was he supposed to suddenly just change his mind because she kept talking about it?
"Why?" he suddenly asked, his voice low, "Why would I want to be reminded of losing our parents by tossing dead flowers into space? How does that fix anything Tabby? Litter the empty void around us? 'Oh I'm sure parents would love to see that.' I mean...what the hell? It's just reminding us of what we lost. I'd rather just move on."

Zane took a deep breath, feeling his heart-rate soar. The hand that was on the monitor in front of him, had white knuckles. He released the monitor and stared at his feet.

This was why he had been away from her for so long. She knew him.

<Tag Les Tabbeh>

[Tabitha Cobb]

City of Akrotiri
Engine Rooms
0004

Tabby's eyes dropped at his words, taking them in. He was upset and it was affecting her too. She didn't like him being upset, but this was about more than just the flowers. As much as his tone bothered her, it was his words that bothered her more. Looking back up at him, her eyes narrowed and slightly watery.

"Because they're our parents, Zane," she said, feeling her own voice catch in her throat. "Because I miss them and you miss them, too. And it may just be flowers in space but it's something. After all they did for us...everything. They were always there for us. Mom and Dad were always there, even when we went away."

Now, she was upset by thinking about them. Even though the two of them had moved out a couple years before they died, Tabby kept in touch with them to tell them everything. It was almost like they were always there, just like Zane had been. When they died, all she wanted to do was call them and tell them how sad she was...but she couldn't, because they were gone. To make it even worse, Zane was gone too, which made her more alone than she had ever been in her life.

"And then they weren't there. And you weren't there. No one was there." That was what upset her the most, that feeling of being completely alone. It made her mad, which is something that she didn't feel very often. But, being left alone by all of them made her mad. She couldn't be mad at he parents, because they couldn't help it, it wasn't something that could have been stopped. But Zane could have stayed. And he didn't.


"There is no 'fixing' it. Pretending it didn't happen isn't moving on. But if putting flowers out over a planet - which we would have never seen if it weren't for them - will help even a little bit, then it's worth doing. " Laying back down on the creeper, she added, "And I don't understand why you don't want to do that."

With that, she put her safety goggles back on and rolled under the compartment. As she called out, "Fifty" to him, her goggles began to fog up.

<Tag Zaneyyy>

[Zane Cobb]

City of Akrotiri
Engine Rooms
0004

Watching Tabby react caused a pang of guilt to wash over Zane. His eyes instantly dropped, miming her exact reaction to his own words. While they had been separated for quite some time now, they were still siblings. Twins. They shouldn't be arguing about anything. Twins should always be telepathically communicating and plotting against people around them. Instead they were having an argument about dead parents. It actually sickened him slightly. It's the only thing that has ever really gotten in between the twins. They were best friends growing up and basically to the point of being told the news. Sure – they had a few 'discussions' about Tabby being around when Zane was trying to seduce someone, but that was only once...and half-hearted. This...this felt different.

"Because they're our parents, Zane,” she began, causing Zane to look over at his sister, "Because I miss them and you miss them, too. And it may just be flowers in space but it's something. After all they did for us...everything. They were always there for us. Mom and Dad were always there, even when we went away."

Zane's eyes quickly dropped, feeling heat grow behind them. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, in effort to fight the sensation. Everything he had fought so hard to conceal. Lock away. It was coming back. Hard. His mind began to flood with images of home. Fishing with dad. Cooking with mom. Tabby and mom dressing him up in a dress that one time. Zane frowned, his bottom lip shaking. He continued rubbing the bridge of his nose, as an excuse to continue to cover his face.

"And then they weren't there. And you weren't there. No one was there." 

And here it came. The flood finally hit. Keeping his hand over his face, Zane continued to 'rub the bridge of his nose,' as tears slowly worked their way down his face. He had abandoned Tabby – his only living family – because he was scared. His parents were dead and everything was falling apart – so he ran. He ran away. Instead of staying with her and making sure she was okay, he ran. He betrayed her and their parents. He was an awful brother. An awful friend. And an unspeakably bad twin.

"There is no 'fixing' it. Pretending it didn't happen isn't moving on. But if putting flowers out over a planet - which we would have never seen if it weren't for them - will help even a little bit, then it's worth doing. " Zane heard the sound of the rolly-thing move slightly, "And I don't understand why you don't want to do that."

Taking a shaky breath, he looked up at her, as she reported a meaningless number to him. Walking next to his twin, he pulled her rolly thing out, pulled her upright, then wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered, “I was scared. I don't know how to deal with...anything, Tabs. And now that has hurt you. Has hurt you. I'm...I'm sorry,” he buried his face into her shoulder, well aware of the hot tears that would soon dampen it, “I miss mom and dad more than you can imagine. I can feel my brain try to think of them on an hourly basis...but I've just...” a sob escaped, “tired to ignore it. Pretend like it didn't happen. Cut my losses and ran. And it didn't work. It didn't work, Tabs...”

<Tag Tabby>

[OOC: ...sorry it took so long. I was in the perfect mood to do it tonight though :BIC]