For the OC Action Tag game
What is some cranky ol' Emrys did on impulse that he regretted?
He would say a cryptic ‘everything’ and then retreat into the shadows.
The poor thing woke up as a doomsday device, the first thing he did was followed orders and commit genocide on a planetary scale. Horrified at what he had done, he then turned traitor to his people and killed his own crew.
Now terrified of himself, and what he is, he ran and hid for over a thousand years hoping that he’d learned from his mistakes. Scared that if he opened up to anyone he’d make those mistakes again.
Recently, against his better judgement, he collected a new crew but has already spaced one of them and destroyed an entire station out of anger. He hasn’t changed. When Emrys loses his temper people die.
He’s trying to learn. He’s trying to change. I guess that’s the important thing. His heart is in the right place. But he still has his triggers, one hell of temper and his physical form is a relay powered dreadnaught… and ‘accidents’ happen. :/
I think it'll be to absolutely no-one's surprise that my favorite character to write this year is a tie between Sam Coe and Caitlyn Lynch, my Starfield OC. It's light-hearted in a way that is really resonating with me right now, and I hadn't realized how badly I was jonesing for another good space-opera setting until I got into it. Nor was I expecting Sam to grab me by the feels, but here we are.
29: Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?
From a future chapter of stars:
Sam leaned against the wall, feeling his lips stretch in a slow smile. “Well, now, darlin’,” he drawled. “What have you been up to?” The lights were dimmed to almost nothing. Instead, candles burned on almost every flat surface—the bar, the end tables, the dresser—filling the room with a soft radiance that limned everything—Cait included—in a warm glow. Candlelight suited her. Made her hair shine like it was spun from pure flame and her eyes shimmer like pearls.
“Dinner got pre-empted,” she said softly, “and I’m not in the mood to argue possession of the beach with the crocodaunts, but I thought a candlelight dessert might be a down payment on that package?” A bottle of Velocity (luminescent in the near-dark), two glasses, and a covered plate had been neatly set out, and she lit the last taper as she spoke.
God, he loved her, loved her so hard his heart was fit to burst. He didn’t bother trying to hide it—hell, he wanted her to feel it. “All this for me? You don’t waste any time, do you?”
Cait flushed and ducked her head a little, and he knew she’d gotten his silent message. “Not anymore,” she said, a little cryptically. “Not if I can help it.” She glanced back up at him and tilted his head toward the couch. “Pour you a drink?”
“Don’t need one,” he said easily, flinging himself down on the couch and stretching out his legs comfortably. He let his eyes linger on her, drinking the sight of her in. “You’re better than any drink known to man.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “There you go again,” she murmured, “saying things like that to me. Meaning them.” Her eyes shone with more than the candlelight; impatiently, she dashed the tears away with the back of her hand. “I can’t shake the feeling that when I wake up tomorrow, this will all have been just… a dream. A glorious, terrible dream. And—” she gestured around the room. “I wanted to keep the magic alive. For a little while longer.”
“If you’re dreaming, I’m dreaming too,” Sam said. “And I ain’t minded to wake up from it any time… ever.” He patted the couch next to him. “Cat…” for the first time, he used the name he’d given her in the privacy of his thoughts, “come sit. If you’re okay with that…” At her look of confusion, he elaborated. “I didn't know before, how physical contact makes your empathy stronger. I do now.” He breathed out a shaky little laugh. “And I’ve got a whole mess of feelings going on right now, darlin’—wouldn’t be right to drop ‘em all on you. But you surely do look like you could make some inroads on those cuddles we promised each other.”
