“There’s some things you just don’t ask questions about.” S4M, this line said by Kamal!
The house is a haunted thing. In every piece of drywall and foundation there exists the lingering sadness. A despair. It seeps into Kamal's bones and makes his blood run cold until he wants to burn the place to the ground.
Just a couple more boxes to sort through. Then he and Habit can leave.
"Did you see a red leather book?" Habit's voice is soft. Like he’s waiting for something horrible to happen. “It's important.”
"No, sorry," Kamal said. "I haven't found it yet."
Habit hums. And then he wanders off, sorting through more personal items.
Kamal's still focused on the box he's packing up. Things to get rid of. He can dispose of these things better. He's not attached to them. And Kamal's more objective about it.
Still, he can't bring himself to ask. He's an outsider only getting a peek into the life this family's lived. And asking Habit seems like a betrayal of the entire reason Kamal even was invited.
He's folding some dusty curtains when his hands find something firm. He pulls it from the fabric.
Red leather.
"Hey, Boris?"
"Oh." Habit stares at the book. "You found it."
"You don't sound thrilled."
"I'm not."
Kamal hands the book over. "You wanna keep it?"
Habit sighs. He doesn't open the book right away. But when he does, he keeps it from Kamal's stare.
There's no use in prying. So Kamal goes back to sorting through things to get rid of. The old and forgotten, the abandoned and useless.
"You're not going to ask?" Habit questions finally, setting the book in the box Kamal's working on.
"I, uh..." Kamal is curious. "There's just some things you just don't ask questions about. I know we're a thing and you rely on me, but..."
Kamal shrugs. He hopes he's making some kind of sense.
"I see."
"It just feels weird, y'know?" Kamal adds. "I'm looking at all this from the outside. I don't know what happened here. I get weird vibes, but I'd never really get it, I think? And since it seems to upset you, I think it's better if I don't start prying."
Habit takes Kamal's hands in his. "Thank you."
"I'd want the same from you, I think." Kamal shakes his head. When did he get so covered in dust. "That space to process things."
With a nod, Habit murmurs, "I'll keep that in mind."
Letting go of Kamal's hands, Habit takes the box of things, taping it up. And then he takes it down and out of the attic. Probably to the car.
Kamal could, if he wanted, pick up the book and leaf through it. He considers it. The red leather is tempting with all its secrets. But Kamal can see the leather's in disrepair, cracked and aging. Whatever pages are left are yellowed and old. Fragile.
Giving the moth-eaten curtains a nod of final judgement, he throws them in the box, covering up the book. It's not his place to ask. It's not his place to snoop. He brings the box down, setting it with the others full of things to be thrown away.
He heads outside for some fresh air and helps Habit load things into the car. It's a nice summer day. Warm. Unlike the attic which holds a deep, frigid sorrow.
dirt: how long have you been playing minecraft? why did you start?uoooghgh i had played it briefly in 2016 on ps4 bc i wanted to try it and my ex had it so we played together. but ive been playing actively since uuuh around 2-3 months ago. i bought it bc my friends were playing it lolacacia: what’s your favorite underused/unappreciated material/block?i dont really know what is unappreciated, but i really like polished diorite and polished granite
epix-elle replied to your post: I bet if Shran and Kira lived in the same time...
This is the kind of content I signed up for this is good shit
characters shran would get along with from other shows
Worf, who shares the trait of loving ones culture but feeling isolated from it
Kira, who is also recovering from the trauma of a military life trying to protect her people (but obviously like 20 times more serious than Shran)
Data, since they’re both kind of trying to get to know what humans are all about? Also Shran would try to make him a sparring partner and Data would end up throwing him across a room and Shran is like THE MOST POWERFUL MAN... and gets a bit of a crush
Tasha, for a lot of the same reasons as Kira, and also Internalized Homophobia Friends (side note, Tasha/Talas?)
Weirdly I think Tuvok? At least hypothetical s5 Shran who’s trying to be more chill with Vulcans would find Tuvok a lot more agreeable than most of the others he’s met and respect his skill in the things he does
He would find Jadzia hilarious (Jadzia/Jhamel and Jadzia/Talas are both valid as fuck)
Chakotay is another one that may seem kind of weird as a friendship but I feel it in my bones that he would respect his connection to his culture (as badly written as it was the spirit of it is there) and value any help Chakotay could offer him in being more chill and friendly. And we know Chakotay is an angel so he’d probably be happy to be Shran’s friend
Shran would respect the HELL out of Michael’s sort of renegade Doing What’s Best For People Over Starfleet Principals attitude I bet since that’s him too