don shrugged lazily. without them? dead probably. or he’d be alive without the countless near death experiences. truth be told, he wouldn’t be here at least, on alpha centauri, and if he’d still been then maybe he’d been in jail for the smuggling. however, there was no need in thinking about if’s. only the reality mattered and hell, it really wasn’t so bad. ❛ good question. ❜ not doing anything to stand out had always been a motto of his. just do good while laying low. that motto hadn’t changed but he’d realized sometimes you had to stand out to do good, be a fucking hero and all that shit. or else the people you’ve come to care about, or even yourself, would die.
it was rather new to don who usually only took care of himself. now he might say no a couple of times but judy seemed to know how to convince him to do things somehow. with just one damn look that’d melt his stubborn heart in seconds. ❛ yeah. the adventure, the ideas, you know... ❜ he said, grinning widely, meeting her gaze and raising a brow at her. those dark eyes of hers, sparkling even if there was no light around. don felt his hands itching, to be on her skin, in her hair, around her waist. did she miss that too? even if it had just been one time but maybe that’s all it was supposed to be? ❛ like what, being captain? ❜ he smirked.
❛ oh yeah. three definitely, ❜ he agreed with a nod. don still thought it was incredibly wild that she had found her biological dad after all those years. he’d asked maureen what she thought about it but hadn’t exactly... gotten a great answer out of the woman. ❛ oh please we’ll make twenty pies before she lets go of that pen. ❜ he hoped at least. don couldn’t wait to read more of penny’s stories, even though he’d lived through most of them with her. just not that year they were apart.
grabbing a knife to chop the vegetables don answered almost immediately. ❛ the air. ❜ although he’d spent most of his time in space, coming back to earth now and then had been rough, seeing and feeling in his lungs how the atmosphere got worse and worse. ❛ i mean spaceship air is fine compared to earth but this many trees and plants make one hell of a difference, you know. like earth before the impact. ❜
No matter what he thought, or how he felt, Judy knew for a fact that she appreciated his existence. It may not have been the case when they first met, but all had changed so fast, so soon. When he spoke, Judy smiled -- which was a natural occurrence in itself. Their fun banters before proved that they got along really well. “The ideas, huh?” she asked with a raised brow in question. “All your ideas nearly got you killed-- granted you’re here and i’m very thankful for that, but can’t deny how many times you thought it was best to nearly sacrifice yourself for us.” she reminded him.
“Unless you were talking about some other type of ideas, you should share them with me.” she added softly. Maybe those ideas pertained to their first time? Was she okay? Did he enjoy himself? Would he ever -- Judy pushed those thoughts away in fear that she may get too caught up with those thoughts and say something she may regret. “Ha. Ha. It’s not as if they need a captain anytime, but they do need a doctor.” she added as if to remind him that she was a full time doctor again. “Ah yes, the air here is much better here.” she agreed. “We don’t have to worry about the oxygen running out, so no, I agree.”
Judy laughed at the thought of dinner being filled with nothing but pies. “Oh, Will would have loved that if dinner was all just pies.” she added before turning back to get started on her work. They’d need pie crusts, and apples. Would an apple pie be better or should she try blueberry pie? “Which pie do you think would be nicer? Apple, blueberry, or cherry?” she asked as she turned to watch him once more.
He was busy chopping away and while he was great with fixing things, putting things together with his hands or taking them apart, it was so odd to see him chopping vegetables. Not that Judy was complaining-- it was a nice sight. “For the record, I appreciate you being here, Don. Thank you for just existing because I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here.” and while it wasn’t the best moment to be heartfelt not when he was cutting vegetables. That’s probably what triggered her to say such a thing. That he didn’t have to be here helping her in the kitchen. He could be anywhere, or anyone he chose.
“I’ll probably make one of each pie.” she decided eventually, just to get over the fact that she might have made things awkward. Yes, this is why Judy stuck to work and books. It was easier to loser herself in books than to get emotional with someone who probably didn’t feel much of anything for her. Again, that was just a heat of a moment sort of thing, so why would he? So she continued with her pies by grabbing the fruits first. Focus on the task and she won’t be thinking about him. That was the plan.
