"Followed by dreamers everywhere," - John Hershel, to Rose Stratford
Obligatory Pulp HC rambles beneath a drawing? Always, and it's PaperStars edition (see below the cut- I included a cut because it's a lot- oops-)
I spent a solid 20 minutes daydreaming how Rose and John began playing their star-naming game at the beginning of Ep. 2 and here's what we got.
- On their first night at sea, Rose was at the bow slumped against the railing and queasy with sea sickness. She'd been unable to rest with her stomach churning relentlessly.
- John had been above deck already, writing away in his actual journal about the beginnings of his new adventure or smthn, when he spotted her. He didn't approach initially, opting to leave her to her business. But when the Stratford leaned just a little too deeply into the railing, his indifference was quickly replaced by concern!
- Rose had nearly gotten sick for the umpteenth time that night when John's hand found her shoulder and pulled her torso up and over the deck. He'd check in, to which she'd reluctantly admit to getting motion sickness (accented, of course, by her usually assertions that it did not impact her ability to sail).
- At John's prompting, they'd both sit against the railing of the bow, as to keep Rose off her unsteady feet. John, trying to keep her distracted the waves, would as if he could inquire further.
- In a moment of unexpected vulnerability, she'd tell him a sliver of the origin of her seasickness (that's a HC for a later date <3). It wouldn't go far in the conversation, but something in it would establish a level of trust between them, if only a small one at the time.
- Rose would then choke back a sudden queasy surge as the seasickness returns. John would then turn to the stars, recalling the questions Rose had asked him when they'd first met. And he'd point out the first constellation he'd see to Rose. She'd look up, and he'd ask her to list the stars. At first she'd be confused, but eventually she'd name them.
- John would point out another. She'd list of the relevant stars. And they'd repeat the process for a few minutes, at some points switching who was identifying what.
- In naming the stars, Rose's seasickness would wain and exhaustion would set in. She'd get up, thanking Hershel for his company and retreating to her cot below deck. She'd know what he was doing, though she wouldn't say anything.
Ok so maybe I didn't finish daydreaming it but from this encounter it'd become commonplace for them 😌
