#cele would be signed to the academy by then but is very young so any other waves that happen with him would have to be in the future...
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please give me all your thoughts about the Academy boys in this world, I am thinking about two of them right now :
— Pecco (who definitely knows he’s attracted to Luca, might be starting to realize he has feelings for him as well, maybe they’ve fooled around or maybe Pecco has been too scared to do anything yet) : I can’t decide which way he would take the whole thing and what he would focus on (either the good things and how that might mean he could have what Marc & Vale have in the open one day or the bad things and how the world sure isn’t ready for talented™️ gay motoGP riders so there is no way it would ever be okay for him) which has a direct incident on how he treats his relationship with Luca
— Bezz : 17 yo Bezz who obviously doesn’t hate Marc because this is 2016 but he’s heard Vale complain about him a little through 2015 and heavily through the 2015-2016 break and it might have influenced him a little but I think he would genuinely feels really bad and sorry for Marc (and how he was the most negatively impacted/compromised by those photos) and could tell him so, and also go quietly ‘I don’t know if I could ever do that’ [the whole going public thing] and Marc telling him he doesn’t have to, not if he doesn’t want to
forced coming out au and the academy boys.... my white whale.... no but literally!!! since its set in the 2016 season the academy is full of sensitive little gay teenagers at this point (pecco's like 19 luca is 18ish bezz is 17) and like.
pecco and luca were around for the good times initially but also the entireeeee divorce, so like it IS insane to them to see marc and vale making out in the paddock tbh. buttttt !!! theyve also seen how they were when they were friends, so they have the groundwork. its not ENTIRELY out of left field.. actually bc of this i think luca knows rosquez arent actually together (he sees he perceives he can tell vale is being weird) and he has um. inklings that things are unresolved and tense, while pecco (who is young and newer and doesnt know vale as well) thinks they are 100% together for realsies... which means LUCA is very aware of how this is a PR thing that his brother and marc have been forced into, while PECCO thinks the power of gay love is saving the day... so its a reversal of their usual dynamic a bit... like luca sees the pitfalls/violence of the situation and pecco is coming out of his shell, testing the waters, being cautiously optimistic for the future of gay riders in the paddock... i think once luca tells pecco that its fake it is. AWFUL for them ! pecco thinks its rejection (its nottttt) and all of that careful scaffolding of hope collapses. truly takes them way longer to get together here as a result. pining for MONTHS luca thinks he blew his chance and doesnt ask again...
and for BEZZZZZZ like. truly all i think about. i think without the years of escalating and calcifying rosquez tension to be absorbed by him he gets on with marc like a house on fire i really do. sublimated into the werewolf pack really fast they VIBE they are very SIMILAR they are insanely LOYAL they like their PEOPLE! so in my mind (like you say) bezz has some realizations and instead of repressing it, he decides to talk to marc (a lil less fraught than his HERO valentino i think) and marc nearly cries lol. it is honestly a very healing experience for them both ESPECIALLY marc after the trauma of coming out. like. marc thinks if he cant have his privacy and everything is awful with valentino at least he can do this for a young racer who reminds him of himself... very sweet imo
#cele would be signed to the academy by then but is very young so any other waves that happen with him would have to be in the future...#i think rosquez being mostly stable by that point means the bezz/cele of it all is a lil less fraught homophobia wise#but still VERY fraught in the omg i love my best friend im gonna die sense#asks#callie speaks#motogp#rosquez#forced coming out au
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[shore leave post] facing the past
Harry is seated on the bed of a nicely appointed room. As he hears the door open, he pushes the assorted brochures off of his lap and bounds towards the unsuspecting entrant. "Celes, remember that Thromboian stringed instrument I was telling you about? That I was regretting not getting? They have a similar one here, but it has recursive tuning abilities! I think I need it."
Not expecting him to move so quickly, Tal lets out a half-shriek when he catches her in a welcoming hug, one that soon turns to laughter at his enthusiasm. “Then you should definitely get it.” She squeezes him around the waist. “Though, you’re going to start running out of storage space in your spare closet unless this one compacts itself into a PADD-sized box like the Natimastean harp you showed me last week.”
"I'll figure something out. I know I've got a lot. It’s just that, music is important. Documenting the cultures we come across, finding similarities with our own," Harry says as the palms of his hands graze across her hips, "Finding common ground...it’s all a part of why I signed up for deep space missions."
Tal nods in agreement, ignoring the blush that heats her cheeks at his wandering hands. “The differences can also be quite fascinating to learn.” She momentarily frowns, then it fades. “At least when we find friendly people like the ones here on Laethea.”
"So far, so good. How was your evening?"
“Good. What time Mariah didn’t spend browsing for gifts for Swinn’s upcoming birthday, she spent taking photos of every type of plant that grows in the marketplace area. The Laethean shop owners were all very amused. She did have one man offer her some seeds for one of the flowers when she explained we have a hydroponics bay and like to get samples when we can. It sort of looks like it could be related to the flower that Kes a—noticed by the lagoon. Maybe it’s a domestic version of that flower. Anyway, he’ll have the seeds by morning, he told us.”
"Plants, music, they're two sides of the same coping, aren't they? But Celes," Harry's hand glide up her arms to rest on her shoulders, drawing her gaze to his. "How are you?"
“I’m okay.” Her slight frown returns, while her mind turns over why he would ask such a question. “Do I....look like I’m not?”
"No...you look as beautiful as our last shore leave, in that enchanted forest, but I've also come to know you well enough to know that your still waters run deep. You can talk to me. About anything."
So he did see me flinch at dinner. Damn it. Resisting the urge to silently curse her brother for bringing up the past, she sighs quietly. “I guess I do owe you an explanation about what happened earlier. I wanted to tell you about it anyway but—I wasn’t sure how.” She moves out of his arms, and towards the cloud-looking couch opposite the bed. “We’d better sit down. It’s....kind of a long story.”
Harry curses to himself and wished he'd been off the mark. How much more can she handle? As he sat on the couch, he resists the urge to take her hand in his.
Sitting beside him, Tal instinctively reaches for his hand again, needing the warmth of his touch to ground her. “It’s probably stupid but—it was the name of that person sitting behind us that startled me.” She shrugs but ignores the sting of humiliation that normally would have stopped her from saying more. “And my brother unthinkingly brought up in his last letter to me an encounter with someone I would have rather never thought about again. Eloser Layan. Layan was...well, we were almost engaged.”
He'd be lying if he said that the word hadn't surprised him.; but he'd been engaged himself. Libby had meant a great deal to Harry. But why had Celes never mentioned Layan to him before now? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was opening up to him. All he cared about was that she trusted him; with her heart and her past.
“We all grew up together, though he was Sovan’s friend exclusively when we were children. It wasn’t until our ih’tanu that Layan paid any attention to me. Any ih’tanu is a cause for celebration, of course. But, for twins, it can become a big deal. As we were the only twins in La’tai of our generation, almost everyone showed up for the gathering after the blessing at Temple—from our closest companions like Harti, Olata and our individual friends to total strangers from the far edges of the colony borders. The adults often encourage the guests of honor to speak of their intentions for the future and their adult lives ahead. Sovan just jumped right out and started talking; meanwhile, I couldn’t think of a thing. So when Olata finally asked me and I found myself having to come up with something, I said I was thinking of applying for Starfleet. And the minute I said it aloud, I realized that WAS what I wanted. The chance to learn and do more and perhaps bring something back to contribute to the community.”
She shrugs and shakes her head. “I don’t think anyone but Olata and my brother believed me. Layan certainly didn’t. We were together for nearly three years, and if Starfleet or the Federation was ever mentioned in our conversations, he would change the subject or get annoyed. I was young and stupid enough to assume that, if I could actually get into the Academy, he’d accept it and support me. I turned out to be wrong. Very wrong.”
Harry nods as half a dozen remembered conversations gain greater clarity. Reassurances provided, confidences boosted. How can she believe in herself when someone she cared for so deeply didn't? He remains silent, his thumb rubbing over her knuckle, urging her to continue.
“The Academy scouts received permission from the governing council of Resda to visit the colonies and they arrived in La’tai the day before my seventeenth birthday. I had the chance to speak with the sponsor, Commander Kuszewski, that morning and take the entrance exam. Layan and I snuck out that night to be together.” She blushes but ignores it. “We’d been sneaking around like that for a couple months and I know Harti and Olata knew exactly what we were up to, but all Harti said was to be cautious. I thought they meant getting boosters. Looking back, I think they realized what type of person Layan really was and was trying to warn me. But that night, he gave me the betrothal bracelet. And I went to bed that night happy, because I had a message on my personal comm from Commander Kuszewski saying I’d passed the exam and could sign up for the next year’s classes.”
“Harti, Olata and Sovan were surprised, but happy for me. Layan....was another story.” Her hand unconsciously tightens its grip slightly. “First, he laughed, not believing me. Then, he tried to tell me as his future wife, he wouldn’t allow it. I kept pushing back at him, and that’s when he lost his temper. He has always believed that the Federation’s lack of action meant they had just as much Bajoran blood on their hands as Cardassia did.” Her voice shakes at the memory. “He even accused me of betraying him, the memory of my parents, and my people. That’s when I slapped him and tried to walk away. He in turn grabbed me by the hair and threw me on the ground. For a minute, I feared his intent was rape but all he did was rip the bracelet off my arm, spit on me and storm out. Sovan found me an hour later like that.” Her vision blurs and she swipes at her eyes with her free hand. “He had it out with Layan the next evening and their friendship was over. He didn’t let me wallow either and even asked the commander if there was a way I could get in to an earlier class so I could get away from Layan. Luckily, there was a summer session and she was able to get me into it. I was in San Francisco a month later.”
“I haven’t even had a real relationship since then. There wasn’t anyone I felt I could trust that much....until you.” Her eyes lifted to his.
It was a lot for Harry to take in. But looking in her eyes, all he knew what how much he needed Celes in his life. He pulls her small frame into his arms, and rested her head on his chest. He tries to keep his breathing low and even and strong even as his blood boils at the thought of anyone treating her so callously and cruelly.
Feeling the tension he was obviously trying to hold back, Tal tries to control her own breathing despite the few tears that escape. Blinking them away, she rubs a hand along his arm. “Say what you need to, Harry. Don’t keep it in.”
"If I ever meet him, I'll kill him." Feeling Celes startle with surprise, Harry bends down to meet her mouth with a sweet kiss. "That is, of course, unless you would prefer to do it yourself." Another kiss seals the lighter moment, and its lingering touch restores solemnity. "Celes, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. No one deserves that treatment, especially from someone they love. But, your past has made you stronger than you realize. You don't see it, but I do, and so does Seven, and Billy, and Captain Janeway. I love you, Celes, not just the person you want the world to see, but the person that I am so honored you let me meet."
Harry's words stun Tal. The declarations of love, she accepts and expects, but the idea that she possesses some great inner strength is a concept that's foreign to her. She swallows back the automatic denial and instead hugs him tightly. "Thank you," she whispers after several moments of silence. It seems inadequate to say just that but it's all she can think of.
His arms wrapped around her, Harry breathes her in. For so long, he was convinced he'd lost his chance, and now he regrets even more that he had let her go - that he let her think that maybe he didn't care - even if they had found their way back to each other. He understood so much more now. Releasing her from his arms, he lifts her chin to look in her eyes. "Celes, there is a lot in life we have zero control over. Like what astronomical anomaly will throw us off course, or what Neelix decides to serve for lunch. But I can tell you point blank, here and now, I will never do that to you. I can also tell you," Harry was suddenly aware that dinner was several hours in the past, "that I'm starving." Harry thumbs away a stray tear from Celes' face and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Dipping his lips to hers, he whispers, "are you hungry too?"
Tal realizes that the tension she’d been carrying in her shoulders since she’d received her letter from home has suddenly vanished. Maybe forcing herself to face that particular boryhas of her past had been what she needed. Leaning forward that last inch, she presses her lips to his in a quick, tender kiss, then leaned her forehead against his. “I know you never would be so cruel. And as to your question....” Sneaking another quick kiss, she adds, “I wouldn’t say no to a second dessert before bed.”
"Tell you what, I'll load the file of local music I picked up and you grab some of that fruit over there." Harry stood and pulled Celes into his arms. With an easy spin, they dance across the room.
She laughs as he spins her round several times and finally has to beg him to stop when she grows dizzy. The next two hours is spent poring together over the pile of brochures while the soothing sounds of Laethean woodwinds provides a backdrop. Eventually the soft music begins to make Tal drowsy, but she does her best not to show it for as long as possible.
He could see her eyelids getting heavy. When her head begins to droop, Harry knows what he has to do. Scooping her off the low couch, Celes' weary head came to rest on his shoulder. He places her gently on the bed and starts to go through the motions of removing her shoes and making her comfortable. When he looks back up at her, he sees her sleepy smile and can't resist crawling up her form and peppering kisses on her arm, shoulder, collarbone, and ear. "We should rest," Harry whispers.
“’kay,” Tal mumbles, lifting an arm in a clumsy gesture to tug at his sleeve, then patting beside her. “But only ‘f you do too....”
Kicking off his boots, Harry lifts his legs onto the bed and makes himself cozy against Celes' side. Winding his arm around her waist, he finds himself suddenly exhausted. "Nothing on this planet could tear me away."
#Voyager RP#shore leave#different perspectives#talking it out#Tal faces ghosts of the past#and hopefully drives them away for good
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