for gipsy_danger

[striker_eureka]

timeline divergence. 

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[gipsy_danger]

...It's progress. Gipsy will take it.

When Raleigh stands up and offers his arms to her, Gipsy smiles and allows herself to be pushed up to her feet before moving right into Raleigh's arms. There's something ruggedly warm and familiar about the embrace, and he smells just like she remembers. A faint twinge of leather, some sort of cologne, and the remnants of a glass of whiskey.

He holds her tight, crushing her against his frame and Gipsy reciprocates before wriggling in his grip until he loosens it enough for her to pull his face down and give him a little kiss on the forehead.

"We will talk later, Raleigh. When you have had a chance to absorb all of this."

Her new body, the casual way Hercules touches it, and...well. The relationship itself, actually.

[striker_eureka]

She really is spending too much time with him (or something), because she's picking up his mannerisms left, right, and center. Not that Hercules can bring himself to mind, much. He thinks it's sweet, and it's clear that Raleigh is torn between charmed and his persistent confusion.

Herc nods to the younger man and lifts his glass in a sort of salute as he backs out of the Herc's office, finally leaving them in peace.

"Well."

He looks up at Gipsy, leans back in his chair, and drains the rest of his whiskey. "That went well."

[gipsy_danger]

"It could have gone worse." Gipsy watches him leave, then follows after and shuts the door behind him, reaching to twist the lock then resting her back against the door, hands behind her.

"I'm sorry...I couldn't send him away."

She's truly regretful about it, and seems very upset that they'd been interrupted. She hadn't meant for it to happen, of course -- but...it was Raleigh. If it had been anyone else, Gipsy probably would have just let Herc shoo them away and they could have gone back to doing what it was they were doing.

Not Raleigh.

[striker_eureka]

He immediately reaches out for her, prompting her to come back and slide back into his lap. He wants to cuddle, please.

"It's alright, love. I don't mind, not really."

He was annoyed, sure, but if Striker had suddenly come back to life in a humanoid form, he'd want an explanation pretty much immediately, no matter what else was going on. He's not going to begrudge Raleigh that.

Taking her chin in his hand, he kisses the tip of her nose.

"You're a sweet girl, Gipsy. He'll be glad you're back, once the reality sets in."

[gipsy_danger]

She comes right back to him and settles into his waiting lap, more than happy to cuddle with him. Hopefully, it's not something that he will ever tire of -- Gipsy is incredibly physically affectionate, thanks to him.

"Hm. Like you are?" He certainly seems glad to have her back, if his kisses and touches and possessiveness were any indication.

[striker_eureka]

He lived with the loss of everyone he ever loved for a whole year. To have her back...he's not letting her go again. Not that easily, that's for sure. So he's a little possessive. It will probably dial down soon enough once he gets used to her being back in his life again. Right now it kind of feels like if he takes his eyes off her for too long, she'll disappear.

"Well, hopefully not quite like me," he murmurs, smiling as he leans in to kiss her again.

[gipsy_danger]

"Mmm. No, maybe not."

She smiles affectionately at him, then loops her arms around his neck as she leans in to meet him half way. She adores kissing him; the feel of his lips against hers sends happy shivers down her spine and she holds him tightly to her, smoothing her fingers along his cheeks and neck before resting on his shoulders.

[striker_eureka]

There's something to be said for enthusiasm; kissing Gipsy would be wonderful simply because she is who she is, but kissing Gipsy is even more wonderful because she takes to it so easily, is so eager to try some more, to keep going. It makes it far too easy to nuzzle little kisses along her jawline, leaning in to draw her earlobe between his lips and tease the tender skin with hit tongue just to see how she'll react.

sure did pass out

[gipsy_danger]

She reacts positively; a shudder and a sucked in gasp, eyes fluttering closed as her fingers grip the material of his shirt where her hands rest on his shoulders.

"You have missed me," she breathes, eyelids sliding closed as her head tips back. "My wonderful Hercules..."

yep i put myself to bed there

[striker_eureka]

That was exactly the reaction he was hoping for, and Hercules doesn't even try to hide his smug little smile as he noses at the skin of her neck, his hands spread wide against her body like he wants to touch as much of her as possible.

"I was devastated when you died," he whispers, his voice a little raw. "That was the worst day of my life."

yeeeep

[gipsy_danger]

He's not the only one craving touch and reassurance. Sometimes (in the brief amount of time she has been back online) Gipsy thinks this is too good to be true, that this can't be happening and that it's all going to be snatched away from her at any moment. Who is she to deserves something so wonderful when all the rest of her kind are dead?

"I know." She'd known he would be. "I'm so sorry." Her voice catches a little, and she's shocked by liquid heat running down her cheekbones. "I'm -- leaking." Crying.

[striker_eureka]

He lifts his head from her neck when he hears her breath catch in her throat, and then he's frowning, his hands lifting to cup her face so he can stroke her cheeks with his thumbs to wipe away the tracks of her tears.

"Gipsy, honey, don't cry," he croons, leaning in to kiss her wet cheeks. "It's okay."

Hercules has lived through so much loss and pain in his life, he had resigned himself to living through some more and figured it was just his fate. But now she's back! So it's all okay.

[gipsy_danger]

Gipsy knows there is nothing in the world that she can say or do to make his life 'okay'. He'd lost both her and Chuck that day, and while Gipsy doesn't know what it's like to lose a child, she knows how it feels to lose a sibling (in more ways than one, honestly), It's an ache that never truly goes away.

Crying is a very, very strange feeling for Gipsy and again she has to marvel at her science teams thoroughness. It's a little embarrassing to do it now, and thankfully it doesn't last long. This time, anyway.

"I tried, Hercules." She had. She really had.

[striker_eureka]

"I know, love." He has listened to the whole battle, watched it unfold in little blips on the radar. He knows what she did to save them all.

"And I'm so proud of you. You know that, right? You're incredible and I was proud of you then, even if it hurt to listen to you blow yourself up to save all of us."

[gipsy_danger]

Her hold on him tights and she adjusts in his lap so that she can hold his face in her hands. It all feels a little surreal.

"There was so much I wanted to say."

[striker_eureka]

He lets his hands drop to her waist, squeezing her before sliding them around her and holding her close.

"Well, you can say it now..." He gives her a reassuring little smile. "I've got all the time in the world."

[gipsy_danger]

Saying things outside of the drift is harder than she realized. Her brow furrows and a million thoughts race through her mind; picking a single thing is nearly impossible.

"You will always be my pilot, Hercules Hansen." Her only one.

[striker_eureka]

He kisses her gently, because he's trying to be encouraging and he knows how hard dealing with emotions can be when you're not used to it. Or at least verbalizing them.

"That's quite an honor, Gipsy."

[gipsy_danger]

He tastes of whiskey and salty tears, and Gipsy's thumbs brush affectionately over his cheeks, needing contact in all available places.

From the moment he'd stepped foor inside that cockpit, he'd been doomed. Neither had known it at the time, but their fate had been sealed the second Stacker insisted on sending Hercules to handle Gipsy's test run.

[striker_eureka]

Hercules had probably known before Gipsy, really, because he had experience with this sort of thing (not the giant robot girlfriend thing, but the being so fascinated with a woman that before you know it you realize you're in love thing). It had seemed cruel to admit to anything when it was certain that they wouldn't make it out alive, but now...

Well. Would it make him a coward to admit that he's a little scared?

[gipsy_danger]

Not at all, and if Gipsy were able to see into his mind like she's used to doing, she'd reassure him of that.

But she can't and she doesn't really know what he's thinking, so instead she simply sits here in his arms, her weight a heavy reminder that she's real and solid and no longer a projection or an avatar or a dream of his own conjuring.

Her forehead rests against his and her eyes close; she's savoring this, creating new memories with him instead of relying on the old ones to see her through.

She loves him -- she just doesn't really know how to properly articulate that yet.

She's also a little rattled from having to deal with Raleigh so soon. She hadn't expected that emotional onslaught just yet, though she supposed it was her own fault for not locking the damn door behind her when she'd come in. She'd just...been so eager and excited and terrified that all of her focus had been on the man behind the desk and not the door behind her.

[striker_eureka]

Never let it be said that Hercules isn't intuitive almost to a fault. It's fairly obvious that the mood in the room has shifted dramatically, and he's not going to go around chasing a lost moment. No, he'll just sit here with his arms curled around Gipsy, holding her securely as she rests her forehead against his and tries to sort through her own mind.

Gently, after a minute or two of silence, he finally speaks up.

"Do you want to go back to my rooms?" he asks, rubbing his hand comfortingly over her back. "It's a bit more comfortable in there."

Plus, as is his prerogative now that he's an old man, it's a good place to nap. And Hercules finds that naps tend to make emotionally difficult situations better.

[gipsy_danger]

He is not an old man, Gipsy is going to have this argument with him as soon as he says it out loud.

"Yes." She's aware of what 'comfort' is -- before Tendo had 'released her into the wild' (as he'd so tactfully put it), she'd had a room with a small bed and the basic amenities. It seems much preferable than his office, though Gipsy is content enough in his lap.

Still, she slides off and to her feet, extending her hands out to him to pull (it's more like a jerk, she hasn't quite realized her own strength yet) to his feet.

[striker_eureka]

He calls himself an old man all the time, she should be used to it by now.

She yanks him to his feet and he laughs a little at the abruptness of it all, smoothing his hands over his shirt to try and get himself back into a more presentable state for when they leave the room. The tie is a lost cause, though, and he ends up rolling up his sleeves because he can't be arsed to try and do himself back up that much.

"Here, love," he says, holding out her jacket to her.

[gipsy_danger]

She takes the offered jacket and drapes it over her arm with a little smile.

"Thank you." She's not going to put it back on -- not yet, because she's still a little tingly and warm from earlier, and it'll probably come off again sooner than later.

She reaches for his hand when he's done, fingers lacing with his.

"You look good, Hercules Hansen." Grey or not, he'll always look good to her.