Luna Braddock - Glimpse & James Kingston - Caduceus
It had been some time since Luna had found James pouring over notes he was working on and muttering to himself about wiring and how to rig something up for this place. It was then that she noticed James muttered to himself a lot. She had taken his notes from him, reviewed them and made a couple changes that she thought may work better and then it was the two of them working closely and bouncing off ideas in order to rig up power, heat and water for the Underground.
Luna loved working with her hands like this, it had always steadied and calmed her. Machines were fixable. A missing wire a busted part, once you found the problem it was easy to fix. People, people were not something fixable. You had to read them, be sensitive, be compassionate and understanding. That wasn't something Luna could do easily but with James, she seemed to be able to relax a bit more around him. It helped that they shared a common interest and the whole, 'you saved my life' thing.
Luna was taking a break from getting a wiring harness assembled so they could start working on lighting. She sipped on her water and looked over at James.
"So how did you get into this work? Who were you before the Underground?" Luna asked James.
When Glimpse had come over and offered help, or injected herself into it really, he was more than happy to have another pair of hands on the project. There was a seemingly endless number of tasks to complete to bring their new home up to standard and every pair of hands helped. Not to say he didn’t enjoy it. James loved having things to do with his hands. Feeling useful made him happy and being able to practice the vocation he was going for anyways prior to all of this made him doubly so. It was fun working with someone who had a similar skill set. Made it feel a little less survival and a bit more professional and James appreciated that more than he could say.
“I have a dual degree in mechanical and electrical engineering. My family owns a few businesses across the fields and I always liked working with my hands so it just made sense. My uncle is an electrician and he works with a few construction contractors. I was apprenticing with him before I got wrapped up with sunshine and Max.” James replied, avoiding the subject of his dad. He fiddled with the tools they had for a second before continuing.
“I was going to open my own mechanic shop but clearly life had other plans. How about you? What were your plans for life?” "What you see honestly. I've always worked with my family, this is one of my first operations outside of the family and I'm grateful for the challenge I guess you could say. I was always in the lab with my father, watching people from all sorts of fields working hard but I had an affinity for mechanics and so got my schooling for Mechanical engineering and when we were weren't out fighting, I was in the lab fixing and building." Luna sipped on her water and looked around at the different tools, wires and generators they were responsible for keeping running. Hopefully they would be able to stay here for awhile, it would be a shame to need to leave after getting everything in place.
Surprise hit him as he grabbed his own water, taking a long gulp with a satisfied sigh.
“I’m surprised you left a lab for this. I don’t mean any disrespect for our little space but it’s not a high end lab. Hell, I’d kill for my dad’s garage right now.” James commented as he looked around pointedly.
“So all you wanted to do here was keep them up and running? Seems like a downgrade for someone with your background.” Luna laughed and nodded.
"A million euro lab is one hell of a place don't get me wrong but, I wanted something for myself. I've always been in my father's footsteps and trust me, I look up to him and he's my dad after all but, I wanted something outside of him and my famous family. Sure there aren't all the bells and whistles here but that challenge is half the fun," she said and nudged him.
"Look at what we created here. I know many people in my father's labs who wouldn't be willing to get their hands this dirty." James smiled when she nudged him, nudging her back.
“You’re not wrong. These aren’t conditions anyone sane would have an interest in maintaining.” James shook his head with a laugh.
“I will say, it is nice to have a project that I have to work on without anyone hovering over and directing me. The challenge is refreshing and working with someone rather than under someone is a breath of fresh air.” James chewed his lip and took a moment to just watch her. He knew it was probably a little weird but when the anxiety kept him up at night, he’d do a quick head count in the mornings and Luna was always the first one on his list. He had hoped it’d have died down but sometimes someone would shout or he’d hear something heavy hit the ground and it was like he was back there all over again with that aching stillness in his chest and his hands covered in her blood. He shook his head to clear the images and turned back to look over their little set up.
"Let's hope this one doesn't get blown apart by the Hellfire Club again." James sighed. It was a lot of work for some laser blasting jerk to take it all apart. He glanced at her again.
"Can I ask you something and if it's too heavy a subject then we can move on from it but how do you cope with everything we've been through? I can't stop thinking about all the people I've seen hurt and what could have happened if things were even worse. I mean, Casper after the Morlocks was an inch away from death, Jack was in rough shape, all the kids after Vulcan nearly brought a building down on them, Sapphire and Havok nearly bleed out, and your heart literally stopped. I just can't stop thinking about it all and sometimes it's just so much, you know?" Luna genuinely smiled and nodded. It had been nice having someone to work with and she had learned a few valuable things from James, not only in mechanics but with people as well. She watched him watching her, seeing something shift but let him try and work it out. Luna generally tried to stay out of prying too much. She didn't want people thinking she was reading their minds constantly or something. She wasn't completely surprised by his question. It was a question they all had at some point and time. Luna picked up one of their tools and weighed it in her hands.
"Death has followed me my entire life. My first power developed after nearly drowning. I reached out to my father telepathically and he managed to save me. My family, we face death every day. I would watch them go and not know if they would be back to tuck me in at night or have breakfast with me in the morning but they always pushed me to not stop living my life so I didn't. The worry is always there, the fear of losing them but I don't stop living because I was raised not to." She looked back at James and rested a hand on his knee.
"To be honest James, I fix things, things I know I can fix and make new, that's how I deal. When I was stabbed... I still see it, I still feel it. Most nights I wake up sweating from reliving it. For you though, you literally had my life in your hands. You've saved so many of us already. I don't know how you keep doing it but you still keep living, keep saving. That's all we can do. Get up and do the next right thing." James listened intently as Luna spoke, nodding where appropriate. He smiled weakly at the comforting gesture and he took a few minutes before he spoke again.
“I know that it makes sense but… I’m still scared shitless. You do what you can and you don’t what you can’t and you make your peace with it but I know what happens when you can do something but you aren’t there to do it.” Like when he was fucking around in D.C. and his entie life was burning down in Oregon.
“And I’m terrified. The aftermath of that was awful. I shut down for almost four years, Luna. I settled my family issues, I got two degrees that take four years each, I moved almost as far away from everything I came from, and restarted before I felt even a semblance of normal again. I mean, where do I go from here? Where could I possibly go that the guilt and the horror couldn’t follow me?” James sighed and leaned a little on her. He felt a little better saying all that but even so, he definitely needed to see if Casper was okay with a cuddle night. It was going to be another bad sleeping night, he could already feel it.
“Well, that was depressing. Thanks for being here for me though and I’ll keep your advice in mind. It’s just been eating at me for a while but I’m sure everything will turn out fine. We’ve made it through so far.” James said decisively.
“And you’re right. All we can do is keep moving forward and contribute what we can so that’s what we’ll do and hopefully it won’t all crumble down around us.” James took another gulp of his water and smiled at Luna.
“Anything on your mind? God knows I spilled my guts to you without warning.” Luna watched James with sympathy, she had become close with him in these last few weeks and she didn't like seeing him this way but was at the very least glad he was getting it out.
"Maybe returning to Oregon might help settle some of that guilt...Talking to them. You wouldn't have to go alone. I would go with you, Casper too I'm sure. There will always be people to save but sometimes we need to save ourselves first." Luna rested her head on his when she leaned against him.
He moved to drink some more water and Luna laughed when he asked if she had anything to get off of her chest.
"Now that is a loaded question," she told him.
"It's nothing, pressing. I just want to make something of myself that isn't surrounded by the reputation of my father. Pride is a horrible companion." “I don’t think wanting to make a name for yourself is a terrible thing.” James said, happy to side step the going back to Oregon issue. There wasn’t anything to go back to. He hadn’t been speaking figuratively when he said his life was burning down back then and he was more than satisfied to keep that in the past. No need to open old wounds.
“I mean, you’re trying to do that while you’re here, chasing rats out of moldy walls and shitty electrical jobs, not bending people to your will or kidnapping them. Plus you’ve done a good job for as long as I’ve been around so a little pride is warranted, as much as my opinion matters on that anyway.” Luna looked over at James and smiled at him before she hugged him.
"Thank you James, for everything. For saving me of course but for being a friend as well. I don't have many of those." She looked back at the work they still had.
"Well, shall we get back at it?" James hugged her back.
"Of course. I'm always here if you need someone." He said, turning back to their project. He looked at it, looked at the lighting, and sighed.
"Why did there have to be rats?
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