Work Text:
“Jonny! Jonny!”
Lily was bounding over to where Jonny was sat, slightly apart from the group taking in the rare peace of the evening. They’d landed on an unpopulated planet, following the excitement of Lily’s first visit to a planet they’d taken the opportunity the next time another such planet presented itself.
It was a verdant world, clean and green and disgustingly wholesome.
Much as the others made the customary grumble a lack of war or bars or crime they’d all embraced the day willingly, and it had been quite a day.
Gloriously hot, the river clear but slow flowing enough that Lily could splash around happily and practice her swimming with only one mech to hand to keep an eye (several of them did anyway) Tim and Jonny descending into another splash battle that quickly roped Marius and Lily in, the latter riding the former’s shoulders.
The Toy Soldier joined in with the river exploits shedding its uniform to reveal a smart, striped swimming costume that would not have looked out of place on British beaches from Tim’s timeline and waded happily into the water, offering its services as a floatation device to help Lily continue her swimming lessons.
Ashes had been persuaded to paddle in the shallows on the understanding that if a single drop of water touched from the others (except Lily) they would murder without restraint, trouser legs rolled up and cigarette firmly between their lips. Ivy had climbed a tree to enjoy her reading safe from her crewmates. Raphaella also paddled for a while before she got down to work collecting new samples and showed Lily some less lethal natural science experiments in between the child’s mission to find as many shiny rocks and pretty flowers as she could and gift them to everyone.
She saved a special pile for Aurora to take on board later.
Brian sat under the shade of Ivy’s tree playing his banjo. Nastya eventually emerged from Aurora, encouraged by her love to share the day with rest of the crew, violin in hand and joined him, shedding her heavy coat after a while, allowing the heat of the day to soak into her.
Like he said.
Disgustingly wholesome.
The group members who’d not been in the river were even wearing wonkily-constructed flower crowns for fuck’s sake.
Jonny absolutely wasn’t sat smoking slightly apart from everyone, appreciating his crew as the sun set and some of the flying bugs started to glow, the dysfunctional family that they’d been for a long time but only recently recognised. Ashes was setting up the campfire, refusing any help because they knew exactly how they wanted this fire to burn and woebetied anyone who messed with their plans whilst TS set up the second round of food prepared by Lily and Brian as Marius brought the cuts of meat he’d pulled out of the cold store ready to be barbecued by the quartermaster.
The rest were staying well out of Ashes way whilst they set up determined to enjoy the excuse to laze in relative calm for once, Tim was jamming with Brian and Nastya, Ivy was sat next to Raphaella, wrapped in her wing as she read quietly to the science officer.
Lily reached Jonny beaming with excitement, “Jonny! It’s getting dark!”
Jonny surveyed the beaming child, her favourite mineral mineral pattern top (expertly stolen for her by Ashes) grubby and grass-stained and having obviously been playing in natural sunlight. Just how a child should look in his opinion, the plaits Tim and Ashes tag teamed on were slowly working loose, testament to proper playing. Jonny covered his pride at her appearance, a little taller and stronger and a hell of a lot happier than she was when they accidentally rescued, there was some meat on her bones now and her smile was blinding. He covered it with a mock-gruff “I might have noticed.”
Lily continued unperturbed at Jonny’s wry comment, knowing that the way his lips curled upwards meant he was teasing her, “Do you know what that means?”
“Ashes better get on with the campfire?”
He felt, rather than saw, the bird flipped at him from the quartermaster.
“No!” Grinned Lily, too excited to be put out him being deliberately obtuse, “The stars are coming out!”
“Oh?” Jonny was well aware of the imminently approaching nightfall, dusk apparently wasn’t a thing on this planet.
“Look!” Lily immediately scrambled up onto his lap, first mate automatically helping her settle on him.
Jonny refused to interrogate when this became so normal.
Lily’s eyes were shining in the ‘I’ve-learned-something-new-and-I-am-desperately-excited-to-share-this-with-you’ way he’d also got far too used to witnessing.
She started pointing out particularly bright ones, one arm wrapped affectionately around his neck to anchor herself to him as she enthusiastically explaining what each one was, obviously reciting what Brian had taught her from the pilot’s seat, which, fair play to her, she’d managed to recognise from planetside. Jonny schooled his face into looking interested and fascinated by what she was saying, despite knowing for a fact that he’d murdered at least one person on every single planet that orbited every single star she pointed out and knew the stars names in at least eight languages.
It was no fun to take this excitement away from her, she was still so painfully, terrifyingly young and he was not going to be the one to piss on her interests. It was oddly nice to view the universe through fresh eyes.
As she came to the end of her spiel Lily sighed and leaned against him, contented and safe listening to his rhythmical ticking, beginning to fiddle with one of his belts before continuing, “I can’t wait to visit them all.”
And wasn’t that a thought? Having a plan, a real, ‘let’s go to all these places because now time actually matters and all of us want something in common for once’ plan.
It was surprisingly pleasing.
Jonny felt the weight of the small child settle against him, the newest addition to the crew that were all, in this moment at least, equally contented.
Not for the first time he listened to a very human heartbeat settle in rhythm with his and hoped, secretly, there would be many more nights like this to come.