[ Hell of an opener. Lorca takes a long, measured breath. There's plenty here and now to stoke his displeasure. Tyler's misuse of the chance Lorca gave him will not be granted a seat at the table. From the brittle quality her expression takes on, it would be premature and uninformed.
He braces at the pivot to Klingons. Tyler's trauma rearing its head, he assumes wrongly. The turn she takes pleats his brow; the terminus threatens to fascinate and nonplus him. The mechanics of it have the potential to impress. But it's the emotion that she's trying to communicate. He feels it, intrinsically.
Righteousness, unadorned. Far from the light of Federation idealism.
[ Michael shuts her eyes tightly. The movement flushes out a single tear, trailing quickly down her cheek. She would have vastly preferred not to revisit this memory, but it had become unavoidable. He can't grasp her reticence without proper context.
She wipes her tears away and opens her eyes again. ]
He tried to kill me. It was — [ The moment flashes aggressively before her eyes. She feels the hand around her neck as if it never left. Weeks ago, she forgave Lorca immediately when they woke together without the benefit of memory. ] — it left a mark. When we returned to my universe, the Klingon was excised. But I couldn't get past it.
[ She makes eye contact here, imploring Lorca to understand what she means. ] I never gave him a second chance.
[ A man with two faces. Lorca nods, laboring to put himself aside. He's spent a lifetime doing it, sublimating his pride to protect his inalienable self: His ambition. As dense as a black hole, as vast as galaxies and as intangible as the space between. He's only ever seen it reflected back at him in the gleam of Emperor's gilt, and in the teardrop on Michael's cheek.
He's known it all along. It occurs to him suddenly what it really means. ]
You're afraid.
[ Bemusement clings to the pinch of his nose. There's an undertone of disbelief to his voice, a question posed without a question mark. It's not her he's asking. ]
[ Michael Burnham has selectively chosen which lessons to keep from the culture, but this one she took directly to heart: Vulcans don't make the same mistake twice. Pair that with one thing undeniable of Gabriel Lorca: he has never met an opportunity he did not take to his advantage. Two truths, together incompatible, and yet here they are.
If she is afraid, it is only because he holds the unique power to make her afraid. Because she let him take that power for himself. Because she gave it away to him.
It's something she couldn't bring herself to do even for Ash, whom she still loved despite herself. The disbelief in Lorca's voice rings in her ears. He has only understood a fraction of her meaning. If she felt less for him, there would be less to fear. ]
You make it sound trivial. [ Her tone would be best accompanied by an eye roll, but she can't bring herself to make light of her own feelings, even cynically. ]
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no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 02:24 am (UTC)He braces at the pivot to Klingons. Tyler's trauma rearing its head, he assumes wrongly. The turn she takes pleats his brow; the terminus threatens to fascinate and nonplus him. The mechanics of it have the potential to impress. But it's the emotion that she's trying to communicate. He feels it, intrinsically.
Righteousness, unadorned. Far from the light of Federation idealism.
He used her.
He used them both. ]
And when the Klingon woke up?
cw choking
Date: 2026-02-16 05:50 am (UTC)She wipes her tears away and opens her eyes again. ]
He tried to kill me. It was — [ The moment flashes aggressively before her eyes. She feels the hand around her neck as if it never left. Weeks ago, she forgave Lorca immediately when they woke together without the benefit of memory. ] — it left a mark. When we returned to my universe, the Klingon was excised. But I couldn't get past it.
[ She makes eye contact here, imploring Lorca to understand what she means. ] I never gave him a second chance.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 06:29 am (UTC)He's known it all along. It occurs to him suddenly what it really means. ]
You're afraid.
[ Bemusement clings to the pinch of his nose. There's an undertone of disbelief to his voice, a question posed without a question mark. It's not her he's asking. ]
no subject
Date: 2026-02-16 08:47 pm (UTC)If she is afraid, it is only because he holds the unique power to make her afraid. Because she let him take that power for himself. Because she gave it away to him.
It's something she couldn't bring herself to do even for Ash, whom she still loved despite herself. The disbelief in Lorca's voice rings in her ears. He has only understood a fraction of her meaning. If she felt less for him, there would be less to fear. ]
You make it sound trivial. [ Her tone would be best accompanied by an eye roll, but she can't bring herself to make light of her own feelings, even cynically. ]