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[sketchycharacter]

[The face that appears on the MID is familiar, despite the age loss. Nathan Drake is recognizably himself. But there are fewer lines on his face, no touch of gray in his hair, and he's skinnier, without twelve years of built-up muscle.

He's also got an obvious black eye and a set of plain prisonclothes that are pretty threadbare. Those are new.]

Okay, so, space. That's a thing. Which you've all probably figured out by now, since you're here and all.

[He lifts a hand in greeting.]

I'm Nate. And I don't want to complain, because I got lifted out of a shitty place and I'm sure someone thought they were doing me a favor, but I'm going to complain anyway, because I didn't actually need it. I wanted to be there. And if someone had to spacenap me, the least they could've done is take my brother too. Sam's gonna be pissed he missed this.

[On the plus side, his prison garb at least smells better now. Thanks, Moira laundering facilities.]

So is there a complaints department? Or some way I can get a ride back to Panama? Probably not that lucky, huh.

Comments

[tearsinajar]

You're young, Nate.

[ She waves it off— waves him off— tries to make it so it's not a big deal. It kind of is, and it does matter to her, he's right. ]

You have a while to go yet before anything serious happens.

[sketchycharacter]

Plenty of serious things have happened to me.

[Since he was a kid, even. He's a little annoyed now—what's her deal?]

Come on. Stop jerking me around. You wanted to say something, so say it.

[tearsinajar]

You think it's bad now...

[ She trails off on a snort.

Well then, now she can sense the frustration in his tone. Usually she won't dance anything things, but when it comes to something as sensitive as this...

Elena pushes out a soft breath and scratches at her jaw, left hand up and out in the open. It drops to her side. ]

I'm just trying to figure out how to say it. I mean— look at you—

[ How does she say it? ]

I haven't seen you looking so baby-faced in years. Fine. You want me to say it?

We get hitched. We're married, or your future self is. Far future.

[sketchycharacter]

[Well that's unnecessary. Nate is twenty-two, not a child, and he bristles, a little offended. What, what he need to grow a beard to look older? Because that seems like a pain in the ass.

He's about to open his mouth and object when she drops the proverbial bomb and that shuts him right up. For a few seconds. What?]

Bullshit.

[But he sounds uncertain, doubtful.]

You're saying you're my wife?

[tearsinajar]

Future wife— or now, here. I don't know. How do you explain something like this?

[ Elena holds up her left hand for him to see, as clear as day. ]

I know it's hard to believe. But just...bear with me here.

[sketchycharacter]

[He sees the ring, but that doesn't convince him. Anyone can have a ring. It's not like it's engraved with his name on it—well, it might be. He can't tell.]

Prove it, then. I mean, if you married me, you must know me pretty well. Unless it was a shotgun thing.

[It's an off-the-cuff joke but geez, he hopes it wasn't.]

[tearsinajar]

[ She's learned a lot, lately especially. Whatever she knows now could work, what with how personal it had been.

There's a small pause as she watches him. When she speaks up, her voice is quiet. ]

Your last name really isn't Drake, for starters. And your mother—

[sketchycharacter]

[He startles at the (true) assessment of his name, and his face goes pale as she continues.]

What about my mother?

[His lips feel numb even as he speaks.]

[tearsinajar]

Your mother's name was Cassandra Morgan...

[ Her voice is softer now; she knows how delicate of a subject this is for him, doesn't matter how old or young he is. ]

[sketchycharacter]

[He sucks in a sharp breath.]

I never told anyone about her.

[tearsinajar]

I know.

[ Elena goes quiet and looks down at her hands, thumb brushing over her wedding ring. This would be a lot for anyone to take in, but she still wonders where her husband is.

After a moment of silence to let him digest that, she lifts her head. ]

[sketchycharacter]

[He's quiet, looking at her harder. He believes her now—how could he not?—but it's still intensely weird to look at a stranger and know that this is the person he'll choose to spend his life with.

Nate wonders vaguely if he actually got Sam to dress up for the wedding.]

That's—wow. [Something occurs to him.] Do we have kids?

[tearsinajar]

At my point in time, no.

[ Her smile is soft, a tiny bit shy and amused. If he has questions, she'll answer what she can. ]

We've...talked about it, on and off. And hey, if there's anything else you want to know, ask. I know you're not one to be shy.

Though...you should be sure first on what you want to know...

[sketchycharacter]

[That's a relief. Future wife is one thing; future kids is a whole extra level of responsibility, whether they're here or not. If he's going to have a son or daughter one day, he wants to find out as it happens.]

I'm not sure what I want to know.

[He laughs, a little disbelievingly.]

Sorry, it's just a lot to absorb. Last thing I knew, my brother and I were in prison chasing after Henry Avery, and the next thing, I'm married.

[tearsinajar]

It's definitely a lot to take in, you're right. [ Then Elena's laughing with him, hands tucking in the front pockets. ] That's quite the jump, even I wouldn't know what to do with that.

[ It's quite the accomplishment, keeping any change from her expression and tone when be talks about his brother. That's not something she's going to touch, at all, as heartbreaking as it's going to be for him when the event comes into play, if this young version of her husband does go back. ]

[sketchycharacter]

I'm glad you're not mad or anything.

[Not that it would be his fault, but don't wives have expectations?]

This is going to sound stupid, but—why me? I don't exactly live a settled-down life.

[And he can't really picture that changing in eight years.]

[tearsinajar]

I was more worried than anything else. We were going to grab something to eat and then you kind of never came back to the room. But...here you are.

[ A gesture to his young, handsome self. Ah, this question. It draws out a chuckle. ]

You don't, you're right, but then again you still kind of don't. Or, well, we talked about it, figured everything out.

[ Her expression settles into something a little more serious and yet encouraging. ]

We've been through a lot of ups and downs, Nate, but we're still going strong. We make it work because we've always been good as a team, as silly sounding as that might be to you right now.

This is going to sound stupid, but...I ask myself that question about myself a lot, and I know you can't answer it. I don't expect you to.

[sketchycharacter]

[So he's, what, replaced his older self? Swapped places? Maybe Older Nate is in Panama right now. Huh.]

Well...I did ask.

[It's not great that she can't answer, but then she doesn't sound too troubled by it. Maybe it's okay as long as the have more ups than downs.]

I feel like I should ask you to lunch or something now. I mean, maybe that's dumb since I apparently already asked you to marry me. But that's all a mystery from my end.

[tearsinajar]

There's nothing wrong with a little mystery. Solving puzzles have always been your thing.

Although... [ A slow smile grows; she has no problem warming up to him (eating some lunch, showing him around the ship, talking), he's still Nate. Eight years difference does give a lot of room for growth but he's still Nate. To her. ] I won't say no to some lunch.

You did leave me hanging...

[sketchycharacter]

[That they have. She really does know him.]

Then let's get lunch. It'd be rude to continually stand up the future wife I didn't know I had until now.

You're going to have to tell me where to go, though. I get pretty lost around the ship.

[tearsinajar]

I bet it's one of the biggest surprises of your life. One of many.

[ Elena looks up at the tree and then off to where the exit is. ]

I don't mind showing you around. But I do have to warn you, the food here is a little limited now.

[sketchycharacter]

So far, yeah.

[That sounds...serious. Huh.]

Damn, and here I was hoping to pig out. Did something happen? Weevils get into the kitchens?

[tearsinajar]

Something like that. Real nasty weevils. The new captain called for rationing. Not just of the food but also the hot water.

[ Knowing he's waiting for her to move she begins heading for one of the exits, arms crossed while she leads, glancing at him. ]

The last part is the worst, in my opinion.

[sketchycharacter]

[That gets a pulled face. He can deal with bad or less food, but you do not mess with the showers.]

Oh no, that's just wrong. I hate cold showers. [Unless they're for a specific boner-killing purpose.]

Please tell me we won't have to gnaw on stale bread, at least.

[tearsinajar]

Cold showers are the worst. You have no idea how difficult that makes it for the mornings...

[ TRAILING OFF...

They can barely jump into a quick shower together in the mornings now with this stupid restriction, and morning showers with her husband were always a favorite past time. Lazy shower morning sex, the best. ]

Uh. The bread? No, everything is fresh, or as fresh as it can be up here in space. The meals are decently good.