Too Close For Comfort

Posted on Sat Mar 1st, 2025 @ 10:32pm by Warrant Officer Iryna Voznyuk & Staff Sergeant Nathanial "Nate" Cusack

Mission: Remnant
Location: Planetside
Timeline: Day 409
2791 words - 5.6 OF Standard Post Measure

As far as trees went, they weren't as alien as he'd expected.

It wasn't much of a surprise that Nate Cusack was no stranger to woodlands. Extensive military training tended to involve a range of terrain-types, after all, and insurgents had a habit of using natural obstacles to conceal their whereabouts. It went beyond that though, back to a childhood spent craving a father's approval and the countless camping trips that had only descended into yet another way to pit brother against brother. The wilderness had always been where Nate had held his own, a proficient hunter with a natural talent that had one day lead to long-range specialisation, but also a keen fisherman and forager when circumstances permitted. Self-sufficiency was something Cusack Sr. lauded above all else and a much younger Nate had felt more at ease out in the middle of no where, where his brother was reduced to attempting spiteful pranks simply to restore the pecking order. It was something he had in common with Hughes, he had recently found out, though there had never been much of a chance to try his hand at crafting and building the way the doctor spoke of his own youth back home. The past year hadn't provided a lot of opportunities for roughing it in the outdoors, unless you counted freezing your bollocks off on top of a block of ice. Nate didn't.

He had been prepared for disappointment again, partially convinced that they'd arrive to find the planet riddled with Seuss-esque pom-pom trees and giant mushrooms the colour of cotton candy. It was the moderation of hope, of course, the taming of expectation because it was fortune enough to be able to walk around in breathable atmosphere again. So far, his low esteem hadn't produced much evidence, however, and whilst the foliage was undeniably different to any species Earth had to offer, it was still green; (except for the places where it was blue and red and yellow but even that was so reminiscent of fall that the illusion was a comfort.) As far as ecosystems went, there seemed to be predictable patterns, the same reliance on basic resources, and the genuine reassurance that you could be a lifetime away from anything familiar and yet the universe still obeyed the same rules. It wasn't Earth, but it was like Earth.

Nate hadn't decided how he felt about that.

And so, as was usually the case when Nate Cusack had something to brood about, he had separated himself from the group slowly gathering around the campfire and had taken sentry, mostly to provide permissible purpose to his desire to be alone. His weapon was stowed, because there wasn't actually any indication of nocturnal threats at this point, and he stood with arms folded, staring into the trees through narrowed eyes. If anything, a predatorial attack would be reason enough to justify his disgruntled mistrust. He had, after all, had about a gutful of his surroundings trying to lure him into a false sense of security before trying to turn him into lunch.

Iryna had spent an hour watching him before she finally decided to go venture and find him. She was not worried about him as she knew he could more than handle himself but they had not had a moment together all week with having different shift patterns and today Iryna had spent the day following the captain around. She leaned against a tree and crossed her arms watching as some of the leaves fell on her. She had stowed her jacket in her tent but still had her stun pistol and baton on her waist. “Credit for your thought?” She wondered.

"Is that your best offer?"

Despite his visible mood, there was a promising attempt at humour in Cusack's tone, though it took a moment for him to redirect his gaze. When he did, it was to squint through the vaguest hint of a smirk.

"Been cultivating it all day, after all, and it's the last one on the shelf..."

Well at least his humour is intact, she decided to herself. Iryna smiled and pushed off the tree sending more leaves down on her as she did which made her frown and look up and roll her eyes. “It is my only offer for now.” She assured quietly as she almost sauntered over to him and pressed a kiss to his chin. “Hello.” She greeted.

In keeping with expectations, Nate stood as he had been, accepting the kiss without making any move to retaliate. What had once passed as arrogance now simply resembled familiar playfulness, however, and the mutual understanding that neither of them were excessively fond of elongated public displays of overt affection. Smothering Iryna in full view of the crew, particularly Leroux, was a sure-fire way to spend the rest of the night with an ice pack stuffed down his jocks. He smirked properly at the very least and lifted his eyebrows. "I guess six hours late's better than nothing."

“Oh are you sulking because I said nothing other than a hello in passing as I kept our Commanding Officer from doing anything stupid,” Iryna smirked up at him slightly. “Not my fault you were asleep this morning when I got up or asleep when I came in last night but hello.” She greeted him with another kiss on his chin before she stepped back to check him over. He seemed to be all in one piece sulking by himself but alive.

A scoff of laughter seemed unconvinced. "If there's one thing I was not, it was asleep. Not for want of trying," Nate added, turning his head just enough to squint back towards camp. "Someone sleeps like they're chain-sawing redwoods. Even if there were any nocturnal predators about, I'm pretty sure they heard that racket and gave us a wide berth." Reaching up, he rubbed the end of his nose with the back of his hand and added, "My money's on the Vulcan."

"Cannot say I heard it but I was pretty beat yesterday," Her tent had felt lonely compared to her usual sleeping arrangement but there they were. She was going to argue that she was fully aware of how the Vulcan slept thanks to the future vessel and sleeping there whilst the science teams searched but that would be giving far more information that she needed too. "Are you sulking?" She wondered bringing the conversation back to that trying to work out if he was okay or not.

As with so many things in life, the current situation presented a dual-edged sword. On the one hand, nothing drove a wedge between two people trying to capitalise on a romantic getaway to an exotic locale like one of them being charged with the responsibility of ensuring leadership didn't fall into a pit. Alternatively, however, the enforced separation at least kept Nate clear of Iryna's uncanny ability to call him on his bullshit. The inevitability of her accuracy didn't mean he couldn't go down without a fight though.

"Nothing to sulk about." He swiped a hand across his nose as the fading light continued to reveal the emergence of several species of insects far too curious for comfort. "Who doesn't want to start the day with bug bites the size of their fist all over their ass?"

Iryna frowned a little poor as she watched him. “I have a lot questions Nate.” Iryna soothed and set her weapon down safety against a tree and shifted to stand in front of him. Something was off with him but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what was the main issue. “One why are you sleeping with your ass out? Have you seen medical? And why are you out here?” She wondered slowly touching her forearms.

The insistence finally provoked a frown. "Maybe the question ought to be, why aren't you?" The defensiveness in Nate's tone was hardly a new thing, though it lacked some of the hostility of their earlier interactions. Stubbornness was universal, however, and it was exactly like Cusack to deflect. "Since when has watching the perimeter been out of fashion?" With a nod, he gestured towards the camplight and the sound of conversation. "Anyone would think they're back home in their backyard, I figured someone better make sure we're not overly reliant on ground sensors we don't even know work anymore."

Iryna narrowed her eyes as the defensiveness that came out of him suddenly. “Well I know they work as Ensign Mourne activated them when she came back.” Iryna said leaning up to touch his cheek. “And I was watching the perimeter how I noticed you left and had not come back.” She admitted. She had been waiting for a moment to say something to him.

Not for the first time since landing, Nate found himself in the position of having to squash a retort he might regret. At least, where Iryna was concerned, the effort was a little less inclined to leave him scowling. Exhaling his frustration as a sign he was at least trying to direct it away from stray targets, the marine-cum-medic turned his attention to the treeline and flexed facial muscles to avoid his expression succumbing to a bad mood. "I figure, until someone scrapes a knee, I'm better use performing old tricks." Quirking an eyebrow, he managed some playfulness in adding, "This ain't my first overnighter, ma'am."

Well if he was throwing ranks and forms of respect around she was going to challenge back. “Yes, but you aren’t doing an overnighter, Staff Sergeant.” The woman retorted back. They had to be rested to follow their teams around and try and keep them out of trouble. She was also not convinced he was in any type of mood to be left alone.

A quiet scoff conveyed enough of Nate's opinion on the allocation of night-guard duties. Logically, since redeployment, he was as much there to provide medical support as he was to draw on prior marine experience, and since that gave him two places to be at once, there wasn't a lot of quibbling to be had for duty rotation favouring his primary function. This had been his choice, after all. Silence ensued, in sullen recalcitrance, before the sucking of air through his teeth was followed by a grudging admission. "Doesn't stop me from keeping an eye out before I roll myself up like a sausage in a bun for the night."

Iryna smiled a little as she heard laughter from behind them and wondered if Nate would relax around others but she also wanted to keep him to herself for a moment too. "Not in the slightest and I would expect nothing less but I would like to hang in front of the campfire with you if you would like to too." She said quietly looking at the grown as she tried to awkwardly ask him to hang out.

Even distracted by a restlessness that was clearly compromising his ability to relax, Nate didn't find it especially difficult to find affectionate amusement in the momentary lapses of awkwardness Iryna still managed to slip into. It was understood that she found it far easier to bust his balls than demonstrate vulnerability, and it took no small amount of reform on his part to not only recognise when she was struggling, but make allowances for it. On a good day, he could call her on it and enjoy the laughter that followed the swift elbow to the ribs that followed, but it was probably fair to assume they weren't far enough away from prying eyes for that.

It was enough to make him relent at least, the grumble of an audible sigh forcing his attention back towards the campsite. "At least Hughes isn't down here with his damn guitar." He gestured then in the general direction of the group, with an expression that conveyed 'go on then' with begrudging patience.

Iryna was relieved when he did not comment or say anything other then begrudgingly agree. She hated feeling awkward around him because of how vulnerable she felt in their relationship. It was not a bad thing to her but it was something she was not used too.

“I am sure we can arrange that if you miss him and the music.” Iryna countered as she turned back around and led them both back towards the small group that were less now as several people had gone to sleep, including the Captain and Darru.

It took moving several armloads of firewood from the gathered stash to the immediate supply for the remaining few to follow suit. Those designated to night watch had a perimeter to wander but there was a hint of coincidence to the timing, the swapping of several furtive glances as the prospect of sharing the space with the pair of marines evidently resulted in sleeping in the dirt being the better option. That was Nate's assumption, anyway, and he threw the last logs onto the stack with a quiet scoff that didn't so much convey offense as it did a lack of surprise. "And that's how you clear a party."

Iryna could not help but laugh at the fact that even Lexi had left them to it with a roll of her eyes at the mood he seemed to be in. “But it means we have some time alone.” She said still trying to be positive about things despite the lack of feeling it properly. She was trying to be upbeat as they had fresh air even if it was a bit pollen filled.

As a secondary option to staring into the darkness ready to shoot anything that looked at him funny, Nate was happy to choose the solitude of an abandoned campfire. It represented the closest thing to a fond memory he had of time spent with his father, though the present company was far less problematic and undisputedly easier to tolerate. Breaking a few sticks over is knee, Nate tossed them into the flames to rekindle some of the intensity and then strategically arranged some of the smaller logs to take advantage of the temporary fuel increase. Once satisfied, he claimed the spot on the ground beside Iryna, backed against a fallen log, and made a point of stretching his arm behind her, with the other repeating the posture in the other direction, as a casual indifference to protocol. With the flicker of ember-light dancing shadows across his face, there was just enough illumination to reveal the first signs of a smirk of contentment.

"All we need now is a giant space marshmallow. Carnivorous wiener perhaps."

Iryna undid her belt and put aside her as she struggled to sit with it on. "Maybe next time." She said softly. She had no idea if there was anything similar to it available but it was something that she had used to do when she was younger. One of her fellow cadets had brought marshmallows on their adventure training for them to enjoy. "Cannot say that I have had a marshmallow or hotdog since we left Earth," She admitted thoughtfully glancing at him wondering if he was feeling better or not.

Predictably, it wasn't going to be something Nate admitted to. However, it didn't take long for his fingertips to find the ends of loose hair settled against her shoulder, and though his attention was focused on the burning coals, the simple affectionate gesture was, as always, as close to a peace-offering as he tended to make. "Could be said about a lot of things," he eventually replied, not exactly a fan of the accuracy of his point but nevertheless realistic enough not to pretend otherwise. "Be nice if, just once, one of these alien places would yield a decent pizza."

“I bet we could make a pizza with some dough, tomatoes and cheese..” Iryna said looking at the fire herself. It was hypnotic to her her quickly lulled her into a false sense of security and she felt her eyes drifting shut despite knowing that Nate would tease her and she was falling asleep out in the open.

"Not the same without a decent beer."

It took the resulting silence for Nate to crane his head down and notice the droop of Iryna's eyelids. Without threat of any witnesses, his expression softened briefly before wry amusement prompted him to scoff very softly and shake his head. She'd be annoyed, eventually, at wearing her fatigue so publicly. For now, he'd let her nap. Letting his gaze wander upwards, Nate fixed the stars overhead with a smirk and raised his eyebrows.

"At least this way she can't steal all the covers, I guess."