orbits | zitao&jamie
Earth looked beautiful from above. A clinical observation, free of the judge- and attachments that factored into his feelings for the planet overall and would have driven Jamie to give it a less-than-favorable verdict otherwise. As it was however, blue eyes roamed over the planet below with no more than a passing glance before he turned on his heels to leave the observation deck. Four months. That’s how long Jamie had spent aboard the IGF Nebula Dasher with little to no contact to anyone who wasn’t part of the crew -- a voluntary isolation on his part and in retrospect it was almost laughable how fucking eager he had been to discard any and every attachment to the planet at the earliest opportunity of exchanging them for a communicator and a research post. It had taken years to regain Emilia’s trust enough for her to allow him aboard, to trust him with work, however menial and often tedious it turned out to be. During all this time, Jamie hadn’t realized just how much he had longed to be back on a ship; heart aching in his chest for so many decades that he had grown numb to the feeling.
But distance brought clarity in a mere matter of days and for the first time in forever, the Ixtab’s mind had felt unclouded and sharp. He had been at peace here, an almost perfect life stretched out right at his fingertips -- if only there hadn’t been one thing missing. One person, whom Jamie carefully side-stepped in every conversation with his sister that had a chance of being monitored and even in the most private ones, Zitao’s name rarely crossed his tongue, as if the mere mention of the other alien threatened something upon the ship; the trust extended towards him already fraying and thin. It did not mean that he hadn’t missed him, quite the opposite as he wrote to him whenever Jamie could find the time -- which, admittedly, had been rare given his tendency to bury himself in work until stress and fulfillment became one in an absurd sense of peace. Zitao was the only reason why the alien had requested a temporary leave to go back. Not because he missed the planet or its people, but because the tug on his heart had grown too strong and unbearable to ignore and as matters stood for the moment, he could not simply bring the other onboard and turn his back on Earth indefinitely.
He did not announce his departure, the people he worked with knew that he would be available only via certain channels or through communication with Emilia for the time being. He also did not announce his arrival back at the academy, however. With hands buried deep in his jacket and balled slightly into fists, Jamie strolled from the landing platform back onto academy grounds with more ease than he truly felt -- deep down, coming back to Earth felt like stepping back into a prison with a lure in the form of his best friend and semi-lover waiting to goad him into his cell. The irrational fear of never being allowed to set foot on an Ixtab ship again nagged at his mind as he walked away from the shuttle that had brought him back, steeling himself with a deep breath that passed from his lungs in a frustrated rush of air. He was being stupid. This was Zitao and Jamie did not commit a crime by going to see him, by missing him. At least none Emilia didn’t already know of years ago and it hadn’t influenced her decision so far.
He still remembered the other’s schedule enough to know that he should be in class right now and had enough audacity left in his body to not give a single fuck about it. Climbing the stairs of the large academy building all the way to the floor that housed Zitao’s Smithing class, it did not take long to find the room with its door half-open and noises of various degrees of working seeping through the gap. Jamie pulled together a modicum of respect by not announcing himself verbally as to not disturb the teacher’s lesson, but he also wasn’t shy to stop just short of entering the room and let his gaze scan over the students until he found the one he was looking for. Their eyes locked and Jamie ignored the way his heart seemed to drop into his stomach for a split second, before picking up a hammering speed against his ribcage. Instead, he merely gave a nod towards the corridor behind him and pushed himself away from the doorframe with a last and slightly more apologetic glance towards the teacher, then proceeded to step away entirely and settle against the wall a few meters further down the hallway to wait.