[ Many of the crew went to check their quarters first, chasing the vanishingly slim chance they would find something familiar where their rooms once stood. Jake doesn't think to say anything to Natasha as he passes her on the way to he and Finn's room, regarding her with a quick wave on his way past.
Now, Natasha wasn't always the warmest person in the world, but she and Jake had developed a friendly rapport over the past few months. Equal parts antagonizing and conspiratorial, Jake had come to expect some acknowledgement. A middle finger at the very least.
So when she gives him nothing, standing frozen, it sticks in Jake's mind. Momentum takes him a few steps past her door before that nagging feeling slows his paws to a stop, doubling back to peer more directly into her room. The strange heat and scent of jet fuel hits first, followed swiftly by a vision as potently real as the ship itself.
Nearly everyone he sees are strangers to him, but his nose knows better. The two girls in the center of the fray, confused and frightened and desperate, their scent sparks a memory of Jake's own. Two adult women, both withdrawn in their own unique ways, reflected back to the dog as shadows of these two little girls.
When reality returns, it's in pieces. The airfield gives way to smooth walls, the man kneeling down with the girls (their father?) slowly walks into nothingness, and Jake gets to watch in real time as the terrified girl with the blue hair grows into Natasha before his eyes.
Jake is silent for a long moment, watching her attempt to collect herself, before he pads carefully into the room. ]
Hey. [ He begins, voice as careful as his approach. ] Nat?
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Now, Natasha wasn't always the warmest person in the world, but she and Jake had developed a friendly rapport over the past few months. Equal parts antagonizing and conspiratorial, Jake had come to expect some acknowledgement. A middle finger at the very least.
So when she gives him nothing, standing frozen, it sticks in Jake's mind. Momentum takes him a few steps past her door before that nagging feeling slows his paws to a stop, doubling back to peer more directly into her room. The strange heat and scent of jet fuel hits first, followed swiftly by a vision as potently real as the ship itself.
Nearly everyone he sees are strangers to him, but his nose knows better. The two girls in the center of the fray, confused and frightened and desperate, their scent sparks a memory of Jake's own. Two adult women, both withdrawn in their own unique ways, reflected back to the dog as shadows of these two little girls.
When reality returns, it's in pieces. The airfield gives way to smooth walls, the man kneeling down with the girls (their father?) slowly walks into nothingness, and Jake gets to watch in real time as the terrified girl with the blue hair grows into Natasha before his eyes.
Jake is silent for a long moment, watching her attempt to collect herself, before he pads carefully into the room. ]
Hey. [ He begins, voice as careful as his approach. ] Nat?