Fic: Softly Tread the Sand Below Your Feet

[lls_mutant]

Title: Softly Tread the Sand Below Your Feet
Author: lls_mutant
Characters: Hoshi, Hot Dog
Rating: PG
Summary: After the end, Hoshi finds a new life. (Mostly gen, with some background pairings.)
Spoilers: through the end.




The breeze was getting stiffer, ruffling through his hair. Louis stared out over the green expanse. He'd been on the surface for a few days on New Caprica, but the sunshine had never been this warm. But the wind cut through his jacket, and he shivered a little.

From behind him, Hot Dog shifted Nicky with a groan. Louis looked over his shoulder and saw the sweat on the man's brow. "Do you want me to take him for a bit?" he asked.

"Would you?" Hot Dog said, his eyes wide and incredulous. "Thanks."

He handed Nicky to Louis. The kid was heavy with sleep, and didn't wake up during the transition. "How far do we have to go?" Louis asked.

Hot Dog was sighing and swinging his arms. "I hope not too much further. It doesn't matter anyway. It's all better than the past four years."

***

They eventually found a place where a stream fed into a river. "Here," a woman named Joanne declared, tossing her pack down. "It's flat, it has fresh running water, there's a forest nearby, and I can't walk anymore."

"So say we all," a Two said. A few faces rankled at his use of the Colonial phrase, and Louis himself cringed. But the Two was too tired to notice.

A Six opened up her pack. "We'd better start boiling some water," she said, fishing through and finding a pot.

One of the former Marines nodded. "I'll go start digging some sort of latrine," he volunteered.

Hot Dog took Nicky from Louis. "I'd better wake him up and let him run around," he said, "or he won't sleep a wink tonight."

Louis nodded. "Want me to start heating up some algae special?"

Hot Dog grinned. "That would be great."

***

They pitched tents that night, but Louis opted to sleep outside, lying on his back and staring up at the stars. He swore he could feel Felix beside him. It had been a month, but tonight the pain was as sharp as it had been the day that he died.

***

Dawn came. Sunlight warming their faces, warming their futures.

It was a small group. Lee Adama's dumb "no cities" plan had assured that. Louis found he didn't mind. Two hundred and twelve of them. The Marine (who was named John), two knuckledraggers, and himself and Hot Dog were the only ones from Galactica who had elected to come this way. Louis had been happy that way. Everyone he cared about was gone. It was a shock to realize it, but it was true. He'd lost Admiral Cain and Jurgen, he'd lost Felix, he'd lost Dee…. His family was long dead, non-military friends, long dead, even Noel had been one of the few mutineers executed.

Joanne smiled at him as he made his way to the banked firepit. "What do you think, Admiral?'

He laughed. "Not exactly Admiral anymore, thank the Gods." He smiled affably at her. She was a woman about his own age, with mouse brown hair, dimples, and freckles across her nose. "Besides, I don't know the first thing about setting up a habitat. You seem to."

She made a face. "Not really," she said cheerfully. "I used to hike on Picon and I taught high school biology. That's it."

He rubbed his chin. "We ought to start taking inventory," he said. "What skills people have, what supplies we have… how we can best use them."

"I'll begin that." She rummaged through her pack. "Funny to think how quickly paper is going to become precious."

"Yeah."

People were starting to stir, exiting tents and stretching, taking in their new home in the day. And he saw smiles. He looked at the faces, an incredulous wonder about him.

People were smiling. It was a beautiful thing.

***

"Lieutenant."

"Louis, John."

"Right. Louis. Where should we put the metal?"

"We're piling it over there." He pointed to where one of the three Twos was sorting through the small pile of accumulated artifacts. His stomach rumbled, and he realized it was almost noon.

"John," he said. "Has anyone thought to send out a hunting party?"

"Hunting?" John's slapped his forehead. "I can't believe-"

"Yeah, me either. We've got three guns, and a few rounds- we'd better make them stretch until we can make something else and get proficient with it. You want to get a couple other people who can handle the guns and go?"

"Yes, sir."

Louis's face twisted in a smile. "John?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Enough with the sir."

"Yes, si- Right," John said, grinning. "Yeah, we'll be back before sundown."

***

"Louis."

"Hot Dog."

Hot Dog grinned mockingly. "Brendan," he said.

"Right. Brendan. What needs done now?" Louis sighed wearily.

Brendan shoved a plate at him. On it was the most wonderful thing that Louis had smelled in years. "You need to eat," Brendan said, and Louis's stomach ravenously agreed. "Come on," he said. "Aside from that, the Cylons have a question for you."

"For me?" Louis took his plate and followed Brendan, picking up the cooling meat. It tasted as amazing as it smelled, despite the fact it was lobbed off by people who probably had never butchered an animal before in their lives. Brendan led him to where the Cylons were sitting, one of the Eights entertaining Nicky. Despite the apparent truce, they were huddled around their own fire.

He swallowed hard before he approached them. He felt he should be civil, but civility was still a difficult concept at this point. There were three Twos, four Sixes, and two Eights. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Have a seat," one of the Sixes said graciously, and he had no choice but to obey. He noticed that Joanne was watching closely from another fire pit.

"We've been talking," the Six continued, "and we feel that it's absolutely necessary that we take names. Lyda opted for one," she said, gesturing to a Six with long, pretty hair, "but the rest of us never did."

Louis shrugged, focused on the meat. "Sounds like a good idea. Why are you running this by me?"

"You're in charge," one of the Eights said.

Louis looked up. "No I'm not."

The two Eights exchanged glances, but a goateed Two just shook his head and smiled. "No, it's not just that. Four of us have chosen names. Joshua, Anna, Jane, and Chris." He indicated a Two, an Eight, a Six, and another Two in turn. "And of course, as she said, Lyda already chose hers before we made the alliance. But the rest of us…."

The unnamed Eight looked up from playing with Nicky. "Humans died," she said softly. "And they died fighting to bring this world about. We realize our mistakes, and we respect your right to say no. But some of us… we don't want to replace those that were lost. But we'd like to honor them."

Realization dawned on Louis. "You want names of humans." He glanced at Brendan, who was staring wide-eyed at them. "Really?"

"If you would accept it."

Louis stared down at his plate, his appetite gone. He didn't know what to say. But beside him Brendan wiped at his eyes.

"Kat," Brendan said, pointing to an Eight. He turned to a Six. "Anastasia."

Louis bit his lip. This was big. This was a gesture of acceptance… from both sides. He didn't know what to think.

The Two with the goatee put his hand on his arm. "I especially wanted to ask you, because… well, I knew communications. I was essentially the navigator for our ship. I understand, and I… well, I understand. I wondered if I could take the name Felix."

Louis closed his eyes. "No," he said, simply, unequivocally. "No."

When he opened his eyes, the Two was smiling at him. It was a sad smile, and Louis realized he hadn't taken offense. "Very well," he said, and then grinned with irony. "How about Tom?"

And Louis couldn't help but laugh.

***

"I have to admit," Joanne said as they looked at the sketch, "having the Cylons have names does make it easier."

"I'm wondering," John said, "maybe we should stop calling them Cylons."

Louis cocked his head, thinking. "Why's that?"

"It's going to be the two hundred of us for the rest of our lives. Others might have settled nearby, but for the most part, this is it. No sense in building up more walls between us."

"But they are Cylons," Joanne pointed out. "Are we also outlawing Caprican or Tauron or Aquarian?"

"Why not?" John asked.

Louis sighed. "We'd better think carefully on this one," he said. "We'll talk about it later."

***

"You are really terrible about sitting down to eat, aren't you?" Brendan said, bringing Louis a plate.

"You're really insistent about reminding me, aren't you?" Louis said.

Brendan shrugged. "When you have a kid, you have to be mindful of mealtimes."

"Good point." Louis sat down beside Brendan. "Have you found a spot for your house yet?"

"I have. What about you?"

Louis shook his head. "Haven't had time to look."

Brendan looked down at his plate, nudging around the roots that someone had found and boiled. "You know," he began, "according to the calculations that you guys did, we've got about three months before the weather starts to get colder. If you help me get my house built, you could stay with me and Nicky until the spring, and then we'd help you build yours."

"That makes sense," Louis said carefully.

Brendan was still studying his plate. "I'm not coming on to you, you know," he said. "I'm not into guys at all."

"I know." Louis smiled. "I'm cheap labor."

"Exactly." But Brendan's smile lingered, and suddenly, Louis remembered he'd known Felix, he'd known Dee, he'd known Noel. It was one thing to leave the Galactica. It was another thing to leave it behind.

Brendan ran a hand through his hair and changed the subject. "I heard you talking with Joanne and John today," he said. "About not using the word Cylon any more."

"Yeah." Louis forced himself to start picking at his food again. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Brendan asked.

"Was I unclear?"

"No, just… it's been a long time since someone asked me that," Brendan laughed.

"Well?"

Brendan picked up a root, popped it in his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. "I think outlawing it is a bad idea," he said slowly. "But stopping the usage… I guess it depends on what people want. Do we want to remember? Or do we want to forget?"

It was a good question, and Louis didn't have an answer.

***

The work wore him out, but Louis couldn't sleep. He lay between blankets, under stars, under canvas, and he still imagined Felix beside him.

But it was starting to hurt a little less.

***

Slowly, Brendan's house was beginning to take shape.

It was small, built of stone and something resembling a thatched roof, hewed by hand and painful in its execution. Nearby, others raised roofs as well. Wind and storms blew damages, mud reminded them all of New Caprica, but the little settlement continued to grow.

Hunting became easier, and Joanne started to cultivate plants into gardens. They began to discover what was edible, what was not.

They had their first loss, when Amelia died of a heart attack. She'd been sixty seven. They buried her all together.

Joanne and John had asked Louis to speak over the grave. He'd done so, awkwardly. And afterwards, the Eight called Kat patted his hand.

"That was lovely," she said, wiping her eyes. "Amelia would have liked it very much. Her husband's burial was so simple."

He looked at her. "I didn't know Amelia was married."

"Back on Tauron," Kat said, nodding. "He died when he was fifty three. Cancer. He left her and their children." Kat wiped her eyes again, and smiled. "It's nice to think she's with them now."

"You believe in an afterlife?" Louis asked.

"Don't you?"

He sighed. "I want to."

She shrugged. "Then do."

He laughed hollowly. "It's not that simple."

She was perfectly serious. "It can be."

***

He found Tom later that night, sitting by a fire in front of an unfinished house. Tom looked up and smiled. "Louis. What can I do for you?"

"I don't know," Louis lied, shrugging. "I just didn't feel like being alone tonight."

Tom's smile was twisted. "Because Brendan would turn you away. Or any of the other humans."

Louis shrugged. "Can I sit down?"

"Sure." Tom leaned forward and took a battered kettle from the fire. "You're always welcome."

As Tom said it, Louis realized that he did avoid the Cylons. "Thanks," he said uncomfortably, sitting. He stared into the flames, mesmerized at their dance.

"What's on your mind, fearless leader?"

"Fearless leader?" Louis said, surprised. "I'm not a leader."

Tom opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it again. "Right. Let's not debate the point."

Louis shook his head and fixed his eyes back on the flame. "You took the name Tom," he said. "After I told you I didn't want you calling yourself Felix. You do know what they did, don't you?"

Tom poured a mug of hot water and sprinkled in some leaves. "Wish we could find something that made a better tea," he said. "Yes, I know exactly who Tom Zarek was. I saw him taken to detention on New Caprica, and I heard what he was killed for."

"He was a mutineer," Louis stressed.

"Yes," Tom said. "And so am I."

The shock was painful, warm, and incredulous. "What do you- oh. Oh, I see," Louis said. "Of course."

Tom was now staring into the fire. "It wasn't an easy decision," he said. "Not for any of us. To turn against our brothers… it was a painful break. But it had to be done, and I'm glad we did. This life… it's nothing like we had. It's hard, it's going to be painful, and being disconnected from data, from computers, from the network…" he shook his head, "it's like cutting off a part of myself. But it was right. Tom Zarek and Felix Gaeta believed in what they died for," Tom said. "I felt an affinity with that." He shook his head and looked at Louis. "Now can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You let me take the name of Tom, but you wouldn't let me take Felix. Why not?"

"You don't know?"

"Would I be asking if I did?"

Louis swallowed. "He was my lover," he said simply. "To let you take his name was something I was in no way ready for."

"I see." Tom ran a finger around the edge of his mug. "It must have been very painful for you when he died."

Louis nodded. "I was talking to Kat today. She mentioned the afterlife."

"And you're looking for answers."

Louis laughed. "I don't expect answers anymore," he said. "I think I have to learn to be content without them. But…" he threaded his fingers together.

Tom fumbled for another cup and poured Louis some of the water. "Do I think he's waiting for you on the other side? Absolutely."

It was odd, how the word of a Cylon gave him such comfort. But it did, and when Tom handed him the cup, Louis drank gratefully.

***

"Daddy," Nicky said, and for the first time, it was clear.

Brendan scooped him up, happiness clear on his face. "That's right, little man," he said. "What do you think? Do you like our new house?"

"Habba." Nicky gestured towards the house, and then strained to be put down. Brendan set him down, and Nicky ran with more enthusiasm than skill towards the door.

"We've done well," Brendan said. "Are you ready to start on yours?"

"Eager for more work?" Louis pulled the hide coat around him. It blocked the wind extremely well, and he was very grateful that Alexander had made it for him. "I think we're getting to the point where the older people and those with children are housed, which is good. I really don't want to see any more deaths."

"Mmm." Brendan glanced at him.

"What?"

"You probably don't want to hear this," Brendan began slowly.

"Go ahead," Louis said wearily. "Hit me with it."

"You're going gray," Brendan said. "At the temples."

It was at that moment that Louis finally realized he was the leader of his little settlement, and for better or for worse, these were his people.

***

He sat by the river, staring into the water as he dangled his feet in. Joanne came over and sat down beside him. "This is the first time in weeks I've seen you just sit," she observed.

"I'm hiding," Louis confessed.

"Life cooped up with a child is a bit too much?" Joanne laughed.

"Yes," Louis said seriously.

Joanne put her own feet in the water, and studied the patterns intently. "Are you happy at Brendan's?" she asked.

"I'll be glad to have my own place, but yes." He smiled affectionately. "Brendan never runs out of things to say, and when he does, Nicky takes up the slack."

She chuckled. "He's a cute kid."

"Yes."

She picked up a stone, turning it over and over in her hands. "Are you going to have one?"

Louis laughed bitterly. "Even if Felix were still alive, it wouldn't have exactly been an option."

"I didn't mean with Felix."

He thought about that, watching the sun dapple patterns over the water. "I know."

"You could," she said. She finally looked up at him, her eyes wide and looking younger than she'd looked since he met her. "My house is finished. If you get tired of staying with Brendan…."

It came crashing down, what she meant, and he stared at her for a long time. "Wow," he said, when he remembered that he should say something. "That's very nice of you."

"You sound like a debutante," she said with a wry smile.

He took her hand. "You're very lovely-" he began, and her smile deepened in its bitterness.

"But you're not interested," she said. "If only I was a man, but I'm not, and-"

He laughed hollowly. "Joanne, that wasn't what I was going to say. I just… if I wanted a child, I would ask you. I think. I don't really know, because the truth of it is that I don't want a child."

"But if humanity is going to continue-"

"Humanity will continue. In addition to the thirty-eight thousand people who landed on this planet, there are native humans here. They aren't evolved to our point yet, but they are here. Humanity will survive without me procreating." He sighed. "It's not sentiment, or love. I mean, I never wanted children, even before I lost Felix. But it goes beyond that. I don't know if these settlements will survive or not. I don't know how long I'll survive. I don't want to bring a child into the world. I just want to leave it peacefully."

Joanne looked into the water morosely. "Now I feel bad for wanting a child," she said.

"Don't. It's not my place to say what's right for anyone else, much less all of humanity. I just know what I want."

She smiled at him sadly, and he squeezed her hand.

***

"Uncle Lou," Nicky said. "Daddy says get up."

Louis sat up and rubbed his eyes. Nicky gleefully pulled the worn blanket off Louis, grinning. "I don't want to get up," Louis informed Nicky.

"The sun's up," Nicky said. "Come on, Uncle Lou!"

Louis stood up from his pallet and stumbled outside to the outhouse. The morning was sunny, and as he left, he knelt to wash his hands and face in the stream. He heard birds, and the wind rustled leaves and grass. He could smell cooking fires, see people beginning to stir.

He pushed his hair into something resembling order. It was almost getting long enough to cut with the knife. He went back into Brendan's house and fished out his tanks and pants, looking at the clumsy mending ruefully. But today merited something a little nicer than the crude, handmade cloth that they'd all taken to wearing for working.

"Come on, Uncle Lou," Nicky insisted.

"Hey." Brendan came into the house, laughing at his son, "give Uncle Lou a chance to get ready, okay?"

"I'm going to think you're shoving me out the door," Louis said, ruffling Nicky's hair.

Nicky blinked at him uncomprehendingly. "But I want to sleep in your house tonight," he insisted.

Brendan and Louis exchanged glances, both of them laughing. But there was something bittersweet behind their laughter. As much as each of them were looking forward to having their own space, they'd shared enough time together that their spaces would seem a little empty.

"Race us there," Brendan suggested to Nicky. He lit up and ran out the door.

"You going to be okay?" Brendan said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Louis nodded. "Of course. It's not like I'm going far." He bit his lip, leaned down to pick up his pallet and the small bundle of clothing and possessions. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?" Brendan asked, genuinely confused.

"Helping me get through this. I… I'm glad I didn't have to be alone for a while."

Brendan smiled sadly. "Yeah. I know." Then his smile brightened. "Come on. Let's go see your new home."

***

It was just like the other houses that had been constructed. A small, single room made of stone with a thatched roof and a heavy door. There was a firepit inside, and a pounded dirt floor. A pallet with a coarse mattress made of woven grasses, baskets, and one of the pots that they'd managed to save. The tools he had, lined up neatly on a shelf. A knife and a whetstone, slate and chalk, a bucket, and a makeshift shovel.

But there were other things, too, things he didn't expect. His hide jacket, the first one that Alexander had made. A table and a chair- a true luxury in their settlement. A razor, saved by some soul with foresight. A second pair of fatigue pants. A woven rug, crudely dyed, and spread on the floor. A set of gourds, cured with heat and carved into bowls, and a few clay cups. A shard of mirror.

He stared at his new house, and then turned back to see his community watching him, smiles on their faces, and tears jumped to his eyes.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you all."

***

When he was alone that night, he took out the four pictures he had of Felix, and the dogtags. He found the one of himself with his arms wrapped around Felix, and the one of him, Felix, and Noel drunk and making faces, and propped them on the shelf. The other two pictures he slipped into his box, beside Felix's dogtags and his own, and put the box away.

He looked at the pictures and smiled.

***

There was a knock at the door. Louis opened it, and in no way was surprised to find Tom standing there, a small package in hand. "May I come in?" Tom asked.

"Please do," Louis said, gesturing grandly. He'd been in his house for a whole week, and had been frankly expecting Tom a lot sooner than this.

Tom stepped in and smiled. "I brought you something," he said, extending it. "It's not much, but it's something."

Louis took it and folded back the rough cloth to find a book. "I saved it," Tom said. "Roslin left it on the basestar, and I actually started reading it."

"A book…" Louis said, staring at it. "I didn't think…."

"I know. Please, take it. I've got it memorized by now."

Louis ran his fingers over the worn spine and looked at Tom. "Thank you," he said, smiling. "I mean it."

"You're welcome. So, how does it feel to have a home?"

Louis shrugged. "Not all that different," he said. "And yet, it makes all the difference in the world. It's nice." He glanced around. "Certainly not what I ever imagined, but nice." It occurred to him. "What about you?"

Tom shrugged. "I had a tent on New Caprica," he said. "Like the Colonials. But it was separate. It's funny. Even though I have walls here, I feel a part of something more. Not like I did on the baseship, but…" he shook his head in frustration. "I can't explain it."

"But I think I know what you mean. Let's have a drink," Louis suggested.

It hadn't taken anywhere close to the full year they'd been on Earth for their settlement to find something potable. The resultant liquor was harsh and tasted like shoe polish, but it did the job. Louis poured them each a cup, and handed one to Tom before settling on his bed. He held it up. "To home."

"To home." Tom bolted the liquor, and Louis poured him another glass. The second one always went down easier.

"Did you ever imagine yourself winding up alone?" Tom asked after four glasses.

Louis nodded. "I did. In fact, it's how I thought I'd end it."

"Why?"

"I have my reasons."

"You've loved people." Tom looked at the picture that Louis had put on the wall. "Felix."

"Yes. And for that matter, Noel, although it was years before I ever met Felix. But…" Louis shrugged. "I'm comfortable alone. If it had worked out, that would be one thing. But I never expected anything to work out for a lifetime." He took a sip. "And now, I don't want it to."

"Why not?"

Louis toyed with the edge of his glass. "I just don't. It's not something I talk about."

Tom considered that. "All right. But isn't it lonely?"

"At times." The pieces fell together, and Louis almost laughed. "You know, if you're going to try to seduce me, you could actually sit next to me."

Tom stared at him for a moment, and then he began to laugh as well. "I could, couldn't I?" He moved over and sat beside Louis. His body was slender and taut and warm, and the tiny house seemed warmer and lighter.

He remembered that night for the next ten years, as a start of something that wasn't love and wasn't just sex, but was friendship and family and convenience and something indefinable. Something that was a part of him just as much as Noel would always be a part of him, as Felix would always be a part of him. And as it became comfortable routine, it was good.

***

Louis Hoshi was fifty two, the best he could figure, when he cut himself shaving. It was a small cut, but it didn't stop bleeding, and he knew enough to know what that meant.

He'd lived in this tiny house for ten years, with this community around him. Brendan and Nicky and Molly and their daughter Dee next door. Tom, across the settlement or by his fire and in his bed. Joanne and John, settled together with a daughter named Laura. Kat, Alexander, Tim… his people. His friends.

He walked through the houses, set into the landscape and yet still lacking in permanence, wiping irritably at his chin, and he wondered why it didn't hurt to let this go.

Two months, he figured. It would take two months for the berries he needed to come into season. Two months to put everything in order, to be sure that his people would be all right. As long as the cancer wasn't so far developed it ate him before then, two months.

He smiled in the early morning sunshine.

***

Nicky- no, Nick, now- was swimming in the stream with Dee and Laura and Cylon child named Leoben. Louis and Brendan sat on the bank, watching them.

"Wow." Brendan wiped his eyes. "You're really going to do this?"

"It's die fast or die slow, Brendan. There's no other way about it." Louis wrapped his arms around his updrawn knees. "And I'm okay with that."

"But-"

Louis held up a hand. "Please, Brendan, don't argue. It's not suicide. Not really. It's sparing me a long, painful struggle, and it's sparing everyone else having to watch it."

Brendan took a deep breath. "Right." He looked at the kids again. "What are you going to tell people?"

"Nothing. I'm telling you and Tom. Heck, there's always the chance I won't make it two months anyway. One of the wildcats could get me tomorrow."

"I suppose that's true." Brendan sighed. "Do you ever wonder about the others? Like Adama, is he still alive? Or Baltar?"

"Not anymore. I used to. I suppose Adama's at least dead now. Baltar's not. He's like a cockroach. He'll survive anything."

Brendan laughed. "I'll miss you, you know," he told Louis, laying a hand on his back. "It's like Adama losing Tigh."

"But with significantly less alcohol," Louis said, and they laughed together.

The children screamed and splashed, and the wind rustled the grasses gently.

***

He began to feel the changes. It was hard to tell if they were real or imagined, because now he knew he was sick. He was tired. His bones ached, and he felt not quite right. But in two months he had joy, he had friends, and he had peace.

And yet, the final night came.

Tom and Brendan came and sat with him. It was awkward at first, even as Louis set a meal on the table and poured out the booze. But the alcohol burned off the edges of pain, and the firelight cast dancing shadows as laughter echoed off the stone walls.

He didn't say good bye, or make a ceremony of it. At one point, Brendan had them laughing over a story from the days on Galactica, and instead of reaching for his cup Louis took the berry juice instead. His insides began to burn, and the exhaustion deepened almost immediately.

Tom saw it, catching him and guiding him over to the bed. He sat down, and without breaking the conversation, took Louis's hand. Brendan paused, and then came over and took the other. Their hands were warm and firm on his, gentle in their goodbyes.

He smiled at them, and then closed his eyes.

***

And when he opened them again, Felix and Noel smiled back at him.

Comments

[trovia.livejournal.com]

Aww, that was so wistful and sad.

I loved how Hoshi became a leader but only sort of. Because he really isn't leader material. I also loved Brendan but that is entirely unsurprising and doesn't need to be repeated (Good thing he survived though. No matter what, "Daybreak" guaranteed that Hot Dog will be in lots of fics from now on so I won't complain. Much).

I liked how Louis was reluctant to let the Cylons take names while Brendan immediately started naming people. Hee. Louis thinking of Lee Adama's dumb plan made me grin. It really is such a dumb plan.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yeah, I knew you'd like Hot Dog in this :) One fic I'd like to see- and didn't get to work in here because it was more Louis's story- was Galen saying goodbye to Brendan and Nicky. It doesn't bug me that much that he went off, because I have the feeling he was broken enough that he would have been a terrible father to Nicky. And Nicky IS young enough and was now used to Brendan enough that he'll be fine. I'm actually liking the retcon a bit more, not because I think it's important for Hera, but because if Ron Moore wanted a happy ending, I think Nicky needed someone stable and loving, and Hot Dog was one of the few characters who wasn't so fucked up that he could give that. (I originally intended on having more scenes with Louis and Nicky, but Louis kept loudly telling me he had no real interest in children.)

And yeah, Lee's plan was DUMB. I get the "no city" thing in a way, but I've seen better solutions to it. Let the Colonials start what becomes Atlantis. I think I would have liked that ending better than Hera is Eve on reflection. (I was okay with that one at first, but as I thought about it more, the race implications really ARE nasty.) And I think that eradicating ALL technology and everything they have would just be stupid, too. I mean, keep some of the stuff necessary for survival, y'know?

I find it funny that a man who made so many special effects shots is ending his series preaching the evils of technology :)

Glad you liked it!

[kappamaki33.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you for that. That really is a perfect ending for Hoshi. I loved the Cylons taking the names of lost Colonials, and Louis's refusal to let the Leoben whom he later had a relationship with call himself Felix. I also loved how Louis just sort of found himself leading again and accepted it. There are so many wonderful little touches--the Cylon Tom identifying with the mutineers, Brendan being surprised at being asked what he thought, Louis graying at the temples, the book, the pictures--I know I'm missing many, but they just made this extra-outstanding.

I should really have learned by now not to read your fics without a box of kleenex handy :).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I've been developing a real affinity for Hoshi through fic and have a huge backstory all worked out for him that I want to write, but this just... that ending... yeah. I'm really glad you enjoyed it :)

Thanks! :)

[tin-o-biscuits.livejournal.com]

I should really not read your fic when I don't have a box of tissues nearby. But for once these are happy tears. :')

[puszysty.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this scenario. I especially like the scenes with the cylons and your way of having them making peace with humanity.

[blue-crow.livejournal.com]

Y'know, Galactica's finale didn't make me cry, so I guess that's up to everyone who writes fic. Something about Louis alone on Earth makes me all choked up. And this is just... exactly as I imagine it to go. The bromance, the consideration of children, the few possessions becoming precious... even the slightly singleminded Leoben falling for Hoshi.

This is a pretty poor recording of the song, but something today, maybe a combination of this and the dream I had, and I couldn't help but murmur the words to this song as I read. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNB-5TaPPZE

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) Yeah, Hoshi deserved some happiness, didn't he? :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I figure they have to, or go off and form their own little city (which maybe some of them did!)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) The whole ending was bittersweet, wasn't it? I'm glad you enjoyed this. Hoshi deserved SOMETHING, for crying out loud. (Although at least his hair was better.)

I'll have to check out the song- thanks for the link!

[safenthecity.livejournal.com]

D: Oh man. That was sad and depressing and goddamn. I loved it.
I like to imagine Louis had happiness, in spite of the general stupidity of the plan.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

Yeah, I agree. He needed some happiness. And I think he was happy in this. He was just... he just wanted to live out his life peacefully and then die just as peacefully. ::hugs Louis::

[safenthecity.livejournal.com]

Le sigh. He had to die someday, and this wasn't a bad way to go by any means.

I think the real depression for me comes with a) he had no Felix and b)he was stuck in a something from nothing scenario thanks to the ever wise ideas of another Adama man with very little foresight.

Can't lie, though, in spite of my atheism I enjoy that they made the afterlife canon. Because in the end, he and Felix get to be dead happily ever after. :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah. And when I actually get my Dee-Hoshi epic written, the way he went makes even more sense. I know the backstory I have for him, and yeah.

No Felix is sad, but at the same time, he wasn't with Felix for very long, I think. Although from the webisodes, it was clear that he was madly in love.

The more I think about it, the more I want to smack Lee Adama and Ron Moore. Atlantis, people. Atlantis.

Yeah :) There's no doubt in my mind they'll eventually be together!

[safenthecity.livejournal.com]

I can't help shipping them to the point of being ridiculous about it. I think most of my pathos comes from the fact that Louis had to go through losing Felix three times- when the Demetrius returned late, when that Raptor got lost, and then finally the mutiny. :( That is so much angst for one person to handle.

ATLANTIS. YES PLEASE. Anything other than the nonsense they gave us, really.

Coming from a person of faith, I thought you did a great job handling Louis's agnatheism (a term I came up with to describe the sort of agnosticism where you figure there probably is no god but don't care much either way)

And I have the start of a Louis/Head(Angel?)Felix ficlet set during Galactica's final battle. I indulge myself for a moment with Felix waxing philosophical about an atheist's reaction to surviving death. Because, really. Felix would be quite surprised by that. (And of course, Louis thinks he's finally snapped)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

That IS a lot of angst. Poor Louis. ::Sniff::

And thanks! I got the impression from the webisodes Louis was agnostic. He was starting to believe some sort of God existed, but he had no idea what to call it.

And I'm DYING to see your fic! :)

[safenthecity.livejournal.com]

I think he was leaning toward agnostitheism in the webisodes, but I imagine losing Felix and Earth 2.0 would have turned him in the other direction.

I swear to you, one of these days I will finish a fic again. :x

[star-watcher81.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for sharing this. I didn't know I needed Hoshi!fic in my life, but apparently I do. Love that you showed us a look at one of the settlements actually surviving, and I love that we got to delve into the lives of some of the minor characters. Thank you.

[trovia.livejournal.com]

I would have loved Atlantis! That would have been so cool. And it would have made so much sense!

(I was okay with that one at first, but as I thought about it more, the race implications really ARE nasty.)

There are race implications? What do you mean? That the colonials mixing with the natives and becoming our ancestors makes no sense? Or something else?

[grey-sw.livejournal.com]

This is fantastic. It's the best post-series fic I've seen so far. I love how you've developed the series' minor characters; the details of daily life on Earth are also wonderful. I also love what you did with the Cylons, especially Tom! He's his own character, yet still recognizably a Two -- very well done!

I hated what the writers did with the Fleet in the end, and yet you made me appreciate it, at least for the time it took me to finish reading this. :) Kudos!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I had fun with this (I have a thing for minor characters, specially in fic), and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you so much! I'm really flattered :)

I'm really glad you enjoyed Tom. In my mind (and I probably should have made this clearer), he was the red-shirted, goateed Two. I liked that one- he seemed a lot more normal than Leoben :)

Thanks so much, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[grey-sw.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad you enjoyed Tom. In my mind (and I probably should have made this clearer), he was the red-shirted, goateed Two. I liked that one- he seemed a lot more normal than Leoben :)

The one who helped Roslin with the communications box during the mutiny, right? I kind of got that impression, though I agree it could be a little clearer.

He was remarkably non-creepy, for a Two, wasn't he?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yup- him. I think I got the idea that's who he was for sure after I wrote it, though, or I would have mentioned the goatee. I liked him. He was the Natalie of the Twos :)

I had fun writing him in crackfic:


ROSLIN
Do you hear me? You won't get away with this!

ENGINEER!TWO
Well, I'm sure you scared the microphone, but I don't think even your voice carries across the vacuum that is space.

ROSLIN
Well, instead of cracking jokes, why don't you get me some string and two tin cans?

ENGINEER!TWO
Well, I've got a solution for you, and it's not much more than that. Old technology that-

ROSLIN
You are aware that the Galactica is entirely old technology, and that Gaeta knows it better than anyone, right?

ENGINEER!TWO
From what I understand he does, but for a human. But I'm sure I don't have to remind you, Madam President, that I'm a machine. If I can't outwit a human on this score, I should just turn in my circuit board right now.

ROSLIN (laughs)
I must say, you aren't anywhere near as…

ENGINEER!TWO
Creepy?

ROSLIN:
Yes! You're nowhere near as creepy as the Two we're most familiar with.

ENGINEER!TWO
Yeah. It's the goatee. Are you ready?

[grey-sw.livejournal.com]

heh, that's brilliant. Damn, I wish they'd done more with the Cylons on the show! :(

[kappamaki33.livejournal.com]

ROSLIN:
Yes! You're nowhere near as creepy as the Two we're most familiar with.

ENGINEER!TWO
Yeah. It's the goatee. Are you ready?

Ha! It's as if the creepiness of Leoben makes the Twos follow the inverse of the Goatee=Evil Twin rule.

[prophetkristy.livejournal.com]

*wistful sigh* you really know just how to make my heart ache. That was bittersweet and beautiful. I love seeing Hoshi feeling Felix beside him but slowly letting go (while still remembering).

The mental image of the photo of Hoshi and Felix snuggling made me sniffly in the last one, and again here. Oh, for better Photoshop skillz...

THEY WILL BE TOGETHER AGAIN, OHYES.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

Yeah, for all that I love them together, Hoshi and Felix weren't together for all that long. If Hoshi lived another ten years or so, he would have let go, I think. But at the same time, I can see him never really loving anyone else again, especially with Lee Adama's "let's all split up" plan. (Because there is NO way that Hoshi was going for a cro-Magnum guy. Seriously.)

I know. I SO want a picture of that. I can see it in my head, but I can't draw people well enough to do it, and even with better photoshop skillz, I'm not sure the caps even exist to do it.

But Hoshi's eyes... ::Sniff::

And yes. They will be together again :) (I was impressed I let Hoshi hang on for ten years, but I really liked the idea he had some happiness. And I think Felix would have liked that, too.)

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Ack, I can't believe I didn't comment on this before! I really enjoyed this--wonderful work on all of the details. Hotdog dealing with Nicky makes me particularly happy. And you got me to care about Hoshi--a character that I've rarely thought about more than twice.

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

I should be sleeping, I have work in 10 hours. Know what I'm doing? Reading your fic. And wanting to cry. This was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I love everything... I really liked the cylons taking human names... it was wonderful.

Best line ever: Baltar's not. He's like a cockroach. He'll survive anything

I want to imagine that he and Caprica went off and had babies that were too beautiful for words... and that they had a baby boy who grew up to marry Hera... which would make Gaius one of our ancestors and account for the majority of crazy in the world.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! This is one of my favorite fics, so I'm so glad you enjoyed it. And as I'm sure you've guessed, it belongs in my Youth's Final Luxury/A Lot to Live Up To timeline :) Hoshi knew EXACTLY what was happening at the end.

I totally agree with you about Baltar and Cap6 having gorgeous babies. And no matter what anyone says, as far as I'm concerned that first baby boy's name was Felix. It had to be. :) And yes, making Gaius one of our ancestors explains a LOT about some people!!!!! :)

[rayruz.livejournal.com]

I saw someone mention this in a comment on Part 6 and just haven't had time to look at it til now. It's so wonderful, I really admire your writing.

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

This story made me cry in the passenger's seat on the way to the beach this weekend. I hope you're happy. ;) Seriously, it's beautiful.

[prophetkristy.livejournal.com]

Reading it again as I go through the remix, and all sniffly again. Awww, Louis. I miss Felix too.