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badly_knittedTitle: The Language Of Friendship
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Varian.
Rating: PG
Setting: Throughout the series.
Summary: By nature, Varian is a tactile man, but he doesn’t want to make his travelling companions uncomfortable.
Written For: The prompt ‘Touch’ on my
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1character table.Disclaimer: I don’t own The Fantastic Journey, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
A/N: Triple drabble and a half, 350 words.
Touch comes as naturally as breathing to Varian, because in the time he comes from, people are more tactile than in the past, openly affectionate with each other, especially among family and friends. Perhaps that’s because the early twenty-third century is a gentler, kinder time than his travelling companions are from, lacking the prejudices of previous centuries. In his time, people of all genders embrace each other without embarrassment or shame; they express themselves as much through touch as through speech.
He's painfully aware, however, that what’s natural to him might not be so for these people from the sixties and seventies, an era that, if he’s remembering correctly, was somewhat repressive in its attitudes. With that in mind, at first Varian holds back, keeps his hands to himself as much as he can, resists his natural impulses, not wanting to make his new friends uncomfortable. He shakes hands politely, offers assistance over rocks and other obstacles, but does his best not to initiate any contact that might be considered inappropriate, especially after such short acquaintance.
But certain behaviours are too deeply ingrained in his nature, so he keeps forgetting himself, wrapping a friendly arm around one person, patting a shoulder here, placing a guiding hand against someone’s back, giving someone else’s arm a comforting squeeze. If it makes anyone feel awkward, it doesn’t show, they don’t flinch or object in any way, and they don’t avoid him. They seem more grateful than anything.
Perhaps the history books are wrong, and people of that era weren’t so repressed after all. There’s so much Varian doesn’t know about the twentieth century, but he doesn’t like to ask in case it’s a sensitive subject. Still, it’s reassuring when Fred slaps him on the back, or grabs him by the arm to draw his attention to something, when Liana leans against him, when Jonathan gives him a playful shove, when Scott helps him to his feet after Apollonius knocks him down.
They’re his friends, hugs, handshakes and all the rest are part of a language they share. It’s how they demonstrate their support.
The End
He's painfully aware, however, that what’s natural to him might not be so for these people from the sixties and seventies, an era that, if he’s remembering correctly, was somewhat repressive in its attitudes. With that in mind, at first Varian holds back, keeps his hands to himself as much as he can, resists his natural impulses, not wanting to make his new friends uncomfortable. He shakes hands politely, offers assistance over rocks and other obstacles, but does his best not to initiate any contact that might be considered inappropriate, especially after such short acquaintance.
But certain behaviours are too deeply ingrained in his nature, so he keeps forgetting himself, wrapping a friendly arm around one person, patting a shoulder here, placing a guiding hand against someone’s back, giving someone else’s arm a comforting squeeze. If it makes anyone feel awkward, it doesn’t show, they don’t flinch or object in any way, and they don’t avoid him. They seem more grateful than anything.
Perhaps the history books are wrong, and people of that era weren’t so repressed after all. There’s so much Varian doesn’t know about the twentieth century, but he doesn’t like to ask in case it’s a sensitive subject. Still, it’s reassuring when Fred slaps him on the back, or grabs him by the arm to draw his attention to something, when Liana leans against him, when Jonathan gives him a playful shove, when Scott helps him to his feet after Apollonius knocks him down.
They’re his friends, hugs, handshakes and all the rest are part of a language they share. It’s how they demonstrate their support.
The End
