| A Matter of Interpretation |
| Summary: | A meeting between two captains gives Kaye ideas. |
| Date: | 2658.012 |
| Related Logs: | None |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
Miraculously, Vulture's Row survived last night's traumatic engagement virtually intact, though the flight deck below this small and empty room can't say the same. And while none of Majestic's contingent of fighters are coming in to land this quiet evening, for obvious reasons, the view through the window is filled with another sort of activity: repair crews in yellow-gold EVA suits buzzing about blasted metal and blackened slag, the light from their sparking torches giving them the aspect of tiny fireflies drifting alone through the dark reaches of space.
It's this scene that Aisling Kaye is watching, her hands clasped to her chest, a clutch of beads held between her fingers. She's in her off-duty clothes tonight - a leaf-green ladies' tee on which a faded golden harp is visible, loose black sweat pants, and pink-white sneakers. A truly epic pair of headphones, covered in stickers, is draped about her neck, through which earpieces can be heard the lonesome chords of a single solo piano.
Markovic appears at the edge of Kaye's vision, lifting a hand in a genlte wave. "Looks like you are doing a bit of thinking." Way to state the obvious. "Catch any sleep up in the Briefing Room last night?" With their berthings decompressed, all the pilots are either there, random offices, or sleeping in the sims.
Clara steps onto the deck, finally having been released from sickbay… mainly because they need the beds, and because while she's still got very little voice… she's stable, walking, and there is not much left to do other than a good lot of rehab. In her off duty BDUs, comfortable sweats and a force's track jacket, the woman steps up onto the deck, apparently having had the same idea as the other women. She still carries a rather thick bandage around ehr throat, the healing would something NO ONE wants to see… but otherwise she looks almost her old self. Thinner, paler..but walking and well enough.
"Mm." The small woman doesn't turn around. It doesn't take her long to place the voice, and she's too engrossed with the scene below her to bother with the niceties of rank. Instead, Mouse stares past the dull reflection of her face to take in the scene below her, lips moving in an inaudible prayer - or something. And then, delicately: "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Markovic stops beside the younger woman and dips her head a touch. "It all depends on your definition of beautiful." The Major turns a touch to see Clara and a smile lights her face, obviously pleased to see the woman. She beckons her close with a hand - presumedly for a hug - before looking to Kaye. "How are you holding up, Lieutenant? Gotten down to the surface, yet?"
Clara steps up closer at Markovic's beckoning, smiling, still silent, but she leans up and over for that hug, returning it tight and reassuringly, giving strength behind that embrace as if to say 'see? I'm alright'. She reassures the woman with a rub of her fingertips against Dejana's back, and then looks over to Kaye and gives a quiet smile…"LT." Clara whispers to her. The Captain has… nothing really left of a voice. Just a faint rasping of sound.
Mouse bites her lip uncertainly as she huddles into herself. Hugs from big and tall women are scary, even when they're given to other people. "I - I haven't - " she mumbles. "No." Small fingers dart across the hem of her tee to the music player clipped to her belt, which she turns off with a flick of her thumb. "You can't see the stars from down there. And I like stars." And for the stranger, in no more than a whisper, Kaye offers a shy "Hullo."
Markovic offers and easy smile to Clara. "So, when is the bandage coming off? And when will the voice be back?" Her brow quirks before looking back to Kaye. "Oh it is not too bad, actually. I talked to a shuttle pilot who said that it is quite nice down there. I was thinking of flying back down with Lieutenant Aquilina later. It might not be a bad idea to go see what it is like. And you may find a bed better than the floor of the briefing room." Well, the Major has her priorities in order.
Clara lofts a brow as she seems to realize the small LT is … intimidated? By them…Hugging? Clara furrows her brow, studying Kaye a bit closer. "Breathe, LT." She whispers, trying to be joking about it gently. Then she looks back to Markovic and shrugs faintly, not shaking her head, as that's an activity that still rather hurts. "Another week or so with the bandages…but the scars are… less than pretty. As for the voice… Who knows." She admits, trying to keep all emotion out of that rasping sound which she does have, not wanting to look scared or worried in front of a junior officer.
"I got - found - two pillows today," says Kaye, who doesn't look at all convinced about the merits of the surface. Still, a dimpled smile flashes across her birdlike face as she closes her eyes at the thought of putting to use her most recent acquisitions. They're like teddy bears, after all, but more cuddly and less ROWR. "The floor isn't bad, but - I mean, if you want me to go, I could - " Hazel eyes blink open to look at the other officer; then, she takes a breath. "Go," Mouse finishes lamely. "If you want."
Dejana nods to Clara, glancing to the bandages and then back to her face. Don't stare. "Scars are scars, Clara. Maybe I will get a few to match sometime soon, mm? I already have a few less than visible ones, if you recall. Just do not steal all the attention away from me." The Major doesn't comment on the woman's voice. Leave that be for now - best bet. "I am not going to order you to the surface if you would rather stick around up here, Lieutenant. I just think it might do good for some of the pilots to get out and stretch their legs in real gravity for a few hours. If you do not feel you fall in to that group, then you will probably make someone very happy by not taking up a slot down to the surface." Her smile and tone match each other with their warmth and honesty. "What brings you up here? Just to watch?"
Clara slightly nods about the scars, leaving it with a simple, "I know." They don't seem to bother Clara nearly so much as the voice matter, which she can do nothing about. She breathes through her nose quietly, resting one hand against Dejana's side in a familiar, close motion. She and the other woman are clearly almost two peas in a pod, though Clara doesn't try to make a big show of that. Her eyes return to Kaye, a faint smile touching her pale lips, "…the Captain is right. If you relax better here, then stay here… but the surface is worth it to many." Clara rasps out, trying to sound gentle about it.
"I - lost." Somehow, Kaye's managed to swallow a verb, and she doesn't move to fill it in. Fingers run restlessly over the worn surfaces of her rosary beads, counting them off in her head. "But - I - Yeah. Down there could be good," she continues - and one gets the sense that she'd have said more if she didn't catch sight of where one captain's hand has settled on the other captain's waist. "I - forgot something," Mouse mumbles, almost tripping over her words. Rosary beads clack together as they're unceremoniously shoved into her pockets. "In - um - " Hatch. Yes. Over there. "Good night?" It's spoken as a question as she sidles toward the door.
