Dropping In

Posted on Thu Apr 11th, 2019 @ 7:40am by Lieutenant Commander Aurelia Taylor

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: after everyone leaves Cortic
1322 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

As soon as Anje filed her reports, she made her way to sickbay. She didn't know what had happened, only that Cdr. Holmes, the woman who named her Twinkle and saved the Christmas party for her, had had a serious issue and was in sickbay, ~A Russian always takes owed debts seriously.~ She reminded herself as she walked in on a sleeping Lia. A quick look around showed that Anje wasn't the first person here to see her, ~Cdr. Taylor most likely.~

She took a seat across from Holmes, waiting for the security chief to awaken, determined to be there when she did even if it meant sleeping in that very chair until she did. She busied herself designing an outfit for Gallia's little girl; fashion and art had been burning passions of hers once upon a time, she didn't know why she'd been gone from them so long.

Lia was aware of someone close to her, but her surprise was absolute as she saw Anje Brett. "Hello Twinkle, what are you doing here? I can't remember your name, I know I should. But right now........." She felt fuzzy and probably looked like a bad horror movie, "Guess you heard about my little problem, I never even knew. It didn't stand a chance, neither of us did".

"Twinkle will be just fine." Anje replied, "And, yeah, I don't know any details, just heard when I got back you were hurt and I felt like I needed to check on you. And also I heard Crewman Fleihr was going to need therapy after Liorga's assistance in surgery."

"So, have you eaten anything?" Anje asked, moving closer, "I'm happy to get you anything you want. Also totally willing to run a brush through your hair if you'd like."

Shaking her head, Lia replied. "I think I'll pass on the eating right now, don't think it would stay where it's supposed to. And thanks for the offer to do my hair, but I want to really wash it first. I think there might be, well you know". She looked at this woman who sat beside her and thought, "Anje! That's it, you name I mean. Sorry I knew I knew it, just took a little time to remember". She looked down in embarrassment, "Don't want to be insulting a possible friend now do I?" She now quickly changed the subject, "Speaking of Liorga, did she get her friend out of that place? In fact did we get any of them out?" Lia was surprised that she remembered that fact, but not this woman's name. "I lost a child I never knew I was having, seems I may never have kids at all. Problems caused by, well lets just say history is best left alone". She didn't want to burden this woman, or frighten her away by being needy. Lia wanted friends, she needed them so she could move on. If she ever could or would move on, depended on getting understanding about how to do that. People were the solution, but on Lia's terms not theirs.

Anje wasn't great at this, never had been, this was more her mom's forte, but she desperately wanted to help Lia somehow. With tears in her eyes, she grabbed Lia and pulled her close, hoping it would help, if even only a little.

Being hugged by Anje confused Lia, but the tears on her shoulder made her aware that this was Anje's way of connecting. Reaching up and around Anje's waist, Lia hugged Anje back. "I needed this, thank you", it sounded so little for something which made her feel normal again. "Hey once I get out of here, you want to go to 10 Forward and grab a milkshake? I don't drink, so it's all I can offer".

"That would be wonderful." Anje smiled, ruffling Lia's hair, "Maybe I should become a blonde, what do you think? I mean, you blondies are totally owning it here..."

Pulling her head back slightly, Lia smiled. "You can only become blonde, if your collar and cuffs match". This was a reference to head and lower parts matching, "Plus just think how your other half will react, are they gonna want to date a blonde?"

Anje giggled at Lia's slightly risque reference before saying, "What other half?" She shook her head, "Nah, I got nothing to lose on that tip."

That easy statement made Lia pull back a little further, "Are you telling me that you're unattached? I sort of guessed you'd have someone, I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark". She felt uneasy about Anje now, the casual easy going woman before her seemed to have it all. And now she, Lia, had brought up partners little realising Anje didn't have one.

"Oh, honey, it is no big deal." Anje laughed, "I'm great at my job, an awesome painter, and my archery skills are, as Gallia says, Scottish level good. I'm just bad at love. Can't have it all I suppose." She'd become philosophical about it, though she still missed Cheline every time she went to bed with her cat, Georgy.

Taking Anje's hand, Lia gave it a little squeeze. "Bad at love? Don't believe it, not with your attitude. I just think you haven't met the right person yet, or perhaps you let them get away?" She tried to keep it light, she was beginning to really like this woman. In a way Anje reminded Lia of her younger self.

"I had one." Anje said sadly, "She left me for nobody..." Taking a second to pull herself together, Anje quickly course corrected again, pulling out her tablet and beginning to sketch away as she talked, "So, got any big plans for shore leave?"

A change of subject, Lia could understand that. "Only one for now, but I'll be doing it alone. Other than that, not a lot really. What about you?"

"My little sister is going to be joining us here, attending the onboard academy." Anje answered, still sketching away contentedly, "We.. we sorta drifted apart over Cheline. So, I'm hoping this will be a chance for us to reconnect. You know, when she was little, she'd have nightmares, come running down the hall and get in my bed. If I had a nickle for every time I went to bed by myself and woke up with Milla I could buy this ship."

Nodding as she listened, Lia noted what Anje was doing. "What are you drawing?" Her curiosity was active, "As for buying the ship, I wouldn't bother. Too much damage, and just look at the crew". Lia tried to laugh but it still hurt, "I may try and meet this little sister of yours, get some family dirt". Another attempt at laughing, but still too painful.

"Give me about one.... more... second..." Anje said, turning the sketch pad to show Lia a beautifully done rendering of her self, albeit a cleaner better kempt version, "There you go, a Brett original, and it's all yours."

"Wow, that's beautiful. Th...Thanks for that". Lia spluttered her gratitude, her eye's meeting her own eye's in the drawing. "Are you sure I can have this? I mean don't artists keep their work for reference?" She almost didn't want to touch it for fear of ruining it, "You have one hell of a talent, why the bloody hell are you working here?" She couldn't put the words together, the gift of this picture made Lia realise how deep the talent pool ran on the ship and the type of people she worked with.

"The joy of art is in the sharing." Anje smiled, taking Lia's hand again to let her know that no matter how bad things got for her, there would always be a 'Twinkle' in her eye.

Commander Lia Holmes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Elysium

Lt. Cdr. Anje Brett
Chief Ops Officer/Artist in Residence
USS Elysium