JL | LtCmdr Rinehart & Cmdr Dhej - "Sunshine After The Rain"

Posted on 241503.01 @ 10:13pm by Commander Tierney Rinehart

Mission: Holy Cow

=/\=Lieutenant Commander Rinehart's Quarters =/\=

Tierney's mind was blank aside from an occasional burst of color. Mainly shades of blue fractals seemed to want to materialize and bloom into bigger, more vibrant, explosions. It had always been like this. The first time she could remember laying there and coordinating 'thoughts' into color she may have only been four years old, laying on her back and allowing the moon to play its gentle hands over her face. The day had been a particularly hard one, filled with her first horrible encounter with other children at a daycare facility. They'd lured her over into a particularly dark and shady spot during cartoon time and thrown building bricks and other painful items at her -- but what had hurt the most were the words they flung. Over time 'weirdo' and 'glow worm' became 'freak' and 'monster' laced with various other verbal assaults against her glowing skin. Someone had once asked her if she'd managed to find an old nuclear waste dump, another someone had taken that question and started the rumor that she lived in an old nuclear waste dump.

But today's bright shift in inward aurora had nothing to do with being teased or attacked. If anything the people who had seem her glow were more intrigued and seemingly awe inspired by the constellations that dotted her hide like the stars dotted the velvet night sky. Today she lay there thinking, feeling, mourning, and rejoicing. It didn't feel right. Part her her, a great part of her, wanted to place the blame for her loss on the Arrain. Part of her wanted to grab Kerenal by the hand and lead him somewhere she could simply just wrap around him, close her eyes, revel in the fact he was there, warm, and alive -- and forget that Starfleet, and the Vanguard, ever existed. And then there was a third part that dictated that she stay, that she show reserve on both other fronts and simply allow the tumultuous tides to roll on as they so chose.

The delicate shells of her ears twitched as she heard the barest whisper of a sound. "Karim?" She called from where she lay on her couch, her voice gritty and deep from prolonged lack of use, but she remembered that she'd allowed him in a few hours ago. He'd insisted on taking a watch to be sure she was alright. She wasn't... And he was more than smart and intuitive enough to realize that. Damn Trill and their hundreds of years of insight and experience... It made them appear psychic, and she loved Karim all the more for it.

Karim looked up from the chair he'd been sitting. Since returning to the ship, he'd decided to keep an eye on Tierney for a while. He'd heard about her injury as soon as he came aboard, and rather then reporting to duty, he'd immediately gone to her quarters to see her. Kneeling by her side he said quietly "I'm here Tierney, are you ok?"

"I'm ok." She replied, partly opening her eyes and turning her head towards the source of her friend's voice and found him sitting only a couple feet away. She reached for his hand, offering him a small smile. "Sorry I fell asleep." The Starling whispered.

Shaking his head, Karim said "It's ok, you need your sleep. I do however want to talk about what happened when you are feeling better. For now though, rest. I am here at least until my next duty shift."

"You need rest, Karim. More than just a chair and a cup of tea." Tierney patted his hand and tucked herself back under her blankets, happy for the warmth before rolling onto her side. "You're lucky I'm so small. There's more than enough room on here for both of us, and we can talk."

Smirking, he stood, slipped off his boots and uniform jacket. Slipping under the blanket he said "Please don't take this the wrong way Tierney, but this is a whole new level of closeness." Yawning, he added "You're lucky I'm so tired."

"Keep your pants on and it's all good." She teased and chuckled lightly, tucking her friend in and curling close. "I figure that if girls can cuddle in a platonic fashion, so too can joined Trill whether they're sleepy or not."

Smiling, he said "No need to worry about my trousers Tierney, I love you, just not that way." Growing serious, he said "Seriously though, I'm worried about you. I know this isn't the best time to talk, with you recovering and all, but I still haven't figured out exactly what happened on the planet. Quoichio was somewhat vague on the details."

Tierney feigned a gentle huff, "You'e breaking my heart." She sighed in mock dramatics, but the joking soon died and the somber darkness of reality set in. "Things went pear shaped." The Starling replied, searching the features of the spotted man's face, "The Romulan went charging off like Robocop after the explosion and I went to go herd him back to the group." Her tongue worried her lower lip as she drew a breath, "Guess I startled him, no one was hearing anything well after the explosion and..." She shrugged, "he shot me. We tumbled down a ravine, couldn't get back up, spent the night in a field and sh'Thrass found us in the morning."

The Starling wanted to end it there, leave the rest for another day, or never at all, but she knew Karim wouldn't stand for it, and she knew he likely had already figured out the worst of it. "I... I lost the baby." No... She hadn't technically lost anything, the term seemed so fuzzy and foreign to her. It didn't sound right. Not at all. Losing something implied it could be recovered, saved, or found -- she couldn't do any of the above with the little life she'd been creating.

Not knowing what to say, Karim lay still for a moment, then quietly said "I'm sorry Tierney. I know being pregnant was a shock for you, but now, its so sudden. I don't know what to say, I'm sorry."

From under the covers, Tierney reached to brush an errant strand of hair away from Karim's forehead and slowly combed it back in place as if soothing him would soothe her. "It's ok." She lied. It wasn't ok right then. It likely wouldn't ever be ok, but she hadn't been able to muster the need to be overtly upset over the situation. For the moment, she decided, she was comfortably numb.

Sighing, he said "I think I know you well enough to know when you aren't being 100% truthful. I'll let it go this time, but you need to know I'm here for you, for anything ok?"

To that she nodded, pursing her lips and bring her arms around him for a brief hug. "I know this." Tierney nodded again, offering him a small half smile, "You're always here for me. Always. I appreciate you for that and more." She murmured softly. He'd become one of her greatest allies and closest friends, someone she could trust and depend on. For that the Trill was worth his weight in gold pressed latinum. "Kerenal..." She all but whispered the ghost of a name, "He's good people." She was of course referring to the man in sickbay, the one the Enterprise had rescued just before Karim came aboard, the one she'd called in a report on. "I stand by my referral that he take up the Ops position." But that was Tierney, all business during times of happiness and strife alike. It was what made her an impeccable officer and a damn good Spook.

Shaking his head, Karim replied "Ok, I'll take your advice. Though if anything goes wrong with him, I will be coming for you to help fix it."

"If anything goes wrong with him, I'll be the one to fix it regardless." She sighed and lay her head back down against her arm and a throw pillow. "Have you ever had a regret? One you thought you'd never have a chance to fix?" The Starling asked.

Nodding, he said "Yes of course, one I think about often, but I also have 5 other lifetimes of regrets."

"Kerenal is one of my greatest." She confided, closing her eyes. "I took the offer of indoctrination into Starfleet Intelligence, and I was never able to tell him or say goodbye. Believe me when I say that he's a good man, Karim. Good doesn't even begin to cover it."

Smiling, he replied "From your tone it sounds like there is a long story behind that statement."

"Very long." She nodded and smiled shyly, half opening her eyes, "Someday I'll be happy to tell it to you."

Nodding, he yawned and said "I look forward to it. For now though, I think both of us need some rest. Before we do that, did I miss anything else exciting while I was planetside?"

"Nothing other than Kerenal's arrival." She hummed tiredly, nosing back into her pillow.

Yawning, he said "Ok, sounds good. I'll see you soon, let's get some sleep." Snuggling down into the pillow, he hoped he would be able to sleep. He hadn't shared a bed with someone for a long time, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to rest or not.

=/\=End Log=/\=

Commander Karim Dhej
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-F

&

Lt Commander Tierney Rinehart
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS ENTERPRISE, NCC-1701-F