Dancing Waters ((open))

[iona]

Shore leave; it was something Iona was starting to finally get used to. She had spent the better part of the last few weeks stressing out and getting extremely frustrated. It was hard, being in space for such a long period of time with many other people. Trying to fit in and socialize was something she decided was for a later time and date. She was all about her work right now. Iona wanted to prove to everyone and herself that she wasn't just a "pretty face", but was a serious student and had real work ethic. To some, she was seen as stoic and emotionless, but she was just focused on what mattered most, and that was the mental health and education of those aboard the Enterprise.

When the time came for her to finally put her work aside and start to relax, Iona didn't hesitate to take up the chance. She knew that she wasn't going to be of any use to anyone let alone herself if she kept herself locked away pouring over countless records and computer files. She wanted to get off the ship, even if it was for a couple of minutes. She just couldn't take it anymore and wanted to be alone, though in reality, she wanted someone to talk to. She had spent so much time keeping to herself that it was starting to slowly drive her mad.

Iona wasn't really sure what she had in mind when the time finally came for her shore leave. She hadn't really had the opportunity to let loose and cause any havoc and wasn't even sure if she wanted to try seeing as though she was sort of a loner at the moment. She left her quarters and walked the corridors, watching others pass her by. She merely sighed. Perhaps it was time she stop being so uptight and be the person that she really was. If people wanted to take her seriously, they would. She couldn't force people to look past her exterior. "I'm a lousy actor anyway." She said to herself. It was probably the truth but she was certain no one was paying her any real attention so she didn't care.

She wasn't sure when she'd get the chance to explore the ship and all other aspects of it and took this as her chance to get to know where she was. She waved to a few people and smiled mechanically to a few others. Sure, she wanted to fit in and socialize, but she also wanted to be nosy and mischievous. Iona whistled softly to herself, trying not to look suspicious. She walked into random rooms until she got bored, she made a pit stop in what looked like some sort of storage facility, and she finally decided that she needed something to do and someone to help her do it. Not too many people knew that she was only half-human and she was determined to keep it that way.

[koko]

((Hope you don't mind.))

Koko would never have called herself an especially “feminine” person. She had her moments, though, when she primed and polished herself up, trying to look her best. She usually gave up half way through, feeling too awkward from rubbing powder and paints across her face. It always wound up messy from lack of practice, so she had always worn the colors that did not matter whether or not the eyeshadow was smudged or the lipstick a bit off kilter. But for the most part, she avoided the stuff like the plague, always feeling like she was hiding behind some grimy mask. No, Koko was better off without attempting to improve her looks through artificial means, or any means in general.

But it was one of those days where she was feeling somewhat feminine, having no trees to scrape her knees and elbows on. Not the previous mentioned one with glosses and oddly shaped contraptions to make her body some rounder shape. It was a protective sort, the type where, after having thrown everything in her room on the floor in a frantic search, she found herself running as quickly through the halls as possible and searching through every place she had visited that day to find the missing object.

Koko generally disliked jewelry, but this was an entirely different matter. There were people and items that Koko became extremely attached to, and the moment she needed them, she could reach out and hold the person or object with a shaking desperation for support until she could stand on her own. This necklace was her lifeline, the single remaining piece of her mother that remained in the family. In his grief, her father had donated everything that belonged to his deceased wife. But she had been wearing the necklace during the accident, and Koko had managed to get a hold of it before her father had whisked it away along with everything else that she had claimed from her mother’s possessions.

She had worn it constantly the many months after the crash, rubbing the stone to calm her frightened nerves, and feeling the changes of temperature against her skin. She had not needed to wear it for, well, she had lost count of how long. So it would figure that the day she needed to wear it, she had lost it somewhere in the ship. She was angry with her father for not allowing her to keep any other of her mother’s things, she was angry at her brothers for not understanding why she needed this, but most of all she was angry with herself for having misplaced her most precious possessions. Her mother would not have minded. She never was a materialistic person, so a misplaced necklace would mean very little to her unless it was a gift from her husband. But Koko minded, and that ws what mattered most of all.

She could feel the heat building up behind her eyes as she clenched her jaw shut to prevent it from trembling. She did not know what she would do if the necklace was gone for good. It was the only thing she had worth a childhood of mom memories. Without it she was lost. Never before had she been so motivated to be on hands and knees on a cold floor to search for something. It was…a storage room? Whatever it was had not mattered at the time of visiting, being one of her usual attempts to avoid work for as long as was possible. When she thought about it, she could remember having taken it off to play with the chain while reading. But finding exactly where she had left it was going to be difficult.

So absorbed was Koko in search that she had not noticed that a woman had been in the room upon her own entering. Finally seeing her, she flinched in surprise, a fist flying inwards to calm the jumping stomach. “Bloody hell,” she whispered, “Things that go bump in the night and things hiding in the shadows. What’s next, the boogie man?” And shaking the light from her eyes, gave the woman a lopsided smile, “Sorry if I’ve disturbed you. I think I left something in here.”

[iona]

A little snooping around wouldn't hurt anyone. That was Iona's judgment. She turned on the lights and watched as the seemingly small room illuminated before her eyes. Iona walked further into the room and was amazed to find what she would consider valuable objects just lying about. Perhaps the Captain wasn't aware that many things were still here, waiting to be taken, or maybe no one really cared and it was some unwritten rule. Whatever it was, a large smile erupted on her face as she started to explore the room.

Iona looked around some more and found a few boxes here and there that were partially opened. She looked around as though someone else was there before she opened one of the boxes and yelped in surprise. It was a dead rodent. She quickly tossed that box aside and started looking for other things that would garner her interest. It was, after all, a storage room. She frowned, throwing a box out of her way. It was then that she saw something shimmer on the ground and she bent down to pick it up. It looked like a necklace and she held it up to examine it. She hadn't seen anything like that before.

Iona looked around for more artifacts like this one, but she didn't see any. Deciding that the room was basically useless, she made her way to where the light was. Before she could turn it off, she was surprised to hear someone else's footsteps. Iona backed away from the entrance and looked around frantically. There wasn't anything of value here, so whatever this person wanted, they could have. She really didn't find anything interesting, besides this necklace and she was starting to wonder who it belonged to, seeing as though it appeared to be fairly modern in design.

She blinked when she appeared to have startled the other person and grinned nervously when the other person talked. Well, what could she possibly be doing in a storage room besides sneaking around? Hopefully, this lady wasn't going to reprimand her or something. The last thing she needed was that. "Oh...no, no...I was just about to leave." She said, clearing her throat. She wasn't ever any good at lying and saw no reason to do so here. It was the honest truth, she was about to leave. Then the young woman mentioned leaving something in the room and Iona stood dead in her tracks.

"What was it?" She asked, with the necklace in her other hand absent-mindedly. She self-consciously looked around, as though that somehow would help. "I wasn't really doing anything, just kinda bored and snooping." She said, again, truthfully. She could sense and tell that the girl's missing artifact was extremely important and she refrained from trying to make any attempts at humor.

(not the best post, I admit)

[koko]

Koko was never a person to ask questions unless they were necessary. Questions were useful and needed in work, and made for contributions to the conversation. But having come across someone lurking in a storage room, someone who may not have supposed to be there, Koko would not dream of asking any questions. Well, maybe she would have thought of it, but definitely would not ask. It was none of her business. Nor was it her place to reprimand. She was a simple nurse, so what a complete stranger decided to do with her time, whether it was reading in bed or rummaging through the various storage facilities around the ship, had nothing to do with Koko.

Now if the said stranger had entered Koko’s room and began searching through her things - that would be an entirely different story. Koko would ask numerous questions, demanding answers until her paranoia was met.

As it was, even if Koko had been curious enough to ask questions about the woman, she was too preoccupied. Squatting by the set of boxes that she was certain that she had sat by, she pressed on the flaps to see if they could easily give way. Maybe the necklace had slipped into one of the boxes, but only if the lids were loose. A few did, but she hoped that it was somewhere on the floor. Searching through boxes would be tedious, but patting the floor would be effortless and take very little time. So she shifted the weighted boxes, running her hand beneath and through the crevices they made, hoping that her hand would strike against the familiar shape.

“Hm?” she half looked over her shoulder at the question, just enough to see the woman in her peripheral vision, “A necklace. Brown braided chain, oval stone pendant about this big,” she rounded her hand to show the shape, “Dark blue. There’s a Celtic knot carving on the front that’s…um…reddish brown.” It was actually the blood from her mother’s wounds that had caked itself into the design. No matter how hard Koko had scrubbed or dug at it, the last of her mother’s body was there to stay. But saying what it was truly was might discourage the woman from helping her. Not that she had expected help, but if the offer was made, Koko sure was not about to reject it.

Breathing out an exasperated and dejected sigh, Koko rocked on her heels, running her fingers through her short hair. She had been so sure that she had sat among these boxes. But if it was not on the floor it meant that it was in one of the boxes. In she dove, pulling back the flaps and shoving her hands among the contents, pulling out various objects of metal and dead fur. Never mind what it was. She was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her.

The worst that could happen, she told herself, was that someone had already walked off with it. But that was unlikely. How many people came to the storage rooms? There was not much to do there, no supplies to be used elsewhere or hidden nooks to store valuables in. Who would come down to the storage area unless they were hiding or accidentally wandered into the wrong area? No one, was Koko’s guess.

But what did she know?

[iona]

Iona watched as the woman silently began to look around for this item. She frowned, feeling sorry for the girl. She knew what it was like, losing something that was valuable to her, but worthless to everyone else and she made the choice to try and offer up a hand. "I'd be more than willing to help." She said seriously. She watched silently as the woman started frantically looking up and down the room and she decided to follow suit. She unconsciously put the necklace in her pocket and rolled up her sleeves, though there was barely a reason to do that.

She got down on her hands and knees, pouring over contents of books, boxes and other assorted items, sneezing slightly at the dust particles around her. She was looking into a box when the girl started to describe what the necklace looked like. Her eyes widened and she suddenly felt extremely guilty. She quickly took the necklace out of her pocket and held it up, examining it. It matched the description and Iona cleared her throat and said, slightly hoarse, "I think this is it." She stood to her full height, which wasn't much and held the necklace out at length.

Because she saw no reason to lie about it, she figured that honesty was the best policy. "I came in here because I was honestly bored out of my mind and started looking through some things." She pointed to a few open and discarded boxes on an old table before continuing, "Then I saw this necklace and found it pretty. I had it in my hand when you first came in. If I had known it was yours, I would have saved you the hassle of searching." She still had the necklace dangling and smiled softly. "I'm sure it means more to you than it does to anyone else."

She walked closer to the girl and looked around. She was glad that she had someone to talk to. It was a change of pace, seeing as though she had been keeping to herself these last few weeks. Though she sometimes welcomed her solitary, she did miss some form of contact, regardless of where it came from. She wasn't one to discriminate, that was for sure. "I'm...Iona." She motioned to say something else, but figured that she had done a lot of talking already and saw no reason to scare this girl away so she closed her mouth immediately after. It was bad enough that she had her necklace and even worse that she had been rambling on slightly.

[koko]

((Super-mega sorry for the delay. x.x))

There was an ache deep within the chambers of her chest as she finally removed the last object from the box that she was searching through, revealing that her prized necklace was not there. She could feel her heartbeat quickening as the warm, tingling sensation increased behind her eyes. This was ridiculous. Koko took pride in the fact that she could control these emotions that disturbed her in the presence of others. Sorrow, mourning, heartbreak, depression were all items of feeling that she kept to herself. Anger and frustration could be expressed freely. Cheerfulness was only natural. But anything that could be used against her, that would put her in a vulnerable position, was forbidden to be seen.

So Koko dug her torn up fingernails into the container, squeezing her eyes shut, struggling to even out her breathing. At least her back was towards the stranger. But she did not know if being weak before a stranger was worse than being weak in front of a person who knew her well. It was better, she concluded. Because a stranger was someone who would judge her but most likely never see her again. But being a ship that was going to be out in the middle of no where the better part of the year meant that she was bound to run into this woman again. Best to regain her composure and act like everything was peachy keen. After all, a necklace should not be so important to anyone that its loss would bring tears to the eyes.

Bullshit, Koko thought bitterly. She was upset and just wanted peace of mind. Was that so much to ask for?

Apparently it was not, for the next words out of the woman’s mouth were ones of good news. She spun on her heels, and seeing the familiar stone in the stranger’s hands, squealed in delight. She rose, her full height being far more than that of the woman’s, and eagerly snatched back the necklace. She giggled as she held it to her chest. “Diolch – ” she began the typical Welsh thanks before catching herself, remembering that the woman would probably have no idea what she was saying, “Blessed in your endeavors,” she finished absentmindedly. When the words finally filtered into her mind, a look of disgust crossed her face, “Damn. I’m beginning to sound like my father in my old age.”

But the woman would not understand the joke unless she had met Koko’s father. As far as she knew, no one on the ship had met her father, and she intended to keep it that way. Having her brothers relating stories about their childhood was bad enough. Having her father around would only cause numerous arguments and bring up the shamed past.

“Thank you,” she said at last, “Pleased to meet you, Iona. I’m Koko – ” Damn it. She had slipped in her excitement, “Call me Branwen.” She looked around the room, slipping the necklace over her head, “I’m sure that no one minds if you’re here. I initially came here because I didn’t feel like working. I take it you’re not crew? How long have you been on board?”

[iona]

Iona smiled softly. When the other girl snatched her necklace back, Iona didn't seem to mind. She'd have done the same thing, after all. At least she was good for something around here, even though a few minutes ago she was about to walk out of here with someone else's heirloom. That thought alone did something to upset her. Sure, it's not like she did it on purpose or anything, but knowing that it actually belonged to someone on this very ship and that it was probably extremely important was enough to do her in.

She was extremely pleased when the girl didn't retaliate or say anything negative. She didn't really want any quarrels with anyone on this ship. She had had enough of that back home. When she began thanking her, Iona merely blinked a few times and held an awkward smile on her face, then she spoke in a language she understood and smiled genuinely. "It's no problem. It didn't belong to me, so was not mine to take." She was glad that problem had been averted and was now eager to move onto something else. Since they were still in this storage room, she was still slightly curious as to what was being held here.

Again, this woman slightly confused Iona. She silently preferred the first name the woman had given her, and said, "Nice to meet you as well Branwen, although Koko sounds much better to me personally." She wasn't one to hold her tongue on such things and probably shouldn't have added that last bit in there, but it was done and she merely shrugged to herself. She had spent a lot of time worrying about what other people thought of her. What was the point? If they didn't like her, they didn't like her. She couldn't make people like her, even if she wanted them to.

She looked around again and replied to Branwen's inquires, "No, I'm not crew...really. I'm like the official teacher here. But, I've been on board...for about three months now. Still trying to adjust, really. Not sure if I'm doing a good job, seeing as though I've ended up here in storage, right?" She joked. "How long you have been aboard?" She asked, suddenly curious. "When I was asked to join the Enterprise, I had no idea how big the ship actually was until I first set foot on it. Where I'm from, ships aren't usually this big at all." She smiled. Iona was still standing slightly near the door, though she wasn't entirely sure if she was ready to leave just yet. "Forgive me for asking but, what is so special about that necklace?" Though she had some guesses, she really was rather curious and wanted to know.