Rivulets of Thought.

Posted on Sat Jul 20th, 2019 @ 6:28pm by

883 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: What Stalks The Night
Location: Observation Deck

Anika found some small amount of peace in sitting in the base of one of the great viewer windows on the observation deck. She'd left Ediras sleeping in their quarters, finally having worked off his anger at her father. She however, was at a loss. Anika knew what was coming if she continued to defy him in such a way. One bare foot emerged and tapped the bulkhead from under the sari wrap skirt that fell in rivers of silk over long legs.

Amélie had been wandering through the massive ship, trying to learn her way around, seemingly unsuccessfully. She had intended to get back to medical, yet somehow she had ended up on the observation deck. She paused, sighing softly before turning in a slow circle until her gaze fell on the dark haired woman sitting on the edge of the window. Walking across, Amélie offered a smile. "Well, this isn't medical, but the view is definitely much better," she said with a warm smile.

"It is rather" Anika murmerred, casting a glance over her left shoulder at the newcomer to her solitude. "Do you need a guide to get back to medical?"

With a shake of her head, Amélie laughed softly. "Sickbay is my starting point for everything. If I can get back to there I start over again. I was actually trying to find the First Officer, I'm supposed to be reporting in, but I think the turbolift is deliberately putting me out on the wrong decks!"

"Well if it was your intent to find the XO you succeeded. " her dark eyes flickered to her rank. "Have a seat Lieutenant..." she paused in a silent inquiry for her name.

"Really? Amélie laughed again, this time with a shake of her head as she turned toward the other woman and held out her hand. "Lieutenant Amélie D'Aramitz," she said warmly. "I'm your new ships counselor. I just came aboard yesterday and was told to check in with you?"

"Anika Yashui. " she replied in kind as she clasped her hand and shook it warmly. "Im not so much a stickler for that as some, but it could have waited till I was on duty."

Amélie paused as she released the other woman's hand. "Well I had originally planned to just make sure I knew where I was going, but seeing as how I've found you," she paused and smiled, momentarily, her eyes narrowing slightly as she cast another gaze over the First Officer. "Are you alright Commander?" she asked gently.

Her response, a quiet laugh let's probably not reassuring to the young counselor. "Anika please, I'm off duty. If you really want Commander Yashui you can find her at 0800 on the bridge, not in civillian clothes."

"Alright, Anika," Amélie said with a slight nod of her head as she took the seat in the window that had been offered to her earlier. "Watching the stars is a good way to escape isn't it?" she asked with a smile. "You can ignore most everything and just get lost in them."

"You're not wrong." Taking a deep breath the tall woman heaved a sigh "This view is the culmination of a little girls dream. "

"The thing about stars," Amélie said with a warm smile, "is that it doesn't matter how old you are or where you are, they are always the same. Those stars that that little girl looked at and wished upon are the same ones she looks on now. Unfortunately it's just everything else that gets complicated."

A wry sound of amusement came from the XO "Life has that tendency. Especially with xenophobic, humanocentric, manipulative parents..." her voice took on a tone of disgust.

"Want to get a hot chocolate and talk about it?" Amélie asked gently. "I've got no place else to be and you might feel better if you get it off your chest."

"I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop, my father wants to ruin my career and he will try everything to get me home to birth little 100% Indian babies until I'm too worn out to want to be anything but mommy." she sounded exhausted by the whole thing.

"Dealing with parental pressure can be incredibly difficult, especially when you have a family with deep cultural beliefs. I assume that you don't want to be the one going home to meet his expectations?" Amélie's voice was gentle as she spoke.

"That'd be a hard no." she muttered wryly. "No babies. Never."

Amélie laughed softly. "There's nothing wrong with that. Lots of people feel that way and still have very happy, productive, meaningful lives. It's more important that you do what makes you happy, what ever that may be?" '
'
"I suppose that is true. I've worked my entire life to get to this moment in my career. What more could I want?" Anika's smile was gentle, content as she sat in the soft light of the stars.

"Personal happiness is the greatest thing any person can achieve," Amélie said softly. "Do what ever makes you happy. Everything else will come into place eventually."

"I hope you are right."

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Commander Anika Yashui
XO
USS Dreadnought

and

Lieutenant Amélie D'Aramitz
Chief Counselor
USS Dreadnought

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