You good?

Posted on Fri Sep 9th, 2022 @ 4:03pm by Laurier Cami & Leiddem Kea (*)

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Cargo Bay
Timeline: COLD (late)
1242 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Leiddem crawled out of his tent leaving the warmth it offered and glanced around the cargo bay. Not many people were awake at all given the lateness which meant a quick detour to the bathroom and then galley a quick trip. What he did not expect to happen was the woman who he had been wanting to speak to since last night to be just sitting there in the make-shift galley as if waiting for him. It was serendipity if he believed in that type of thing at all. He coughed to make his appearance better known as he moved over grabbing some hot water or at least he hoped lukewarm water and popped a herbal tea bag in before he joined her. “You good?” He asked.

Cami made a grunting noise that sounded like a cross between 'yeah', 'meh' and 'what?' all put together. A parka wrapped tightly over her head, she looked grumpily at him, expecting that her growl had somehow been understood.

“Would you like one?” The man offered holding up an empty mug shaking in her direction. It was easy to see she was not in the best mood but even then he was not used to getting a grunt as a response. Maybe Delaney was correct Cami and the issues that were now going on in the friend group. He had never been in this situation before so and did not really know how to react apart from put on his friendliest face and me the friend he had always been.

She made another grunting noise, then shook herself out of her grumpy zone to nod her head. "Why do we keep getting into a mess, Lei?" she finally croaked. "The ship almost blowing up, turning into a freezer, upsetting just about everyone on board...did I do something to upset the Prophets somewhere along the way?"

The man finished setting about fixing the tea before he finally tuned around and looked at her properly. In his opinion she looked exhausted but he could not claim to look much better and he would never tell her how bad she looked. He slowly approached setting down the two mugs of herbal tea on the over turned crate before he pulled another one over to where she sat. He slumped down onto it before he looked at her again and wrapped an arm around her shoulder bringing her close. “I do not think it is your offending of your prophets. I think it is our collective bad luck.” He said softly.

"If you believe in luck, and not in the will of the Prophets," she sighed. "I don't know. What am I doing here, Lei? I feel like I've been on this horrible path lately. Nothing's been going my way. Maybe I'd be better off not being here." The thought had crossed her mind a few times in recent times. She'd not had much chance to really enjoy her time on Rosie apart from some of the relaxed times she'd had with Jea. The whole thing with Dixoho going into stasis seemed to have triggered this downward spiral; like she was suddenly aware of how dark the universe could feel.

“You are being my friend and my sisters friend and Dixoho’s friend. That would not offend the prophets nor lead them to make you unhappy but if you really are unhappy here let me help you find some happiness.” He said not wanting her to be unhappy on the Mary Rose. Maybe it was the sign of a good friend that he did not offer more to keep her there but offered to help to find a way to make her happy again.

"And how are you going to make me happy?" she asked, entirely unconvinced that he could follow through with that offer.

“Well if you are unhappy here I know people out in the universe. Could help find you a new ship or place.” He offered gently. It was not what he wanted but he would do it. “You are my friend and I am not about to let you suffer if i can help somehow.”

"I'm...I'm not unhappy here..." She frowned. She insisted on it out loud, but it had been a rough year. "Rosie is as much a home as anywhere. And I ran away from the last one I had - I can't run away from this one."

"Then what is going on? Talk Cam... this isn't a one-time offer but you need to let me know what is going on in there? I can't help otherwise and I really would like to help." He suggested in a no-nonsense tone. He did not want to say it was like talking to one of his sisters who was in some drama and not really explaining stuff but it felt like it was.

"Well for a start I can't help but seem to make everyone else pissed off with me..." She snapped. "Prophets..." The word escaped as a resigned sigh. "You've got something good, Lei. Someone who is actually pretty. And decent. She's good for you."

“Cam… I am not pissed off at you other than slightly confused about all of this.” The older man admitted as she stretched out his legs and wrapped the blanket around them both a bit better. “Yeah, Laney is pretty awesome but so are you just not in the same way. Same levels, different styles. I am not going to say it to make you feel better. You know I speak nothing but the truth but you are pretty too. Actually, everyone on this ship is pretty. Gotta talk to Reuben about that actually.” He half mumbled the last bit to himself.

"Pfft. How shallow are you?" She teased, a moment of levity that was closer to her actual self than she had been feeling. A short silence fell as she tried to lift herself out of self-driven melancholy. "Do you think the Prophets really are punishing me, Lei?" she asked finally.

The man was silent for a long moment before shaking his head and poking her shoulder. “No, but I do think you are punishing yourself for some unknown reason.” He offered as an explanation for how she might be feeling but he was sure even his goddesses would not punish someone like that.

"Hmph. Probably." She looked away, distantly trying to piece it back together. "I should try and work things out with Laney, I guess. She pretty much hates me right now, huh?"

"Hate is a strong word Cam and Laney does not feel it often, if at all. She is confused and does not really understand what happened so I think that maybe you need to help with that confusion," Leiddem said rising from his perch with a kiss her to her temple leaving the blanket around her. "I am always going to be here for you Cam. That is not going to change." He assured.

"I know." She let him go, falling back into the cold and lonely silence. He'd lifted her spirits a little. And at least he wasn't angry with her. But she'd need to figure a few things out, starting with Delaney. It wasn't a conversation she was particularly looking forward to, but it needed to happen. Sighing, she closed her eyes, dropped her head to rest against her propped-up knees, and let the quiet swallow her.