SIM:MacKenna Fly Away Home

((Sickbay, USS Arrow))

Sliding up to one of the biobeds in sickbay, Ash found herself far more at ease that the first time she had done this. Having been aboard when the Arrow first launched, she had been painfully lost in her own anxieties and forced down by the trappings of all her mind told her was wrong. Bold was not in her vocabulary, and fear was prevalent where others were involved. Yet this time, she had grown. Instead of hiding behind the flame red locks that fell unceremoniously around her, she found a place of relative safety in silence and in observation.

Perhaps that was yet another thing that made her an asset to her job.

But there was more. There was the feeling that this place was home. This wasn't a new transfer or orders to a ship with no connections. There was warmth in the embrace of the cold tritanium hull. For so long she'd spoken fondly of the Arrow on account of who captained her, but now it was where she would build a life among the stars.

What a dream! As a child she had spent so many nights leaned up against the side of a feathered leg of the draft horse, her tiny, pale frame rising and falling by his breaths, staring at the twinkling lights above and thinking about the future. He had taken her as far as he could, chasing the night so many mornings as the sun began to kiss the sky, forcing her flaming hair back into a veritable fire as they raced across the highland countryside. Hands stretched upwards, she'd fallen into the rhythm of the hoofbeats like the gentle lullaby they were, dreaming...dreaming of her home among the stars.

And now, though he was gone, she was here.

R'Ariel: I think I can help take care of this, um, pretty standard check-up, check in, I am after all ::her voice trailed slightly:: one of the doctors here.

Ash raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, nearly imperceptibly.

MacKenna: I would very much appreciate it.

Though not dressed as a doctor, or as an officer might traditionally, Ash was not either. Arrow was on leave, after all.

R'Ariel: Counselor R'Ariel at your service.

Ash nodded a proper greeting, her hair falling just as it should and returning as it would be expected to. Its gentle waves had always done her the favor of offering seclusion when she needed it most, or at least the feeling of such, though she had taken to pulling it back here and then. A thought graced her just then of a specific moment and how she might pull it back that day, but there would yet be time for that plan. She couldn't help nor stop the small smile that appeared as she rediverted her thoughts back to the moment.

MacKenna: It is good to meet you, Counselor. I'm the new Intelligence chief.

And so, the officer in front of her began what was quite plainly the motions Ash was used to that comprised the standard onboarding medical. Yet, there was something there. The woman seemed somewhat distracted, as if there was something she needed to take care of. Or perhaps, there was something else that had her attention. Finally, Ash followed her gaze towards the shelves near where she had entered the room.

R'Ariel: You know I have to ask, do you often bring a flower to sickbay?

The counselor was scanning her artificial hand at this point, which seemed to give her a bit of a hiccup in the flow of things, but Ash paid no mind and the process was easily recovered. Instead, she focused on the thistle she had deposited on the shelf. The light purple was slight, yet it radiated the feeling of home, of a claim she had shrugged off and refused since SFI had branded her as having 'no home connections'. It was a declaration, however subtle, however in-conversant, of her claim, her stake on this place.

SFI, is it were, would have to revise her file soon. 'No home connections' would be shattered when that band was placed on her finger, if not well before if her flowers told the tale. Her emerald eyes sparkled lightly.

MacKenna: Perhaps more now than before.

R'Ariel: Response?

Talking to others had never been something Ash had been good at, but she would ride this high as long as it would take her. She smiled and even though she continued to avoid direct eye contact, she didn't feel the insecurities creeping in like usual. Maybe the flower had something to do with that too.

MacKenna: It's called a thistle. They grow on Earth, from the place where I was born.

R'Ariel: Response?

Perhaps this was going to be the most efficient check in possible. Was that luck? Did she bring luck with her, or was Shayne the luck in her life much like he was its light? To be checked out by the counselor at the same time as to be cleared medically might get her through the onboarding process faster and with less prodding, which she'd never argue with. Still, the counselor also didn't seem like she was in any rush. They plodded through the process carefully, without laser focus and obviously touching on both sides of the necessity.

Either way, it was a pleasant change of pace from the usual and not nearly as stress inducing as what one would typically expect. Or maybe Ash was still hyped up on endorphins from the morning...

MacKenna: I don't think much has changed since my last eval. SFI had us in every assignment, which for me, was last month. Healed a couple bruised ribs and I was good as new.

R'Ariel: Response?

But now Ash found herself glancing up at the flower wondering about home, and all that such a concept might hold for the future. The dreams of a small, lanky, fire-haired child had ignited a lifetime of strife. Yet for all of the trouble and pain, it had led her here. For everything, to have walked through the forge, the fire, through hell itself...her dreams may have waited while the road led her...

...home.

TAG/TBC

--

Commander Ash MacKenna
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Arrow

R238605KN0

Return to Kalianna Nicholotti