The Night and the Silent Water (Complete)

[Kuzo]

Ostensibly focused on the mug she held cupped in both hands, sipping quietly, she followed his circuit around the lounge out of the corner of her eye. She looked up swiftly though at his question, blinking for a moment before tilting her head to the side.

"Allies is a weird word to use," she said with a shrug. "It implies I'm part of some conflict that, frankly, I have no interest in. I have colleagues, employers, friends- but allies? I don't think it's a word I'd use. I live on Dosuun, I work there and Panatha- I've been treated well both places, and it allows me to do the work I like to do. It lets me make a comfortable, stable life for Boo. The First Order has this weird reputation, but I haven't seen a shred of anything resembling it. And the Sith? You're correct, they are funding me. They've been down right *welcoming*. I'm not siding with them. This is just my life. This is the path forward that I've found, and it works for me."

She paused, pushing away from the counter with her hip and balancing the cup delicately for a moment. She looked thoughtfully at the liquid night swirling in her hands, a small frown on her lips.

"The research on Panatha is.... intriguing," she finally said. "And yes, I think it has the potential to help people. The galaxy at large though? Probably not, if I'm being honest. But it's also not the kind of research that will hurt the galaxy at large either."

Taking a sip of caf, she sighed, looking up at him, the same thoughtful look now aimed in his direction rather than at the mug.

"It's.... complicated. Sometimes, we don't have to do things that will make wide sweeping changes. Sometimes, the best we can do is ease suffering where we find it. On my homeworld, there is a series of promises that someone makes when they become a doctor. I won't bore you by reciting the whole thing," she smirked slightly. "But we don't set out to help the entire galaxy. We set out to help each individual patient to the best of our ability, and to improve ourselves so we can help patients in the future. This research will help me do that, if I can crack it."

And that was the key, wasn't it? If she could crack it. She wasn't sure yet that she'd be able to, especially with her attention split in so many direction. But what else was there to do? She'd keep trying. Quitting was something other people did.

Now she smiled, more at her own expense than anything else.

"If it was just simple research, I would tell you the details. But there is an actual patient involved, so my lips are sealed. But.... I will say this. It's a mystery. And something that I don't believe any other doctor has studied before- and if there's one thing I hate.... it's untreatable mysteries. That's a lazy title for something. It just means that someone hasn't figured it out yet. That no one's put in the time and the work. So. Once I knew about it, knew that it needed attention, so to speak...." she shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't really help it. It's not the kind of thing I can walk away from. I don't like not knowing."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Perched on the table, Connor sipped his drink and listened. Nodding now and then to show he was listening - and he really was - and rubbing his hands around the cup to take the last bit of warmth from it.

"Well you've not helped stem my curiosity but I look forward to seeing more on that note, but of course I understand about the confidential matters. I'm not going to push."

Taking the last mouthful, the often sweetest part of a caf with sugar, he smacked his lips and set the cup down on the table and leant on it with his hands facing back. His eye started to twitch, and he broke off to press a few fingers to the dry wound, blinking to stem the muscle spasm. It happened from time to time, after the fight.

"Excuse me," he muttered, giving it a few seconds until it calmed, "okay, sorry."

He looked back up at her as if nothing had happened.

"I wasn't insinuating you were part of a conflict, I didn't mean that, Irajah. Honestly, it's so refreshing to see someone like you confident of their ability and not feel bullied into one side or another. You have your belief and you stick by it, and you see the galaxy with both eyes open, not misted or misguided by an ancient religion. I admire it. I really do." His face was sincere. "I'm going to look into what I can offer the First Order. In military, or leadership or diplomacy, anything really. I want to serve an ideal and the more you tell me, the more I am interested."

Pursing his lips, Connor narrowed a playful eye at her.

"May even have to have you reporting to me one day, we never know." He laughed the silly statement off and looked down at the floor. "Tell me about Boo," He looked up. "I'm genuinely interested."

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

"Oh ho, I'm solidly in the civilian sector, so hopefully I'm never reporting to you. That sounds awkward. Besides, I don't fish off the company pier, so we'd have to cancel dinner," she said with a grin, regaining more of her equilibrium as they talked about other things. "But it *is* a good place. I think you'd like it."

"And hang on, you got your question, I'm not sharing another thing until I get mine," she continued, crossing her arms over her chest with a certain mock finality. Of course, she forgot about the caf- almost spilling it in the process. It ruined some of the effect and she grimaced self consciously.

Despite his nonchalance, her question dismissed any chance that she'd missed the display a moment ago.

"Your eye," she said, a little blunter than she'd intended. "I've never seen an injury like that." Irajah paused, obviously looking for something to say that wasn't as blunt, wasn't simply what happened?

Sometimes, there was nothing else but to do it.

"What happened?"

​A pause, and then, belatedly, "If you can talk about it."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He laughed, an honest laugh. She was so sweet in her slightly awkward ways, but covered them up so much more awkwardly. It was wonderful.

With a slight narrowing of the eyes at her perfect diversion of the question, he mirrored her and folded his arms, settling back on the table. A sugary and non-intimidating stand off across the lounge it was then.

"This thing?" He pointed to the eye. "Ever get sand in your eye and you just keep on rubbing and rubbing until it's all gone? Well, I went a bit too far."

Connor nodded. Waited.

Then sniggered at his own humour.

"No, it's fine. It was on Ruusan. A group of us from the Silver Shadows decided to hit the Sith Triumvirate once and for all, take them out on the planet they took from us. Over all, it went well. The Triumvirate collapsed and their academy fell. But I clashed with a Sith Sorceress who's been somewhat of a thorn in my side since I can remember. Matsu Xiangu."

He gently moved the flesh under the wound, clocking her reaction. Being a doctor, it was probably too good to resist looking at and inspecting and prodding.

"We had a nasty fight and sort of have a stalemate, but her cybernetic limb was stronger than my own flesh and blood, and her hand, well, her fingers, came closer and closer as much as I tried to push back but she hooked in, and pulled. Just straight on clawed my face, nearly took the eye clean out. It was messy, but I can see fine. Took a while to heal mind you, and my tear duct is derranged now so just wait until you see me cry - nothing but blood from this eye. Looks pretty horrid, but it's a neat ice breaker. And it doesn't hurt. It spasms a little, like just then, but...yeah. That's it."

He cocked his head a little to the side and smiled.

"I'm a walking canvas of Sith art. Anyhow. That's your question, so what about mine. Hm?"

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

She'd made a face at his actual joke, but padded across the lounge to sort of peer at his eye while he talked. He'd already made it very clear that he didn't want it fixed- but it was almost a physical itch that she had to resist scratching to not offer again to look into it more. If he wanted to, he knew how to find her, after all.

In the back of her mind, she noted absently that Matsu was a popular name. She hadn't yet gotten the message about the pronunciation of her contact on Maena's name- she didn't make the connection.

"Very.... Avant garde," she commented with a dry smile. "You could open a gallery."

Heading around to the table again, she slid onto the seat. Even with the caf, she was just so tired, and with the little bit of distance and a moment to get a handle on herself again, sitting seemed less fraught than it had a minute ago.

"Fair's fair," she conceded with a nod. "I don't know how much Kyle told you. Too much, whatever it was," she muttered, but she was smiling enough to show that she wasn't actually angry.

"I was working on Coruscant, after the war. They'd called for anyone with medical experience for civilian aid relief. It didn't pay particularly well, so they weren't attracting a lot of people to be honest. I was trying to find information on the virus, and Coruscant seemed like the right next step, so it worked out," she said with a shrug. "I found Boo in the shell of a bombed building- he'd come through the bombing itself relatively unscathed, he was lucky- but it was obvious that he'd been...." she paused, trying to find a word that didn't make the gorge rise in her chest. "Mistreated."

The anger was clear, in her voice and on her face. [member="Boo Chiyo"] had been emaciated, covered in old bruises, in bites. The level of distrust and suspicion had come off of him in waves.

"I'm fairly certain the only reason he agreed to come to the refugee camp at all was because I offered him food," she said, a small, chagrined smile on her face. It faded slightly at the edges, remembering how angry she'd been. How angry it still made her. It wasn't the white hot, blinding fury of that day. But it still roiled in the pit of her stomach. She shook her head slightly, as if that would clear it.

A deep breath and the last sip of caf, then she continued.

"It became very obvious, very quickly, that the relief set up was insufficient. People could come, get medical attention, a hot meal and some very basic supplies but.... that was it. There was no longer term set up, just a sort of benign catch and release. So I.... to be honest, I didn't really think about it much. I just told him that, if he wanted, he could stay with me. The idea of letting him just head out into the streets of Coruscant? I don't think I could have forgiven myself if I didn't try."

She smiled then, looking down at the empty cup. "Neither of us really knew what to make of the other at first. Sometimes, I still don't. I don't think I really can understand where he came from, what he came out of, you know? He's a good kid, polite, creative, adaptable. He tries, so hard. I get the feeling that he doesn't really need me, and that's okay- I don't think he's ever been in a position where there was someone he could count on before- but I'm glad I'm here anyway, if that makes sense."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor found himself engrossed in the story of Irajah and Boo. He didn’t move from the edge of the table, and his thumb absently stroked the side of his hand, maybe as if he wanted to comfort her instead.

It was sobering to hear the reality of war. Not that he hadn’t seen it – Korriban was evidence of that – but from a person who could offer aid to both sides if needed, and the ones who always cleaned up the bloodied mess left by the warriors with lightsabers and God-like power. Ones like Connor came, they fought, they caused destruction, then left. Ones like Irajah saw the results.

And Boo. A child of war. Collateral damage? Or simply someone in the wrong place at the right time to be found by someone as caring as Doctor Ven. It sounded like the child was a slave, but a slave no more.

A solemn look crossed his face, brow knotting gently in mild concern and unease at his treatment and wounds.

"Another selfless act," he concluded.

Looking across the room, he exhaled as the magnitude of the story sank in. Compared to his tales of bravado and tarnished ego, Irajah told the real stories that resonated across the galaxy. The ones where real lives were changed forever.

Chewing his lip for a second, he looked across at her gazing into her own cup.

"I have nothing but admiration for you, Irajah. Not many people would do what you did. I can only say that Boo must be the luckiest boy to have someone like you care for him. You must be very proud of him."

There was little he could say, for he was one who caused much of what Boo had been involved with and what Irajah detested. War.

"I don’t know why, but I feel better just saying I never feel good about what I do, or have done, in the past. Not much anyway. People like me cause the heartache people like you try to mend. Broken families. Broken hearts. People like you make people like me question just what is right and wrong in the galaxy."

He swallowed and flexed his fingers, the aggression and years of fighting evident.

"I know where I stand on that spectrum, and I know there’s little to these words but I am sorry for the pain you’ve felt and the suffering you’ve seen caused by us."

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

"I am proud of him," she had murmured softly.

But then she'd fallen silent, looking down at the empty mug. His words washed over her, and she found herself turning the cup around and around in her hands. Her expression was thoughtful, but she didn't look at him right away. She was quiet long enough after he stopped talking that it seemed possible that she hadn't heard him. Until-

She sighed, looking up at him with a troubled expression.

"Wars would happen, with or without the Jedi and Sith battering their heads against each other. Force users make them messier than they'd be otherwise, yeah," and there it was again, the tone that said force users didn't, as a group over all, generally impress her much. "If one person wasn't a soldier, someone else would be. It *is*. Sentients have to have something to fight about. It sucks. But it's normal. It's not something one person can really do anything about- or apologize for."

She made a frustrated sound, deep in her throat, shaking her head suddenly.

"People die," she said softly, looking back down at the empty mug. "Whether it's from sickness, war or whatever. That's the reality. It's better to come to terms with it, or it'll eat you alive."

Hypocrite.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

There wasn't much to say to that realistic view on things. Connor shrugged in defeat.

"You're right," he said with a little sigh.

He turned to sit back on the long sofa, this time shifting a little up the table. Not too far, but far enough.

"There are numerous times I have stared death in the face. Be it that of a human, a beast or a machine." He placed his hand on hers and gave it a gentle shake. "People die, but all we can do is what we are good at to make the worlds a little safer for those we care about. If we can't care for others, then there's no point fighting at all. You have Boo, and you'd do anything at your disposal to make his world safer."

There was no need to question what he had, for it was nothing. Another small smile, that old defiant smile that tried to defuse any deflating situation into a carefree one.

"It's a short life we live in the grand scheme of things, so live it well. Be safe, be content and take solace from those around you and the material things that mean a lot to you. Then, when death comes, you'll know in your heart you've truly lived as best you can and given those around you the best chance to continue on your legacy in someway."

For Connor, that was pretty deep.

He just sat there, gently stroking her hand with his thumb now as a comforting gesture.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

"I'd drink to that," she said softly, smiling a little crookedly. "But alas, we're out of caf, and I don't keep alcohol on the ship."

She leaned back, but didn't take her hand out of his. It was simple, but it was nice- safe, comforting, without the weight of the gesture from a few minutes ago.

"Alright, your turn again," she said, settling in comfortably, the smile not fading from her face.

"You've heard a little bit about my parents, and now about Boo. What about your family? Siblings?"

Irajah was tired, the heavy feeling of exhaustion offering a lassitude through her body. But she didn't mind. This was surprisingly comfortable.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

This would be an easy one to answer, for there was no long answer at all. No complications or lingering questions.

"I was born on Anaxes, and my parents let me to to the Republic Jedi when I was of age, but I didn't see them much after. When I moved on from the Republic, I couldn't face going back as I didn't want to let them down. I never saw them after they left me on Coruscant. I wish I could see them again, but I...I think they've moved on. I don't know."

He was fine talking about this, not that he did much, but he often wondered where they were or what they were doing. Even, were they still alive? He looked down at his hand on hers and stroked the soft skin gently.

"No siblings. No family. The only family I really had is the ones who took me in, making the Silver Jedi. But as I said, they were never family. Just faces filling a void. Just me out here."

He moved his hand away and pressed them down on the table, giving her a stern smile.

"You are tired. I feel it. 20 questions is over, and I think you need rest. You can't mask it forever. I'll tidy up, and do some reading. You should go relax and sleep. I'm sure there's time."

With a nod, he slid off and took their empty cups over to the small basin to wash them down.

"Thank you for the meal, and drinks," he said again.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah didn't particularly feel like arguing. Not only was he correct, after all, but he was also already doing the clean up. Talk about a mark in his favor. Instead she nodded, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"I'm sorry I really-" She had to pause, her face split open by a huge yawn. "Sorry. I've been up for.... over twenty hours now. We'll be hitting"*YAWN*"Panatha space in about two hours. A nap would do me a world of good."

A tired smile slid onto her face though. She didn't get up right away, watching him for a moment.

"You're welcome," she said. "And thank you. For the company."

She stood up then, stretching for a moment. "Come get me if you need anything. The spare berth is made up if you want to lay down yourself. Help yourself to anything in the cabinets."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The tiredness seemed to flow out of her as a river would with a dam removed. The yawns and submissive tone to her voice made it clear she needed rest. With a little smirk and shake of the head as he wiped down the plates, Connor spoke to himself.

"Anything at all," he snorted a little laugh, and then spoke louder. "Just get your head down, I’ll be in here when you wake and then, well, we’ll see what Panatha is all about and I’ll be on my way."

Reflecting, maybe he did feel he was out of his comfort zone, and he was rushing ahead with thoughts and feelings that most people could easily subdue in a few seconds. Reality. That was the kicker – what WAS reality? Connor didn’t know anymore, except for he was here, with a repaired body and a wonderful person letting him in just a little to her life and discoveries.

There was nothing really else to say. The Jedi were on the way out, and soon he would be in a far better place to offer her so much more if she needed it.

He noted his hands had stopped washing and where just resting as he started down at the gently rippling water.

"Thank you for the company," he said, but he knew she had already gone.

With a little sigh, he shook off the plates and left them on the side to dry naturally, and wiped his hands down. Two hours could be a very long time with nothing but thoughts and relfections as company. He much preferred the physical sort.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

She had paused in the doorway, watching him for another moment after he said 'and I'll be on my way.' There was something she thought she ought to say to that, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she couldn't find the words. Not the right ones anyway. She found herself smiling softly at his back.

There was time.

Irajah turned and padded down the corridor. As the door to her room swished closed behind her, she flopped on the bed, dragging a blanket up and over. Normally, she put off sleep as long as possible, knowing what waited for her. But she had already gone hours past when she would have normally succumbed- and sleep came quickly, despite all trepidation.

The streets were eerily silent. The sky above was dark, but she had no problem seeing. Irajah walked slowly down the middle of the avenue, moving carefully, picking her way over the bodies. At each one, she would stop, and struggle to turn them over. They couldn't stay with their faces to the concrete- she didn't know why, they simply couldn't. She had to turn them all over (before sunrise, something whispered, before sunrise).

But they were so heavy- and there were so many of them. She was only one person. She kept going, stopping every few feet. Struggling, gasping for breath. Sometimes the bodies were simply unyielding- sometimes they collapsed in on themselves with the slightest touch. And every so often, once she had turned someone over, there was a familiar face.

Some of them had died on her homeworld. But not all of them. Some of them shouldn't be here at all. The sith from Coruscant stared up at her, though his body had collapsed beneath the touch of her hands, bones breaking as she tried to move him. Kyle had taken so long to roll over, so much time, so much effort, but she kept at it, unwilling to leave him to whatever was coming at dawn.

Each step got heavier, slower, as though she were moving through water rather than air.

She was only a third of the way down the street when the sky began to lighten, red streaks crawling across the black expanse above her. She would never be able to finish, she wouldn't be able to turn them all over before the sun rose. She struggled as the sky slowly turned grey, the red lightening expanding with a certain indolence.

One more. She could do one more. But this time, every time she tried to get purchase, the body gave way, turning to dust beneath her hands. She couldn't get enough of a hold to turn him over.

"No, no, come on." Almost sunrise.

The faster she tried to move, the slower everything became, the air thickening around her. Frantic to get him facing the sky before the sun rose, she touched his cheek-

His eyes opened, impossibly blue in the grey light. [member="Connor Harrison"] looked at her out of the corner of his eye, opening his mouth to speak. But the dust spread from where her fingers had brushed his face, crumbling as she watched -

​"No no no-"

"NO!"

She sat up straight, heart pounding.

 

[Connor Harrison]

He’d tried making conversation with the droid. He really had, but nothing had come from it. Sitting and watching the blue swirl of hyperspace illuminate the cockpit, Connor had only been able to tolerate about 10 minutes of awkward silence. The droid moved now and then, but it was like he was mute to the world.

Which, for a droid, was possible. They could literally turn their “ears” off. Small talk didn’t come easy to Connor, so in the end he had given up and returned to the lounge, and just to be sure, side-glanced in and saw Irajah dead to the world.

And so for what must have been an hour or so – maybe more? – Connor had sat, legs up on the edge of the table and dozed on and off slouched in the long couch. The soothing sounds of the engine were relaxing to him, and he had just been thinking about things.

A few were obvious, but the First Order was not so. The thought of seeing what he could do with them was intriguing, and he wondered if he had a place there. Maybe commanding a legion of stormtroopers? Working with other Force users to battle the oppressive Jedi and their soldiers trying to sweep systems in their manipulative net?

Those thoughts and more popped in his head now and then.

Her scream brought him around in an instant.

His eyes opened fast, looking around to make sure it wasn’t HIS dream, but no – he was awake, and that had been Irajah.

Pulling his feet off the table, he stood gingerly, heart beating a little as he walked with a slightly stiff body to the adjoining passageway where her room peeled off from.

A gentle knock on the side with his knuckles.

"You alright?"

He slowly edged past the door frame, and looked in at her with concern on his face. Obviously a nightmare, but she looked pretty rattled. But nightmares were never there to make one feel warm and gooey inside.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

In some ways, she looked even more tired than she had when she'd laid down. More haggard and stressed. His knock startled her, bringing her back to the reality of where she was.... and who was here with her.

She breathed in, slow and shaky before letting it all out in one long whoosh.

A dream. That was all.

"Yeah, of course," she said, but her tone wasn't particularly reassuring. Rubbing her hand over her face and back through her hair, she looked up at him, blinking a little owlishly for a moment.

"Just.... just a bad dream." She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but mostly just looking self conscious.

"I'm sorry if it disturbed you. I'm fine. Really."

Sliding off of the bed, she absently brushed a wrinkle out of her tunic, pulling the blanket she'd kicked on to the floor back onto the bed.

She glanced at the chrono on the wall. A little less than an hour before they hit Panatha space. Which meant she'd been asleep for only a little more than that. She grimaced.

"How's your hand feeling?" She asked, changing the subject rapidly, sliding it back to attention on him.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The confusion stayed on his face. And it just made it clear that Irajah was sitting on an awful lot of stress, for bad dreams didn't come out of nowhere, and with everything that had come before, this made more sense.

"Hand is fine, thank you," he said matter-of-factly, "as it was before dinner."

She was covering something. And Connor wasn't going to let it carry on.

He placed his hand across the door frame and stepped over a little.

"Now cut the side-stepping. What's wrong, and just what is it you're sitting on you've been avoiding talking about. Don't think I've seen your little twitches here and there, glances, going to speak but stopping."

It couldn't be any worse than he was used to dealing with, and if he could help...well so be it.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

She just stared at him for a moment, blinking and at a loss for words. Then she shook her head, actually chuckling, mostly at her own expense. But there was no real mirth in her voice.

"Connor, I'm sorry," she said, dropping back down to sit on the edge of the bed.

"When you asked to get to know the 'real Irajah' back at the hospital, I said that all I could do was try. I don't always even realize I'm holding something back. It's just. Habit."

She looked up at him, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her hands.

"I have nightmares," she said without further preamble. "I have... since.... well.... what happened. I can't remember the last time I slept for more than a couple of hours without getting woken up by them."

Irajah looked down, head in her hands.

"I.... haven't talked to anyone about them," she said softly. "I woke up, in pain, on a planet that held only the dead." She spoke slowly, carefully. Trying to find the words she needed to. "I was there for five months. Alone. So. I'm sorry.... sometimes.... sometimes I'm not going to say what's on my mind. It's not your fault. Or you at all. But I don't think it's something I'm going to be able to shake off in a day or two. Can you understand?"

She didn't look up. She was just so tired.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Did he understand?

No.

But then, he had often coped with situations like this on his own. If he had nightmares, and traumatic experiences, he always kept them to himself. And then…they boiled over months later and people seemed to get hurt. Would the same happen with Irajah?

A Force sensitive with so much to give, but experiencing nightmares that were evidently shaking her to the core? Not always a good combination.

"I understand partly, and I’ve been where you are before. It never seems to end well," he said slowly, not moving from his spot.

It seemed that he was coming up against someone with a similar mind-set to his. Stubbornness. That, or he simply was just a stranger not to be allowed in. The latter made more sense. He nodded to confirm his own thoughts.

"Just don’t avoid it for too long, because nightmares can soon become reality and if you don’t face them head on they’ll consume you. I wouldn’t want that to happen."

Connor looked at her, wishing he could do more.

"Rest up until we get there. You’ll be ok."

He got the message loud and clear. With a little tap on the frame to “full stop” his intervention, he moved back from the room and headed to the lounge, pushing his tongue against his teeth to distract him from getting more frustrated than he should.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah sat with her head in her hands, unmoving and quiet. A few minutes passed after he returned to the lounge. As the sensations left over from the nightmare faded, as they were wont to do once she was awake, a different tightness in her chest replaced them.

It was easy to keep people at arm's length. Far easier than letting them in. She craved company, conversation, but never let it go beyond the surface topics that new acquaintances traded. She could laugh and joke, gently tease, and deflect deflect deflect. Bring the conversation back to the other person. Wrap herself in armor so strong that eventually, people just shrugged and let it go. Which was what she wanted.

Wasn't it?

I'll try, she'd said.

She wasn't trying very hard.

She could do better. Did she want to?

The answer surprised her.

*****

A couple of minutes later, she appeared in the door of the lounge. She had wrapped a small throw around her shoulders- less because she was cold and more for the feeling of the weight.

"Hey," she said, sounding unsure of herself.

She padded the few steps across the lounge to where he was sitting on the couch.

"This seat taken?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor twirled the edge of one brown belt in-between his thumb and index finger. One boot lazily rested on the lip of the table and the other tapped on the floor as he stared at a display on the wall. It was a basic read-out, flashing now and then, but it was oddly mesmerizing.

He heard Irajah move around, and knew she was here, but still her voice took him unaware as he watched the colours flash.

"Sure thing," he said.

He looked a little longer, and then lolled his head over and saw her hunched there with the throw.

"I thought I told you to rest up. We both know you’re done in."

The belt twirled a little more and he rocked his boot back and forward, but sighed in stubborn defeat, still looking at her.

"Sorry for pushing you, to talk. I know it’s hard to, but far easier not to. Just don’t let it fester too long, ok? Even if you can talk to Boo, or a friend at work. Please try. Don’t become a slave to your nightmares."

With a little peaceful smile, he shot her a ”forgive me” look in those blue eyes.

[member="Irajah Ven"]