A Walk On The Beach

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Sitting around the campfire after the barbecue.... it's been kind of like old times. Nika shot the breeze with her old crew mates and it's clear to see how at home she is with them all. Jason Fraiser spent some time entertaining Arden with some of the things he's seen in his time on Harbinger -- even commenting about this one guy he sewed up because of Nika. It doesn't particularly bother him anymore, it's been too long. Ten years later, he actually admires the clean cuts that she made in his hide. But after all is said and done on the beach, as Christian slips away to speak with Harry and people start heading off into the night, Nika approaches Arden and offers a smile and her hand. "Walk on the beach with me?"

Arden is wearing a loose shirt (solid, not Hawaiian), not buttoned, and a pair of shorts. Apparently he's gone native for the dinner and the event. He looks startled, glances at Brian, then back to Nika. "Sure," He says his face lightening with a genuine smile. "I would enjoy that."

She notes the direction of his gaze and she smiles faintly. "He's got company," she reminds in a tone that indicates she's not terribly concerned about that idea.

He takes her hand and allows her to pull him to his feet (though he helps). He brushes the sand off his butt and then looks down the beach in the direction that Christian and Harry went, then points the *other* way, "This way good?"

"This way's fine," she chuckles, meandering off down the beach with him. She hasn't gone totally native, but she's wearing a pair of pants rolled up to the knees and a tanktop. Her shoes she leaves behind on the beach -- she'll pick them up when they come back. Hand-in-hand with Arden, she wanders down into the surf to feel the water around her toes. "Almost like a vacation," she comments easily.

"I keep looking around for the Morlocks to jump up though," Arden says warily. "Its almost too good to be true. Frankly this place gives me the creeps. I think i would be happier in a cabin up on the side of a snowy mountain somewhere."

He shakes his head, "Not that i have problems with tropical paradises.... its just that the past few months have been building to this and...." he pauses. "I don't know what to do now."

"Yeah," Nika agrees with a heartfelt sigh. Her eyes skim over the dark, starry seascape. "Believe me, I get that. Actually kind of been feeling it for weeks now." She shrugs at the glance he throws her. "Something Christian said made me think too hard. It hurt my head." She grins a bit -- she's not a stupid woman and Arden knows it. But that 'aw, shucks!' demeanor throws people who don't know her as well as the crew does by now.

"I can't see wanting to stay here. I mean.... there's something to be said for no pressure, no real obligations. It's... restful. But I think more than a week here, I'd be bored stupid. Of course... for everyone here, they're drugged up," Nika says quietly. "It disturbs me to actually let them make choices for themselves in this state, honestly."

"Not much we can do about it anyhow," Arden points out, "Even if they were willing." He pauses and then continues, "In my opinion while this is a nice society and all, its stagnant. No one is competing, try to do things better, or help anyone else. I doubt we will see this place," he gestures with his hand at the island, "or its society, still existent."

Arden smiles and then brings Nika's hand to his lips and kisses it softly, "Now, returning to something you just said. What is making your head hurt? With thinkin' and all?" The Rim accents is discordant coming from Arden a "citified doctor" and all.

"Oh, this society won't last -- they're too self-absorbed," Nika replies mildly. And she looks at him with a smile and a squeeze of his hand. "The not knowing what to do," she admits, laughing at his attempt at an accent. "That's just about the silliest-soundin' drawl I ever heard, darlin," she teases him, exaggerating her own just to make him laugh. She continues ambling along the sand, their hands swinging together, and replies, "We've been flitting along from emergency to crisis to danger for months, with some down time between crazy jaunts. And I find myself unsure where to go from here." She pauses and admits softly, "They asked me to go back again." Well, no.... //he// asked. "And I don't know what to do."

"A stupid question," Arden says seriously. "But what do you want to do? Would it be Harbinger and her crew that you want, or is it Brian that you want? Do you want to settle? Do you want to get married and fly the Black? Some do you know."

Nika chuckles softly and drawls quietly, "Darlin', if I had a clue what I wanted outta life, I'd never have met all of you." She looks at him and says mildly, "And that would have been a gorram shame." As they walk, she scuffs her feet along in the water, splashing up droplets. "I'm happy on the Gift," she tells him. "I'm happy with... the life that I've been living for the past year or so." Since coming aboard. "Aside from some craziness and zany adventures, which.... I have to admit, appeal to me... I finally started to feel like I wasn't..." She trails off. "That I deserved to be happy again," she finally completes the thought. "Being on the Gift with all of you is part and parcel of being happy now.... " She looks at him and says softly, "But part of my happiness lies with them... with //him// too. So.... I just don't know what to do. Could all be moot anyway, if we can't get the Gift or one of those rustbuckets off the ground."

"Don't change the subject," Arden says smiling, gently teasing. "Back to what you want. Unlike me, you have a.... place in the universe. You fit in and you have skills and you have been, are, useful in the general scheme of things. Now i fit some of that, but i don't know if i will ever feel like I 'fit,' if that makes a lick of sense.

"Would be happier with the status quo, or would you prefer a different status quo, they way it was when you flew Harbinger?"

Nika shakes her head slightly. "Silly man, you 'fit' just fine. You have a place in the universe, and you are useful in far more ways than you give yourself credit for. But it does make sense. The fact that you don't //feel// like you fit's a whole different issue... and one that as much as I wish I could change it for you, I can't. That one.... I guess it just takes time and maybe a place to belong." She thinks about it and says softly, "I love my father and stepmother, my sister, her son... but I never quite 'fit' on the ranch. I did as a kid, but the first time I flew, .... that was it. I just kept longing for the open spaces. /Harbinger/ was the first place I ever actually 'fit'."

She walks along with him and says quietly, "And now I 'fit' on the Gift. If you handed me the best of all possible worlds.... I would merge the two crews." Her grin is a bit rueful. "Seriously doubt that's going to happen. Not sure what the hell the rest of you'd even think of actually working under a captain like Shyla Kramer." She bites her lower lip and stops, turning to look at him without dropping his hand. In fact, she squeezes it tightly. "I don't know //what// I want, except that I want to //not// lose either of you. Which is... well, selfish and immature and childish, and did I mention selfish?"

Arden shakes his head, "Not selfish as much as iconoclastic. Which isn't a bad thing. We just have to decide if such a relationship will work. I don't think I will have a problem with it. Will Brian? " Arden shrugs.

Then Arden stops and then swings Nika around so that she faces the ocean. He steps behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, laying his chin on her shoulder and then whispers, "Here, on this night, on this beach, with you in my arms," Arden kisses Nika on the neck, softly trailing up to her ear lobe. "I won't share here, now" And he kisses her ear.

Iconoclastic... Nika doesn't have time to ponder the meaning of that word, or of the information that Arden doesn't mind the idea of actually sharing her affections. Swung around suddenly, she's giggling by the time she plants her feet firmly on the sand again, leaning back into the embrace to rest her head against his shoulder. "Wouldn't ask you to," she murmurs softly. He gives her the shivers -- the good kind -- with the soft kisses.

Iconoclastic... it takes her several moments to sort through her relatively extensive vocabulary (OOC: and a dice roll!) to determine that he's saying that she's a boundary-breaker, someone who doesn't believe in established norms. She turns her face to nuzzle his cheek softly, and the gentle smile that crosses her face as she enjoys the ocean with Arden is content. Things might be complicated a bit later, but for tonight.... it's just this simple. Brian has his companion, Nika has hers, same place, same time.... and it just plain works for now. Tomorrow can take care of itself.