Malificent: Created page with ''''WHO:''' Nika and Joshua
'''WHERE:''' Gym, Summer's Gift
'''WHEN:''' 07 November, 2520
With a cargo and things settling down into the normal routine, Nika s…'

2010-02-16T20:03:20Z

Created page with ''''WHO:''' Nika and Joshua '''WHERE:''' Gym, Summer's Gift '''WHEN:''' 07 November, 2520 With a cargo and things settling down into the normal routine, Nika s…'

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'''WHO:''' Nika and Joshua 
'''WHERE:''' Gym, Summer's Gift 
'''WHEN:''' 07 November, 2520 

With a cargo and things settling down into the normal routine, Nika
seemed also back to normal. Though there were no messages at Highgate
when we left, she left a message with their route and a request for
meeting coords if that rather large ship wants us to come to them. And
all she could do at this point was stick close enough to be able to pick
up messages if they came in. She keeps long hours, most of them in the
bridge -- she does read novels, play music, other assorted things up
there. When she's not in the bridge she has been in the gym either
beating hell out of the punching bag or -- as now -- doing katas. She'd
been at it for some time if the heavy sheen of sweat on her skin was any
indicator. She was not dressed properly for such things, but a pair of
sweatpants and a supportive sports top sufficed. Her blonde hair was, as
always, pinned all the way up out of the way -- its full length is very
rarely seen.

Joshua came into the gym, looking to start an aikido routine. It would
be his first since borrowing Jackson and it was a key component to fully
becoming Joshua again. He wasn't sure how exactly he would do it, but he
wanted to try and find a way to incorporate his aikido routine into
helping him come back from a borrowing. The two rituals weren't exactly
the same, but like all rituals, both had a formalness and pattern to
them he ought to be able to use.

But when he arrived at the gym, dressed in his lone t-shirt and pants,
Nika was already there, already heavily into a workout by the look of
things. Joshua was struck by how athletic she was - he usually saw her
more laid back. Multiple layers, he reminded himself.

"Am I interrupting, Nika?" Joshua asked as he walked into the gym.

Though her crystalline blue eyes cut sideways to him, Nika finished the
pattern of the kata she was in before stopping and answering him. Her
breath came heavily as she padded toward her water bottle. "Not at all,
Joshua. I was about done." There was not exactly enough room in the gym
for two people to be moving around quite that much, so she yielded to
floor mats to him. She studied him while she uncapped the bottle with a
deft twist of her wrist and after she'd taken a long swallow she asked,
"How're you doing? Coming back into your own head okay?"

He smiled and as he did, his newly growing beard itched, so he took a
moment to scratch it. "You could say that."

He thought about Rina and the other night and the smile got a little
bigger. "I'm doing very well, coming back quicker than I expected. Still
working on adjusting to the slightly new look though."

There was a nod. Nika noticed the subtle differences, and in truth...
she was somewhat grateful to see that he was making the face his own,
the way *he* sees himself. She was grateful he *could* still make it his
own. "I like the new look," she said in a musing tone. "Not entirely
sure I'll like the beard, but we'll see." She grinned at him, his extra
big smile bringing a speculative look to her expression that was quickly
shuttered. "It's good to have you back."

"Thanks for not murdering me as Jackson," he said chuckling. "Looking
back at the movie in my head, I was a real ass as Jackson sometimes."

He moved to the center of the gym and sat down, prepping to stretch.
"Before, I didn't want to come back from a borrowing. Now, I couldn't
wait. And that's not Jackson's fault. That's your fault. The crew, anyway."

Setting the bottle of water down and moving to the treadmill so she
could walk to cool down, Nika smiled faintly. "Jackson had enough of
Joshua when it counted," she replied mildly, referring to when she came
looking for him after slipping away from Escobar. "Can't say I *liked*
the guy much, but he wasn't such a bad sort. Just... wishy-washy." She
started the treadmill and began to jog slowly on it. "Watching you get
into his head, watching you *become* him was... unnerving," she admitted.

Joshua nodded. "To be honest with you, Nika, I expected everyone to
freak out a little more than they did. I had thought Rina would go all
twitchy on me, but she handled it well." He started stretching, reaching
down to his toes. "And then, we'll get to go through this again whenever
we get my brain scanned," he said casually, as if talking about going
down to the story for some milk and eggs. "Can't stay on the ship if I
can be triggered. But that's another day."

He switched legs and looked at Nika carefully. "Enough about me...How
are *you* doing?" Whenever he had seen her, she had seemed slightly off,
which could have been a result of the aforementioned Escobar incident.
An instinct told him there was something more going on.

As she jogged slowly, Nika listened to him comment. Her smile was faint.
"She didn't go twitchy because she *gets* it," she finally says. "I have
the notion that Rina's face is not her original one, and that she
understands the idea of long-term submersion in a role. Don't know that
for a fact, but based on her reactions and what I know of her man and
her past... I'd say it's a reasonable guess." She continued to run.
"Eventually we'll get both you and Arden scanned, but it'll have to be
someplace we trust. And so far, those are few and far between."

The change in topic shifted things back on her, and Nika wasn't
excessively comfortable with that topic. "I'm fine," she told him
between breaths. "Having to pay a bit closer attention to where we're
going lately, though staying in-system keeps it simpler to be sure."

"But are you, really?" Joshua sat up from stretching and folded his legs
under himself. "Fine, I mean. I get the feeling that maybe you're not.
Talking could help." He wasn't sure whether he really expected her to
talk. Nika's thing didn't seem to involve lengthy personal conversations
about her problems. But he was her friend, at least he hoped he was and
he wanted to help, if he could.

"I am... mostly." Nika smiled and slowed to a walk on the treadmill.
Easier to talk while walking than running. "My personal business in Blue
Sun is worrying me," she admitted. "My friend -- the one who was hurt on
Miranda -- is apparently not recovering as well as we'd hoped. Shyla's
summons didn't really give me any details except that it wasn't a
physical issue."

He took in her body language, the expression on her face, the way she
shifted as she walked. "This is the man you love?" He asked it, already
knowing the answer. "Well, if it isn't a physical issue, then maybe it
is something that your presence will solve. Just being there could help."

Nika fumbled a step, unused to anyone but Christian being quite that
blatant about this kind of conversation. When she regained her footing,
she laughed quietly. "From your lips to the ears of whatever gods are
out there, Joshua." There was still worry, but perhaps something about
the way he phrased that eased it -- it was a possibility that she hadn't
really considered, bracing herself for the worst as she has been. "I
think if it had been something urgent, she'd have found a way to get
word to me sooner. Now it's just about waiting until messages can get
back and forth on where to meet up."

He hesitated for a minute. "I make this offer not because I think it is
necessary but just because I want you to have your options available."
Joshua paused again. "If there is something odd going on mentally with
him, my Reader abilities, for what they're worth, are available to you
if you think they would help."

He shook his head. "But I think that you're right. If it was something
serious, Shyla would've moved heaven and earth to reach you, I think. At
least if your relationship with her is anything like your relationship
with this crew."

Nika uncapped her water and drank from it while she walked. "They're
family," she said simply. And then she grinned faintly, her expression
affectionate. "They'll give you enough rope to hang yourself, kick your
ass when you need it, give you comfort when you let them. I miss them
like no one's business," she admitted. "Those months on Miranda were...
amazing. Damn hard, terrifying, horrible, but... it was like coming
home. And I don't want to go that long ever again before coming home."

"I'm home now," he said simply.

He stood up and started to go through a series of warmup maneuvers,
making sure to face Nika. "So," he said as he started into the
''aiki-taiso'' warm-up exercises. They involved stretching and proper
breathing technique, but would, if done properly, run him through all
the techniques necessary to perform his routine. "To change the subject,
can I tell you that you've confused the living crap out of Arden?"

Nika hit the button to stop the treadmill, stepping off it with her
water bottle with her breathing now leveled off and her heart rate
lowered. "Really?" Her tone is dry, as if it is unsurprising and giving
the impression that she might be waiting for Joshua to take her to task.
Setting her water bottle down, she seemed to settle in for a
well-meaning tongue-lashing of some sort. She moved to sit cross-legged
on the floor and began pulling pins from her hair in preparation for
catching a shower when he was through.

"Not it should surprise you or anything," he said. He was a little
distracted by her pulling the pins out from her hair. Now that he
thought about it, he couldn't ever remember seeing her with her hair
down. He shook his head slightly to regain his focus. "Love is not a
topic that most of us are terribly clear on, and Arden struggles with
emotional situations than most. But I sympathize...no, I guess I
empathize with Arden's situation."

He stopped his warm-up exercises; he couldn't quite concentrate on them
like he should. He went and sat down cross-legged in front of Nika. "We
feel what we feel, right? Nobody to blame, but we just muddle through,
taking the moments as we can get them. Enjoying them for what they are
and what they give." His mind was drifting to Rina again. It was going
to be harder than he thought it would be to give her the space she
needed, just taking what she was willing to give. _But you knew that
going in..._

It was a relief to release the heavy mass of blond hair from its
confines. The braid that she keeps so securely pinned into what looks
like a simply French braid that dangles just to the base of her neck is
in fact a rope of blonde that literally falls to brush the floor next to
her hips. Her fingers deftly unbraided the skein and ran through it, not
noticing Joshua's preoccupation with something that is as normal to her
as drying off her skin after a good workout. There is a tension to her
expression that eases slightly, though, an indication that perhaps her
hair's been caught up and pinned for too long, causing a mild headache.

"I can't presume to understand how Arden processes emotion, Joshua. I
can only do as he and I have done since this relationship began," she
said as she combed out the long locks with her fingers absently. "I can
be honest with him about what I think, what I feel, and what it *means*
to me. He can take that information and do with it as he will." She
looked at him with wary blue eyes as he sat in front of her. "I can hope
that in the end I don't hurt him... though I think I know that
ultimately I will. Just as you and Rina have to know that ultimately
she'll hurt you," she said calmly. "She won't want to. Won't ''mean''
to. But it'll happen. And you have to decide if you're going to continue
in spite of that knowledge."

Joshua shook his head again. "Wow, that hair is amazing, Nika. Sorry,
just...wow."

He scratched the back of his head in thought. "Anyway, I know I'm going
to get hurt. And *how*." The level of potential hurt had definitely
increased more than he had anticipated.

"It's funny, for all that Arden and I are in the same emotional spot...
you and I, Nika, are more alike in what we know. You know you'll
probably end up hurting him, just like I know that I'm going to end up
hurt. But getting hurt is okay if you understand the bargain you're
making. I'm pretty sure Rina hasn't grasped that yet. Not sure Arden has
either."

He laughed softly. "I use to imagine what life might be like outside of
the Academy. Pretty sure I never pictured it quite this complicated."

There was a moment of looking confused at the expression, and then Nika
laughed. "Thanks," she replied. "I think every once in a while about
cutting it off -- it's entirely unpractical out here. But you know...
it's basically the one vanity I possess, I think. Christian threatened
to kick me if I did more than trim it up." She shrugged easily.

Back to the other part of the conversation, though, Nika turned her
attention more fully to it and let her hair just settle. It felt good to
let it just hang for a while. It would feel even better to get a shower
and comb it out well. "Life is one of those things you just have to
live. No one can tell you how complicated and messy it really is," she
commented mildly. "I'm glad to know that you're not going into things
blindly, though. And ... Arden may not emotionally understand it, and
that's why I try to be very clear and very honest with him. Whether that
will do either of us any good? Hell, I don't know, darlin. We just do as
we can." She smiles.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't think he's in too deep. Me, on the
other hand..." He smiled. "But like I said, I know what I'm getting
into. Or at least I thought I did. But there's no amount of pain that
would make me think it wasn't worth it."

He tilted his head a little bit. "Any advice for me? You've known her
longer than I have."

Nika laughed quietly. "Walk softly and carry a big wrench to brain her
with?" she suggested facetiously.

On a more serious note, Nika said, "I'm probably not the person to give
the best advice on this, Joshua. I know her but... there are parts of
each of us that we don't allow others to see. And that side of Rina is
one of them. The only thing I can suggest is that you're both as honest
as you can be. It's stood me in good stead most of the time."

"Is Rina ever anything but honest?" Joshua asked rhetorically. "I have
to walk a fine line. I want to be honest with her, but if I tell her how
I honestly feel without finding a way to blunt it, she's going to freak."

He shrugged. "Eh, we'll figure out. And we'll make sure to keep it off
duty, captain." And he winked at her.

Nika laughed when he said it. "Yeah.... you gotta tread carefully with
her sometimes. She's... touchy ain't the right word. Very literal. You
have to tell her exactly what you mean in just the right words, else the
woman kinda goes sideways."

And she rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Now you're doing it too --
callin' me captain when it suits you to be a pain in my ass. Good for
you," she quipped with a grin. There was a hint of serious to her,
though, when she said mildly, "The only other thing I can suggest is
that you treat it with respect -- and if things start lookin' like
they're going to split the crew, that's usually the time to stop." She
shrugged. "Take the advice for what it's worth." She picked up her water
bottle and headed for the door. "I'm gonna go wash this mop."

"I could never do anything less, Nika." Which was true. He couldn't live
with himself if he did otherwise and even thinking about splitting the
crew made him a little queasy. "You're my family. Not going to do
anything that'll mess that up."

He stood back up to get ready to try warm up exercises again. "Hope
there is plenty of warm water for you."

She laughed as she walked out, and it occurred to Nika to wonder what
Christian or, gods forbid, Mike might think of Rina's rather abrupt 180.
She wasn't even sure what ''she'' thought, or whether she thought Rina
ought to worry about what one or the other man might think. But perhaps
it was time to grab her friend's ear and make sure she wasn't just doing
a whole girls-gone-wild kind of thing on Joshua. The engineer was very
protective of him, so that would be out of character -- but then again,
so was initiating a shipboard fling. ''Rina, Rina, Rina'', she sighed
internally. ''Where's Christian when I need him??''

__________________

'''Go to''' [[Joshua Drake | '''Joshua's Crew Page''']] or to '''[[Nika Earhart | Nika's Crew Page]] 
'''Go to [[CREW]]''' or '''[[Mutineers Timeline|TIMELINE]]''' 
'''Go to [[Mutineers]]'''

The Blond Leading the Blind - Revision history

Malificent: Created page with ''''WHO:''' Nika and Joshua '''WHERE:''' Gym, Summer's Gift '''WHEN:''' 07 November, 2520 With a cargo and things settling down into the normal routine, Nika s…'

Malificent: Created page with ''''WHO:''' Nika and Joshua
'''WHERE:''' Gym, Summer's Gift
'''WHEN:''' 07 November, 2520
With a cargo and things settling down into the normal routine, Nika s…'