Futuristic Transsolar

[BookWyrm]

Vince focused on the feeling of Adira rubbing his palm. He had found that if he could center his focus on something when he was stressed or had a break down he could recover quicker. It helped that her rubbing his palm felt exceptionally good. When he felt he was centered he looked back to Adira as he said, "I think I could sleep." Vince wiped away any stray tears that he had before slowly looking back into Adira's eyes again before leaning in and kissing her cheek. "Thank you again."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira was definitely surprised by the kiss on her cheek, and it actually made her pause for a few moments. It was an odd feeling. When he had kissed her forehead it had been different, she had been upset and he was comforting her. This seemed to be less of a response to something she did and more of a response to what he felt. She smiled to him and looked down at their hands, then back up at him. "You're welcome. I'm just glad I was here to help. Are you sure you're okay now? Please don't lie to me."

 

[Spazzycat101]

Finally, Lydia managed to escape earshot without falling. The same could not be said for simply tripping,


but she didn't need to think about that right now.


Her running footsteps were loud and clumsy, but with people probably sleeping behind the doors that lined some of the hallways, Lydia struggled to make the sound much less than annoyingly loud. She was on her way to her room to retrieve the tablet that she had left there, regardless of the evidence incriminating her of her obsession. She was distracted with something else right now, something she needed to add to her notes. Her footsteps came down hallway after hallway... Admittedly, she was a bit lost and was searching for some kind of landmark. Eventually, she found something that gave her the glowing red 'you are here' on her mental map, which amounted to only a feeble and unreliable replica of the one on her tablet that remained in her room. At least it was a reference point. Her feet stumbled to a stop, and she took a moment to catch her breath. Yeah... Perhaps it would be a good idea to tell the captain that the INANES wasn't following his robotic rules.


Lydia had raised her fist to more slam than knock on the door to the Captain's room, but hesitated. According to the lighting, it was supposedly late. Not that her own already-mutilated sleep schedule understood the meaning of 'late.' Muffled speaking from behind the closed door assured her that Adira was probably awake. The idea that their captain might talk in her sleep didn't cross Lydia's excited mind, nor the wonder of why she would be talking to herself even if she were awake.


Lydia rapped the door with her knuckles several time within one second, before she spoke in a voice that technically couldn't be called shouting,


'Adira! Adiraaa! I think the INANES isn't quite an INANES.'


Wait a moment... That had sounded much more intelligent before it had come out of her mouth. Oops. Too late to revise, though.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince had looked at Adira for a couple of moments before sighing quietly. "Okay, I don't feel like going to sleep just yet. I figured you were tired though, so I didn't want to keep you up super late." Vince continued to rub his thumb along Adira's neck, having actually lost consciousness of the action. "I just want to try and relax...and be close to you." Before they could say anything else there came a torrent of "knocks" at the door. Vince kept his mouth shut for a few moments. The last thing he wanted was for someone to burst in and find them together. When he heard the voice on the other end Vince couldn't help but shake his head and roll his eyes. "I think that is for you.", he whispered before moving out of Adira's way.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira had been pleasantly surprised by Vince's last words before the knocks rang out on her door. She got up and pulled on her boots, moving over to the chair and grabbing her jacket. "I do agree," she said as she pulled it on. She cleared her throat and pulled her hair back with the band around her wrist before going to the door. "Miss Camden, you're being very loud. I'd appreciate it if you didn't shout in the hallway about an issue you had to speak to me about." Adira had heard what Lydia had shouted, and it put her in a tight spot; she had promised not to tell anyone, however, both Woods and Lydia were in the room. "Why don't you come in and we can talk about it, quietly. Commander Woods is in my quarters as well, we were talking over a few issues." No lie there. "Of course, you can tell him whatever you needed to speak to me about." Scenarios were already running through her head, and deep in the pit of her stomach, she was getting scared. If Woods knew she had kept this from him, would he feel like she had betrayed him? It was nothing like that, now she was caught between a rock and a hard place. She of course didn't show her emotions, just a bit of interest.


@Spazzycat101

 

[Spazzycat101]

Lydia was nearly radiating excitement, and it took her several moments to gather her words. Ha! A mutated INANES! If only she had research from ordinary subjects to compare to...


Despite that, she was very sure that an INANES was most certainly not supposed to be crying-- it had sounded as if it was more likely to be the sobbing of a human male than an alien, lilac-haired woman.


'An INANES isn't supposed to show emotion, correct? Well-- uh-- the Head Pilot-- Saami-- the INANES-- I saw him crying earlier...'


The biochemist was probably far too excited over the idea of a thoughtful INANES on the ship. On this ship, on the ship she was on for the next who-knew-how-many weeks, with no obvious mode of escape!


Of course, her mind was getting carried away, far away, jumping from conclusion to conclusion with utter haste. It was several seconds until she managed to supress her eagerness enough to allow her to stand more or less still.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira paused and looked at Lydia with a raised eyebrow, then glanced to Woods. She hoped he didn't put much merit in this. She glanced back to Lydia with an intrigued look on her face. Procedure first, since Lydia wasn't filling out a report form. "I'm sorry Miss Camden, but I believe that before we go any deeper into this, I need to ask you where and when you saw this, as well as if you've had any alcohol." Adira hadn't forgotten earlier with the webbing. If Woods hadn't stepped in, there was a fair chance that she might have gone off on the girl. She wondered over the girl's sanity. And if the girl wasn't consuming something she shouldn't have been. It was an awful late hour to be so excited, especially since Lydia seemed so... extremely eager. That wasn't right. Why was she so excited? Because she saw Saami as another experiment? She felt her temper light within her, but she kept it quite hidden.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince would have groaned when Adira invited Lydia into the room, but that would have given something away. The fact that Adira admitted they were together at such a late hour was sketchy enough as is. So, to make things less awkward, and to remove any thoughts of finding the Commander in the Captain's bed, Vince stood up and walked over to lean against the wall, his arms folded across his chest in one of his usual poses.


When Lydia started in about Saami being emotional Vince found himself quite interested. He'd been around some of the INANES that SIAD had brought in to replace some of the older operatives, and they had seemed even more emotionless than the normal operators, which was saying something. If anything he would ask Adira about the truth later. Or maybe not. It didn't really matter to him that much. Even if Adira was keeping secrets from him it wasn't like Saami was a combat INANES anyway. Vince looked over at Adira and shrugged before flashing her a hint of a trusting smile. If she had something she wanted to talk about they could talk later. What bothered him though was Lydia...

 

[Spazzycat101]

The biochemist didn't move from where she was standing in the doorway. Though she had regained her calm, nearly artificial composure that was so typical of her, the look of what bordered puzzlement and offense flashed across her face and disappeared a moment later as if it was no different than a blink. Adira's question had let the idea cross her mind that when Rea's 'free day' had been announced, the Captain herself might have had something to drink. The though went almost as quickly as her expression.


'No.' The word came with a quick and mildly confused tone, but one that was replaced by more words following. Lydia pointed down the hallway through which she had come, and motioned with her hand a few turns as if she were trying to draw a map into the air.


'It was in one of the hallways immediately outside the bridge, I think. I got a little bit lost, though...' She mentally pinned the blame for that on the dim lighting along the hallways.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira recognized the nearly insulted look. She calmly said, "I only ask if you've had alcohol because it's necessary that I do, since you're speaking to me instead of filling out the forms - which I don't think is necessary. It's not an insult." This girl was difficult to read, to be certain. Adira didn't hold that against the girl, some people were just like that, but it was definitely irritating deep down;Adira depended on reading people to know how to bend the truth - or present it - when it was necessary. Normally she could read someone easily, but Lydia? It was just another thing that made her suspicious of the girl. However, she kept her voice calm and even. "And this happened just a few moments ago? You say you saw Saami crying? Was there anyone else there?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince chewed on his cheek as he thought over this situation. Lydia had almost seemed like she was going to protest on something, but her attitude changed quickly. She is hiding something. Vince could tell there was something more than just the accusation that Saami was a flawed INANES. Actually, if his gut reaction was right, she was hiding something a little bit more important that this whole deal with Saami. But, for now, might as well deal with the elephant in the room. "Even if you saw someone else around that area, how do you know that they were paying attention to him? You could just have mistaken something for crying you know."

 

[Spazzycat101]

'One of... I think something related to the navigation department... Anyway, purple-coloured hair-- whomever she was, she was there and she was hugging Saami. Hugging an INANES!' Here she paused for an amused and exasperated chuckle, 'And it sounded much more like crying than anything. I'm not sure what else it could've been.'


Now that the feeling resembling the thrill of a breakthrough or incredible discovery was being worn away by the chore of conversation, Lydia's fly-away thoughts had begun to urge her to in the direction of haste. She hid her fidgeting hands discreetly behind her back, trying to stifle the slightly anxious sway her feet wanted to follow. Half of Lydia's attention now was back in her room, analyzing what she could remember of the drawings and sketches she had pieced together of the spiders, but half of it (more or less) remained where she stood, wanting and trying to deny that nothing else was other than ordinary.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira raised an eyebrow at the mention of Saundary. However, Lydia's chuckle tipped Adira off that this girl was just too caught up in this idea. Deep down, it pissed Adira off what Lydia said, "Hugging an INANES!" And Adira wanted to say, So? She could hug him and he couldn't get rid of her, he's programmed like that. And you make it sound like she's insane for it. For some reason, Adira was defensive of Saami and Saundary. After a few moments, Adira said, "Miss Camden, it is quite late, and I don't think you've gotten any sleep since what happened earlier. I will speak to Miss Estramus in the morning about this, as she is the only other witness. It is quite possible that she was the one crying. I suggest you go to bed. This will all be resolved in the morning." Adira looked to Vincent. "Woods? Any input?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince sighed as he walked over towards the two. "I think the best thing you can do Lydia is return to your room and get some rest. I'm not saying you have lied to us, but I'm not agreeing with you either. The Captain and I will speak with Miss Estramus on the morrow about the subject, and we most certainly will get around to you as well."

 

[Spazzycat101]

Lydia's eyes flickered back and forth between the two for a moment as if she didn't quite understand why neither of them seemed very surprised. An emotional INANES was more than intriguing and exciting, at the least for a researcher absolutely determined to find some kind of information about them other than the obvious, 'technologically-integrated human.' While she did want to try and make some kind of progress concerning doing those damned spiders in, she was also reluctant to let this matter drop so easily, to argue at least for the sake of argument. Eventually though, Lydia reluctantly gave an 'Alright.'


and turned to find her way back to her room, wondering how late it actually was. Sure, the lights were dimmed to simulate nighttime, but she hadn't paid much attention (if any) to the hour itself. Her skewered internal clock was never quite reliable either, warding off sleep for a long while and inevitably rising rather late.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira relaxed once Lydia had left, and took off her jacket. "What did you think of all of that?" In honesty, Lydia had almost creeped Adira out. Adira had faced off with things that could be called monsters, but Lydia.... The way she was so impassive and unreadable, but once in a while a glint of excitement or eagerness could be seen, that was worrying. She wanted to know what Woods though before she said anything, though.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince scratched at his cheek, the beginning of new stubble starting to itch, as he thought over the whole ordeal. "I think she is hiding something. I'm not sure what exactly, but I've seen those eyes a few too many times in my life." Vince sighed before looking over at Adira. "If you are wondering about my thoughts on Saami, well, I'm not sure really. Saami is an oddball of an INANES, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he was different from the others." Vince shrugged before folding his hands together behind his head and stretching back, his shirt forming against his well built frame perhaps a little snugly. "I kinda wish she would have picked a better time to drop by though."

 

[Dragongal]

"She's very hard to read; I don't like that. It seems like a practiced defense, not a natural one." Adira sat on the edge of the bed and took off her boots. She glanced up at him for a moment before blushing in the slightest; she hated to admit it, but she had noticed how snugly his shirt fit when he stretched. After she took the time to crack her neck, she replied, "Yeah, but I'm glad she did tell me. I just wish she hadn't been so loud in the halls." Adira glanced up at him again. "How're you feeling? Think you could sleep, or no...?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince walked back over to the bed and sat down next to Adira. "Well all of the stress is gone now, so I'm good on that end. I guess I'm more worried about Lydia than anything." Vince thought for a few moments over how he was actually feeling. It had been several hours since he had taken any of the sedatives. Of course alcohol worked to some degree, but he knew that the symbiote could wake up completely if he didn't take something soon. To hell with it, I'm not leaving her tonight. "If you want to talk some we can, but I think I could doze off again."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira smiled sympathetically. "Are you honestly telling the truth?" She moved to sit back on the headboard, being sure to leave space for him. Before he fell asleep again, she wanted to make sure he was okay. "Truly, I'm fine if you want to stay up a bit longer. I've already had more sleep than I normally get." Sad, but true. Right now she was definitely showing her more tender side, something she rarely did. Yes, she was gentle with crew and civilians - any people - when needed, but this was different. She wasn't just being gentle to him for him, she was also opening herself up.

 

[Spazzycat101]

Just about halfway back to her room, an idea found its way into Lydia's head. She had decided she'd try to create or reuse some kind of infection that already existed, if she could manage to find one. Something foreign to the spiders-- nothing an arachnid of that kind would find itself resistant to. If there was much difference between anything native to this place and diseases once widely-know on earth, the lack of familiarity would deal the spiders a horrible blow. Then again, if the environment in which the microorganism was to live was too radical, nothing much would happen.


By the time she reached her room, Lydia was nearly running again. She more or less flung open the door and made straight for her tablet, rejected to one small corner of her desk. It was with that that she managed to transcribe her rambling ideas into quick, sloppy three-to-four word fragments of thought. It would take her a while to refine the mental shards into more proper words than what had been spelled out with flying fingers, but that was for later.


Lydia was silent except for the occasional mutter or mumble about what else to add to her notes as she managed to stuff the spider-'blueprints' in a few separate cabinets found around the room. She paid little mind to where they were, just that they were there; after a while of thinking while confined to one space, she realized how tired she had actually become. Was that just now, or had she been tired earlier too? She mentally shrugged away the thought for sleep, flinging herself haphazardly onto her bed and letting the occasional spider-strewn dream take her consciousness. Most dreams were her typical mash of odd things, nothing that quite correalated to anything in particular.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince moved so that he could sit next to Adira. "I wouldn't mind staying up a little longer at least. It gives me some more time to be around you, so I can't complain to much." Vince shook his head before laughing quietly. It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but it was the truth. He leaned back against the headboard before looking over at Adira, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words. There was something about the way she had sounded and the way she acted. She seemed friendly yes, but maybe...open? The thought came to him before he had time to process it. Vince slowly leaned towards Adira and kissed her.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira's eyes widened in surprise before she relaxed and slowly closed her eyes as she fell into the kiss. She'd seen people kiss, but never done it. She refused to think about how much trouble they could get into, and instead just savored the kiss. His lips were warm and that made it all the more intoxicating. The rum she'd drunk earlier was nothing compared to this. After a few moments she pulled away and opened her eyes, blushing crimson and smiling shyly to Vince. At the moment, her mind was too frazzled to find words, not that her lips could have even managed them. Deep down she was scared she had somehow messed it up or pulled away too early; she even wanted to kiss him more, but this was an area she didn't have the faintest knowledge in.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince smiled as he noticed Adira blush, though her smile was priceless. He wasn't sure when he kissed her if he had crossed a line or not, but when she kissed him back he had felt relief wash over him. He had never taken the time to ever pursue a relationship before. Well, being in the Outliners and SIAD didn't help with that. After a moment he turned his head, his own cheeks flushing red slightly as he scratched at his neck. "That was...really nice actually."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira nodded before wrapping her arms around Vince. "It was. I've... never been kissed before. It was really nice." She reached out and slowly, tenderly brushed his hair back, away from his face. There was probably more emotion shown in that action than she had shown in the last year. A bond had definitely formed between herself and Vince, that she wasn't scared to let her guard down around him and completely relax, and show her inner soft-hearted kindness, almost innocence. It was usually evident that she was kind and generous when the time was right, but this was so completely different it surprised even her. Whatever walls of nonchalance and tenacity she had built up to protect herself were now gone. She very quietly asked, "Do you think you can sleep?"