Lucky Stones

Posted on Wed Dec 30th, 2020 @ 11:58am by Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine & Warrant Officer Koh Ottasu

Mission: Enforced Intermission
Location: ICS Tantamount

ICS Tantamount.

The ship that had rescued them all from the darkness of space.

Thankfulness and gratitude would naturally be completely normal emotions to experience and display, yet for the slim blonde, it seemed they were among the furthest from her mind, at least in the immediate moment.

No sooner had her feet hit the deck of the Ts'usugi vessel, Shaille had shoved the two bags toward Ashe and set her sights on the nearest Ts'usugi ship member.

"The blink fighters, where are they?" she near demanded, unable to hide the hint of panic in her voice. "Which bay are they in? Where is it?"

It was obvious that not every member of the ship's crew was fluent in Federation standard. Though, they all had a smattering of knowledge. "Bay Four. Go.. umm, door, then turn, then one, two, three, then turn, and then there." the crewmember directed with his hands. Through the door, turn left. One, two, three, then a right. Then you'd be there.

The directions were dodgy, but accurate. The doors would open up to a full hangar. Inside there were blink fighters, of two distinct classes. Seems someone got the newer models, perhaps. There was a sound though, filling the hangar: Conversation.

No matter what, no matter who, fighter jocks compared stories. Though, as Shaille entered the bay, one voice stopped talking, and started to move over towards her. Blank fur, with a splotch of white over an eye.

The directions, as dodgy as they were, had gotten her to where she wanted to be, doors closing behind her as she cast a diserning glance over the array of fighters arranged in front of her before her steady gaze came to rest on a familiar figure moving away from the rest toward her.

She ran toward him, almost throwing herself at him as soon as she was close enough. "Oh thank the deities!" Her hands moved to his face, fingertips half caressing, half exploring, maybe a hint of checking to make sure he was intact. "We heard there were fatalities, no one knew what was going on, are you okay?" Her words almost fell over each other as she spoke.

He held her tight, close, to the point where he was more making sure she was actually here and not some blink hallucination. A fragment of a life never lived.

He was soon convinced she was real. "I am now." he responded. "I was going pod to pod, trying to peer in without looking like I was peering in. Then the Tantamount came in system, and the fighters were acting as comm relays since we have all the protocols."

One of the other squaddies in the group that Koh had left asked a question. He chuckled, "She's my an... Kanojo wa tenshi." he recalled that while not everyone here spoke Terran, almost everyone here DID speak Ts'ugubito.

"They asked who you were. I told them you're my angel." he whispered to her.

A hint of colour rose in her cheeks as she finally turned, realising the number of Ts'usungi watching them. Turning back toward Koh, she met his eyes, her hand moving again to the side of his face. His eyes, lustreless as they were, remained fixed on her, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth at his words. "Always," she murmured softly, her hand moving behind his head, bringing his forehead against hers.

The other fighter pilots, to their credit, gave the pair their space. Sure, Koh would hear about it later, but for the moment, the moment belonged to them. "I listened in on the comm traffic, listening for anything. Good news, bad news, anything. When I heard about wounded, I worried, but I didn't hear any names." he paused, "You made it here, so I assume you're not hurt?" he asked, his forehead gently against her's, his ears drooped to the point where they warmed up the back of her head.

His presence, his touch, everything was a reassuring comfort in a time of uncertainty. "A few bumps and bruises, but nothing that can't wait," she replied quietly. "Doctor Morgan will catch up with me eventually I'm sure, but for now there are more important injuries that need treatment, and I needed to find you." She fell silent, just remaining in the moment, savouring the warmth of his body wrapped around her. "We still don't know who didn't make it, the thought..." a shiver ran through her despite the warmth he provided. "I didn't know if you were safe or not, I didn't know..."

"Shhh... we're here." he said softly. "Protocol and bureaucracy is in our blood, we'll have everyone on those pods registered and processed within the hour." he reassured her, holding her close. "We tethered some of the pods that were heading in a poor direction, but as far as myself and the rest of the shuttles and fighters could tell, every pod that launched had the best chance to clear."

"You're safe now, and that's all that matters to me."

"I think all the pods launched, ours was one of the last, aside from the bridge crew. I know they came out okay, I saw Captain Laurens and Commander Gail briefly before the Ts'usugi hustled them out of the cargo bay." Shaille paused, leaning into him again. "I'm just glad you're okay." She pulled away, a horrified expression crossing her face momentarily as she looked up at him. "Our duffles!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I'm sorry! I put them down when we were coordinating shuttles and escape pods..." She bit her bottom lip. "Koh, I left them on the ship, I'm sorry, I lost your stuff."

Koh paused for a moment, considering what Shaille just said, and put his hands around her, "Shhh, don't give it a second thought." he lamented the loss of the river stone, but it was a fair trade to ensure that SHE was on a shuttle. Rather her, than the stone.

Than a piece of Ts'usu.

"If my lucky rock didn't make it, but you did... I'll take that. I suppose... I'll just have to claim a new lucky stone next time I'm on Ts'usu." it was then, that one of the other fighters mentioned something, and Koh perked up. "Oh, there is? Oh that's very interesting." and he smiled softly to Shaille. "So in the mess here on the Tantamount, they brought a piece of Ts'usu with them." Every class of ship of a certain size and higher had a piece of Ts'usu with them. That was actually common practice.

"They brought a tree. With some garden stones. Would you like to see it? Maybe help me pick out a new lucky stone?"

Shaille managed a smile, her fingertips moving to his ears, brushing gently down until her hand rested against his face. "I'd love to."