Posted by Captain Johann Dvorak (CO) in Arboretum - Sienna Comes Clean

Posted by Lieutenant Siennadye Nox (Counselor) in Arboretum - Sienna Comes Clean

Posted by Captain Johann Dvorak (CO) in Arboretum - Sienna Comes Clean
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

SNIP

Johann was right, Siennadye Nox in either universe was simply not one to fall apart. She was cool, calm, and compassionate in almost every situation. This though, was intimately personal. She just didn’t have the ability to detach from it in this moment. He wasn’t her husband, but he was her friend. And as her friend, he was offering support in the best way he knew how. He understood her to be in pain and wanted to help. Yeah she thought to him with an internal sigh, I do. Sienna laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his upper arm.

Okay, he thought.

She let the tears come as they would, let herself in this moment be the grieving woman she was. For the first time, she let herself be completely authentic and vulnerable. She took comfort in the familiar, strange though it was. Then again, her life was strange these days.

Stoicism was Johann’s refuge from the abject lunacy of everything that was taking place. Which, actually wasn’t a fair description of the events of today; it was more accurate to say that this was the ultimate outcome of the abject lunacy that had been quietly going on for years.

After a while she lifted a hand to wipe her damp cheeks and sniffled. She pulled away from her friend and tried to compose herself with a little laugh. “I promise I will not always be that tragic. I don’t usually fall apart like that.”

Nox, CNS

The thought of helping her wipe her cheeks did cross his mind, but he promptly dismissed it as far too intimate a gesture without much conscious thought.

“Yeah, I figured,” he replied instead. He smirked a little bit, trying to go along with her own attempts at levity.

“We should talk about Vora, though,” he said a moment later when he felt that a slight topic adjustment was appropriate. “I know I said we knew you didn’t intend to do steal anybody, and we do. And she does. But she’s… umm…” How to describe it? Probably exactly the same way she did. “She doesn’t doubt anyone’s intentions. But she does find it… umm… weird, that there’s some not-that-different reality where I’m not-that-different, and things ended up differently. But I think a lot of that has less to do with you and more to do with me, actually. Or with… men, generally, that she’s known before. I don’t know what she’s told you about that, but she’s known a lot of bad men.” Of course, Siennadye had seen one of those bad men in person. In a pool of their own blood. When Vora stabbed him. In self defense, of course.

– Johann Dvorak, CO

Sienna nodded. She could imagine that this was a very strange situation for Vora just as much as it might be for Johann and herself. “Yes. And she might be taken aback by the idea that a decision or two is all that might have kept her from meeting you. A decision or two that other people made and she had no choice in. Even though it didn’t here, I can see why there might be a bit of .... not exactly fear perhaps, but worry that her life could be changed that way. Maybe she even thinks about how the other Siennadye Nox had the capability of falling in love with you and you with her. What if’s are always a bit of a roller coaster we would rather not explore and yet our brains are wired to think about them anyway. People with strong imaginations are more prone to longer lists of scenarios than most.”

Nox, CNS

“Yes, exactly,” he said. That was exactly it. “I mean, I think I reassured her about the main part of what she was worried about, which was that she might lose something. There was quite a bit of reassuring, but I’m pretty sure it was successful.” He momentarily distracted himself, thinking very fondly thought about how last night went. There was a lot of “reassuring.”

“But anyway, you probably should still talk to her about, you know, other stuff, too. She has issues she needs to see a counselor to sort out, and she doesn’t want… you know… this… to be a problem for the two of you either.”

– Johann Dvorak, CO

She blinked and turned to look at him for a moment before realizing what he meant. Of course Vora would be worried about that. “Oh! I see. Well, on my end I have been functioning as the Counselor of this ship since shortly after I stepped on board. I knew about the position I would hold so I was quite prepared mentally and mostly emotionally for counseling people regardless of my other universe relationship to them. I have been handling this job for two years without my former life affecting my work. Now that the facts have come to light, I can understand that she has not had the time to prepare as I have for this role.”

Johann simply nodded. He took Vora’s concerns seriously, but he didn’t really think it was going to be a big deal for exactly the reasons that Sienna indicated.

Sienna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I will of course, continue to do my duties on board as I have been. I will be glad to speak with her and reassure her that in a professional capacity, she can trust me to do my job and that I would like her to. Really, all I have here is my job.” She gave him a half smile that was fleeting. Sad really that her job was all she had. PErhaps she should work on that. It didn’t look like she was going anywhere.

Nox, CNS

He couldn’t help but notice that the half smile that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Really? he wondered, before realizing that of course she would think that way. He began to feel a great deal of pity. He wanted to-

“It doesn’t help that we basically live like the Borg on this ship,” he commented somewhat flippantly, derailing the entire train of thought that he was about to go down. Maybe that would succeed at injecting some levity.

– Johann Dvorak, CO

She blinked with wide eyes of shock. “Like the....” Then Sienna sort of snorted and covered her mouth as she began to laugh. The absurdity of his analogy hit its intended target with intended results. She couldn’t imagine the people on this ship feeling as though they were living like the Borg. Though they did have a man with mechanical eyes as their captain.

“Surely not.” She said between giggles. “Perhaps we should do some investing in fun activities and morale boosters if that is the case.”

Nox, CNS