JP: Doctor Erin Reynolds & LtJG Jocelyn Marshall - So There's This Girl... (Part Four)

[Quinn Reynolds]

((Upper Entertainment Deck, Iana Station))

Marshall: Three years. ::she looked up to the domed ceiling of the station:: That is damn impressive. The next time I see you, you'll be up to five. ::she smiled, teasingly but she'd believe it:: You find purpose in the pursuit of knowledge, then?

E. Reynolds: I don't know. Maybe. I used to? I was always told I was very smart, and that was something that very smart people did, so I did it. ::She lifted one shoulder in a slightly awkward shrug.:: And then the war happened, and there were more pressing things to... find purpose in. Maybe I'll contribute something significant and unique to the field of botany eventually, but... ::She sighed.:: I'm just trying to figure things out right now. Find my feet.

:: At the mention of them, Jo looked down at their feet strolling in unison, slow, unhurried. Having an existential crisis on a change of career would have been hard enough; Erin was in the midst while trying to exist in a different universe with a complete change of life in nearly every fathomable way. For a long minute, Jo didn’t know what to say, gaze unfixed.::

Marshall: You know where I grew up? Volan III? ::she was sure they’d talked about that in a Jefferies Tube mid brown-out once:: I used to talk to the old Bajorans in the mines, those who’d been through the Dominion War. Fighting the Jem’Hadar had given them this incredible sense of purpose, it was all they spoke about even years after it was over, with such pride, I couldn’t understand it. I was still a kid when they started dying. Complications from injuries, you know? Can’t live forever on a body riddled with shrapnel and addicted to adrenaline. 

:: She swallowed a laugh, barely exhaling it, and shook her head. Faces. Voices. The rush of buried memories. There was a time when tears would have formed.::

Marshall: You lived in that, through that, and worse. So, if you’re uncertain, or conflicted about what to do, don’t be. You’re only just beginning to get to know yourself outside of that grip of war. Do what makes you happy. It’s going to take time. ::looking up, she offered Erin a smile, lest it get too serious::  And possibly one or two major revivals of extinct plant life in a biodome.

::Erin didn't catch the smile, her gaze lingering on some indistinct point in the distance. Nor did she answer for a long time, lost in her thoughts as she walked alongside Jo. Eventually she yanked herself out of her daze, glancing toward her friend.::

E. Reynolds: Yeah. ::She half-smiled, and it didn't quite reach her eyes.:: I'm working on it. 

:: It was a small sobering moment, the reality of a situation that Jo hadn’t fully grasped until she’d said the words aloud. War was terrifying, and knowing the woman walking beside her had experienced more than she ever would made her heart ache.::

Marshall: I’m sorry. ::she ran a hand up to her hair:: I’m no good at this kind of thing. Is there anything I can do? I’m not a good botanist, but I’ve been told I’m a good distraction. 

E. Reynolds: It's all right, Jo. ::She reached over and briefly brushed the back of her hand against Jo's, an attempt at reassurance.:: This is good. Being here with you is good.

:: The slight action caused a flare of pink on the Human’s face, despite the fleeting somber feeling, and she smiled, genuinely. Once the fierce blush had abated, looked to her friend.::

Marshall: You’re not so bad yourself. ::she arched her eyebrow:: Do you think the Tyrellians have many open roads?

E. Reynolds: Not on Palanon. ::She shook her head.:: The Tyrellians had moved past the need for roads by the time they decamped to their new home. ::The tilt of her head and her subsequent smile was apologetic.:: Sorry.

:: Jo nodded, recalling the train style system on Palanon that ran along the outside of the main city the last they were there. Roads were now a near ancient technology, with Earth being one of the last vestiges of enthusiasm for old modes of transport.::

Marshall: Holodeck it is. ::she stopped walking, turned to Erin with a playful grin:: How about it, speed demon? An old car, some open road, grab some food to take with us…? ::she bit the corner of her bottom lip, looking into hazel eyes:: Tempted?

E. Reynolds: I, Uh... ::Her breath hitched in her throat, and she blinked rapidly, temporarily lost for words. As the flush crept back onto her cheeks, she laughed nervously and nodded.:: Yeah. 

:: The grin on Jo’s face grew slightly at the chance to throw the car's keys at Erin and venture out somewhere on a programmed highway. She looked between them, at Erin’s hand, and held it for a moment, touching the back of her fingers with her thumb.::

Marshall: Good. ::finding hazel eyes again, for a brief second she forgot how to breathe:: Let's go get lost somewhere. 

​--

Lieutenant JG Jocelyn Marshall

Operations Officer

USS Gorkon

&

Doctor Erin Reynolds

Botanist

Ereina Ark Project