Commander Ash MacKenna - Warmth of Home

[Marissa Jeffrey]

((Shayne and Ash's Quarters, USS Arrow))

Ash was never one to sit around. She was used to being up and mobile, either getting something productive done or just exploring someplace new, or in a new way. Her foot injury had impeded that normality. While she tried to get up and go around the ship at least, she found herself both struggling and in pain, leading her back to her room, on the bed, staring at the ceiling of the quarters she shared with Shayne.

It was boring, perhaps, but it was also restful and peaceful. She'd put one of Shayne's classical playlists on and set her head back against the soft pillows, allowing her flame-red hair to splay across them in contrast. For an indeterminate amount of time, she let herself drift, awash in the rising and falling of the notes that filled the air around her.

One might have thought her asleep, but the sound of the door parting and the heavy steps that she knew so well were not missed despite how she might have appeared. Nor was the crash into the couch pillows in the room beyond where she was now. For a moment, she focused on his breathing and how sweet it sounded to her weary ears, before she silently pulled herself up and made her way to the shared living space. There she found him, face down in the couch pillows, looking every bit as ragged as the situation would demand, and yet, ever so perfect.

Ash: Well hello my love. 

She'd not made a sound between the room and where she stood now, but he had known she was there. There was something between them that simply allowed that; a connection unlike any she'd experienced before.

Shayne: ::unintelligible grunting noises::

Looking down at him, she couldn't help but smile as he rolled over and looked to the ceiling before looking at her with the smile she had grown so fond of.

Shayne: Hi.

There was a pause between them as she slipped onto the couch with him, the contact sending warmth through her and making any pains for the moment forgotten.

MacKenna: Welcome home.

And for a moment, that was all there was. He was there. She was there. The gentle notes from the music continued to drift around them until he and she were simply they. It was a level of comfort that made this more than just a place to be and rest. It truly was home.

Shayne: How’s the foot?

Adjustments made for clearer views and she propped her foot up on the table. It was indeed a foot, which was more than could be said for what it had looked like when she'd returned from the mission in the first place.

MacKenna: Still a foot. Sore, but very much real.

There was not an ounce of sarcasm in the statement either. During the time she'd spent on the Libris she had fully expected to return and need an artificial foot to match her artificial hand. The fact that their doctors had performed such a miracle - Dr Ohnari specifically - was something she'd never forget.

Shayne: I’ll tell the runway to stow the stilettos for now.

Ash grinned at his humor.

MacKenna: I appreciate that. ::beat.:: I went by the Intel suite this morning.

Leaving it at that, her eyes followed him as he stood, putting a hand in front of him as if he were defending against some incoming onslaught. It took something to keep a smirk from her face, but there was a sparkle in her emerald eyes that he might have seen had he been looking at her.

Shayne: Now wait a minute- I know the Intel Suite isn’t looking great right now, but it wasn’t my idea to stick a lunatic program into the Janus Core. That was dear Quentin’s fountain of madness.

She raised an eyebrow.

MacKenna: Oh really? 

Shayne: Response?

Mocking concern, she nodded and played as if she were thinking things through.

MacKenna: Funny. He said that it was your idea.

Shayne: Response?

Unable to stop the grin now, she reached out to take his hand in hers and pulled him towards the couch once more. The warmth once again spread and she conveyed on her face that she was not at all concerned. 

MacKenna: Good thing we've gotten it all straightened out.

Shayne: Response?

TAG/TBC

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Commander Ash MacKenna

Chief Intelligence Officer

USS Arrow

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