Lt. Commander Kero Rix - Through the Hard Times and the Good
Jo Marshall
((Transporter Room, Deck 8, USS Gorkon))
Helmet pulled free from dark locks and violet eyes, Rix could see Thea properly, finally, under the glow of the transporter pad lights. Her grimace of pain in the movement prompted a flick of his eyes over where the pain resided, and the thought that Thea had been hurt on the mission churned in his stomach. Rix flexed his hands in the small of his back, resisting the urge to pull his Tyrellian Princess into his arms.
As if witnessing the display of professional distance was enough to cause second hand embarrassment, behind them, Chief Yisen finished his log with brisk efficiency, as if he had urgent business on the other side of a closed door. The clearing of a Melthusian throat and the deliberate gathering of a maintenance PADD.
Yisen: Log's done. ::Already on the move, he nodded.:: Sir. Lieutenant.
Kairis: Thank you, Chief.
Kero: Chief.
The doors closed behind the grumpy Melthusian with a thousand stories, leaving the couple alone in the transporter room. No one else would be coming through now, everyone had arrived back safely and were in the care of one medical professional or another. Walking Thea down to Sickbay was the next port of call, yet neither of them made a move for the exit. Thea's hands toyed with her helmet and the familiar wave of fatigue broke over her face, one Rix had learned the signs of.
Kairis: You look tired. Are you all right?
Kero: I am tired. ::He blinked away the scratch in his eyes.:: Nothing a good night's sleep in astrapella won't cure. All I've done is sit on a comfortable bridge.
Kairis: Well. ::She smiled, though it looked like it took a little more effort than before.:: Standing watch over the chaos isn't in the recruitment brochures, either.
Kero: But plenty of it is in the Admiral memoirs they make you read on command track which makes you very good at standing watch over the chaos. I have a commendation, you know. ::His voice lowered a notch as he took a step toward her.:: I'd still rather be in it with you than sit on the bridge being as useless as a Delvan fluff pastry.
Kairis: Response
It was as close to an admission of being frightened for what could have happened as Rix was willing to get; fate tempted weary travellers far too often, and he would not bait it further. His Bajoran nose ridges softened, and the professional mask slipped the last centimetre as he drew marginally closer on the pad, dark eyes assessing and connecting.
He reached for her scuffed and stained helmet, in an offer to take it from her hands before she wore out the lining, and placed his hands over hers. Gloved as hers were, his imagination or not felt the familiar sense of warmth there, and when umber eyes found violet a small thrum of his heart cascaded a flush of blood into his cheeks. Since anyone could walk into the transporter room, he defaulted to following Thea's lead.
Kero: Are you all right?
Kairis: Response
Kero: You got the warning out, Thea. Every team made that gate because of a message you found a way to send.
Kairis: Response
Lt. Commander Kero Rix
Deputy Chief Operations Officer
USS Gorkon, NCC-82293
G239304JM0