MSNPC PO2C Dominika Ślimak - They're All Mad Here!
Teayl Thorn
((OOC: Dom’s thoughts and comments are just part of the drama, not the thoughts or feelings of the writer. Sorry Don/Roop and Don/Kel XD))
((Thermal Pools, Salt Caverns, The Farm, Endicronimas V))
The thermal pool’s warmth soaked into Dom’s skin, easing the knots in her shoulders. Steam curled lazily around them, shimmering pink against the salt walls. The salvaged rum burned her throat in a way that should’ve helped. It didn’t. The cold knot in her gut refused to melt.
Dom: Honestly? I think I’m done with space. Done fixing things that’ll just break again. ::voice tightens:: Boldly going… straight to disaster. It all just feels like a cosmic scam now.
T'Alia blinked at Dom’s words or perhaps her sentiment.
Dohna: It's like the Emissary said, none of our experiences prepared us for this consequence. ::pausing:: I'm paraphrasing of course.
Akani: Everyone reacts to things differently.
Holley: Response
T'Alia reached over in from the lip of the pool to give Dom's shoulder a squeeze. The comfort they offered, the touch on her shoulder, the sensible words delivered in a gentle voice. Dom both desperately wanted and couldn’t accept it. Guilt was a ghost she hadn’t figured out how to leave behind. She felt a fresh wave of embarrassment over her outburst.
Dom: Sorry, sirs—uh, El-Tee, Georgia, Akani. I just… feel bad about all of it. ::whispering:: About surviving.
Dohna: I think we all feel that way.
Akani: Just call me Xira, and you're not wrong to do so.
Dom looked up at the other faces with a small amount of hero admiration. They all clearly belonged in Starfleet, they had been through the officer training, they were serious about duty. Dom just wanted to travel, see the galaxy, fix things, drink rum and play Dabo. After the events on the Compass Rose, the adventure had stopped feeling worth it.
Holley: Response
Dohna: The prophets teach us that we need to move on. We cannot exist here forever.
Dom groaned, dragging a wet hand down her face. She had heard that before. Maybe from Dohna herself.
Akani: Hear, hear. The prophets teach a lot of things.
Dom: ::slapping the water:: Okay, yeah, but what does that mean, huh? What does “move on” even look like? If it’s not at the bottom of this bottle or on a Dabo table, then I don’t know where else to look.
Holley: Response
Dohna: What if ::she stopped:: What if we asked to join the Ronin crew?
Akani: That's what I'm planning on doing.
Dom leaned back and almost slid under, sputtering back up with a splash.
Dom: With them?! I mean, sure, they saved us— oO most of us Oo But some of them are sooo annoying. Did you meet that engineer, Ensign Roop? More like Ensign Rude. Bossy, condescending, did I mention rude— ::beat:: and a damn good engineer, but that’s beside the point!
She jabbed a finger in the air for emphasis.
Dom: ::mouthing in an accent:: “If she turns to goo because of you, we're BOTH going to come haunt you!” Who says that?!
Huffing and crossing her arms in the water with an angry slap. She lent into the anger, and to her surprise it slightly warmed the frozen place inside her.
Holley: Response
Dohna: ::gently offering:: We'd know where we were. We'd have a purpose then.
Akani: We'd be still able to do what we've been doing before this… I'm gonna call it what it is, a plague, with support systems in place.
Dom: Ah, sure, but with my luck, I’d end up in that cold fish’s department.
Holley: Response
Akani: And… I feel like I owe it to the two people who helped me. Lieutenant Syrex and Lieutenant JG Om-Zora. They were nice, and Om-Zora helped out when I had a panic attack.
Dohna: I can't say that I met Om-Zora, but I wouldn't be here if that science officer, Commander Kel hadn't shown up when he did.
Dom: Commander Blue! ::grins, raising a hand:: Sorry, sirs—NCO force of habit. He seemed to know where to point his antennae. ::wiggles eyebrows::
Holley: Response
Akani: They helped Georgia, too.
Xira reached out and embraced Holley.
Dohna: It is not logical for us to blame ourselves. We did what we could under the circumstances. No one could ask for more than that.
Dom sucked in a sharp breath, as her superior officer, a half Vulcan, started to cry and the other two embraced. She had drastically misread the situation.
oO Oh no. Oo
She’d done it again. Broke something without meaning to—this time, a Vulcan’s composure. She needed to get out of Starfleet before she caused a galactic disaster with her messed up sense of humour.
Dom: Oh no! Sir—uh, T'Alia. I didn’t mean—please don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll start crying and the reputation of the thermal pool will be ruined.
She just couldn’t help herself sometimes.
Holley: Response
Akani: They… They didn't leave us.
The tears fell anyway, and there was nothing to do but sit quietly with them. Steam curled around the group, the water’s ripples slowing.
Holley: Response
Eventually the Vulcanoid drew in a deep breath. Dom looked at her and saw a calmness, a peace in her face that had seemed absent before.
Dohna: I don't know how to say this, but now I'm hungry.
A relieved smile cracked across the crewman’s face.
Dom: Just like that was fine, sir.
Akani/Holley: Response
Dohna: Well I wouldn't say no to some hasprit. What about you Xira? Is hasprit a comfort food for you as well?
Akani/Holley: Response
Dom: I could do with some hot 1polską herbatę i ciasteczka. ::slipping into polish:: The rum on an empty stomach might’ve been a mistake.
Dohna: My father likes it extra spicy. I can't even eat it when my grandmother makes it.
Akani: Response
Dom: ::raising the flask:: 2Na zdrowie. Let's go then. I would like to try your culture's food, if we can find somewhere that serves it.
Tipping up the flask a final time and downing a swig, she dragged her dripping self out of the pool and wrapped up in the towel.
Holley/Dohna/Akani: Response
Dom: You can tell me more about the idea to join the Ronin. I’m not convinced yet, but I'm not saying no either. Just have a few personnel issues to consider. Do you think the Rosie will be decommissioned after all this? The 3pech—uh, the bad luck clings to her.
As they wandered in search of the food.
Holley/Dohna/Akani: Response
Despite her hesitance a warm little glow had flickered back to life in Dom. The worst had already happened, and she was still here. Maybe that meant the universe wasn’t done with her yet.
[Tags / TBC if continuing or happy for this to be end of scene for Dom]
OOC:
1polską herbatę i ciasteczka - Polish - “Polish tea and cookies.”
2Na zdrowie - Polish - “To your health, Cheers.”
3pech - Polish - “bad luck”.
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PO2C Dominika Ślimak
Engineering Technician
USS Compass Rose
Simmed by
Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14