Who: Esteria and OPEN Where:Athena; cockpit When: Night on the ship Summary: Space is really empty, vast and quiet. Rating: TBD Status: Ongoing
It was so quiet you could hear every time creak of the ship and Esteria knew what each meant. The slightly high pitch whine from the dimmed lights in the hall just outside the hatch, the soft cracking sound made by the hinges on the hatch. Late at night when everyone else was asleep and it was just her and the ship she listened to it. She knew its everyone sound. In truth she probably knew the ship better than the people on it. The problem was she had just never been a people person. Even growing up she hadn't really been interested in knowing people outside of her family.
Leaning back in her chair Esteria swung her legs up so her feet we're resting on top of the console. The thick soles of her knee high boots made a soft thunk sound when they connected with the console. Her long body was stretched out with the seat dipping back towards the floor. Next to the chair her right arm hung down her fingers rubbing absently against the prayer beads in her hand. At times like this her mind just tended to wander. She didn't think about anything particularly deep in these late night moments. It was usually pretty pointless stuff like how the cold made her scars ache.
A slight grumble in her stomach made her lean forward and grab a small bag of dried fruit off the console. The monks continued to send her these little packets of fruit and literature and well wishes. She knew the monks were worried she'd fall off the wagon so to speak. She had come to them so broken and damaged that it was hard to imagine her being anything but what she had been. And that was the worse part of the long night and why she listened to the ship. When she listened to the ship she was able to push it all out. She couldn't hear screams, feel the overwhelming press of the flames on her face, smell the acrid scent of gunpowder. Biting into another piece of fruit she focused on the sweet sugary taste of the dried treat and not the memory of the coppery taste of blood in her mouth.
Then there was a less familiar sound. Something like footsteps. She didn't bother to look though. She learned long ago that looking only encouraged people and she didn't want to encourage anyone to talk to her. There were too many people on this ship as it was. She didn't like it when they took on passengers or that they had the companion. The more people on the ship the more chances to run into someone from the past.