Will's trip to Deep Space 9

[visible_sariel]

the door opens on a corridor not entirely unlike those on the Enterprise; comm panels on the walls, deckplates underfoot, airlocks opening and closing with audible hisses in the middle distance. Despite all that, things look just a little more... civilian here. Not everyone passing by is in the same uniform, or in uniform at all, for one. Far from it.

Sariel waits until the corridor's as close to clear as it's likely to get before ducking through, beckoning Will after as soon as her feet hit the station's floor. She still looks a little nervous, but there's a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth all the same. "Welcome to Deep Space 9," she says as the door closes behind them.

Comments

[will_scarlett]

"Aye, do ye 'ave a favorite?"

[visible_sariel]

Sariel gives that one a long second's consideration. When she speaks, it's over the rim of that teacup again. "Aside from Earth, because of home... We don't always get to see that much of the worlds we visit. It really depends on our mission. So many of the planets we've seen are beautiful from orbit... but there is one. It's some distance from Earth, and I haven't been there more than once. Most of the surface is either a tropical forest or covered by an ocean. It was lovely to visit."

[will_scarlett]

"Sounds quite 'mazin', what's it called an when'd ye first go there?"

[visible_sariel]

"We first went there not long after I joined the crew of the Enterprise. It was an experience, believe me. I was barely out of the academy, so everything had quite an impact on me." Not that that's changed so terribly much, but that's obvious enough without it being said. Sariel does name the world in question as well, though how much sense it makes to Will is really... up to Will.

When she continues after a momentary pause, she sounds a little thoughtful, a little wistful. "There is a world that I believe will be even more beautiful given time..."

[will_scarlett]

"Oh aye?"

Will finds himself leaning to listen since Sariel tells a good story.

[visible_sariel]

Sariel's mother probably tells a better one, actually; Amalie Rager isn't nearly so reserved as her daughter. Still, a story is a story. "Bajor is the world nearest this station, the world where--you know." A gesture to the hasperat, then to the room at large - that particular planet's been mentioned before. "It was occupied by another people, the Cardassians, for decades." Pause. "Starfleet wasn't involved in the conflict, but that's not to say it wasn't disturbing to hear about. It was. Now that the occupation is over--that's why we're here, really. Some of us are helping to repair what was damaged then. Now that the fighting is over... I can't imagine things not improving."

Sooomebody is an idealist. Somebody else is lucky, hearing Sariel talk this much.

[will_scarlett]

He rubs at his wrist,

"Good o''em to get free then, na right when someone else is controllin' ye."

[visible_sariel]

For some reason, and it's very probably a reason Will knows just as well as Sariel herself does, that merits a tiny smile. "Officially I don't think I should say." Pause. "But yes, I agree with you."

And if one hand strays toward her right ear but stops in midair when it's halfway there... what of it? Plenty.

It's another minute before Sariel speaks again. "There is something I'd like to show you, before we go back. I think you might enjoy seeing it."

[will_scarlett]

"Would like to see whate'er ye wish to show me. Think we've 'bout finished 'ere too."

He reaches over and squeezes her hand for a moment.

[visible_sariel]

"I think you're right." Sariel stands, but not before squeezing will's hand in return. "I'm glad I dared to do this," she admits. Beat. "Even if I'm still half afraid that someone will realize and throw me in the brig the next time I turn around." Why yes, she's literally laughing at herself by the end of that last.

[will_scarlett]

"Course they willna an if tis any trouble, we'll get it sorted, promise ye. Mean ye 'andled Sherwood just fine after all."

With a final drink of his whiskey, he stands and follows her.

[visible_sariel]

"I tried to, anyway." Something momentarily darkens Sariel's expression at mention of sherwood, but it passes quickly enough that it might not have been noticed. "They'd never believe us if we *did* tell the truth," she adds, turning toward the door. the amusement's back, yay!

[will_scarlett]

"Foolish o''em since tis so much more than just the eye can see."

His eyes flash that strange deep green as he follows her out the door.

[visible_sariel]

"You know it, and I know it," is what Sariel says. It's not quite clear from her tone whether that's a positive or a negative. Maybe it's both.

more things in heaven and earth

Actually, it very likely is both.

Once outside Quark's, the bustle of the promenade reasserts itself. Lucky for everyone involved, especially Sariel, that going against traffic doesn't seem to be the order of the day.

[will_scarlett]

As they walk, Will moves slightly in front since he's better at finding ways through people,

"Oh aye."

[visible_sariel]

Most of the people seem to either be going in the same general direction as Sariel and Will are, or aiming for shops or other doorways well to the side of the walkway. Not everyone is, of course, but it doesn't look like anyone's in enough of a hurry to really be a collision hazard. Well, except for that one dark-skinned human boy who's got his nose in a datapad and isn't quite looking where he's going...

Heads up, Will.

[will_scarlett]

Will can't quite dodge Jake so puts a hand on his head,

"Watch where ye're goin', lad else ye'll run into someone."

[visible_sariel]

Jake, neatly snapped out of his reading, blinks up at Will in startled surprise. "Sorry," is the first thing he says. "I wasn't watching." You can bet he scampers off soon after if Will doesn't try to stop him, and just maaaaybe a murmur carries back, unless the crowd noise drowns it out. If it's heard, it contains the words 'glad that wasn't' and 'klingon'. Go figure.

Sariel, who's now at Will's shoulder, looks somewhere between surprised and puzzled. "What did he say about a klingon?"

[will_scarlett]

Will's glad to release him since there's no reason to hold Jake as soon as he's not going to run into them,

"Na sure, sounds like 'e was countin' 'imself lucky I wasna someone meaner. Seems a nice lad though should watch 'imself walkin' round 'ere."

[visible_sariel]

"If he'd run into a klingon, there certainly could have been trouble," Sariel muses. "Klingons are warriors, and very fierce in most cases." That mutter of Jake's was likely justified, in other words.

There's a small cluster of people gathered not far ahead. None of them seem to be going anywhere, and they all appear to be watching something. "Ooh," Sariel says as they draw closer, "we're almost here."

[will_scarlett]

"Oh aye, will 'ave to make sure we avoid 'em then. Where's 'ere?"

[visible_sariel]

"Or just avoid literally running into them," is Sariel's answer. It could almost be a quip, if it hadn't been said seriously. Heck, it might still be something of a quip.

"There are viewports here," Sariel explains, drawing to a stop on the edge of that knot of people. "There's a wormhole near the station--a... passage, connecting this area of space with another much further away. When a ship comes through, the view is... amazing." As the other tourists are all focused on the view, no one notices her attempts to explain a twenty-fourth century concept to a man a thousand years and several worlds away from his time. Whew.

Something cloudy blue and swirling is beginning to color the darkness of the space outside those viewports, speaking of views.

[will_scarlett]

Will watches and just stops amazed at all the space and then the wormhole,

"Its beautiful."

[visible_sariel]

That cloudy blue's grown in intensity and scope within the space of seconds; it swirls, storm-dancing in the black, glowing orange at it's center until a comparative smudge of silver-grey streams through. The ship looks tiny beside the ebbing radiance, never mind the distance between itself and the promenade. It's briefly visible in greater detail as the blue brilliance dims, contracting to a point of light in two slow blinks, but then it's changed course, moved on. The docking ring is elsewhere on the station, after all.

"The Bajorans believe," Sariel says quietly, "that the wormhole is the home of their gods, the prophets. they call it the celestial temple." Pause. Long pause. "I can understand why."

[will_scarlett]

"Oh aye, 'as the feel o'Sherwood, so old an true."