Personal Space (Ciara)

[Alliana Porter]

Alliana had not been herself lately. After the bizarre dreams, her flu and some dark feeling inside her gut, she was anything but well. 3 am rolled around and Ally had failed to move from her spot in the common room. In fact, she managed to drag herself down to the wall and plopped down on the floor, staring aimlessly at nothing. She just...didn't feel quite right. She had bid Luke goodnight, but remained unchanged.

Her coffee had grown cold and she had only drunk a quarter of it. She pushed it further across the table, with one outstretched finger and stared back at it's new distance. Her flu was past infecting others, so she came out of her box a little more. Not that she felt much better anyway. With a heavy sigh, she adjusted herself on the floor. Her butt was far past the point of being asleep, but her mind was too numb to care. Ally heaved a rather heavy, if not agitated sigh, clenching her jaw. She couldn't even put a finger down to exactly how she felt right now. Simply 'off' was the only way she could put it. As if something was unnervingly wrong, but she couldn't figure out what.

[Evangeline Irvine]

Aside from being bored out of her mind half the time, Ciara found that she was fitting in on the Venia rather well. Well, at least in the working aspect of her life. As for the social part, she had yet to make much leeway. Spending most of her time up on the flight-deck meant that she'd gotten to spend a fair amount of time with the pilots. But that was about it.

Wanting to fix this, Ciara decided to spend the night in the common room once she got off shift. Even if no one sat around to spend time with her, she'd be out there so that they'd know that she was around and available to talk to if they so wished to. Not that she had any idea what she'd do to demonstrate that. It wasn't exactly like they'd be inclined to come and say hello if she were wearing a sign saying "come and talk with me!" or something loopy like that.

And so, when she finally got off shift--she worked surprisingly long hours for someone who sat there and did nothing--she simply fixed herself a thermos of tea and decided she'd just sit there and watch something on the holo. Maybe someone wouldn't be able to sleep and could join her? As soon as she entered the sleeping quarters, however, she realized that she wouldn't have to wait for someone to come out as join her, as someone was already there.

Ciara had seen Alliana around before, though she didn't know much about the woman beyond her name, her status on the ship, and the fact that she and the pilot were an item. And, as of the moment, it would seem that she was in a rather unpleasant mood as well. She looked frustrated and tired, and Ciara bit her lip a little before shrugging and coming over to sink down next to her.

"You don't look too well," she commented lightly, her Irish lilt adding colour to her words. "Want some tea? I probably won't drink all of it anyway."

[Alliana Porter]

Alliana didn't move, didn't speak. Her breath remained the same and she gave no indication she knew Ciara was there. Ally knew, she just didn't react. After a few silent, sullen moments, Ally turned her dark head, reaching around to pull at her tight ponytail. She tussled it, then rose her grey gaze to Ciara's gesture of tea.

Ally hadn't even noticed she was Irish. In fact, this was probably their first real conversation. Words still seemed a little difficult, so she just nodded instead of her opinion. She hadn't meant to be rude, but silence never ushered that thought. She stretched her lips at an attempted smile. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so out of the blue, something just felt off with her, and she couldn't even explain it, even if she was aked about it.

[Evangeline Irvine]

Alliana wasn't all that responsive, and Ciara frowned a little. At first she thought the other woman might not have even heard her, as all she did was fix her hair. But then, slowly, grey eyes rose up to meet her own. The poor girl seemed really out of it. Maybe she wasn't well? All the same, she wasn't about to abandon her out here.

She nodded in agreement with Ciara's comment about not looking well, and managed a small smile at the offer of tea, though she said nothing. Taking the other woman's hand, first one, and then the other, she wrapped them around the thermos. It was nice and warm, and Alliana's hands were rather chilled.

"I'm Ciara Gallagher, if you didn't know," she introduced idly as she settled back against the wall, "I'm the ship's communications officer. Which, of course, means I sit up on the command-deck and do little to nothing all day. We rarely get any calls that need deciphering. But no matter, at least the crew seems nice. I've never really served on a ship before, so all of this is still new to me, but I'm finding I'm rather enjoying myself and..."

Hastily, Ciara jammed a stopper in her silly nattering and threw Ally an apologetic glance. The woman still looked uncomfortable, and the fact that she was babbling on about herself probably wasn't helping. "How about you? Your name is Alliana, right? And you work in science?"

[Alliana Porter]

Ciara poured ally some of her tea, and she took it graciously, bringing the small cup to her lips. she shipped it slowly, sucking her bottom lip for a moment as she continued to stare off into oblivion. As quickly as Ciara offered tea, so her mouth began to pour words. So. Many. Bloody. Words. Ally swallowed, then clenched her jaw. She didn't mind the company, but Ciara's rippling voice through her pounding head wasn't as welcomed.

She simply nodded, as Ciara continued to speak. Not that she cared about anything right now. She should be sleeping, but had no idea why the hell she hadn't yet. "Yeah...science." she replied with significantly less enthusiasm as the chatty woman.

[Evangeline Irvine]

Alliana seemed far less than amused by Ciara's chattering, and the younger woman pressed her lips together in a hard line to keep from spewing more words. Usually if she was uncomfortable or embarrassed, Ciara would talk. It was sort of her default setting. But clearly, that was the opposite of what to do in this situation.

The other woman confirmed that she worked in science, but she still seemed distant. At least she was drinking the tea. Maybe that would help. However, she looked beat, so perhaps caffeine wasn't such a good idea. Too late now, either way. Ciara crossed her arms and glanced around idly, trying to think of something to say. However, nothing came to her, and they were enveloped by a heavy silence for a good few minutes.

"So... how're you feeling?" she asked gently, not wanting to startle Ally after the prolonged quiet. "Is the tea helping any?" It didn't really look to be. "Have you gone to med-bay about this?"