round 2 Ensign Blackwell: Alone in her thoughts, and a nightcap.

[+ Hutch]

((OOC- Slight backsim – after Rue gets off duty from the bridge after the mission, but before doing girls things and seeing Wyn/Hael))

 

::Rue got back to her quarters, grateful for the relief arriving when they did. She had an early morning apparently. She still inwardly was debating about the “girls night” but Snezhana seemed nice and exubriant and Akoni seemed like good company. She knew she also needed to build partnerships with her crew mates..and socialization was one way of doing that. She stripped of her jumpsuit and threw it in a hamper for cleaning, and switched out for a t-shirt emblazoned with a giant reindeer with the words “Made In Portland” arching over it. She fell onto the small couch that would serve for reading and watching movies, resting her head on the back. A sigh mingled with a groan escaped her lips and she was again quite grateful to the relief team.  After a few moments of resting, and letting her mind wander, she got up and went to the replicator and had it “cook” a bowl of chicken and dumplings, and then a glass of fruit punch. Carrying her meal, she went to her bed and sat down and then used the panel beside her bed to display the messages she had received. The first was the reminder about the Family fest being held for shore leave. She quickly deleted that and restlessly scanned over the rest, then switched the screen to an old movie::

 

Ensign Blackwell: “Right. Whatever. I can already imagine Little Orphan Darcy screaming how we are all monsters and liars.” ::She took a bite of the soup, attempting to swallow down the bitterness she was feeling. As she chewed, she closed her eyes oO I shouldn’t mock her …her parents died tragically….even more tragically than she realizes.Oo. Rue opened her eyes and took another bite, and winced at the memory. It was soon after “the incident”…after Lucas and Darcy had come back from their honeymoon, and Rue was preparing to leave for the Academy. She couldn’t recall the full details, but what she remembered was asking if they would all come to see her off, and Darcy making a snipping comment. Rue had tried to stay calm, but it was when Darcy had asserted the Federation were simply monstrous murderers and dictators, and Rue had finally asked that Darcy simply “Not”. She knew what she said wasn’t that bad…but it was enough to send the new bride into a rage and upset Lucas. Her parents had seemed torn…but at the same point..had encouraged Rue to apologize and try to make amends..as if she had somehow been at fault. After that, the tension was so palpable that Rue simply left a few days early, opting to stay in a hotel near the Academy rather than try to apologize when she knew Darcy would simply use it as continued criticism. She sighed and shook her head, finishing her last bite of soup and then took a swig of juice: “Damn it.”

 

She stood up and took care of the dishes, and remembered a night in the academy when she’d received a letter from her brother, asking if she could just apologize to make it right. She had hastily deleted the letter and then found herself looking up the accident that had killed Darcy’s parents. She had found articles, investigation reports that were open to the public, and as she read late into the night…she had found an inconsistency. The report given to the news organization was informative and yet…generic. Darcy’s parents, Jonathan and Emily Salter were engineers assisting in part of a shakedown for a small shuttle. The crew was sparse but more than sufficient for a small vessel simply “testing the waters”. What was believed to have occurred was a dire malfunction lead to an explosion on the shuttle, starting with the propulsion drive, and that “tragically, all lives were lost”. While not a regular occurrence, events like the explosion were what many considered an unfortunate fact of service – that even with the best technology, the best trained crew – things simply went wrong.  It was looking at other stories looking more towards Salters themselves that Rue found something troublesome. An article, half obituary, half expose, gave the impression that the Salters, while known for their professionalism, were having trouble in their marriage, and potentially leaning towards a divorce. The author had also dug up some rather troubling reports that Emily had dealt with “severe bouts of depression, that had jeopardized her position at times. The author finally, bluntly and coldly postulated, that the explosion was no accident and in fact an act of murder-suicide, and then proceeded to argue that Starfleet should discourage married couples from going on missions together, and the concerns of mental health for Starfleet members. It was a troubling article, one that pushed Rue to leave her computer, and had given her a sleepless night. After that, she had tried to be kinder to Darcy and when she had taken a Christmas holiday to visit, tried to make amends, to bridge the gap. But it was when Darcy was given a picture of her parents by a loving..if potentially misguided family member, that things began to Fracture. The comments, the snipes and eventually the full blown insults ground against Rue until she could feel her temper ready to erupt in a catastrophic surge. She’d had found safety by playing with some of her younger cousins, keeping her safe from the “adult” conversations. The goodbyes again had been strained and tense, and since then, communication was sparse. She paced restlessly and shook her head, and finally used the replicator to summon a nightcap guaranteed to put her to sleep:: “No…no, you are not messaging them. Your just getting settled. Lets..just let the dust settle….for…a few decades. ::she snorted a bit:: “yeah…that might be enough.” ::She swigged the drink and winced at the burning, and then made her way to bed..letting the liquor and the exhaustion drag her into the darkness of sleep::

 

 

Ensign Blackwell

Comm/Helm/Ops

U.S.S Constitution-B

G239308PB0