15. Tell Me About Rain #6
"If you don't think you're up for something like that, though, I completely understand and empathize. You'll have to forgive me, I can sometimes get carried away with something when I get excited about something new—"
"Let's do it," Charlie interrupted. Orion's smile shone on his face like a beacon of hope. And it caused Charlie to smile right back.
"Marvelous!" Orion clapped his hands together.
"Earth Night."
Orion tilted his head. "Earth Night?"
"Let's call it that. An Earth Night. Where we can just... come together. Listen to things about Earth."
"Earth Night," Orion repeated. Then he smiled, the warmth in his voice matching the warmth in his face. "And so it shall be."
"Charlie!" Tavi shouted from across the Engineering Bay again.
Charlie chuckled. "Yeah, Tav?" she shouted back.
"You wanna be my date to Earth Night?!"
After an eventful day, one that Charlie felt had been a turning point in her time here on the Emberkind, she made her way back to her quarters to settle in for the evening.
She showered and listened to music on her datapad, trying it out for the first time somewhere outside of the Engineering Bay.
She, Tavi, and Maren were all going to give it a run in their quarters tonight.
So far, Charlie had great luck getting it to play in her lounge, bathroom, and bedroom.
But, since they hadn't transferred all of her music yet, there were only so many times one could listen to "Don't Stop Me Now" before she felt a bit stir crazy.
She turned out all her lights, settled into the soft bed with the port window to look out through, and called the day a success before turning on her side to sleep.
But late that night, she stopped trying. No matter what position she was in, whether the covers were on her or not, or which direction she faced, Charlie couldn't sleep.
It had been happening more often lately.
Her days were full of time in the Engineering Bay, having meals with the crew in the mess hall, spending her free time with Tavi and Maren and other crew members when available.
Even after a day such as today, she should feel exhausted, clinging to sleep and letting it overtake her as soon as she laid down.
But over the past few weeks, there were nights when her brain woke up in that infuriating way when your thoughts decide two in the morning is actually the perfect time to reorganize the last thirty years of your life.
Tonight, she was tired of trying to force sleep to claim her.
So, instead, she got up from her bed and decided to go for a walk.
She walked all around the corridors of the quarters ward, through the echoey silence of the animal habitats, and even passed the Bridge. Eventually, she made it to the mess hall, and decided to see if Borran had left out any snacks for late night crawlers like herself in the kitchen.
At this hour, Borran's kitchen was dark and quiet, with the counters wiped clean and the ovens cold. But the smell of his cooking remained. Warm bread and something sweet layered underneath engulfed the room in a heavenly scent, baked into the walls from years of creation.
She found a stool at the counter and sat down. Sitting in front of the stoves and sinks reminded her of the nights when she was young and she couldn't sleep. So she always went downstairs to find Helen at the table with a cup of tea, as if she'd known Charlie was coming.
But nobody was at this table tonight.
Charlie put her elbows on the counter and let her thoughts run.
They began to circle around Katie - where she could be, what she was doing, was she okay, did she have support.
All these worries and uncertainties began to chip away at any ease Charlie had been seeking, instead overwhelming her with anxiety.
She'd been sitting there for maybe twenty minutes when she heard footsteps in the corridor.
Reyna appeared in the doorway and stopped when she saw Charlie, looking slightly surprised. Charlie noted that she didn't look as though she'd been doing rounds. Her hair was loose and slightly disheveled, as though she'd been walking around the ship for quite a long time.
"Charlie?" Reyna said softly.
"Captain," Charlie replied.
"Are you alright?"
Charlie managed a nod. "And you?"
"Couldn't sleep."
Charlie only nodded again. "Me too."
Reyna moved to the counter and took a seat at a stool next to Charlie. She could feel Reyna settling beside her.
"Sometimes, quiet spaces like this are the only places where I can come and just let my thoughts... out," Reyna said, breaking the silence.
Charlie looked over at her, but Reyna was looking straight ahead, her hands folded on the counter.
"I know what you mean," Charlie responded.
Reyna looked over at Charlie, holding her gaze. "You do?"
Charlie nodded again. "Sometimes, it gets so loud in here," Charlie said, pointing at her head. "I just want to find somewhere, like this actually, where those thoughts can run, sometimes maybe more than I'd like. But, eventually, they run themselves tired, enough that they just... fade away."
Reyna nodded gently. "That happens for me as well." She paused then, her gaze falling to her hands. "But sometimes I try to take the thoughts I don't want to dwell on and just let them run their course to find their way out. Completely."
Charlie's brows pinched together. "How does that work exactly?"
Reyna returned to looking straight ahead. "It's almost watching them in my peripheral vision, if that makes sense."
"Like watching from the sidelines?" Charlie asked.
"Kind of like that, yeah. If I don't dwell, don't focus, don't go tunnel-vision on them, most of the time they can run through my mind and leave me be, never to return." Reyna got quiet again. "But sometimes, they don't allow me that luxury."
Charlie watched Reyna, noticing how her eyes had a heaviness to them that Charlie couldn't understand.
"Anything I should be on the lookout for?" Charlie asked with a smirk.
Reyna raised her gaze to Charlie, a small smile appearing before she spoke. "Well, as captain, occasionally there are... moments... where I have thoughts about certain, let's say, insubordinates, that I'd rather not linger on for the pure reason that I want no temptation to act on them."
Charlie raised a single eyebrow. "Am I a subordinate?"
"Technically? Yes, but only because you're serving on the ship while we travel to get you home."
"So, not me in this case, then."
Reyna chucked. "No, not in this case."
"Oh well then now you have to elaborate on these insubordinates and your non-actions," Charlie said.
"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Reyna asked with a smirk.
"Nope," Charlie replied, wearing her best shit-eating grin.
Reyna rolled her eyes. "Well, I just mean that... sometimes, I can react."
"As one does."
"Exactly. Just like anyone else does. Just because I'm the captain of a Coalition vessel doesn't mean I don't get frustrated or want to strangle someone once in a while," Reyna said, raising her hands and mimicking the act itself. Charlie actually laughed.
"You know you're going to have to tell me who this is about, right? I mean, you can't just drop a murder threat like that and leave me hanging," Charlie pleaded. Reyna smirked but shook her head at the same time.
"I don't kiss and tell."