| Poetry Therapy |
| Summary: | Cidra brings a gift when she comes to visit Niobe. |
| Date: | July 5 2041 |
| Related Logs: | Leonis Logs |
| Players: |
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| Recovery Room - Sickbay |
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| A much more quiet area of Medical, this elongated room is also lined with beds. Each is similarly outfitted with privacy curtains as necessary and even the paint on the walls has been lightened in an attempt to help lift spirits. Chairs are readily available all over the place so that visitors can pull one up to talk to the patients during their recovery. Near the entrance, visiting hours are posted with a very conspicuous 'No Smoking' sign. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #129 |
For the laid up ECO life has been mostly uneventful. Niobe's been through all her magazines, eaten all she can lately (which is saying something) and is mostly just fiddling. Her knees are pulled up and she's rested a small blank book to scribble on them. It seems like she's just sort of playing the waiting game.
Cidra slips into the Recovery Room. She did come bearing gifts. Well, a book, at least. A slim volume, tucked under her arm. The title isn't immediately visible. She's garbed in her off duties, copious tattoos on display, so it's likely this isn't any sort of official call. "Pickles. How does the day find you?" is her opening question to the laid-up ECO.
Not exactly startled to see Cidra - the Harriers and others have trickled in to say their dues and hellos and get well soons - Niobe does give the CAG a smile of greeting. With a short salute, she lets her knees drop to the bed. The book she was writing on shuts, but she doesn't hide it or anything. "Hey Toast. It finds me about the same. Been better, been worse. Haven't gotten my head checked out, though, so this could just be a figment of my imagination. How're you? Imagined or real, I could use some diversion."
Cidra pulls up a chair next to Niobe's bed. The barest hint of a smile is offered, though it does touch on her cloudy blue eyes. "Been better, been worse, as you put it. I am getting along well enough." The salute is waved off. "We are both off duty, Pylades. You very much more than I would like. Such things are not necessary. I did want to see how you were faring. Figments would be most understandable after all you on Leonis did witness."
"Don't mind me, this hand just does stuff on it's own now." Niobe gives a smile back, but much like Cidra's, it's not a large one. That sort of emotion seems to be rationed out these days. "I'll be up and about and eating you out of ship and space soon enough, don't worry. Not even a gut wound could stop me from the buffet." As for what she witnessed on Leonis, there's a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't remember a lot of it, to be honest. Mostly the wandering around with Bunny. Then, some weird stuff. Probably why I need to get myself all checked out. Make sure I don't try and gnaw on the walls or something." With a pause, she adds, "Things going badly out there?"
Cidra's smiles are never large. The CAG isn't one to be overly emotive. Though she's less inscrutable than standard at the moment. As for Leonis, she doesn't press. She's likely heard enough details about their adventures there to chill her marrow. "Weird?" A soft laugh, though it contains little humor. "I think that the most succinct summation of the place I have yet heard." As for the question, a pause. "They go as they go. No days are easy since the Cylons have returned. But, we remain. And we keep flying. And tomorrow we shall make better. Have you any idea how much longer you shall be here?"
More expressive, Niobe is one of those people who will let her thoughts be known - emotional or not. Leonis hasn't changed that other than she hasn't known what to feel in order to express it. And so, she mostly resorts to her old standbys: sarcasm and flippancy. "Yeah, working in a library gave me a wonderful gift of description." With a quirk of a smile, she fiddles with the pages of her book. "No, I wouldn't imagine they would be. I think I'll be out of here soon. Mostly I'm just under 'observation' right now. I won't be cleared for flight again till I see the head-shrinker, but as long as I don't tell him he looks like a Porkchop or something, I think I'll be okay." With a snicker, she adds, "Unless you think I'm acting crazier than normal."
Cidra does not begrudge Niobe her standbys. Her own go in the opposite direction of expressive, but they're no less emotional comforts for her. "He shall get to you soon, I hope. It is best not to let such things fester, whatever comes of it. Be honest with him and take some comfort in it if you can. Myself, I prefer to seek religious counsel. The Sister, I have found, is a woman of great perception. The important thing is having someone to talk to. The walls here rather oppressive if you do not, I find."
With another oh-so-expressive shrug, Niobe isn't quite so sure about talking to anyone. While she talks a lot (and a lot) that doesn't mean that what she says have any real meaning. "I'm sure he will. A bunch of people need some counseling, I bet." As for religion, she's not quite sure what to make of it. She isn't one of those people who would consider herself religious. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures, however. Though she realizes that her thoughts have turned her face into a frown, she blinks and then allows a quirk of a smile. "All I do is talk. And sometimes even when there isn't anyone here. But, don't tell the shrink that, it might keep me off-duty longer."
Cidra leaves talk of religion at that. Though she does add with one of those faintest of smiles, "I talk often to myself as well. Does help me put things in perspective. If you are mad, Pickle, then we both are. I shall not tell." A wink. It's a joke, if a mild and dry one. Then, in quite a random change of subject, she asks, "Do you read much poetry?"
"We're all mad, here." Niobe smiles back, glad that she doesn't have to do the religion talk or any more of that sort of thing. It can be awkward because while she doesn't like to preach, she doesn't like to be preached to, either. The joke is received and appreciated. The change of subject does throw her for a moment, but luckily it's not such an extreme topic that she has a hard time answering. "I've read a lot of the old history poems. Just about anything having to do with our past is all in verse. It's kind of…soothing, actually."
"It gets most boring here. I thought you might enjoy this." That book Cidra brought is finally handed over. It's a slim volume bound in old red leather. 'A Poet's Dream' by Kataris. "I do not generally care for the Caprican poets, but him I most enjoy. I prefer poetry to prose. It synthesizes emotion in a way that is understood in the heart and soul, if not the mind. At its best, at least."
"You can say that again, with an eye roll for emphasis." Niobe takes the book that Cidra holds out with a librarian's care. Rolling her fingertips gently down the red leather cover, she absorbs the title through touch just as much as through reading. It's a lovely volume and one that the ECO will certainly appreciate. "It's beautiful," she adds truthfully, a bit of awe in her voice. "I like poetry. They have to choose their words more carefully. It makes them mean more." She doesn't crack open the pages yet, she'll wait until she can fully absorb herself in it for that. "Thank you. I'll make sure it gets back to you in good shape."
"I have had it for many years. It is my second copy, actually. The one I had of that in college wore out longer ago than I care to think on," Cidra says. "Enjoy it. Return it when we were rooming together properly in the berthings again. I do hope it shall not be long." That done, she stands. "I should be getting back, myself, come to it. Rest well, Pickle. May your tomorrow improve."
"Thank you," Niobe repeats, meaning it sincerely. Books are the perfect present for her. As for how long ago college was, she smirks. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." After all, Cidra is keeping the whole 'talking to herself' thing under wraps. Tucking the book closer to herself, she smiles, "I will. Thanks for coming, Toast. I appreciate it."