| Poolside Visions |
| Summary: | Merrell appears to Sawyer |
| Date: | 23 Mar 2041 |
| Related Logs: | Anything with Robin Merrell being dead. |
| Players: |
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The pool is deserted this time of day, when the military folk are all nose deep in their daily routine and shifts. That's probably why Sawyer chooses now to slip into her non-reg swimsuit and come down here, because she'll have it virtually to herself. Given more freedom then the civvies down in the Hangar, she's able slice through the water without bumping into another body. Sputtering for air after a long lap, Sawyer comes up at the edge, clawing to hang herself on the lip.
A shadow shifts towards the locker room doors before a familiar woman walks out - someone who shouldn't be walking let alone -there-. Dressed in her swimsuit with a towel wrapped around her, Merrell gives a playful smile towards Sawyer as she makes her way over towards the stairs that lead in. her gait is slow and eased as if she should never have left the Cerb on that fateful mission a few weeks ago. "Hey Sawyer. What's news?" Nope, Robin can't help but smile.
There's a moment when Sawyer opens her mouth to give an automatic response, and then it seems to click in her head that this is Robin. The Merrell that was killed in action. The Merrell that shouldn't be here, under any circumstances. The journalist flails back from the pool's edge, a windmill of limbs and kick of legs that splashes up an ungraceful amount of water. "Wha…you….you can't be…" Is all she manages to stammer out.
Robin lifts a hand to guard herself against the flying water. It splashes along her hair and seems to wet it. Even dribble down on of her legs. Her smile softens and she squats beside the pool's edge but doesn't approach any closer. "You're not the first to say that." A wink flashes as she drops a hand to dangles her fingers through the water. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, though. Just think of me as..Someone who is looking in on a few people who took the time to care." She tilts her head gently to the side, watching Sawyer with the same tempered expression. The water ripples around her fingers as she moves them.
Sawyer ends up just sort of treading water a pace or two away from the edge, her eyes as round as saucers as she tries to take this all in. She blinks rapidly, as if trying to clear the vision for the woman sitting there. "I've lost it, I've actually frakking lost it now." Her cheeks puff out as she holds her breath and dunks her head underwater. Maybe she can drown the vision out.
Merrell chuckles softly and watches Sawyer dip under the surface. That ease doesn't leave her as she takes a seat on the edge and dangles the towel around her neck, both hands hanging off opposite ends. Once Sawyer comes back up, Robin leans back onto the palms of her hands and watches the younger woman. "You're not crazy, Sawyer. Though being a reporter might prompt questions of morality. But I hardly think that calls into question your noggin." That Tauran accent runs strong as one of Robin's own fingers taps her temple with the last. "If you want to pretend I'm not here, that's fine too. Just vision, possibly a dream. Maybe you're in your bunk right now drooling on a pillow." She laughs lightly with the tease.
Drool would explain the droplets of water running down her chin after Sawyer emerges from the depths of the pool once her lungs scream once more for oxygen. Nope. Robin is still there. She lifts a hand to drag excess water from her eyes where it clings to her lashes and then she's looking at the apparition again. "I don't understand…why are you here…why….me?" There's no lacking the incredulous tone to her voice, having a hard time grasping this in the slightest.
Merrell shrugs, the gesture almost whimsical. "You let me vent when I was on the verge of going crazy. What your own motivations were, well that's between you and the Gods. I know I appreciated it, though. I never got a chance to thank you for it." She's a little more serious about the thanks, too. There's some genuine emotions behind those eyes. "I probably would have talked to you even if I had known you were a reporter. Just so you know. I felt kinda bad I was never able to get around and see you again before I, well, before I went off on that mission."
Sawyer continues to bob in the water, not trusting the intentions of this ghostly specter, or even her own sanity at the moment. The little ripples in the water from the Reporter's disturbance of it roll her gently back and forth while she just sort of floats now. "So you came back from the there after…just to say thank you?" Her voice is hoarse, as if it has to claw past some fear just to emerge.
"Yep! But I've got other reasons. Mostly selfish, I won't lie." Robin seems to be pretty upbeat, but something crosses her face as if she's trying to focus. Her jaw sets for a moment before she leans back forward onto her knees. A furrowed brow lingers for a moment before she looks back to Sawyer. Her voice is nearly a whisper now. "I'm not here to hurt or harm. There are more horrible things out there that I would rather protect you all from if I can. Don't take too much fear from me, y'know? I love people too much to see anguish if I can help it." She looks away again, clenching her jaw. The water rippling around her ankles scoops in to fill a void as if she's suddenly less real. Or physically there. "I've gotta get going, though, Sawyer. You take care of yourself, alright? I'll see you again soon."
Sawyer lurches forward as the ghostly Robin seems to be departing. "Wait! I…" But she doesn't know how to finish that sentence. The reporter side of her wants to ferret out all the details of the how and why she's here but the other half of her is so filled with relief that an inner struggle strangled the words right out of her throat. Instead, all she can do is watch with rapt interest, to see if Merrell departs the room or just disintegrates into a puff of smoke or magic dust.
Merrell tries to say something but the words seem lost to the air. She's trying to smile as she does but it all happens too quick. One moment she's there and within a few seconds Sawyer is left by herself. The water ripples away from where her legs had been in the water, the only physical proof she had ever been there are a couple of wet fingerprints drying on the poolside where her hands had been.