SC - Fugitives

[Keira Kelly]

Ava began to struggle, feeling hands on her start trying to hold her down, but the memories of hungry, glowing yellow eyes in nightmare faces swarmed her mind. They were going to take her, turn her into something, make her like them! They were going to do to her what they did to her sister! Her sister.. had been there... She had been the one wanting to turn Ava into something else, something monstrous. Ava had felt the presence in her mind, pressing in intolerably at that close range but.. now, there was nothing. Only Miranda and Nick. She relaxed, stopping her struggles as she tried to look around, squinting even in the dim light. She sagged, hearing Miranda say that 'she' was not there, and that they were safe from the zerg her. Safe from the monsters.

She lay her head back on the pillow as Miranda and Nick were both holding her down, preventing her from getting up. She reached up, gripping the hand of both of them in each of her own, closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath of relief. She was safe. The two people that mattered most to her were safe. She could rest and recover. She would be ready next time.. she would be ready.. Why hadn't she felt her sister? Why hadn't she sensed her? She had certainly felt her mind up close.... The Queen of Blades had had a nearly overpowering presence psionically so why hadn't Ava felt that before she had been blindsided??

She cracked open her eyes just a bit as Miranda began to answer her questions, licking at her dry lips. In answer to the gesture, she felt Nick bring the cup with the straw back, letting her suck down a bit more water. Miranda's words brought the memories of what had happened back, bit by bit. She frowned as best she could at Miranda's description of a headache and sensing what had happened. Miranda wasn't nearly the psionic that Ava was and yet the ghost hadn't sensed any sort of warning... She kept the question to herself for the moment, letting Miranda finish the story.

The biomass, she did remember. And the explosion, the confusing rush of everything past her which pulled her.. out... Out of the station? She remembered now the intolerable cold, though it had only been cold for an instant.. and then just numb. There had been no air. She had known that... "Should have had my mask on.." she mumbled.

"We were making the deal with the Umojans." Nick reminded her. "They probably wouldn't have liked it if you had turned up with an Umojan ghost suit. Or any ghost suit, for that matter. They wouldn't have trusted the deal."

She sent a wordless message of thanks towards Miranda psionically, for risking so much, and braving the harshness of space, even with a suit, to get the ghost out of there. It was good to know too that the Queen of Blades would be otherwise preoccupied for now with the Protoss. "She wanted me.." she croaked out. "Wanted to turn me, like her.. but... serving her.." she tried to explain. She nodded slowly at being reassured that she was alive and recovering. After a moment, Miranda pulled her hand away, asking Ava to open her eyes and hold them open, which the ghost struggled to do. It hurt...

A few drops fell into one, then the other, making Ava flinch and blink rapidly. The relief was nearly instantaneous. She was still sensitive to the light and her vision was still somewhat blurry and hard to focus, but the pain was gone at least. The drops must have had some sort of topical anaesthetic. "Feels better.." she answered, before taking a deep breath, moving her free hand to join the other on top of Nick's.

She looked back towards Miranda, the burning question on her mind having waited till now. "Why didn't I sense her? You did. I didn't. Why didn't I feel her till it was too late?" she asked plaintively. If her psionic ability wasn't working right again.. or if she was losing it... That thought scared her more than anything. Not working right meant she might hurt someone she cared about without meaning too, like the outbursts she had had back at the academy. If her ability was slipping away... well, being a ghost was.. who she was, what she was. All that she had ever known. If she wasn't a ghost, she was nothing.... Ava felt near to tears at the thought of that.

[rivaan]

"Glad to hear it. The drops will be here so if you need another dose." Miranda reassured, feeling relieved." The pain and sensitivity in your eyes will gradually fade overtime from now on. Might take longer than most other problems, but it will go away eventually. Nothing permanent had been caused, but you can expect to get very familiar with putting on eyedrops." She smiled, trying to make it all seem a bit more lively and positive than the darker moods that were being set." On the plus side, you get medically legit reasons to wear rougharound shades all the time for a while." She chuckled.

At the question on why the resident super psionic didn't feel the other super psionic approaching, Miranda sighed and took a seat on a chair nearby." I've got a few theories and some conclusions. Ran a few tests just to make sure of some too." She began, looking calm at Ava." Tarsonis... It's likely all begins from the labs on Tarsonis and then the moon of Korhal. You don't remember much of some of the... 'episodes', but I'm pretty sure you must have at least connected with her briefly at some point subconscsiously and after the shock and trauma that connection caused you, I'm pretty sure you built a mental block around her, subconsciously filtering out and blocking her presence from your own awareness, though I'm pretty sure it also makes you harder to track to some degrees. In any case, you are still as strong as always, the readings of your test results show such, the unique brain waves that are found in psionic users are just as strong as before, maybe even a bit more than your old results. Probably also the reason why I felt her. Ava, the two of us have formed a type of almost constant connection as long as we are in the general vicinity, I'm usually too weak to use proper telepathy, but I'm able to a lot more easily focus and send you my thoughts and I can practically sense a more dulled version of your general perception around you unless you actively block me out. I suspect that while you subconsiously blocked off the Queen of Blades, I was sensing her attempts at reaching out and her eventually approach."

"Anyways, me and Alexander have been working on a permanent solution just in case. He informed me that he managed to harness the protoss Khaydarin tech to a degree and hooked it to the power network. He's certain that making a shield that works off the geothermal power is feasable very soon. More importantly though, he thinks he figured out how to use the Khaydarin crystals to create a sort of scrambling array that might weaken psionics in a way to limits range and reach of telepathic and other psionic events. Something about how the entire supposed protoss power network working of psionics to begin with. So he suspects a few well placed... 'dampeners' around Kalisti, might keep your presence here a lot more secret than before and limit the chance for her to connect. Not gonna let him do anything until I've tested it and confirmed it's safe, but that's somethign we are working on. Also working on a sort of drug that might weaken and outright temporary block psionic capabilities, but not sure that's anywhere save to use at the moment either. "

[Keira Kelly]

Ava relaxed back into her pillow, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. That turned to a small coughing fit though as, she noted, her lungs and throat felt pretty irritated. When she sensed Nick bringing the cup with water back, she opened her eyes, giving him a small, grateful smile before sipping on the straw a few more times, trying to suppress the cough. She glanced back at Miranda, grimacing at the idea of having to wear the wrap-around glasses. Though her visor wrapped around her face as well, she didn't at all like the protective, light-dampening glasses. There had been times in the past, at the Academy, that she had had eye tests done, as had all the ghost trainees. It wouldn't have worked well to have a sniper with bad eyesight. A substance was used during testing to dilate the pupils as part of the tests and afterwards, they had had to wear such glasses until the effect ended to protect the eyes. Such a memory left a bad impression for Ava.

When she sensed Miranda about to move onto the topic of why she hadn't sensed the Queen of Blades, Ava held her breath. Though she could hear Miranda's surface thoughts without really thinking, she strained to ignore it all, worried about what the answer might be. She had no choice but to listen to the words though. She flinched at the reminder of her 'episodes'. "I remember..." she said in a weak voice. "I remember the monsters... I remember Her in my mind.. or well... I got pulled into her mind. I thought it was a nightmare at the time." she added, before coughing a bit more as she strained her voice.

She began to nod very gently at hearing what Miranda was theorizing. She nodded knowingly at what Miranda was saying about the mental bond. It was not something that Ava was unaware of by any means. She also knew that it was not only enhancing Miranda's abilities but it served to exercise her own too. Added to that, even with the inhibitor, back at the Academy, Ava had always felt other minds around, especially those of the other psionics. Psionics weren't really able to not intrude on each other, especially those at the level of power that were used for ghosts. Though frustrating at times, Ava had been used to always having the presence of other psionics at the edges of her own mind and, after leaving the Academy, Miranda had taken over in that capacity. She frowned. "I'm sorry that you were put in that buffer position between me and her." she croaked out.

There was an incident that Ava had never put out of her mind but she had never really realized what she had been doing at the time. "After you took out my inhibitor... remember, she came to me that time. Right after I woke up from that surgery." she replied. "I forced her out of my mind. I.. never felt her again after that..." she added. She frowned moreso. "Until she caught me.... I think..." she trailed off wincing, "I think she did something, stripped away that.. block..." she said, coughing again for a moment afterwards. "When the explosion hit.. and when I was pulled out.. I could sense her again." She looked up at Miranda with her green eyes full of worry. "I could sense how angry she was at her plans being disrupted...."

She took another deep breath at hearing that there might be a way to dampen the presence of psionics here on Kalisti, struggling not to cough again but needed the air. She glanced up at the ceiling of her room, almost as if she was looking through it out at the vastness of stars beyond. "I know you said she would be running from the Protoss for a bit but.. the sooner Alexander can get dampeners working, the better. She is out there and she wants me... and she can reach me now, I think. And she is angry at you..." she croaked out. "Very, very angry...."

[rivaan]

"Ava, I was a near psionic, trying to constantly keep my mind under heavy logic loops and mental defenses to fool passive telepathy in a military facility filled with telepaths. I think serving as a buffer between you and her was more than fine." Miranda replied with a reassuring smile." Granted that telepathic blast thing she did was a bit unexpected, but next time it's not going to be quite as easy." She shrugged. Yeah next time they crossed paths, the doctor was going to make sure the Queen of Blades didn't have anywhere near as easy time dealing with them.

The doctor listened patiently to Ava's recounting of events and in the end nodded." Yeah that could have likely caused it. The human brain is a marvelous thing, capable of quite a few seemingly impossible things. Such mental blockout isn't unusual after high stress situations. As for her doing something to 'break that block, Ava you were subconsiously blocking her. Now that you are actually aware of her and was so up close with her, your subconsious stopped blocking the mere knowledge of her. Given sufficient training and time, you will be actively able to block her from connecting again, just by your choice this time around. Don't worry, the fact that you were subconsiously doing it, shows that you will be perfectly capable of making it work eventually."

"As for her being angry, I can imagine." Miranda chuckled." Somebody she thought dead come up and shot her in the head, temporary disabling her abilities, sending the nearby swarm into frenzy, suffering even more damage to the Golden Armada and then fleeing with you. I'm willing the bet, she's going to be gunning for me in the future. By all accounts given, she's rather... petty and bears grudges. We will be ready in the future, this won't happen again. Alaexander says he's close to making those scramblers and once they are done, Kalisti will effectively be a deadzone, she won't be able to sense you here. Will probably install one on the ship too, just to make sure we are hard to track in space too." She shrugged." Well if she does reach for you again and I'm not in contact, do tell her I said hi and that I hope that asprin helped for that headache from an EMP round to the forehead. It will likely flare her temper and somebody who's mind is unstable from violent emotions tends to be easier to handle for psionics. Sure hate and anger can empower some psionic abilities, but at the same time they weaken others."

[Keira Kelly]

Ava sank back into the bed, her energy waning as she listening to Miranda. Had she really been able to block the Queen of Blades out of her mind all that time, even if it had been subconsciously? Ava had figured maybe it had been the trauma of it causing some sort of damage but.. with how easily the bond had reconnected when she had been face to face with her... former sister, maybe what Miranda thought was true then. Maybe it had been Ava all along. She couldn't fathom though what that meant when it came to level of power....

She forced a small laugh to go along with Miranda's amusement at having hit the Queen of Blades in the head, but there was little humour from Ava's part. She was still terrified of the zerg, of the Queen of Blades and of being captured and turned into something like that against her will, with no will of her own... but more to it, she couldn't shake the fact that the Queen of Blades had once been her sister, her own flesh and blood. As much as she feared her, Ava balked at the thought of hurting her. She would have if it had come down to having to fight for her life or autonomy.. or to save others, but Ava still didn't have to like the idea of hurting or killing her only biological connection in the world that she knew of.

She managed a weak smile at Miranda's request to pass on a message if the Queen of Blades came through to her again. "Will do." she answered in a soft voice as tiredness began to sweep over her. She attempted to nod but blackness overtook her and she fell into a deep sleep that her body sorely needed in its attempts to heal itself.

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2 Weeks Later
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Ava ran through the gusts of swirling snow as if her life depended on it, pushing herself, dragging in big breaths of sharp, frigid air that stung like needles in her mouth and nose. When it hit her lungs, it felt worst than needles but she pushed on as she sprinted a large circle around the town they called their home. She had often used this routine as part of her cardiovascular exercise, the snow at least around the town being tramped down enough to be able to run and stay on top of it. Had she ventured out further, she would be at the least, knee deep in snow and not able to do her running.

As she made her second lap around the town, her lungs felt like they wanted to burst. She felt out of shape and kept pushing herself. Her arms and legs felt heavy like lead as she pushed herself, leading her to realize that she wasn't getting enough oxygen through her damage lungs. Still, she pushed. She had to be at peak. She had to be ready for anything, and in the state she was now, she wasn't. Suddenly she was tumbling across the hard, icy ground, finally coming to rest up near one of the out-buildings. She groaned, lying there on her back, eyes closed, feeling the cold of the ground even through her skinsuit. There was going to be some bruises from that... The icy ground here had frozen in a rough pattern of vehicle treads, likely melted by such a vehicle before immediately having frozen again.

Ava slightly raised her head finally, after having caught her breath again.. mostly. She looked around through squinted eyes, looking for the light-protective glasses that Miranda had been adamant about her wearing while she recovered. The sun was out today despite the blowing snow and frigid temperatures so its reflecting off the white snow was nearly blinding even had her eyes been normal.

"Miranda told you to take it easy...." came a voice from nearby.

Ava laid her head back down, closing her eyes again. "Taking it easy could get us all killed." she answered back. "Get over here, Nick and help me up..." She put a hand up in the air, holding it there as she tracked his presence with her mind, feeling his mental sigh of resignation at getting Ava to 'follow the doctor's orders', and heading over. She felt his hand grasp hers and pull her upright. She couldn't stifle the grunt of pain as she got back to her feet. "How much did you see?" she asked, with a quick squinted glance at him before closing her eyelids again.

"Hmph. Been standing here since just after you started out on your first lap." Nick answered. He scratched at his brow with a gloved hand. "Miranda said you were out here and that I had better come and keep an eye on you...." he added. "That fall looks like it'll be hurting you come tomorrow... How are your eyes?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Ava made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. "I know, I know... Rest, recover... I was getting.. what did you call it? Cabin fever from just sitting in the house though. I just wanted to try to get some exercise in." she replied. She stretched, arching her back, grunting at the feeling of pulled muscles just beginning to bruise. She cursed under her breath, having picked up a few phrases from here and there. She squinted out at Nick again. "Well, don't just stand there. Help me find those damned glasses Miranda gave me to wear.." she said, trying to glance down at the snow. The brightness was making it hard to see and it hurt. After a few minutes, Nick handed the glasses back. Ava brushed off the snow on them and returned them to cover her eyes. She held out an arm to Nick exaggeratedly. "Lead the invalid back to her sickbed then."

Nick rolled his eyes but instead of taking her arm, he picked up up in his, beginning to head for their house. Instead of fighting with him, Ava just relaxed in resignation, snuggling a bit closer to him. Truth be told, she wasn't all that unhappy about it anyways. Miranda and Nick were both right.. she was still recovering and it would take as much time as it would take. She just had to accept it.

Making it to their front door, Nick leaned forward enough that Ava was able to open the door for them and once they were inside, he closed it again with a foot before calling out. "Miranda! I found our wayward patient..." he said, amusement clear in his tone.

[rivaan]

Miranda was busy doing her own exercises when Ava and Nick returned. She was currently doing some regular situps, pushups and so on. Truth of the matter was that she needed to also train a lot to say in shape. She was older than Ava and definately didn't have the boosting effect of the psionic reactive suit. Sure enough wearing a CMC was actually quite the workout, your body constantly forced to move and struggle against hte metal power armor even if the servos helped with the movement, but still. She wasn't spending her entire days in armor, so training for her it was. Plus she found it better to return to it after the nonsense that transpired last time.

She stood up, picking up a towel and wiped most of her face and neck with it as the duo returned. She was a bit sweaty herself as she went to greet them back." Hey, welcome back. There's lazagna for dinner." She stated and looked at Ava." You are well enough to take your training outside, just don't push it too far. You can cause yourself serious medical issues if you do so. Don't want to have to put you on serious medication and no training regime just cause you pushed yourself into damaged lungs." She calmly warned and tossed a towel at Ava." Here, directly go and grab a hot shower, it will ease your muscles and get rid of hte chill. Can't have you catching a pneumonia now." She chuckled.

"Also on the plus side of things, Alexander called in just earlier. The Psionic Sinks are complete. With the tests we did over hte last 2 weeks and his progress, we've confirmed it's not dangerous to regular humans or psionics and that htey indeed act as intended more or less. Any telepathic attempts would get incredibly difficults through the metaphorical barrier. Inside town it will still be as normal, but nearly impossible to connect telepathically through the sinks." Miranda explained. Alexander had stumbled upon the way to do so by complete and sheer accident... which was one too many accidents since they got to khaydarin crystals for him to mess with. He was now completely convinced the things had a direction of their own and were helping him out.

With that Miranda went over to the armchair in front of the decorative fireplace. THe home's heating was part of the colony's central heating, though all houses had a decorative fireplace. Made the homes look more cozy. In any case, Miranda also pulled a big bundle from nearby." You've got a happy you got better gift by the way. Better remember to say your thanks to Mrs. James, she made you this coat, using some of the furs of the beasties you've killed in the past." The coat seemed as one would expect. Treatued leather on the outside, warm furs on the inside. It was of neat cut and well sown with pockets, buttons, zipper and belt. Honestly it was about as good as one factory made from a proper fashion store on the core worlds. People here were very able, seeing they had to make do with mostly locally created things.

[Keira Kelly]

Ava elbowed Nick. "You can put me down, now." she said to him under her breath, kind of annoyed again at being seen being carried. After he complied with some apparent amusement that she could easily sense, Ava took of the protective glasses in the dimmer interior of the house. Sunlight on snow could be blinding even for someone who hadn't just had recent eye damage. She tried to stand tall and straight but already the twinges from her fall on the ice were protesting. She brightened at hearing what dinner would be. She had taken a keen appreciation of lasagna since she had been introduced to it. But then came the warnings.

She knew very well of the damage she could cause herself but at the same time, how did she know where her limits were if she didn't push? Still, she kept her mouth shut and listening, knowing that Miranda was not wrong either. She grabbed the towel tossed at her out of the air easily. The idea of the hot shower actually sounded pretty good right then. A hot bath would have been better but.. she also didn't want to take too long if dinner was soon approaching. Still, the thought kept up. "How do I know how far to push it then?" she asked.

Ava very much perked up at hearing about the psionic devices being ready. Since she had woken up here, she had been constantly worried that the Queen of Blades might have escaped the protoss and would manage to follow Ava here to Kalisti despite Miranda's assurances that, even if the thing that had once been Ava's sister had escaped, she would have more pressing matters for the time being. "He's installed them then?" she asked. "Are they running right now? I know I'll sleep better knowing SHE can't reach my mind..." she added.

Ava frowned. A 'happy you got better' gift? Was that really a thing? She had been injured before and had never gotten anything. Some of the injuries back at the Academy had been quite bad as well, but her old trainer nor any of the medtechs had ever brought her anything, not that her trainer would have anyways but still. "I will..." she muttered distractedly about thanking Mrs. James as she watched Miranda pulled out a bundle, her focus being on the bundle itself.

Her eyebrows rose as Miranda displayed the leather coat. At first she was about to object, as her skinsuit provided better protection against the cold, but then she reminded herself of off-world missions where she had to hide the suit. And.. perhaps it wouldn't be bad for trying to fit in here too... She moved up slowly and cautiously ran her fingers along the leather, feeling the supple material, and then feeling the fur on the inside. Fur that she herself had touched as she had skinned her prey.

The ghost looked at the coat in an all new light suddenly. SHE had helped in the production of this coat. While she, Ava, hadn't made it, she had provided the materials for it, even if that had not been her intention. She had contributed to it and she felt.. proud at having played a part in its creation. "It's beautiful." she said finally with a sincere, big smile. She glanced at Miranda and Nick, trying to ascertain their parts in this coat. She sort of doubted that Mrs. James would have just made it without prompting, despite the woman being kind. She was relatively sure that her two companions had probably decided to ask to have it made. She looked at Miranda, knowing she was likely the ring leader of that decision. "Thank you." she said sincerely.

She handed the towel off to Nick and then let Miranda help her to don the coat to test it. The insides were soft and, she was sure, very warm though her skinsuit was already insulating her quite well, and the fit of the coat was.. absolutely perfect, as she did up the zipper on the front. She held out her arms with a pleased, almost child-like smile, showing off for the others. "How does it look?" she asked.

[rivaan]

"Until I give you the go ahead, if you are trying to catch your breath painfully, if you feel pangs of pain in your chest, your eyes itch or anything similar, you've pushed yourself too far. Either take less stressful training regime for the time being or I will have to pull the heavy guns and ground you." Miranda joking warned. Part jokingly anyways, she couldn't ground Ava, not really, Ava was an adult. That said, Miranda was her doctor, and saw her as family. Plus she knew how to hide her thoughts and could easily hide her ghost suits away and training on Kalisti without those was practically impossible in teh way Ava wanted. So either she takes it easier, or none at all. Her choice.

"Yeah they are, nobody psionic would be able to use long reach telepathy to reach you here. Hell, this town has become psionic near deadzone. They literally have to be just outside the sinks to be able to reach you here. We are good." Miranda confirmed to the ghost. Ava's concerns about the queen of Blades was understandable and hopefully now that thing was dealt with, the doctor hoped that the younger woman would relax a bit and allow herself proper time to rest and recover before they could return to proper active duties. The Irregulars were also reporting that the new BC was nearing a state where they could start using it properly as a mobile base of operations, so that was good too.

Miranda nodded in pleased manner, seeing that Ava did in fact like the coat." Hey, she wanted to give you something for getting better. She was very distraught when she saw your state when we got you here. I may have just suggested what she makes." She shrugged." Besides teh woman's got talent. Let all the core world stuck up women eat their lil jealous filled hearts out when they see the quality of this one." Miranda joked. She helped Ava put it on and grinned." Looks perfect. Beautiful piece of clothing for a beautiful woman, isn't that so, Nick?" Miranda grinned and poked her elbow into Nick's side." You look like true and proper Kalistian. When you go thank her later, make sure to wear it, she will be joyful to see you with it."

"Also, hey, there be a few letters that arrived for you. Got the notifications myself too. It's some of the people from the Irregulars. You can check em later. We are likely to be back on the less stressful jobs by the end of the week. We've got a full crew job lined up that will allow us to get back into the grove of it with the rest of the Irregulars. Will be the first one the whole group takes since we decided to rebrand. The BC's nearing completion, so we are gonna be flying on it." MIranda informed them. They had a proper escort mission for some miners again. It was actualy less likely to encounter the Zerg right now, not impossible of course, but they were more going to be dealing with the Combine and pirates than zerg and dominion. Good job to slowly get back into the swing of things.

[Keira Kelly]

Ava scowled just a bit. Back at the Academy, they had always been told if it didn't hurt, they weren't pushing exercise enough. She had grown up with that being screamed at her. Even though she now realized how brutal the treatment of ghost cadets had been, she still couldn't help feeling that she was slacking if she didn't give it her all every time. But Miranda was right. The scowl was more her own acknowledgement that she wasn't at her prime than anything else to be honest. It was frustrating trying to do the things she did normally and not being able to.

She was about to sigh and agree to Miranda's terms when the thoughts about the doctor hiding Ava's skinsuits came into her mind. Ava's scowl turned to indignation. "You had better not!" she objected. A shudder ran through Ava. She could barely fathom not wearing a skinsuit. The few times she had had to go without one, she felt.. naked. Vulnerable.

"Wait.. had better not what?" Nick broke in, purely confused. He grimaced and sighed, rolling his eyes now as he realized again about the mind-reading thing. Though he had been around Ava and Miranda for a while now, it was a hard thing to get used to sometimes. He often even forgot about it to be honest.. until things like this came up.

Ava turned at him. "You think I shouldn't be listening? That it would be better if I wasn't a Psionic? Like everyone else?"

Now it was Nick's turn to scowl. "I never said anything like that. Or even thought it." he objected. "I would never think that."

Ava stared for a long moment before closing her eyes and rubbing a hand over her face. "Sorry... It' s just.. frustrating..." she finally said before turning back to Miranda, murmuring a sorry to her too, urging the doctor to carry on about the new anti-psionic field. The sense of relief that she felt hearing the news also made Ava realize that only part of her outburst had been frustration about her physical status; it has also been worry over her.. sister finding her again. She had been on edge ever since she had come face to face with the thing that had once been Sarah Kerrigan.

While Ava was trying on the coat, she listened to Miranda's reply about the gift, actually surprised that Mrs. James had wanted to give a gift in the first place. She did have to admit that the older woman did have talent. She ran a hand over the leather arm of the coat, feeling just how supple it was. The fur on the inside was so soft and warm as well. The material was most definitely luxurious, but the cut and seam work on the coat.. the seams were near invisible and the shape of it accented Ava perfectly.

Nick smiled with a nod at Miranda's question. "It does suit her perfectly. Not that she wouldn't look good in burlap even but the coat definitely fits you, Ava." he said.

Ava's smile lasted another few moments before turning into a confused frown. "I mean.. I will definitely go and thank her but.. that seems.. paltry for such a gift.. doesn't it?" she asked, eyes flitting between Nick and Miranda. Ava was still sorely inexperienced at a lot of social customs. "Am I.. expected to get or making something for her in reply? Or maybe.. if we invited her to dinner or something...?" she asked trailing off. "I just.. don't know what is expected."

Ava definitely perked up at hearing that they had a job lined up very soon, even if it was escort duty, and it would be nice to see some of Nick's old comrades again. She could feel how excited he was about that and she was happy for him. Also, if Miranda had signed them up for work by the end of the week, that had to mean she expected Ava to be feeling better by then probably, and having a time span for her recovery gave her something to really look forward too as well.

Nick nudged Ava suddenly. "Weren't you supposed to go and have a shower?" he asked, pointing out the towel she still had.

Ava smiled, arching an eyebrow. "Make me." she said in challenge with a laugh.

There with the mind-reading again. He sighed in mock exasperation. "Go. I have to help finish up with the Lasagna.. and garlic bread. Hurry up or you will miss out on it all. Me and Miranda are going to eat it all." he threatened jokingly. He made sure to clearly think out another thought that he knew she would pick up, which he knew she did when her green eyes shot back up to his. With a hint of a smile on the corner of her lips, she finally gave a slight nod and turned, heading for the bathroom to comply.

Nick turned to Miranda. "She'll be ready to go by the end of the week, though, right?" he asked. "Cause you know she won't hold back, especially if we are on a mission..."

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A little while later, Ava rejoined them, donning her favourite skin suit but still with a towel around her shoulders as she tried to finish drying the ends of her hair. She had been too impatient to dry it with a hand-held device, especially since she knew that dinner was pretty much done and she could smell it. As she got out there to the others, she wasted no time. "Is it ready?" she asked, even though she could tell from their minds that the food was. It was more of a prompt to get on with it.

( An idea came to mind about this trip to the BC and the Irregulars... What if Nick had had a bit of an on-again/off-again fling with another female merc that took jobs with them from time to time? Like he hadn't seen her for a while before he met Ava, nor afterwards either.. but this time, she is going to be there o_o )

[rivaan]

"Try me." Miranda grinned back in challenge. She was perfectly capable of doing it and would do it if she had to, no matter how joking she took the topic. Because at the end of the day, Ava's health was of the doctor's utmost importance. Besides that said chances of having to do it were slim, since what Ava needed was something to snap her out of her training overzealous attitude and make her realize that she had to approach the issue not like an egg thrown at a brick wall, but as the Count of Monte Cristo, slowly and methodically digging at it with a spoon. Ava snapping at Nick was a bit of a surprise though, yeah she needed to calm down, hopefully the knowledge that there wasn't a swarm of zerg ready to drop from orbit at any moent about the place, woudl help. Miranda was well aware herself of what mental trauma and stress did to a person after all.

The doctor let out a chuckle at the comment from Nick about Ava in a burlap." You never know, we might get her something out of burlap as a gift later." She suggested." Not a clothing though, as good as she'd look in one, but maybe something decorative for certain occassions? Like a carrying bag or a purse. Ironically there was a burlap fashion boom a few years ago when it came to beach accessories, so it's not unheard of."

"Well, Ava considering you've hunted a good number of wolves, keeping their furs in good enough condition for a while now, you provided to the colony a lot of resources that were usually sparce. Her skills with the leathers and furs, means that the colony has more credits to work with once the occassional merchant passes through. So you already did a lot to help everybody. That said, you are absolutely correct, inviting her to dinner is perfectly fitting response. Well thought out." The doctor nodded and praised. Ava was slowly but surely getting used to living outside the system of the academy, living among people. It would seem as slow progress, maybe even non existant at times, but Miranda could see it. Ava would be well in time, sure they would never be 'normal', but normal was overrated anyways. Miranda was proud!

Miranda watched with amusement hte banter between the young loverbirds and shook her head with a chuckle as the younger woman went away. She looked at Nick, her expression resuming a bit more neutral one as she moved towards the kitchen." No... not entirely. She won't be back to a 100 for a long time yet. Not even a massive dose of nanites could deal with all the aftereffects from the complications and we don't have that many medical grade nanites." Miranda replied in calm voice." She will be able to work, but honestly there's a reason while I suggested to Cid going with them on that mission, we are skirting the edge of the sector, away from everything and everybody. It's a job that will allow her to slowly get in touch with the lifestyle again, but be there for her. We will likely have other similar outbursts like today in the near future before she starts to recover enough to act on her old tempo, but keeping her planetside without work will be worse. Anyways, convinced Cid to hire a therapist that can be trusted. That will help too." The doctor concluded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Ava returned the dinner was already well set even! Miranda however made a displeased face the moment she saw Ava's state." What did I say? Next time finish drying your hair properly, Ava!" She chided Ava softly." But yes, it's ready, you can take your seat, but next time do dry yourself as you should. The dinner won't run away. Now let's enjoy a fine meal and I've something prepared for afterwards. I had to do some digging and what not, but managed to secure some classical movies we can watch later."

( That works perfectly fine! Drama! Also suppose we can timeskip forwards to when it's departure time unless you want somethign else to do on Kalisti?)