trans_9 | Animal Watching [Open]

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Animal Watching [Open]

Among the things that Cassie had learned about the ship where she now made her home was that there was a section of it that held a large number of alien animal and plant species. Although it had taken her longer then she thought it would to get there, she had finally found her way to Hydroponics, where the animals were supposed to reside. Her eyes twinkled happily and a smile played across her lips as she wandered through the area. The animals that she saw were incredible. Nothing like those that she was familiar with, but that didn't matter. They were all amazing in ways that were unique to them and that was wonderful.

She spotted a strange green creature out of the corner of her eye and spun to get a better look, but, to her disappointment, it vanished before she could see much more. Cassie moved towards the area where she had last seen it, hoping that it might still be lingering nearby or that there might be more like it still within range. She moved slowly and quietly so as not to startle any animals still nearby.

She continued on for a while longer, managing to get at least a glance of a number of other animals and in a few cases she did better then that, although she didn't know enough about them to put a name to any of them. She sighed contently as she walked, feeling more comfortable at that moment then she had since she arrived here. Even the house that she lived in on the ship, the one that resembled her home on Earth, still felt strangely foreign to her for some reason. But here... the animals and physical surroundings might be alien, but this feeling of being surrounded by so many wonderful creatures was not. She felt surprisingly comfortable here.

She might just have to come here more often.

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Jake knew Cassie - they'd been friends for years, fought alongside one another. Even had a relationship for a while, but that had all fallen apart after the war. It had just happened. Nothing to be done about it now. But he knew her and he knew that she was probably concerned about. Probably. He liked to think his mask was a bit better than that. Then again, she'd always been able to see past that.

He laughed at her joke, but it was also a bit forced. Odd had been utterly redefined for him over the last few years. Turning into animals wasn't "odd" anymore. Neither was fighting aliens. "Guess so. I don't like the fact that we aren't in control... but when were we ever?"

"Never that I can recall," Cassie responded softly. "It just always felt like..." She hesitated, not liking the direction this conversation seemed to be going. Another smile appeared and she shrugged. "This kind of feels like business as usual."

"What about you, Jake?" she asked quietly, trying to turn the topic of conversation to something of more importance to her. "How are you doing with all this?"

"Yeah. All we need is the Ellimist to show up and it'll be like the good old days all over again," Jake quipped in reply. Another dark joke at their own expense. "Or maybe the Chee."

Although he didn't particularly want to think about the Chee. Part of him still blamed them, blamed Erek (was still bitter) about the power being drained from the Pool Ship's cannons. Things might've been so different. People might not have had to die.

Her question brought a quick reply and a shrug, "I'm doing fine. Dealing with it. A bit more stressed then I've been in the last couple of years, but otherwise... fine."

Cassie winced at the mention of the Ellimist and the Chee. She still didn't know how she felt about all that had happened with them, but their names brought up reminders of wounds that were still too fresh in her mind. She tried to cover it up, but she worried that she hadn't succeeded terribly well. Her mask had never been that good and Jake had always known her well. He'd known them all well. It was part of what made him a good leader. "Yeah. Honestly, I think I could do without the complications of either of them showing up right now."

The reply had been too quick for Cassie's taste. She suspected that he was hiding his true thoughts again, but she couldn't prove it and she knew that just confronting him about it wasn't likely to yield any positive results. He'd just shut her out more if she pressed him. At least, he'd been willing to admit that he was feeling somewhat stressed and she hoped that, if she left the option available, he'd be willing to confide in her if he needed to do so. "Talking might help with the stress. Can you tell me what's causing you the most concern?"

Edited 2011-07-22 04:02 (UTC)

Jake shrugged again. He couldn't really admit that he was tired of this, but that some part of him wanted to go back to the war. That part of him thought that this was the only thing he'd ever be good at. He was the leader; he couldn't show weakness or indecision. He couldn't second-guess himself in the moment. He just needed to keep moving.

"...what isn't causing me concern would probably be a shorter list. We have Yeerks, a Council that doesn't seem much better than the Andalites, a war against an enemy that makes the Yeerks look like nothing more than an nuisance..." Jake grinned wryly, "I think that's a good start."

Cassie tried to smile, but this time she couldn't force it. She bit her lip as she stared at Jake through worried eyes. "That's a lot of concerns," she said carefully. She wondered about how to respond, but found herself at a loss. It was a disconcerting feeling, but not a new one sadly. "Maybe we can remove at least one or two of them from that list."

She hesitated, but then pressed on, her concern for him getting the better of her. "I wish that you wouldn't take this all on yourself, Jake. We can help, you know. I can help. More then that, I want to help."

Edited 2011-07-23 01:57 (UTC)

"I'm fine, really," Jake answered - again, quickly, but he had gotten damn good at fooling other people. Not to mention himself sometimes. If they had to deal with this all over again, he'd be the leader, he'd make the hard choices. He tried to smile.

"Don't worry about it - let's focus on figuring everything out, alright?"

If Cassie had been perfectly honest with herself, she hadn't really expected Jake to accept her aid, but she had to at least offer. She wanted to help him and she'd hoped... well, at least he knew now that she was there if he need her.

Cassie sighed, looking around at the beautiful surroundings as she tried to comfort herself. "Yes, you're right. So, what do you think that we should do next? Where do we go from here?"

"We organize. We make sure we know what we're dealing with. And then...?"

He paused, looking grim. "We fight. Just like we always have. The stakes might be higher, but we've still been chosen for this."

Even if they'd rather it all just go away.

"We do what we did back on Earth and we win."

Cassie nodded, but she suddenly found that she couldn't meet Jake's eyes.

"Chosen". They had been "chosen" for this, just as they had been "chosen" for the war with the Yeerks. The idea of being chosen for another war left her feeling cold. Trapped. But, she also didn't doubt that she would fight if it came to that. As long as her friends needed her, she would be there for them.

Besides, the responsibility that they'd been entrusted with was too important to be ignored or dismissed. So she'd fight, even if she hated it.

A single tear ran down her face having escaped before she could stop it. Gritting her teeth, she held the rest of her tears at bay and forced a smile, hoping that Jake wouldn't notice the break in her demeanor. She didn't want him or any of her other friends to know how much this hurt her. She'd be strong.

"Yes, I see. You're right. We fight and we win," she nodded with, perhaps, just a tad too much enthusiasm, as she tried to cover over her worries.

Edited 2011-07-26 01:12 (UTC)

Jake wasn't blind. He could see that Cassie was upset. For a moment, he felt doubt - Cassie didn't want this. Hell, most of them probably didn't want this. That was why he felt so guilty about the part of him that was happy about being able to do this all over again. He reached out a hand tentatively and squeezed her shoulder.

"Cassie..."

He didn't know what to say here. He could give orders, make plans. But what could he tell her? They'd already been through one war. What would another one do to them?

Cassie laid her hand on top of his gently, grateful for the contact. It might not seem like much, but to her it meant a great deal. It was a silent reminder that she was not alone.

"I'm fine, Jake," she whispered softly. And, maybe, if she said that enough times, one of these times it would be true. "Please don't worry about me. I'm just fine."

There were more important things to deal with right now then her state of mind. She'd made it through the last war and so she'd make it through this one too.

She managed a smile. "Let's talk about something happier. I think that a new topic might do us both a lot of good." And she didn't think that this current one was doing either of them any good.

She wasn't fine. Jake knew that. None of them were ever going to be anywhere close to "fine" ever again, even if Cassie had managed to cope with the end of the war better than the rest of them. So he would worry about her quietly, watch out for her and, if he had to, step in.

"I think they have every movie ever made in their media library. Might be worthwhile checking out, huh?"

Small-talk. Meaningless. Better than dwelling on the unpleasant.

Cassie nodded. "I've heard that too. From what I've seen of it so far at least, it does seem to have an impressive selection, although I don't know if it's quite that impressive." Seemed improbable to her, but then again, everything on this ship seemed to range from improbable to impossible and that didn't stop it all from being true. "Yeah, definitely worth checking out."

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Animal Watching [Open]

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