I Do Not Sleep

 Episode Name:  I Do Not Sleep

   Written By:  shaft

         Cast:  Gellan, Ghorev, Golden, Havaris, Jiasha, Leah, Medes, Shaft, 

                Takamura, Turtledove and Vor'mak.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Shaft

     Aired On:  Sun Apr 06 23:19:40 2003

     Stardate:  53123.4

Time: Sun Apr 06 20:43:42 2003

Stardate: 53123.2

Shaft has left.

Golden returns the smile with a slight one of his own, his jaw a bit tight and set.

Havaris steps in from the mall, wearing the now familiar 'uniform for weddings, victory parties, and memorial services'. He looks as crisply officerial as he can manage, roughly as starched as his uniform. The crowd, thin as it is, isn't something he's very interested in approaching. He finds himself a nice, out of the way sort of place, and proceeds to stand in it, arms folded tightly across his stomach.

At every funeral, there's at least one person who's not so much there for the deceased as to stand next to someone who isn't. Occasionally, they hold a hand, sometimes they put an arm around a shoulder. Oftentimes, they're just /there,/ and that's kind of the point. Medes is that person this time around. Awkward in her dress uniform, aware of why she's there in a way that has that 'I wonder if it shows' expression on her face, she follows after her husband in silence, standing next to Havaris when he comes to his out of the way place. Yep. She's here. And. Stuff.

Turtledove turns her attention from Golden to the podium, sitting quietly and straightly. Just another visitor to honor Lt.Jg. Rivers in requiem.

Ghorev, at the podium in his own full dress uniform, looks around at the small gathering. "Thank you," he says, and then pauses for a moment of reflection before repeating: "Thank you ... thank you all for coming. In about 30 minutes, we will, symbolically, commend the body of Lieutenant Junior Grade Dana Rivers into space. It is not enough to stop there. It is not enough to say she has left us. It is ... simply not enough." A pause, as he looks around.

Takamura comes into the garden through the hedge.

Takamura has arrived.

Gellan comes into the garden through the hedge.

Gellan has arrived.

Turtledove regards Ghorev with a quiet solemnity, her eyes registering traces of subdued melancholy and an unmistakeable cast of pride.

Havaris glances aside at Medes as she takes her place at his side, forcing himself to offer her a faint smile. His eyes drop to the ground for a long while before his attention returns to the podium and Ghorev, his arms shifting a bit but not unwinding from around his middle.

Ghorev continues: "Dana Rivers died as a hero. It is not, in this age, ravaged as we are by wars and conflicts that bring out the worst as much as the best in us, a small thing. She maintained her integrity, she stayed undeniably herself. She stood firm in the whirling maelstorm, and said 'I will not dissolve into the winds and rain, I will not lose my identity simply to save my flesh.'" A sad shake of the head. "I cannot say *much* more than that, at least not with eloquence. She was my friend. One of very few, a dwindling lot. She was my friend, and I mourn her, and in mourning her, I have a gift to share. But it is a gift that will wait until others have said their own words of eulogy."

Takamura steps into the observation garden and glances around. When he spots his teammates, he tries to unobtrusively make his way to the front to sit next to them.

Medes continues to stand awkwardly next to Havaris. She has, at the very least, mastered the art of standing about looking like she doesn't quite belong where she is, and doesn't know where she goes. It is the look of a 13/16 bolt accidentally put into a 7/8 fitting.

Gellan slips into the observation garden unfasionably late. As such, she simply steps aside from the door and finds a quiet, unobtrusive corner out of the way for now.

. o O Havaris has very clearly forced himself to attend. His discomfort with this entire business is first among his mixed emotions. Then you have the guilt of not wanting to be here. (The knowledge he'd live to regret later it if he wasn't.) Oh. And then there's the grief. Hooray!

. o O Medes feels nothing so much as awkward and worried about Kusto. She radiates 'I didn't really know her, I'm just here because my husband needs me.'

Ghorev looks around, with a questioning glance around the small gathering, as if seeking anyone who has anything brief to say.

Golden looks around as well, then raises his hand.

Havaris shifts his weight on his feet first once, then twice, then three times in the silence after Ghorev's words. Golden's raised hand is something of a relief to him, given that he stops shifting about and proceeds to simply stand there and watch from the wings.

Ghorev steps away from the podium, gesturing mildly to Golden, cleraly thinking brooding thoughts of his own.

. o O Ghorev thinks "For tonight, I suppose, for one night, let there be peace between us."

From her quiet little corner, Gellan silently scans the assembled gathering. Her dark eyes linger the longest on Havaris, and she frowns faintly with concern.

. o O Takamura feels a controlled sorrow, like one who has buried many a comrade.

Takamura looks over to Golden solemnly as his team leader volunteers to speak next. He then glance quickly over to Turtledove to assess how she's doing.

Approaching the podium with long and even strides, Dylan Golden is soon behind it -- and being behind it his strained expression becomes immediately an open and friendly one. "Hello," he begins simply. "Dana Rivers was many things -- a human, a woman, a friend, a lover, a fighter, a guardian, a detective, a mentor and of course she was a Starfleet officer. It would be impossible to say that I ever had the opportunity to experience all of the things that Dana Rivers was, and that is as how it should be -- the gifts the universe offers us in our lifetimes are best when too immense to be only experienced by one, the best gifts are shared ones."

"Dana Rivers was such a gift, and I am honored and bolstered by the fact that I was given a sliver of her completeness to add to the layers of my life. Dana Rivers was my first friend on this station, despite my efforts to keep everything on a detached professional level. She taught me the finer tricks of pool, she taught me the best dishes at Toog's and more importantly she reminded me that if you don't commit to life and live it, then staying alive doesn't matter as you are already dead on the important levels."

"Dana Rivers left her life as she lived it - with drive, with dedication, with the right motivations and with honor. I say she left her life, but she did not leave my life, nor any of the lives of those she touched. Her spirit, her generosity of self, these left pieces of her in the memories and hearts of those who were blessed with the chance to know her. Her passing is not a statistic that will be noted in a dry PADD report and then be forgotten -- it is an inspiration and a reminder to all of us of the finer points of our nature and our calling. The commitment to sacrifice even yourself to for the good of others, for the many, for the Federation."

"I have said that Dana Rivers was many things -- but the thing she was best at was being a inspiring citizen of the Federation. She was a citizen of the Federation, and her being such makes me proud to have the honor to claim the same title."

He is silent a moment, then says simply, "Thank you."

. o O Takamura thinks "Very well said, Dylan. I wish I could be so eloquent."

Ghorev looks at the rest of the small knot of people as Golden speaks, and waits for anyone else to volunteer.

Turtledove watches Golden with quiet expectation, eyes mellow, expression otherwise neutral. Through his speech she remains quiet, her expression unchanged. As he finishes up, she gives him a brief, but unquestionably warm, smile, quietly acknowledging the spirit of his statement.

Takamura nods to Golden after he finishes his statements with a little smile.

Havaris listens to the first few sentences of Golden's speech, though his gaze rests on other than the man making it. He's gotten himself fixated on a particular leaf on a particular branch of a particular tree. It isn't until silence replaces the sound of words that his attention returns to the podium as though the silence were a cause for interest rather than the sound of speaking. His eyes shift about the crowd, looking for a hand to go up. But none do so. So he edges away from his wife a bit before turning about more fully and walking in the direction of the podium. His arms unfold as he moves, though he takes to rubbing his right arm with his left hand as though suffering from a chill.

Ghorev makes an incline of the head in Havaris' direction, an acknowledgement, and remains apart from the podium.

Medes looks down at the floor as Golden speaks; it's only when Havaris starts to move that her reverie is broken. Her attention becomes then intent on the Bajoran as he approaches the podium; it's rather as if she's trying to support him from afar by the might of her stare.

. o O Medes is now rather frankly /worried/ about Kusto, a sort of dry-throated, heart-swallowing worry.

Golden moves away from the podium and retakes his seat quietly.

Ghorev frowns as a Petty Officer in what is clearly a hastily donned full-dress uniform comes into the garden, comes 'round the knot of mourners, and tries to get his attention. Allowing it, but clearly less-than-thrilled, he leans in to listen to the young NCO briefly while trying to keep an eye and antenna cocked on Havaris.

Takamura watches as Havaris takes the podium, trying to give him some support.

. o O Takamura thinks "This must be pretty rough for Kusto. He worked with Dana for a while."

Gellan watches Havaris move to the podium, and then her gaze passes to Medes. The worried frown is still there. Crossing her arms in front of her, she leans against the wall she stands next to and looks back to Havaris while he speaks.

Leah comes into the garden through the hedge.

Leah has arrived.

Havaris approaches the podium and settles his hands on either side of it, his gaze falling onto its surface and never lifting. "I told myself I wasn't even going to come to this ceremony. For my own reasons. But here I am. And I told myself that -- no matter what -- I wasn't going to speak. But here I am. Speaking. I didn't... I didn't prepare anything. So if this comes out jumbled? It's because I'm jumbled inside. Because I have been ever since I heard that Dana had died." Kusto pauses for a long moment, one that starts to get awkward and stays that way until it really just /is/ awkward. He squints a bit, staring down at the podium until the words come. "I don't want to celebrate her career. Or her uniform. Or her rank, or post, or any of that. I've dragged that old line out on two planets, for two wars, for more officers than I care to recall. Dana wasn't another officer that was killed. She was my /friend/. And if I look up -- I'm not going to -- but if I did, I'd see a lot of people that know me, that talk to me, that drink with me. But I'm not going to see many friends out there. She was one of the most uniquely ingratiating people I have met. She taught me to play pool when I first came aboard. When most people couldn't talk me into the bar if the Prophets were there handing out fortunate destinies." Another pause, this one less awkward, far briefer. "Dana was there for me when I needed her most, and now she isn't. And that. That's wrong. All of this is wrong. And you can hate me for cheapening her sacrifice, if that's what you want to call it. You can think me unprofessional, behaving below my rank, I don't care. Right now, I don't care. I would trade my rank, your respect, my career... I'd trade more than you'd think to have her back. We've lost one of the finest people this station has ever known. And I'm not done resenting it." With that said, Havaris steps off of the podium and begins retracing his steps.

. o O Medes /hurts./ She hurts because Kusto hurts. His words make her shrink internally, and at the same time want desperately to pull him over to a corner and cuddle him fiercely.

Medes crosses her arms across her stomach, swallows hard, and stares at Havaris. Her fingers twitch idly and rather much of their own accord. When he approaches, she unfolds her arms and begins to stretch a hand out toward him. Then stops, and waits for him to reach for her hand. Or not. It's left up to him.

Ghorev motions to the Petty Officer, who departs from the garden. Ghorev himself steps up to the podium. "I've been advised of a transmission via subspace regarding the Klingon feel for our loss. I've given the approval for that transmission to be redirected here, piped in via the comm system." He waits a moment or two, clearly for the dismissed NCO to make it so.

. o O Havaris's resentment which had grown more visceral during his words takes a profound leap right into a quiet fury at the notion of words from the Empire. If he resented her death, he resents the hell out of their having _anything_ to do with this memorial.

Takamura regards Havaris warmly after his words. He tries to give his best supportive smile, then waits for the incoming transmission.

Ghorev :looks just outside the garden, and nods. "The following was sent by Ambassador Avok, son of Kurak, just a little while ago." And after a moment, it is the voice of Avok that fills the garden: "On behalf of the Klingon Empire, let me express my deepest condolences on your recent loss. The men and women of Qo'nos, though they may not ever know it, are in her debt. Do not lose heart at her loss - she died a warrior, in battle, for the good of her people and her allies. This is all she could have asked for, indeed, it is all any who draw breath can hope for. Know that in the eyes of Kahless the Unforgettable she is a warrior - and she died to save her bretheren. This is heroism by your set of values, duty by ours, commendable by both. A Klingon warrior howled for her. Of how many other Starfleet Officers can you say the same? I do not mean for my message to become a eulogy - such things are frowned upon by my people. But be aware that the Empire values her sacrifice on its behalf, and her courage does not go unnoticed. Dana Rivers was a shining example of what your Starfleet is capable of producing. Do not fail her memory. Q'apla."

Leah slips in slowly and quietly, doing her best not to disturb the memorial. She has a baby in her arms, presumably her own, it's twin is nowhere to be seen. Carefully, she finds a place to stand off by herself, watching over the klingon message... her eyes tearing up some. No good at these types of cerimonies apparently.

Jiasha comes into the garden through the hedge.

Jiasha has arrived.

Turtledove watches Havaris closely then quietly looks away as he walks from the podium, perhaps unable to watch her senior officer in such a state, or perhaps she just doesn't want to make eye-contact. In any case, Ghorev gives her a legitimate reason to return her attention to the podium, and she does so with a quiet shift of her eyes. The Klingon's words seem to flow a little easier than Havaris', incidentally.

Vor'mak comes into the garden through the hedge.

Vor'mak has arrived.

Havaris has no interest in eye-contact, personally, so both Takamura's look of reassurance and Turtledove's avoidance of his gaze in general fail to register. He finds his way to his wife's side and lets his arms fold back up. The words of Avok cause him to scowl briefly, but that expression is promptly forced from his face, replaced with a more steely stare at the opposite wall. No hand holding for him at the moment, no.

Ghorev says, after a moment, "For my own part, I must take even a different path than the Klingons, or even from Havaris Kusto." With an incline in Havaris' direction, a frank admission of the other man's grief. "I must explain it with a very brief -- I promise -- lesson in history. I assure you it won't be long. It is my gift, I suppose, to my friend Dana, in her passing. I ask your forbearance in this."

Gellan finally looks down at the deck. Never one to be fond of services like this, she needed to be here anyway. Movement from the entrance pulls her attention and she glances that way, seeing Leah come in, baby and all. And she smiles, faint though it is.

. o O Leah thinks "She was alway sitting at that desk."

Jiasha slips into the observation garden, with a small whisp of a white flower on a long stalk. She keeps to the back and out of the way of friends and fellow officers.

Vor'mak strides in to the observation garden and glances at the various Starfleet officers. He finds an isolated point in the garden and stands quietly with his arms folded. For the moment, his eyes rest on Ghorev.

. o O Takamura thinks "Kusto is taking this worse than I thought. No wonder he's been so distant to me lately."

Medes shrinks a little more -- at this rate, soon she'll be as short as Glemm, and then truly the littlest Engineer in every sense of the word -- but adopts apose similar to her husband's, crossing her arms across her chest and staring down at the floor. Interesting floor they've got in here. Very... supportive.

Ghorev continues, "Two hundred years ago, the first Terrans to visit Andoria included in their number a retired military man, a warrior who wished to retire to a quiet life, amongst a far-away people he had first faced in war, and come to respect. He lived for fourteen years amongst the people of Kul'sun. Commander Ashland was the first Terran to witness a Borvanist funeral, when a young man of Kul'sun who had briefly studied your martial arts and philosophy under him died in a duel, defending the honor of a good friend. On that occasion, Commander Ashland took a traditional mourning poem of his own people, a clan or tribe known as the 'Hopi', and set it to traditional Andorian music, changing the words enough to have meaning to us. He gave it to the people of Andoria as a gift."

Turtledove's expression shifts slightly as Ghorev begins his anecdote, betraying interest.

Ghorev says, "Some time ago, while reviewing Dana's personnel file for our recent reviews," -- here his voice catches, a sad sound, and there is a pause before he continues -- "I discovered something about her I had never known, and wished I had. It would have meant a great deal more to me to talk about it with her when she was able to voice her opinions about it back to me. But I never asked, and she never told me. And so it is the words of Commander Elgin Polheco Ashland, great-great-great-grand-uncle of Lieutenant Junior Grade Dana Ashland Rivers, that I return to her now, for no lesser words will do:"

Talk of Andorian history and it's relation to our own Lt. Rivers? Ghorev has Takamura's undivided attention.

Medes hazards a glance or two up at The Boss as he speaks, though her attention seems to remain, by and large, on her toes or the floor nearby. It is, by all indication given, possibly the most interesting floor in the entire sector.

Ghorevbegins to recite: "I give you this one thought to keep. / I am with you still. I do not Sleep. / I am the thousand winds that blow. / The twilight glints on diamond snow. / The sunlight through the morning clouds. / The mountain peaks enwreathed in shrouds." He lets his gaze drift around the room as he recites from memory, clearly not finished yet.

Leah settles back against a tree for support, closing her eyes as she listens. The baby, little Ryasharra, is quiet too. Probably asleep, but it's almost as if she's listening as well.

. o O Medes just /adores/ Ghorev. It's wolf-puppy-hero-worship. Even through everything else -- the brief and inevitable sting of rejection when her support was passed up, muddled grief and /intense/ worry -- that much is clear.

Ghorev says, "And when you rise, to morning's hush / I am the sweet uplifting rush / Of the -altirith- in circling flight / That chase away the dark of night." He says it like equal parts eulogy, love poem, and lullabye, in that way that Andorians have of making cultural things intimately *personal*. "Do not think of me as gone. / I am with you still, in each new dawn."

Well that does. Havaris, out of the way as he is, begins to blink back tears. His face burns red almost at that exact same moment, but there you go. Who knew the little scrapper had a weakness for poetry? He takes in a deep breath and holds it, scrubbing at his eyes with his hands quickly before gusting out his sigh. Nobody noticed, right? Good. Back to unobtrusiveness.

Ghorev, as he finishes, simply stills for a moment. "I think," he says, in his conversational voice, "that this is the best thing I can say. My friend is not gone. Some would call this unhealthy. I prefer to think of it is optimistic. Let those point fingers who may. Dana Rivers is with us still." He taps his combadge. "Ghorev to Ops. Mister Greyfalke, you may fire when ready."

And through the transparent aluminum window-wall, there is the sudden fat streak of a torpedo casing, arcing away from the station on a steeply curving path clearly intended to take it on a loop -- or a series of loops -- around Four-One-Nine.

Medes knew. She gives a glance sidelong to Havaris, offers a weak, tepid sort of strained smile to him, and then turns her eyes back to Ghorev for the conclusion. At The Boss's closing words, she directs her attention out the massive viewports, watching.

Turtledove's eyes remain focused on Ghorev, quietly, intensely. The poem has an effect not unlike Lt. Havaris' gut-wrenching words of grief, the intimately personal being ultimately more... significant... and demanding more. Her eyes darkened and thoughtful, she turns her attention to the viewport, the looping torpedo, and the illimitable twinkling of space.

Vor'mak turns to the viewport, still silent, still with a neutral expression. He scowls somewhat as he observes various emotional responses from those present.

Golden rises from his seat to stand at attention awaiting the firing of Dana's symbolic casket, his makes no move to wipe the tears that have welled at his eyes during the poem, careless of them sliding off his jaw to make dark wet spots upon his dress uniform.

Leah 's eyes open to watch the torpedo casing travel as her lips press into a thin line. She watches only so long before she focusses on the infant against her shoulder, softly humming a lullaby.

Jiasha doesn't watch. She can't. Already out of place in some paltry gesture of respect to those lost defending something greater, she only looks at her feet. Staying quite perfectly still.

Takamura was too busy listening to Ghorev's words to notice Havaris. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly as Dana's body is sent out into space. His body stiffens to a seated form of attention, watching stoically.

. o O Takamura feels proud of Dana's sacrifice and sorrow at her loss. She will be missed.

. o O Takamura thinks "I must maintain my composure. Be strong."

Ghorev watches as the torpedo loops a second time, then a third, before finally dissipating into wisps and trails of energy. Only then does he turn to the rest of the throng. "She is with us still. Good evening to you all, and the blessings of your Gods and Prophets go with you."

Gellan turns her attention to the large viewport, watching breifly as the torpedo casing passes. When it loops out of sight, her attention returns to the people gathered. This is what she does. Observe. Seek those who need mending or support. A soft, unheard and sad sigh slips from her.

. o O Vor'mak thinks "Harumph! They mourn her death? Weaklings."

. o O Leah thinks "Why did Rann miss this?... He of all people needed the good bye... he needed it and where is he?"

Havaris isn't one to linger. Not at all. He doesn't say anything to anyone, not even his wife, he just fixes his face with a steady expression and starts off -- slowly at first to get Medes' attention in lieu of saying he's leaving -- then with increased speed until he's properly walking out in the direction of the mall, arms still folded across this stomach.

Vor'mak slowly takes step after step towards the viewport and glares towards the torpedo casing. He says quietly, "You annoyed me at every turn, insulted me, and once used a "pool-stick" and "cue-ball" to attack the glass of bloodwine in my hand. I would have enjoyed fighting you in battle. But I will settle for meeting you on the River of Blood."

Jiasha walks through the garden. She kneels, leaving that slender white flower at the base of the viewport where Dana Rivers had been sent off to memory. She stares for a moment, two, perhaps, collecting herself to go just as suddenly and quietly.

Shaft has arrived.

GAME: Shaft is joining this location.

Medes, being, in her own way, some sort of bizarre funereal accessory to Havaris at this point in time, takes the silent cue and follows after her husband without saying a word or, indeed, even looking at much other than what she needs to in order to not run into shrubbery.

When there is nothing left to see but a ghost of memory of the torpedo's passing, Golden wipes his face with his sleeve undecorously and then takes long even strides to stop before Ghorev. He stands very straight, clearly he wants to discuss something -- but he doesn't say anything, he just looks directly towards his superior officer with a disciplined expression of grief.

Leah closes her eyes again as she moves into a sitting position, back against the same tree. This causes the baby to stir, which in turn causes her to continue with the lullaby, gently rocking her shoulder.

Ghorev, having fallen silent and contemplative, raises a glance to the other man. "Yes?"

. o O Leah thinks "Him and his duties. Always his duty. What about his family. What about his friends and comrades."

Golden leans a bit closers and speaks with a low tone.

Turtledove's attention follows her RRT Commander, Golden, as he approaches and speaks in low tones with Ghorev.

Jiasha sticks behind from her intent of the door. She is giving the Havamedes twins a wide berth, for now. Ooo, look. Orchids.

Takamura is torn. Does he look after Dylan, Kusto, or Jiasha? After taking a moment's pause, he heads to the viewport and his beloved.

Havaris steps around the shielding row of bushes and disappears onto the mall beside Medes.

Havaris passes through the hedge into the mall.

Havaris has left.

Medes looks after Havaris. It is what it is.

Medes passes through the hedge into the mall.

Medes has left.

Gellan watches people begin to leave the garden, a concerned glance following Havaris, then Medes as they depart. Now isn't the time though. She does leave her corner and cross over toward Leah. "Morgan?"

Golden whispers to Ghorev, " Sir. There are two things I feel I need to broach. The first is this -- Dana was my friend and being my friend she spoke to me at times of things that troubled her, or that were of importance to her. One of the things we spoke about, or rather that she spoke about and that I heard - was that she loved you, sir. Very much. It was never any of my business, but I was included in it by her need to express it and her need for another perspective. I told her to tell you how she felt and see what came of it -- as it turned out my timing to encourage such was ill placed as you were beginning a relationship with another at the time. Be that as it may, I do not know if she ever worked up the courage to tell you -- so this I am doing for her now. She loved you. She thought you were warm, intelligent, charming, funny. She wanted to spend her life with you in whatever capacity you could afford to share with her -- and that means, considering how fine a woman she was, there is more to you than any of us can ever truly appreciate because she chose to love you and that speaks volumes. --- And on that note sir, she always wanted me to find a way to make a peace with you outside of our professional interaction. I could never find a venue to do so, but since this was her wish, sir -- I would like to try now. If you are willing."

Golden extends his right hand at the end of his whispered words.

Leah looks up as her name is called, blue-violet eyes lingering on her friend. The smile follows belatedly, "Sharra... I thought... I saw you, over in the corner."

Jiasha glances to Hiroshi, as he approaches. Words are simple enough, to this. "I'm sorry." And then, with a pause. She touches his arm with her fingertips. "You ought to go be with the others. I don't belong here."

Turtledove stands quietly, though her attention remains on the hushed conversation taking place between Golden and Ghorev.

Takamura nods solemnly to Jiasha, his eyes a little bloodshot. "Thank you. I'll talk to you soon." With that, he gives her a soft peck on the cheek and heads for his teammates.

Vor'mak turns about and walks away from the viewport at an even stride. With his typical brusqueness, he walks past everyone present without so much as a nod and leaves the garden.

Vor'mak passes through the hedge into the mall.

Vor'mak has left.

Jiasha passes through the hedge into the mall.

Jiasha has left.

"Lurking, I think people call it," Sharra responds softly. "My own gesture of support." She glances breifly toward the exit, but in the space of a second looks back to Leah, and the baby. And leans in a bit to peek. "I'm sorry I haven't been by to see you. I've been back and forth so much.." A sigh. "She's lovely."

Leah beams, as mother's are wont to do, and struggles to her feet. "I find myself calling her Sharra, too...." She offers a better view of the child who has most of her father's traits, but her mother's eyes. "I... we've missed you. Rann and I."

Ghorev, after a moment, a moment carefully spent weighing Golden's words on the /chaka's/ edge of destiny, frowns. His own hand extends slowly, hesitantly. Ghorev whispers to Golden, "What you have cost me, Dylan Golden, what the price has been, you cannot imagine. But I pay my debts. And I'll consider this one. I won't make guarantees, but for Dana, I can give you the benefit of the doubt. That will have to do."

Golden shakes the hand extended, slowly -- deliberately. Golden whispers to Ghorev, "Thank you. It will do, and if someday you feel able to illuminate me in the matter of what I have cost you, then if it is in my power to do so, I will attempt to answer for that debt as well. It was a fine ceremony sir, I am sure she appreciates it. Goodevening."

Gellan beams back, though it's somewhat reserved in light of the setting. "I'm ..well I don't know what to say, Morgan." She peers down at the baby, looking a tiny bit wistful. She speaks quietly, so as not to disturb others in the garden. "I'm going to be staying at four one nine this time," she adds, smiling back at Leah. "I'm being reassigned it would seem."

Leah brightens considerably at this, despite the backdrop of a fellow officer lost. "You are?" She does her best to moderate her tone as Gellan does. "That's GREAT... I mean.. Oooo... I'd hug you, but, Baby." She purses her lips, then leans close and offers the child. "Hold her?... She doesn't bite. Much. Anymore... Bit of a fighter in her."

Turtledove flicks a glance at the approaching Takamura, then looks back at Golden. When Tak gets within sombre speaking tones, she says, "You should have invited her to join us." A quick glance, a very faint grin, and then she looks back at Golden.

Takamura steps up to Turtledove, giving her a slight smile. "She was feeling out of place here. I didn't want her to feel anymore uncomfortable. How are holding up, Tera?"

Gellan extends her arms, one ready to cradle the baby, the other to support, a tickled gleam present in obsidian eyes. "Oooh. I'd love to," she answers Leah softly. A hint of humor is there. "She wasn't born with teeth was she?"

Ghorev nods once at Golden. "Good evening." And he steps away, releasing the other man's hand, heading for the door.

Leah shakes her head, "Prophets no... thank goodness." She smiles at the sight of Gellan holding Ryasharra. "You will be her Godmother, right?... I've been cloistered away, haven't been able to ask."

"Godmother?" Sharra looks vaguely confused, though her attention is completely on the baby in her arms. "I've heard of the term, but I'm not completely familiar with the custom. I'm sure it'll be fine though," she adds, smiling down at little Ryasharra. "But where's the other? Baby?"

"Jacob is in the nursery, in the infirmary. They're still checking him out, with that illness last week. Best to be careful," explains Leah, sighing. And finally, without prompting, she shares what's on her mind. "I hate it when Rann goes offstation without me."

Turtledove glances at Takamura, holding his eyes with hers. "I'm fine." Her eyes support her claim, having reverted to their more typical mellow tones in this atmosphere of decreasing intimacy and manifest catharsis. She eyes Takamura briefly. "And you?"

Golden turns on his heels and directs his course to join Takamura and Turtledove.

Ghorev passes through the hedge into the mall.

Ghorev has left.