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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 19, 2021 10:12:33 GMT -8
Wendy drew in a surprised breath when she found herself suddenly propelling forward, but it released on a soft sigh when it landed her in Dex's embrace. Whatever embarrassment she'd felt for having asked for this was instantly forgotten with how wonderful it felt to be held by him. For the first time, she felt simply adored by the way he took his time gazing at her, gently caressing her face, and the way it enveloped her and filled her with warmth from head to toe, it was better than anything she'd ever experienced in her overly eventful life.
She was completely lost in the moment, completely oblivious to her surroundings, eyes unable to look away from his. So overwhelmed with her own feelings that for once, she wasn't empathically picking up on another person's even despite the level of physical contact they were sharing. It was just her own. This was the natural, normal way of feeling and experiencing what someone felt toward you all by their own efforts, and especially with him, no empathic abilities were needed. He wasn't afraid to be completely vulnerable and open himself up to her to show her how he felt.
Locked into the same rhythm as his, her eyes followed suit when his began to close and she drew closer as he began to draw closer. Their previous kiss had been hot and passionate, unanticipated and far too short. It had been mostly one sided as she hadn't given him much time to react, having practically jumped him the way she had, then apologetically running off in mortification for having done so. This kiss was pure magic, a built-up of anticipation and when their lips finally met, a slow burn that consumed them both.
But before she could be fully consumed, he somehow found the willpower to pull away and walk out of the room. Wendy had been so drawn in that she hadn't realized her arms had gone around him until he'd pulled free from them. In a daze, she reached behind her as she slowly shuffled backward, her hand quickly finding the crates and the support her wobbly legs needed. Leaning back against them, she simply stared forward, the sheer magnitude of emotions keeping her in a daze.
Because of what she was and the life that had been chosen for her, that was far from being her first kiss, but it held a lot of firsts to it nonetheless. It was the first time it hadn't been completely devoid of anything but the usually one-sided lust of her mark. First time she desperately wanted the man to kiss her. First time it had meant something to her. First time it had had such an impact on her.
First time it had left her in such a daydream that it took her awhile to feel that she was not alone. Wendy's eyes went in the direction she felt the empathic pull of emotions that weren't her own, up to the second level catwalk of the cargo bay, where Inara was smiling warmly down at her.
Still riding that high, Wendy gave an uncharacteristically giddy grin back up at Inara as she headed for the stairs for a chat, which, unknowingly to Inara, would be Wendy's goodbyes. "Been standing there long?" she asked, eyes narrowed in mock accusation as she ascended the stairs.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 19, 2021 13:18:26 GMT -8
Inara had needed some time to herself, so had avoided the usual places she could be found. After her exchange with Mal in the kitchen, which had gone completely different from what she'd been expecting, worse since she'd naively allow herself to anticipate the best, she'd tucked herself away in a corner of the ship to process the wounding of her pride. That was a lot easier to get over than the wounding of her... emotions. She wasn't ready to admit yet that it was her heart.
After spending the time she needed to gather herself, make some hard decisions, and rebuild some of her walls, she'd started to head back to her shuttle. Just in time to stumble across Dex and Wendy down below, in an embrace, simply gazing at each other. It was mesmerizing. Inara couldn't help herself from pausing to lean on the railing to watch as they finally closed the distance in a display that was simply and purely, a completely open and honest show of mutual affection and adoration.
People were rarely like that. There were always walls, especially so early in a relationship. The two had only met days ago and in those mere days, they'd managed to get past the usual walls and barriers of insecurities and fears associated with opening yourself up in a way that would allow another to hurt you on a deeply emotional level. Mortality had a way of getting people past those fears. They simply did not matter. When one knew their time was short, they did not let anything stand between them and finding every bit of joy they could with the time they had left.
And here she and Mal were, going on two years now of battling their own feelings, testing each other's walls, sometimes cautiously, sometimes hurtfully. Most of the time hurtfully. Neither had any time restraints set about by mortality, still young where general life span was concerned, but this way of life did not follow the generally expected life span. Any one of their times could be up before they expected it. So why did they continue to do this to each other? Why drag each other through so much hurt? Was it because when one felt their own walls weakening, their best line of defense was to attack the other so that the other would strengthen their walls against them? Keep them both from being vulnerable at the same time which would surely caused irreparable damaged to both walls.
Inara already felt that. It took the weakening of both their walls in the spare passenger dorm to realize that maybe that was why they'd been continuing to hurt each other all this time. But Inara's dislike over being emotionally wounded was started to outweigh her dislike of complications. And after what had transpired in that spare passenger dorm, she'd started to feel for the first time that maybe she wanted more in life. More than the mutual temporary companionship gained from her line of work that she used to feel was enough.
Wendy began to stir from her daydreaming which brought Inara out of her thoughts. Darn. She should have vacated the area and hidden herself back in her shuttle before ruining Wendy's moment with the intrusion of her own emotional turmoil that had probably been what pulled Wendy from her happy moment. Already caught before Wendy set eyes on her, Inara remained where she was, owning up to her voyeurism.
"Been standing there long?"
"Long enough," she said with unabashed cheekiness. Inara unfolded her arms from the top of the railing and stood up from her casual stance to meet Wendy at the top of the stairs. Thinking about how this woman was robbed of a normal life, ones relationships and connections were built off of, whether they be familial, friendly, or romantic in nature, Inara couldn't help but wrap Wendy in her arms to offer her own affection to fill the friendship void and perhaps, a touch of a familial void. She kept it short, releasing her but keeping her hands affectionately on Wendy's upper arms. "I can't tell you how happy it made me for you. You deserve it, and more, and you were long overdue."
Wendy was grinning back, looking touched at the additional affection received and Inara was glad to have given it. But then Wendy's expression began to shift to studied concern and Inara let her hands fall back to her sides, knowing by Wendy's face that she'd picked up on the feelings Inara wasn't showing on the surface. The ones concerning Mal. "It's just--" she started to brush it off as a rough patch before Wendy could bring up the topic, but stopped short and frowned, the worry showing on her own face now. "You're nose." She quickly pulled her handkerchief free and handed it over to Wendy, watching her dab the blood away as she quietly cursed under her breath. "Perhaps it's best you avoid reading others' emotions. I know you're trying to help, but it's starting to take a toll on you."
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Sept 19, 2021 14:03:05 GMT -8
Wendy was pleasantly surprised to find herself enveloped in a warm hug by Inara. She'd gotten more warmth and affection her short time on Serenity than she had her entire life, and it was making her decision to stay on-planet even harder. And yet, knowing it meant their safety, more determined to do so.
"I can't tell you how happy it made me for you. You deserve it, and more, and you were long overdue."
Wendy was grinning back, touched over Inara's affection and words. Despite being around a decade Inara's senior, Wendy felt like the daughter of a loving mother in this moment. In a way, Inara was like the mother figure of the ship.
Inara's hands still on her arms, Wendy was picking up feelings buried under the surface that did not match the warm smile. Her concern had her automatically delving deeper, Wendy's own smile fading into studied concern. Inara, even without empathic abilities, was a talented reader of people and picked up on Wendy's prodding. She let her hands fall back to her sides but Wendy continued to try to suss out what was bothering Inara.
"It's just--" "You're nose."
Inara paused and Wendy waited patiently, starting to squirm a little when Inara began to study her in turn, her eyes focusing lower on Wendy's face. She knew what was happening the instant Inara said the words and immediately stopped her empathic prodding. Cursing under her breath, Wendy ducked her head forward, pinching below the bridge of her nose with one hand while she patted her pockets with the other, trying to remember where she'd stashed her handkerchief, but Inara presented hers before she had a chance to find it. "Thanks," she muttered uncomfortably as she dabbed away the blood then held the handkerchief below her nose.
"Perhaps it's best you avoid reading others' emotions. I know you're trying to help, but it's starting to take a toll on you."
"Guess that's what I get for stickin' my nose in other people's business," she said sheepishly, then glanced up at Inara with a snicker at the unintended bad pun it had ended up being. "Would you mind not mentioning this to anyone? It's only gonna get worse and undue fussin' won't serve any purpose but to waste time." Not only did Inara nod her agreement, but she shifted to standing between Wendy and the cargo bay below so that if anyone entered, they wouldn't have a view of Wendy's face. "Much appreciated." Wendy dabbed at her nose until the handkerchief came away clean three times in a row before she was satisfied that it had run its course. "Am I good?" she asked, tilting her head upward for Inara to check for any traces. The sound of voices and footsteps were coming nearer, so Inara merely nodded her confirmation and waited for Wendy to stuff the handkerchief deep into her pocket before casually turning to stand beside Wendy, facing the expected company. "Thanks," Wendy whispered.
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Sept 30, 2021 9:16:53 GMT -8
*** Jayne walks past ***
As Jayne rushed through the corridor, obviously in rage, lots of curses accompanied his furious steps, most of them drowned by Mal's voice following behind, though. The little information that could be filtered from those, after all, was that he obviously just gotten told to be part of the not-going team.
*** Jayne exits ***
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Post by DarkSideCookie on Sept 30, 2021 9:23:38 GMT -8
(tempplay by DarkSideCookie) *** Mal enters ***
"Somebody should take away the gun from this man. I doubt that he's old enough to hold one...", sighed Mal as he followed not far behind, shaking his head in both, amusement and actual annoyance, as they just had no time for this kindergarten right now. Another reason why he had decided that Jayne wouldn't be part of the mission team this time. A soon as Mal saw Inara and Wendy standing nearby, he suddenly stopped his steps. His face - after only a short moment of showing something almost hurtful - changed back into the one of a commander, a captain. "We're heading out," he declared to the two women, still rather as if in passing and meer factful. It would be obvious to at least Inara though, that Mal avoided eye contact with them, especially with her.
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Ariel
Lost RPG
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Post by Ariel on Oct 14, 2021 18:50:56 GMT -8
*** Dex Enters ***
Trailing closely behind Mal, Dex had only heard the tail end of the mission's plan. Arriving late due to a 'minor distraction' had cost him and he paid for it by a light licking from Captain Reynolds before being briefed on what he had missed and being included in the remainder of the details. Of course, the details of reasoning were surely undermined as there was nothing minor about his encounter with Wendy at all. Yet, Mal who was also involved in the mission at hand did not need to know anything further on the matter. Dex remained rather neutral as Jayne threw a fit over not being invited onto the mission after all. The last thing he needed was another talking to by the Captain, thus putting him further onto his bad side. Things were over between him and Wendy anyways before they could even get started. Dex kept his gaze fixated in front of him as he followed Mal, using every bit of strength he had in his body as to not bad a single eye in Wendy's direction. He was afraid that if he did, he'd crumble right then and there.
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Oct 30, 2021 17:13:33 GMT -8
Jayne had come rushing through, interrupting the quiet peace of Wendy and Inara's departing words. From what she could gather from his angry mutters and curses, it appeared Jayne would not be a part of the mission.
Refusing to allow the hurt Mal's words had inflicted to take charge over her normal demeanor of strength and a general contentment of life, Inara squared her shoulders and looked confidently down as the other two men who would be part of the mission emerged. Seeing the flicker across Mal's face of something that mirrored Inara's own buried hurt lent strength to her facade.
As they ascended the stairs, Inara smoothly turned away from them in order to give her attention to Wendy. "I will be with you in spirit," she said, taking Wendy's hands as she made the promise. She gave Wendy's hands a squeeze before releasing them and heading in the direction over her shuttle.
She kept her chin up, her gaze only flitting briefly to Mal but mostly held on Dex as she gave them a well-wish in kind. "Be safe."
With a soft nod, she continued passed them on to her shuttle where she would light candles and settle in at her alter to fulfill her promise to Wendy by spiritually sending her strength and positivity via prayer and meditation.
***Inara exits to Inara's Shuttle***
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Oct 30, 2021 17:52:08 GMT -8
Well, apparently, Jayne would not be accompanying them on the mission and Wendy could hardly say she was heartbroken over it. In fact, given that her condition had taken a turn for the worse, it was a blessing. One less person intruding on her empathic sense, especially one who so chaotically emoted, would certainly decrease the likelihood of more nose bleeds.
Dex was avoiding looking her way and in truth, if he hadn't been, she would have been the one avoiding glancing his way. With him so actively avoiding, it allowed her to openly take him in, committing to memory whatever she could of his features, his mannerisms, how he carried himself... until a part of him couldn't resist glancing her way. Then it would be her turn to find sudden distraction in some mundane part of their surroundings.
Wendy was sure neither would be fooling the other. She'd been very aware of him from the moment they'd met, knowing whenever he was near without looking, feeling when his eyes were on her, and she knew it was the same for him toward her. When they were nearly to her and the point where it would be impossible to avoid looking at her without being uncomfortably obvious about it, it was Wendy's turn to pull her gaze away and reverse the situation. She turned away from the approaching men and toward the shuttle door expectantly as Mal approached it to punch the button that would slide it open.
"So, no Jayne, I take it?" she said in slight amusement over the curse-filled stomping tantrum Jayne had taken through the cargo bay en route to his bunk.
***Wendy, Mal, and Dex exit to Mission Shuttle***
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Post by Hollywood Heidi on Jan 16, 2022 12:42:20 GMT -8
(Via ship-wide comms)
The speakers momentarily crackled to life with Inara's usual serenely toned voice following. "Kaylee, I could use your assistance in the Common Area, please."
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