[color=FF0070][h1][center]Persephone[/center][/h1][hr][/color]

A staggering wave of nausea swept over Persephone, only seeming to worsen the longer she was in the room. There was a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach that was steadily climbing up the throat and threatening to strangle her, and frantically a torrent of the usual reassurances went through her head. [i]Calm down, calm down. It's alright. Just breathe. You haven't done this in forever, and you're not going to do it here. Just get a grip on yourself, dammit.[/i] Of course usually seeing another ithlo didn't provoke this sort of reaction from her. On the pirate ship there had been none, but she'd grown to expect seeing them on any planets they visited, colonies, or ports, but she had been completely caught off guard by one being on this ship. [i]This[/i] ship. The flagship of the human rebellion. Come to think of it, why in the name of all the hells [i] was[/i] he here? The ithlo were very proud people, and a species of healers and doctors, people who didn't get caught up in politics for the sake of "being able to treat and heal all without prejudice or bias," and traveling with a rag-tag group of rebels didn't exactly fit that ideology. Persephone voiced none of this out loud. She didn't need them to know that she'd been a little closet "rebellion fan" for the past few months this movement had been getting started, and she was sure they wished that their identity was a little bit more of a secret. Well, it [i]was[/i] a secret, but not when you ran in the circles that Perse did. The train of thought did cause her to give the doctor a peculiar look, but she brushed it off by returning his nod of greeting and getting distracted by the captain and first mate. 

"Hey Perse, I'm Kevej, but most people call me Kev. I'd shake your hand but I'm trying to regain proper feeling in my legs first!" He laughed at his own joke, and then continued. "I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but you can cannibalise the personal computer in my quarters, I barely use it anyway. All the important paperwork and manifests are kept on the main ship's database, and I can use the computer by the cargo bay."

"That'd be awesome, thank you!" She replied, giving him a bright smile and trying to brush off the crushing anxiety she was currently experiencing. The naka was, in standard naka fashion, very friendly and welcoming. That was doing wonders for her current mental state. "It's not an emergency, though, so I'll talk to you about it more once you uh... get your bearings again. Though I don't want to cause more work for you to have to leave your room while you're healing. I also don't want to invade your personal space. I don't know. We'll talk about it. Thank you." 

Dammit. She was rambling. 

"Well, that's one thing sort of settled," the captain muttered. The woman then rubbed her face while releasing a very long sigh, and Perse gave her a sympathetic look. The poor woman looked exhausted out of her mind. 

"Is there anything I can do to help out?" She asked. 

Maria looked at her for a moment, appearing to both consider her request and attempt to read her soul at the same time. Of course the captain wouldn't trust her, even if she did just save all of their collective asses, but Perse hoped she'd at least give her some responsibilities to take care of until they got to port and she could buy the repairs for her ship. She liked to keep busy. 

"You handled that little fighter pretty well. Ever piloted a freighter?" The captain asked. 

"Uh... I mean, it's been a while, but I have." 

"Great. I've got a million and one things I need to take care of, and flying the ship is one of them. We lost our pilot in the attack and I frankly don't have time to fly the ship and get everything in working order again. If you could get us to the Glao port outside Aspen I'd be very much obliged." 

The pink ithlo nodded. "I can do that." 

"Fantastic. Our bridge is shot to hell, so backup navigation has been moved to the engine room for the time being. Like I just told our engineer, who I think you're already acquainted with, I'd like to get moving as soon as possible so the sooner you can get down there and do that, the better." 

"I'll get going right now, then!" She replied, beginning to back towards the door and waving. "It was nice to meet you both Kev, doctor. I hope you heal quickly, and I'll talk to you about that computer later." 

And with that she disappeared around the bulkhead again, letting the fake smile drop as soon as she was out of sight. Oh boy. This was going to be an interesting journey. As long as she could avoid the other ithlo, then it would be fine, but she'd never had to journey for an extended period of time with one so she was frankly unsure of what to expect. Was he going to confront her? Lecture her about the error of her ways? Chastise her for dishonoring their beliefs? 

The knot started coming back, and Perse was quiet as she skittered back to the engine room and started trying to figure out the navigation system. This was an older ship, so it'd take her a moment or two to figure out the format they used, but as soon as that was done they'd be on their way and headed towards the glao port.