Office Hours, Tuesday

[on_her_korhal]

Kerrigan was calling up old maps on her computer. She'd programmed them in a few months ago, and in a fit of boredom, she'd returned to them.

And was starting to notice a few things that made her feel a little iffy about the whole situation back home.

Sipping her coffee, she sighed, and leaned back. Nothing she could do. Dammit.

[ open like office hours yay ]

Comments

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

Sometime in the morning River wandered into Kerrigan's office, smiling happily. Her good mood faded somewhat when she noticed Kerrigan didn't quite share it, but perhaps that meant distraction was good. "Can I have a coffee?" she asked.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Kerrigan barely glanced up from her computer. "Hey."

That lasted about a quarter of a minute. "...Same place as always." She smiled slightly at River, feeling a little apologetic.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River smiled back and helped herself to a coffee. It made herself feel at home in Kerrigan's office, and that was a good feeling, one she didn't try to hide from Kerrigan.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

"Watch it," she snarked, but the smile grew a little bigger. "If you end up bouncing off the walls due to bad instant, it won't be my fault."

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

"Won't blame you if that happens," River replied with a grin. She sat down in the chair opposite Kerrigan.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

"Just as long as we're clear."

She tapped a button on the mouse, shrinking the maps down for the moment. Then Kerrigan sat back in her chair, picking up a pen and twisting it.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River swung her legs back and forth. "Doing anything interesting?"

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

"Just checking some old mission logs." Kerrigan twisted the pen again. I'm startin to think there's something weird going on.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

Tell me?" River sipped her coffee.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

We have these creatures back home. They're called the Zerg. They can raze entire planets. Her eyes flicked down to the monitor again. My leader seems to think they were created by the enemy, but... it doesn't make sense.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

Why not? River leaned forward, watching Kerrigan closely.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about it. Kerrigan threw the pen back onto the desk. Don't worry about it.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

You worry. River took another sip of her coffee, then smiled a little hesitantly.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

My job. Kerrigan picked up her own cup of coffee and sipped it. Getting cold. Ugh. Not yours.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River stared down into her own cup, stirring the coffee with her finger. Then she looked up. Something I wanted to ask.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Ask away. Kerrigan put the cold coffee back on her desk, scowling at it mildly before resuming her steady gaze at River.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

She paused. A few times I've attacked people. Friends, strangers, not knowing who they were. There's a word that stops me. Makes me fall asleep. She looked up. Will you learn it?

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

She caught River's gaze for a long, almost stifling moment, thoughts rolling through her brain like thunderclouds.

If you want me to.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River gave a nod in reply, without hesitation. She let the thoughts appear in her mind how she didn't know this phrase herself, but there were others who did: Bridge, Parker, Anakin - if he had asked Bridge - her brother, Kaylee, Jack.

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

She nodded. Slowly. "Do you want me to ask?" A shutdown.

Kerrigan didn't know if it was a good thing or not. Some levels, yes. Some, no. But the idea-- god.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

Again, River nodded. "Yes."

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

"I'll ask Skywalker," she replied, quietly.

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River smiled a little. "Good," she said, then drank deeply of her coffee.