Clearing the mind

[kaywinnet]

Kaylee quickly came down to the common area, keeping an eye out for Simon. She saw River sitting alone, mumbling to herself. She didn't think asking her about Simon would do any good at this point. She hesitated a moment, given the rush she was in, she hoped River would be alright for now. Kaylee decided it would be best to send Simon to check on her. As she walked toward the entrance to the cargo bay, she looked through the windows to the infirmary to make sure she didn't miss him. Of course, he wasn't there. She thought she should try the shuttle, just so she can say she looked everywhere.

{Out - Tam Shuttle}

[Simon Tam]

[[OOC- sorry, i forgot i was still in here, simon was meant to leave just after he heard about Mal being taken hostage.]]

[Arabella Hart]

Going into the common room, she heard River saying a rhyme over and over again to herself. “River?” It was weird, but all of Bella’s normal barriers were breaking down. She normally wasn’t open to people-but she opened up to Daniel and some to River. Going to her, she knelled on the ground in front of her. “River, are you ok?” She looked at her with kind eyes to let River know that Bella was here for her just like she had been planetside.

[river]

River looked up at Bella. She tried to bring life back into focus like she had before but now it was really foggy.

"Bella" said River trying to focus

River could still feel the academy people in her head. She needed Bella's calming nature.

[Arabella Hart]

Bella grabbed River’s hands and squeezed them lightly. She didn’t know what kind of state she was in as far as touching. “River, honey it’s ok. No one is coming.” Bella was figuring the rhyme had to do with people coming after them for some reason. “It’s safe on Serenity. You told me that.” She smiled, hoping everything would come back to her.

Running a hand through the girls hair, Bella remembered Betty doing this to her when she was young. It always calmed Bella. And old song came to mind as well and she began to hum it for now, not wanting to sing it. It was made for children, but just humming it often calmed Bella as a teen. “I’m right here River,” Bella offered between hums.

[river]

River tried to calm down. She knew Mal was in trouble and she should be helping but considering that the people from the academy were there she was scared. She wasn't to keen on having Bella touch her head but she let her do it anyway. River actually wasn't to keen about anyone touching her head including her brother, sister-in-law, the crew on the ship, and her niece and nephew. River knew Serenity was safe she was always safe, but River's mind was in a fog again. She wanted to calm down and not have Mal or Simon see her the way she was now.

"Two by two hands of blue" said River quietly

River's mind suddenly was hit with the memories from the academy again. All the dreaming and the hurt that she felt when she was in that school. She tried to push them out and find something or someone else's memories to focus on. River finally found Wash's memories on the ship they seemed to be the most calming ones.

'Wash: Just means I'm going down too quick. Likely crash and kill us all.

Wash: Little River just gets more colorful by the minute. What will she do next?
Zoe: Either blow us up or rub soup in her hair. It's a toss-up.
Wash: I hope she does the soup thing. It's always a hoot, and we don't all die from it.'

River pulled herself back to the present trying to keep the alliance away from her head. She wanted to pull away from Bella stroking her hair but she couldn't hurt Bella like that.

[Arabella Hart]

Bella was confused on what was wrong. Moving her hand from River’s hair, she set it on the girls shoulder. Bella was unsure of what to do because she had just met River. But she was all alone with her and had to figure it out. Bella decided to remain silent for now. She didn’t know what else to do until River said something she knew she could help with. Leaving a kind hand on her shoulder and on River’s hand, she waited in silence, letting River do as she wanted.

[river]

River was glad that Bella's hand was off of her head. She calmed down a little bit. Memories of Miranda came back into her head along with some new strange ones. She didn't want them there. River was desperate to calm down to explain to Bella what was going on. River knew that this poor teen wasn't quite ready to face the insane River that had first been on Serenity. River finally got herself together.

"My apologizes Bella It wasn't my intent to frighten you" said River

[Arabella Hart]

Bella smiled softly at River. It would take time before people let her in and she got into the flow of things. But she was willing to try, though it would take her some time. “It’s ok. I have the patience.” Bella learned to have the patience. In her line of work, it took a lot of patience to get through the days. And then with who she usually worked for, she learned to just sit there and be silent until needed.

But through the hard, Bella looked for the good. And that is what made it all worthwhile. She just hoped that this time it would be the same. “You can talk when you want to talk and you can come to me. But if you don’t want to talk and just need someone there, just come into the room and you don’t have to say a thing.”

[river]

"Thank you" said River

She smiled at the Patience thing because of a joke that went around on Serenity. She eventually decided to tell Bella.

"At least you don't have the person with you, she shot Mal twice" said River

River knew she was safe on Serenity. It was just hard for her sometimes she had to shift through everyone's thoughts and feelings to find her own. She was getting better with blocking those that she knew well out of her mind but new people were hard and that made plenty for her to try and sort through.

[Arabella Hart]

Bella smiled and said, “Your welcome.” She became puzzled though at what appeared to be a joke River was making. Titling her head to the side she looked confused and giggled. “Huh?” The girl was interesting and Bella did have a lot to learn about what went on around here. But she would learn whatever she needed to.

“Would you like to help me cook River?”

[river]

River stopped to explain it to her.

"Bella Patience is a person on White Moon who owns half of it. Mal took a job from her and ended up getting shot by her" said River

River liked the thought of helping Bella in the kitchen

"Certainly" said River

[Arabella Hart]

Bella laugehd lightly. "Ah I see now. That explains it a bit more." Standing up, she waited for River. "Cooking can sometimes be a good distraction to the everyday worries." Bella had found over the years that it had been a good distraction. When she was upset, all she had to do was go cook something and it all fit right again. Cleared her mind.

[river]

River stood up a gracefully and quietly as she usually did. People didn't even her the sound of her skirts moving. River prayed that she would feel Mal soon and everything would be fine. Simon would patch him up and Serenity would move on with it's life. Without Mal, Serenity would die, he loved this ship more than anyone else on it. River loved it just about as much she felt like she was a part of it.

"it's is also very involved in being able to complete math and science equations and expriements measurements must be exact or the end product doesn't turn out" said River

[Arabella Hart]

The up and downs and River seemed to be a trade mark of her’s. But Bella didn’t mind. Nodding, she smiled. “Yeah, it is, but sometimes with spices I just wing it to add some flare.” Moving about, she headed to go back to the kitchen, turning back to make sure River was coming. Her long skirts swayed as she never wore any pants. Bella hated them, she loved feeling girly and also she could move around easier. Lost in thought about food, she moved back to the kitchen.

[out-kitchen]

((OOC: I'll start the thread in the morn. I'm gonna write iit up and then type it cause my step-dad has to work on the comp))