=/\= Begin - Corridor close to Athen's office =/\= Athena had finally gotten word that her carton of personal items had arrived, she picked them up at one of the cargo bays and was making her way down the hall towards her room. She was trying to step over the cord that she could barely see if she held the box just right. Unfortunately, it meant that she could not see anything coming at her. Lt. Richards had been stuck in the turbo lift for fourteen and a half long minutes. He had had to resort to forcing the door which was almost impossible to do. He had it wide enough to squeeze through he thought but it turned out to be a tighter fit than he had imagined. With a last effort he managed to get through the gap and half fell into the corridor. Too late he realized he was in someone's way, shouted "Watch out!" but the warning was in vain. Athena heard someone yell, "Watch out," but it was a little late incoming. She tried to stop immediately but a couple of things shifted in the box and that was enough to knock her off balance after she had just jumped over a series of cables. She didn't know what she hit but in an effort to save the breakables in the carton she didn't let go of it and turned so that she would fall on her back. She was more than a little surprised when the floor seemed ... soft. The floor being soft was the last thought through her head as what she hit was still solid enough to knock the wind out of her for a few seconds. Rob stumbled backwards and was knocked off his feet by someone with an overlarge carton. He took the weight of both and landed with a heavy thud on the floor. "You all right?" he asked trying to sit up and pushing whoever it was forward. { That perfume}} he thought {..thats what ...}} "Athena!" he said in surprise as a face appeared over the top of the box. "Rob," she said as she looked at him questioningly over the box. Placing the large box on the floor she stood up in one swift move. "I'm so sorry." She held a hand out to help him up as her hair swung forward and covered her eyes. He got to his feet smiling down at her. "What are YOU doing here?" he asked "Are you OK?" He realized he still held her hand and gently let go of it. She could tell he hadn't given her presence on the Chimera any thought at all yet. "I'm here to give you an evaluation of course," she said calmly. {would it be so bad to yank his chain a bit?} She let a smile cross her face but managed to keep it to a 'nice to see ya' one. "Should I give it to you here in the corridor or should we go somewhere else?" He grinned at her. "Give me that," he said taking the carton from her arms. He adjusted it so the weight was even. "Lets go to wherever this was going," he said. As she moved away he frowned slightly realizing with surprise that he was undoubtedly pleased to see her...and not for the reason of any evaluation sessions. She lead the way to her office which was just a few doors down from the turbolift. "This is where it belongs," she said, and ushered him in the door. "Just set it on the desk." She knew Rangi had said that Rob left the base but she really hadn't anticipated seeing him. {Transfers can take you anywhere.} Seeing him made her wish she had finished looking over the roster before she left. He walked to the desk and carefully placed the box down moving two packages on the top to prevent them sliding off. "Hope nothings damaged, " he said turning to face her. "Its good to see you," he said. "Its good to see you too," she said as she took two thin wrapped packages out of the box. She carefully unwrapped them and smiled as she took the two framed ink blots and looked at the walls trying to decide where to hang them. They always reminded her of butterflies but somehow she could always see what others said they saw in them too. She decided to hang them together behind the two arm chairs that made up the conversational area. "I think I'll hang these here. Would you mind terribly helping me?" Rob glanced at the box and wondered how many more things it held that might need hanging. Room decoration didn't have any place at all in his priorities. {Though} he thought {Rangi always delighted in doing this....must be a 'woman thing' } he turned to Athena and watched her holding up the abstract art. {Why does she want such ugly things?} he thought but answered with a fairly convincing tone "Of course I'll help you." She turned and raised an eyebrow in his direction. She got the feeling he was less then thrilled about the ink blots even though his tone of voice didn't indicate that anything was wrong. She held out one of the pictures. "Rob, what do you see when you look at this?" Rob glanced from the picture to Athena. She had an impassive expression on her face and waited patiently for his reply. He studied the picture silently then asked "Is that a...'soldier' of some kind?..it looks like it..but exactly who it is...well..and is he guarding that woman?" Rob looked doubtfully at Athena. "Art isn't really 'my thing'" he said. Athena looked at him and then back at the blot and flipped it around in her hands different ways. Finally she met his gaze. "Interesting," was all she eventually said. She walked over to the wall where she wanted it hung. "I think it should go here," she pointed to another spot on the wall, "and the other one here." She stood on the chair as she started to hang the one she was holding. Rob frowned at her back and scratched his head. He had the distinct feeling that he had just had an assessment of some kind and had probably failed it. "That needs to go up on the left a bit," he said walking towards the chair. "Want me to do it?" As Athena tried to do as she was directing, she lost her balance and tumbled into his arms. "Maybe you should," was all she managed to say. He grabbed her as she toppled off the chair and steadied her. He didn't let her lose at once and neither did she try to move away as he looked down at her, taking in the lovely features of her face. His eyes held a smile as he waited for her to move or speak. She didn't move away. "I think I'm lucky you were here." His mouth formed a smile and after a moment, almost hesitantly he released her arm and moved his hand to her back, gently drawing her closer. His fingers moved her hair from her face. "Athena...?" [[Communications on Decks 1 to 4 will be temporarily off line for maintenance]] said the computer voice. "Yes," she said as she finished brushing the hair out of her face and rolled her eyes at the computer voice. Regaining her balance and feeling solid ground again she took a half a step away from Rob. Rob dropped his hold, glanced down at the 'blot picture' and smiled to himself. He held the picture up. "Where do you want this?" he asked meeting her gaze. "Right up there," she pointed and smiled at him. "And I think this one should go right there," she handed him the other ink blot and pointed to its desired location as well. He took both the pictures and sighed as he looked at them. Why she thought they were so good he couldn't imagine. "What are these anyway?" he asked adjusting the adhesive patch on the first one. "They're ink blots. Everyone sees something unique to them. Why?" She was looking through the box and finally found a box of tissues to set on the coffee table. He looked skeptical. "They're quite ugly things to live with," he said hanging the first one and stepping back to check angles. He adjusted it slightly an d reached for the second one turning to look at her briefly. "This ones better" he said measuring distances by line of sight. "And what do you see when you look at that one," she asked nonchalantly. Turning around to meet his gaze as he finished straightening the last of the two blots. He grinned at her. "Just the woman," he answered looking again at the picture. "I don't know what 'that' is.." he indicated an area and remet her look "...but she looks very like you." "Hhhmmm..," was all she said as she appeared to be deep in thought about what he said. She stood there a couple of more minutes before giving her head a mental shake. She laid a hand on his shoulder; "Thanks, you did a great job." She smiled at him brightly. "Is that it?" he asked sounding surprised "Just those two?" She shook her head. "Yes, that's all. Most of the other stuff goes in my quarters. I'll get it later." He nodded, giving her another brief smile. "OK.," he headed to the door where he turned to face her. "See you sometime no doubt." The door opened. "I'm sure you will," she said and then smiled and waved. He grinned and was gone. =/\= End Log =/\= Lt. Athena Wellington Cheif Counselor USS Chimera & Lt. Rob Richards NPC as played by Ltjg. Rangi Summers