Heading back from the Maru...

[valentine-tart.livejournal.com]

When she left the Maru in lot 44, Beka eyed campus more than a mile off in the gloam of another dirtside dawn. She could've Ghosted directly to her room or class she supposed, but tension edged her spine. The walk would do her good and give her time to think.

A lot had happened in a short time. A short time dirtside anyhow. Out in her universe months had passed since she'd been here. Not that anything had changed. Still too many Nietzscheans, way too many Magog, and humanity still clinging to life in the galaxies it had once ruled with confidence and grace. Though finding that High Guard outpost had been a bit of a surprise. And so had meeting Rhade. She'd have to make entries to her personal logs. She'd been slack about that.

She slowed as she caught sight of the class-buildings and sighed. Sure, she'd been there Monday and yesterday, but... it was different. With the Maru stationed in a cometary drift, complete isolation was only a shout to Ghost away. Now if she wanted to bolt, the farthest she could get would be Lot 44 before she'd have to engage with this world again to get the Maru out.

If only she could just blink and erase Cameron and this whole stupid mess from her memory. Every time she'd seen him in the halls or in class the last few days it had stung. Seeing Lee had been almost as bad. And when Shep teased her about him, it'd been all she could do to not to strike out against how much, and how unexpectedly, that had still hurt.

Probably if it weren't for what Aeryn had said, she wouldn't be coming back. But Valentines only hid when their lives were in danger or when hiding was the best way to score. They didn't hide from fights, or from well-meaning friends, or from looking like an idiot. Or from Old Earth cultural traditions that required dates when their ex and everyone else already had one. Not that it changed the fact that she felt like hiding.

Enough with the moping, Rebeka. If you want to go to this Homecoming, ask someone. If you don't, go get drunk, with or without Tight-pants.

The closer she got to campus, though, the more tense she felt. It made her wish Camulus would be around. Not that she wanted to get pounded into the floor like last time, but hitting things would be good. Shooting things would be good too, but she'd save that for later when she couldn't stand being without her weapons for another second.

A quick look at her chrono showed she had plenty of time before class. Exercise sounded good. Maybe some stretching and agility stuff, and definitely some practice time on the bag.

She whistled up Ghost.

"What is it, Beka? I'm terribly busy."

"Sorry. Can you grab my sweats and a T-shirt from my room and meet me in the girl's locker room?"

There was no reply. Instead, seconds later, the items fell from the sky as if dumped from a laundry basket.

Oh well, whatever Ghost was up to, she hoped he'd be safe. Then she grinned. One back at least she didn't have to watch. Since he didn't have one.

Today would be a hard day. A long day. But she could do it. She needed to. Something was going on with Illyana, and she was worried about her.