Rebuild II - Sifting Soot and Ash

Posted on Tue Apr 13th, 2021 @ 2:34am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun

Mission: *CD*
Location: Bajor
Timeline: After Rebuild

Rhenora watched as Remal took the first tentative steps towards their ruined home, understanding that this would be an incredibly hard moment for him to witness. She rose from where she had been lost in her own thoughts and came to stand beside him, wrapping her arms around his frame to offer comfort.

“I’m so so sorry” She whispered into his chest as the full devastation came into view. There was nothing they could save from the structure, only the hope that some sentimental trinkets had somehow survived the heat and flames.

He held onto her until he reached the first stair of the porch landing. It was relatively undamaged, just charred a bit. He dared to step up so that he could see from a raised perspective, the threshold where he had first crossed over carrying his bride not seven years prior. The timber frame still had small wisps of smoke rising where a door frame once held the solid plank door. Looking down he spotted the metal lock and knob in the rubble.

He bent down and sifted the ash away then picked up the knob. “A little polishing and this could be like new again, I suppose.” The stair creaked and groaned under his weight, weakened by the fire. He stared into the rubble, trying to decide where and how to begin.

“ Why don’t we put the things we can salvage over there by the porch?” Rhenora offered, hankering down and running her hands through the ashes trying to feel for anything that may be left intact. The sturdy leather gloves took away some of the more delicate feel but she could get a decent idea of what was under some of the larger pieces of debris. “Here, help me shift this outside” She grabbed underneath a half burnt slab of timber that was once the dining table

He bent down, grabbed the plank and lifted with his knees. Then following her footsteps and keeping a close eye on her movements, they moved the large slab out of the center of the rubble into a side area just outside before setting it down. He brushed off his hands. “That’s one.” He commented before moving back towards the pile that was once a house.

Underneath the table was a pile of ash now uncovered to be sifted through. There had been a vase, some flowers, their best crockery and cutlery on it before the fire. Surely there had to be something left intact. She felt with her hands, sifting through the fine ash and sneezing as it tickled her nose.

“ Damn ash, makes me sneeze” She attempted to wipe her brow but only leaving a smear of gray instead. Her right hand came up with something and she carefully retrieved it, finding the necklace Remal had given her just prior to the fire. It was remarkably intact but covered in a fine layer of soot.

He saw her pick up the necklace, "good. I'm glad you were…" he trailed off when he noticed the ash smear across her face. Then his mind tried to override his body's reaction of outright laughter, but failed miserably. "Pshhht, ha ha. Sorry." He had been so distraught at the sight of his burnt home yet now he could not control this guttural outburst of laughter.

“Are you mocking me?” She snorted, unable to stop the grin that threatened to erupt despite the task they were doing.

"No, no ma'am. I know better." He forced out before laughing again. He smacked his own hands across his mouth, leaving ash shaped handprints on his own face.

The effect was immediate, the giggle became a full blown laugh, shedding the tension that had gripped them earlier. “ My dear dear husband, we are indeed two peas in a pod” She laughed, drawing him close before adding a puff of ash to his forehead.

"More along the lines of two pigs in a pen." He jabbed back, then patted his belly for the full effect.

“And yet somehow you manage to survive my cooking - a remarkable feat” She retorted as she regarded him smeared with ash in the ruins of their home. “We should keep going, we’re bound to find something else intact”

They worked together sifting and shuffling debris for the next odd hour or so, where it was beginning to look like at least some progress was being made. During that same period they had found their way from the dining area, through the sitting room and bedroom and were now entering the kitchen.

Remal had noticed a cute little pattern from his beloved. Nearly every time she bent over she would give 2 tiny sneezes and then once she stood again, 1 large sneeze. The amusing part was that she didn't seem to be aware of the tiny sneezes at all, but the big one, that was beginning to irritate her patience.

Long since bored, the security team, which could have been more helpful, had begun milling about. With nothing to do and with the slight isolation of the house, they had lost focus. That was until Remal bent down and picked an unopened bottle of '68 Springwine from under a cabinet. He peered at it "Huh, wonder if this is still good?"

"Damn soot!" Rhenora swore as she sneezed again, sending yet more ash spiraling up from any surface.

Rhenora sneezed again, swore and stood up from the pile she had been trawling through. From what she had recalled it was around the area of the kitchen cupboards. She had been hoping to find her favorite coffee cup amongst the ruins.

"Probably heat affected, I'm game if you are though" she snorted and wrinkled her nose.

From behind the pair of soot-covered lovers, a clear and audible clearing of voice could be heard causing the four of them to look in this newcomer's direction.

TBC