Deep Conversations - Part I

Posted on Sat Oct 26th, 2024 @ 7:25pm by Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant JG Zai

1,126 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: Observation Deck | USS Arcadia

ON:

Zai had finished his shift in Engineering and was now seated on the observation deck. He sat on the little bridge between lounge and control room with his legs dangling over the edge watching the stars. As a child he'd often looked at the stars and wondered what it would be like to be amongst them. Now he knew and as much responsibility as he was shouldering for his people, being the only Royal, other then his sister, to be alive from his family. The station visit had not all been vacation. As the leader of the eleventh tribe he had reached out to Betazed and they'd sent a rep. They were willing to take his people from the moon base he'd constructed and help them settle on their planet.

It had been Lanna Alexander who'd opened his eyes as to how similar the people were. His sister has offered to marry into a prominent Betazed family so that their people would have their own home, a place for themselves on a planet that understood their abilities. He should have been happy and he was but... all that had happened with Fang and Sabastian was confusing and he was feeling tired and worn. His feelings were a mess. Fang had tried to talk with him but he'd kept things professional. He didn't trust himself not to reveal his secret not to shout to Fang that he was in fact the one Fang was pining for. But in the end Fang saw love as an obligation.

Sabastian had been open about his feelings. He'd shared them through empathy, through words, actions. Zai saw the potential of trying to move on but ... there was still a part of him finding it hard to let go of Fang. Could he let go? It was all a mess and he wasn't sleeping well. Lucky for him the med team on the station was less rigid and had given him some sleeping aids or he wouldn't have slept at all.

Adrianna had been searching for Zai. She paused when she finally saw him. A sigh left her lips. Her heart went out to him. Now she understood fully and understood why it hurt so much. She stepped over and sat down next to him with a bit of a grunt, "this seat taken?" It wasn't a question she waited for an answer of.

The woman sighed and looked down at the drop before them, "I have never been a fan of heights. I slipped off the room in my family home as a child and I've not been a fan since. Funny how our childhood defines our fears now. My brother's still joke that I should have been two more steps to the right and I would have made our pool."

"Brothers are notorious for being idiots, I had four of them." He looked over and smiled. "I had a fear of heights too but got over it pretty quick when I realized I loved climbing trees." He laughed. Turning back to Adrianna he said, "I won't let you fall. This place is one of my favorite to be. Secret, when this place is shut down for maintenance weekly I take about twenty minutes to cancel the gravity just float up here. It's...like floating in the stars." He leaned his head on his hand which was on the railing. "How was your day?"

"Be grateful: I have eight brothers-- all older than me," she snorted and grinned, "nine if you include the dumbest of them all that resides on our ship." She shook her head, "my gawd, I will ensure I never attempt to get in here during maintenance."

She remained silent for a moment as she thought about how to respond to the question about her day, "uhh-- so-so. I was actually trying to find you. I had a date with Jason last night. He's promised to leave the engineers alone on the condition that you don't interrupt any further dates." There was a hesitation to the end of her sentence, "Zai-- we didn't start off so well, but I'd like to think that we are friends now. At the least, we're two people who know too much about each other to just pass by each other absently."

He smiled. "We're friends. I think we became friends when I saw how much you meant to Vance and he to you." He looked over at her. "Believe it or not I tried to play cupid to the two of you...didn't do so well but." He paused and sat up putting a hand on hers. "If Jason makes you happy then you need to go after that happiness. I know you loved Vance but he's different and you shouldn't destroy your heart out of guilt or obligation. Follow your true heart. If it's Jason, it's Jason, if it's Vance, it's Vance. I have no problem shattering either one if they step out of line. Capellan's are stronger then Vulcans, trust me."

She offered a small smile. Adrianna flinched out of habit to him holding her hand, but relaxed, allowing it. "You were a really good friend to Vance. You tried to warn him that I was Starfleet and yet he still loved me. You took one hell of risk. I could have died because you outed an undercover mission. I could have died." She took a breath, "and I wouldn't have changed a thing."

She looked down at the drop, "I didn't know that he didn't care-- that he loved me anyway-- that he was willing to forgive for the sake of his heart. It made going on a date with Jason very difficult last night." She clarified, "I spoke to my mother--the only person that knows the full story and the truth. She helped me decide that I shouldn't wait for someone who's memories may not come back because even if they did, it's not to say that he would forgive me being Starfleet. I lost him a lot of clients and money. Then I found out that he knew when Vance called last night. I was on my way out for a date with Jason. Made me regret my decision. Madonna-- you should have seen Vance's face when he found out that I was getting dressed up for someone else." She let her words faded, a disappointment in herself and her decision, "I still went on that date because I feel like Vance just sees me as a familiarity, not like he loved me before. Made the date go a bit awkwardly though. I was so distracted. I'm going to lose both of them, I feel it in my bones."


To Be Continued...

 

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