Bonding Exercises

Posted on Mon Sep 5th, 2016 @ 11:13pm by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Lieutenant Commander Selune
Edited on on Mon Sep 5th, 2016 @ 11:13pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Taking Chances
Location: USS Bonne Chance, Deck 3, Gymnasium
Timeline: 2265

Selune took a single deep breath as her feet fluidly shifted between stances. Slowly exhaling as her body began the glacial movements that represented a dance, a meditation and a martial art; each slowly blending into another.

The slower each action was performed the greater the difficulty, Selune's teacher had at times seemed almost statuesque in his motion but to spar with him had been an infuriating act of striking at air. He had never rushed, always moving with a perfect economy of energy. This didn't mean he couldn't move fast, merely that a quick step back paired with a whiplike riposte was done with the same simple grace as walking through a garden or opening a door.

Now Selune sought that some elegance and perfection through the subtle movement found in this dance. The end of one action was the beginning of another. each action blending with the next to form a continuous motion. Soon her mind fell into the calm silence of motion without conscious thought, even as the thunderous thudding of someone new walking into the room flooded her senses.

Adhering to her training she took note of it but didn't let the intrusion break her concentration as she began another achingly slow step, her arms flowing forward with the same measured effort.

The bridge shift was over, but still no sign from the away team. Lieutenant Charybdis' orders stood- stand fast until they were twelve hours overdue, and they were no such thing as yet. So unless she wanted to disobey orders and charge into Orion space with a Federation starship because she was impatient or she 'had a hunch something was wrong' then her hands were tied. And it frustrated her.

Dealing with frustration gracefully was not one of her strengths. But with Patrick and Ak'Ahar gone she had been left in command. That meant that all eyes were upon her, and she had to set an example for the crew.

Starships had been equipped with gymnasiums for a number of reasons, not the least of which was to give men and women cooped up in a space somewhere to let go of some of those frustrations in a healthy and positive manner. Right now, Charybdis had some ideas on the front, and as she padded into the gym in her standard workout gear- the blue briefs from her uniform, a tank top two sizes too small that looked as though it might be strangling her prodigious chest and a pair of athletic shoes, with her hair tied off in a high ponytail atop her head- she knew just what she wanted and where to get it, as she headed for the weight bench.

There were no weights, per se- on a starship that would be impractical and dangerous. Instead the weight training station used vulcanized rubber bands to add resistance to a pulley system that could offer a variety of relative strength training. Charybdis chose a few bands and began pulling at the machine, warming up her muscles before pushing them to perform, even as she noticed the white-furred Caitan doing slow katas on the workout mats.

It was several seconds before the creaking of the bands of the weight bench penetrated Selune's dislocated mind, distracting her enough to stumble and break her rhythm. She took a long deep breath to mask her sigh as she tossed up either approaching the Vulcan who seemed to be working up the energy to destroy something or to simply fleeing from the room. After a moment of thought and recalling their previous talks she opted to bite the bullet, slowly approaching the bench with a cautious smile, "Need a hand?" she inquired, aiming for her cheeriest voice.

Pushing the bar up and letting it come back down with an almost mechanical rhythm, Charybdis glanced over at the snowy-furred feline, finished the rep set and sat up, switching the bar to pulldowns and began pulling it down behind her back. "I don't know about... a hand per se... just trying to.. work off some frustration... thought I would try... pushing my strength a little... I don't use it... very often..."

Selune tilted her head as she watched Charybdis pulling what seemed far beyond her frames ability to move, a slight frown creasing her face, "Should I ask, or would you rather just try to snap that thing in half? What do you have to be frustrated about anyway," she asked lightheartedly, "you've been doing a great job."

"Well, you think that... and thank you... by the way... I kinda think that... but the real decider... will be the Captain... when he gets back. And that's... part of my frustration... is that the away team... isn't back yet." She finished the set of reps and looped a few of the bands about the lower quadrant of the device, hooked her legs into it and began pumping out leg extensions while she held onto the bench.

"I can't go after them against orders, so I just have to wait... the longer it takes the more frustrated I get... and I miss... uh, the captain." The sweaty scientist actually managed to look a bit sheepish at that, and her cheeks flushed a tad minty green.

Absently brushing a stray lock of hair from her face Selune turned the Vulcan's comments over in her mind. It was strange that the away team was so delayed but bringing that up probably wouldn't help the frustrated Vulcan so she opted for a different approach, "Getting tired of the command chair already," she stated with a grin, "and here I thought you looked like you were starting to enjoy it earlier."

The enigmatic Vulcan grinned. "I will admit, it is nothing I anticipated so soon in my career, but... I do enjoy the challenge. Even if Rebian is already on my last nerve for insubordination. But honestly I'd prefer to leave the big decisions to someone else and just support them... but if no one else is around I will do the job, and I'll do my best."

"How about you? We've had an eventful few days... how are you holding up, Selune?" The leg extensions kept pumping themselves out almost mechanically, and Selune noticed that despite the curves inherent in her voluptuous frame, apparently the science officer was in possession of significant muscle tone within those curves. And apparently significant strength as well, if she was accurately gauging the bands she was using.

A distant look gathered over Selune as she recounted the actions the Nausicaans had taken during her shifts before she refocused on the creature casually pushing more weight than she had a right to. "I have to admit it wasn't what I expected, but then again," she shrugged, "I can hardly claim that I expected to be here at all."

She broke her gaze, letting her eyes drift around the room as she mused out loud, "It hardly seems to make sense if I really think about it, I guess it's just something to get used to."

The stressed officer chuckled at that as she rolled over onto her tummy to do leg curls, levering her upper body up onto her elbows since it was a physical impossibility for her to simply lay flat on her stomach. "Believe me, I know exactly how that feels. I never expected to be here, doing what I am doing... nor enjoying it as much as I do. I guess in a way I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, as they say. For someone to realize their mistake and for me to get sent to check ice core readings on Korbundium VII for the next four years."

"But I earned this chance to show Starfleet what I've got, and so did you Selune," Charybdis explained. "You have to believe in yourself... the Captain did. He actually picked a lot of us for this crew... he wanted the most diverse group possible. Did you know that we have the highest human to alien crew ratio in the fleet?"

Selune let out a small laugh, fighting back the desire to simply sit on the woman who seemed to be trying so hard to actually exercise, "And here I thought they just threw us all on one ship to keep us out of the way. I keep expecting to get relegated to shuttle duty on a starbase somewhere out of the way just as soon as they realize I was never supposed to get this position in a million years."

"Nope. We haven't spoken about you specifically, but Pa... Captain O'Conner chose his crew very carefully. Maybe they are keeping us out of the way, or maybe we are an experiment.... we are the future of Starfleet, Selune. Someday the fact that we all come from different planets won't mean a thing, and we will see all sorts of races serving on starships, working side by side to build a brighter tomorrow."

Grunting, the chief of the science department rolled over, changed the resistance bands and the angle of the bench and began pulling a pair of handles together in front of her slowly then releasing them, working her chest muscles while threatening to burst the seams on her top. "I believe in that dream... I think it's a pretty good one, and I'm working toward it." She grinned to show that despite her jingoistic dialogue, she knew how it sounded but said it anyway.

"Honestly," Selune replied lowering her voice, "I just like flying... and space. I mean, I understand what we're doing and why but... personally I'm here for the scenery," she paused letting out a soft sigh as she started to drift aimlessly around Charybdis, "I guess it sounds a bit shallow to say it like that, but out here there's a beauty you'll never find planetside and that's what drove me in the first place."

The handles on pulleys moved rhythmically, keeping a cadence as she spoke. "Strange new worlds for me... I love seeing the suns rise and set on other worlds all over the galaxy, and seeing all of the vegetation and the rock formations and all of the colors... there is beauty in space, true, but for me the planets are where it's at."

"Did I ever mention to you how terrible a pilot I am?" Charybdis mentioned with a smirk.

There was a small pause before Selune half turned back looking over her shoulder to observe the almost hypnotic rhythm of the resistance-based weight trainer as it strained to meet the Vulcan's needs. "Suns set in orbit as well you know... and why look at a single rock formation when you can drink in an entire continent? Auroras on planets that could never harbour life and no, you hadn't mentioned it, how can anyone a bad pilot it's so easy!" she did manage to force most of the smirk off her face as she finished replacing it with a lazy grin instead.

"Well, you may not have noticed, but I'm a bit quick with a calculation or two." Char changed the angle and started pulling downward on the pulleys then continued speaking. "Unfortunately my mind tends to run considerably faster than my hands can keep up with, so my hand eye coordination is absolute drek. Thus I am not the galaxy's best when it comes to delicate work like circuit tracing, or targeting or piloting. It is by far my biggest weakness... I barely made it through shuttle piloting at the academy."

"I could see where that could start to cause problems. Generally when I'm flying I just run on instinct and try to keep my mind as far away from the controls as possible..." Selune giggled to herself as she played back her statement in her head, "Although I'm glad I never told my instructors that. I'm not sure what they'd make of it. They were always speaking out, mind this, be aware of that, don't forget about the other bodies in your region. I just ignored them and went from A to B enjoying the sights while I was at it. After my flight instructor made me start meditating to calm down anyway... before that I just got excited and would tend to well... crash. Not the best way to get good grades."

Charybdis chuckled. "I was, ah, a problem student myself. Let's just say that I spent every moment away from the Academy that I could... I earned fewer demerits that way. We all have to look for what works for us, right? For me it seems to be here and now... so far this seems to work for me. Now if only the damned away team would come back to me."

This time Selune managed to keep herself from laughing, recognizing the thinly-veiled distress in her superior's words. "Well, you know I've never actually met our captain. Only caught one fleeting glance of him the entire time I've been here. Probably my fault really I still haven't really explored the place as much as I should have..."

"He doesn't get out much... bridge duty, then meetings and reports, and he spends a lot of time in his, uh, quarters. I wouldn't worry about it Selune... you'll meet him soon enough, and he will definitely know who you are. You saved his ship while he was gone, remember...?"

"Oh... well... you know, I was just admiring the pretty colours," Selune forced nonchalantly, "Honestly though, I don't even know how I did it. I'm pretty sure you and the engineering team and pretty much everyone else deserves just as much credit. All I did was fly around trying not to break the ship any worse."

"You pulled off a feat of piloting few in the galaxy could have accomplished, Selune... and you'll be called on to do it again, and more, so get used to the fact that you're an ace." The officer dropped the handles and massaged her hands for a few seconds, then looked up at the feline flight officer. "When the Captain first came aboard he let me know I wouldn't be court martialed for having taken command and saving the ship and as much of the crew as I could, when I had no authority to do so, and that set the tone for what's expected of me. Apparently he expects a lot more from me in particular... maybe. I don't know, we'll see. But the ship was damaged on my watch so it is my responsibility."

"You, on the other hand, had best stop putting yourself down, at least in regards to your skills. You can fly like you were born for it. Now... " the Vulcan mopped at the sweat beading on her brow and around her neck. "How about we go get something to eat? I don't know about you but I'm starving..."

Selune considered arguing the point before nodding with a shrug... somehow she suspected that arguing with the determined commander would likely just result in a loss somehow. She still wasn't completely convinced that she was as good as Char was insisting but what did she know, rookie on the block right?

Maybe she was...

 

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