The Most Dangerous Game V: Feelings

Posted on Mon May 28th, 2018 @ 11:59pm by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Commander Fiona McCray & Lieutenant Commander Selune
Edited on on Tue May 29th, 2018 @ 12:01am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Past Tense
Location: Risa, Ohma Province, private cabin #7
Timeline: 2265
Tags: BonneChanceTrio

At that, the trio disembarked, Selune and Charybdis both sniffing the air experimentally. It was a woodsy smell, very unfamiliar to Chary, but not unpleasant, and she smiled. It was pretty... it was different... and it was not the floor of her quarters. Still, she would have preferred her idyllic tropical lagoon that was so beautiful and perfect, but thinking of it made tears well up in her eyes again.

Fighting them back, she reminded herself that she would enjoy this place. Fiona had shared it with her and Selune, and she would not ruin that generous gesture by continually breaking down into a sobbing sodden mess. She summoned up a small smile and walked around to the front of the cabin with its odd projected roof to await Fiona for the grand tour. After all, she was the hostess this time, and it would be the polite thing to wait for her.

Fiona's hostessing style was different from Char's. She tapped the lock code into the keypad, flung open the doors and said, "Lets get tha stuff inside then explore. Grab whutever room appeals tae ya, I'll take the one left." she shrugged a shoulder, "they're all looverly from tha' brochure and it's a bed," she set about jockeying their luggage into the cabin with a will.

The first stop that the engineer made was the kitchen, she headed straight for it and practically molested the long stone countertop of the main island before going over to exclaim at the stove "Hello, gorgeous!" Chary looked it over with a bit of light dawning in her eyes.

"Could we cook something here maybe...?" she asked the energetic engineer. Charybdis knew how poorly it always seemed to work out when she tried to cook, but she still had the desire. She would need to know how to cook for someone, in the dream life that she still held out hope to live someday.

"Oh aye...there aren't any restaurants oop here dearie... nothin round fer miles." Fiona said as she began inspecting the contents of the chiller and cabinets and adding her own pillaged foodstuffs to them. "I picked this place specifically so I could cook some. I enjoy it."

"And you'll teach me?" It was the first real excitement heard in the pointy-eared girl's voice all afternoon... apparently this was something in which her interest outweighed her heartbreak, and it was not lost on her friend.

"Aye!" Fi said as she put away some leafy greens and what looked suspiciously like dumplings from a noodle cart. "We'll mesh a lesson with dinner making," she promised. Char smiled happily, the first genuine smile that had graced her face all day.

"So what de ye prefer... fish, fowl oor red meat oov some ilk," the Scot asked her companions "we're fully stocked... all fresh all local... with suim terran editions courtesy oov Mum."

Raising her hand Chary cast her vote. "I like fish or red meat... fish is homey, red meat is an Earth thing... but it is my favorite. Could we make a fish soup and maybe a red meat dish?"

"Oh aye, nae problem... I bought suim noodles from Jackie thet we kin us in tha soup. He's a nice man."

"You went back to see him? Did he recover all right? I wanted to but I was afraid we might draw attention to him if we did. We did not get a chance to really talk, but I respect a man who stands up for himself against those kinds of odds, at least," Char rambled.

"Aye, he was doing well. Jackie's a right sweetheart" Fiona smiled.

"I would kill for some flarn but something of an impossibility outside of Cait, you people need to get a sense of taste," Selune teased, "I'm game for whatever, I can even help cook if things get desperate."

"I've nivver had flarn!" Fiona said with obvious curiosity " Really Selune... I wuid loov tae hear aboot your planet and people...and I would LOVE tae learn tae make flarn too!"

"You know, that's true... you never talk about yourself, Selune. I feel like we're friends, but I don't know anything about you other than your life since you came aboard," Chary chimed in.

Selune shrugged self-consciously, "It's not something I really go into often," she replied hesitantly, "Joining StarFleet is an easy way to distance yourself from the rest of Caitian society."

"Ah" Fiona said then shrugged, "Well...if you ever want to tell us aboot it we'd love tae hear," she said gently and then seemed content to let it go. She didn't want to push her shy friend beyond her comfort zone. Char was more willing to pursue the matter, but took the cue from Fiona... she was not exactly in the best of mental states, nor was her intellect currently completely accessible to her, so perhaps not the best time to be pressuring her friend for details. Besides, she understood what it was like to distance onesself from a society... after all, she was currently an outcast of two.

The rest of the cabin was spectacular in it's simplicity. It was cozy and warm. The lines were clean and the furnishings geared towards comfort. The countertops were all polished marble, but unlike the pure white sterility of the Rome arcology, these were in greys and muted browns and maroons. The warm mahogany woods were highly polished, and they covered the floors as well as the cabinets.

In the living room, a massive overstuffed couch was parked only a few feet away from a rather large viewscreen mounted on the wall. A large stone fireplace took up one side wall, while there were floor pillows piled in front of the hearth. "Hey Selune, wuid ye be a love and tarn tha fireplace on?" Fiona called out to the Caitian. "Accordin to tha brochure it's got a switch on tha panel oover there. Tis natural gas... I prefer peat oor wood boot tis simpler this way. Nae sae mooch work, eh?"

Padding over to the fireplace, Selune slid back the panel revealing the simple controls and fired it up on low. The reek of gas igniting flooded her senses along with a slightly uncomfortable heat but she didn't complain, if nothing else the shadow play of the fire was fun to watch.

"The temperature drops oop here at night accordin tae the brochure. Suimthin in common with that highlands beck home," Fi called from the kitchen. "I dinna want tae turn on tha main heaters and there's suimthin joost nice and primative boot homey aboot a fire... could joost be a human thing."

"Warmth in the cold, firelight and the flickering shadows... no, I don't think it's just a human thing," Selune commented quietly.

The vivacious Vulcan padded her way up the stairs, noting the setting sun's rays spilling across the landscape through the tall glass walls that composed so much of the cabin. It was a beautiful idea, and allowed the scenery to be viewed almost at all times. Fiona had chosen well... it was rustic and peaceful and soothing, even though it was quite alien to her eye. But then, she had joined Starfleet partially to see alien vistas and enjoy them.

The upstairs bedrooms were surprisingly plain and simple, but then, it was a cabin- how much luxury could one expect or desire? The bed was the same size as the one in her quarters, and looked remarkably similar, in fact. The great glass walls extended up here as well, so she chose the bedroom on the eastern wall, so as not to be awakened by the sun in the morning, then rethought it and voluntarily took the eastern facing room. After all, she was an early riser by nature, and Fi should be left to sleep in.

Besides, she doubted that she would sleep well tonight. She made a mental note to steal a couch cushion to curl up around, otherwise she wouldn't sleep at all. She briefly considered trying to curl up with one of the others but dismissed it immediately- it wouldn't be proper and it would be rude of her to ask. Say, can I use you to bleed off my excess body heat and help keep my nightmares at bay? Oh by the way, I may share old tortuous memories with you in my sleep, pay it no mind, just my mind becoming one with your mind...

That of course reminded her of Patrick, and that of course made her sad, and she keenly felt the sense of loss once again. Fiona and Selune were both downstairs, so she took a few moments to curl up on the bed and weep for what was no more, and to question and second guess herself endlessly.

The downside of sharing a small cabin with a creature possessing even better hearing than yourself is that they can hear everything. They don't bother much with enhanced soundproofing in these places, so it wasn't long before Selune silently padded up to the room and paused hesitantly in the doorway.

The conflict in Selune was quite basic, she wanted to help but she didn't know what to do. She was fairly sure her words wouldn't particularly help, especially given her lack of true understanding of the situation so she instead opted to resort to cheating. Padding across the room she knelt next to the stricken woman and hugged her in silence.

Enhanced hearing, even when one was making noise, was something that one simply took for granted, and Charybdis was no exception. However, the barefoot Caitan with her penchant for moving slowly and deliberately unless in a hurry, as well as her tendency to remain silent until addressed had an unnerving way of sneaking up on her. And this was a fine example of that in action as Char was startled by the sudden gentle hug.

Bolting upright only to see that it was Selune, she analyzed the situation quickly and began mopping at her face. "Sorry Selune... I forgot you can hear me, I was trying to be quiet... I'll be okay, I just... I just need a... I'm sorry..." At that she lay back down on the bed and returned to crying over a relationship she herself had ended.

Selune winced as a wave of emotion rippled over her, a cacophony of confusion, hurt, fear, doubt and simple sadness mingled together with shades of shame and ghosts of recrimination held together with a mountain made of helplessness. The force of it was almost overwhelming, any sentient that felt it would shed a tear. Selune was no exception and her eyes welled up with the undeniable pain she shared, a tear freely flowing as her eyes closed and she hugged Chary tighter.

"You will be ok... but for now you hurt. You don't need to be alone in this," Selune whispered gently as she desperately tried to avoid shivering at the wash of negative emotions that wound in a tight cyclone through the two of them. Empathy was her curse but if it would help to take some of Charybdis' pain she would embrace it, if for no other reason than because no one deserved that kind of suffering.

The gentle hug of the sleek and furry arm actually did make her feel better, and within a moment Chary felt capable of stemming the tide, and she sat up slowly, wiping at her eyes and looking sheepish. "Some first officer, huh?" she asked with a rueful half-smile, shame radiating from her for her breakdown. While she made no pretense to hide her emotions, the young woman was obviously uncomfortable being seen as weak and vulnerable.

Keeping her face lowered, soft white hair cascading over her face to hide the silent tears from her pain-filled friends stolen emotions, she silently shook her head. Steadying herself with a deep breath before replying, "It doesn't make you weak to be hurt, and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on for any reason just ask. Don't suffer in silence when your friends are there to help... ok?" the last came out as a whisper that would have been lost were it not for Chary's own exceptional ears.

Smiling despite herself, Char gave the unusual young alien girl a hug, then pulled her in and kissed her on top of her head. "I'm not used to having friends... but I'm learning. Thank you Selune... you're a good friend, and I'm grateful that you're my friend. What do you say we go see what Fiona's going to teach me how to cook downstairs, hmm? I could eat a warp nacelle right now if it had cheese on it."

With that, the complex commander stood slowly and easily, offering a hand to the Caitan.

Selune reached up and patted the hand affectionately as she took another deep breath to subdue the tidal emotions still ravaging through her, "I'll be down in a minute, just need to... unpack in my room," she managed a weak laugh that she hoped would sound genuine as she continued, "I'll expect some burnt food by the time I get down there so don't mess about."

Those sharply angled brows knitted together at the base, and Chary knelt down next to the bed. "Selune? Are you all right?" The problem with smart friends, it seemed, was that they were hard to fool.

"I just get emotional when other people are hurting," she sighed weakly, "Give me a moment to collect myself and I'll be fine, honestly," her voice held back most of the rawness that rubbed at her internally but she spoke sincerely. While she wouldn't directly lie to Chary she didn't feel any great need to press her problems upon her either, "Just stay happy, kay?"

The flash of guilt at realizing that her own emotional display was causing distress to her friend was headed off by Selune's simple statement, and Char began putting the pieces together, that remarkable intellect going to work on a problem.

"I'll... I will do my best to stay happy, my furry feline friend," she said as she realized a number of facts and observations about the strange and evasive young woman and a number of puzzle pieces suddenly snapped into place for her. No wonder she preferred solitude and silence... she could hear nearly everything and feel the emotions around her. The slightest thought from someone else could ruin her own mood, and just like sound, multitudes produced a cacophony that she had to sort through.

And in that realization it dawned on the emotional young officer that the Caitan made considerable sacrifice to be around the others- to share in their good times and bad, when solitude was the only peace that she could find, she still chose to accompany them. Even now she had come with them, knowing that Char's own heartbreak would be painful for her, but she had voluntarily come along anyway to help. In that moment of clarity, the curvaceous commander finally understood the elusive snow-white ghost of her acquaintance, and appreciated her friend that much more.

"Thanks, pussycat," she said, sweeping the Caitan into another gentle hug for a moment, then patting her head and leaving her be to restore her inner balance with a smile.

A small smile forced its way across her lips despite her bowed face still hiding her features, "Any time," she murmured. That's the trouble with clearing up people's emotions, was that it gave them a chance to see clearly.

 

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