Author: warpfairy | They're not near Cardassian Union space.
But then, they're not near Federation space either. This ship has as much right to be in this system as they do.
It makes Isabella nervous, anyway, and she's just about to suggest leaving and coming back another time, when the Prometheus is hailed.
They're armed. She can't warp inside a solar system.
She answers the hail.
"Hello, Federation vessel," says one of the three visible Cardassians in bad but intelligible English. "What're you doing out here alone?"
Isabella swallows. "This is the deep space survey vessel Prometheus," she begins.
The computer lets her know that they're charging weapons.
"We have no hostile intention," she says. |
Author: dream_me_up | ...Lalita does not like the look on these kids' faces. |
Author: warpfairy | "That's nice," says the Cardassian who speaks English.
"Our - our location is regularly transmitted to Federation authorities -"
"No it's not," says the English speaker, grinning widely.
Isabella checks her communications.
Yep. They've been jammed. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita sighs. |
Author: warpfairy | "Do you have any clever ideas?" she asks him under her breath in Vulcan.
"Drop your shields," suggests the Cardassian. "We want to have you over for a little visit." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Lots," he murmurs back. "Good ones, on the other hand... not so much." |
Author: warpfairy | Meanwhile the two Cardassians who don't speak or aren't speaking English are muttering and grinning to each other.
"That one's a Vulcan, those are fun."
"You just like beating your head against a wall."
"Well, she's not a very good Vulcan, look at her."
"I'm afraid," Isabella says, completely unable to understand this conversation, "that I must decline your kind invitation -"
"Oh, I really don't advise that," says the English-speaker pleasantly, showing all his teeth. |
Author: dream_me_up | "I don't like how they're talking about us," Lalita murmurs. "I really, really don't." |
Author: warpfairy | "I don't think we can take a hit and still limp out. Can we outrun them if we go now?" she whispers.
"Now, now," says the English-speaker. "None of this muttering. Just drop the shields and we can have a nice chat in person." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Probably not. But we might like what happens if we run better than what they'll do to us if we don't." |
Author: warpfairy | "What do you think they'll -" Isabella says.
"I don't have all day," says the English speaker testily. He pokes a few buttons on his computer; weapons lock onto the Prometheus.
"The human one's pretty," comments the non-English-speaker who did not think Vulcans were fun.
"If you like that sort of thing," snorts the other.
"Well, at least you won't have to share." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Torture," says Lalita. |
Author: warpfairy | "They'll blow us to smithereens if we bolt," says Isabella, tightening her hand on her armrest.
"Ten," says the English speaker. "Nine. Eight..." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Surrender, then," says Lalita. |
Author: warpfairy | "Seven. Six."
Isabella hesitates.
"Five."
...She drops the shields.
"Thank you," says the English-speaker with a wide smile. He motions to the other two; the one who thinks Lalita is pretty fiddles with the computer and fires up the transporter. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita sighs again. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella reaches out for his hand and squeezes it as they're pulled to the Cardassian ship.
"Aww, look," says the one who thinks Lalita's pretty to the one who thinks Vulcans are interesting. "I bet I can get him to cooperate if you'll leave her be."
"Then what'm I going to do?" snaps the other.
"Wait till we find someone else. Or till he misbehaves."
The second one snorts but doesn't disagree aloud.
"Welcome to the Ligari," the English speaker says to the... guests. "My friends here will be happy to show you to your rooms."
The one who thinks Lalita is pretty beckons thereto. The one with a fondness for Vulcans takes Isabella's elbow, and she shuffles along after him, face set. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita gives his admirer a look carefully calculated to suggest just the right amount of trouble. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Hey, Janor," says Lalita's admirer to the English speaker. "Translate for me?"
"You mean your cute little idea of getting Brol to give up his toy so yours will smile at you? You're sick, Kelvok, you know that?"
"Whatever, you said you'd translate."
"You said you'd study English."
Janor sighs. "So, human," he says to Lalita.
"Find out his name," suggests Kelvok.
"What's your name?" inquires Janor tiredly. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Lalita," says Lalita, his eyes darting between the two speakers as though trying to derive the content of their conversation from body language. |
Author: alicornucopia | "My friend here likes you," drawls Janor. "And our other friend likes your squeeze. But it doesn't look to us like she returns that interest, so he," he aims a thumb at Kelvok, "thinks it'd be much friendlier all around if you agreed to go play with him and our other friend waited for someone else to come along and left your girl alone. What do you think?" |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita looks at them suspiciously.
"How do I know you're really going to leave her alone?" |
Author: alicornucopia | They start talking in Cardassian again. "He wants to know how he can be sure. Do you think Brol will actually -"
"He owes me a favor."
"If you have to take a picture of her for him once an hour to satisfy your plaything are you going to do that?"
"No, just - look, what does he even want as proof?"
Janor turns back to Lalita, switches back to English. "What would be satisfactory?" he asks. |
Author: dream_me_up | Might as well aim high.
"If I could see her," he says, affecting nervousness. |
Author: alicornucopia | Janor translates this for Kelvok.
"That is so not hot," scowls Kelvok.
"I don't need any more details than I have, thanks," snaps Janor. "What about earshot? If we shuffle some rooms."
"Fine," grumbles Kelvok.
"That won't happen," Janor tells Lalita. "But we can put her near enough that you'd be able to hear if anything were going on." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I guess," says Lalita. |
Author: alicornucopia | "You'd better tell Brol fast so she doesn't squeal on him to her boyfriend," Janor tells Kelvok. And to Lalita: "You have an idea what cooperating means, yeah?"
Kelvok gets on the shipwide communicator and has a brief exchange with Brol about leaving the Vulcan girl alone. Brol is begrudging but doesn't announce an intention to disobey. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Yeah," Lalita murmurs.
The look he gives Kelvok this time suggests much less trouble. |
Author: alicornucopia | Oh good. Kelvok smirks and offers Lalita his hand. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita takes it. |
Author: alicornucopia | And off they go.
Kelvok shows him to a room. He gestures at one of the walls - he doesn't speak English, but it's pretty clear he means to indicate Isabella is past it. |
Author: dream_me_up | He nods hesitantly. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok smiles.
Predictable nonlinguistic solicitations of cooperation go from there. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita is extremely cooperative. |
Author: alicornucopia | Good for him.
There is no sound from the adjoining room.
Kelvok is eventually tired of all the cooperation for the time being, and leaves, and locks him in. |
Author: dream_me_up | He sits quietly for a little while, calculating the odds that he's being monitored right now and examining the room for likely avenues of surveillance. |
Author: alicornucopia | Apparently the room-shuffling required to put him adjacent to Isabella - presuming he really is - put him in a room without an interior camera, although there are microphones - perhaps originally intended to allow voice commands to the computer, but easily repurposed if they so chose. |
Author: dream_me_up | So if he wanted to, say, circumvent the lock, all he'd have to do would be keep nice and quiet about it.
That's no trouble.
But he doesn't try it yet. So far they've been surprisingly nice, for Cardassians. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok's back a few hours later, apparently having had a nap. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita decides to be welcoming. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok feels so welcomed! He is very pleased with this idea he had. He talks occasionally, in Cardassian, not expecting Lalita to understand him - it's mostly compliments. |
Author: dream_me_up | Well, that's sweet of him. Lalita is slightly charmed. He hopes he won't end up having to kill this guy. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok is quite ignorant of that even being on the table. Unless Lalita has been demonstrating unusual-for-humans strength? |
Author: dream_me_up | His unusual-for-humans brain tells him that that would be a bad idea, not that he really needs augmented cognition to deliver that fairly obvious warning.
Anyway, for now, if Kelvok is going to be sweet then Lalita is going to be sweet right back. And Lalita has a lot of sweetness to offer. |
Author: alicornucopia | Sweetness all around, then.
This continues in shifts - visits from Kelvok, departures thereby.
The room next door is silent. If Isabella is even sleeping, then the walls are too thick to convey the talking in her sleep that she always does. If she's there. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita does not like the sound of that. Or lack thereof.
It's probably still better to cooperate, but... probably. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok makes no remarks about Isabella at all. |
Author: dream_me_up | Given that they don't share a language, that's not a surprise.
There is an amazing amount of communication that can take place without a common language, but most of it is about things less abstract than 'what is your friend doing to my friend where I can't see them?'. |
Author: alicornucopia | Yep. Kelvok is not even slightly trying to communicate on that subject. |
Author: dream_me_up | Can't blame him, really. |
Author: alicornucopia | Lalita is very distracting. |
Author: dream_me_up | It is one of many skills on which he prides himself! |
Author: alicornucopia | Time wears on.
One day there are noises from the adjacent room.
They aren't... really... Isabella noises. |
Author: dream_me_up | Kelvok is present at this time.
Lalita gives the wall a suspicious look and pushes him away. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok looks at the wall, and at Lalita, and frowns at the wall again, and pounds on it a few times. "Hey!"
The noises fall silent.
Kelvok reaches for Lalita again. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita hesitates, then draws back, shaking his head. Clearly this is not a sufficient reassurance. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Brol, you idiot, he heard you!" Kelvok snarls through the wall.
"She's quiet as can be! Get Janor to tell him the difference!" comes Brol's muffled voice. "What's he gonna do, frown at you?" |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita does, in fact, frown.
He also gets up and goes to the door. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Lalita," says Kelvok. "Lalita." He doesn't say anything else, he wouldn't expect Lalita to understand him. |
Author: dream_me_up | He shakes his head. He points at the door. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Brol," howls Kelvok through the window. "Get me Janor -"
"I'm busy," laughs Brol.
Kelvok looks like he's developing a headache. |
Author: dream_me_up | All right, fine. Pretending is getting him nowhere.
Lalita opens the door and takes the few steps down the corridor to the room where they are keeping Isabella. |
Author: alicornucopia | The door to that room is closed.
Kelvok follows him, grabs his shoulder. "Lalita." |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita shrugs him off and opens this door, too. |
Author: alicornucopia | When he starts picking the lock, Kelvok grabs both his shoulders and hauls on him. |
Author: dream_me_up | He declines to be hauled.
The door opens. |
Author: warpfairy | Kelvok summons Janor by communicator, exasperated, unhappy.
Lalita has managed to walk in on Brol and Isabella. Neither of them is currently wearing anything. If Isabella has had a break from being beaten to within an inch of her life over the past couple of days, it's not in visual evidence; she's in a sort of heap on the floor, awake but with the dead-eyed calm of full Vulcans in full suppression. She perceives but does not discernibly react to Lalita's presence. Possibly she can't move.
Brol snarls and lunges for Lalita. "Kelvok can't keep his playtoy under control -" |
Author: dream_me_up | Looking at Lalita, 'brawny' would never be the first word that came to mind. He's tall but not broad; he has the physique of a dancer, not a weightlifter. This is particularly obvious at the moment because neither he nor Kelvok is wearing anything either.
Appearances can be deceiving.
He wraps one hand around Brol's throat, picks him up off the floor, and throws him bodily out of the room. |
Author: warpfairy | Kelvok makes an undignified noise and bolts down the hall, possibly to retrieve some manner of weapon or see what's taking Janor so long.
Isabella continues to be a heap of controlled emotionlessness on the floor.
Brol hits the wall. He's stunned but, thanks to his scales, not unconscious, and staggers to his feet. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita studies Brol coldly.
"Are any of you idiots related to each other?" he asks in flawless Cardassian. |
Author: warpfairy | Brol backs away a few steps. "...No." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I didn't think so," he says, and smiles, and walks forward.
It is not a good smile. |
Author: alicornucopia | Brol turns and runs. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita is faster. |
Author: alicornucopia | Thus ends Brol.
Janor and Kelvok appear on the scene a few seconds later, armed with handheld disruptors. Janor is apparently less reluctant to shoot at Lalita than Kelvok is. |
Author: dream_me_up | He's still faster. He dodges - a disruptor beam grazes his ribs - he disarms them both, breaking Janor's wrist in the process, and points one disruptor at each of them.
Then, after a short pause in which he decides not to bother offering mercy, he shoots Janor.
"You're kind of cute," he says to Kelvok, still in casually fluent Cardassian, "so at the moment I plan to let you live. If you annoy me, that plan will change. Clear?" |
Author: alicornucopia |
Kelvok nods. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Good," he says, and smiles his nasty smile again. "I want something to tie you up with. I suggest you help me find it." |
Author: alicornucopia | "...There are spare electrical cables," mutters Kelvok, closing his eyes. "In the cargo bay." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Show me the cargo bay, then." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok warily leads the way to the cargo hold. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita does a very quick, very thorough job of making sure Kelvok will not be going much of anywhere or doing much of anything in the near future, and then he takes both disruptors and leaves. Back to the room where they were keeping Isabella, with a short detour through sickbay. |
Author: warpfairy | She is still a heap.
Her eyes are still empty of content. |
Author: dream_me_up | He doesn't ask if she's okay. The answer is too obvious.
He does ask: "Can you move? Can you talk?" |
Author: warpfairy | "I can speak," she says with the kind of excess care that suggests that she runs the risk of worsening an injury in so doing. "Possibly I could roll onto my back. I cannot walk." |
Author: dream_me_up | "You're not going to get much help from a Cardassian sickbay," he says, "and you know what the Prometheus is like on that score. But as usual, I've got a trick up my - lack of a sleeve." (He's still naked.) "My blood has restorative properties, and I happen to know it works on both your parent species, not that I have any idea how. If I give you some, it should help. Okay?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Okay. I love you," he murmurs.
It doesn't take very long to draw enough blood; it takes a little longer to get it into Isabella. Some amount of pain is unavoidable, with her injuries, but he tries to minimize it. (The long raw streak of a burn along his side is already healing, and it itches more than it hurts; he ignores both.) |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella is completely silent throughout the procedure.
Her face doesn't even twitch with discomfort. |
Author: dream_me_up | And now comes the even less fun part.
"I have to straighten out your broken bones so they'll heal right," he says softly. |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes." |
Author: dream_me_up | It's not the kind of thing where gentleness helps. But he can be quick, and he can be efficient. She doesn't have to hurt any more than absolutely necessary.
By the time he moves away, some of her bruises have already vanished. The burn in his side is long gone, without even leaving a scar. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella is cooperative and quiet and still. |
Author: dream_me_up | Now all they have to do is wait. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella looks like she could wait forever, unmoving, unfeeling. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Do you want me to bring you some water?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes." |
Author: dream_me_up | He goes and fetches some water. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella drinks it, sip by careful sip. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita watches. |
Author: warpfairy | Eventually she is done. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Do you need anything else?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Rest, merely." |
Author: dream_me_up | "All right." |
Author: warpfairy | |
Author: dream_me_up | "I'm going to go take care of a few things," he says. "I'll be back soon." |
Author: warpfairy | "Very well." |
Author: dream_me_up | He leaves.
It takes some calculation, but he gets the bodies of the two dead Cardassians disposed of, on a trajectory that will drop them into a gravity well instead of leaving them as space debris eternally circling the nearest planet. Then he finds his clothes and puts them on.
Then he goes to check on Kelvok.
He doesn't bring a weapon; he doesn't need one. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok is tied up in spare electrical cables right where Lalita left him and looks very unhappy. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Not as much fun when you're the prisoner, is it?" says Lalita. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok does not make eye contact, or respond to this question except to grind his teeth. |
Author: dream_me_up | "You know, if it was just me, I might've let you keep me for a while," he says conversationally. "But your friend just had to fuck up my friend, so here we are. Too bad, I guess."
Presuming no response from Kelvok, he goes back to Isabella. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella is right where he left her, observing the ceiling. |
Author: dream_me_up | "I killed two of them and took the third one prisoner," he says. "The one who liked me. He's tied up in the cargo bay. I don't think he likes me anymore." |
Author: warpfairy | "Ah." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Feeling better?" |
Author: warpfairy | "My injuries are noticeably improved." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Good." |
Author: warpfairy | |
Author: dream_me_up | |
Author: warpfairy | After what really is a ludicrously short amount of time, considering, Isabella is able to cautiously sit up. |
Author: dream_me_up | Even better. |
Author: warpfairy | She sits. She waits. She probes at the recent sites of breakage, clinical, investigative.
Eventually she stands. She's weak, and there are smears of blood and some lingering bruising, but she can maintain her footing, with one hand on the wall. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Do you want to go back to Prometheus?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I can help you get to the transporter," he offers. |
Author: warpfairy | "Thank you."
She leans on him as necessary to get where they're going. |
Author: dream_me_up | He holds her up without any trouble. |
Author: warpfairy | Here is the transporter pad. |
Author: dream_me_up | Yes indeed.
"I think I'd better stay here for now," he says, "because of the prisoner. You can hail the ship if you need anything or want to talk. Okay?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Okay."
Back to the Prometheus she goes. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella takes a deep breath.
She takes a shower.
She changes into a new outfit.
She puts on some quiet music.
She sits in the captain's chair, and makes sure the Cardassians didn't interfere with her computer systems, and then she closes her eyes and meditates. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita discovers that he can monitor the cargo bay from the bridge. He does so. |
Author: alicornucopia | His prisoner is staying put. He doesn't have much choice. |
Author: dream_me_up | True. But right now, Lalita would rather be sure.
In time, he gets hungry. He finds himself something to eat and then brings food and clothing to the prisoner. |
Author: alicornucopia | The prisoner looks at him. And at these items. And doesn't say anything. |
Author: dream_me_up | "If you want to eat or get dressed or both, I will untie you and let you do that," he says. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok nods. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita unties him. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok puts on the clothes. He takes the food and starts eating it, not taking his eyes off Lalita. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita leans casually against a wall and watches him eat. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok's eyes used to go all warm and soft when he was whispering supposedly incomprehensible words.
They are not like that now. |
Author: dream_me_up | No. He wouldn't expect them to be.
It is, on so many levels, a pity Isabella was with him when he met these people. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok has apparently firmly decided on a policy of silence to avoid annoying his captor. |
Author: dream_me_up | "You can talk if you want," he mentions. "I'm in a much better mood now that my friend's been looked after." |
Author: alicornucopia | "And say what?" shrugs Kelvok. |
Author: dream_me_up | "That's a point," he laughs.
"You could help me figure out what to do with you, for one thing." |
Author: alicornucopia | "I think I can get this thing home on my own. It's not designed for a one-man crew but I was doing most of the work to begin with." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Were you?" |
Author: alicornucopia | "Yeah. It's my uncle's. Janor was along to translate and Brol was along because it was his idea in the first place." |
Author: dream_me_up | "What was the idea?" |
Author: alicornucopia | "...Find somebody off by themselves. Pick them up. Go from there." |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita chuckles. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok shifts uncomfortably and takes another bite of his meal. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Didn't turn out so well for your friends. I guess it's up to you what you think of the tradeoffs in your case," says Lalita. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok declines to comment on this subject. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita giggles. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok still doesn't have anything to say, although he does look more uncomfortable when Lalita laughs. |
Author: dream_me_up | Yes. Lalita can tell.
"Well," he says, "I could break all your weapons systems, get back on my ship, and let you go home." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok nods.
After a pause, he says, "I'm incompetent at repair, but if my uncle can fix them when I get back I'll be in less trouble." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I'm sure I can find something vital but not particularly expensive to rip out and take with me," he says cheerfully. "I'm good at that sort of thing." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok nods.
And then he observes:
"The lock didn't stop you. You could've broken out any time." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Yep." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok is not, apparently, feeling nervy enough to ask any followup questions. |
Author: dream_me_up | "I thought my friend was safe," he says. "And I like you." |
Author: alicornucopia | "She was going to be. I didn't have anything invested in hurting her. Brol badgered me into modifying the deal on the grounds that there aren't many of those flying around anymore," mutters Kelvok, and then he preemptively flinches, like he expects harm to result from admitting this. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita shrugs.
"I figured it was something like that," he says. |
Author: alicornucopia | "The deal was that if he got her to make a noise the excursion was over, we dumped you both and went home. She didn't." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I noticed." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok looks away, shrugs. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita sits quietly. |
Author: alicornucopia | "So you spoke Cardassian the whole time, huh." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Yes I did." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok appears to find this embarrassing. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita appears to find this adorable. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok appears to find that embarrassing too. |
Author: dream_me_up | It's a never-ending cycle! |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok interrupts it by clearing his throat and looking at the floor. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita is now grinning irrepressibly. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok cannot see that! He is looking at the floor. |
Author: dream_me_up | Yes he is. And it's cute.
Does this count as unethical treatment of a prisoner? Oh, probably. Does Lalita care? Nah. |
Author: alicornucopia | Floorlooking. Lots of floorlooking. |
Author: dream_me_up | All right.
"Time to go break some weapons sytems," he decides. "I can tie you up again and leave you here, or bring you with me where I can keep an eye on you. Up to you." |
Author: alicornucopia | "...I'll come with you," decides Kelvok, subdued. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Okay."
Off they go!
Lalita does not seem especially worried that Kelvok might suddenly attack him. |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok doesn't suddenly attack him even a little bit. |
Author: dream_me_up | Kelvok is wise.
Lalita familiarizes himself with the ship's weapons systems, and then disables them quite neatly and with minimal damage. He also, along the way, collects every handheld disruptor on board. |
Author: alicornucopia | "Those are expensive," Kelvok winces. |
Author: dream_me_up | "I know," he says. "Tell you what, if I see you again and I don't have my friend with me, I'll give them back." |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok doesn't say anything, but he makes an eloquently skeptical face. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita grins.
"Stranger things have happened." |
Author: alicornucopia | Skepticalface! |
Author: dream_me_up | He laughs.
"Okay," he says, "time for me to get back to my ship. Do me a favour and sit quietly out of sight while I let my friend know I'm coming, won't you?" |
Author: alicornucopia | Kelvok finds a place to sit that isn't in view of the other party during hailings. |
Author: dream_me_up | And Lalita makes contact with the Prometheus. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella is still a mask of calm, sitting in her captain's chair, serenely responding to the hail. "Hello." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I've disabled this ship's weapons systems," he says in Vulcan. "I'm going to return to the Prometheus and then we can all leave. Okay?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes." |
Author: dream_me_up | "See you soon," he says, and cuts contact.
To Kelvok, in Cardassian: "Off I go. Don't forget me." |
Author: alicornucopia | "Impossible," mutters Kelvok under his breath. |
Author: dream_me_up | He giggles as he sets up the transporter. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella is still sitting in her chair when he arrives. She has plotted a course to the next system she had lined up for survey. |
Author: dream_me_up | When he materializes on her ship, he is just barely not smiling anymore.
"We can go now," he says. |
Author: warpfairy | She sets the Prometheus on its course in silence. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita finds somewhere to put his stolen weapons. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella makes no comment. On the weapons, on Lalita having taken them, on anything. |
Author: dream_me_up | At this point, he doesn't really expect her to.
He can wait. |
Author: warpfairy | Flying, flying. The soft music Isabella put on earlier when she was getting dressed comes to an end. She queues up something else in a similar vein, neutrally, and on it comes. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita continues not to say anything. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella allows the music to lapse into silence after the next collection is through, and she reads a little, and then she goes to bed. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita... doesn't go to bed. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella is up ten hours later. She takes another shower. She changes outfits again. She comes out and sits in her chair and puts on music. She reads the news. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita is sleeping in the copilot's chair during all of this. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella keeps the music respectfully soft and inputs her commands to the ship computer nonverbally when possible. |
Author: dream_me_up | He wakes up after a little while.
He looks at her.
He doesn't say anything. |
Author: warpfairy | She doesn't say anything either.
For someone who almost never practices, she has emotional suppression down cold, even if it seems to take everything else with it. |
Author: dream_me_up | Yep.
"I'm going to make food," he says. "Want any?" |
Author: warpfairy | "Yes. Thank you." |
Author: dream_me_up | He makes breakfast.
He brings her some.
It's tasty. |
Author: warpfairy | She eats it. When she has finished eating, she thanks him again. |
Author: dream_me_up | "You're welcome," he sighs. |
Author: warpfairy | On they fly.
The next planned system wasn't far away from the abandoned one. Isabella sets about surveying its component parts, efficiently and silently. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita stays out of her way. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella will also accept lunch and dinner, if he offers them. If he does not, she warms things for herself between planets. |
Author: dream_me_up | He does in fact provide both lunch and dinner. |
Author: warpfairy | He is thanked accordingly.
She is halfway through the system (it has a lot of moons, and a big asteroid belt) when she goes to bed again. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita stays up the rest of the night finishing the survey. |
Author: warpfairy | In her "morning", she observes that he has finished the job, thanks him, and proceeds towards the next system. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita makes her breakfast and then goes to bed. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella reads. She makes herself lunch. |
Author: dream_me_up | When he wakes up, he makes her dinner. |
Author: warpfairy | "Thank you." |
Author: dream_me_up | He shrugs. |
Author: warpfairy | There is more interstellar space between the last system and the next. They are not there yet when she goes to bed. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita sits in the copilot's chair and does nothing.
When she wakes up, he is still in the copilot's chair, crying into his hands. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella - stands behind her chair, looking at him.
"...What has distressed you?" she inquires softly. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Nothing new," he says hoarsely, sniffling. "You can ignore me if you want. I'm just gonna - " and he gets up and stumbles to the living quarters, where he curls up in bed to cry some more. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella stands still, and thinks, for a minute.
And then she follows him. "Something has changed. Today you are crying. Yesterday you were not." |
Author: dream_me_up | He buries his face in a pillow. |
Author: warpfairy | "If you would prefer not to speak to me that is also acceptable, but - I do not prefer that you be distressed." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I've been distressed for days," he says, somewhat muffled by the pillow. "It's just coming out now." |
Author: warpfairy | "Can I help you?" |
Author: dream_me_up | Still muffled: "I have no idea." |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella sits on the bed and puts her hand on his shoulder. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita, still sobbing into his pillow, curls up close to her. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella pets his hair, slowly, rhythmically. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita snuggles her and cries. |
Author: warpfairy | "You have not previously observed me to make use of my ability to suppress my emotions," observes Isabella. "Is it that which is disturbing you?" |
Author: dream_me_up | He doesn't answer. (Talking while crying is hard.) |
Author: warpfairy | Pet. Pet. She can wait. |
Author: dream_me_up |
He winds down eventually. |
Author: warpfairy | Pet, pet. |
Author: dream_me_up | He can just lie here and be petted for a while, if she doesn't have anything better to do. |
Author: warpfairy | The autopilot is working fine. She could be reading, but at the moment that interests her less than the possibility that her boyfriend will explain the problem.
"Did you hear my question?" she asks after a silence. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Which...? The one about you suppressing your emotions? Yeah," he says. "...It's complicated." |
Author: warpfairy | Pet, pet. "I am willing to listen." |
Author: dream_me_up | "It hurts to see you like this right now because I feel like you're doing it because you have something nasty waiting for you when you stop, and even though you're not feeling the nasty, I'm still imagining it," he says. "It'd still hurt if you were feeling it, just - differently." |
Author: warpfairy | "You are correct about what will happen when I stop, unfortunately." |
Author: dream_me_up | He nods.
He sighs.
"There's more," he says. |
Author: warpfairy | "Please, go on." |
Author: dream_me_up | "...When you have feelings, you have feelings about me," he says. "I love you. It's hard to be around you when you don't have feelings about me. But - I don't know, I can't honestly say that watching you suffer would feel like an improvement." |
Author: warpfairy | "Both my current emotionless state and my subsequent distress will pass." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Believe me, I know," he sighs. "And so will me crying everywhere." |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella hesitates.
And then she says, "When I cease my suppression, I expect, among other things, to be angry at you." |
Author: dream_me_up | He doesn't really have a response to that. |
Author: warpfairy | "It will likely be transitory, but as you are already under stress perhaps I could postpone this event longer than planned." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Putting it off won't help me any." |
Author: warpfairy | "Are you certain?" |
Author: dream_me_up | "Yeah." |
Author: warpfairy | She nods once.
"I had planned to stop today. I have disliked the results of more prolonged suppression in the past."
She takes a deep breath.
When she lets it out again, she's herself. She isn't crying, screaming, ranting - but there's light in her eyes again, and her body language isn't so intensely measured. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita relaxes noticeably. |
Author: warpfairy | "I had no idea what was going on," she says in a low, snappish voice. "I was on the other side of the wall from you, but I didn't know that. You'd worked out a deal with them, but I didn't know that. You could get us out at any time, but I didn't know that. If I had known any of it I could have screamed the first time he touched me. If you'd - if you'd summarized the situation in Vulcan through the wall, perhaps in song to make it sound like you were entertaining yourself - or knocked on the wall in Morse code - or whispered to me the least bit of translation of anything that was said while I was still present - I could have been spared days of torture." |
Author: dream_me_up | "I didn't know that," he says, with a hint of his earlier sobbing coming back to haunt him. "I've been down this road before, but never with somebody else. I know how to handle it when it's just me. I didn't know how to handle it with you there. I got it wrong. I fucked it up. I'm sorry." |
Author: warpfairy | "I thought they were hurting you, too. I didn't know. I still don't know; maybe you just had time to heal." |
Author: dream_me_up | He shakes his head.
"No, he just fucked me," he says tiredly. "That was the deal. I play along, and nothing bad happens to you." |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella turns away and bites her lip. "And they didn't know you understood their language, so you thought you'd know if they were deceiving you." |
Author: dream_me_up | "Yeah." |
Author: warpfairy | "And meanwhile I understood nothing that was happening to me at all, not where you were, not whether he would kill me by accident or deliberately, not what they said, not that I could have shouted at any moment and you would have appeared and we would have been on our way - I dropped into suppression more because I cannot tolerate confusion than because I cannot tolerate pain or fear, but of course it's not a matter of picking and choosing, they are all either on or off, I could not leave the emotions that would have prompted informative shouting intact while I dealt with not knowing and having no way to find out." |
Author: dream_me_up | |
Author: warpfairy | Now she's crying, a little. |
Author: dream_me_up | Well, so is he. |
Author: warpfairy | Nothing is likely to interrupt them in their crying for some time. |
Author: dream_me_up | Can they snuggle while they cry? That would help at least one of them. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella will allow it. Perhaps she will cry on his shoulder. |
Author: dream_me_up | That... also helps, actually. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella would only be able to tell if he told her. Or if she were mid-telepathy with him, which she is not. |
Author: dream_me_up | But not from the part where he hugs her tightly and pets her hair and cries some more? |
Author: warpfairy | Suggestive but inconclusive.
The hugging helps, now that anything can help, now that she isn't stuck firmly in a position of imperturbability. |
Author: dream_me_up | He can tell that the hugging helps. It's good that the hugging helps. It helps him that the hugging helps. He'd say something to that effect, but - talking while crying is hard. So he just hugs her some more. |
Author: warpfairy | Helpful hugs. Necessary crying. |
Author: dream_me_up | Yes. Both of those. |
Author: warpfairy | "You were okay?" she asks softly, after her tears have largely subsided. "I didn't know if you were okay. Was it all right - or - are you only crying over me -" |
Author: dream_me_up | "...It's complicated," he murmurs. |
Author: warpfairy | Squeeze. |
Author: dream_me_up | Snuggle.
"I liked him," he sighs. "But it was still - I wasn't there because I wanted to be. It makes a difference." |
Author: warpfairy | "Mmm."
Squeeze.
Vulcans are stronger than humans, even diluted. She can hold him very snug when she's of a mind. |
Author: dream_me_up | He cuddles up and relaxes in her arms. |
Author: warpfairy | Snuggles. |
Author: dream_me_up | Yes. Snuggles.
"I love you," he murmurs. |
Author: warpfairy | "I was so afraid for you," she murmurs. |
Author: dream_me_up | "Yeah. I was afraid for you too," he says. "I'm not used to that." |
Author: warpfairy | She tucks her head in against his damp shoulder again. |
Author: dream_me_up | He wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head. |
Author: warpfairy | Snuggle. Sigh. |
Author: dream_me_up | Sniffle. Snuggle. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella's not really crying anymore. She wasn't having emotions during the worst of the ordeal; there isn't that much to work through.
Her hand meanders faceward. |
Author: dream_me_up | Lalita smiles and nuzzles his face into her hand. |
Author: warpfairy | She takes that as permission; they've somewhat streamlined the process of asking in recent months.
Reach - |
Author: dream_me_up | He loves her so much. It hurts to, right now, but he accepts that; he would rather it hurt right now than otherwise. It makes more sense this way. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella kisses him, gently, just a little. |
Author: dream_me_up | That hurts, too. But in a good way. |
Author: warpfairy | She doesn't want to hurt him. She wants him to feel better. Pet pet hug. |
Author: dream_me_up | He could probably guess that she doesn't want to hurt him, if he thought about it. He isn't thinking about it. He isn't thinking about much. Love, and snuggles, and love. |
Author: warpfairy | He can have all the snuggles he wants. |
Author: dream_me_up | Good.
He wants lots of snuggles. |
Author: warpfairy | Then they will be here for a while, Isabella maintaining direct skin contact so she can peer gently into his mind and occasionally send little bursts of psychic affection. |
Author: dream_me_up | That's painful/nice, too. He just wants to wrap himself up in it and feel things. |
Author: warpfairy | Snuggles, telepathy, feelings! |
Author: dream_me_up | Yes. Those things.
He is intensely relieved that she is having emotions now. It was very uncomfortable for him when she wasn't, and not in a nice way at all. |
Author: warpfairy | "I almost never suppress," Isabella says. |
Author: dream_me_up | "That's a relief," he murmurs. |
Author: warpfairy | "I got very good at it very young in spite of spending little of my time among anyone who taught or enforced it. But it disturbed Renée, and Chalek made a point of telling me it was not necessary, and I decided I preferred not to outside of situations where emotional reactions would be particularly unhelpful." |
Author: dream_me_up | He snuggles her and kisses her cheek. |
Author: warpfairy | Kisses. |
Author: dream_me_up | Snuggle-kisses!
(A moment of wistfulness directed at Kelvok.) |
Author: warpfairy | |
Author: dream_me_up | That's all it is, there and then gone. |
Author: warpfairy | Isabella will leave it be. |
Author: dream_me_up | Fine by him. Snuggle snuggle. |
Author: warpfairy | Yes indeed. |