Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Joseph Rainns (Incoming Chief of Security) in side-sim Mess Hall

Posted by Cadet Sharah Fayth (Doctor) in side-sim Mess Hall

(snip)

Rainns shook his head. ‘Sweetheart, is it ok if I call you that? I will never be embarrassed by your words of affirmation. Never.’ Seeing that Fayth had closed her eyes he just watched her for a few moments before she communicated again. ‘I understand.’ Rainns responded, ‘I’m glad I can help you focus your concentration and make the smaller things in life more pleasant.’

Lt. JG Joseph Rainns- COS

‘It’s very okay, I like it.’ She had thought about terms of endearment, Joseph used them often, and it wasn’t that she didn’t want to return the sentiment, but there was only one word she could think of and she wasn’t sure she should or how he would feel about it. She tugged his hand, ‘can we go walk? Before the room gets too loud?’
Cadet Fayth, Doctor

Joseph nodded, ‘Of course,’ He stood up, he could feel an uncertainty within Fayth as he stepped away from the table. ‘Everything ok?’ he asked with a hint of concern. It had been several days since Joseph had taken a leisurely stroll, and he was happy to do so again.

Lt. JG Joseph Rainns- COS

‘Hmmm?’ Sharah obviously was thinking very hard. ‘No…yes…’ Instead of words she tried to convey the depth of experiences they had shared over the weeks as well as the connections. ‘We have a word on Betazed for what you mean to me, and hopefully I am to you. It has been taken and used by other species as something precious, but simpler than what it really is. It declares a....commitment, and a responsibility that I would not surprise you with. It is not something I never thought I would experience in my lifetime. And I’m rather unsure of myself.’
Cadet Fayth, Doctor

Walking out of the mess hall, Rainns once again took Sharah’s hand. He let Her experiences wash over him, and he understood exactly how she felt. ‘Well if you are unsure, don’t use it, no need to push yourself into a situation you aren’t comfortable in.’ He looked down at her and smiled. ‘I of all people understand the sanctity of commitment, I rushed too quickly into my last one, and that is not a mistake I intend to repeat. It is also not one I wish for you to make, so if there is doubt, don’t back yourself into a corner.’

Lt. JG Joseph Rainns- COS

Sharah took his hand and stepped in closer as they walked. ‘I do not feel doubt, nor trapped in a corner, not about how I feel. The word means, first, and beloved, and only. There is only one first, one person that your,’ she paused it’s a rather romantic concept, ‘only one person your soul connects with first and only. It names a commitment that the two individuals will always be connected, not just lovers, or friends, but so much more. I…I do not wish to make you feel trapped.’ She paused around the next corner to look him in the eye, ‘You are, for me, Imzadi.’
Cadet Fayth, Doctor

As Fayth replied Joseph began feeling a bubble of emotion expand inside his soul, his very being effected by it. Her emotions had once again partially crossed over to his own. And he felt the comfort and the longing that Sharah was radiating. When she finished, Joseph was starstruck, he had never in his life imagined a situation like the one he was currently in, he had an urge to pinch himself, to confirm that he was not in fact, dreaming or hallucinating somehow. But in his soul he knew this moment in time was real. Fayth’s final word echoed in his mind for what seemed like ages to the young man. He felt another link between himself and Sharah had been forged. He wanted to respond to her, tell her that he would never trapped by their relationship, that this was the kind of commitment Rainns had aimed to have someday with another person. Instead, his mind, for one of the few moments in his entire life, was scrambled to such a degree that Joseph could only respond with one word. ‘Imzadi’ he repeated. Then, without processing his own actions, he leaned down and planted a kiss on Sharah’s lips, he let it linger for a moment longer than normal, and then pulled back, he remembered his policy on public display’s of affection, but in that moment, it seemed like a petty matter.

Lt. JG Joseph Rainns- COS

Sharah felt him pull back and she nodded, ‘Imzadi.’ Her thoughts were as scrambled as his, and she didn’t think she could really help either of them calm their thoughts. She, for once, so focused in her own moment the static and noise were less than an after thought. A kind of stillness came with the scrambled thoughts though. Trying to remember, impress in her memory, that moment. His last thought come to her and she smiled and hugged him, ‘It’s not petty. I have no desire to share this moment with anyone else, and I’m afraid I have no desire or focus available to determine how alone we might be.’ She looked up into his eyes, ‘I don’t want to move past this moment in time, not just yet, but perhaps,’ The thought of someone else stumbling on this moment was obviously abhorrent to her.
Cadet Fayth, Doctor