Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ryder Raauhl (Executive Officer) in There’s a first time for everything

(snip)

Casela blinked, she wasn’t expecting that. But then Ryder never did what she expected, unlike everyone else around her, she could never predict what he was going to do.
Oh this was dangerous. Most people would probably ask him if he was serious, but Casela knew he wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it. But there were issues that had to be delt with. He wasn’t going to like what she was going to do next. She briefly considered not telling him, but that wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t the way this kind of thing worked. “Faster…everything about this is faster, Ryder.” It was a statement and a question.

“Maybe you can adopt her. I can’t. There are too many loose ends.” She sighed and considered. “I think maybe it’s time to take care of them. I can use my leave time to do it.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

So perhaps he wasn’t engaging all of his brain cells but the suggestion that he alone adopt her took Him by surprise, “I don’t understand? What loose ends?” He had figured Gens adoption was due to the fact that she shouldnt exactly excist atleast not on the levels they understood, “I mean if she is willing and its what she wants but why not both of us, where and why do you need to go?”

• LtCmdr Raauhl, XO

She looked very sad for a moment. “Ryder, I won’t apologize for the things I’ve done, before I came here. I swore an oath to the protection of the Federation at all costs, and I have paid it many times over. But it has left me with assignments that were never finished as finally as I wish. More importantly,” she looks away, up at the trees, into the distance. “Mad Man might not be dead and he knows who I am. And then there is that problem with the Shadow. I don’t want Gen, or you, put at risk because of me.” Better to just say it she supposed. “It never mattered before. But I never had anyone I cared about before.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“I understand” He said just as sadly, “But you don’t have to do it alone, I’ve lived many life times and have seen many things, done many things and some I’m not proud of either but something I’ve learnt during those years is that problems shared are problems halved. Let me come with you, I can help and when we come back we can speak to Gen. I’ll adopt her if that is what we want, what she wants. I didn’t except to start a family but then again I’m trill so nothing is ever expected or normal.”

-LtCmdr Raauhl, XO

She breathed, slowly, watching him. “You want to go with me? You understand that this isn’t a diplomatic mission? You might not like what you see. I know Star Fleet’s rules, and I have no problem following them, but some times, things don’t go that way.” And there was her oath, to T’Jal, to D9 and she would not break it. “And as I recall you had a plan for the Shadow? Maybe we should start there.” And another thought came unbidden, if Gen why not Alyssa too. Could she do that? Should she do that?

“Would Cobb let you go with me?”
Lt Synthi-er, CNS

“Probabaly not” He sighed, “The thought of you leaving though… I won’t question why you have to go, but it does pain me greatly. I don’t want you to go, and if you do id want to go with you, but you’re right maybe I won’t have what it takes and I have a responsibility here, its not right that you’d have to deal with this… Alone.” Ryder wanted to admit that he’d be abke to do what it would take, but even Casela knew him better, his loyalty to starfleet, to Cobb. Did it out weigh his love for her? Or was it that he knew she’d get it done without him.

“When?” He asked, “When do you go?”

-LtCmdr Raauhl, XO

Casela considered, “That depends. Will Cobb let me go? Would he let me go alone? Probably not, so there’s a good chance he might let you go. If he says no to me going, then…I don’t want to do it that way, but I could get myself reassigned so I can go, but the idea is to stay off the section’s radar.” She paused to consider, “I week at the fastest, but I think that would be wreckless. I need time to gather information and resources.” Casela had seen him work, seen him face down anomalies. He could do the work. “I have no doubt, Ryder, that you can do what it takes, but it will test your resolve and your ethics.” She’d talked to Ch’otok about this. Ryder had the right to choose even if the idea of him going terrified her. Not really aware of it she’d reached for his hand. She didn’t want to do this, but she wanted the possibility of this life he was offering her. She could read his thoughts if she chose and she wanted him to be able to have that same insight. “The idea of you going scares me because I know what he is capable of, but I don’t like the idea of going without you either. If you go, you may not like who I am.” It was a warning, and maybe her way of stopping either of them from moving too fast into anything else without consideration.

“You cant know what I like or who I like, after all, I like… Love you” He smiled, “We are due a shore leave soon we could use that time to go do what we need. Maybe just information gathering for now and then in a few weeks or months time we act, the Captain, for now, need not know as long as we don’t put the crew at risk”

She raised a brow, she was a telepath after all, but then hadn’t she just admitted to herself that he never did what she expected? “I love you, Ryder. But I think I’m having a bad influence on you. Did you really just suggest we keep secrets from Cobb? We’re going to go after a man who’s wanted for murder, torture, black market trafficking, and those are just a few of his crimes.” She was only half teasing. She’d rather not tell Cobb what she was up to, there was no telling what he would make of it. “Shore leave?” She thought about it, it would be easy enough to use that as a way to get off the ship. “I’m waiting for some information to come in, we can decide then.” She looked around at the towering trees, and a though occurred to her. Shore leave when was the last time she took real shore leave? She couldn’t remember. “If we weren’t going fact finding, where would you go on shore leave? Anywhere you’d love to go?”

In an effort to lighten the mood and return to their picnic she teased him. “So if I’m moving in with you, does that mean I get the combination to the locker where you keep all my weapons?”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“There never was a combination, I just said that so you wouldn’t go looking for them.” He chuckled, “So you can have your weapons since they’ll be in ‘our’ room.” He paused and then said after a short while, “Hmm, I like the sound of that, ‘our’ room. Almost comes natural, who knew huh?” he loved teasing Casela, it was perhaps his favourite past time. “Will you need help moving in?”

• Lt Cmdr Rauuhl, XO

“Good thing for you I didn’t go looking then,” she grinned. It was too bad too, she was good at picking locks. She was a little too happy at the news of getting her weapons back. “Apparently not us.” She laughed a little, oddly comfortable with him teasing her, though she’d never admit it. “Help? Oh, well, I don’t really have anything to move. The only thing in my quarters are my uniforms and the box you put my necklace in.” She had a few small things in her office that she could move as well. “I never really held onto anything. Moving constantly made it anything but essentials impractical.” She had her backpack she kept with essentials, but she’d leave that in her office. It made more sense to have it at hand there. “My personal belongings are sadly lacking. Except for the knife my dad gave me and the bracelet from my uncle.”

“So should we eat here, or,” and she glanced at him, her eyes dancing, “should we go back to ‘our’ room?”
Lt Synthi-er, CNS