Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in Another New Ship

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharah Fayth (Medical) in Another New Ship

Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in Another New Ship
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

He could feel her beginning to tire, and in some ways he felt bone-weary as well. And completely famished. She let go mentally, and he felt her mind pulling back, preparing for the plunge to return to the surface. But this time she wouldn’t take him with her. The symphony faded, and instead of making that same journey, he was almost back to himself. She had farther to go. Mentally he turned back toward her, reaching out and establishing a connection once more, a bridge, a hand up, an anchor, a light at the end of the tunnel, a rope to pull herself up through the depths… a lifeline. Not even sure how he was doing it, operating on instinct, but he’d been with her long enough now to … feel his way through it. ‘I’m here. I got ya.’

Markus

But Sharah didn’t take it. It was there, it wasn’t hard to reach, in fact that lifeline was practically touching her. [It could just as easily drag him down and plunge him into the chaos. Some one had tried to help her once, and they had ended up in sickbay, hurt.] The storm tossed her about. It was just a matter of finding rhythm of the waves again and then surfing a long. ‘I’m used to it…’

But the connection was insistant and firm. Her grip this time was not as firm, exhaustion and fear - ready to let go if it was going to hurt him. Carefully, but at a much faster pace than she would have moved on her own, and despite the storm, Sharah was lifted above it.

Sharah blinked the mental images away and was surprised to find herself curled, with his arm around her, holding his hand, sitting on the floor together. The smell of the food was stronger in the room…the experience had lasted longer than it seemed. It was either almost or just past done. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t move either, and there was a clear feeling of warmth, acceptance or acknowledgement, and gracefulness for many things.

Sharah

Back to the surface, it seemed, Mark found himself on the floor with her, mostly unaware he’d changed position so drastically. For the moment, he didn’t want to move, still holding on to Sharah. His head rested against hers, for the moment just breathing, slowly processing that particular experience. It felt almost like some sort of dream or drug trip, but a very vivid, intense, and realistic one. Or some kind of intensive guided meditation. But he hung onto it, sensing on an instinctual level it was important in so many ways. Mind-altering, even.

Sharah was content not to move; to simply sit there with him, her head on his shoulder, his resting on top of hers. She was very aware that this was a unique experience. She didn’t allow such close physical contact. It made things worse usually, but it was the opposite with Mark. And that was the experience she was processing, knowing it was important, but not sure what to do about it yet.

After a few minutes he sighed, and glanced toward the display in the small food prep and kitchen area he had. A timer counted down with only a few minutes remaining on the clock. Somewhat recovered, he straightened up and turned his attention to her. ‘You alright? I need to finish the last of prep for food.’ He wasn’t sure about her, but hunger rolled off of him in waves. The whole ordeal had burned a lot of energy, altered metabolic rates, and consumed large amounts of glucose to fuel that much brain activity. It left him somewhat drained, shaky, tired, and if he wasn’t careful, could experience a sugar crash. As well as hang-over like symptoms. Hydration was key as well.

Mark

As he straightened up, so did Sharah. She nodded, but spoke verbally, to aware that she’d taxed even her extreme talents and didn’t want to push her luck. “I’m alright, are you?” She was watching him, evaluating him, her mind having clicked over into doctor mode for the moment. She’d never had this kind of exhaustion, well not since she was very little. She wasn’t sure why this experience had taxed her so much. Perhaps it was the effort to protect him from her talents or maybe she was feeling his reaction as her own, or both? She wasn’t sure.

“My mind is buzzing, and I feel … I dunno. But I think I’m okay. So long as I get some food and water in me,” he said, breaking into a grin that faded a little. Not because he was unhappy, but just getting some control over himself once more.

She got up slowly and moved over to the replicator and then walked over to him, touching the back of his hand lightly, “Drink this.” It was Uttaberry juice, a Betazoid drink, but high in sugars to return the blood glucose levels to normal. It might seem to sweet to him, but it would help. She drank one of her own and then she set two glasses of lightly flavored electrolyte enhanced water.

Sharah

As she stood and headed to the replicator he took a split second to both mourn and admire then pushed himself to his feet as well. He seemed stable enough and made his way after, heading into the kitchen. Pulling out a foot long section of bread, he sat it aside. Turning on a grill, he let it warm up while grabbing a knife and cutting the bread in half, producing two long pieces. On both he brushed a mixture that was like an aromatic oil. By then she made her way over with the drinks. Taking the uttaberry juice, e inspected it for a second, then took a sip. Then drained half the glass. “Been a while since I’ve had uttaberry juice,” he mused with a small smile, then snagged one of the waters.

Surprising herself, Sharah didn’t want to get up when she did. She would rather stay sitting next to Mark. “It can be a bit over powering if you aren’t used to it, and replicators always make the taste overly sweet. My father grows them and makes his own juice.”

At the same time on impulse he leaned over and planted a quick kiss on her cheek, along with a mental ‘Thank you’ burst of gratitude. Both for the drinks and the care. Yeah, she was a doctor. And looking out for crew was the job. But this was different, at least a bit. And she didn’t have to, not at all. It was appreciated.

The impulse was so sudden and his reaction to follow through so quick, Sharah didn’t have time to react before hand. Instead she stilled in surprise as his lips brushed across her cheek, and she blushed as red as the tomato sauce. She felt butterflies winging around her stomach, and not knowing what else to do she downed her own glass of juice and started on the water. Sharah was a doctor but that hadn’t been her motivation. She was simply a kind and caring individual. If she could help she would, but with Mark it was more than that. She wasn’t bothered by that but she would be hard-pressed to explain it.

Taking a moment to down half the water, he almost startled when the timer went off. Setting his glass down he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Kill that, please.” Moving over to the cooking equipment, he pulled out the dish they’d made and sat it out to start cooling. Replicating some plates and utensils, he went to plating a good sized square of the main dish. Along with it went the toasty grilled bread. Along with that came a salad he pulled out of the cooling conservation unit, and sat them out. Gesturing for her to take a seat he followed suit. “I would have included a nice wine, but… You don’t drink. And after all of that, earlier? Probably not a good combination.” He broke into a grin. It was a mild tease, but also he was being cautious and a little concerned. Better safe than sorry, right?

“I am a doctor, I don’t kill things,” a small teasing smile crossed her face, “but, I will silence it for you.” Sharah usually came off as a serious person because of all the noise. It made timing and interpretation difficult at times. She helped where she could, mostly moving things out of the way or to the table as he indicated. She sat and shook her head at his comment. “Not usually, no. It has a very strong effect on me, and I don’t trust myself ony own with it.” She knew he was teasing slightly and she shrugged with a small smile.

“So, nothing fancy. I dunno if you’ve had lasagna before. It can be a lot of steps, if you’re really going for it. But it’s so worth it. And it’s also a great comfort food, and has lots of fuel in it too.” He shrugged one shoulder casually, but at the same time was a little nervous, not knowing how she’d react.

Mark

She grinned brightly, “Fancy is overrated. Good things are worth time and effort.” She could tell he was waiting for her reaction. She picked up the fork and cut a bite off of the square on her place. It was heavy and rich and robust and flavorful. The noodles had a heavy texture and the cheese was rich and smooth. This was nothing like any pasta she had had before. He was right it was the ultimate comfort food. She moaned appreciatively around the mouthful. “Mark, this is really good. Thank you for sharing it with me.” But he could feel that she meant more than just the food.

Sharah