Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vora Zorell (Scientist) in Johann’s Quarters- Suspicions

Posted by Captain Johann Dvorak (CO) in Johann’s Quarters- Suspicions

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Vora Zorell (Scientist) in Johann’s Quarters- Suspicions

(snip)

Vora blew out a breath. “Yep… awkward,” she said quietly. But she reached out a pale yellow hand to Johann. “I don’t know how to go about this exactly, but I do know that she can’t help those facts, if they are true. And we can’t help that we’re together and have a future planned. But we can’t tip toe around it all. It’ll only make things more difficult. I mean, she’s my therapist and Jerrin’s as well. I need that professional side of our relationship to not be damaged because we’re afraid of what might happen if we address the issue. So I guess the question is, what do we do with this information? “

~Vora Zorell, Sciences

He took her hand and sat down next to her on the sofa. He had not noticed that he was pacing during the entire monologue.

“I don’t know that we need to do anything differently than we otherwise would, in the long term,” he started saying. “She was just going to endure all of this and not say a word about it as we started making our future happen. She’s still going to have to do that, so us knowing it doesn’t really change anything. Assuming we don’t find a way to return her to her own universe.” There had been efforts to do that for several years now; it wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon, since nobody had figured out how to replicate the experiment.

“She’ll know that I have figured it out,” he continued, thinking aloud. “She probably already does. So, she and I are going to have to talk about it. There’s not going to be an ‘if’ when it comes to addressing it. We just need to address it sensitively, while still maintaining appropriate boundaries.” He seemed to stare off into space for a moment as if he pondered those last few words, and then looked back at Vora.

She met his mechanical and vivid gaze with her own maroon eyes. For a moment Vora just… looked.

“We might have to… umm… be somewhat more… gracious… towards certain kinds of behavior for the interim period than we otherwise would be.”

– Johann Dvorak, CO

Chest expanding, Vora drew in a breath that was supposed to be calming. “And vice-versa? She will have to as well. It’s more than a little unnerving that she had such a deep and intimate relationship with a person who for all I know is you, and that there may or may not be that many differences.” Her stomach twisted and she frowned, turning towards Johann a bit more. “I don’t like this feeling in myself but you two have a sort of connection that is…” She shook her head and looked away. “I don’t want to be jealous. It feels beneath me. And I know she had done nothing to interfere with us. And back on Tenra I’d probably drown the emotions I’m feeling in alcohol, but that’s not an option so I have to find a way to deal with them somehow.”

~Vora Zorell, Sciences

Johann raised an eyebrow raised at the mention of alcohol. This is taking a dark turn, he thought.

“It’s probably best to just admit that you have them,” he said, wondering how to put what he was thinking into words. “I mean… I think having complex feelings doesn’t make someone a bad person. You can and should let yourself feel them; the trick is that you don’t have to act on them. It’s how we choose to act that makes the difference, morally.”

“I already chose to marry you. I’m not changing that. When I made that decision… actually quite a few years before then… that necessarily meant I wasn’t going to let myself indulge in romantic behavior with other women. That would include…”

He paused for a moment, looking away and turning palpably frustrated. “You know, we need some sort of convention to tell them apart if we’re going to keep talking through this quantum reality nonsense. English wasn’t made to talk about the manure of the multiverse.” He took a pause to compose himself, though he hoped his point was clear enough.

– Johann Dvorak, CO