: Posted by Ensign André Montanari (Scientist) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - Late 2392 : OOC: Just copying this over, so Leah can tie up her character’s end~ : : : Posted by Lieut (j.g.) Lukita Lanta (Doctor, LOA (until 11 Nov 2017)) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : Posted by Ensign André Montanari (Scientist) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : Posted by Lieut (j.g.) Lukita Lanta (Doctor, LOA (until 11 Nov 2017)) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : Posted by Ensign André Montanari (Scientist) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : : Posted by Lieut (j.g.) Lukita Lanta (Doctor, LOA (until 11 Nov 2017)) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : : : Posted by Ensign André Montanari (Scientist) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : : : : Posted by Lieut (j.g.) Lukita Lanta (Doctor, LOA (until 11 Nov 2017)) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : : : : : Posted by Ensign André Montanari (Scientist) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : : : : : : Posted by Lieut (j.g.) Lukita Lanta (Doctor) in [Flashback] Lukita's Quarters - late 2392 : : : : : : : : : : Lukita’s quarters were mostly bare. A few final items of clothing lay strewn across the bed and floor, and some remaining mementos and keepsakes rested atop the dresser awaiting their turn to be packed inside the two bags sitting on the bed. She folded a dress and tucked it inside one of the bags, and then paused, looking across the room that had been her home for the last year and a half. The once cluttered and rather messy space now barely looked like she’d lived in it at all. Another thought came niggling into her mind however… : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Although she had informed all the professionally important people of her impending departure, there was one person she just hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell yet. André had been so kind to her, and she really did care about him. She knew she couldn’t just leave without telling him. But for the life of her she just could not figure out how she was going to do it. She picked up another piece of clothing to put it in her bag, but then dejectedly dropped it back on the bed, and then plopped herself down on the bed too. André did know her granny was unwell at least… But she just had to get herself to tell him that she was leaving, she couldn’t just keep putting it off. She just had to… : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : - Lt j.g. Lukita Lanta - : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lukita was saved from dwelling too much upon that thought by the harsh shrill of the doorbell. Once, twice, three times, the chime rang before the doctor had a chance to even make a move towards the door - whoever was waiting was certainly not in a very patient mood! Although it could very well be anyone in enough of a hurry to speak to the Trill, ‘anyone’ could have used the comms system. No - behind the door could only be one person… : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lukita froze in place, every muscle in her body tensing, the chime seeming to echo through her head. A muttered “Oh god.” caught in her throat. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Collect yourself, André! What’s the matter? It’s all a big misunderstanding! It really must be… The scientist had many such thoughts bumbling around his mind, as he withdrew his finger from the buzzer. Taking a moment to calm himself, he straightened his uniform and tugged on his uniform’s cuffs. Montanari started to slowly amble and pace, back and forth, in front of the door - the ideas in his head started shifting. …But what if it isn’t? What if she really is leaving?! The others wouldn’t go out of their way to lie to me, would they? Montanari’s face paled. A deep breath, and a long sigh exemplified the chaos in his mind. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “Oh god.” : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : André stretched his neck side to side, assuming a resting stance - ready to respond to the door being opened. Not that I’m in any way ready for any of this… : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Ensign André Montanari, : : : : : : : : : Scientist : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Time seemed to grind to a halt as the air became thick with tension. Standing up on reluctant legs, the Trill attempted to ready herself rather unsuccessfully for the exchange that was to come. She swore under her breath. I don’t know how I wanted this to happen but this isn’t it. She tried to consider who else it could be, but the truth was there was only one option. One person who she hadn’t already said goodbye to. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : I should have told him sooner. He must have found out from one of the other doctors or something… Oh, what’s he going to think! He really has every right to be upset with me. Things were going so well between us, trust me to go and ruin it like this! Her increasingly panicked state began to show itself in her erratic breathing. What have I done… What do I tell him! These thoughts and more crossed her mind in the half a minute that felt like 5 as she crossed her room. Upon reaching her door she tried with limited success to tame her breathing so it wouldn’t betray her immediately on sight. With one deep, laboured intake of breath she opened the door. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : - Lt j.g. Lukita Lanta - : : : : : : : : : : : : : : It’s all just a misunderstanding. It really must be. Surely. It makes no sense, otherwise. Yes. Right. Maybe? Oh god. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : As André stood staring at the entrance to Lukita’s quarters, the seconds he spent waiting felt like hours. The large metal doors in front of him stood ominously - somewhat a metaphor for the dam holding his inner thoughts at bay. At any point now they were going to open, and release a torrent of emotion - in the form of her… : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Even though he had been staring intensely at the entrance to the quarters, he still jumped slightly from the whoosh of the doors - and even moreso from the presence of Lukita. If the Trill was dreading this moment anywhere near as much as André was, she certainly didn’t show it - or, at the very least, Montanari didn’t take any notice of it, in his current state. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Oh god. This is it. Mustering up as much of a smile as he could with the horrible feeling forming in his stomach, and with as much confidence that could be warranted in the situation, André broke the silence between the two. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : “H-Hey, Lukita. Just passing through this part of the ship, you know, and thought I’d drop by to say hello.” As the eleven chimes of the bell in the past five seconds would attest to, this was a blatant lie. : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lukita’s heart pounded, threatening to drown out her own words as she spoke, “Oh, hi! It’s good to see you! I was just… doing some reading. Nothing special really.” She cringed inwardly. Luki, that was the most terrible lie. : : : : : : : : : : : : : Okay. That was horrible, but at least coherent, right? I’m sure things are going to be all okay. It’s all just a misunderst– André stopped mid-thought as he slowly took in what was happening. In his survey of the damage, he noticed that Lukita’s room was completely bare, besides a few final items to be packed into bags that Montanari could just see out of the corner of his eye. : : : : : : : : : : : : : Lukita caught André’s eyes flickering to look behind her, and she realised how obviously barren her quarters were. “And… and also just some uhh, a little cleaning!” …Nope, that was worse. : : : : : : : : : : : : : His heart dropped. His face followed suit, so much so that even the most unobservant of people would notice. The game was up. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Ensign André Montanari, : : : : : : : Scientist : : : : : : : : : : : : Before she had a chance to get even further entangled into a web of lies, Lanta saw the smile disappear from André’s face as his eyes widened. Her own heart leapt into her throat before it too sank as she accepted that there was no way out of what she had to do anymore. : : : : : : : : : : : : “André…” She began, as she moved her hands up to her face. “I’m… I’m so sorry. I should have told you already, I don’t know why I didn’t. It’s okay if you’re angry with me, you deserve to have known before now and considering how important you are to me I really should have just told you first but I couldn’t think of how and then the longer I left it the harder it felt and now I’m almost about to leave and you’ve ended up having to find out like this! I’m sorry, I’m terrible, we should have been parting on better terms than this but now I’ve put you in this position and it’s really not fair on you after how nice you’ve been to me and…” The pace of her ramblings got faster and faster until eventually she had to stop to breath and recollect her thoughts. And also because she noticed the lump beginning to form in her throat. Well, at least I’m not lying anymore I guess… : : : : : : : : : : : : - Lt j.g. Lukita Lanta - : : : : : : : : : : As the Trill ranted and raved her apologies, André became semi-catatonic as he attempted to take in all of the available information. All of the horrific details. The terribly depressing and disheartening truth: this was really it. Lukita really was leaving, and there wasn’t anything André could do about it. As she began to speed through to the conclusion of her monologue, Montanari snapped back to reality in time to hear Lanta’s final few words. : : : : : : : : : : Huh? “…it’s really not fair on you after how nice you’ve been to me…” Huh? She really thinks like that? Hmm. : : : : : : : : : : As the scientist mulled the thought over in his mind, he noticed Lukita was just about to break down, barely holding it together as it was now. A sobbing mess was not the end result that André was looking for when he came here - for one, it was completely his fault that this whole debacle was occurring; secondly, it was important to Montanari that Lanta retained her dignity. With a deep breath in, André spoke to break the silence that had befell them once again. : : : : : : : : : : “Hey, hey, hey. Lukita, it’s okay. It’s okay…” As his speech trailed off, Montanari moved closer to Lanta. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her in a supportive embrace. “Don’t worry about it. It’s going to be all okay. All okay…” André whispered, as gently as the situation required, and very ambly rocked back and forth with Lukita in his arms. Time seemed to grind to a halt for André - his focus completely on Lukita, and the moment the pair of them were sharing. : : : : : : : : : : Ensign André Montanari, : : : : : Scientist : : : : : : : : Lanta’s body tensed momentarily as she was enveloped in the unexpected but not unwanted embrace. She then exhaled, the tension of the last few minutes sliding away to make room for relief and and the warmth of being close to someone, as she relaxed into André’s arms. She wrapped her own arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder, feeling the prickling in her eyes as the relief from the tension and stress began to gently spill over, rolling slowly down her cheeks and softly coming to rest upon the shoulders of the scientist’s uniform. : : : : : : : : She savoured the feeling of this moment she was sharing with him, in the doorway to her quarters, and wished she wasn’t going to have to let go. : : : : : : Andre, too, realised that even through such an emotional shock and turmoil, he was completely content with the status quo. I wouldn’t change this moment. Not a thing. Not if you offered me the world. The space around the two of them remained silent as they stood like this, and a newfound sense of peace flowed through André. : : : : : : : Eventually, she broke the silence. “Remember how I mentioned that my granny is sick? Well, she’s taking a while to start getting better. That’s… That’s why I’m leaving, to go back home to earth to be with her. My mother is there, but she’s worried. She thought it would be a good idea for me to go too, just in case the worst happens…” Her already soft words got softer as she spoke of her grandmother’s mortality. Her own concern evident in the way she held André tighter as her explanation progressed. : : : : : : : : - Lt j.g. Lukita Lanta - : : : : : : With that final statement, all of the puzzle pieces finally fit together. The complete picture, devoid of bias and emotion. There was no hidden agenda, no dark secrets. Simply a pure and altruistic act from Lanta, that would leave Montanari in heartbreak. Such was the cruelness of the universe - happiness given must also be taken, all things in balance. As this revelation and epiphany of information swept over André, he felt Lukita hold him tighter. The wave of emotions still gushing through him, he too reciprocated, whilst trying to think of what to respond to the doctor with. : : : : : : Finally, the scientist pulled together a coherent thought… even if it was still being developed mid-sentence. “Uh… No, yeah. No, that’s so totally a very good and, err– selfless thing to do. Family is family, forever, right?” Other than a bit of a stutter, André’s words came out perfectly clearly, even with the dear doctor firmly attached to his chest. Mulling the thought over in his mind still, André noticed that almost every muscle in his body was still tensed from shock. : : : : : : “Besides. Who wouldn’t want Starfleet’s best doctor by their side, in any case?” Finally fully relaxing himself from the stiffness of his initial reaction to Lukita, André spoke again with a slightly teasing and light-hearted tone to ease the tension. “Put it this way. I’ve been standing here for all of five minutes, and I’m feeling better already.” With a slight grin, Montanari took the moment in and realised that, indeed, that was true. The five minutes the pair of them had shared here had instilled a sense of serenity in him that he had not felt in a long time. : : : : : : All that signified, in reality, was how much André truly was going to miss Lukita in the time she was gone. : : : : : : Ensign André Montanari, : : : Scientist : : : : Lukita laughed, burying her face in André’s shoulder. “I think there’s probably at least a few better than me!” Her words muffled slightly by the fabric of Montanari’s uniform. She then hummed to herself, like she was thinking something over, and her expression returning to something more sombre. : : : : “It’s just… I don’t really know yet how long I’ll be gone for. I guess for the most part it will depend on how long it takes for my granny to get better. Ideally she’ll get better soon and I’ll be back before you know it! But you never know really… She’s a stubborn woman, that’s where I got my stubbornness from. It could work in her favour, but she also might be making things harder on the doctors…” : : Just as she trailed off, a voice was heard from the corridor. “Afternoon you lovebirds, haven’t quite made it inside your door it seems!” Lukita looked up over André’s shoulder to see the blue face and bald head of Nurse Galot approaching them. The Bolian tutted as he passed by. “You should be careful what you do in the hallway, People might start to talk!” The man chuckled to himself as he continued down the corridor away from Lukita’s quarters, and Lukita’s cheeks flushed as she realised just how long the two had been embracing in her doorway. : : : : - Lt. j.g. Lukita Lanta - : : Hearing the foreign voice emanating from down the corridor, André raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. Spotting the sly grin on the Bolian’s face, Montanari attempted to keep a straight face himself, whilst craning his neck a little in acknowledgement. Unfortunately, it seemed the nurse was right - the pair of them should get out of the corridor - but not exactly for the reasons he may have thought. Soon enough, she’s going to need to board a shuttle and leave. Sooner yet, she’s going to need to go back inside her quarters and pack the rest of her bags. One ‘great’ thought after another flowed through Montanari’s head, it seemed. : : After taking one last moment to savour the closeness and humanity the pair had been sharing, André placed his hands on Lukita’s arms. Pushing her gently to half an arm’s length away, the scientist took a moment to stare affectionately into the good doctor’s eyes, before speaking. “I hate to be cliché, but that’s probably my cue to leave. You almost certainly have many things to sort out that I should stop distracting you from…” Taking a deep breath before speaking again, Montanari pondered the best way to not turn the whole situation to tears. : Lukita’s arms remained around André’s shoulders until the last moment, providing some resistance to his ending of their embrace. For although she knew she would have to let go eventually, she did so reluctantly, wishing the moment could last – if not forever – at least a bit longer. As she moved back, she looked up into the eyes of her favourite scientist, her own shining with the residue of her earlier tears of relief that now resided on the shoulder of his uniform.

Not finding much success in this venture, he opted for the mantra of keeping things simple. The less said for now, the better, I suppose. Biting his tongue for a second, the scientist straightened his uniform, adjusted his cuffs, and gave a slight nod. André took a final look at Lukita’s face, before opening his mouth to speak. He beamed a sort of smile, which epitomised the vibrant mix of feelings of the past ten minutes. A smile with many layers of emotion; layers of glee, layers of despair, and even layers of hope.

“Well.” Another breath, this time much longer and deeper than the last. “Bye, now.” Instantly regretting his choice of words and their brevity, Montanari could do nothing but argue with himself mentally. Keeping it simple didn’t have to imply being rude and abrupt, André. Now you’ve blown it. Just turn, and walk away. With another slight nod of the head, and a slow turn on the spot, André started taking one slow step after the other, away from Lukita… Ensign André Montanari, Scientist

As she watched the scientist begin to walk away, her heart sinking slowly with every step he took, a small but persistent idea began to form in her mind. Throwing caution to the wind, Lukita let her impulses take control.

“André? Wait.”

Quickly rubbing a hand across her eyes, Lukita briskly walked to catch up with Montanari, her heart beating in her throat again, however this time the fear was built upon excitement. A more cautious part of her piped up, berating her for her impulsivity. Lukita, what are you doing!? Why now? I mean I appreciate the value of how cheesy what you’re about to do is but this could go so wrong in so many ways! Spontaneity won out, however, and she stopped in front of André, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

“You left something behind.”

Lukita moved up onto her toes to bring her closer to level with the taller man, and pressed her lips briefly and oh so gently to André’s cheek.

• Lt. j.g. Lukita Lanta -