Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Rest and Relaxation (TAG Woods)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Markus Woods (Chief Star Fleet Science Officer) in Rest and Relaxation (TAG Woods)

Posted by Lieutenant Sharah Fayth (Chief Star Fleet Medical Officer) in Rest and Relaxation (TAG Woods)
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
“Oh, I have better boots,” Mark said, letting a little of his drawl out, just for a moment with a lopsided grin. It was more of a slip than deliberate, and a sign of how tired, and perhaps stressed he was. It was a kind of bone-weariness rather than needing to go to bed right then. “And I could have just replicated that you know,” he sad, glancing up at the hat. He wasn’t sure the brown fit for him, but he liked the hat overall. And it was a gift from Rende. He silently vowed to never let it go, not unless passing it to someone else special.

Mark

Markus sounded tired to her, and not the kind that was helped with a cup of coffee. The lopsided grin made him seem younger, and Rende wanted to just hug him and make it better. He needed some fun, to stop brooding so much. The debriefings had been rough. Rende’s having been delayed while she was recovering in medical. They had grilled her endlessly and questioned everything about her. Bringing up a past she and El had thought they had left far behind. They questioned her loyalty, unable to figure out how someone as old as her, with El-Aurian talents hadn’t known what to do before it all started. In the end she was the only one responsible. She’d trusted that Kohr was Kohr and had given the imposter the access code to Hab’rabi’s ship. She put them all in danger, with poor judgement. It had eaten at her that she’d been unconscious and unable to sit beside each of her officers.

“Well if I replicated it then I wouldn’t get to spoil you.” Rende grinned as she leaned against the counter, arms crossed, head tipped to the side, looking at him, and then her gaze travelled the store, and stopped. Rende sauntered across the store and back, stopping behind him. She snatched the brown hat off and plopped a white one on his head, with a tan and black woven band with frayed ends. She glanced at him in the mirror, “Ah, there’s our good guy hero. Or we could go for the dark mysterious stranger and get you a black hat.”

“Good guys wear black,” he countered with a grin. “But either way works.” He took a look in the same mirror, turning his head this way and that, then nodded. Then gave a quick shake of his head left and right, testing the fit. It seemed she’d guessed his hat size just right. There was no real play in it and it sat just right. Though perhaps it felt a little ridiculous to be wearing one inside of a climate controlled starbase. But who cared. He was off duty.

Then there was the weight of a heavy leather duster across his shoulders. “Really it’s more practical than anything. Oed V is open and the atmosphere clean, but they are still terraforming and there is a lot of dust. You’ll thank me when Sharah isn’t fussing at you for dragging dirt all over your quarters. Eldorin used to have absolute fits when I would come home from archeology digs and leave a trail from the door to every room in the house.” She laughed quietly as if she took great pleasure at arguing with Eldorin about it.

Rende

“I take it the dust in the atmosphere cooled the planet down a good bit,” Mark asked, shrugging his shoulders under the weight of the material. If it were canvas, he’d have ot make sure it was treated properly but leather meant he’d just have to treat it now and again and wipe it down. Or see if it was safe for the clothes refresher.

Mark

Rende shrugged, “What’s the fun in that if I tell you?” She shrugged, “There is still a lot of work to be done and the planets natural seasons haven’t come about. You’ll have plenty of time to read all about it and discover it for yourself. And that is all the fun.” She looked over him and nodded, “It’s a good look for you, Markus. I insist you have it.” With the purchases paid for and the packages being delivered to Markus’ quarters, Rende took his arm again and led him further along the deck, taking their time to finish a circuit before returning.

“Because leather is hot, so I’d like to be able to estimate how much use I’d get out of it,” Mark said. “Though, I suppose even if it gets hot the hat is always available.” He A wry smile drifted across his face for a moment. The two seemed to lapse into a comfortable silence as they walked. That alone seemed to settle some of his nerves and anxiety as well. Any decent doctor or therapist could have told them about how it activated the parasympathetic nervous system. And maybe that was the whole point of it. But it also grounded them in the moment, in that time and space, hurtling across the stars.

Sharah had stayed in the Asam quarters and had helped to clear the rest of their meal. Julin and Mecona had requested her presence. They were sad that they were leaving again. They liked having her around. She understood it was hard for them. There was a lot of fear there, losing people they loved. She adored them, and loved spending time with them. She didn’t know if she ever would or if she should have children of her own, but being around Tabris’ kids made her want to have her own.

Much as Uncle Olly had given her a bonsai when she was young, Sharah had spent time with Neltus and given him his own Bonsai. Actually all the children had one, but there was a connection there with Neltus. She was glad that Rende and Eldorin had come back into Tabris’ life. He didn’t know how to use or control his empathy, but Rende had been showing Tabris and Neltus how. Sharah had tried to help Neltus but Betazoid empathy didn’t work the same. Neltus had spent quite a bit of time with her. He was nervous, he was going to be in charge of taking care of their tiny tress, and Tabris’ fig tree for the rest of their journey. He was afraid he’d mess up. “Neltus don’t worry. The bonsai’s are in stasis boxes. And your dad has carried that fig tree with him for centuries. He knows what to do. It will be okay.”

Vedi too had to comes say good bye. The family would be leaving much earlier than Markus and Sharah. Early and that meant and early bed time for the older boys than normal. Vedi sat at the table, finishing his drink and kept glancing at her until finally Sharah sat down and hugged him. “What is it Vedi?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “What if they don’t like me? People hate Cardassians. They did horrible things. What if they think I’m like them? Not everyone is like you, Aunt Sharah. That they look at who I am and not what I look like.”

“I know it’s scary, and I won’t say it won’t happen, but you have your dad and your brother. And I don’t think there is anyone in the universe that would offended you and risk your grandpa finding out. OR,” Sharah shuddered just to make him laugh, “your grandma. You have people who love you a lot and they won’t let that happen to you. So you stay you, Vedi, don’t let them change you, okay?” Vedi nodded and hugged her before going to bed. Even though the boys were 8 almost 9, Tabris and Eldorin still put them to bed. Sharah thought it was wonderful. She stayed in the living room staring at the box with the new pip in it and the PaDD with her orders. The Star felt heavy against her chest and she removed it, putting it away. She knew without a doubt that Rende felt she deserved it and why. She couldn’t argue about it. But she really didn’t want it.

She sat on the couch, quiet, staring out at the stars, floating as best she could amongst the noise. They were leaving tomorrow so for the moment it was easier to let it batter her, drag her under and spit her out a bit, than try to master it. Tabris and Eldorin chatted quietly while they repacked things for their departure the next day. The lights were low and Eldorin had requested some music that Sharah wasn’t familiar with, but it was pleasant. That’s how they all were when Rende and Markus returned.

Sharah

Mark ushered Rende in with a quiet ‘Ladies first’. Even if she was a former Marine, he didn’t care. Drifting cross the room he moved to join Sharah on the couch, studying her for a long moment. For the time being he seemed more settled, almost back to good. How long it would last was anyone’s guess, but for the moment, he just simply… was.

Sharah knew the moment he was closer, before they even approached the door. His presence was unique and always identifiable amongst the other noise. Her mind brushed gently against his in a silent welcome, but she continued to stare, almost blankly, out at the stars.

Reaching out, he tucked a lock of her dark hair behind one ear, then let his hand trail down, along her arm to gently take her hand.

Mark

She turned to smile at him. It was genuine, but the slight squinting at the corner of her eyes gave away how tired she was. His touch soothed and was welcome. His fingers left behind a trail of soft buzzing that spread through her, soothed raw nerves, and quieted the noise. Sharah laced her fingers through his and leaned in to kiss his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. He felt better, and she was grateful to Cpt Rende for that. The room was tranquil if tinged with a little bittersweetness and excitement. A mix of loss for the recent past and hope for what tomorrow would bring.

So much had happened so quickly, but through it all Markus had been a port in the storm for her. She wasn’t sure how it happened or what would happen next, but she knew she wanted this. This connection between them, him, Markus. She was off kilter, not just the noise, but her own recent revelations about what she was, or more what she could become, and the debriefings didn’t help. She understood security and intel were doing their jobs, that they wanted to ensure the safety of others, but it made her doubt herself. That was the point she assumed. Make her doubt herself and give away whatever secrets she was hiding. She wasn’t hiding anything though. They knew that, obviously, or Cpt Rene would never have been allowed to promote her and award her the Star Cross.

After a moment she sighed, ‘I don’t want to cut your time short. I’m tired and I don’t think I can take more sad good byes. I’m going to go, but you stay.’ Sharah had already said her good-byes except for Rende. It was a silent but emotional exchange. Rende was larger than life to Sharah, and there was more than a little awe and immense gratitude from Rende for Sharah helping her find her son again. Sharah knew how much Cpt Rende meant to Markus and she didn’t want to cut their time short. But she was more than a little drowning so she wanted to exit quietly rather than give any of them to worry about her.

Sharah

Mark shook his head. ‘I was just about to suggest we get out of here. You’re not cutting anything short. There’s no reason to stay other than hanging out. And while that’s nice and all, I want to spend the rest of my evening with you. Just the two of us. Plus they have places to be early. So it’s best we get out of their hair.’ Standing pup, he gently hauled her to her feet.

Sharah let him pull her up with a smile. Her thoughts felt warm and affectionate. ‘I like the sound of just the two of us.’ The fact was that even though she spent as much time with Markus as she could and she could reach him with her thoughts just about anywhere, their last mission and the weeks following had prevented any time alone, to relax, to just be, to be the two of them. It was no one’s fault; it was just the circumstances. So the idea of spending the rest of the evening with just Markus was a welcome one.

Making his way back to those that were still awake he stopped to say goodnight to each of them. Especially Rende again. On some level it felt like a little more than a temporary goodbye. It stung, though he knew how easy it was to reach out and talk over any distance, either with a message ore in real-time.

After he finally extracted himself from friends and second family, he shuffled out into the corridor, back into the brighter lights and sighed. Walking with Sharah, he slipped his arm around her waist. There were no hurry in his steps. There was nowhere to be but home, no duty or responsibilities for now. Well, save for responsibility to her. To Sharah. Idly he rubbed her side a little. “Do you really want to go to Deneva,” he finally asked, his voice low and quiet, the question gentle. Tinged with worry for her, about her, what her answer was, but mostly worried about her mental health.

Mark

Sharah leaned into his side enjoying the warmth and closeness of the contact. She liked how she fit under his arm, close to his side. A small sigh left her as he began to rub her side and some of the tension she was carrying left her. She tipped her head up to look at him before answering. She was grateful for the switch to verbal speech. Though she loved the closeness and intimacy of telepathy, with all the changes in the noise and storms around her, verbal speech was easier to focus on for the moment. “I do really want to go to Deneva, with you. I very much want to see your home, or the home where you grew up, but only if you want to share it with me.” Sharah paused in her speech a hand coming up to rub at her temple for a moment. It wasn’t the noise, she wasn’t aware of it yet, but with Markus’ arm around her, his hand against her, the noise was always less. In fact it was as if his worry had forced the noise to stop all together. The sudden absence made her momentarily light headed and she leaned into his support for a moment.

As they began to walk again her thoughts tumbled about in her head, considering but not unsure. “I do worry about the noise, how it will affect me, how…how people will react to how strange I am.” She shrugged softly under his arm. “But that’s anywhere I might go. So if you are asking if there is somewhere else I would rather go, I wouldn’t know of anywhere. They told me to take leave, to go relax, to rest, to get better, but there is no where the storms won’t follow me. So if I were to choose, I would choose to go anywhere with you, so that I would have your company, your presence, with me.”

Sharah

He gave a slow nod. It wasn’t hard to tell how much he wished he could give her the relief she needed. Sure, time spent close together helped. But it wasn’t the same as prolonged relief. But it helped at least. “I do worry that it will be worse, not better, there. I even worry about Oed V. It’s not nearly as old as Deneva is, which actually pre-dates the Federation a while. Oed V has been around for at least sixty years. So…” He shook his head.

“If we really need to, I’m sure I could take a position at one of the small observatories, where there’s usually only a dozen or so people. Or a small observer vessel like a Discovery-class or something.”

Mark