Chance Encounter (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 11 Oct 2013 @ 11:08pm by Warrant Officer Vernon Banks & Petty Officer 1st Class Taryn Galepsie

2,912 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Cargo Bay Gym
Timeline: MD 01 - 2220 hrs

[ON]

Taryn was in the habit of reporting for duty, today was no different despite having now where to be. She didn't really love Gamma Shift. She didn't sleep much so it wasn't much of an interruption to her schedule. What was an interruption was the weird current of nervous energy that was coursing though it. It wasn't a new occurrence and she knew exactly how to deal with it.

Running...

Taryn entered the gym from the corridor. It was a weird enough time of day that the gym was fairly empty. Most of the crew was either eating dinner, or on duty. This meant that the long row of treadmills were open. Placing her ear buds in her ears she started her run. The music blocked out the world as she attempted to block out the pain.

Vernon was already in the gym but had just completed his workout. The makeshift cargo bay facilities were less than ideal, nothing compared to the expansive and state-of-the-art facilities which he had been used to on USS Venture. Sadly though, that ship -- which had been his home for the past two years -- was now a collection of space debris. The past 24 hours had been tough on him, and he had used the Nova Class' gym as a means of temporary escape.

Now, sitting idly on one of the benches with his sweaty towel draped around his neck, the security officer looked up at the new arrival who had just made her way over to the treadmills and started jogging. She had an immaculate physique, and her dark hair bobbed with each stride she took. More importantly, she actually looked very familiar, and it took a moment of recollection before he suddenly realized who the woman was.

"Galepsie?" he called out, remembering her as one of his fellow department crew members aboard the Galaxy Class. He wasn't sure if she could hear him with her headphones in, so he gave her a slight wave of his hand to try and get her attention.

Taryn was off in her own world we she caught the movement of something off the side. She turned her head and almost tripped on the moving belt as she the shock of recognizing the man waving at her. Stopping her treadmill she turned towards Banks. "Evening Warrant Officer...I apologize but I didn't even see you there." She smiled. It was nice to see a face she actually recognized.

"Hey," he replied simply enough with a smile. "Good to see you again, alive and well. I didn't realize you'd made it off the ship in time...I was asking around about some of the people in our department but this little ship is so cramped and chaotic that no one seems to have their shit together and they couldn't tell me much. How've you been?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

Taryn couldn't help but laugh. The ship did seem to be in a bit of disarray. "Well that tends to happen when you are a tiny ship and take on survivors." She stepped off the treadmill only a tiny layer of perspiration had managed to form during her short run. "To be honest, I haven't found many people the people I knew were on duty. Granted I didn't know anyone real well." She had only been on board the Venture for a little over a week before it was destroyed. "How have you been? Have you gotten working in to the shift rotation?"

Vernon shrugged with a bit of disappointment. He didn't particularly enjoy being idle and without an official position on the ship. "Not yet. After I was cleared by the doctors here, I've been helping out as much as I can around the ship, but I haven't had a chance to find the Security Chief and request assignment. You?"

"Nothing official." Taryn started. "I have filled in a few times on Gamma Shift but nothing major." She stretched her arm across her body. "This is my second time in here today, and I just can shake this...energy." she laughed at how that sounded. "I think I am so used to starting my duty shift and my body doesn't want a vacation." She grinned.

Watching the woman stretch, Vernon once again took in her beautiful appearance for a long and somewhat awkward moment while resisting the urge to comment on 'giving her body a vacation'. He let out a light laugh in return, at both his own thoughts and her predicament. "I know the feeling...I haven't been sleeping well either. Too much stress, I think." he admitted.

"I hate it..." Taryn admitted almost too quickly. "Do you want to get a drink?" She asked before she had completely thought it though. "I mean, I understand if you have plans or something else to do." She looked down for a second with a coy grin on her lips. "Well, I just kinda blurted that out." She finished with a shake of her head.

With no duty shift to report to, Vernon thought that was actually a good idea. He wasn't the heaviest drinker but figured it could probably do both of them some good to unwind for a bit and talk some more. "Yea...sure." he answered with a grin. "As long as you don't mind me going as-is." he gestured to his gym appearance which included only a simply grey tank top and some black sweatpants. "I don't really want to go back to my quarters right now to shower and change...I've got four roommates in a makeshift guest room and three of them are still recovering from their injuries." he explained.

"Sure...." Taryn replied. The entire situation was impromptu to who minded if they were both in their work out gear. "I don't have to change...then we can both be in out PTs." She grinned. She paused for a moment looking around the makeshift gym. "Do you have any idea where we can get a drink?"

"Umm..." he briefly thought about what sort of facilities a Nova Class might have. "Maybe the mess hall? I don't think they have a crew lounge here." he surmised.

"Works for me." Taryn started. She bit her lip slightly. She was a little nervous. She couldn't explain why. She was confident when at work, but wasn't so much when it came to any type of personal relationships. "So...uh ....shall we? She asked with a grin. She took a few steps toward the door, looking over her should to see if Banks was following her.

Vernon rose from his seat and nodded, then paced close behind her and out of the gym. It took a bit longer than normal for the two of them to find the mess hall, mostly due to their unfamiliarity with the ship, but at last they finally located the facility and stepped through the double doors.

The mess hall was surprisingly empty -- not because of the late hour, but because of the massive influx of crew which Galileo had recently undertaken. Vernon had partially expected the entire room to be full with both ships' crews, but instead there were only a handful of people mingling about at the corner tables. "Just how I like it. Quiet and relaxing." he said to her, then put his hand lightly on the small of her back to guide her towards an empty table. "I'll get us some drinks. What do you prefer?"

Taryn moved easily where guided. Taking a seat she looked up at Banks with a smile. "You know....surprise me?" She looked over the man she was spending some time with. She wouldn't have admitted it...but she hadn't noticed how attractive he was when they were serving on the Venture together. "I am not exactly picky." She finally added.

"Alright." he replied, casting a long and warm glance back at her before turning away to head off towards the replicator. He returned about a minute later with two drinks in his hand; whiskey on the rocks for himself, and a cloudy-yellow martini for her. He placed both of them delicately down on the table, then settled into the comfy seat next to her and let out a fatigued sigh. "I got you a lemon drop martini. It's synthehol, but I guess that's better than nothing. I don't think my private stash survived the hull breaches back on Venture." he joked with a light laugh to try and ease some tension.

"No hangover tomorrow..." Taryn said with a laugh as she grasped the stem of the glass. She raised the rim to her lips and took a sip of the sweet drink. "Wow..." She said with a laugh. "That is...different." She looked over at Banks before she took another sip. "I can't decide if it is sweet or sour."

Taking a sip of his whiskey and savoring the flavor, he turned to her with a cheesy grin. "That's what I said about my ex-girlfriend before she threw my bags out of the airlock." he then paused to shake his head, not certain why that thought had just popped into his mind. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from."

"No worries." Taryn said easily as she took another sip of her drink. "I do that all the time." She grinned. "Randomly thinking of memories at random times when they are the farthest things from your mind." She finished the drink, a little faster then she should have. She replaced the drink glass on the table surface. "So really? An airlock? What did you do?"

Vernon watched her finish her drink in almost record-speed and was highly impressed. It wasn't often that he met a woman who knew how to handle her booze. "I was undergoing some physical therapy a few years back with a female therapist, and my ex was under the impression I was cheating on her during our sessions." he shrugged absentmindedly and took another long sip of his drink. "Worst part was, I was under orders from my department head to do the sessions so I couldn't have stopped going even if I wanted to."

Taryn rolled her eyes as he was telling his story. "Why are women like that?" She asked as she toyed with the stem of her martini glass. "Must not have been very secure with self." She muttered slightly, "Take me for instance. My husband was the Chief Medial Office on the USS Eclipse. Her was constantly surrounded by all these young pretty nurses. It never bothered me." She motioned towards herself. "Sorry that was a bit of a random tangent." She laughed as she plucked the lemon wedge from her glass and bit into it.

Vernon raised his eyebrows as he listened to the story about her husband. "Wait...you're married?" he asked with obvious surprise in his voice. Well, surprise and disappointment. There was a selfish part of him which secretly wanted to have Galespie all to himself, but the mention of her husband temporarily crushed his fantasy.

"Was...past tense." Taryn said with a small gulp. "Gerald...he died about a year ago." She admitted. She didn't tell many people about Gerald. She turned towards Banks. "Don't say sorry...I hate when people say that." She pointed at him as she spoke with a smile on her face.

He had opened his mouth to say just that, but quickly closed it when she pointed at him. Instead, he put his large hand on her thigh and stroked it, then gave it a soft squeeze of reassurance. He wasn't sure what to say and didn't want to make the situation awkward, so instead he gazed at her for a long moment and scooted closer to her. "So...you're single, I'm guessing?"

"As in...am I dating someone?" Taryn started with a flirty grin. "No...I am single." She looked down at where his hand was resting on her leg. It was nice to have physical contact again. She looked him in the eye again. "Not much opportunity to date when everyone knew your husband and most of the people you knew were on the away mission with him." she gave him a smile. "It is part of the reason I transfer to the Venture." She paused for a minute. "How about you? Some special girl out there?"

Shaking his head, he leaned back in the couch and let out another quiet sigh. "No, not at the moment. Been kind of preoccupied with work and to be honest, I don't often meet a lot of women on the job. Except you, of course." he grinned, then took a long final swig of his whiskey and emptied the glass. "You're very beautiful...for a security officer." he winked.

"Ah...there you go with the qualification." Taryn said with a mocking incredulous tone to her voice. "Is that like saying that I am beautiful for a Tholian?" She laughed elbowing him slightly as she settled in next to him. She was enjoying having another person in close proximity.

"Well if it makes you feel better, if you were a Tholian I would probably date you." he teased while also noticing her inviting body language. He took the opportunity to snake his arm around her shoulders. "You know, I've liked you since you came on board Venture...it's too bad that it took such a disaster for us to actually start talking more."

"I'll take it." Taryn said simply. She scooted against Banks as his arm wrapped around her. Her hand moved to his thigh just about his knee. "I didn't even think you noticed me when I came on board." She said nonchalantly. "I think I would have noticed if you had...uh...noticed."

"Yea...I can be kind of flaky sometimes." he admitted. "But now you know." he rubbed her upper arm while feeling her warmth pressingly close to him. Unable to resist the urge, he reached over with his other hand and tilted her chin up, then leaned down and gave her a slow kiss on the lips.

Taryn didn't shy away from the kiss like she thought she might have. The last person to have kissed her was her husband, but this was nothing like that. She returned the kiss, pressing her hand against his leg she pressed herself upwards against him. She enjoyed kissing him.

Vernon closed his eyes and let out a deep breath through his nose against her cheek, then parted his lips and slipped his tongue gently into her mouth and began to make out with her. The excitement and relief of finally kissing the woman whom he had had his eyes on for the past week was extremely pleasant and relaxing. Slowly and with much affection for his fellow security officer, he lapped and rubbed his tongue against hers, tasting the distinctive flavor of the lemon drop martini which he had procured her earlier.

Taryn let out a little sigh as the kiss deepened. Her hand moved to rest on his chest as she let him move closer to her. Her heart raced...suddenly a little thought crept into her head. When she realized where she was, where they were she pushed back against his chest where her hand rested. "I can't..." She whispered.

Looking down into her blue eyes with a perplexed look, Vernon frowned as he attempted to discern what was wrong. "You can't?" he finally wondered out loud, repeating her words. Everything had seemed to be going so well between them, but it appeared that Taryn had just had a sudden change of heart, and he had no idea why.

Taryn let out a little giggle at the look on his face. "Not what I meant," She started with an amused look on her face. "I want to...I like kissing you." She blushed slightly as she said it. "Just not here"

He glanced around and noticed a few crew members glancing at them in their cuddled state, and realized the meaning behind her words. He had not been paying much attention to his surroundings -- not very security officer-like -- and quickly realized that despite the vacant nature of the mess hall, it was probably not the best place for the two of them to begin forming an intimate relationship. Whatever that meant.

"Yea, I think you're right." he grinned back at her with a bit of relief, knowing her hesitancy was simply a result of their public displays of affection. "Your quarters?" he whispered.

"I guess we have too..." Taryn said with an amused smile. "Your quarters sound a little...crowded." She spoke as she recalled his statement earlier when they were at the gym. "When ever you are ready." She motioned towards the exit since he had her sorta pinned into the booth.

"Let's go," he replied, then leaned back in one more time to give her a light kiss on her lips. He scooted himself out from the side of the booth and stood up, then offered his hand to her to help her up. "Lead the way."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

WO Vernon Banks
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Venture
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

PO1 Taryn Galepsie
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Venture
NPC'd by Tarishiana Barel

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