Turbolift Trouble

Posted on 03 Nov 2013 @ 7:46am by Petty Officer 1st Class Taryn Galepsie & Commander Luke Wyatt

2,415 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3/2 - Turbolift
Timeline: MD05 - 1736

ON:

Boring days didn't quiet cut it when it came to this ship, its not that there wasn't anything to do but with the Borg looming over them like a shadow he didn't feel as if he should be doing anything but counting down the seconds until they spring an ambush. Entering the turbo lift Luke rested his head on the wall for a moment before blindly pressing the control panel "Deck 2" He said and the acknowledgement beep buzzed just before the door's closed he could hear footsteps coming from down the corridor and sticking he leg in the way he held the lift.

Taryn was thankful to be back on the duty roster. At least that is what she told herself every time she put on her golden Uniform. Being on the beta shift made the transition that much easier. what didn't make the transition easy were the encounters between Banks and the Marine . She knew she was allowed to move on, to develop a life after Gerald . It just didn't seem fair.

Stopping abruptly outside the lift , Taryn was a bit confused to see the foot holding the door open . It was more the door being open rather than the foot that threw her. Stepping onto the lift She called out for deck 2 before turning to the owner of the foot, "Than ..., Luke!?!" She stammered .

Luke had his eyes closed most of the time until a familiar voice broke the silent of the room stumbling somewhat as she shouted his name. He quickly regained himself and looked at her puzzled "Oh... Taryn" He looked to the door "I can get the next one" But as he walked towards the door it slammed shut in front of him. The turbo lift began to move but stopped abruptly and the room turned black for an instant before glowing a tingy red. "Ah"

"So much for the not letting it get weird thing," Taryn Stated as she remained with her back against the turbo lift wall. She had only reacted the way she had because she had just been thinking about him. Looking around the lift as the red eerie glow filled the small space. "Perfect.""

Luke tried prying the door open before reply to Taryn, as much as he wasn't the awkward kind of guy this was defiantly up there in the top three of awkward situation. Turning around after his defeat he tried a smile. "You got that right huh? Is it me or is getting cold in here to?" He asked feeling the hairs on his arms slowly flex outwards.

"I think it is just you." Taryn replied easily as she watched Luke for a minute. The temperature seemed fine but if she let her mind focus on it she could almost feel the temperature change. "So what do we do now? "

Luke shrugged before tapping his Comm's badge "Engineering this is Gunny Sergeant Wyatt Why have the turbolifts stopped?" but there was no reply trying again and still nothing he rolled his eyes "Must be some sort of interference or something" He wanted to sit down but between them there would have been some sort of Bodily contact and that's the last thing they needed right now. "Sooo, How are you?" He asked awkwardly.

"Fine..." Taryn started as she adjusted her stance slightly. The pressure she was putting on her sore shoulder was getting uncomfortable. She let out a sigh. "How about you, Luke?" She started as an attempt to extend an olive branch. They had agreed to try to not let what had happened in the shuttle bay cause problems.

"You know, the usual" He said trying his hardest he noticed her discomfort "You're shoulder, it still hurts?" It was a genuine concern, he didn't know what it was about her but he felt compelled to either kiss her or totally ignore her.

"Just a little sore." Taryn admitted as she pulled her arm across her chest to stretch it out. "I think yesterday was a little more then I should have done after surgery." She laughed. It was easy to grin when she was around Luke, but she did her best to keep it in check.

"That smile again" Noted matching it with his own, "I don't even know why I feel so anxious to be around you" He admitted, he hoped the light red glow his his cheeks pink colour.

Taryn nodded in understanding. She felt much the same way, although she could feel the waves of anxiousness slowly receding. "I guess neither of us are doing a good job at pretending yesterday didn't happen." She stated with a grin before shifting her weight as she fidgeted slightly.

"Nope, I actually cant stop thinking about it! I mean its completely crazy right?" He asked watching her fidget the whole look she was giving was just completely overwhelming him and despite his best efforts he couldn't stop staring into her eyes.

"Yeah tell me about it." Taryn said with a shake of her head. "It's the reason I freaked when I saw you on the lift." She started, unsure she wanted to admit further. "There I was just thinking about you and you magically appeared...The whole speak of the devil as they say." She smiled.

Luke frowned "You was urm... Thinking about me? What exactly was you thinking?" He said an evil sort of smile grew on his face as if to say 'Oh yeah?'.

"Not what you think." Taryn started with a laugh. She shook her head as she watched him for a moment. "Was thinking about how much easier my life would be if I could manage to avoid you." She looked down at her where her fingers were intertwined. "And then I got stuck in a lift with you" The last bit was in a light teasing tone.

"Oh, I'm not to happy either" He met her tone with his "I was just minding my own business and them wham enter Taryn" He joked flicking his tows at hers. "Way to ruin a perfectly good day"

"Right?!?" Taryn started with an incredulous laugh. She let out a sigh as her eyes locked on Luke's. She hated the pull she had towards him. It was wrong and it was stupid. "Sorry, I ruined your day." Her tone was serious as she spoke, almost apologetic.

"Oh come on, I didn't mean it like that" He quickly snapped trying to hold his tongue. He was trying his best to make the situation as comfortable as possible but she was impossible herself.

"I know...I know you didn't mean it." Taryn replied. "Doesn't change the fact that I feel a little bad." She crossed her arm in front of her clutching her elbow. "Don't mind me." She flashed him her best smile.

Luke felt a little upset, and after a minute of silence he finally broke "I hate this, we need to sort this out" He finally said looking at her with those eyes of his.

"Sure...sort away." Taryn said a little flippant. "I certainly have no idea what to think about all of this." She moved her hand in a generalize sweeping motion. "Seems like we will be here for a while...so where would you like to start?"

He shrugged angrily "I don't know at the beginning when this all started in the shuttle bay, I mean obviously we have feelings" He suggested . It was true he did like Taryn but there was just some sort of mental block between them.

"We can't just chalk it up to heat of the moment?" Taryn asked. She sank to the ground. She had a feeling there was more too it, but that didn't mean she wanted to admit it or talk about it. "I can't shake the feeling that nothing good will come from this." She started motioning between the two of them. She pulled her arm across her chest again trying to release some of the tension. She let out a sigh. "So...lets see...I kissed you...you kissed me...then we had a series of awkward moments."

He cocked his head as if to accept the basic jist of it "If it was that simple then why are we trying avoid each other? And thinking about it?"he returned the gesture she have between them. "Let's just leave it at that then shall we?"

Taryn chuckled," I can't explain your reason but I understand mine."She grinned continuing just the same. "This time last year I was happily married. I had a great posting and Gerald had just been promoted to XO . Then one day it was all gone. "She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Don't let this go to your head,but you are the first since Gerald I have had any connection with, the first friend I have made.That is terrifying ."

Luke's stomach twisted he hadn't thought if she was already attached to someone "I... Urm I'm sorry Taryn, I didn't think" He avoided eye contact with her for a second before looking back up "Abbey's mum, my ex wife died just before this posting" He didn't know why he had felt like telling her that but if she was brave enough to share her past with him the least he could was return the favour.

Without thinking Taryn reached out and touched him. She simply placed her hand on his Foot to convey her sympathy. She let out a breath as she pulled her hand back, "See I knew I was reading too much into ... everything lately "she smiled up at him.

"Seem's we both have suffered loss lately" he considered scooting closer to Taryn but stopped himself instead he shifted his weight onto one bum cheek. "This has kinda worked out in a little way"

"Oh yeah..." Taryn replied with a laughing grin. "...And how is that?"

"Well we both know more about each other, there's no tension between us well at least not any negative tension and I do like spending time with you even if we haven't spent a great deal but I feel like you're among a handful of people I fully understand"

"Good clarification..." Taryn joked about the tension between them. "I have to be honest, I don't know where that leaves...uh...us." She fidgeted slightly, shifting her weight to be a little further from him. She was so unsure of everything at this point and this whole being trapped in a turbolift didn't help.

Luke frowned slightly at her movement but shrugged it off and produced a light hearted smile "I am going to let you decide that one but even if we don't have long urm... together maybe it would be. Nice?"

"You can't smile at me like that." Taryn said as a matching grin crossed her lips. "You smile at me like that and all I can think about is kissing you." It took all her will power to not look down as she kept her eyes one his.

"Hey! You cant go blaming me for looking this good and having a smile to die for" He winked teasingly kicking her leg with his foot softly. "Besides you can't do that either, telling me you want to kiss me and starring into my eyes!" He frowned at her squinting his eyes, whilst looking at hers jokingly before sticking his tongue.

"I didn't say I wanted to kiss you." Taryn joked returning his playful kick. "I said that it makes me think about kissing you, as in what happened in the shuttle bay." She pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she realized that she did in fact want to kiss him.

Luke scooted over crossing his arms and leaned in as if they were watching something "So you think about kissing me?" He teased further holding back laughter. After the whole shuttle bay incident Luke had tried just about anything to get Taryn out of his head but it just seemed to get worst and now they were both stuck inside a turbolift.

Hoping to appear unphased, which she wasn't, Taryn kept her eyes locked on Luke's. "Yes..." She responded simply. "A lot more then I would like, being honest." She leaned forward closing the gap between them. "Am I alone on this? Or do you think about me too?"

"I think its easy to say that I do to" He admitted bluntly, the warmth of her body against his was comforting, closing his eyes he rested his head on the wall taking in the moment.

Taryn felt a shiver run though her. Whether or not it was the temperature in the lift she wouldn't admit. "Good..." Taryn said with a laugh. "I would be sad if I were the only crazy one." She joked. She watched him for a moment before reaching out and lightly touching his face with her fingers. She pulled back slightly once she realized what she had done.

Smiling before opening his eye's Luke reached out and took her hand placing it on her lap and holding it for a moment. "No more awkwardness?" He offered sincerely.

"Ha, that is never going to happen. I am always awkward." Taryn joked looking down at where Luke held her hand. "But, I won't try to avoid you...the opposite actually." She paused for a second, returning to chewing on her bottom lip. "I find myself wanting to spend more time with you." She finally looked back up at him after her confession.

Luke squeezed her hand gently "Then between now and whatever time we have we shall make the most of it, whether as friends or just a summer romance" He didn't like calling it that but he knew that Taryn wished to leave the Galileo as soon as she could despite the fact she had said she wasn't sure.

Taryn couldn't help but smile. She liked that idea. She had known that the Galileo wasn't where she was going to stay, but that had been before she met Luke. He didn't change her mind but he did give her pause. "Agreed." She said softly gave him a kiss on the cheek. That was as much as she trusted herself in that moment.

OFF:

PO1 Taryn Galespie
Security Officer
USS Galileo

Gunnery Sergeant Luke Wyatt
Marine Liaison
USS Galileo

RSS Feed