Truth Or Consequences

Posted on 19 Jan 2014 @ 9:06pm by Ensign K'os Beaumont & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov
Edited on on 20 Jan 2014 @ 5:33am

2,052 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet Academy grounds
Timeline: MD 17 - 1320

[ON]

Keval's visit to the counselor had been interesting, but not really helpful. He would just have to find some other way to put the incident with the Betazoid behind him.

He'd tried painting, which almost always worked but that hadn't helped much either. He had finally decided on free climbing. Spider Rock was his first choice, but there was a waiting list and it would be another day and a half before a space would open up, So in the mean time he decided jogging would be a good way to vent some of his frustrations. Well, not jogging, more like sprinting.

He was running , for all he was worth around the Persidio and onto the grounds of Star Fleet Academy. He failed to notice another pedestrian and had to swerve violently to one side to avoid a collision.

The pedestrian, a very surprised Vulcan hybrid shot his arms up as if he were being mugged. Not because he was afraid for himself, but it looked like the Andorian might fall and he was concerned for his safety.

Keval indeed found himself dangerously close to colliding with a tree or falling towards the ground, so he reached out and grabbed the half-Vulcans arm for support.

He did just manage to avoid making a bad situation worse by dragging them both to the ground or into a tree."

"I'm sorry," he said, his cheeks flushing a deep blue. "I had my head up my a.. I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?"

"Unscathed." He confirmed while his mind worked to dull down the feelings of panic and fear. After a moment he realized he was still holding the other man's arm. He let it go and quickly spun to face who ever was apparently chasing the man.

Keval glanced behind him as well expecting to find a Fleet Admiral or raging Romulan that might have caused the hybrid officer's rather attractive eyes to widen. Finding no one there, he put two and two together. "Sorry again, I'm just running because I'm pissed not scared. I'm Keval Grayson by the way."

K'os laughed and spun back around. "I'm very glad to hear that, Keval Grayson." He rolled his mind over those words and reconsidered, "I'm glad that you're not being pursed rather, not that you're upset. I'm K'os Beaumont." He wore slim tan pants, and plain grey t shirt. He carried a beaten up leather satchel over his shoulder. "Why are you pissed?" He asked curiously.

The Andorian, wearing grey exercise shorts and a black t-shirt that would have been soaked in sweat had he been Human paused before answering, not wanting to reveal too much to this obviously very un-Vulcan, Vulcan,

"Mostly at myself for using poor judgement and letting the wrong head do the thinking."

He clasped his hands behind his back and thought about that for a moment. "Is this an Andorian custom? A form of self-flagellation?"

"Not exactly,"he admitted, "Just a personal one. No so much self-flagellation as you put it. I just figured if I exhausted myself, I'd get my mind thinking about other things. But I think I've just managed to make myself hungry."

K'os nodded as if that was the expected outcome he would have predicted. Noting the lack of sweat he still pulled a water bottle out of his bag and offered him some. It was unfortunate that something would be bothering someone so much that they had to drive themselves to exhaustion not to feel it. He felt guilty that he was able to so quickly dash these feelings from his own mind. Choosing whether to feel them or not. It comes at a price, he reminded himself.

Keval took the bottle gratefully and drank it down in three gulps. He managed to get most of it in his mouth, only a trickle at the end that rolled from his chin to his shirt.

"Hey, are you hungry? There's a great place for noodles, if you like those and its not far. I'l buy you dinner.Its the lest I can do for almost knocking you over. By the way. My curiosity is piqued. What's in the satchel.""

"A gift for Memere Beaumont. It's her birthday." He gave a grin at the thought of seeing the old woman again. He thought Keval's offer over. It was certainly very generous of him. He seemed genuine enough, and if he had any other motives other than buying him a meal he couldn't pick up on it. He liked the man's smile, and couldn't think of a better way to pass the time till his memere's party. "Let's find this noodle place." He agreed.

"So are you talking about your grandmother? I'm sorry the term is unfamiliar to me." He asked he turned back the direction he had come. "Have you ever had noodles before?"

"Memere is a french word, comes from a Terran language." K'os fell into step beside him. "And yes, I've had noodles before. I was born here, on Earth that is. Do you go to the Academy?"

Keval grinned at that remark, "Not now, but thanks for thinking I'm that young. I graduated here about three or four years ago, went to a couple of other schools before that, what about you?"

"Enlisted." He stated. He took another look at Keval and tried to guess his age again. He seemed young, but he was so bad at guessing ages. "You serve on a ship then?" He asked again skillfully directing the conversation back towards the other man.

"Yes and by the way I'm enlisted too. Star Fleet just wanted me to take a few courses here, so I could become familiar with their protocol I'm an operations officer on board the Galileo..

K'os raised both his rounded eyebrows and widened his eyes making him look more shocked then he was. "Oh we'll be working closely together then. I'm awaiting transfer to the Galileo as a M/E Systems Specialist." He smiled. Everyone he's met so far on the Galileo have been attractive and have asked him to eat with them. He imagined the ship full of supermodels eating together in the ships galley. He chuckled at the image, as if forgetting he wasn't alone.

"Wow that's great. I am actually a communications and security systems guy. And yeah we will be seeing a lot of each other." he was equally as surprised at K'os revelation and didn't bother hiding it.

"Well then, since we are going to be shipmates and I'm taking care of dinner. You can cover the drinks later. If there is later that is."

K'os was usually oblivious to most forms of flirting, but a dinner offer and drinks later? He knew where that could lead. A friend on the Mississippi wondered once if he was purposefully dense in that department but K'os just didn't do subtle very well. It ended up over his head. Not that he wasn't willing. He'd had many sexual partners before; both men and women. He smiled suddenly as the memory of the Hermat twins rose to the surface. K'os just didn't like getting involved personally. It was a conscious decision not to allow feelings for someone to develop. It was just...safer that way. He smiled at Keval, wondering how long he'd spent collecting his thoughts. He perceived time differently in his head than others. "I have plans to visit my grandmother." He reminded the Andorian, though his tone conveyed that it wasn't out of the question.

"I did remember that. but you didn't say when." he intoned as they paused, waiting to cross the street to the restaurant."Why don't we grab something here and maybe meet up later I'll let you pick the place. I'm up for somewhere we can dance. Assuming you dance and with guys, or just some place we can hold a conversation."

K'os tensed as they approached the street. His cheeks flushed as he swallowed a flash a panic. He chastised himself for not preparing for that sooner and began watching the hovercars go by with a mild look of contempt before crossing the street during a break in traffic. The memory that came this time was just auditory thankfully. Emergency sirens By the time he opened the door for Keval the usual smile was back on his face. "Do you find such places fun?" He asked in response.

Keval thought he saw something in K'os's demeanor shift, but the couldn't be sure and so didn't push it.

"Bars you mean? Well to be honest I'd rather be painting or doing something outdoors, or even playing around in the holodeck. But I do like dancing and just people watching too. Besides if I were just to invite you to my place you might think I had ulterior motives, or that I was trying to get in your pants."

"Your assertion is incorrect, Keval." He said quickly. Then smiled warmly, "My pants wouldn't fit you." He chuckled at his little joke then considered the Andorian's words more carefully before slowing to a stop. "I will be direct." His smile remained warm and genuine. "I agreed to dinner because you and I will be serving on the same ship and I want to get to know you more. I don't have motives beyond that." He mouthed 'one moment' to the hostess that had come to stand in front of them waiting to seat them. He turned back to his new colleague, and smiled. If they were all this good looking, he was happy doing menial tasks around the Galileo anytime. "Let's eat. Then you can invite me to one of those things you mentioned that you'd rather do." He raised his eyebrows, cocked his head and pursed his lips in a 'how-does-that-sound' sort of way.

"That works, and really, I was being facetious. The last thing that I want to do now is invite someone back to my place. Not after what happened to me."

He stopped speaking long enough for their host to seat them, then continued. "I'm a friendship, relationship kind of guy usually. I can flirt with the best of them, but going further than that, it's just not part of my game plan."

So you have a deal. Have you ever free climbed? I'm doing that tomorrow. If not, maybe something in the holo-deck."

K'os placed an elbow on the table and cradled his chin in his hand looking at the Andorian with raised eyebrows. "And what is it about free climbing you like, Keval?"

Keval's eyes lit as he started talking "Well part of it the thrill of it. But mostly it's a challenge. Just me and the mountain Its different the path you take, the wind, the weather, even the mountain itself can change.

And you have to be focused. One tiny mistake can be deadly. I guess it boils down to it being a challenge and I love to challenge myself. But what about you, you still didn't answer my question.'

K'os got great enjoyment out of listening to people speak about things that interest them. He was fascinated by anyone that had a skill that he didn't possess and could listen to them talk about it at great length. Especially if the thing they spoke about brought them happiness or contentment. "No, I've never free climbed before." He straightened back up as the waitress came and took their order. When she left, he put his chin back in his hand again. He had a habit of lifting his eyebrows in such a way that made it seem as though his full attention was on the speaker. "It sounds terrifying." He said it almost like a question.

"It can be but that is part of what makes it fun. Spider Rock isn't for beginners even just regular climbing, I'll show you in the holodeck sometime if you're interested. In the meantime, I've got a holodeck program I've come up with that combines survival and cat and mouse.

We could try it after your party.

K'os straightened up. "Now that, Keval, sounds like a wonderful plan."

[OFF]

Chief Petty Officer Keval Grayon
Operations
USS Galileo
&

PO3 K'os Beaumont
Matter/Energy Systems Specialist
USS Galileo

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