The Touch of Your Hand

Posted on 20 Jan 2014 @ 9:32am by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson & Ensign K'os Beaumont

1,888 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: San Francisco/Nusa Lembongan, Earth
Timeline: MD 18 - 1630 hrs

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Ellsworth was practically bouncing around the transporter pad waiting on K'os to arrive for their trip. He had to admit, even in his excitement, that he may have gotten a little carried away with himself. His research had turned up some place called Bali on the other side of the ocean from San Francisco. He'd further narrowed it down to an island called Nusa Lembongan off the coast of South Bali - it was remote, tranquil and looked beautiful: sparkling blue waters, white sand, coral reefs. It reminded him of some of the more beautiful spots on Risa, but those had always been crowded. Nusa Lembongan promised to be sparsely populated.

He'd managed to find a beachfront cottage with a thatched roof that looked simple and picturesque; in his mind he'd envisioned laying in a hammock on the cottage's veranda watching the sunset while sipping on something boozy and tropical.

When he finally spotted K'os he began jumping up and down in place and waving excitedly. When the younger man got close enough Ellsworth practically rushed him. He nearly grabbed his hand to pull him along but at the last minute pulled back, remembering the whole touch telepath thing.

"K'os! It's going to be so amazing! It's beautiful! I can't wait to see it. I booked a place to stay, but you don't have to stay if you don't want to stay," Ellsworth gushed. "I mean, don't feel obligated. But it has two beds, if you want to stay. And the food is supposed to be so good. And there's surfing at Shipwreck break and diving at Jackfish Point and..."

It was hard not to get caught up in Ellsworth's excitement. Everything he listed sounded amazing and exactly what he needed. He would have been fine on his own in San Francisco, but he hated being alone and Ellsworth seemed enthusiastic about having him around. So, after a deep breath, K'os gave him his best smile, "All of that sounds wonderful, Ells." He agreed.

Ellsworth grinned in response. He grabbed the baggage from K'os in one hand, snagged his own in the other and hopped up on the transporter pad. His body was coursing with nervous energy that he was trying very hard (and probably failing) not to radiate out around him.

"Okay! So," he said, dropping his voice to a whisper, "I got the transporter guy to agree to transport us directly to the resort on Nusa Lembongan. I guess he's not s'posed to, I dunno." Grinning, he turned and nodded his head at the officer manning the transporter controls, who in turn gave Ellsworth a slightly amorous smile. "Here we go!"

He lurched forward as if literally being pulled by Ellsworth's excitement. He felt his own excitement rise up from the fluttering in his stomach. The feelings would, if left unchecked, spiral quickly from elation to ecstasy and he suddenly felt a little nervous. His past experiences with people who were uncomfortable with his hyper-emotionalism or who became distant after a mood swing tugged at his insecurities. Normally, K'os would have dulled his feelings of excitement but it was somewhat liberating to see someone feel something unrestrained. So as his feet hit the transporter pad he allowed the feelings of happiness and excitement wash over him drowning out his anxiety.

Ellsworth could hear and smell the beach before he could see it. What was early evening in San Francisco was early morning the next day on Nusa Lembongan, and he could actually feel the sun on his skin. No more fog. No more clouds. Just sunshine and surf. For a long moment, he kept his eyes closed and enjoyed the warmth, the smell of seaweed and the rushing sound of the ocean waves crashing against the break just off shore.

When he opened his eyes, he shouldered his bag and nearly took up K'os's hand again. He winced back and frowned.

"I'm so sorry if I ever touch you," he admitted. "I'm...touchy. I can't help it. Especially when I get excited. But I know it's not always great, y'know?"

"I..." K'os trailed off as he considered his words. He stared into his black eyes, collecting his thoughts. He then looked at his hand as if the answer would be written on his palm. "I will be direct. Many telepaths have told me that my touch makes them uncomfortable. It invades their privacy." He let that sink in. "My experience indicates that the effect differs from each person, but the one constant is that touching my hands for longer than a brief moment is enough to make a connection." He looked out at the water and was struck by it's beauty. "I can't control it." He said simply.

While K'os was looking out over the water, Ellsworth rolled his eyes. Vulcans could be so dramatic it was a wonder their performing arts weren't more widely regarded. He readjusted his bag into a more secure position on his right shoulder and then reached out, grabbing the half-Vulcan's hand and pulling him toward what he thought was their resort.

"Oh, just c'mon! Besides, I dunno if you noticed, but I'm not too worried about privacy."

Every step across the warm sand seemed to grow more and more difficult. His mind was obviously getting confused; it felt like Ellsworth's legs were not only having to move his own body across the sand but also someone else. Eventually, he came to recognize the growing telepathic connection and stopped, turning to face K'os. For a human or some other species not accustomed to the sensation, their initial feeling may have been wanting to wretch. And although it had been a long time since Ellsworth had communicated with anyone telepathically, the feeling was just slightly unfamiliar but not yet unpleasant for him. Just...crowded.

K'os?

The question seemed to stretch out across a canyon. The connection itself seemed to be growing stronger but Ellsworth didn't release his hand; the sensation of suppressed emotions was growing but if anything it began to feel like intimacy to the Betazoid. Not meaning anything overtly sexual by it, Ellsworth allowed his thumb to brush affectionately along his friend's thumb. Feeling the bond grow as they approached some sort of event horizon, he tried to push sensitive thoughts out of his mind: his casual sexual attraction to the other petty officer, a sordid past on Risa, abandonment and loss on Betazed. In doing so, he hoped - in vain - that he wasn't in fact just drawing attention to those details.

K'os worked to control his breathing. It had become rapid as the images flowed from Ellsworth's mind. He felt his own thoughts mingling. A Vulcan child calling him a half-breed, the doctor that had worked on his mother saying, 'I'm sorry', and holding his newborn baby brother. Out of reflex, K'os's mind banished his negative thoughts away. He dug deep within and breathed like he'd been taught. He cultivated the feelings of happiness, and not knowing what effect this would have on Ellsworth he allowed himself to feel contentment and a sense of peace. He continued to stare into those black eyes wondering if Ellsworth was ever going to let go. Did K'os want him to let him go?

Ellsworth's grip remained firm, though he dimly acknowledged that he could let go whenever he wanted. He couldn't stand there on the Indonesian beach holding K'os's hand forever. But then, what was forever anyway? The concept suddenly seemed to take on a foreign meaning; time wasn't so fast-moving and linear now.

Unfortunately, the Betazoid had no comparable mental discipline. It felt like he had a handful of sand that he was fruitlessly struggling to keep contained, though it never ceased slipping between his fingers. Thus, his memories and emotions kept flowing, though they took on a happier tone as a result of Ko's's control: excitement about the holiday; the initial thrill of sneaking aboard a transport bound for Risa; the heady nervousness when attaching his thumbprint to enlistment papers; a growing but almost dangerous feeling of attachment to this experience that threatened to become addiction.

For all the sand slipping through his own fingers, it wasn't entirely a one-way street. If he wasn't already used to his own sometimes wild emotions, he doubted he'd have been able to handle the experience. But Ellsworth had a capacity for the extreme, so at first he merely accepted the torrent from his hybrid friend as an empty vessel and then later wondered where it had all gone once control had been reasserted. It seemed an impossible feat, something totally beyond his own ability to calm himself. Was that what Vulcans were like all the time?

A bag fell onto the beach, and Ellsworth brought his now empty left hand up to the side of K'os's face to cup his cheek in gentle affection, wonderment and pity. Every neuron felt like it was firing - was this what it was like to be electrocuted? Was that why he couldn't bring himself to let go?

You feel so much.

A split second later Ellsworth broke the connection, though it was hard to tell if it was an actual split second or an hour; immediately, he collapsed onto the warm sand and fell back on to his butt. He stared up at K'os, dumbfounded.

"Was that what love feels like?" Ellsworth asked quietly with all the childlike wonderment of a new experience. He was naive enough in matters of the heart to not even know how foolish he probably sounded, nor did he have a baseline for such an intimate experience.

The young hybrid just stood, with his hand still slightly outstretched as if still reaching for Ellsworth. He could feel the connection slowly dissolve into a tingling sensation in his finger tips. He pursed his lips together in a goofy grin and shrugged his shoulders slightly. He had no answer for Ellsworth. He took another deep breath as he felt exhaustion that always followed such experience, though this time it felt different.

"No one has held on for that long." He explained. While he'd made brief connections with other telepaths before they always broke it after the initial flood of emotions. This was a new experience. He knew his control would suffer until he rested but mood swings be damned. After looking down at the Betazoid he broke out into a smile and laughed. It was loud, and full of happiness. He bent forward and with one hand, pulled Ellsworth back on to his feet forgetting briefly about his hybrid strength.

Ellsworth laughed, too, as he was effortlessly lifted to his feet. He had no idea why he was laughing, but it definitely felt appropriate to do so.

K'os scooped up both bags and started to run in the direction Ellsworth had been pulling them. "I have swimsuits to showoff!" he shouted happily. Glancing back to see if his friend was coming.

Ellsworth stared off at the water for a moment, seeing the colors of the world as if they were saturated, and then whirled around. "Hey, wait up! Me, too!"

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PO3 K'os Beaumont
M/E Systems Specialist
USS Galileo

&

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo

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