Taking a Breath

Posted on 21 Nov 2014 @ 2:10pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc.

2,241 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Compartment 2926 JO
Timeline: MD -24 - 1900 hours

[ON]

The mood was ready. The twinkle of stars and candle-light were what illuminated the quarters shared by Corynn'tha and Andreus Kohl. The main room was all but empty, except for furniture and art. The floor was tidy, and the beds were neatly made up. The sound of soft, stringed-instrumental music filled the room. The LCARS displays were blissfully dark, keeping thoughts and reminders of duty far away.

The table was set. Corynn'tha was nowhere to be seen, but the table was set for two. A pair of plates atop chargers, a pair of wine glasses, a pair of water glasses, and enough utensils to feed an army. Cloth napkins were folded into intricate designs. Despite the mass of dining accoutrement, the table setting was laid neatly and orderly, without maniacal precision.

The man was good to go. Andreus wasn't terribly precious about clothing, which meant he never traveled with, nor stored much of it. He was always comfortable in his uniform when he was out in the ship, but it wasn't his first choice of loungewear in his own quarters. Although he would have preferred wearing shorts or something with less sleeves, Kohl didn't believe he should appear overly-familiar with Elijah. He still couldn't be sure if he had crossed a line with Elijah the other day. Which is why Andreus entered the main living room dressed in a clean uniform. When the entryway chimed, he didn't hesitate to say, "Enter."

Elijah hadn't really thought about what to wear to this dinner. He truly wasn't sure what to expect. In fact, he had been surprised that Andreus had invited him so soon after talking about having dinner together. Typically his off-duty wear was jeans, a thermal, tee, or henley and a hoodie. He had a feeling that would be too dressed down. Yet, he didn't want to wear his uniform so he had decided on a pair of black trousers a white button down, a solid black tie just loosely tied and over the shirt a button vest that was black and gray.

It didn't take him long, a few feet actually, to get to the other man's quarters. In hand he held a bottle of red wine. He didn't really know much about wine so he just chose a simple pinot. At the door he took a deep breath and blew it out slowly then rang the chime and within moments the doors parted and Elijah stepped into Andreus' quarters. The compartment was immaculate, the table was elegant and the soft music was relaxing and frankly a nice touch... and he noticed Andreus was in his uniform. "Hello," he said as he stepped forward and the doors closed behind him.

"Elijah, hullo," Kohl said brightly, and he followed it up with, "Please come in." He swept a hand towards the living area: the sofa and the dining table. Kohl had been about to remove the jacket from his uniform, but he took notice of Elijah's vest and tie. In his head, Kohl debated if dressing-down to his tunic would be too casual, but he didn't let it show. "How are you tonight?" Kohl asked.

Elijah stepped further into the main area, left hand clenched tightly around the bottle neck of the wine. "I'm doing alright, how about yourself?" He continued to step closer toward the immaculate table. He couldn't believe how good the place looked.

"Uhm," was all Kohl could say at first. His gaze drifted off into the middle-distance between them. He had to think about that, really think about it, as if he had never considered that Elijah might ask that in response. When Kohl met Elijah's eyes again, he stepped towards the younger man, and said, "Comfortably numb, I suppose. I can't entirely make sense of how I feel about Lyshan Three.. about... everything..."

"Comfortably numb? Now that's an interesting way of putting it," Elijah said. He had never heard anyone say 'comfortably numb' as a way to describe how they felt. Numb, sure, but never comfortably. "I... I think that is the general consensus of the away team. So much happened so fast and I believe it's going to take a while to make sense of any of it." Elijah just wanted to put it out of his mind, though he knew that was going to be easier said then done. But, he was good at burying the bad, this was probably going to be no different... probably. He blew out a breath and smiled then handed over the wine bottle. "But tonight, we are supposed to forget about all that, right?"

Accepting the bottle in his right hand, Kohl lifted it up, and he said, "You brought the forgetting juice. This will be half the battle." And he chuckled, but only briefly. Kohl placed the bottle on the dining table, and patted Elijah on the back of his shoulder. "Have you put any thought into how you're going to spend your shore leave?"

Elijah shook his head. "I haven't really thought that far ahead," he said. He was just glad to put Lyshan Three and the Tribbles behind him. "I think I might relax mostly, take in the sights of the starbase I suppose. I want to try and contact my brothers. What about yourself? Any plans?"

"No, nothing yet," Kohl said. Between the way his posture closed in on himself, and the halting timbre of his voice, it was no secret that Kohl was embarrassed about that fact. He opened the wine bottle, took a whiff of the wine, and poured two glasses. "Between the installation of the new deflector system and the travel time it would take, I don't think we'll make it to Argelius this time around."

Elijah wasn't surprised or disappointed by this information. He actually hadn't expected a shoreleave so soon into his tour of duty on the Galileo, he certainly didn't expect to go to Argelius so soon either. "That's okay," he replied and waved it off with his hand. "What we have been through, it's just nice to get off the ship and relax a little." He looked to the immaculate table then back to Andreus. "We get to relax enough to have a nice meal."

At that, Andreus made his way to the replicator and ordered the first course by its filename to keep the ingredient list secret. Two bowls of thick almond-coloured soup materialized in the compartment, and Kohl carried them over to the table. "Do you think you'll take a break," Kohl asked, "from all of your research?"

Elijah nodded his head as he took a seat at the table. "Research can wait. I plan to relax and hangout. I've been working hard for the past seven years, I deserve a break."

"I will drink to that. You most certainly deserve a break," Kohl said, and he raised his wine glass as he did so. Kohl brought the glass to his lips then, and took his first sip of the wine. "How's your shell doing?" asked Kohl, referring to their conversation of the other day, when Elijah had spoken about his life-long practice of keeping his internal life fiercely internalized. "Any more cracks along the edge?"

Elijah nodded and idly scratched as his sideburn. "There are some huge, mega sized cracks," he stated. He took a hold of his own wine glass and stared at it for a moment then set it down and gave his full attention back to the other man. "I'm feeling... free." His eyes widened at his own admission as if it was some dirty, dark secret that he shouldn't have even let pass his lips. "This whole ordeal on Lyshan Three changed me somehow, but for the better. I learned a lot about myself, what I was capable of."

Raising a spoon, Kohl stirred it into his soup. He quietly slurped down a few spoonfuls, while Eljiah spoke of his own metamorphosis on Lyshan Three. "And what are you capable of?" Kohl asked with mild delight.

"That I am stronger then I had realized," Elijah said. He dipped his spoon into the soup but didn't bring it up to his lips. "That I don't need to be timid and afraid. I faced death, I stared at it and I made it through. It kind of forces you to reevaluate your life."

"It won't--" Kohl started, but there was a falter in his affable air. His tone became even, and something changed behind his eyes. "It won't always do that, you know," Kohl said. He said this as a battlefield medic, and a shuttle crash survivor, and recovered paraplegic, and having lived through the same events Elijah had done. "There's only so much re-evaluation one can do to one's life, but Starfleet has no end of jeopardy to place one's life into."

"Yeah, but..." Elijah fell silent and his gaze fell down to the soup. He moved around the soup with his spoon. For the briefest of moments he felt deflated, he finally was finding himself and Andreus burst that bubble. He looked back up from his soup, his gaze falling on the other man. "I know what it means to serve Starfleet, what it means to wear a uniform. I understand the dangers involved," he said as he blew out a breath. "But to me, this was a personal victory. I could have died, you could have died, but we didn't. The next mission could be the one that does us in, but if it doesn't then that will be another victory. I know the risks, the Academy pounds it into your head day in and day out for four years. I took this assignment knowing the risks and for the first time ever I finally feel like I can do this."

"Please don't misunderstand me," Kohl said, once he was certain Elijah had said all he wanted to say. Kohl put down his spoon, and he shook his head once. "I didn't-- I don't mean to take away your experience. I think you've made the right choices. The man sitting here in front of me proves that, most definitely. I was-- I was talking about me," --Kohl waved a hand dismissively, as if the gesture would keep any conversation about his own self partitioned off into a corner-- "I don't know that I learned anything about myself from our horrific experiences in the caves."

Elijah nodded at that. "Alright," he blew out a breath. He lifted the spoon to his lips and sipped at the liquid. It was cooling off but it was delicious. "I guess the important thing here is we made it though. We survived and that says something. I'm a geologist, I had no business in those caves except to take samples. I... we, had to face a lot more than that and we came back from it. Maybe it's just my naivete talking or my lack of experience, but we did come back."

Kohl's brow furrowed in an expression of mild puzzlement. "Elijah, you had every business being in those caves," Kohl said. His assertment was firm. "You behaved as a sterling example of everything a Starfleet Officer should be. You were clever, you were flexible in a constantly changing environment, and you thought of others before yourself. Geologist is just one facet of who you are."

"I suppose I am finally starting to realize that," Elijah said. "You know, I have you to thank for some of that. You have allowed me to talk to you about my past, you helped me realize I have self-worth."

"I thank you for trusting me, the way you did," Kohl said. He helped himself to another spoonful of soup. "It's been a revelation to experience this with you."

Elijah dipped his own spoon into the soup then brought it to his lips. He watched the other man for a moment, studied him. "Would you care to share your revelation?" he asked. He was certainly curious at this point.

Kohl shook his head and he swallowed another spoonful of soup. "I wish I could share it," Kohl said, "but it's been an emotional revelation more than an intellectual one. I don't have the telepathic talents to communicate how watching your transformation has appeared more meangful than anything I experienced in the mines."

Fair enough, Elijah thought to himself. He had found that he at times had trouble articulating how he felt. He knew that was the case with Keval. Though in that case, the Andorian moved just a bit too fast for his liking. Though, maybe that was an Andorian thing and not a Keval thing. He wasn't sure so he pushed that thought right out of his head. "I understand," he said and he did. In fact, he probably understood more than anyone.

Kohl smiled at that. He allowed a silence to settle between them, and then Kohl asked, "Are you for the next course?" --Kohl rose to his feet in anticipation of Elijah's reply-- "I think you're going to like it."

"I'm sure I will," Elijah replied and a smile formed on his lips. So far, the night was going nice and he looked forward to more food and conversation with Andreus.


[OFF]

Lieutenant Elijah Williams, IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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