Round Two

Posted on 23 Oct 2014 @ 11:28pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Commander Norvi Stace

1,455 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 7 - Arboretum
Timeline: MD -20: 1510

ON:

The request to Stark had been accepted earlier in the day for Round Two of their bout.

With the counsellor's suggestion, Stace had extended the olive branch first and suggested the meet, making it a little less off the cuff and a lot less public. She had decided, on her own advice, to already get to work and was elbow deep in dirt and on her knees before she was disturbed by Stark's approach. She had forgotten how much gardening, and more specifically growing things, calmed her. She enjoyed the fresh air and greenery, and this was the only place on the ship that provided this for her.

"Well I know that we're supposed to be getting along and all, but you didn't have to get down on your hands and knees for me...." Gabriel smirked as he approached her, arms folding as he looked down at the woman's work. Despite the teasing words, there was a flash of playfulness in his eyes rather than ill will.

Stace rolled her eyes and shook her head with a masked grin. "Don't get excited, Stark. You're not that lucky a man." She stood up and then brushed off the lower part of her uniform, a little dry mud flaking off but still staining the usually pristine blackness of her pants. Knowing that her hands were also dirty, she held one out with a loaded smile. "Let's start off on the right foot, shall we?" she joked.

"Hm..." he arched an eyebrow and studied the dirty hand as if considering the trade off of saying yes or now. He caught hold of the edge of his sleeve, tugging it down to try and cover his hand with it, but it still got smudged as he shook her hand. "I guess a few cardassian zombies put things into perspective..."

"I hope so," she relaxed, scrunching up her nose a little and allowing her forced smile to fall into one of agreement. She motioned to the bench over on the grass and began to walk over to it with him. "I - uh - wanted to apologise for my behaviour last week. I know that it's not much to you, but I'd like to try and start over. Start fresh."

Gabriel was silent for a few moments as he sat with her, both surprised at the unexpected apology, and considering the words and his own thoughts on it. It had all become such a blur. So much had happened, and it had gotten more than just a little bit intense. "Me too," he said quietly, shaking his head with a frown. "I was angry. No change there," he chuckled, sitting back with a sigh. "He was dead. Nothing changes that."

"We couldn't have done any more for him," she said quietly, shaking her head. "But you were right to question it. We didn't know that at the time. It's just fortunate that my intuition was right." She paused for a second and then clasped her hands neatly in her lap, looking down at them. "Why do you think you are so angry all of the time?" she asked, genuinely interested. "I only ask because I suffer from the same temper." Her green eyes flicked up as a soft smile washed slowly across her features.

"One counsellor told me it was probably 'emotional baggage'," Gabriel looked to her with an arched eyebrow before rolling his eyes. "Things in the past have made me angry, and it's all in there, stirring up. Either way, I've had it since I was a teenager, I know that much," he said quietly, shrugging with a sigh. "Think that's it for you?"

"Probably," she replied meekly, not meeting his eye. "Only mine can be compounded over lifetimes. Not just one. I think," she said, sighing and looking up to him, "that a lot of my anger has to do with being in the same job but at a lower rank. I get flashbacks and a sense of entitlement I was once afforded as Janel that, as a lieutenant, doesn't quite befit." She scrunched up her nose. "That's probably why I acted like I did when you questioned my orders."

Gabriel watched her with surprise at the admission. He hadn't expected it, not at all. He nodded quietly, it made sense. He could understand it. Well, as much as a human could at least. "I don't even have that excuse," he chuckled, shaking his head as he looked down to his hands with a weak smile. "I...don't do well with what seems like injustice, or giving up on people," he shrugged lightly. "I need to learn to keep my mouth shut more. I guess, something similar to you...when I first joined up, it was as an officer. But now, I'm stuck in enlisted, and it's hard to be taken seriously sometimes."

With a forgiving, almost childlike expression, Norvi winced a smile at him. "It sounds like we have more in common than we both at first thought, Gabriel." She took in a breath and then turned to face him. "I sometimes forget that people have their own battles to fight and stories that will never be known about them. And yet we're all quite content to forge forward without a second glance, selfishly staring down at our own feet to make sure that we don't stumble." She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I'd like to be friends, Gabriel. If that's all right with you. I think that we could do each other some good."

A smiled came to him at the words and he nodded quickly. Oh, he could have a temper on him, but it burned bright and quick and then just smoked down to harmless ash. "Who'd have thunked it, right?" he chuckled, but nodded. "Yeah. I think so too. No more screaming."

Stace chuckled at him. "It's certainly a turn of events that I didn't see coming. And, I hope, neither the counsellor." She paused for a moment and stared over towards the ducks in the lake. "I know it's an ancient comparison," she started with meekly, "but that's how I feel sometimes. A rage of fury beneath the surface of the water and this resigned serenity just above it. If you didn't know any better, you would think the duck graceful. Elegant, even. But we know the mechanics. The struggle of power between its little, furious feet against the resistance of the water." Stace rarely expressed such poignancy to people she barely knew, but with them attempting a friendship she seemed to naturally slip into it.

Gabriel smiled softly at the words, reaching to squeeze her arm. "I think the comparison works for you. All elegant and pretty and calm on the surface, paddling frantically under it. I don't think I even do the elegant bit," he laughed softly. "I guess that's what you chiefs have to do though. Keep a brave face on it all, even when it all goes to pot. Maybe it's lucky I'm not an officer," he shook his head with a slight chuckle, looking across to her. "Besides, Chief Science Officer on a Science ship...that's pretty epic."

Stace blushed and cut a look to Stark out of the corner of her eye. "If I didn't know any better, Stark, I would think you were flattering me. Flirting even." She turned to face him fully and narrowed her eyes. In truth, she thought no such thing. She just wanted to break through the ice they seemed to have started to crack.

Gabriel gave a sudden grin, looking straight ahead as he shook his head with a casual shrug to boot. "Nothing wrong with trying to keep you on side, right?" he glanced across to her, his dark eyes shining. In truth, he could be a terrible flirt when he wanted, even with women. "Seems pretty damn urgent, actually...."

She cut him a look with a warmth in her eyes. "I have a mean right hook on me if you don't," she said, jesting. "But I appreciate the time you've taken to talk with me," she added, dropping the tone to one of honesty. "Thank you."

Gabriel just shook his head lightly, bumping his shoulder lightly to hers before standing with a sigh. "Bigger things to worry about out there than arguments between each other, right?"

"Absolutely," she agreed, standing up to face him. She out-stretched her muddied hand and broke into a grin. "Friends?"

Gabriel chuckled, this time taking the hand fully, dirty or not, shaking it firmly. "Yeah, friends."

OFF:

LT Norvi Stace
Chief of Science
USS Galileo

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

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