Destiny and Dancing

Posted on 06 Apr 2015 @ 9:28pm by Lieutenant Prudence Devin Ph.D. & Commander Andreus Kohl

1,971 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 3 - Sickbay
Timeline: MD 01 - 1521 hours

[ON]

Prudence Devin had usually been in the belief that Counsellors waiting for people to recover in sickbay were like piranha's, waiting for their next meal. Yet here she was, in sickbay. With how short they were on time, the moment she had been told about Lt. Commander Andreus Kohl's procedure, she had come here. Now he was more alert and ready to go, it was the perfect time to get him for a session. She moved over to the bed, smiling gently to the man. "Lt. Commander Kohl...I am Prudence Devin, Chief Counsellor here on the USS Galileo. I was hoping to see you in my office," she said...it was easier, stating the facts rather than pretend it was just a social call. Social calls were never believable for a counsellor. Even if she had seen Kohl before, it was almost a bit of a nod to his temporary new position.

"Prudence! Hullo! I'm thrilled to see you again," Kohl enthused. He bolted upright on the biobed where he was laying, and he swung his legs off the side. He moved in a manner akin to a particularly-needy dancer. "How are you feeling today?" he asked her, as he rounded the foot of the biobed.

"I am fine," she said, watching him with a bit of humour. "And how are you recovering?" she moved to his side, to look at the notes. Just to make sure he was okay to get up.

"I think, uhhh, I think I'm feeling better now than I'm going to feel later," Kohl said, finding humour in what he expected from his own future suffering. He located a pair of uniform trousers folded on an antigrav cart beside his biobed. Kohl unfolded the trousers, shook them out, and started to pull them on under his surgical gown. "By all appearances, the gene therapy worked a treat on my nerve damage, but it's feeling like there's been an especially... energizing side-effect that, I imagine, won't last."

She nodded gently, watching him before grimacing. "Would you like a hand?" she asked, wanting to help, yet conscious he might not want the help from her.

"Several hours ago, I would have said yes," Kohl replied. Once his trousers were secure, he shimmied his way out of the surgical gown, and reached over for the crimson uniform tunic, which was also folded on the cart. As he pulled it on, he said, "But, now, my range of motion is much improved. I'm feeling stronger."

"That is excellent news," Prudence said, nodding with warmth at that. "Are you up for going to my office? I will make sure you will not be kept long. I know you are a busy man."

"Just because I'm wearing red this week," Kohl teased, "Doesn't mean I'm too busy for my own wellbeing." He shrugged on the black and grey uniform jacket and he closed it up the front. After he affixed his combadge to his chest, Kohl moved to lead the way to the corridor. He affirmed, "I would be pleased to accompany you to your office. I'm only sorry I didn't bring scones. They have a functional galley aboard Miranda-class starships, did you know?"

"I did not know...but now I am just jealous...I adore scones," she said softly, smiling gently. She walked with him, leading him to her office. She moved to get hot water, making a pot of green tea. "Now...please take a seat. And you must tell me how it is to be XO? Call it curiosity...it's a unique position in itself."

"It's hard to say with any certainty. They're a new crew. A temporary crew, probably. Everyone is still on their best behavior. Well, almost everyone," Kohl answered, without answering. He was overthinking the question, and chose honesty over clarity. Kohl draped himself over an armchair, sitting with his legs dangling over the side of one of the arms. Mostly, he did this because he could manage it today without any pain. "I've spoken with Commander Blake about this a lot. With her, at least, we see it as Blake is the one to set the vision, and I nudge the right pieces to make it happen. I've quite enjoyed giving the orders; time will tell if I've been giving the right ones."

"It's a good way to see how it feels," Prudence said softly as she met his eyes, holding them for a moment. "How it suits you. If you want it in the future." She nodded and carried the pot to the table, putting out two small cups and pouring the tea. "If you believe it is your...destiny."

Kohl took the cup between his hands and raised it to his lips. He blew away the steam. Looking over the rim of his cup, Kohl asked, "Do you believe in destiny?" He took a quick sip of the green tea.

Prudence met his eyes with surprise at the words before she smiled weakly. "I...am not sure," she confessed softly. "I suppose it depends more what you believe, Kohl."

"Ten years ago, I believed I would be the senior Starfleet representative in the Federation Embassy to the Tholian Assembly by now," Kohl said, finding some humour in that. Kohl answered Prudence's question by not answering her question, which answered her question in its own way. "Starship duty seemed distant... unlikely. And yet here I am playing at XO-for-a-day."

"A good start anyway," she said and smiled gently, watching him. "How do you feel?" she asked gently. "Your recovery, I mean. It takes a lot out of a person."

Kohl's face contorted, as if he were sharing a state secret. "Oddly, I feel incredible," he said. "Increased adrenaline production is a temporary side-effect of the treatment. When I come down, I'm sure I'll come down hard, but I feel lovely so far."

"It's going to be difficult. Just...make sure you let your CO know," she said softly, but it was a gentle reminder rather than an instruction. Kohl was anything but stupid.

"I will. I'll tell Blake," Kohl replied. He emphasized the words with a nod, and then his expression lit up with excitement. He even sat upright, as if he needed the improved posture to move more air through his lungs, to move more words. "But there's something. Something I've been meaning to tell you. I've been feeling something! Feeling more than I have been feeling."

She smiled warmly, nodding as she held his eyes. "That's good," she said, her voice gentle. "That's what we want. You're connecting to the world again, aren't you?" She could tell...he was more engaging.

"For good and for ill, I am starting to feel connections with the people in my life," Kohl affirmed. He took another sip from his tea, and set the cup down. "People I've known before, and members of the crew I've never met before. For your part, I have to thank you for the role you played in guiding me towards this path. I didn't even know how lost I was before."

"It has been your own hard work that has helped," she said softly, holding his eyes with warmth. She reached out, to squeeze his arm. "I am so happy to see this change. I knew you had the strength in you."

He smiled back at Prudence. He hadn't shared his concerns with many, and so there weren't many people he could tell about this progress. Excitedly, Kohl explained, "I think-- I believe it started at the masquerade ball. I met a handsome, masked stranger in white. We had danced, and I held him, and we composed songs about the Borg."

Prudence smiled at that, shaking her head with awe. "Which is the way it should be. It's good, you were in a safe environment...will you see this masked stranger in white again?" she asked, sitting back with a chuckle.

"I lost him at the masquerade," Kohl said wistfully. He also shifted in his seat, looking for a position of greater comfort. "I don't regret much in my life. I have to assume the decisions I made in those other times, in those other places, were the right decisions for them then." --He smiled wickedly-- "But I can't help wondering what my shore leave would have been like if I hadn't lost him then. I've found him again only recently, but we only seem to meet in passing. Maybe you know him better? Ellsworth Hudson?"

"I know him," Prudence watched Kohl, searching his eyes. Ellsworth. The young man who had...well. Broken Oren's heart was a good way to describe it. A young man with many issues of his own, who seemed addicted to some people. She smiled gently, taking a slow breath. "I suspect it would have been different," she said gently. "If you hadn't lost him. But you know he serves here. You can seek him out whenever you wish, once this mission is complete."

"We have spoken about that," admitted Kohl. There was a new caution in his tone. An undercurrent of hope and arousal flowed beneath his words, but caution was his new watchword. "We're still discussing our reunion, so to speak. But, even from the short time I've known him, I can't entirely predict which Ellsworth I'm going to find by then."

Prudence nodded gently at that. She knew exactly what he meant. "At least you are talking," she said, wanting him to be positive. "And it is helping, regardless. You engage so much better."

"I engaged a little too much on shore leave," said Kohl. He was making a point when he said it, but he didn't fully regret what happened. "I reconnected with my first mentor and friend from Galileo on the starbase. We had a sexual chemistry we've never had before. But I'm not sure-- I don't know if it was honestly sexual or if it just felt like it."

"I suppose it hardly matters as long as you enjoyed it," Prudence said softly, smiling gently. Some would argue there was no such thing as too much fun. Prudence didn't judge on that...it wasn't her job to disapprove. Or approve.

"It didn't go that well," said Kohl, shaking his head quickly. "I don't think we were feeling the same things. I had thought we were. And then she seemed hurt when I stopped abruptly after our first kiss."

"Why did you stop?" Prudence crossed her legs and sat back, patient as always, holding his eyes.

That certainly was the question. "I've been thinking about that a lot, talking it out with my personal log," Kohl said. "I was thrilled to see her again. Excited to be meeting anyone from before, anyone with whom I made a personal connection. And then I met her in a lounge on the starbase; we were completely outside of our previous context. In my first days on Galileo, we were always tired and sweaty, wearing our uniforms that look like grandma's pajamas. And then here she was now, vibrant and encouraging, and she wanted to dance. But when we kissed, when I closed my eyes... I felt like I was kissing my brother."

She smiled at the words, shaking her head. "It's perfectly normal. To get to such a point where you do not see the sexual in someone, but instead they are family. You...friend zoned."

"Friend zoned," Kohl echoed with some consideration, and a smirk. "I need to tell Pola that. Talk it out with her more. See if that helps..."


[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Executive Officer
USS Nautilus

Lieutenant Prudence Devin
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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