A Different Sort of Workout

Posted on 11 May 2015 @ 10:03pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant JG Emmarie (E'Ma'ri)

4,238 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7, Workout Room
Timeline: MD -02 - 0530 hrs

[ON]

It was an early morning for Lamar, one which had seen him wake up at 0500 three hours before his shift was scheduled to begin with some sort of random attack of insomnia. The entire night had been a toss and tussle in bed and he hadn't been sure exactly why, but such disturbances in his routine occasionally happened. During his time in the Corps, he had seen several psychiatrists who had simply dismissed the issue as a vague side-effect of combat fatigue, but he didn't completely trust the diagnosis considering it had persisted well into his new Starfleet career aboard Galileo over the past year and a half.

But debating the finer points of why he couldn't sleep was a futile effort, and instead he focused on making the best of the situation, specifically the extra hours of free time he now had before his duty shift. And being a long-time veteran of life in the Corps, he decided an early-morning trip to the gym would be most appropriate for some stress relief.

It only took him fifteen minutes to get dressed and replicate himself an egg and sausage bagel which he devoured on his way to through the ship's empty corridors, and at 0530 he stepped through the starship gym's doors down on Deck 7 and walked inside dressed in a gray tanktop and black athletic shorts.

As he walked to the nearest treadmill, he caught a glance of something green out of the corner of his eye and quickly took notice of an Orion who was present in the room. An Orion with red hair, which ruled out the admiral or her sister who both possessed striking dark black locks.

"Oh. Hey," he said to her with a casual wave of his dark hand, a bit surprised that there was someone else using the gym with him at such an early hour. A new crew member? he wondered to himself.

"Hi there," Emmarie said, grinning coyly at the newcomer. "I didn't expect to see anyone else here this early." The nightmares had been plaguing her consistently now for a few weeks, and the only thing that relieved the adrenaline bursts they caused was working out. It was so regular now; every morning at 0500 she thought of the men who had attempted to abduct her from Deep Space 9.

Getting on the treadmill, she slowly nudged the device up to a swift run. Sure, this likely meant that she was literally attempting to run from her demons, but there were worse coping mechanisms. Fortunately she had thus far resisted the urge to drink to excess or sleep with the whole crew.

"I'm Emmarie," she said, her arms and legs pumping quickly. It never hurt to be polite, and she knew that she needed to start making friends or she was going to lose her mind.

"Lamar Darius, chief support craft pilot. Nice to meet you, Emmarie," he replied, giving her a slight smile while stepping onto his own running machine and beginning a slow warmup jogging sequence. "Are you a new transfer? Don't think I've seen you around yet." It wouldn't be surprising considering he spent most of his time in the shuttlebay isolated from the rest of the crew.

"Nice to meet you," Emmarie said with a bit of a smile. "And yeah, I just got here. I'm the new Assistant Operations Chief." As the immediate adrenaline from panic began to wear off, she turned down the speed of her treadmill. "I have to admit, I'm surprised to see someone in here at this hour."

He gave a light shrug and a casual tilt of his head, "Couldn't sleep. I get those bad nights every once in a while, you know?" He didn't want to elaborate too much but was also curious about the Orion's reason for being in the gym. "What's your story, ma'am," he added to acknowledge her assumed officer rank if she was an assistant department head.

"The same, actually," Emmarie said, though she didn't elaborate any further. "Sometimes sleeping can be a pain." Emmarie hated it because she was good at hiding her feelings when she was awake, but miserable at doing it when she was asleep. "Anything in particular bothering you?" Hopefully turning the focus off of herself would prevent him from asking too many questions.

Jogging along at a steady pace now, he briefly glanced down towards the spinning track beneath his feet and contemplated the loaded question. "How much time you got?" he chuckled. "I was in the Corps for 14 years...seen a lot of stuff. Not all of it is easy to deal with." She seemed like a nice young lady but first impressions were always a bit awkward for him.

"Oh yeah, I'd imagine not. It's horrifying the sort of things that people do to one another during war... or during peace, too. It's really sad." And let's not even think about the things that some species do to their own people, she added, then wondered when that little voice in her head had started to sound so damned sarcastic and fatalistic. "I've got time if you wanna talk, though." She'd gotten off duty around 6 hours previous, and had barely got any sleep. Talking and listening would at least keep her mind busy so she didn't faceplant onto the treadmill belt.

Lamar was now in full stride at a fast pace, just into the beginning of his six-mile run. His muscular arms chogged back and forth with each stride while he ran at a good pace and his feet thumped on the treadmill. "I thought you said you worked in Ops, not Counseling."

Emmarie shrugged. "I'm Orion, I'm pretty sure that means I should be whatever you want me to be," she said. Hearing the snark in her own voice, she cringed a bit. "I'm sorry. I didn't... oy. I didn't mean to say it like that." And I really didn't want to believe it, either...

Chuckling out loud in between breaths, the chief support craft pilot gave her a sideways grin. He liked people who could poke fun at themselves in good jest, and didn't necessarily interpret any rudeness in it. "Don't be sorry, that was pretty funny," he then said. "Which colony are you from? Rigel VII? I think that's where the rear admiral is from..." he tried to recall.

"Um, I don't know, honestly. There was an Orion ship, it attacked a Starfleet ship and went boom, and baby me was found in an escape pod nearby," she said. She shrugged a bit, and pushed out the thought of what her mother was. "What about you, where are you from?"

"Oh. Well I guess that makes you an official space baby, huh?" he teased before moving on to answer her question. "I'm from Philly. On Earth. It's the best city in the northern hemisphere with the best food," he said, still quickly jogging along on his tread.

"Philly," Emmarie said, thinking as she ran. It was harder said than done. She thumbed down the treadmill a few settings too, as most of her residual anger was dissipating. "There is some food from there that I've had. A peculiar sub with red meat and cheese?" It was obvious from both her tone and her expression that she had not enjoyed the experience.

Shaking his head somewhat incredulously, he had to remind himself that not everyone was as familiar with great cuisine as he was. Especially a space-baby Orion. "You mean a cheese steak?" The sandwich she referred to was the staple food commodity of the city and well-known in North America.

"Yes! That's the one. I heard of it in the Academy. Several students in my year were of the opinion that the ones from the replicator were inferior to the ones from their hometown," Emmarie said. "I assume you concur?"

"Yeah I do. Definitely. There's something about a replicator that doesn't quite get it right," he mused, thinking over the particulars of the differences between the synthesized version and the real thing. "Not enough grease, I guess. Not enough flavor."

"Replicated food is perfect. Flavor comes from flaws," Emmarie said. "So I guess food is kind of like people." She hesitated, then her eyes widened. "I mean... not that I eat people." You're off to a great start here...

Lamar now slowed down on his treadmill after his short jog was complete, and slowly began to pace on it during his cool down period. "I've heard Orions are into weird things...but never that weird," he chuckled again before pausing to consider a question that had been burning on his mind for a while. "Is it true that Orion women need to have sex four times a day or else your pheromones start to seduce the crew?"

"I... I don't know to be honest. They put me on the pheromone suppressors as soon as I became a thr... hit puberty." She ran another few steps, then shot Lamar a sideways glance. "Do you ask the Admiral these sorts of questions, or am I just special because I only outrank you by a little?" Ahhh, the perks of being an commissioned officer instead of just a non-comm.

"Just curious," he answered with an innocent stare. "Sorry if I offended you. I've never met an Orion before. Officially, anyway. You guys have a bit of a reputation in Starfleet," he explained then quickly tried to correct in case his words had come across in a strange manner. "Well, not in a bad way, I mean. More like a unique-culture-thing."

"Nothing you could say would offend me," she declared, then her attention moved on to what he'd said afterwards. "Tell me about our reputation?" she said, in the seductive sort of lilt that she knew had a knack of getting her what she wanted. She flipped off the treadmill, and crossed her arms across her chest.

The chief warrant officer stepped off his own treads soon after his Orion counterpart and grabbed his nearby towel to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead and neck before casually tossing the cloth to the side. "Well...you've been through the Academy, you're an officer. You heard the rumors. Right?"

"I mean... yes and no. People don't exactly walk up to you and say that they heard you like to get around. They just walk up and act as though they're entitled to occupancy of your bed," Emmarie said, shrugging. "I was a giant nerd as well, I didn't see as many social engagements as most."

"Really?" It sounded strange to him for her -- an Orion -- admitting to not being the most social person. But then again, he supposed the stereotype was often an allusion. "Well...what were you into? Nerd-wise, I mean. Computers? Holographics? Programming?"

Emmarie cringed a little bit despite herself. "Well... physics. I have my Masters in it." She wasn't ready to declare her alma mater just yet, but that admission was hard enough. "Hence why I entered the Academy later than most." She shook her head, "As for why I became a nerd, well... it's hard being the only Orion in an area of France that is predominately human. I got teased a lot."

Lamar cast her a long look, not quite sure what she meant by being teased. "Yeah? About what? You mean that xenophobia stuff the French are famous for?"

Emmarie nodded, her mood suddenly a touch more subdued. "They teased me about all sorts of things. Being adopted. Being green. Half of them mocked me for sleeping around, the other half for not sleeping with them. Pirate, spy, traitor, slave... you name it, I got it dished at me. And this... this before I went away to school... which I did when I was 15. What does a teenage girl do to deserve such things?"

"I think they were just jealous," he grinned, trying to add some levity to what had no doubt been a difficult experience for her. Especially during the early teenage years of her life when societal impressions and acceptance meant the most to a flowering woman.

"Eh... maybe. I guess. Nowadays I don't really care what other people said about me, but at the time it was easier just to be a nerd, you know? I didn't really break out of my shell until my second year at the Academy. What about you? Did you have an easier time of things?" Emmarie was eager to get the subject off of her own awkward phase.

Lamar thought for the briefest of seconds about his social life when he was younger then quickly shook his head. "No. I never had any problems. Well nothing I couldn't solve myself," he answered. He'd always been a rather athletic man growing up and his prowess in sports had earned him prestige amongst the high school and enlisted Academy personnel. He had never really had to rely upon his personality as the main source of social acceptance.

"I tried to solve them. It looks rather bad to beat up on the other kids, though." Emmarie shrugged. "I dunno though, it used to all bother me but the older I get, the more I get over things." It helped that every pip she had made her more self confident, and more determined. "Starfleet helped with that a lot. It's nice to feel like I belong somewhere, you know?"

Making his way over to the free weight rack, the large and muscular former-Marine picked up a set of 40lb dumbbells then moved over to a nearby bench where he sat down and began a series of bicep curls. "Can't fault you there. That's why I joined the Corps, to be honest. Wasn't much going on for me in Philly and I always had an adventurous streak. For better or for worse, I guess," he winked, then began his repetitions which displayed the thick veins in his arms contrasted by the lean muscle tissue.

"If there's one thing I know about adventurous streaks, it's that they have potential. It's your decision whether to make it good potential or bad, though." Sitting down on the floor, she began to stretch out some. Sitting in a figure four, she leaned forward, her fingertips extending beyond the end of her feet. Though her job was seldom physical, she liked maintaining a good physical shape, for extracurricular activities. "So you said you're a pilot?" she asked, bringing the conversation back around. She often had a hard time focusing when she had a lot of energy to burn.

"Grunt-turned-pilot," he clarified for her. "I was assigned to one of the Corps' orbital drop battalions and I guess I always wanted to be the one doing the easy stuff in the cockpit instead of the zero-G drops. Not that they were bad...actually pretty damn exciting, but eventually I started wishing I could spend more time in space and less on the ground. So I went through a career change recently," he answered.

"Yeah, I kind of dislike away teams, truth be told. I dunno, I just like being on a starship. I love the freedom, funny as it seems." She'd had many protest that there was no freedom in Starfleet: she had to do what her superiors said, and she couldn't just fly the ship wherever she wanted. But for her it was subconscious. She knew where she was, and for the most part she always knew what was expected of her. "What would you have done if you wouldn't joined the Corps?" She thought of her own options back on Earth. Sure, they weren't bad in the grand scheme of things, but they weren't Starfleet.

He'd never been asked that question before. At least, not in many years. It was an after-thought now, a hypothetical which didn't warrant much pondering in his own mind, but now that the question had been asked, he became silent for a few long moments while he thought of his alternatives and mindset when he was younger. "Not sure, to be honest. Probably law enforcement. Maybe a local military career? I mean, I always wanted to shoot rifles and blow shit up, you know? So I guess the Corps was the best avenue for that at the time."

"Sounds like it," Emmarie said, with a laugh. If she would have taken a career doing what she wanted to do when she was younger, she would probably be in a very different sort of role than she was now. As a youth, the only thing she'd enjoyed doing other than studying was dancing, and as an Orion female, there were certain expectations if you were a dancer by trade. She decided to change the subject. "Anything important about Galileo? Anything I should know, anyone I should avoid..." Insider information was worth it's weight in gold. "Any days I should avoid the mess hall?" Taco Tuesday, though great in name, had been an awful experience aboard the Trinity.

"Well...there's a lot of scientists on board, so they can be a bit awkward sometimes. Socially, that is. But everyone's been friendly enough, especially the senior officers. I think the captain is the most hard-assed of all them, but that kind of comes with the territory." He paused to think about his mess hall adventures and recall certain times he most preferred to visit. "We have pizza night in the mess which is a big hit. And you're an Orion so you might like 'Orion Cuisine Appreciation Day'. Lots of Ferengi crab rolls and wing slugs if you're into that stuff."

"I've never really had Orion food," Emmarie confessed. She wasn't particularly keen on eating bugs, either. Ferengi had interesting opinions on what was and wash't edible. "Pizza night seems more my speed. I like to keep things simple, you know?" She stood up from where she'd been stretching on the floor, and reached upwards, arching her back. How was it that she was carrying around so much tension in her back and shoulders recently? "I wager it's a safe bet that there's no spa?"

A spa? Lamar wondered incredulously. Had the woman seen the tiny size of the starship before she boarded, or maybe accidentally mistaken it for a Sovereign-class? "No spa," he said, casting her a sideways look. "We're lucky to have a gym, to be honest."

"Couldn't hurt to ask," Emmarie said, continue her various yoga poses. Though the positions seemed somewhat difficult, she pulled them off with deceptive ease. "What do you do to relax?" On Trinity it had been something that she'd struggled with. Outside of the holodeck there was only one really good way to unwind, and some captains were less accommodating than others once you started sleeping your way around the crew.

Continuing his reps, he took a moment to think about what he preferred to do on Galileo when he wasn't on duty or in the gym. "Well, we have the holodecks of course, but there's only two of them so space and time are limited. If you like to have a few drinks and relax, there's a bar on this deck just across the corridor. Callisto Bar. It's pretty cool, got its own microbrewery and lounge and everything," he explained. "Definitely worth checking out, especially during Beta shift."

"Mmhmm," Emmarie said absently, standing up from where she was doing her yoga positions. There was a sudden change in her demeanor, as though someone had flipped a switch. This isn't you, the little voice inside her head said, and she pushed it away with tremendous force of will. She stalked, rather than walked, over to where Lamar was lifting weights. Very deliberately, she manipulated her posture, her affect, to make the most use of the Orion traits that weren't diminished by pheromone suppressants. She arched her spine, thrust out her chest, and looked up coquettishly from between a fringe of crimson hair. "You clearly come here often," she said, eyes slowly raking up Lamar's body.

Lamar had his head down staring at the floor's carpet when she approached, and continued more reps before responding. Beads of sweat began to trickle down his forehead from his hairline while he finished off the last of his curls then dropped the free weights and looked up at her.

"Yeah, just trying to stay in shape," he admitted. "Old man like me needs to keep up with you younger kids," he added with a grin. It was at that moment he actually devoted his full attention to her, specifically her posture which displayed her lean body and curves. Uhm, he thought to himself with initial judgement. He'd never really interacted with or noticed many Orions before apart from Admiral Saalm whom he'd only seen in passing, and it was strange to see one up close in-person. From his initial judgement, the junior lieutenant was about as attractive as the stereotypes and didn't disappoint.

"Oh, I'm sure you could keep up well enough," she said. She bit down on her lower lip, her thoughts still racing. She knew what she wanted, but she wasn't sure whether or not she was willing to do what she needed to get it. Then there was the matter of consequences, as there were always some on a ship this small. Her eyes dropped down to his hand for a moment, looking for a ring. Do you even care either way?

She didn't.

Stop stalling. Resolve built, she squared her shoulders a bit. "Perhaps we could go somewhere a little more private?"

He had just finished his bicep reps and set down his free weights when she spoke, causing him to inhale a deep breath and look up at her. "Private...?" he asked, wondering if the request was what he thought it was. "You mean like...holodeck-private, or quarters-private?" he wondered out loud, now feeling his heart racing a bit.

"I'm flexible," Emmarie said, the words loaded. She glanced over at the chronometer. "My roommate is likely in my quarters right now, though." Roommates were the bane of Orion existence.

His thoughts wandered for a few seconds before he slowly shook his head. "I...um, would love to. But I have a girlfriend," he said to her, trying his best to avoid anymore cases of infidelity with Allyndra. She was so kind and sweet to him that the last thing he wanted to do was upset her again.

"That sounds like your problem not mine," Emmarie said. She reached out with one delicate hand to lightly trail a finger down the outside of Lamar's forearm. "I'm not looking for a man. I'm looking to get laid. And... well... you've already said you know what they say about Orion women."

Giving a nervous laugh, he briefly glanced away towards the weight rack on the near side of the gym before he looked back at her. "Yeah I know, and I'm flattered. Really. But I can't really cheat on my girlfriend... Not that you aren't attractive and all that, but it wouldn't be right," he attempted to explain.

If Emmarie was at all adversely impacted by his refusal, it wasn't evident in her expression. "Your loss," she said, mentally running through a list of potentials. Unfortunately, she hadn't met that many people since transferring in. She would have to make a point to socialize a bit more. She walked back over to where she'd sat her things and began gathering them slowly.

"Sorry," he called out, hoping the awkwardness would subside quickly and she wouldn't feel slighted. "You're a nice-looking lady and I know you'll find someone soon. I'm just taken right now. Maybe...in an alternate universe we can have some fun?" he teased.

"Maybe," she said, her tone similarly teasing. "Or maybe this is the only universe in which I find you interesting. In which case, you're letting all the yous down." She shook her head, pushing away the previous topic of conversation. "It's no thing though. Don't worry about it."

He chuckled at that and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Thanks for the offer. Like I said, different circumstances, and I wouldn't want to jeopardize your career by having one of our superior officers become upset at you. It's probably for the best right now, ma'am," he added politely in reference to the Akkadian who was a department head and well on her way up through the chain of command.

Emmarie laughed, "You only jeopardize things if you get caught." She sunk down into a nearby chair, drinking from a water bottle she'd retrieved from her bag. "I'm good. I don't get caught. Deny everything."

"Unless it gets you promoted, right?" said Lamar with a deep laugh. He likes the young Orion office despite their difference of sexual relationship opinions, and felt happy to have her on board the ship. As he stood up and moved towards the bench press, he asked her for a final favor. "Can you spot me?"

"Sure thing."

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Chief Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC Saalm]

Lieutenant JG Emmarie
Assistant Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

RSS Feed