Nature/Nurture: Part 3/3

Posted on 11 Jan 2018 @ 9:34am by Commander Scarlet Blake & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen
Edited on on 11 Jan 2018 @ 1:42pm

1,573 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth: Starfleet Academy
Timeline: MD 31: 0300

ON:

Acer pushed onto his front, groaning as he gripped the pillow tightly. His fingers pulled at it, the fabric straining with how hard he pulled at the pillow, sweat drenching it. He was breathing hard and rapidly in his sleep, but he half choked with his face in the pillow.

Zoie moaned softly as she woke up, frowning as she looked across to him. She pushed herself up from the bed he had put her on, moving to his and crawling in, gently turning him over, even when he struggled. "Shh...shh...Acer...shhh..." she reached to stroke his cheek, tenderly, and then his forehead and sweaty hair. "Wake up...wake up now..."

He pushed against her hands, breathing hard as his eyes opened. But he wasn't seeing, not really. He found it hard to breathe, gripping on to her with one hand, the other grabbing the blanket that was soaked with his sweat.

She frowned and pulled him close, wrapping her free arm around him. "That's it, Acer...just breathe..." she said softly, her voice quiet.

He held on to her tightly, breathing hard as he closed his eyes and pressed his face to her. "Zoie..." he whispered, his grip shaky on her.

She shifted to sit properly, holding him as she pressed a kiss to his hair. "I'm here...I'm here, it's okay now..." she said, moving her hand to stroke his hair back.

Acer frowned at himself as he recovered, breathing hard as he screwed his eyes shut tightly. "Sorry...."

"Now less of that," she said with a small smile, taking a breath and stroking over his neck, closing her eyes. "Just relax."

He finally laid back again, but he pulled her with him, letting out a long, shaking breath. "It's my own stupid brain."

She rested her head against him, tucked against his neck. "Well, even so..." she said and took his hand, swallowing as she pressed her palm against his.

He let out a soft breath at the gesture, swallowing hard. "My....people do that," he said softly.

Zoie met his eyes for a long moment before she smiled gently. "Like a greeting? Or a hug?"

He nodded, letting out a soft breath. "It...is like a kiss," he said gently, linking their fingers, calming down as he came back to reality.

She blushed at the words, chuckling softly as she looked down. "Sorry," she said with a small smile. "I don't think I have kissed you before. Not that I remember!"

Acer chuckled softly at that, letting out a shaking breath as he closed his eyes. "I think I would remember it. I remember everything."

"You and your amazing memory," Zoie said and smiled gently, leaning to kiss his cheek. "It's okay, you know. To have a nightmare."

"No, it's not," he frowned, shaking his head firmly, swallowing hard. "It's pathetic."

"I get nightmares sometimes," she said as she watched him, a weak smile on her lips. "And I didn't live through the trauma you did, Acer. And it doesn't make me pathetic...so it certainly doesn't make you pathetic."

Acer was silent for a long moment at hearing that, holding his breath tightly in his chest until it hurt. "You're not," he said quietly.

She watched him for a long moment before she nodded. "So, with that logic...neither are you, Acer."

"I hate it when you're like this," he tsked, pressing his cheek to her hair with a sigh.

"Only when you know you can't win," she said with a smile, her free hand touching his side. "And you got no choice but to accept it."

"What do you dream about?" he asked with a frown, his head turning towards her.

Zoie smiled weakly, caressing over his arm for a moment. "Different things," she admitted softly. "From...losing everyone I care about to...dying alone."

"You are too bright a star for that to happen," he said quietly, shaking his head with a frown as he squeezed her arm.

She watched him for a long moment before she smiled gently. "Yeah, knowing my luck I get alien flu and croak in a sickbay surrounded by...everyone."

Acer laughed softly at that, unable to help it despite the macabre topic, shaking his head slowly. "No. No, not you."

She watched him fondly, happy to have made him laugh. "Oh yes me. It'll be silly. It will have to be silly."

"No one should have to die with a blocked up nose..." he screwed his nose up at the thought, shaking his head with dark humour.

She laughed warmly as she met his eyes, just holding them. Her eyes softened and she leant close, settling her cheek against his, her lips close to his ear. "What did you dream, Acer?"

Acer was silent for a long moment, swallowing hard as he considered how best to answer. "I was on a cardassian ship."

She nodded, her cheek rubbing against his. "When you were a kid?" she asked softly.

"Yes," he whispered back with a frown, his throat tight with it. "The day of the attack."

She frowned at the words, at how his voice sounded. She shifted so that her body lay half on his and lifted her head to watch him. "I'm sorry. It...must have been horrible."

"It was...confusing," he said quietly, looking to her with a frown, touching her jaw. "It...wasn't long until I was meant to go home."

She leant into the touch, studying him for a long moment. "Why did your parents take you with them?" she asked softly.

"To witness their work," he said quietly, shaking his head with a frown as he thought back on it. "It is what they do...show children their work, teach them the importance of serving the state."

Zoie wondered if she would have risked her child on something like that. She nodded before she stroked his forehead, caressing for a moment to ease the frown. "You must have been proud," she said softly. She remembered the feeling of her father in his uniform, before he deployed. She had been scared. But awed and proud.

He hesitated for a long moment, swallowing hard before nodding with a frown. "They all seemed so...important. Strong."

She nodded as she watched him, her eye gentle, the other one watching with the same focus as always. But she was smiling and it softened her face, made it look less harsh. "It's good to remember them like that. They had you as a son. Intelligent, beautiful you. So they must have been pretty amazing people."

Acer gave a small, gentle smile as he watched her, letting out a shaking breath as he squeezed her arm. "You have a nice way with words."

"Yeah? Well, good to know my schooling wasn't a waste," she winked before she shook her head. "Don't be afraid to be proud of them."

"I can't be," he said quietly, frowning as he shook his head. "They were the enemy. Of who and what we work for. I can't afford to be proud of them."

"Yes, you can. Because they were your parents and they did their duty. Sure, they were cardassians. Sure, at that time they were the enemy..." she frowned as well, swallowing. "But they were your parents and they did their duty. They were soldiers."

He sighed heavily for a long moment, rubbing his face tiredly with a frown. "I think my adoptive parents tried to have me think 'more human'."

"Which I get. If you acted more human as a child, it would be easier for you to live with humans...." she said quietly before she smiled weakly. "I suppose they too have your best interests in their hearts."

"I owe them my life," he agreed bluntly with a nod, letting out a tight breath. "Cardassians don't look kindly on orphans. If the Federation hadn't been willing to take me in, I doubt my own people would have."

"Maybe not. But it didn't happen," she said and smiled, her eyes gentle. "So...do I get to meet your adoptive parents?"

Acer watched her with surprise for a long moment, a small smile coming back to him when he realised he'd heard what he thought he'd heard. "I....would you want to?"

She nodded quickly with a small chuckle. "Yes, I would want to," she said before she took his hand, holding it for a moment. "And...when my Dad comes here, I want you to meet him."

"I'd like that," he admitted quickly, before she could change her mind on the offer. "I'd like to see where you are from."

She smiled warmly, her eyes shining. "I'd say we should go to Mars, but I think if we are going to fit everything in when we get that week off, it would be impossible."

He shook his head, holding her eyes as he tucked hair behind her ear. "He is where you came from."

She leant into the touch with a small smile. "I think he'll like you," she said quietly. "He likes hearing about you."

"I think you must be making it up," Acer said with a soft chuckle, arching a sceptical corded brow.

"I'm not...just wait," Zoie said before she stroked his shoulder, slowly, to try and relax him back to sleep.

OFF:

Cadet Zoie Herianto
Intelligence Cadet
[NPC Vansen]

Cadet Acer Vito
Intelligence Cadet
[NPC Blake]

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