Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

June 28, 2019, 05:48:12 AM

Cleansing the Soul

STARDATE 57569.95
15 MARCH, 2381
2205 HRS

[ Lt. Carrigan Trent | Steam Room | Deck 06 | USS Theurgy ] @BZ

It had been far to long since Carrigan Trent had fully availed himself to the benefits of a gymnasium.  And given the obscene workload that sat before him, his taking the time to do so would leave yet more work sitting on his desk when he would return, a pile that would only have grown by the time he would have slept and eaten. 

Too much work, too few hours of useful consciousness. 

But, self-care was a necessity, and he was getting to a point where he was perfectly willing to delay work, even time-sensitive matters; the conditions put to him made it impossible for him to manage to get everything done in the first place; so if he was going to be called out on it, then there would be only one answer for him to give: something had to give.  Delay some now, and more later, or get nothing done because of sheer stress and mental exhaustion. 

So he had hit the gym, and hard at that.  To the point of overdoing things.  But he needed the burn, he needed the physical exertion.  He would need the soreness in the morning.  But that did not mean he would not take measures to minimize things, and after a quick shower, he found himself in the steam room, on one of the wooden benches.  Around his waist was a towel, and one more over his head as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes closed, trying to relax.

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #1 – June 29, 2019, 02:50:23 PM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Taking a Breather | Hot Air, Hot Water | Off Duty | Living the Life]
@CanadianVet



Working was hard, for Eun Sae Ji.

Especially lately.  With all the fighters that were broken, mostly broken, or just plain scrap, it was her job to coordinate all the efforts to getting things back up and running.  While the repairs to the ship itself were going on rather well, it was her job, Liam's job, and the deck crew to get the fighters back to ready.  Who knew when they were going to be needed again.  She was hoping to have them up and ready for flight exercises and team building shit here soon.  But, there were still some problems.  And as with many machines, one problem would domino into others.  So once you thought something was fixed, there was another system that needed work, and another part that needed replacing.  Ji was covered in grease every night before she was off shift, and she was usually so tired that once she sat down she passed out. 

Ji usually gave Liam the first shower, because, it gave her a chance to replicate some dinner for them and everything.  But, after the food was replicated and then she had a minute to sit down, Liam would exit the shower and bedroom all clean and smelling like heavenly soap only to find Ji passed out on whatever surface she had sat on.  The couch had gotten a couple smudges of grease on it as well because of her accidental sleeps.  Liam would wake her up, and force her into the shower.  Though last night, nothing could rouse her and she found herself in bed in the morning having left her grease smudges on Liam instead of the bed.

Today, off duty a little bit earlier than Liam she had decided to clean up.  The muscles in her body ached, but it was a good ache, the kind built from hard work and a job well done.  So she had decided that the steam baths was a place she really wanted to go today.  Liam would be off shift soon and had promised to message her when he was so they could dine together tonight.  If she was already clean the chances of her crashing before food could be eaten was pretty slim. 

So she had showered off so she didn't sully the steam bath, and then she pulled on her swim suit.  Before, she might not have cared who saw what, but now that she was exclusively with Liam, she decided that he should be the only one of the opposite sex that should get to see what he did.  So she replicated herself the Starfleet bikini and slid it on over her frame in the changing room.  The scars of her life and work showing here and there.  Healed and the slightly paler tone than the other olive colored flesh of her Korean heritage.  She was packed with muscle, though not hard.  She still held a softness to her. 

Stepping into the steam room, the baths softly released their steam upward from the water.  Allowing the moisture to go into the air and create a lovely foggy mist all over the place.  It would have made for a creepy kind of atmosphere if the lights in the room hadn't dispelled it.  Dark eyes looked around, though she didn't see anyone else in the pool at the moment so she decided to step down into the shallow pool.  There were a few deeper areas if you wanted to submerge fully but most of it was shallow and there was built in seating for those that just wanted to relax.

Which Ji did.

Stepping into the water, she sat down on one of the built in benches on the wall and leaned back into the contoured comfort of the wall.  A long sigh exited her lips as the warmth began to lap at her skin for a moment.  Ji's eyes slid closed and she lay her head back until it rested on the side of the pool behind her. 

This was heaven.

It wasn't long, until she realized the inevitable.  She was going to fall asleep.  Ji popped her eyes open and searched the pool again, now that she felt at least a bit more relaxed, she figured the steam room might be better for cleansing her pores.  She remembered using them back in Korea with her family all the time at the public baths they used frequently.  With a pang she remembered her family.  How long has it been since I have spoken to them?  Oma, Apa...   Getting out of the pool she dried herself off with a fluffy nearby white towel before she headed to the steam room.  Stepping inside was like stepping into a hot summer day.  She closed the door behind her and walked over to the wooden bench to sit down.  There was another in here, a male, towel placed around his waist.  Ji didn't bother with the towel she was still in the bikini.

“You look like you need a whole pizza, not a steam room.” she remarked from her spot with a joking smirk on her face.

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #2 – June 29, 2019, 11:42:17 PM

[ Lt. Carrigan Trent | Steam Room | Deck 06 | USS Theurgy ] @BZ

Muscles that had not known sufficient regular exercise in entirely too long were protesting, but the steam was helping.  As did the quiet.  Yes, Heather would probably  be back in their quarters, and her presence did grant him a degree of peace, but there remained this constant feeling of inadequacy; how he had failed to protect her when she had needed it the most... and any chance he had to save her had been taken from him.  Had it not been of a twist of fate...

He had to make a conscious effort to push those thoughts away.  She was much changed, and fragile... but she was back.  It was all that really mattered. 

His thoughts were threatening to head back towards some very dark places when the door opened again, but he did not look up.  He knew he was always monitored by Thea in case someone meant him harm. He did not really expect it to happen... but he was also beyond caring; if he was going to be cornered, he would take what was coming at him.  Given how things had gone so far, he had absolutely no illusions that any altercation would be pinned on him regardless of who threw he first punch, for the crime of now avoiding the situation. 

But what he heard was no simple greeting, or a mere polite greeting spoken out of habit rather than genuine feeling.  It was sounding actually... humourous.  Without looking up, and his eyes still closed, Trent let out a chuckle that carried very little mirth, but there was a hint there.  "Last time I heard something like that, it was a half-dozen cheesseburgers, with bacon of course.  And fries."

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #3 – July 09, 2019, 03:32:06 PM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Steamy Encounters | Feed the Man some Bread |  Oma Would Not Let This Man Starve | Could Use Some Ramen]
@CanadianVet




Ji could hear a little tone in his voice proving that she had at least entertained him.  She appreciated those that could appreciate her sarcasm and humor.  She slid back against the wooden wall behind her closing her eyes as he mentioned a cheeseburger and fries.  She supposed that would work well enough but now that she had started thinking about food her mind wandered to all the Korean delicacies that were her favorite.  Of course there was sushi, but there was also instant ramen at the gas stations, sitting in the window eating the noodles with your chopsticks and watching life pass by.  She missed the street stalls, and she missed the fried pig, the spicy chicken feet, the chicken and beer.  All of the things that made Korea amazing.  She missed her mom's cooking.  She missed the seaweed soup on her birthday.  With a long sigh, she began to miss her mother.  Having not been able to talk to her in such a long time sometimes wore heavily on her.  Korea was all about family and though Eun Sae was not what her family had hoped she would be, she was still part of it.  She wondered what they thought of her, and what they had assumed happened to her, or if the Fleet was watching them hoping that she would message them from the Theurgy and pinpoint a location.

Sometimes, she would leave a log, something for her parents to find or hear once everything was over.

She still wanted to take Liam to Korea.  She knew it probably wouldn't happen outside a holodeck but she was planning one.  She was working with one of the holoprogrammers to piece together various things that were already made from Korea and put them together.  She was excited to show him, and they had used pictures so that she could show him what her school had looked like, her home, where she had lived.  She didn't think she could stand it to put in hologram forms of her parents.  But, she would rather if he met them, he met them for real.  Not fake.  So, she hadn't bothered to put them in but she put in shop keepers, and food stalls, and all the things that made Korea amazing. 

Especially, the Namsan tower.

Ji was relaxed, slumped, against the wooden wall behind her as the steam began to open her pores and allow the impurities of working on the Flight Deck begin to come out.  She worked hard, and her body showed it.  She had a wealth of muscles and tight skin.  But, there was a bit of 'pretty' to her if you looked at her as well. 

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #4 – July 11, 2019, 05:26:48 AM

[ Lt. Carrigan Trent | Steam Room | Deck 06 | USS Theurgy ] @BZ

Trent's words hung in the steam room as though suspended in the moisture.  Truth be told, he had surprised himself with his own tone.  There was a time when he did have a sense of humour, but it felt so far away now.  Lifetimes away, nearly forgotten.  Just like he had nearly forgotten there was a time when his ribs could no be counted if he was seen shirtless.  And those two thoughts set his mind down a narrow, twisting, and very dark path.

A path strewn with faces and names, regrets, fear, terror, shame, hate (much directed at himself, no less) and so much more.  A dark path his thoughts spent entirely too much time on and he could not avoid.  At best he could force his mind away from there for a little while, but it was never for long.  And now, he was certain he would be in for a long, long night.  In fact, there was a bottle of bourbon calling his name from his quarters, that seductive siren's song.  Oh, he could control his intake... even if he wasn't sure he wanted to...

Well, he knew that in the end a measure of self-control would win out, if only because he flatly refused to allowed the lies said about him to become truth...

Finally, Trent looked at his current companion from under the towel draped over his head like a cowl.  Asian, Chinese or Korean if he was any judge; muscular, very muscular even.  And her face looked familiar.  Even in his current state, his mind had much in common with a steel trap and he mentally reviewed every Asian human he was familiar with, until he identified her.  Ji, fighter propulsion.  And she too looked deep in though.  And he just had to ask.  "Home?"

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #5 – July 14, 2019, 05:34:35 AM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | Bibimbap | Bulgogi | Kimchi | Seolleongtang | Soji | Tteok-bokki]
@CanadianVet




What is home?

It wasn't always a place, sometimes it was a person, but for Ji it was a place.  Though she had more than one home, because it wasn't as though the Theurgy wasn't home.  She had been serving here long enough to have called this place home and was rather glad that it was around.  If not for the Theurgy she would have not gotten to the position that she was currently in, she wouldn't have met Liam, she shouldn't be the person that she was right now.  However, if there was one place in the entire universe that she missed as enough to ache in her heart, it was Korea.  She missed so many things.  She wanted to take Liam up to the Namsan tower, she wanted to go to the amusement park with him and eat at the street stalls.  She wanted to show him everything that there was to see about Korea and everything that she had grown up doing.  She had never been overly studious unless it was something to do with mechanics and the like, but when she had found her passion- her calling- she had found herself unable to stop trying to learn more.  Hungry for more. 

Home was also Liam, and she was glad to have him at her side, to have met him, know him, love him.  She was glad that he was around with that smile and his really bad jokes.  She was glad that he was there to share those down time moments, and those hard battling moments.  The days where she wasn't sure they would survive, those were the days that home became a person more than a place.  Those were the days you would do anything that you could to protect whatever it was that was home.  Ji knew that she would go down with the ship .. with Liam, with home, if it came to it.

Words again, from the Wraith.

Ji's eyes opened and she smiled.  “Oh.” she said and then realized that she had accidentally slipped into Korean, though the UT would pick it up as a 'yes' anyway because Korean was a very commonly known language by the UT though Ji had probably taught it a bit more colorful language skills than it had come equipped with. 

“Korea.  I miss it, and especially after a battle, when I wish that I could talk to my mom and dad, and tell them about everything.  That last mission.  The ships being separate, and together, and all the enemies that we had to fight together.  It was harrowing.  I miss home, even though this is also home.  Sometimes I wonder if Korea would ever feel the same.  In my memories it is home, but it is the Korea I remember as a girl, growing up, before I left.  Now, it would be different because I am different.  Theurgy is my home, Liam is my home, but Korea.. perhaps it is something new all together now.  A place of origin, and yet home in a different way?” she gave a shrug.

“Now you have me all melancholy.  Where do you call home?”

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #6 – July 16, 2019, 03:37:00 AM

[ Lt. Carrigan Trent | Steam Room | Deck 06 | USS Theurgy ] @BZ

Given something resembling context, 'yes' was one of those words the one never really needed the Universal Translator for.  In fact, his own tended to skip this sort of universal words and expressions.  And, as it turned out, he had been right about what he had suspected.

Thoughts after battle were always a mixed bag for Trent, and truth be told he'd never really given that matter a whole lot of thought, which might be odd coming from one trained as a tactical officer and who had held a combat command before.  He had always tended to deal with the post-engagement jitters with familiar tasks; the massive amount of work and reports that came afterwards, the reviews of how different sections had fared when he had been Chief Tactical Officer and how whole departments had done when he made XO and eventually Captain.  The analysis of tactics and capabilities that had been used by both sides, what had bee done well, what could have been done better.  Addressing damage, considering casualties, writing the letters if required. 

He'd never really spared a thought for home.  Or even what was home anymore for that matter.  Which led to a very honest answer.  "Honestly, I couldn't tell you anymore." There was a weak smile from under the towel he wore as a cowl.  "I was raised in Kingston, on Earth's Lake Ontario.  Around this time of year, you can feel winter is getting tired and spring is right around the corner.  On a good year, that is.  On a bad winter, it'd be hard to tell the difference from right now and mid-January.  And if it's more like spring, it would be less cold but just as damp.  It's always humid there.  But if I was there... I think I'd be at The Merchant or Tir Nan Og with a good pint..."

He sighed deeply.  Home... what did that even mean anymore? 

Re: Day 05 [2205 hrs.] Cleansing the Soul

Reply #7 – July 17, 2019, 04:36:19 AM

[CPO Eun Sae Ji | No Rest of the Hard-Working | Spa Time Cut Short | Back to the Grind | Enjoy the Quiet]
@Auctor Lucan



It seemed he was unsure where his home was.  To her, it was easy, simple, and answer to a question that wasn't even really a thought.  Even though she felt she had two homes, Korea would always be her actual home.  She had not traveled much as a youth and until she had joined Starfleet she had never sought to.  But, her mechanics know how and her talent had taken her places that she hadn't expected and she was glad for it all.  Still, she could not imagine not really knowing of a place to call home especially when you were born and raised somewhere.  But then, everyone was different she supposed.  Ji just gave a nod as if she understood even though that was far from the truth and brushed a hand through her hair. 

“Well, home is different for everyone.  I would consider the ship my home too.” she admitted with a shrug of her shoulder.  “There are different reas-”

[Chief Ji, this is PO1 Elias Merriweather.]

Ji rose her brow and grabbed at her combadge which was sitting close by and tapped it.  “This is Ji.”

[Chief we got a problem, one of the fighters, we started her up, but the engine won't fire consistently and we can't get it to hold power to the whole unit for more than thirty seconds.]

Ji sighed, and closed her eyes.  She had hoped to really relax.  She was technically supposed to be off right now, not on.  She knew that they could probably have called someone else.  But, she also knew that if they called her it was because they had either exhausted all the previous options or just knew that she could come in and get done what needed to be done.  Insufficient power flow was nothing to play around with, if it was diverted into the wrong thing, the whole fucking fighter could explode and she didn't really want to explain that problem to the Captain.  So, she knew that she just needed to get in there and figure out what went wrong and who to talk to about it.

“I'm on my way, give me … five.” she said as she rose up off the bench she sighed and rolled her shoulders.  “No rest for the highly talented.” she gave a smirk of her lips and headed for the door.  “Eat a sandwich and enjoy the quiet.” she called over her shoulder in a joking tone before she exited the room.  In the locker room she pulled on a clean yellow working uniform and zipped it up the front before she took off running, hair still damp but toweled off from the steam room, as she bolted through the ship heading for the fighter assault bay.

-Fin-