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DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

[ Captain Ives | Below Decks | USS Theurgy | Deck 28 ] Attn: Nolan

It was the late evening before they reached Starbase 84, and Captain Ives had yet to retire for the evening. Instead, he walked the corridors of the ship, like he'd done with Commander Trent earlier that day. But instead of visiting the department heads and checking readiness before the mission, he stopped at the less usual places of the ship, where he seldom appeared unless for a specific reason. He had noticed that many crewmen took the opportunity to meet in the many lounges around the ship, and he had visited most of them.

The time had come to visit Below Decks, the lounge where all of the crew were welcome regardless of rank or department. Over the years, the place had become the a popular lounge overall, where the pretence and formality dropped in favour of honest relaxation. Since they fled Earth, the man named Regal had turned the place into a quite seedy, back-alley, Greek tavern, but to Ives great relief the place had regained its status in the good hands of his former First Officer - Edena Rez.

It was hard to drop the 'Commander' in front of the name.

As he walked inside, the present crew noticed him, and someone rose from his chair. "Captain on the deck!" The announcement was followed by the shuffle of feet and uniformed crew rising from their seats, but Ives raised his hands and forestalled the commotion from getting out of hand.

"At ease, at ease. I am merely passing though. Return to your drinks," he said quietly with a faint smile, lowering his calloused hands. "Enjoy your evening, but don't stay up too late. It's a big day tomorrow. I have only a few words for you all, and that is that we will not strike to vanquish, or to conquer, but to liberate. We will be entering Starbase 84 to free the Federation, so we must respect how the officers we'll face in battle do not know from where where their orders come. We must defend ourselves, but we should do our best to not take lives. Tread lightly. If there are casualties, then remember that when they woke up and donned their uniforms in the morning, they did not plan to die that day. For those who doesn't know, it is a big step to take another life. It is not to be done lightly. If you harm this crew or its mission by over-enthusiasm in killing, know it is your comrades and your families who will suffer for it - not to mention your conscience."

Saying this, Jien paused, meeting the eyes of the gathered crew, and then walked on. "As you were," he said, and even if his words had been grave, he rounded off the short speech with another faint smile, and proceeded towards the opposite exit of the establishment. On the way there, he did not spot  Edena, so he figured she wasn't there. He had hoped to speak with her briefly, but he figured that she was far to busy running the lounge.

He passed out through the sliding door, meaning to visit the Arboretum's lounge next.

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #1 –
[ Edena Rez | Below Decks | USS Theurgy | Deck 28 ] Attn: Ives


Unaware of Ives' presence in the lounge she ran Edena had removed herself from sight as she was busy with hauling special spices and drinks from storage to the lounge. Her little bar seemed to be running quite well if not perfect with all the people dropping by in these desperate times. Last time she had checked there were quite a lot of people present, washing away their nerves and fears, enjoying the company of fellow crew mates. She heard the sliding door open as she looked over two boxes to see Jien moving towards her. A faint smile covering her lips as she stopped and waited till he'd be next to her "Captain, doing your rounds for morale?" she asked as she knew all to well how these things would go as a former XO.

She could hear the increased mumbling and chatter from behind the sliding door before it had gone shut and she placed the boxes down again to salute him. It was more like a force of habit than it was anything more. Kiya had surfaced and urged Edena to have a word with the captain and Edena smiled faintly "I think Kiya would like to have a word with you." She smiled and nodded "So I'll give you two some space. Good luck with the mission Jien." she said with a smile before she closed her eyes.

Even though it was the same body, Jien could notice light differences in the stance of the Trill as Kiya emerged out of the debts of the symbiont to take over control. With a soft gasp she opened her eyes once more and looked at Jien "You look tired Jien." she smiled as she looked at him from tip to toe.

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #2 –
Hearing the voice, Jien realised that Edena had been out in the corridor all along. He smiled faintly and paused his step, turning towards his former First Officer. "Indeed, but I do it just as much for them as for myself, I am afraid. I would not sleep well tonight unless I did it."

Seeing her salute to him while in civilian clothes was quite strange, and standing opposite her, he could not help but think that there were truly quite extraordinary circumstances that had made things end up the way they were between them. Or rather, between her and any form of duty aboard the ship. Ives imagined that it had to be hard on her, to give up on the mission and accept the fact that she'd have to remove herself from any kind of means that Jona Rez could use to betray Ives. She had sacrificed her position for the mission, accepting that she could only serve in the way she currently did. It was not an easy burden to bear, he imagined, knowing as she did that she could contribute but that she had to step away.

The name of Kiya brought him out of his ruminations, and when Edena wished him good luck, it was almost a bittersweet feeling that came to him. "My thanks, and with any luck, it will be the deciding battle that will bring victory to the war..." In lack of anything better to say, something a bit more cheerful, he waited....

...and saw how Edena's whole disposition changed. Set of shoulders, stance and the way she spoke when she said his name. Immediately, Jien was reminded of the second reason why Edena had stepped down, about what she had said in the Brig during the mutiny. That Kiya wanted to speak with him, on the eve of battle, might mean she wanted to speak of the Ishtar Incident, and how their plight on the Augustus still lingered with her. Not in a bad way, but rather the opposite. What was bad between Edena and Jien was the Niga Incident, and what he had almost done to her before the USS Relativity arrived. He might not have had all his wits about him, infected with the flora of the planet as he had been, but she still remembered how he had cornered her in the brig. He could still have flashes of memories come to him, from when he had fought her and held her down. No the third reason for why Edena did not wish to serve with him as like a shadow hanging over them, only vanquished by Kiya's contrasting feelings.

Jien realised she had spoken to him, and he recalled what she'd said. "I am tired," he confessed, and as he said it, he felt just how weary he was. He walked to the wall next to Kiya and leaned against it with his shoulder. "So very tired. Though I imagine that if you would scan me with a medical tricorder, you would not see the signs of physical fatigue in my morphogenic matrix. My weariness comes from the stakes we face... and my doubts."

He raised his eyes and looked at Kiya, wearing Edena's face. He remembered from the Augustus what she had looked like back when she was still alive. He remembered a lot more than her face too, of course, but he would not let his mind drift to what had happened between them. Not because they were bad memories, but because... He could not quite put his thumb on the reason, but it did not seem right to Edena to think of Kiya that way, and then there was the fact that Jona hid behind those eyes too. He could not let his guard down. Could he?

"Are you content, you, Illya and Edena, here in that establishment," he asked quietly, glancing towards the doors to Below Decks.

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #3 –
As Edena's stature changed to Kiya's own liking the ghost of the past looked around at her surrounding before resting her eyes on Jien. She could see that the captain was a distracted man as it took him a little while to reply to her question. She smiled faintly as she walked over to Jien and placed her hand on his chest "I don't need a tricorder to see you're tired Jien." She replied to him as he leaned against the wall. The history he and her shared had been long ago. Yet she assumed that she could still recognize his traits of fatigue from back in the day. Her hand remained on his chest as she looked at her hand before looking back up into his eyes.

"I suppose it wouldn't be too unnatural to be mentally tired at the moment. From what I've seen we are living in grave and dark times. Everything seems to rest on us and the pressure on your shoulders must be crushing." she spoke freely as she joined him in leaning against the wall.  Her eyes seemed to pierce his own as she kept looking deeply into them. Edena's body adapting rather perfectly to Kiya's quirks and facial expressions from back in the day. "Do you sleep enough even? Or at least get some relief of that pressure you're in?' she asked. Not meaning any of this in a sexual way, yet knowing that Jien used to enjoy sparring, meditating even if the time was right.

Yet despite the friendly conversation, she could feel Jien was holding back. She had been close enough to him in the past to him to realize that he wasn't being completely open to her. Was it because of her body? Or was it because of the other hosts? She couldn't know for sure as she kept looking at him and asked softly "Do you have any regrets about the entire ordeal so far?" Not referring specifically to the Ishtar incident, yet to the mission in a whole.

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #4 –
The touch of Kiya's hand against Jien's chest was both soothing and alarming at the same time. Still, thoughts about whether or not he could trust the close presence of Edena lingered, but he took a deep breath and settled himself against the wall, letting go of his concerns as best as he might. The tone of her voice was much alike the woman Jien had met on the holographic Augustus, even if there was another throat and tongue uttering her words. Kiya seemed surprised with herself at the way she was touching him, her hand on his chest remaining a bit before she removed it and leaned against the wall next to him. She spoke of his burdens, and he knew them well, but it seemed Kiya knew more than enough to recognise how he needed to rest, or distract himself somehow.

As he stood next to Kiya and looked into her eyes, he wondered if she had guessed, or even knew that Ensign Henshaw did her best to try and ease the tensions inside him, but either way, her words made Jien think of the breakdown he'd had after the Senior Staff Meeting, and how Cam had anchored him to the present. He supposed Kiya meant if he could vent his feeling through his martial arts training, but the thought of how Henshaw had helped him was not so easily shaken off. He cleared his throat and turned towards Kiya, purging his thoughts as best as he might from the memory of Henshaw's 'treatment' and focusing fully on the Trill next to him. "I try to find relief, but there is no time, and whatever I have time for isn't always enough. Thankfully, I get support from the officers around me. They take their duties seriously, and I am confident they will do their utmost to complete this mission. I do feel that I can trust them."

With his shoulder against the bulkhead, looking down into Kiya's eyes where she remained next to him, Jien found himself looking at those lips of hers when she spoke. They were forbidden for him, belonging to Edena, and the question of his regrets so far brought his mind back to the present. "Many," he said, and there was so much encompassed with the single word, "yet in terms of you and I... I regret what I almost did to your current host while we orbited Niga. Moreover... that you were forced to do the things you did with me, when your husband still lives on in your heart."

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #5 –
"From what I've gathered, you have a above average crew Jien." she snickered "I think most commanding officers barely get so many good and creative officers in a lifetime." she mentioned. "Though it seems like they're unable to relieve you enough from your burdens. Which isn't a reproach to them. It just seems to me that you're too focused on being a perfectionist in your work Jien." she paused as she shook her head "Perhaps the problem doesn't lay with your officers in that case." she smiled and looked back into Jien's eyes. She changed her stature a bit to stand up more straight now as she seemed to study him, following his eyes.

While Jien spoke of regrets with her, she could feel her cheeks fluster a little. "Niga... Niga was a phenomenon that you couldn't anticipate on." she answered under her voice "If it would console you, I think Edena has already forgiven you about those events, yet you should ask her when you find the time." she continued before he brought up what she was forced to do with him. Jien noticed how silent Kiya became when he spoke of it and she looked up at him and stepped closer towards him.

"What we did..." she started as her fingers traced along his lips "I may have been forced to do whatever we needed to do. Yet it doesn't change how I feel towards my husband. He'd understand given the situation. Yet..." she paused as she knew what she was about to say could be taken differently "Yet I would lie if I said that somewhere... It didn't feel good to be alive like that once more. Perhaps I'd even be... glad that it was you Jien." she whispered as she looked in his eyes. The memories flooding her mind now as she remembered what they had shared.

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #6 –
Hearing her say those words, and at the same time feeling her fingers coming up to touch his lips, Jien was also thrown back into the past - recalling the program Ishtar had trapped them in.

"I will be gentle," Jien rasped against her lips and lifted her up on the edge of the diagnostics table with his strong arms.

"No need to be too gentle. I'm not some little innocent girl," Kiya replied. Her eyes opened. "When a man is attentive to a woman, he deserves to have that attention repaid," she told him, assured that she would not escape from reality, but acknowledge who her lover was at that moment. In a show of willingness, she spread her thighs, her feet against the edge of the table, giving him a full, uncensored look at what lay between her legs. It was the kind of pose an innocent couldn't give. Kiya was an experienced woman, not ashamed of her womanhood.

Jien supported her with one arm behind her back, and gripped the base of his member in order to brush it along her outer labia - exposed to him as she was propped up where she was on the table. As soon as he felt the crown of himself nestle into her heated opening, his free hand came up to caress her breasts - his rough thumb stroking over a hardened nipple. 

As Jien began to penetrate her, Kiya started drawing in a slow, deep breath, one that arched her back and pushed out her breasts. Not until he was fully sheathed did her breath begin to exhale, a smouldering look in her eyes as he feet raised, legs wrapped around his waist, inviting him to ravish her. 

Hers was a look of invitation if Jien had ever seen one. With minute movements, he began to work himself inside her - the head entering first. Then the rest of him - inches gained with each small surge of his hips. Her slick inner walls expanding for him, and his thickness swelling at the feeling of her swallowing him up. His breath heavy against her, he knew it would not be ten minutes until they had the sample they needed. His mouth had already resumed kissing her. 

The memory was still vivid to Jien, and as if bridging the present to the past, he found himself slowly leaning down towards Kiya - one hand coming up to the side of her face. He could feel her warm breath tease his lips, and he wanted nothing rather than steal that breath into his own mouth. All else well away, even the fact that those lips were not truly Kiya's, but Edena's. His eyes fell shut, emphasising the idea that this was not his former First Officer, but the Trill he had met on the holodeck. If the mission failed on the morrow, he would at least have....

The sliding doors to Below Decks opened.

Jien dropped his hand immediately and leaned back against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. His heart beating quickly in his chest, he looked at the people stepping out of the lounge, and it seemed they had not been looking ahead of themselves as they emerged from the sliding doors. Standing perfectly still, his mien passive, Jien nodded to the passing officers when they greeted him. Once they had passed, Jien turned his eyes back to Kiya, but so immersed had he been in the memory that he was almost startled to see Edena looking back at him - reality settling in much too quickly. It might still be Kiya looking back at him, but what they'd had shared would never be the same. Not with the others present. Edena, Illya, but primarily... Jona Rez.

"I..." he said, chuckling quietly, "I suppose we will always have the Augustus."

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #7 –
Kiya looked at Jien as he seemed lost in thoughts for a moment. Her hand slipping from his lips as she kept looking in his oaken eyes. Suddenly, he seemed to slip out of it and he raised his hand to cup her face. He came in closer and Kiya knew where this would lead to. She didn't stop him or refrain herself from giving in, the feeling to be alive just too close to be felt with. Even though this body wasn't hers, she'd feel the physical contact she'd missed for so long. Nothing had felt so real since the Ishtar incident... She could feel his warmth almost radiating against her skin.

When the doors opened she took a step back  as quickly as Jien pulled back himself to look at the officers who passed by. Kiya managed to suppress a blush covering her cheeks. However, what she saw next on Jien's face was not really troublesome, but it was a reminder that she was trapped in a foreign body. She saw his expression change as she saw Edena before him and not her. Her eyes turned down to the floor as she remained silent for a few moments.

"I suppose I should let Dena get back to work. There's a lot of things to be done for tonight if she'd want to keep her clients satisfied." Kiya mentioned before she managed to look back up to Jien. "And like you said... We still had the Augustus." she concluded before she smiled and nodded "Goodbye Jien." with those final words the Trill host returned tothe depths of the personality and Edena emerged once more as she blinked at looked at Jien.

Re: DAY 06: Memories [2000 hrs.]

Reply #8 –
Seeing Kiya react the way she did made Jien's heart go out to her, not able to imagine what it would be like to live only through someone else. It meant, after Jona's betrayal, that things could never be the same between them, and Edena had due causes for handing in her uniform. Edena had not wanted to give up her position, but was forced to do so because she sensed that Jona could not be trusted with the kind of access he'd have when she was XO. Jien still admired her for that, but in this instance, it made him regret what had happened even more.

"Good bye, Kiya," he said, a faint bitter-sweet smile coming to him as well.

Then, she was gone, and Edena Rez was back - evident to him in all the details. Details he had come to know well over the past months.

"I should get going, and I reckon your customers would not be pleased if they didn't get what they wanted to drink on the eve of battle," said Jien to Edena and inclined his head. "Thank you, for everything, and stay safe."

- FIN
 
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