Risan Days and Risan Nights
Posted on 23 Mar 2013 @ 5:59pm by Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Ansen Pawlak
Edited on on 23 Mar 2013 @ 8:46pm
1,435 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Holodeck
Timeline: MD 06 1830
[ON]
Jared had not had to do a lot of work for the program. It was pretty simple. No bombs, no mystery, no assassins waiting to jump out of the wood work. Just a nice relaxing vacation on Risa.
He had purposely programmed a lot of randomness in so that even he would not know what was coming next.
He was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans a plaid short sleeved rugby shirt. and sandles He had just finished a last minute surprise into the system when he heard a noise behind him.
Ansen's hands were deep into his pockets as he rounded the corner to the holodecks. He hadn't been in one for... he couldn't even remember how long. Being away from the kitchen felt wrong - the galley had become his security blanket in Marek's absence and anything else felt... hollow. Wrong. A world without his brother in it. He forced his breaths steady and looked at the officer out of uniform. Christ, the man was small. He could have broken him by accident. How had he managed not to? "I'm here," he announced, redundantly.
"Good, I'm glad to see you. Like I said I've programmed something simple. Just a nice relaxing vacation on Risa. We'll be arriving just after 1700 or 5PM in civilian talk. In time for cocktails and a poolside reception. I hope that is okay."
Risa. "Synth-cocktails," he said quietly, eyeing the door. But he didn't have a choice. He had to go through with this... exercise. So that Jared could get a sense of what he was really dealing with and then move on. He'd jumped the man and nearly gotten him kicked off the ship because of it. The least he could do was let Jared be the one to walk away. "Didn't really dress for swimming," he added, tugging at the collar of his sweater before redepositing his hand in his pocket.
"I am sure there will be something to change into. Just do me a favor and try to relax. Be yourself. That is all I am asking."
"Can't really help that," the Pole answered. "I don't know who else I'd be."
Jared smirked at the chef's comment. "See what I mean? Are we having fun yet?"
"We're hoping we don't get arrested again," Ansen muttered darkly. "Is that fun?" He waved towards the door of the holodeck. "After you."
"I think we are petty safe in here. This is pretty private. So if Commander Holiday or Lt. Stone want to play voyeur then that is a violation of our privacy and they have only themselves to blame. Of course that would mean we'd have to have sex. I don't think they could arrest us for eating together." he said with a cheeky smile.
Ansen shut his eyes. Or drinking. He didn't think he could eat. He'd throw up. But drink - that he could manage with no trouble. Subconsciously, he took a step back as a preventative measure. Hormones or no, he wasn't going to lead this man into thinking he was in any way capable of providing him with the kind of relationship he was looking for.
Jared noticed the defensive posture and the other stepping away. They walked into the program then, into a open resort lobby. Palm trees hung over head and a warm ocean breeze swept over the area.
Jared took a few steps to the registration desk even as two bare chested dark haired Pacific Island looking young men handed both he and Ansen a strong rum drink in a hollowed out coconut. They were clad only in a breech cloth that left little to the imagination.
"An gentlemen," said a fair skinned blonde man, about Jared's size, from behind the desk. "Your suite is ready, you may want to go there and change they've already started with the cocktails. Oh and one more thing. Clothing is optional."
Ansen cupped the coconut between his hands, gripping it hard. He'd been to Risa. Enjoyed himself there thoroughly once. Now it was all he could do not to punch the simpering holograms. Joy and peace. Lies. He was hungry, but not for shish kebabs or the false promises of vacant smiles. He wanted to escape himself, his mind, his life, his loss. But he couldn't just let go of it. Not here. Not like this. "This isn't me," he whispered. "This isn't me anymore."
Jared despite the heat and balmy breeze shivered involuntarily. Despair and dark almost suicidal emotions were coming off of Ansen in waves. He kept the smile on his face but was beginning to wonder if this had not been a bad idea after all.
Still he had started it and was compelled to see it through he just hoped it would help.
Ansen pressed his fingers against the rough skin of the coconut. Who the hell was he then? He'd been hanging on to the last threads of his identity but two days sitting in his quarters, cut off from his only outlet and marginal escape from his grief, had destroyed even those. Now he was only the underbelly. Half a person. Disconnected and unrealized. His instinct was to grab whatever was near him - whoever - and force himself to feel alive again even in some small and completely insubstantial way, but he'd done that before and look where that had landed him. He eyed the contents of the coconut. Something was better than nothing, even if it wouldn't send him into the stupor he longed for. He took a heady gulp of the synth-rum concoction and looked at the blond hologram. "Which way do we go?"
The image favored with with a programmed, warm, synthetic smile that certainly looked real enough. "You're in Suite 312 It has an ocean view, plus from the balcony you can look over the pool. Just go through those double doors and take the second set of stairs.
Jared took a long sip of the drink that he now wished was the real thing and followed Ansen out. "So clothes or no clothes?" he asked, still trying to keep things light.
Ansen finished off the coconut and shook his head. It was a hologram. Were there safety features built in, he wondered. If he jumped into the ocean and swam deep and deep and deep, would it stop him before he drowned?
Jared placed a hand on his shoulder. He couldn't read, or at least he chose not to read the other man's thoughts but he was almost overwhelmed by the emotions. "Ansen, Ansen my friend, are you okay?"
"No," he answered, but that wasn't news. It couldn't have been. He'd already told Jared exactly why he wasn't okay and how and warned him and told him to get himself clear of him. He felt toxic. "But that doesn't seem to matter."
Jared's patience was wearing thin and he let out a slow breath that was almost a sigh. He wanted to lash out to tell Ansen to quit feeling sorry for himself, but he couldn't bring himself to do that.
"Look," he relented, "I can't fix you I'm not even going to try. We're here now though at least try to put things out of your head for a few hours."
A few hours. Sure. A few hours. A few days. It was all the same regardless. The galley could do without him. No one had missed his presence in the days he'd been missing. Not a word. Not a look. They probably hadn't noticed. Why should they? He was redundant. He offered them nothing. He'd thought once that he did. He'd thought that he had a knack. A flair. Skills that were useful, that gave pleasure, that improved the lives of others. But when those were gone, no one minded. No one would miss him. A few hours. Broken. Couldn't be fixed. "I think- you're right." He looked at Jared for a long moment. "You're exactly right. Thank you." He carefully rested the holographic coconut on the ground and slipped his hands back into his pockets. "You should enjoy your time here. It will take your mind off things." He turned and left the holodeck.
Jared looked at Ansen's retreating figure with an incredulous expression on his face. What had done wrong. ^=^ Computer end program,^=^ he muttered half under his breath.
He didn't know what was going on with Ansen but whatever it was, it was way beyond his ability to help.
[OFF]
Ensign Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo
Ansen Pawlak
Chef
USS Galileo
(pNPC Lilou Peers)