Complications

Posted on 17 Jul 2014 @ 12:59pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Luke Wyatt

2,897 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 1 - Corridor
Timeline: MD 02 - 15:00

[ON]

Holding his jacket Luke doodled besides Blake, he couldn't remember the last time he had sparred with someone who could actually beat him. Not that he'd tell her that, ever. "When we get back hurry and get changed I'm not done with your rehabilitation yet" He said as-mater-of-factly. Before she had a chance to say anything he continued "And don't give me any crap about duty because I'm pretty sure the crew can run without its XO for a little more while"

Scarlet chuckled gently at the words...because that had been exactly what she'd been about to say. She touched her chest, shaking her head. "Who me?" she said with innocence before giving a small smile of amusement. "The thing I find about being a First Officer is that there is always a hundred things to do if you think that you might, just might, get bored...."

"Oh spare me the pain of hearing how boring your job is" He teased pretending to hang a noose around his neck "I just want to see you have fun and not worry about everything 24/7 is that much to ask? As an ex Marine, Ex counsellor and current XO you should know how important it is to keep your Crew happy and believe it or not missy that includes you!" As they stopped outsider her quarters Luke pulled her to the side carefully placing a hand on her shoulder "Now Wrap up warm. I'm going to teach you how to play ice hockey and I don't want to hear one word of objection, otherwise Ill have to go all Marine on your ass again, You got me Jarhead?"

She straightened up and cleared her throat, giving a mock salute as she watched just over his right ear. "Sir, yes, Sir!"

Luke nodded "You have thirty minutes!" He continued before turning on his shell and heading towards his own quarters to quickly change.

---

Scarlet glanced down the corridor with folded arms as she waited for Luke to configure the holoprogramme. "You do realise I have never ice skated before, right?"

Luke was taping away at the screen trying to finish of the minor details of the ice rink "Well Its not hard and i figure you for a fast learner" Looking up from the console he smiled as the doors opened "Ladies first" He gestured through the doors.

Moving inside, Scarlet looked around quickly, eager to take it all in. She shivered despite the jumper she wore, her skin getting a touch of pink to the usually pale skin. When she breathed out, her breath even became visible in a cloud of mist.

Following behind he breathed in the cold air, he had selected an outdoor rink in a 21st century setting London his and Abbey's favourite. The rink was a little large and was illuminated by several lamps on the edge of the rink. Surrounding it was stools of seats and food venders unoccupied but the smell of roasted nuts and hot dogs filled the air. "So gets your ice skated and ill meet you on the ice" He said walking off towards the back of one of the seating stools

Scarlet chuckled at being left to it. "Okay..." she said lightly, heading for the stand that seemed the most obvious option. As she tied the skates on, she was struck with how heavy they felt. It was like she was weighted into the ground as she carefully made her way to the ice, gripping the side. She chuckled, shaking her head as she took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing..." she stepped onto the slippery surface, but kept a tight grip of the rail, her body threatening to lurch forward.

Watching scarlet for a split second he smiled, and holding back the barrels of laughter "You wasn't lying was you" He teased stepping onto the ice naturally and slid to the side of her holding out his left hand "Come on, I said I'd teach you"

She gripped the hand tightly, only then having the nerve to let go of the rail. She glided with him, but wobbled slightly. She laughed at how bad she was at it, but that made her wobble more. "Ah! Laughing makes it worse!" that only made her laugh more, of course. "Okay, okay," she let out a long breath, lifting her other arm to the side to help with balance.

Luke glided alongside Blake slowly realising her hand despite his inner urge to hold on, his hand only moved away a few centimetres as if attached by an invisible string just in case she lost her balance. "You can be pretty graceful when you want to be" He teased moving his hand away fully and smiled "Want to try going backwards?" He asked turning on his feet and now faced towards her skating backwards "Its actually pretty easy" He couldn't help but catch the light of he face.

"Are you saying that I usually have the grace of a concrete elephant?" she teased softly with a laugh, gaining confidence with the ice. "How do I...." she twisted her feet to turn herself round, wobbling on the way as she kept both arms firmly out at her sides. "And people play hockey like this, you say?" she laughed with disbelief.

"I think concrete elephant is an understatement" he joked remaining to face the opposite direction he was travelling "and as for your second question no, hockey is actually much faster and can be very difficult the best players are as agile as a cat! But I'm not the best so this is what you get" he smiled twisting and now faced forward just before the barriers and turned.

Scarlet laughed, not figuring out how to stop in time. She sailed lightly into the barrier, gripping hold of it to keep upright, shaking her head with colour in her usually pale cheeks. "When I get better, we have to try this with Lily, she'd love it. And I wager she'd be better than me within half an hour."

"If I had thought I would have suggested for her to come along maybe that's a date for another time?" He suggested stopping himself just of where she was gripping the side. "Come on, are you going to hold onto the barrier the entire time or do I Have to threaten to kiss you to get your lazy but moving" He winked.

She hit him not too gently in the arm, laughing with disbelief. "This is hard! I'm trying my best!" she laughed, but tried to keep her core strong as she pushed away to try again, managing to get a bit faster with the confidence. "When did you learn this?"

Luke had to give it to her, she had a mean punch. Ignoring the slight pain she had inflicted he smiled and went onto telling her the answer to the question "Well it was during my years at school just before starfleet, I was a huge fan of ice hockey so I went to a local team with a few friends and well got pretty awesome at it, just like you will"

Scarlet looked across to him with a small smile at the words. It sounded great fun. She hadn't been to school, not like that. It sounded...warm. "So how come you're in Starfleet and not a famous sportsman?" she teased.

Luke couldn't help but shrug "Good question maybe you should bring it up with the national hockey comity when were back on Earth! Any way why do I have to answer all the questions maybe you should share some interesting facts about you?" He held out his hand to pull her into the centre of the rink.

She gripped the hand tightly to make sure she remained upright, chuckling softly, her cheeks pink with the crisp air and exertion. "Ah, but I'm really not all that interesting," she shook her head softly. "I joined the marines young, service has pretty much been my life."

"Oh please" Luke scoffed making sure his grip didn't slip as he slowed towards the center. "You can not be telling me that there is nothing interesting about you? No Hobbies, interest and no embarrassing stories? I don't believe you!"

"I'll have you know that I don't get into embarrassing predicaments, because I'm just too calm and cool...." she lifted her chin with a playfully satisfied look before laughing. "Well, unless there's alcohol involved, and then everything all goes out the window, including shoes and glasses. Not that it happens often anymore. With Lily, well, most of my time these days is either work or her. It's not often I do something like this."

"Consider me a good influence then! There's always room for some embarrassing predicaments!" He continued to help glide her across the ice "We should do this more often and you can bring lily along like you said she'd enjoy this!"

"She would. And she'd probably be better than me within five minutes," Scarlet laughed softly at the knowledge, but the distraction and movement in her body sent her off balance. She overleant backwards, trying to regain her balance, but it was too much and she fell backwards on the ice....but not before grabbing Luke to try and stay upright but only resulting in taking him with her.

Luke was taken by surprise by the sudden pull and done his best to stay upright by throwing his free arm out and kicking his skates back and fourth but before he knew it he was tumbling down after Scarlet. Somewhere during the fall or even the impact Luke had managed to break her fall by taking most of the impact, he could feel her weight on his chest. Looking into her eyes he smiled before it turning into a giggle "That was just silly wasn't it" He said not really sure what to say, this was as much uncomfortable as it was spectacular for him as he continued to look into her blue eyes, her hair dropping as gravity done its job.

Scarlet laughed, her cheeks flushed as she shook her head, trying to catch her breath. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I guess we found something I'm not very good at," she rubbed her arm, smiling all the same as she pushed herself up to sit with a sigh of effort. "You're much more comfortable than the ice though," she assured with a dead pan tone and expression.

"I would like to think I am more comfortable the a solid bit of freezing cold water" He laughed pushing himself up to sit facing Scarlet. He could feel the dampness of his clothes now. "It just takes getting used to, besides you're not completely useless. I couldn't even step onto the ice before falling head over heels it took weeks before I could even go straight but then again I was only a child" He said in a half witty comforting tone.

Scarlet hit his arm with a soft laugh, shaking her head with a blush. "Fine, fine, rub it in why don't you. We didn't have things like ice rinks and parks in space...." she countered, but with playfulness rather than any real bitterness or accusation.

Luke was going to argue that they had holo decks and therefor they had ice rinks but bit his tongue instead standing up carefully he reached down to help pull her up of the floor. "Come on up you get"

She gripped his hands tightly to try and get back on to her feet...well, blades. She took a tight breath, her feet sliding under her and it took a moment to gather her balance enough to let him pull her up.

Probably pulling her up a little quicker than he planned not expecting how light she was Luke held scarlet round the waist so that she wouldn't fall over again, she was extremely clumsy for someone so usually graceful. Holding her perhaps a little uncomfortably Luke was overwhelmed with a burst of euphoria moved his other hand to her waist and met her lips with his.

Scarlet's eyes widened with surprise at the unexpected contact. Her breath caught in her throat and colour reached her skin as she remained motionless for a long moment. Finally, she put her hands up between them, planting them onto his chest to ease him back away from her.

Realising what he had done Luke looked at Blake in horror "I...I'm sorry I shouldn't, I should" he pointed towards the exit clearly embarrassed by his outburst. Though he couldn't deny that her lips were as soft as they looked. "Sorry" he whispered again. Secretly he wished she would have enjoyed the kiss but knew different.

Scarlet shook her head, the usually calm and collected woman flustered as she looked around. "Luke, I....that was unexpected...." she tried a laugh, clearing her throat.

Despite the chill in the air Luke could feel himself becoming hotter, his palms becoming sweaty as he clenched them trying to grasp the situation "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that" He bit his lower lip trying to forget about how much he actually enjoyed the kiss and despite her obvious fluster he hoped he could do it again.

Scarlet shook her head slowly, holding her breath. "Luke, it's not personal, you know that. I just...I'm not..."

Hesitating for a split second trying to think of something sensible to reply he shrugged "I know it isn't but I just think that maybe we could be something worth while." Biting his lip he put his hand to is forehead and frowned. "I hate how once a few years ago you allowed yourself to love someone enough to make a beautiful child and now I can't even get a second look"

Scarlet frowned with the words, swallowing hard with how her throat tightened. "I didn't love him," she said quietly, looking away at saying out loud what she never usually talked about. "The last man I loved wasn't Lily's father. And he went against my order out in the field, and got us all caught. I was in solitary confinement and after seven months of interrogation I was finally rescued. Only him and me were still alive from the team. And he never spoke to me again. I've never heard from him since."


Luke could feel his heart twist into a knot as Scarlet told him something obviously not many knew "I didn't know I just assumed" He stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder. "Blake I don't want or like to force anything onto you its against everything I believe in as a soldier and as an individual but there was once a time you loved and I don't believe you wont ever be able to again. I can not say I understand the pain and hardship you've been through with lily but all I want is to finally allow you release and show you that someone out there wont just walk away"

Scarlet smiled weakly, holding her breath as she shook her head lightly, her gaze fixed on her hands. "A man in my life, like that, is one huge complication I can't get my head around. Not yet. Not with Lily, and work. Not with all the rubbish that still goes on in my head. But Luke, you're a great mate, you know that."

Closing his eyes briefly and inhaling Luke thought over a reply "Just not great enough" He didn't mean to sound irritated but he was, he couldn't fully understood why she couldn't at least see him beyond a friend. "Is there nothing I can say or do?" The sadness in his voice creeping in. "Not even try?" He added.

"Luke..." Scarlet's chest tightened as she watched him, frowning as she shook her head slowly and reached to squeeze his arm. "I'm sorry, I don't want to upset you....I bloody hate using that damned cliche, but it really isn't you, it's me."

Taking in the words he breathed a sigh, feeling himself consume with a mixture off hurt, anger and bitterness. Biting his tongue he turned to his left stopping short of a 180 degrees before speaking next "I best go" Was all he could mutter. 'It's not you its me the same words bouncing of the interior of his head.

Scarlet watched him with a frown of pain and frustration, holding her breath so tight it hurt. "I thought we'd worked this out, Luke...in the bar..." she shook her head, licking her lips. "I can't help how I feel."

"I thought we did to, but I can't help how I feel." He turned to face her again before shaking his head "I really best go before I cause any more problems" It was already going be difficult with that he proceeded to walk out of the holodeck.

Scarlet watched the doors close with disbelief. She swallowed hard, shaking her head before swearing loudly, dropping down to sit on the ice. She ended the programme, reaching out to grab her shoes to pull back on with sharp, quick movements. Men really were a complication.

[OFF]

Chief Petty Officer Luke Wyatt
Acting Chief of Secuity
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

 

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