Awkward Elevator Ride (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 04 Apr 2015 @ 7:16am by Commander Andreus Kohl & Ensign K'os Beaumont & Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson

2,349 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo - Turbolift Car Two
Timeline: MD 01 - 1612 hours

[ON]

Waiting inside the turbolift for what felt like an absurdly long time, Andreus Kohl shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The vibrations within the turbolift car and the flashing lights told him the turbolift had slowed to a halt. Moments later, it started to move in the opposite direction. "Odd," Kohl muttered. The shifting of his weight became more dramatic as he continued to shift from foot to foot. It was such a foreign feeling --having his legs respond exactly as he intended-- that his swaying escalated to the point that Kohl was standing there, marching in place. Of course, that was exactly when the turbolift halted again, and the doors opened wide.

Ellsworth stared in open disbelief, the sort you couldn't hide even if you wanted. Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl, marching in place in a turbolift, aboard the USS Galileo. Right there before his eyes. The shock was almost immediately disfigured, turning first into a scowl and then shifting into pure vengeance. He stomped into the turbolift and shoved Kohl in the shoulder hard, using momentum and the right segment of the military step to try to throw him off balance. Somewhere on the ship, Petty Officer First Class Pieter Van Zyl probably felt a disturbance as an enlisted crewman struck one of the ship's senior officers, but Ellsworth was so angry that the inappropriateness of it didn't even cross his mind.

"What the hell, Andreus? Did I step through some kinda science thingy and I'm in a Nautilus turbolift now? Did you manage to get some sort of 'special permission' from Commander Blake to abandon your post?" Ellsworth asked, taking an open palm to Kohl's chest and giving him another angry shove. To anyone who might be observing through the ship's security systems, the Betazoid's tiny little fury would be a little amusing given the differences in size, rank, and frame between the two men. "Or did you just make up all that 'Oh, I want to be there' stuff?"

Despite Ellsworth's slighter frame, Kohl's body recoiled from the shove. His back struck against the upholstered interior of the turbolift car. The collision wasn't jarring, but it surprised Kohl all the same. His arms remained at his sides -- neither defensive, nor offensive. Through it all, Kohl's eyes bored into Ellsworth, unimpressed. His jawline tightened, as if he were sucking on something sour. Reduced to sarcasm, Kohl said, "Thank you for your concern?" After shaking his head, Kohl summarized his experimental treatment as, "I had a medical appointment."

Ellsworth stopped immediately and blinked, looking just as dumbstruck as he had moments ago. His mouth opened to express something that was completely unformed and his head tilted to the side, as if the physical movement might actually jar something loose. "What? You..." He started to accuse Kohl of not mentioning it but stopped himself short because why would he have? They'd dry humped on a dance floor, made out in a cargo bay, and chatted in the nude; aside from that, they were worlds apart professionally, personally, and in virtually every other respect.

Cheeks flushed with shame, the same hand that had been hitting Kohl only moments ago came to rest gently on his chest. Ellsworth took a step to close the distance between them, oblivious to how another person might react to him going from angry to deeply worried in the span of seconds. His Betazoid emotions seemed intense and fluid even on a good day, and given the events of the past week...

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Ellsworth asked, drawing his brow together and upward in worry and concern. "Did you get hurt?"

"Whuh-- Do you care suddenly?" Kohl asked incredulously, and did so far too loudly, considering the doors to the corridor were just starting to slide shut. At Ellsworth's closeness, Kohl's palms came up in a defensive stature, and Kohl's posture changed as if he were trying to become smaller. A titter of a nervous laugh escaped from Kohl's throat, and he said, "I don't understand what you want right now."

"What? Do you think I suddenly don't care?" Ellsworth puffed, mouth hanging open in the state of disbelief that was starting to become commonplace. He didn't have a reason to explain why he cared, it's not like they were friends, but being caught in the emotional turmoil of his situation with K'os and Oren had left him casting about for an anchor anywhere he could find one. And, maybe, also a little irrational. Like assault an officer in the turbolift irrational. His face expanded into a cringe, and he seemed reluctant to meet Kohl's eyes. "I'm sorry... Uh, can I play the overemotional Betazoid card?"

Eyeing Ellsworth dubiously, Kohl stayed where he was, with his back against the bulkhead. He considered Ellsworth's words for another three heartbeats, and considered some of his own past behaviour, and then he poked Ellsworth in the chest with one finger. He decided. "Done," Kohl said, like it was a deal. Kohl's entire demeanor softened in a single heartbeat. "Allyndra developed an experimental gene-therapy for my nerve damage. Initially test results are all promising. I'm feeling stronger, healthier," Kohl shared in one blurted out statement. Kohl reached down to rub at his lower back, but it was pantomime. "Well, until now."

"I'm glad you're okay. And...I'm sorry I was like that. You know how things have been, and it's not like they've been getting a lot better very quickly, so... It was wrong. Don't hold it against me," Ellsworth said, casting his eyes downward in a look of shame. In doing so he caught the absence of Kohl's motor-assist bands and looked up suddenly, both eyebrows raised in some sort of positive emotion. "It's working!"

Kohl grinned back at Ellsworth and he nodded broadly. "It's working," Kohl echoed, because those two words were more than exciting enough.

Given how all over the place he was (and, in all fairness, the enduring strength of Kohl's sex appeal) it took a minimum of effort for him to slide from shame into the dynamic that had characterized their interactions during the masquerade and the encounter in the cargo bay, hoping to make a quick turnaround and capitalize on the gift that had been dropped into his lap. He pressed one finger against Kohl's chest hard enough for it to be felt and felt well then started dragging it downward, just as he lowered the tone of his voice. "Do you have time to stop the turbolift for a little physical ther-"

Without warning, all the color drained from Ellsworth's face and his eyes glazed over. His hand snatched back from Kohl like the man was molten lead, and he almost tripped over his own feet trying to back pedal some distance between them. Him. Him, him, him. Always him. Still him. The feeling of the K'os-mind was muted, but still ever-present with sufficient proximity and never really more than a moment's thought away. By the time the turbolift came to a rest at its next stop, the young Betazoid quartermaster had flattened himself against the wall at a perfect 90 degree angle from Kohl. His eyes darted to the door as it began to part and then immediately flicked to the opposing wall in avoidance.

Kohl shrugged and shook his head at Ellsworth. "What's happening?" Kohl asked, blatantly confused by yet another behavioural left-turn. Normally, he could put up with the hot-and-cold act, Kohl was overflowing with adrenaline, and still irritated by Ellworth's shove. "Do I smell?" he spat.

When the doors did part, K'os was standing there oblivious to anyone in the turbolift. He had wireless ear buds in his ears and had his face down scrolling through a PADD. "Where is the bathroom? nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'?" He used his hand to gesticulate when he said the Klingon words. He stepped into the lift and turned instinctively to face the doors, too engrossed to look up. "I need to see a Doctor. Qel vIlegh Sumqu'." His hand waved in unison to the cadence he was trying to emulate on the Klingon language program he was listening to. "choQ 7" He said to the computer before it whisked off again. Allyndra had all but taken care of the issue with his connection to Ellsworth. Being non-Betazoid had helped, and he was starting to like the separation. It meant progress. It meant he was going to get healthy again.

K'os took a deep breath as he was about to say another phrase when he stopped. His Vulcanoid sense of smell was powerful and the scent he caught behind him made him whirl about and face Kohl. A cheeky grin crossed his face, making his dimples appear. "Andreus!" He said, holding his excitement just under the surface.

"K'os, hullo," Kohl exclaimed. Kohl's enthusiasm to see K'os was such that he could forget all about the bumper-car ride that was his conversation with Ellsworth, for a little while. Kohl sounded impressed, when he said, "You're practicing your Klingonese. Does that mean you found a date for the gala?" As soon as the words came out of Kohl's mouth, he cringed over in Ellsworth's direction.

K'os had looked down and pressed pause on the program and missed the look Kohl made. Still oblivious to Ellsworth jammed in the corner he laughed, "Not yet. I'm hoping I can impress someone with my my ability to sing Gav'ot toh'va. He held one of the ear buds up close to Kohl and a distinct but faint Klingon opera sound could be heard playing. Evidently he'd been listening to the language program and the opera at the same time. "What are you doing back on the Galileo so soon? Is everything alright?" K'os looked down at Kohl's legs briefly before looking back up at Kohl with raised rounded eyebrows. A look of worry had crinkled the lines around his eyes.

Ellsworth wanted to die. If he kept holding his breath, maybe he would die. It certainly held its appeal in that moment, even if he was a little shaky on the existence of an afterlife. He hadn't seen K'os since their ordeal in Sickbay; they hadn't even exchanged a single word. There was no plan for this. In fact, they seem to have been relying on the unspoken agreement that Ellsworth's retained ability to sense K'os should be used to avoid just these types of situations. He'd just been so distracted with Kohl... Now that they were trapped here together, he had no idea what to do except concentrate on the rhythm of his breathing to ward off any kind of panic attack.

Responding to K'os' question, Kohl said, "Everything is fantastic." As if to demonstrate how fantastic it was, Kohl paced within the cramped confines of the turbolift car. He raised his knees up high as he walked. Kohl moved himself to position his back to the doors, forcing K'os to change his posture enough to reveal Ellsworth. As he did so, Kohl explained, "Doctor Allyndra has made advances with her gene therapy treatment. I'm feeling almost entirely recovered."

K'os watched him the whole time, genuinely excited for Kohl's breakthrough. He almost got caught up in it as his enthusiasm spiked in that way of his; he practically vibrated from it. "Oh, Andreus that is fantastic. He stepped forward to give him a hug with his arms raised, something he'd wanted to do for a long time. He stopped short when he noticed Ellsworth pressed up against the wall. "Oh, shit." He swore uncharacteristically.

K'os studied the expression on Ellsworth's face, and without the connection between them anymore, he misinterpreted it. He suddenly felt as if he'd interrupted something. His grey-blue eyes flicked to Kohl's face then back to Ellsworth, as if undecided who he should look at. It was too soon to be this close to each other, and he didn't want to tempt their addictions. They were supposed to be on the road to recovery. It was perfectly logical for him to assume that Ellsworth's recovery might involve sex with Kohl. To anyone that didn't know him, his face must have looked bizarre as he went through many different expressions in rapid succession. His mind cascaded emotions as if it were trying to settle on just one, but instead decided to emote them all. "I should leave." He said more to himself before settling his eyes on Kohl and asked rhetorically, "Should I leave?" He didn't allow an answer before he swiveled his head around like he was looking for an exit that should have been there.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything," K'os implored to Kohl for understanding and his tone had changed. He didn't feel jealousy, or even spite, but embarrassment that he might have intruded on a private moment between the two. Allyndra had told him to stay away from Ellsworth, not jump in a turbolift with him and the man K'os was crushing on. Why was Ellsworth looking at him like that? He knew the two men's history intimately from the melded memories he had taken from the Betazoid, and his imagination began to run a little wild as his emotions tornado-ed about. Were they making out? Had they planned a hook-up? Did I push them back together when I revealed to Kohl I had the memory of their intimate times together? "Dammit," he said loudly in frustration at himself after realizing his cheeks were wet and he roughly rubbed at at them with the back of his hand. He was crying a lot more these days, and the frustration on his face showed. He opened his mouth to explain himself, but was unsure how to relay that he wasn't crazy.



[OFF]

To Be Continued.


PO3 K'os Beaumont
Engineer's Mate
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Executive Officer
USS Nautilus

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo

RSS Feed