Keeping Things in the Family [backpost]

Posted on 10 Apr 2016 @ 6:55pm by Irin’ira Boulen & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson

3,053 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: SB84 - Promenade/ Restaurant
Timeline: MD35 (of last mission) - 1500hrs

[ON]

Ellsworth couldn't really help himself. He'd been working on his technique, and he thought he'd finally gotten it down perfectly. With a quick movement as he passed beside Oren, he reached out and smacked his backside. He had his hand splayed open and curved ever so slightly to maximize what he liked to call the "handful-to-smack ratio," delivering the tactile sensation of grabbing flesh while still achieving a satisfying smack sound. It wasn't perfect, yet. But it was close enough.

Letting out a soft, squeaky yelp at the contact, Oren just shot Ellsworth a look over his shoulder in the mirror. "You need to stop doing that," he said, but judging by the lack of heat behind his words and the playful tone of his voice, he didn't mean a word of it.

When he caught a glance from Oren, he grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Sorry, you look good." Ellsworth reached up and straightened his own collar before letting his face go slack and serious. He was dressed in all black, like he was going to a Terran funeral and visiting an Andorian nightclub afterward. "How do I look? Conservative? Professional? Like someone a grandfather would approve of?"

Smiling, Oren turned to stand in front of his boyfriend, shooing his hands away to take over adjusting his collar. "You look as beautiful as always," he complimented, taking the opportunity to needlessly smooth down the front of Ellsworth's shirt.

"I also don't really care if he approves," he added, the fact that he was playing with one of Ellsworth's shirt button a clear sign that he didn't actually mean it and was nervous about their upcoming meeting.

Days before arriving on the base, Oren had finally gotten a reply to the letter he'd sent his grandmother. Only it wasn't from the woman herself, but instead came from a man who identified himself as Irin'ira Boulen, and Oren's grandfather. His letter had been short and simply ended with an invitation to meet in a small caffe of the promenade. The fact that he'd been handed the letter on a paDD by a Ferengi gave the entire thing a shady feel so Ellsworth had demanded to accompany Oren.

"Well, I care," Ellsworth retorted, reaching up to place his hands on top of Oren's if only to stop him from wrinkling up the cloth on his shirt. "I want to make a good impression."

It had become important to him in a very short amount of time. He didn't have any family of his own; in fact, it had become something of a taboo subject between them. He skirted it whenever it came up, as it was uncomfortable and unpleasant. Since he didn't have anyone to whom he could show off Oren - and there were times he very much wanted to parade his beautiful, brilliant boyfriend around - then it had become all the more important for him to make a favorable impression with Oren's family.

Oren smiled, feeling a bit shy at the confession. He slid his hands out of Ellsworth's to move them down his sides and rest them on his hips. Leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss against the skin just below the Betazoid's ear, against his jawline, which had slowly become of Oren's favorite spots on him.

"I love you," he replied softly before pulling back to look up wt him. Swaying a little against him, he smiled. "Come on, let's go or we'll be late." Moving out of his embrace, Oren took his hand and let Ellsworth out of his quarters.

---

When they reached the promenade, it was bursting with activity which was unsurprising considering the hour. The couple made their way around the crowd, two pairs of eyes working to try and locate the passage way that would lead to the caffe.

"There it is," Oren suddenly said, standing on tip toes and pointing to a sign with the caffe's name in it. Not giving his boyfriend time to respond, he pulled him towards it.

"Mmf," Ellsworth said, letting out a little noise of surprise as he was pulled abruptly in the opposite direction of where he'd been headed.

The caffe turned out to not be the shady dump Oren feared. In fact, if you ignored the fact that it was half empty save for one table, it was actually a beautiful establishment. It being half empty wouldn't have gone noticed by Oren if it wasn't for the way it was empty. All of the patrons seemed to have crowded around a few tables near the front of the room, leaving the back empty, save for one table.

At that table, a single man sat. Oren knew him, but not by the name he'd been given. In fact, in the two years he'd spent with the man, he hadn't learned the man's name at all. He was always somewhere off to the side of wherever Oren and his grandmother were, a silent watcher.

The idea that this man was his grandfather was baffling. For one, he had to be ages younger than Oren's grandmother so, left to make his own opinions on their relationship, the young El-Aurian never would have made the connection.

Slowly approaching the table, Ellsworth and Oren were suddenly stopped by a large, well armed Nausicaan, but before any of them could respond, the man from the table spoke up.

"Let them through," he ordered and, like a guard dog, the Nausicaan complied, going back to his table. Oren's eyes followed him to his seat before looking back at Irin'ira.

Ellsworth blinked. It wasn't the first time he'd come face-to-face with a former client in this new life, but it was a surprise every time it happened. Every pleasant memory he'd formed with this man - Jacob Roth - flashes quickly through his mind, putting a smile on his face. He dropped Oren's hand and, without thinking, left him to figure out where his grandfather was while Ellsworth stepped forward in anticipation of surprising the seated gentleman.

"Jacob!" Ellsworth exclaimed, grinning. It was clear in his body language that he was restraining himself, holding back from dashing around the table to give him a hug. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

Jacob stood up, looking elated at seeing Ellsworth, despite the surprise on his face. "Ellsworth!" he said, having none of the Betazoid's reservations about physical contact. He walked over and enveloped the man in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you!" he said, even lifting the young man up for a few moments.

On the side, Oren stood there, feeling a little forgotten as his apparent grandfather knew his boyfriend. Very well, if the freedom in physical contact was anything to go by.

Finally, Ira put Ellsworth down and looked at him, holding his by the shoulders at arms length. "Look at you! You look great!" he complimented, then glanced over his shoulder to see Oren.

"You know little Oren?" he asked, looking back down at Ellsworth, pretending to not notice Oren's cry of "Excuse me?"

Ellsworth was still basking in the compliment of looking great when the question came, so he was a little slow on the uptake. "Yes, of course. Uh... You know Oren?" His eyes darted to Oren with accusation, thinking perhaps he'd neglected to divulge his own involvement in the sex trade. But suspicion gave way to realization finally. Then horror. "Oh my Goddess, no..."

Oren walked over to them, looking at Ira questioningly.

"Why did he call you Jacob?" he asked, looking from one man to the other.

With no hesitation, Ira shrugged his shoulders and said: "Ellsworth was a prostitute I used to spend time with on Risa, but I never gave him my real name. I'm sorry, Ellsworth." He turned to the Betazoid to give him a sympathetic look before returning his gaze to a shocked looking Oren and then pulling him into a hug. "It's good to see you too! You haven't changed at all, little Oren!" Breaking away from the hug, he buried his fingers into Oren's blonde locks, ruffling them.

Oren struggled a bit, recovering from the shock enough to fend Ira off. "You...you two slept together?" he asked, as if spending time with an escort meant anything else.

"Uh," Ellsworth offered dumbly, cheeks flaring bright red. The color deepened further as he recalled exactly how they'd spent time together. They being himself and his boyfriend's grandfather. Of course. He glanced at Oren for half a second, unable to bring himself to look him in the eye. "A few times. Jacob was a, uh, regular client."

Not helping in the least, Ira jovially pointed out they'd slept together a total of fourteen times, making Oren's head spin. It was disconcerting to think that Ellsworth had slept with Ira almost as many times as Oren had slept with...well, anyone. Looking uncomfortable, he was suddenly relieved for Ira who seemed completely unconcerned.

"It's so good to see you, little Oren."

"Don't call me that, I'm an adult."

"No you're not," Ira argued, looking at Oren the way someone looked at a puppy who was learning to drink for the first time. It wasn't a look Oren got very often.

"So..." Ira continued, his gaze still intense as he observed his small, blonde progeny. "You are in Starfleet?"

Oren shook his head. "I work for them. I'm a Chief Research Officer." It was strange to think he felt the need to justify anything to a man he barely knew, but Oren did. The idea that he wasn't an adult in his eyes made Oren uncomfortable, especially considering he was in the company of his current lover. Though, that term would probably be more easily applied to Ira than Oren, considering all of the new information.

"That's nice," Ira said with a kind smile, annoying Oren further.

"He's on the ship with me," Ellsworth chimed in, eager to talk about anything other than the fact that he had slept with his boyfriend's grandfather fourteen times. He didn't want to acknowledge the deeply awkward dynamic emerging between the two, either. So, he babbled. "I'm the quartermaster. Oren is like... I mean, way more important or whatever. He's an officer, I'm just enlisted. Well, a petty officer. Can you believe it? Like, could you ever have imagined me in Starfleet?"

"Why not? You are a smart, capable young man, you can be whatever you want," Ira replied without hesitation and, with that one sentence, endeared himself to Oren. It was refreshing to hear someone thinking so highly of Ellsworth. Despite being incredibly capable at his job, Ellsworth's loud, friendly personality seemed to overshadow that to most people, making them think him irresponsible and naive.

"Why did you choose Starfleet? Surely there are better places to be than that freak show."

Ellsworth stammered at first, unsure what to make of the question. No one had ever pointedly asked him. No one had ever called it a freak show, either. "Um, well... It seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, I was bored with Risa. And..." His eyes cut to the side, to look at Oren, then back at Ira. Or... Jacob. Whoever. "And all that. Plus, I wanted to see more of the galaxy." He grinned a little, shyly, and reached over to wrap an arm around Oren's waist. In the act, he drew him closer, a sort of protective and proprietary gesture in the face of Ira's withering disinterest in the other El Aurian. "Plus it turns out there are a lot of attractive, wonderful, smart men in the fleet."

"If you say so," Ira replied, looking unimpressed.

"Okay, what exactly is your problem with me?" Oren suddenly asked, slipping out of Ellsworth's arms to stand closer to Ira. "Why did you even want to meet if all you're going to do is insult me?"

"This is not..."

"Don't do that!" Oren cut him off. "Don't patronise me. I'm not a child." Seeing that he was about to argue, Oren spoke again. "I'm not! And you know why I'm not a child? Because all of you - you, my grandmother, my parents, everyone at the colony, didn't give a damn where I went or how I was. So you don't get to just show up and start acting like you're somehow more of an adult than I am. If that's what you want to do, then I suggest you go back to whatever cosmic hole you suddenly came from."

Ellsworth froze, overwhelmed by an uncomfortable feeling and anxiety about what to do. He was as unaccustomed to family disagreements as he was to the concept of family itself, so they way forward wasn't immediately clear. Did he voice his support for Oren? Did he give Jacob a disapproving look? He felt like he wanted to take a step back and physically clear himself of the tension, but he'd learned over the past few years that his initial reaction was often the selfish (and wrong) one.

"Um," he managed, while taking a half-step forward to put his flat palm against the small of Oren's back. It felt like the very least he could do, something to try to be supportive and hopefully anchor the El Aurian before his anger ran away with him.

Ira was silent for a while, observing the young El Aurian in front of him. Though he knew Oren years ago, the child had never been quite as fiery back then. It spoke well of his experiences that he'd learned to fight for himself.

"I apologize," he said, remaining as calm as when they'd begun. "Sometimes I forget things are different now, and the young no longer have the luxury of being children very long," Ira explained, and Oren deflated slightly, though still gave Ira a distrustful look.

"So...why did you want to meet? You got my message for Ayanna. How?"

"The place you sent the message to is simply a dead drop for messages. More than one of us use it to send messages to each other. When I read her name, I must admit, I got curious and read it. Against the rules, but I've never been very good at following those anyway."

"Wait...you mean there are others? Are they all from the colony?"

"Not all and most don't visit very often. Maybe once every few decades. I come around more often because it was my idea," Ira explained. It was difficult to keep most of his people in one place, so one place for them all to communicate seemed like a smart idea at the time. It was interesting to him that Ayanna would give the address to Oren before her disappearance.

"We cannot locate Ayanna. That's why I came. I'm sorry, but I don't know where she is."

Pursing his lips, Oren nodded. Although never having a close bond with Ayanna, she was the only real family he had. And now there was Ira. Which brought him to another point.

"Back at the colony...you never spoke to me. Why didn't you tell me who you were then?"

"I spoke to no one. I was under oath."

"Oath?"

"A vow of silence. I didn't speak to anyone for almost ten years."

"Who's Ayanna?" Ellsworth blurted out, rudely interjecting himself.

"My grandmother," Oren answered, looking down at his feet, his brow furrowed with concern. This meeting hadn't gone the way he planned it. Sighing, he put his hands on his hips and looked up at Ira again. "So...now what? Why did you want to meet me?"

"You are my only grandchild...the only one I know who is still alive, anyway," Ira said, a note of sadness in his voice. "I wanted to know you but I didn't know where you were," he explained, taking in the young blond. "You look good," he concluded after a beat.

Oren replied with a smile. "Thank you...I'm happier than I was at the colony. I studied anthropology and archaeology, like I wanted."

"You're an El-Aurian archaeologist? Could you be more of a stereotype?" The teasing tone was suddenly back, but Oren felt no great urge to defend himself this time.

"He's, like, super accomplished," Ellsworth said, practically swelling with pride. The praise came out less as a defense this time and more as genuine affection, an opportunity to boast about Oren's accomplishments that was otherwise difficult to work into conversation.

But Ira just nodded, not taking his eyes off Oren. Something seemed to sit in the air between them as Ira's gaze then cut to Ellsworth. "Ellsworth...Do you mind if Oren and I go for a walk? Alone. We have a lot to discuss and I think it would be more comfortable if it was just the two of us."

Ellsworth did mind, but he didn't say so. None of this had gone to plan, and he was a little reluctant to leave Oren's side. But instead of voicing his objection, he gave a polite smile and cut his eyes to look at Oren, as if to ask permission to depart.

Oren hesitated for a moment, trying to decide. On the one hand, he didn't feel very comfortable being alone with a stranger, but on the other, he felt no animosity from Ira. If anything, he felt strangely comfortable in his presence, once he tried to see past the teasing and the condescension. From his understanding, that seemed to be a normal part of being around someone much older than yourself. It was an experience Oren rarely found himself in these days.

"I think we'll be okay," he assured Ellsworth, smiling at him encouragingly.

"Excellent!" Ira announced, clearly happy. "We will not be gone long. Perhaps, when we come back, the three of us can get together for drinks and we can catch up," he told Ellsworth, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It will be just like old times."

"Hopefully not exactly like old times," Oren said, warning.

Ellsworth laughed, too loud, and his cheeks darkened.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Oren Idris
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

PO3 Ellsworth Hudson
Quartermaster
USS Galileo

Irin'ira Boulen
Businessman

 

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