Landmines

Posted on 17 Mar 2016 @ 8:09pm by Lieutenant JG Randolf Eklund

3,635 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - mess hall
Timeline: MD 91, 1230 hours

[ON]


Randy took his food from the replicator and turned to survey the room. A good deal of the crew was not on board, taking advantage of shore leave. He had opted for the simplicity of the mess hall rather than anything more elaborate, and eating in his quarters just seemed a little too introverted for being the 'new guy.'

As he looked around, a face caught his eye. He remembered it from an incident report. He'd been reading them to get a feel for where some of the landmines might lay or who the problem crewmen might be. From what he'd read, this was much more the former than the latter. He'd always been one to trust his own judgment over reports, though, so he headed over to the table.

"Pardon me," he said as he approached. "I'm new on board. If you were wanting to eat alone, I understand that, but I kind of wasn't wanting to eat alone. I was wondering if you'd like some company."

"I don't mind sharing my table sir," Tyrion answered glumly, "but I can't guarantee being pleasant company. I'll try but no promise sir." He held out his hand just to be polite. "Tyrion Faye."

Randy laughed. "Randolf Eklund, but call me Randy. And I guess that's all my fault, then. I just asked for company. I'll try to be more demanding and specific in the future." He grinned as he sat. "And who knows, if I can't help, maybe I can at least distract you for a bit."

"Heh," the Betazoid scoffed, though he smiled just a little. "Maybe you could, at that," he added, wagging his fork at the man. "And most people call me Tyr, I guess people get lazy with short names and try to make them even shorter."

"Then I shall call you Tyrion if you like." Randy nodded once. "I read somewhere that people enjoy the sound of their own names. I grew up with brothers calling me all sorts of things I wish they hadn't. I think it's the least I can do to is to call you what you would like." He leaned forward conspiratorially, "And look at it this way. I'm new here. I have no bad habits formed for you to break...Tyrion." He leaned back smiling.

"I don't mind either though I prefer to reserve the shortened version for close friends. Either way, call me what you like. And you're right about that, but then I don't know what bad habits you tend to form to begin with." He smiled a little more genuinely now and seemed to be content with the distraction he provided. "So...you're security, right?"

"I am," Randy agreed. "I just transferred from the Lakota a few days ago. I'm still getting up to speed on the specifics of Lt. Benice's protocols, but it all seems very thorough. You're Intelligence, correct? I'm sure you'd have some great observations or suggestions in regards to security."

"I try to stay out of security's business, unless I discover something that's important for them to know." He grinned. "Well the grey collar does kind of give it away doesn't it?" he commented, "I'm the chief of intelligence, since, a couple of months."

"Congratulations! I'm the Assistant Chief, so I'm sure I'll be coordinating with you from time to time. It's good to have the chance to meet you before working together," Randy paused to take a bite of the vegetable curry he'd chosen. "Sorry if the spices bother you. We weren't very adventurous with food growing up, so I'm trying to make up for that now. I try at least one new thing every day."

"I'm not bothered by what you eat," Tyrion confessed, "actually I'm rather curious about what you're having..." He was on his dessert by now and stabbed his fork into his double chocolate sundae.

"It's a vegetable curry, from Earths' Indian region," Randy said. "You're welcome to try a bite, but I don't think it would really go well with chocolate. I've been trying some of the spicier things out there lately. Last week I tried hasperat. Have you had it before? I swear I must have done something wrong because what the replicator made had to have been some kind of toxic waste. No living being could possibly eat something that hot and survive."

"I usually stick to Terran cuisine because that's what I'm used to," the Betazoid answered, boldly sticking his fork onto something green. He breathed fast as he chewed and swallowed, taking a large bite of his sundae right after it. "Oh wow...and you want even spicier than this?"

"No," Randy chuckled, "this is about the limit of my spicy scale. A Bajoran friend on the Lakota talked me into the hasperat before I transferred. I think it was some kind of hazing ritual...or he was trying to kill me." He leaned forward again as if to share a secret, "Between you and me, since you're in Intelligence, I suspect that hasperat was actually a biological weapon developed during the occupation to try to kill the Cardassians, and now they're just stuck with it."

"And pretending to love it?" Tyrion smirked at him. "I wouldn't be surprised though... and it would've been very effective if not for the spice."

"Exactly!" Randy agreed. "And if you like chocolate," he motioned to the sundae, "and spice, there are a number of cultures combining chocolate and peppers. I can think of several on Earth alone. Where are you from on Earth? I was born and raised in Minnesota, myself. It's a pretty quiet region, mostly removed from the more...cosmopolitan areas." He was still sometimes a bit self-conscious about his lack of relative sophistication compared to the average Federation citizen.

"I..." Tyrion hesitated, then shrugged. "I lived all over on Earth though I wasn't born on Earth. I was born on Betazed."

"Ah, well, I lived almost nowhere on Earth, even though I was born there. It wasn't until my second year at the Academy that I left the continent, and my third year before I left the planet, and that was just to an orbital station." Randy shrugged, "And yet we both still ended up right here at the same moment. Odd how life sometimes works."

Surprised, Tyrion just stared at him for a moment. "You're not bothered at all by the fact I'm not Human?"

"Um..." Randy looked confused, "should I be? I mean, are you bothered that I am?" He hadn't gotten that vibe from Tyrion, but maybe he'd been wrong. From what he remembered from the incident report he'd read, Tyrion's husband was at least half human.

Tyrion shook his head. "Often enough, people seem bothered by it...glad to see that it's not the case for once. I went to Earth because I felt I could be myself among Humans, I didn't want to be a telepath and would've given anything to...blunt my talents. Now...I learned to accept who I am, but it's still difficult."

"And I always wished I didn't tower over everyone," Randy sighed. "I suppose I could have moved to a planet full of giants, but I've grown to accept who I am, too. Growing up, it really set me apart from my classmates. I hadn't filled out, so I looked like a stick figure most of the time. Do you know how few people want to date a stick figure?" he asked. "Not many, though some only want to date you BECAUSE you're a stick figure. That's almost worse. Apparently I'm supposed to be good at sports like basketball, too. Another area where I disappointed classmates. I was much more comfortable on ice than on a court or a playing field. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, eh?" He smiled honestly, but a bit sadly.

Nodding knowingly, Tyrion returned the sad smile. "Oh I know," he agreed, "I was supposed to get married and all that according to tradition. A bride my sisters and mothers selected for me. Women rule Betazoid society and they think they could dictate my life and who I marry. So I ran away as soon as I could and lived on Earth pretending to be Human. But you see...I've always been telepathic...so it was difficult. And then...I found someone, and got married too fast. We didn't intend to either but my family...somehow we ended up being married. I wasn't opposed, neither did Grayson seem to be but well....here we are, only a few months later..."

"Betazoid don't have a monopoly on that," Randy chuckled. "You wouldn't believe the number of girls my parents tried to marry me off to. At this point I should have a sturdy wife tending the hearth and at least a couple of little ones to bounce on my knee when I'm not tending fields and flock. I'm quite the disappointment in that, though it would have been an even bigger disappointment for any poor girl stuck married to me. Now, one of their brothers? Perhaps." His voice became a bit less jovial, "and I'm sorry things haven't been going well for you and, Grayson? Yes? I hope things improve. We all deserve happiness. Hopefully what we want turns out to be what we need."

"I never had eye for women either," Tyrion acknowledged. "I do have a child though. However her coming to be is an unknown to me. She's from the mirror universe and somehow ended up with me. Since she's a baby, I acknowledged her as it's the right thing to do. For her safety, I've sent her off to be raised by my sister. It's not safe here for her, given my line of work. So.....while falling for the same gender, I'd say children is not an impossibility. Just more of a challenge to get them."

Randy nodded as he finished his curry. "True. It's not uncommon, but it wouldn't be what my family would want for me. They are a bit...conservative in their views. Honestly, I think the fact that I live more than a few minutes away a from them all and am not farming is more scandalous than the gender I would want to marry."

He considered what to say next. "I grew up without a lot of technology or exposure to the wider universe. I don't share that with everyone, but it means sometimes I'm, well, odd. Perhaps this is one one those times. I've been reading a book from back around the turn of the 20th century. In it a man wishes for a better, more exciting life. He falls asleep and dreams that he falls off a cliff. In the dream, he knows that if hit hits the ground that he will die in real life, but if he wakes up he knows he will have to accept a boring job and life in order to survive. He cries out asking why this is happening to him. In response, a voice tells him because sometimes you wake up and sometimes you die...but sometimes, sometimes you learn you can fly."

Randy pushed his plate away and looked Tyrion in the eyes. "Perhaps we are each here learning that we can fly. At least consider the fact that there may be more and better options out there than the ones you see at the moment."

Tilting his head, Tyrion just smiled. "Better options than what I see at the moment? I don't know....What I see now is...optional to me..."

Randy just stared for a moment, puzzled. Then he began cursing his blond hair and pale skin as he began turning some very interesting shades of red. "Well, um, there are always many options for each of us." He knew Tyrion was currently fighting with his husband. He knew people often made very poor choices when under stress or contemplating revenge. But he also knew the man was interesting, fun, and quite frankly attractive. One part of all that guided his response more than the others. "And I'm flattered. Seriously. But I have many options as well, and I've never considered a married man as one of them. I'm sorry."

"I'm not a married man," Tyrion deflected, "not anymore anyway. My divoce is final, papers signed and sent. I'm not happy with it it but I want him to be happy and obviously, that wasn't here with me. So wherever he is now, I hope he'll be happy." He studied the man for a moment. "And you're not half bad looking either," he smiled, having caught the surface thought without intending to.

Randy bit his lip, unsure how they'd arrived at this moment. "Oh! Well," he knew he was still blushing, but Tyrion was surprising him left and right. He wanted his husband, no...his ex now, to be happy more than he wanted to be happy himself. That was rare. "That's, um, different. I've really enjoyed talking with you. Would you like," he looked down to see their plates spread across the table and chuckled, "Would you like to have dinner together sometime?" He had been the rebound guy once before at the Academy, so he wanted to avoid that again if possible.

"Sure....if we can just stick with dinner? I mean... I just got divorced and I don't think I should just dive into something new too soon. Not that I'd not consider it but I mean..." Talk about the proverbial foot in mouth. Tyrion sighed and started over. "I mean....you're quite handsome and if I hadn't been in this situation..." He sighed again. "That's coming out so wrong, I'm sorry. Yes I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Good," Randy replied, relaxing. "And it came out fine. If you had been smooth and suave, I would have assumed you were playing me, so...that was actually great. Another thing I don't often tell people? I got involved with someone at the Academy who was just using me to get over someone else and make them jealous that he'd moved on. I won't be in that position again. You don't seem like that type, though."

"I've no intention of making my ex husband jealous. He's not even here and I don't know where he is. I doubt he's even checking on me and that's not who I am to begin with. Just dinner, and we'll see where it leads. Alright?"

"Good," Randy nodded. "I didn't mean to imply that you would do something like that, use someone for something so petty, I just wanted you to know that I might be a bit...hesitant. Just know that it isn't about you, it's about me." He relaxed again and smiled, "but dinner sounds very nice."

"That's very cliché...it's not you it's me." Tyrion offered his hand. "Alright, I'll contact you about when I'm available, is that acceptable? I work alpha shift."

Randy laughed and took the offered hand. It was warm, the grip firm which Randy found himself liking very much. "Well, I'll try not to be too cliche at dinner, then. And I'm probably going to be assigned to Beta, so we'll figure out a good time we can both make. It may just be dinner for one and breakfast or lunch for the other." Reluctantly, he released Tyrion's hand.

"I'm generally free after my shift but we can do breakfast or late dinner, I don't mind." Pulling his hand back, he picked up his fork again. "or both, depending on how well we get along."

Randy knew he was probably blushing again. "You, sir, are terrible. And...I think I like terrible." He smiled broadly. "So, dinner for sure. But just know that my French toast is amazing..."

"Terrible? How am i terrible?" Confused, he stared at the other man. "I don't know what you mean," he managed to stammer out, "and what is French toast?"

"You're terrible for throwing the possibility of both dinner and breakfast out there without warning me. I could have been taking a drink. Spit takes look funny in the holos, but they're just messy in real life," he grinned. "And if you haven't had French toast before...well...let's just say that you'll have to at least come back for breakfast," he thought but didn't add 'if you're not still with me at breakfast time.' What he'd seen of the man so far set his mind to spinning. "It is bread soaked in a sweetened egg mixture then cooked on a griddle. It's usually served with syrup made from the sap of the maple tree, but there are other options. And I've been playing around with stuffing the toast with different things...like chocolate hazelnut spread. You do like chocolate, don't you?"

Black eyes drifted down briefly to his sundae, then back up to his companion. "Uhm....like is an understatement," he laughed, "I love chocolate, like any Betazoid does. Anything with chocolate...and I'm probably going to be hooked, so please please be careful."

Randy had heard that about Betazoids, but it was nice having it confirmed. Of course, with all the innuendo that had been passing between them, that just made his mind imagine other uses for the chocolate spread, ones he hoped he wasn't thinking about too 'loudly.' "I'll have to keep that in mind," he said, trying not to blush.

"Please do," Tyrion suggested, "so...other than chocolate and french toast, anything else you love for breakfast? Or dinner perhaps?"

"Like I said," Randy brought his mind back to more respectable topics, "I grew up with pretty boring food. Or at least the same food over and over, so I'm totally rebelling against that. I'll try just about anything once. You tasted about the hottest thing I've liked so far. I've tried things from about 50 different worlds. But nothing from Betazed yet...unless you count ikoberries. I had them in, oddly enough, chocolate a few months ago."

"I'll find something in the replicator for you to try then," Tyrion promised, while gesturing to his dessert. "Meanwhile...feel free to try my sundae. It is Betazoid chocolate, but with Earth strawberries and sauce."

Randy smiled a bit crookedly and picked up his spoon. He took a small bite, the different layers of chocolate spreading out in his mouth, the strawberry cutting through it all with a fresh, bright note. "That's Betazoid chocolate? Wow! It's...so much more intense than Terran chocolate. Does," he made intense eye contact, "everything Betazoid taste that intense?"

"Nah...one can make dishes as intense as one wants to be," the Betazoid replied innocently. "Tell you what, swing by my quarters tonight after your shift, and I'll make sure to have something Betazoid for you to try."

"Then perhaps I should bring something for you to try, as well," Randy rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm thinking something quintessentially 'Eklund.' Something like my family's secret recipe chocolate chip cookies." He smiled just as innocently back at Tyrion. "Because if Betazoids are that fond of chocolate, you must see what this Eklund has to offer." Ramping up the innocence he added, "And you'll be the first Betazoid to ever taste them." He knew he would have to bring some of his mother's home made cookies back with him tomorrow after his family visit, just to yank Tyrion's chain.

"Oh?" Enticed by the very idea, Tyrion leaned forward. "The first hm? Well then...we're not going to disappoint your mother then, though it's a challenge because we do love chocolate. It's our vice.."

"That's your vice?" Randy asked an sighed. "And here I was hoping for something so much more...intriguing. I suppose I'll just have to see what sorts of trouble I can entice you into with chocolate, then."

"It's one of them," Tyrion confessed, "but yes, I dare you to find out more." He smiled as he leaned back. "So...dinner at my place then, after your shift? I have to get back to my office shortly..."

"Of course," Randy snuck a last bite of the sundae. "I look forward to exploring and sharing vices very soon. And we'll put your Intelligence training to work as I'm practically perfect and entirely vice free as far as anyone here knows. Perhaps it will be a challenge for you."

"Hmm....there's always something to find on someone, if you dig deep enough," Tyrion returned the challenge, "though in my case all you have to do is look into recent reports. Even so, I have nothing to hide, the fewer secrets that can be held over me the better I can do my job."

"True, but the more I blend into the background, the better I can do mine." Randy mused. "Therefore, I have to seem as boring as possible. Perhaps a few things here and there to attract attention, but nothing to invite scrutiny."

"Same, I try not to draw attention but I seem to fail horribly at it at the moment." He set his fork down and stood. "It was nice meeting you Randy and I'll see you tonight."

Randy thought it absurd that a man who looked like Tyrion could honestly think he wouldn't draw attention, "You absolutely will. I'm looking forward to it."

"Until tonight then, I'll wait up and have dinner ready." Tyrion smiled as he picked up his tray and started to walk off. His mood seemed to have shifted from gloomy to at least somewhat happier than before.


[OFF]

Ensign Tyrion Faye
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Lt.jg Randolf Eklund
Asst. Chief Security/Tactical
USS Galileo

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