The So-Called Mobility Shift [Part 1/2]

Posted on 13 Feb 2013 @ 9:14pm by Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius

2,679 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 2, Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD02: 1540 hrs
Tags: personal, holodeck

[ON]

It was, frankly, incredible. She'd known she was miserable, tight and bound into her own mind. She'd felt it, day after day, week after week. Her shoulders had never totally unbunched in the two years since she'd first seen those mangled shuttles touching down on the Algonquin. They were down now. Relaxed. She could feel her neck. If the corridor hadn't been such a tight squeeze, if there hadn't been officers hurrying past her on the shift change, she might have done back handspring. Just to feel her muscles stretch unbound, thank the spirits. Thank Lieutenant Liyar. It wouldn't last, she knew that. The fear was still there, somewhere, wrapped around the pain that caused it. But for this moment, she'd been given a reprieve from that never-ending state of hyper-awareness, waiting panic, barely bated fear. She wasn't going to waste it.

He was right where the computer had said he would be. Just getting off duty. Talking with a couple other officers. While the wash of gold was gone now from her vision, she could still see flashes of it when she blinked. Clarity. This man had been through the ringer. For this ship and for her. She tucked her hands behind her back and bounced slightly on her heels, giving him a tension-free smile for once along with a little wave.

Inside Galileo's main shuttlebay, Lamar finished a final series of equipment checks and entered them into the computer's hourly flight log. With the ship's arrival at Rojar less than a day away and the anticipation of deploying multiple sorties, the support craft pilot had been busy the entire day running a thorough set of tests and inspections, doing his best to make sure that both Virginia and Livia were at peak operational status. With only two Type-9s at their disposal for long-range expeditions, Lamar knew that both craft would probably log many flight hours during the upcoming survey, and looked forward to getting the chance to get behind the controls.

With a quick glance at a nearby chronometer, the warrant officer realized that his shift was officially over in two minutes, and he happily collected his bag of PADDs and repair tools then stored them in a nearby locker before logging himself out of the main LCARS terminal and exiting through the large shuttlebay doors. As he left the massive bay, he spotted an unusual sight in the distance, one which caused him to do a quick double-take to verify the identity of the woman. It was Lilou...and...she was on Deck 4, not Deck 7 (and covered in grease) as usual. Interesting, he thought to himself as he approached her, then saw her wave with a happy smile on her face. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her looking so care-free, and he flashed her a big smile in return as he finally stood in front of her. "Hi." he said simply in greeting, "Is...everything okay?" he asked, wondering what she seemed so happy about and why she had bothered to come to the shuttlebay to seemingly wait for him.

"For once;" the words almost came out as a laugh. She caught his hand and kissed his shoulder because that was as far as she could reach without jumping. "Shift's up. Want dinner? Oh, or dancing. We could dance somewhere. The height's weird, but we could give it a shot."

"Uhh..." he muttered as she took his hand, then looked at her suspiciously, wondering if she was possibly under the influence of some type of narcotic. He had never seen her so jubilant before. "Yeah...dinner would be good, I suppose. And dancing." he finally agreed with a chuckle, then tilted his head in curiosity. "So what's got you so happy today?" he wondered out-loud.

She shook her head, "No explanations. No talking about the past or how we got to here. I want a night, free and clear of everything. With you." She tugged him down to her by his collar and kissed him. "I have an immense room. You'll be shocked and sickened. Let's go. Dinner and dancing. I haven't danced in years."

He returned her kiss with a smile on his face, still feeling a bit incredulous that she seemed so happy and vibrant. Dinner and dancing, huh? he thought to himself with a mental chuckle. Can't really turn that down... he quickly decided, then wrapped a large arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Sounds fun...what did you have in mind?" he asked, "Some holodeck time?"

"Whatever you want. I just want to hear music. I want to move. And not think. No more thinking for now." She wedged herself further into his hold. "Are the holodecks open?"

"They should be...and hopefully one of them is free. If not, we can try and reserve one in the next half hour." he answered. "Do I have time to shower and change clothes, first?" he wondered, hoping that the answer was 'yes'.

"Change-" she started, confused, then looked down at her own wrinkled and smudged gear, then looked at his. "Right. Quickly though," she took his hand and tugged him towards the turbolift. "Deck two, please, thanks." She didn't know how long this peace would last and she didn't want to waste it on a shower. But she could change. She could change very quickly into something not rumpled.

The doors to the turbolift quickly closed, then opened a short moment later and deposited both of them on Deck 2. "So...is this like a formal dinner?" he asked, wondering if he needed to put on a fancy suit or whether a pair of jeans would suffice.

Formal? She laughed, actually laughed. "Have you met me? Am I formal?"

"Well I'm just making sure." he answered as he led the way into his quarters and began to change out of his uniform. "You seem a little different tonight and I wasn't sure what you were in the mood for...but hey, no suit, no problem." he added over his shoulder with a coy smile, then disappeared into the sonic shower for several long moments.

She didn't run to her quarters, though she wasn't exactly walking. Inside, she stripped off her uniform and paused. Had he wanted formality? Surely not. If he'd wanted that, he sure as salt wouldn't have been with her. Would he? She trapped her tongue between her teeth, eyeing the contents of her trunk. Uniforms. Coveralls. One black dress. She picked it up. It was plain and sleeveless and basically shapeless, but it was that or another uniform. It had been good enough for Will. She tugged the thing over her head, pulled her boots back on, and dodged back outside to wait by Lamar's door. She closed her eyes hard. Gold sparks. Magic. She unbraided her hair while she waited, until it fell long and slightly waved from the weave down her back. "I'm in the mood for you," she said as he came out of his quarters. "You said you weren't sure what I was in the mood for. You." She held out her hand. "Holodeck?"

Emerging from his quarters wearing a black polo and a pair of blue jeans, he paused to take in the sight of his girlfriend. She...wore a dress, and had let her hair down, giving her a much more womanly appearance than her usual engineering scrubs. His eyes roamed her body and smiled as he looked at the line of spots which ran down the side of her neck and across the front of her shoulders, then disappeared beneath the fabric before reappearing on the sides of her thighs and calves. She looked stunning. "Wow." he managed to say with a big grin, then leaned down and gave her a deep kiss and happily took her hand. "The holodeck sounds perfect. What did you have in mind for a program?" he asked.

Lilou thought back to the last time she'd been absolutely, guiltlessly happy, and her lips curved. "San Francisco, I think. There's a club... I'm almost sure they've got it." She left her hand in his, squeezing it just a bit, and strode in a manner unfitting the dress - though the dress was easy to walk in and not at all restrictive. "If not, there's always the Borg," she bit her lip, ducking her head on a laugh. "They throw a wild party. Unfortunately, after the main act in theirs, your vocabulary becomes largely restricted." She was terrible. She made terrible, terrible jokes. Spirits.

"Yeah...I think I'm going to go with option A, San Francisco." he replied with his own bit of dry humor. "I once attended one of the Borg's parties, it was fun for a while, but this newly-assimilated woman I was talking to kept trying to sneak nanoprobes in my drink. No thank you."

As they rounded the corner, she let go of him to dart forward. Holodeck 1 was in use, but Holodeck 2 was free and unreserved until 2200. She tapped through the panel until she located what she wanted, threw a small glinting grin over her shoulder, and then accepted it. The doors slid open. "Remember the last time we were in a holodeck?" she asked with a sideways look.

Letting out a sheepish laugh and a big grin, he nodded enthusiastically. "How could I forget?" he answered with a playful twinkle in his brown eyes, thinking back to the first time they properly enjoyed each other's company. "But this time...let's not burn all the hair off of my hand with an experimental phaser-contraption-thing."

"I'll try."

As the holodeck doors closed behind them, the scene changed and they found themselves in a darkened foyer. The doors behind them were heavy and metal, at least four times the size that they needed to be, and a squirrely looking man in a booth beside them had a pair of tinted glasses on despite the dim. "Take your- oh, you don't have coats. Go on in." He tapped a button and the frosted glass doors in front of them slid open. As the glass parted, sound poured out into the foyer. Drums pounded impulsively, electric guitars and electric bass whined enticingly, all under the half-shouted lyrics of the Rigelians on the stage. Beyond the glass doors, there were people everywhere, milling around a bar to one side and dancing with far too much energy almost everywhere else. Up a winding staircase past the crowd, there seemed to be some kind of restaurant where people ate, talked, and apparently wrote sprawling math equations on the holovised walls and yelled at each other about them. "This is where I went, to study," she grinned. "When I was in my first couple years at Academy. And when I was denied rights to go to Trill after my graduation. Back again, I came." The punk rock petered off for a bit as the band changed places with another. "It's called Fractal Scaling."

"Fractal scaling, huh? ...Sounds fun..." he answered as he glanced around the large room. He was somewhat distracted by the impressive decor and lively atmosphere of the place, and wondered to himself why he had not heard of such a venue while he was attending courses at the Academy. "I like this place." he finally added.

She stepped backwards into the edges of the chaos, still holding his hand, "Tu mere satha nacoge?"

He blinked as she began to pull him into the crowd, not understanding a single word she had just said to him. "What?"

"Do you want to dance?" she grinned. On stage, the new band slammed into a fresh number; she tugged his hand to bring him closer.

"Oh. Yeah, sure." he answered with a sheepish grin. Lamar still didn't know what had gotten into his girlfriend but he liked the new, outgoing Lilou. Letting himself be pulled onto the dance floor, he reached down and put his hands on her waist then began to happily dance with her as the band started playing.

Lamar has always been attractive, of course, and not just because he was patient and able to stay calm when she was rapidly unspooling. He was beautiful; tall and strong. She slid one hand up his arm and rested it on his bicep, pressing her thumb against the dense muscle. Sometimes that strength scared her. As did the marine brands she knew were hidden under his shirt. But with the fear gone, the panic and dismay and constant stuttering suspicions in her brain abolished by Liyar's calming touch, she could see him clearly. Without the fear. And without the fear, he wasn't only strong and patient. He was sweet. She wanted to explain, suddenly, everything. She wanted to make him understand what was usually inside of her, this living beast with a capital T for terror, and how it changed her and how she'd been before. Like this. Free. Not normal, no, maybe not, but not terrified of every shadow either. But it was passing: this time. And the music was loud and yearning and brilliant. She turned in his arms and pressed her back against his chest, rocking her head and hips along with the frenetic drums and aching chords.

With her small body pressed against his, Lamar moved his hips and shuffled his feet in harmony with the festive music. He had a big smile on his face, one of happiness and content. It wasn't often that he got the chance to go dancing, let alone with his new girlfriend who he had never suspected was so fond of such an activity. But surprises seemed to be prevalent today, and he was excited to continue with the adventure at hand.

One song ended and another began, followed by another, then another; her hair was sticking to her back with sweat. Her eyes were closed. Her smile wide, lips parted. As the music shifted yet again, she rested her head back against his chest and rolled it back and forth. "Water," she tilted her chin up so she could peer at him from below. "Food? Water? Good?"

The mention of both food and water was enticing, and Lamar realized that he had become quite sweaty during the last several songs. Good sweaty, not nasty sweaty...but sweaty nonetheless, which meant it was probably time to take a break. "We can get some food and drinks, if you like?" he offered.

"Mm," she agreed and they slid out of the crowd of dancers to climb the stairs to the restaurant portion of the club and grab a table near a slanted window looking out on the bay of San Francisco as it glinted enticingly through a low-hanging fog. She lifted her hair, twisting the mass in her hand, and tugging it over one shoulder to allow her back to breathe. "Thanks for coming," she said as they picked up menus.

Lamar took a seat across from her and let out a soft sigh, grateful to be off of his feet for a few moments. When Lilou thanked him for coming, he waved his hand to dismiss the notion. "No...thank you for inviting me." he replied with a genuine smile, "I didn't realize you had such an extravagant evening planned...it's nice, very relaxing."

"This isn't planning. This is winging it." Lilou laughed, eyes darting around the space. "I love this place though. I was so happy here."

"Yeah, it's nice, I agree." he replied as he too glanced around the large club and restaurant area. "It's strange though, I never knew this place was here while I was attending the Academy. I can't believe someone didn't mention it to me at least once."

[TBC]

--

WO Lamar Darius
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

ENS Lilou Peers
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

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