Judgement – Guilt is a beautiful thing
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
::ON::
Kaelin gently nudged his way through people on the Promenade on his way to the Box of delights for the second time in less than 24 hours. He hadn't slept a wink the night before. His conflict with the boy in the bar the night before, much as tried to brush it off, really got to him. It had caught up to his brain at about midnight and he couldn't shake off the incredible feeling of guilt at what he'd done. He was in such a bad place the night before, and he'd been a really nice guy who didn't deserve Kaelin venting his frustrations on him through somethings as small as a holosuite comment.
He was on the noon shift and had a good two hours before going in to work, so he decided to go and try to find out at least something about the young man from the night before and hopefully catch him to apologize. Otherwise, he'd never get any sleep. Phillip had taunted him over it, saying he was way too sensitive and eager to be liked, but Kaelin didn't want to pay him any attention. He liked who he was, even if others didn't.
At this hour the shutter's were down, but the Deltan could see activity inside; people taking down chairs, arranging bottles and glasses, brushing card tables and calibrating dabo wheels.
Glad there weren't people around, Kaelin stepped in cautiously and approached Pelin. "Hey, Pel," he greeted him with a smile, much more honest than the forced one he'd sported the night before. "I need to ask you about something. Don't worry, it's nothing bad," he assured him, knowing how shy the Bajoran got.
"Okay," the boy looked up from slicing garnishes, and came around the bar to steer Kaelin back to the door. "Sorry about this, but we're not supposed to let people in before opening. What do you want to know."
"Thanks. I'm looking for someone. I don't know if you remember last night, but there was a young man here, looking for work. He's about my height, maybe a little shirt," Kaelin describe, unsure of the boy's height because they'd been sitting down, "He's half Vulcan, half Risian. Dark hair with bangs over his eyes,..." he trailed off, hoping the description would give him something.
"Lash?" Pel asked. "What do you want with him?"
"Um...last night we kind of got into a bit of an argument and I feel really bad about it, and I just need to find him to apologize for it. Do you know where he is? Please, Pelin?" Kaelin pleaded.
Pel felt awkward. It wasn't any of his business to talk about where the boy was. But Kaelin looked so wretched. "I'd try the holosuites all over the station. He's bound to be in or near one of them."
"Holosuites? How appropriate..." he muttered the last. "There's tons of holosuites around here, Pelin, any way to narrow it down? I tried the computer, but he probably just arrived, he's not fully registered yet," Kaelin explained, then sighed. Now he'd have to go through all the holosuites one by one...
He gave Pelin a small half smile when he saw the Bajoran had nothing else to say. "Thanks, Pelin," he told him, patting his arm before leaving the bar. This would be a long morning, he decided as he went to the Holosuite One.
*** 45 minutes later ***
Kaelin exited Holosuite Twenty-four, wiping some sweat from his brow. His feet were killing him, even though he was using the turbolifts as often as possible. With a sigh, seeing he still had time before work, he continued on his trek, checking the location of the next holosuite and making his way there as quickly as he could.
As he arrived at the next set of holodecks, on Deck 151, he found the object of his quest. Stepping out of a deck, toolbox in hand, and dressed in the plain grey with mustard trim of ops, was the young man from the previous night at the Box.
"Oh thank you," Kaelin said a bit too loudly, looking up at the ceiling, to whatever deity was listening. Then he turned back to the boy in question. "I've been looking for you for an hour," he said, coming towards him. Then he noticed the clothing, he groaned internally. "Oh, please tell me you aren't a holodeck programmer?" he asked, visibly begging him to tell him he hadn't made that much of an ass of himself."
The young man gave a small smile, and used his free hand to push his hair from his eyes. "I'm not a holodeck programmer."
"Okay, you're a good liar," Kaelin admitted, offering a small smile back as he walked towards him. "Guess I,..." he paused, looking around, "guess I really made a complete jackass of myself last night, didn't I?"
"Yes." The young man nodded his full agreement. "I mean, I got stroppy. But I'm allowed. Shallow and vain remember?" The silly grin was back, slightly apologetic, very endearing.
"Yes, I remember," Kaelin nodded in a completely serious expression of understanding. "And I ignored that aspect of your personality, so I have just spent the last hour going through every holosuite there is on this base. I have interrupted five sword fights, three mountain climbs and had a very untimely walk in on an unsuspecting couple in order to find you and say how sorry I am about last night," Kaelin explained with a grin he wasn't even aware he had on his face as he walked closer to the young man, ultimately standing a couple of feet away with his arms crossed.
"Only one couple?" he queried. "You started in the fleet decks didn't you. Should have started in the public suites, they're more interesting."
Kaelin laughed, "I'm sure you'd know all about that," he teased good-naturedly. "So..." he began, looking at him with a slight puppy-dog look, " am I forgiven? Can I make it up to you? Buy you lunch?" he offered.
"I don't get off shift for another four hours." He yawned suddenly. "But you could replicate me a raktajino. I was on Delta shift till three days ago and I'm not caught up yet."
"Sure, no problem," Kaelin nodded, going to the closest replimat. Typing in his order, two cups materialized and, taking them, the Deltan came back to join the young programmer and handed him a cup. "That's a really strong blend that basically saved me all through med school. Two cups of these before nightfall and you're good for the next twelve hours," he explained, sipping his own, milder brew. Then he remembered something. "I'm Kaelin, by the way."
"Lash," said Lash, between sips of his drink.
"Lash? Like eye-lash? When Pelin said that I thought it was short for something," Kaelin smirked, but there wasn't any bad intention in his tone. He sipped his coffee, leaning back against the wall.
"Eye-lash!" The vulcan half-breed scoffed. "More like as in rum, sodomy and..."
"The lash," Kaelin finished, sipping his hot drink. He recognized the Churchill quote from the Academy's Earth History course that he'd been forced into taking. "Okay, I won't pry as to why a parent in their right mind would name their child that, but I'll take it," he said with a bright smile.
"I had cruel and unusual parents." Lash laughed. "Well, unusual. Trust me, if i ever find out how my mother unbuttoned my father, I'd distill it, bottle it, and take their Orions on at the totally irresistible game. I'd be bound to win then." he gave Kaelin a sly smile, "as opposed to only 50:50 now."
Kaelin shook his head at him, "Well, I'm afraid you may be a bit out of your league when you beat them. Then you'd have us Deltans to compete with and I hear we're pretty volatile at being absolutely irresistible," he told him in mock seriousness.
"Oh, I'm not afraid of Deltans," Lash said, shoving his bangs from his eyes, this time with a small sigh of annoyance. "I have more hair."
"Hair is overrated," Kaelin pointed out. "Hairless as we are, we still get more play than the rest," he told him, meeting his eyes with a cheeky grin.
"Really?" Lash smiled. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes. I admit, I am rather inhibited being in Starfleet, but for those of us that are not, a stick is required to beat people away," he said with a small wink.
"So you're defenseless," Lash said. It was definitely a statement, full of suggestion and promise and enticement. "You have no stick."
The small smile on Kaelin's face unconsciously grew into a grin as he looked at Lash. "I'm afraid so," he admitted, meeting his eyes.
"You know, some people might take advantage of that." Lash told him, his voice just a little husky.
Kaelin's eyes widened for a moment and he bit his bottom lip lightly. Part of his mind shouted warnings at him, but he ignored it, pushing himself off the wall as he pressed his cup to his mouth to finish his raktajino off before tossing the cup away. Keeping his eyes on Lash's, he licked the coffee slowly off his lips before replying. "I'm sure some people would," he agreed. "Funny how that would cross your mind."
"Well, you know," Lash stepped a little closer, "Shallow and Vain. It leads to all sorts of ... shennanigans."
Smiling, Kaelin looked away for a moment as a small blush crept onto his pale skin. Lash stepped closer, raising a hand.
=^="Dareen to Lash."=^= The voice from the communicator burst between them like a firework, and they suddenly sprang apart. =^="Dareen to Lash."=^= came the voice again.
Lash reluctantly tapped his com, rolling his eyes and mouthing "sorry" to Kaelin. =^="Lash here, go ahead."=^=
=^="The lateral field emitter's gone in seventy four again, but the diagnostic says there's nothing wrong. Can you come give me a hand?"=^=
Lash made a face, before pasting false cheerfulness onto his face, =^="Sure, I'll be right there."=^=
"The fates have interfered," Kaelin said before he could filter out his brain and blushed even more as the words left his lips. He cleared his throat uncomfortably before looked up at Lash with a small smile.
"So they have." Lash nodded. "well, I've got to go. I'll catch you later?"
"Sure. How about dinner tonight?" he offered then realized how forward that sounded. Not to mention inappropriate. "I mean, casual. Between friends," he clarified, keeping his voice serious, sounding like he meant it, even if a big part of him didn't.
"Sure. HOw about Anatole's, say 2100?"
"Sounds perfect. I'll meet you there," Kaelin nodded.
"Great." Lash turned away, heading towards the turbolift. He stepped in, leaving Kaelin alone in the corridor. The Deltan smiled, his day actually becoming more bearable now that he had something to look forward to at the end of it.
Suddenly, Lash put his head out of the turbolift door. "One more thing," he called out, "Bring a stick!" As the doors to the lift closed once again, Kaelin was left shaking his head at him, laughing quietly to himself.
OFF
A JP Between:
Ensign Kaelin
Pathology Resident
&
Crewman Lash
DS5
by (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin
Post Details
| Title | Guilt is a beautiful thing | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | (G) Arrain - Lieutenant Arrienye t'Merek & Alderman Yolanthe Ibalin | |
| Posted | Sun Jan 30, 2011 @ 3:54pm | |
| Location | Box of delights/Deck 151 | |
| Timeline | SD36 - 09:00 |
Kaelin gently nudged his way through people on the Promenade on his way to the Box of delights for the second time in less than 24 hours. He hadn't slept a wink the night before. His conflict with the boy in the bar the night before, much as tried to brush it off, really got to him. It had caught up to his brain at about midnight and he couldn't shake off the incredible feeling of guilt at what he'd done. He was in such a bad place the night before, and he'd been a really nice guy who didn't deserve Kaelin venting his frustrations on him through somethings as small as a holosuite comment.
He was on the noon shift and had a good two hours before going in to work, so he decided to go and try to find out at least something about the young man from the night before and hopefully catch him to apologize. Otherwise, he'd never get any sleep. Phillip had taunted him over it, saying he was way too sensitive and eager to be liked, but Kaelin didn't want to pay him any attention. He liked who he was, even if others didn't.
At this hour the shutter's were down, but the Deltan could see activity inside; people taking down chairs, arranging bottles and glasses, brushing card tables and calibrating dabo wheels.
Glad there weren't people around, Kaelin stepped in cautiously and approached Pelin. "Hey, Pel," he greeted him with a smile, much more honest than the forced one he'd sported the night before. "I need to ask you about something. Don't worry, it's nothing bad," he assured him, knowing how shy the Bajoran got.
"Okay," the boy looked up from slicing garnishes, and came around the bar to steer Kaelin back to the door. "Sorry about this, but we're not supposed to let people in before opening. What do you want to know."
"Thanks. I'm looking for someone. I don't know if you remember last night, but there was a young man here, looking for work. He's about my height, maybe a little shirt," Kaelin describe, unsure of the boy's height because they'd been sitting down, "He's half Vulcan, half Risian. Dark hair with bangs over his eyes,..." he trailed off, hoping the description would give him something.
"Lash?" Pel asked. "What do you want with him?"
"Um...last night we kind of got into a bit of an argument and I feel really bad about it, and I just need to find him to apologize for it. Do you know where he is? Please, Pelin?" Kaelin pleaded.
Pel felt awkward. It wasn't any of his business to talk about where the boy was. But Kaelin looked so wretched. "I'd try the holosuites all over the station. He's bound to be in or near one of them."
"Holosuites? How appropriate..." he muttered the last. "There's tons of holosuites around here, Pelin, any way to narrow it down? I tried the computer, but he probably just arrived, he's not fully registered yet," Kaelin explained, then sighed. Now he'd have to go through all the holosuites one by one...
He gave Pelin a small half smile when he saw the Bajoran had nothing else to say. "Thanks, Pelin," he told him, patting his arm before leaving the bar. This would be a long morning, he decided as he went to the Holosuite One.
*** 45 minutes later ***
Kaelin exited Holosuite Twenty-four, wiping some sweat from his brow. His feet were killing him, even though he was using the turbolifts as often as possible. With a sigh, seeing he still had time before work, he continued on his trek, checking the location of the next holosuite and making his way there as quickly as he could.
As he arrived at the next set of holodecks, on Deck 151, he found the object of his quest. Stepping out of a deck, toolbox in hand, and dressed in the plain grey with mustard trim of ops, was the young man from the previous night at the Box.
"Oh thank you," Kaelin said a bit too loudly, looking up at the ceiling, to whatever deity was listening. Then he turned back to the boy in question. "I've been looking for you for an hour," he said, coming towards him. Then he noticed the clothing, he groaned internally. "Oh, please tell me you aren't a holodeck programmer?" he asked, visibly begging him to tell him he hadn't made that much of an ass of himself."
The young man gave a small smile, and used his free hand to push his hair from his eyes. "I'm not a holodeck programmer."
"Okay, you're a good liar," Kaelin admitted, offering a small smile back as he walked towards him. "Guess I,..." he paused, looking around, "guess I really made a complete jackass of myself last night, didn't I?"
"Yes." The young man nodded his full agreement. "I mean, I got stroppy. But I'm allowed. Shallow and vain remember?" The silly grin was back, slightly apologetic, very endearing.
"Yes, I remember," Kaelin nodded in a completely serious expression of understanding. "And I ignored that aspect of your personality, so I have just spent the last hour going through every holosuite there is on this base. I have interrupted five sword fights, three mountain climbs and had a very untimely walk in on an unsuspecting couple in order to find you and say how sorry I am about last night," Kaelin explained with a grin he wasn't even aware he had on his face as he walked closer to the young man, ultimately standing a couple of feet away with his arms crossed.
"Only one couple?" he queried. "You started in the fleet decks didn't you. Should have started in the public suites, they're more interesting."
Kaelin laughed, "I'm sure you'd know all about that," he teased good-naturedly. "So..." he began, looking at him with a slight puppy-dog look, " am I forgiven? Can I make it up to you? Buy you lunch?" he offered.
"I don't get off shift for another four hours." He yawned suddenly. "But you could replicate me a raktajino. I was on Delta shift till three days ago and I'm not caught up yet."
"Sure, no problem," Kaelin nodded, going to the closest replimat. Typing in his order, two cups materialized and, taking them, the Deltan came back to join the young programmer and handed him a cup. "That's a really strong blend that basically saved me all through med school. Two cups of these before nightfall and you're good for the next twelve hours," he explained, sipping his own, milder brew. Then he remembered something. "I'm Kaelin, by the way."
"Lash," said Lash, between sips of his drink.
"Lash? Like eye-lash? When Pelin said that I thought it was short for something," Kaelin smirked, but there wasn't any bad intention in his tone. He sipped his coffee, leaning back against the wall.
"Eye-lash!" The vulcan half-breed scoffed. "More like as in rum, sodomy and..."
"The lash," Kaelin finished, sipping his hot drink. He recognized the Churchill quote from the Academy's Earth History course that he'd been forced into taking. "Okay, I won't pry as to why a parent in their right mind would name their child that, but I'll take it," he said with a bright smile.
"I had cruel and unusual parents." Lash laughed. "Well, unusual. Trust me, if i ever find out how my mother unbuttoned my father, I'd distill it, bottle it, and take their Orions on at the totally irresistible game. I'd be bound to win then." he gave Kaelin a sly smile, "as opposed to only 50:50 now."
Kaelin shook his head at him, "Well, I'm afraid you may be a bit out of your league when you beat them. Then you'd have us Deltans to compete with and I hear we're pretty volatile at being absolutely irresistible," he told him in mock seriousness.
"Oh, I'm not afraid of Deltans," Lash said, shoving his bangs from his eyes, this time with a small sigh of annoyance. "I have more hair."
"Hair is overrated," Kaelin pointed out. "Hairless as we are, we still get more play than the rest," he told him, meeting his eyes with a cheeky grin.
"Really?" Lash smiled. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes. I admit, I am rather inhibited being in Starfleet, but for those of us that are not, a stick is required to beat people away," he said with a small wink.
"So you're defenseless," Lash said. It was definitely a statement, full of suggestion and promise and enticement. "You have no stick."
The small smile on Kaelin's face unconsciously grew into a grin as he looked at Lash. "I'm afraid so," he admitted, meeting his eyes.
"You know, some people might take advantage of that." Lash told him, his voice just a little husky.
Kaelin's eyes widened for a moment and he bit his bottom lip lightly. Part of his mind shouted warnings at him, but he ignored it, pushing himself off the wall as he pressed his cup to his mouth to finish his raktajino off before tossing the cup away. Keeping his eyes on Lash's, he licked the coffee slowly off his lips before replying. "I'm sure some people would," he agreed. "Funny how that would cross your mind."
"Well, you know," Lash stepped a little closer, "Shallow and Vain. It leads to all sorts of ... shennanigans."
Smiling, Kaelin looked away for a moment as a small blush crept onto his pale skin. Lash stepped closer, raising a hand.
=^="Dareen to Lash."=^= The voice from the communicator burst between them like a firework, and they suddenly sprang apart. =^="Dareen to Lash."=^= came the voice again.
Lash reluctantly tapped his com, rolling his eyes and mouthing "sorry" to Kaelin. =^="Lash here, go ahead."=^=
=^="The lateral field emitter's gone in seventy four again, but the diagnostic says there's nothing wrong. Can you come give me a hand?"=^=
Lash made a face, before pasting false cheerfulness onto his face, =^="Sure, I'll be right there."=^=
"The fates have interfered," Kaelin said before he could filter out his brain and blushed even more as the words left his lips. He cleared his throat uncomfortably before looked up at Lash with a small smile.
"So they have." Lash nodded. "well, I've got to go. I'll catch you later?"
"Sure. How about dinner tonight?" he offered then realized how forward that sounded. Not to mention inappropriate. "I mean, casual. Between friends," he clarified, keeping his voice serious, sounding like he meant it, even if a big part of him didn't.
"Sure. HOw about Anatole's, say 2100?"
"Sounds perfect. I'll meet you there," Kaelin nodded.
"Great." Lash turned away, heading towards the turbolift. He stepped in, leaving Kaelin alone in the corridor. The Deltan smiled, his day actually becoming more bearable now that he had something to look forward to at the end of it.
Suddenly, Lash put his head out of the turbolift door. "One more thing," he called out, "Bring a stick!" As the doors to the lift closed once again, Kaelin was left shaking his head at him, laughing quietly to himself.
OFF
A JP Between:
Ensign Kaelin
Pathology Resident
&
Crewman Lash
DS5