Deception: The lesser part of Valour – What Friends Are For
by Commander Rakka & Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
ON:
After the funeral, Rakka lingered a while, perched on the edge of the platform. She divided her attention between the people filtering out, and the empty place from which the casket had been launched. Soon she realized Petro was one of the last people left on the deck. She gave her friend a small nod.
The petite J'Nai stood and walked over to her friend. She had never attended a funeral before and wasn't sure how she should feel or act. As the last of the people filtered out, she walked up to the platform and sat on the edge of it, dangling her feet below her.
"That was a good speech." she said, looking up at Rakka.
"Oh... thank you," Rakka replied, shrugging. "I'm not even sure what it was I said. It all sort of came out of nowhere."
"It was enough to make people think." Petro said. "Friendships are hard to come by." She turned her attention to where the casket had been. "Sometimes we forget that. Not knowing really much about each other." she wiped a tear from her cheek absently, not aware that she had done it.
Rakka put an arm around Petro's shoulder, squeezing her close. "I'm glad to have you."
Petro didn't resist the hug, though it did come as a surprise to her. Rakka, giving her a hug? Her accepting it? It was a strange and yet welcome change in their relationship. She smiled. "I'm glad to have you too." she said, wiping another tear from her cheek. "People don't know how lucky they are to have you around. I know how lucky I am to have a friend like you."
Petro stood and looked around the now empty room. "It seems that everyone has gone. Back to business as usual." she said. She shook her head, trying to understand the intricacies that surrounded such events.
"Are you going back to work?" she asked, hoping for an answer in the negative.
"Not immediately," Rakka replied. "I could use something to eat."
Petro smiled. "Me too." she said. "What are you in the mood for?" she asked, not sure of the answer herself.
Rakka sighed. "Anything but Klingon, I guess."
"Alright." Petro said. "There's an italian place kind of set aside. Maybe we could try it and not be bothered." she offered.
"Okay," Rakka replied, giving one glance back at Riley's former resting place before stepping down from the platform and allowing Petro to lead the way.
*******
The restaurant was quiet and the matre d led them to a table.
"What can I get you to drink?" a waiter asked.
"Hot chocolate." Petro answered.
"What...? Oh... same for me," Rakka said distantly, slouching down in her chair. She stared down blankly at the menu as the waiter left the table.
"Are you alright?" Petro asked, noticing that Rakka wasn't sitting as tall as she usually did.
She glanced up. "I don't even know how to answer that," she admitted. "Everything just feels so... unreal."
"Unreal?" Petro asked. "I don't understand." she said. To her, things were either real or not real. What had happened was real and not a holoprogram. "Did it not happen?"
Rakka searched for a way to explain herself. "When things go wrong... don't you ever feel like... you're inside a bad dream, and just waiting to wake up? I know I'm not going to wake up from this... but my mind just doesn't want to accept it and move on."
The J'Naii thought about her own issues with her people and nodded. "I think I understand." she said. "I suppose when I woke up from the coma I thought things were the same as before but I had missed so much. It took me a while to adjust to things being different."
"Yes... things are definitely different," Rakka murmured. She leaned back as the waiter came with the hot chocolates.
"Are you ready to order?" he asked.
Rakka glanced down at the menu and made a hasty decision. "Oh... I'll have the double-meat lasagna... extra meatballs on the side," she said. "And extra garlic bread."
"And for you?" he asked, turning to Petro.
"Um, how about the eggplant parmesan." she said. "Garlic bread too." she added.
"Very good." he said, taking their menus. When he left, Petro turned to Rakka again.
"I suppose it will take a little while for things to become real again." she said.
Rakka sipped her chocolate. "Yes. It just... it's more painful than I expected. I've never... lost anyone... special to me. Not before this. And there are all these... these things I'm still dealing with. His quarters... his things... going through his logs... it's like he's not really gone."
"Would you like me to help?" Petro offered.
Rakka looked up. "With what?"
"With anything." Petro said. "His quarters, affects, and things like that."
"Here you are ladies." The waiter said, setting their food before them. "If there is anything else you will need, please just let me know." he said before turning away to leave them be.
Rakka swallowed hard, slipping a hand into her pocket and feeling the chip containing the holo program he had made for her. "It's really... sort of... personal," she tried to explain. If there were any other secrets hiding in his quarters, she would hate for anyone else to discover them.
"Oh." Petro said, her voice quiet. "I..understand." she picked up her fork and toyed with her food, no longer having much of an appetite.
Rakka sighed, knowing she probably could have phrased that better. She inhaled a meatball and swallowed hard. What could she say to her friend without saying everything? Maybe she had to tell someone. But would it be a violation of Riley's privacy? ~Tell me what to do!~ she begged him silently, but of course, there was no answer. "I would like to have company," she finally said. "And you are the best company. But the thing is... oh, I don't really know how to say this. There are things... things he left there for me. For me."
"Oh." Petro said again, unsure how to respond. "Some things are private." She tasted her eggplant and sipped her hot chocolate. "But you know I'm here for you. Right?" she asked. The whole funeral issue still lingered in her mind. Didn't Rakka just say that we don't take the time to know our friends and now here she was not letting her friend get to know her. It didn't make sense to Petro but she would still respect Rakka's wishes.
"When you need company, ever, you can call me." she said.
"Thank you," Rakka said honestly. "I hope I'll have plenty of chance to take you up on that." She shoveled in some of her lasagna. "Petro... I know you didn't spend much time with Riley, but... what did you think of him?"
"Well." Petro said, trying to remember her impression of him. "I suppose I thought he was, um, brash? I'm not really sure to be honest. He seemed to be a, practical joker and liked to have fun. Spoke his mind, as the humans say." She said, taking another bite of her eggplant. "He seemed nice though."
"Yes..... he was nice," Rakka whispered, lowering her fork as she felt a lump rise up in her throat. "Petro.... what do you think of yInchu'?"
"yInchu?" Petro asked. The question had caught her off guard so she took another bite to give herself time to think. She followed it with a swig of not so hot chocolate.
"I think he likes you alot." she said.
"But... does that mean I should be with him?" She picked apart her garlic bread. "Am I only with him because he likes me? What if... what if someone else liked me, and I just didn't know it?"
The J'Naii didn't know how to answer that question. The ways of relationships was something that eluded her. "If you like him and he likes you." she said, shrugging. "I suppose then maybe you could be together. If someone else likes you and you don't know, how can there be a relationship?"
Rakka swallowed another mouthful. "Well... let's just say, hypothetically... there was someone else who did like me, and I decided I'd rather be with him than with yInchu'. Does that mean I shouldn't have ever been with yInchu'? Does it mean I shouldn't be with yInchu' even if... that other person doesn't really exist?" She stared down at her fork, hearing her own words and not knowing if they made an ounce of sense.
Petro replied in the only way she could. "Huh?"
Rakka buried her face in her hands. "Never mind."
"I can't." Petro said. "I'm confused. If a person that likes you doesn't exist, then how can they like you? How can you be with them? Do you not want to be with yInchu?"
"I don't know," Rakka sighed. "Well, I didn't really want to be with him in the first place, but somehow it happened anyway. I guess there have been nice things about it. But there are also... worrisome things. But if I push him away... then I might never have that again. Maybe yInchu's as good as I'll ever do."
Petro frowned. "You don't think you're good enough for another kind of relationship with someone else?" she finished what was on her place and began gnawing on the garlic bread. "What if you could do better?"
"Do you think I could?" She looked up to meet her friend's eyes.
"I think that you could." Petro answered. "Not that there's anything wrong with yInchu. I don't think there is anyway. What makes it worrisome?"
"Well... I don't know, it's hard to explain," Rakka admitted. "I guess... I just wonder what he likes about me. Klingons like... strong women. Maybe that's all it is. I mean... he doesn't really know me, not even as much as you know me... and he wants to share everything with me. I don't feel like I could tell him... personal things."
"You don't feel.... connected to him?" Petro asked. "He's not a friend?"
"Not in the same way you and I are."
"I see." Petro said. "If you aren't comfortable with him, thend don't be with him." It made logical sense, but somehow she felt that it made no sense at all. "Maybe you could slow things down a little. Become friends first."
"Maybe," Rakka mused, although she wasn't sure yInchu' would have the patience.
"All finished here?" The waiter asked, looking at their empty plates. Petro nodded and allowed him to take her plate. "Another hot chocolate please." she said.
"Me too," said Rakka, relinquishing her plate. She turned back to Petro once the waiter was gone. "Thanks for listening."
"It's what friends are for." Petro replied.
OFF:
Warrant Officer Petro - Quartermaster
Lieutenant Commander Rakka - Chief of Security
by Commander Rakka & Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
| Title | What Friends Are For | |
| Mission | Deception: The lesser part of Valour | |
| Author(s) | Commander Rakka & Lieutenant JG Petro | |
| Posted | Mon Jan 05, 2009 @ 8:16pm | |
| Location | Guardian Platform | |
| Timeline | SD6 1200 hrs |
After the funeral, Rakka lingered a while, perched on the edge of the platform. She divided her attention between the people filtering out, and the empty place from which the casket had been launched. Soon she realized Petro was one of the last people left on the deck. She gave her friend a small nod.
The petite J'Nai stood and walked over to her friend. She had never attended a funeral before and wasn't sure how she should feel or act. As the last of the people filtered out, she walked up to the platform and sat on the edge of it, dangling her feet below her.
"That was a good speech." she said, looking up at Rakka.
"Oh... thank you," Rakka replied, shrugging. "I'm not even sure what it was I said. It all sort of came out of nowhere."
"It was enough to make people think." Petro said. "Friendships are hard to come by." She turned her attention to where the casket had been. "Sometimes we forget that. Not knowing really much about each other." she wiped a tear from her cheek absently, not aware that she had done it.
Rakka put an arm around Petro's shoulder, squeezing her close. "I'm glad to have you."
Petro didn't resist the hug, though it did come as a surprise to her. Rakka, giving her a hug? Her accepting it? It was a strange and yet welcome change in their relationship. She smiled. "I'm glad to have you too." she said, wiping another tear from her cheek. "People don't know how lucky they are to have you around. I know how lucky I am to have a friend like you."
Petro stood and looked around the now empty room. "It seems that everyone has gone. Back to business as usual." she said. She shook her head, trying to understand the intricacies that surrounded such events.
"Are you going back to work?" she asked, hoping for an answer in the negative.
"Not immediately," Rakka replied. "I could use something to eat."
Petro smiled. "Me too." she said. "What are you in the mood for?" she asked, not sure of the answer herself.
Rakka sighed. "Anything but Klingon, I guess."
"Alright." Petro said. "There's an italian place kind of set aside. Maybe we could try it and not be bothered." she offered.
"Okay," Rakka replied, giving one glance back at Riley's former resting place before stepping down from the platform and allowing Petro to lead the way.
*******
The restaurant was quiet and the matre d led them to a table.
"What can I get you to drink?" a waiter asked.
"Hot chocolate." Petro answered.
"What...? Oh... same for me," Rakka said distantly, slouching down in her chair. She stared down blankly at the menu as the waiter left the table.
"Are you alright?" Petro asked, noticing that Rakka wasn't sitting as tall as she usually did.
She glanced up. "I don't even know how to answer that," she admitted. "Everything just feels so... unreal."
"Unreal?" Petro asked. "I don't understand." she said. To her, things were either real or not real. What had happened was real and not a holoprogram. "Did it not happen?"
Rakka searched for a way to explain herself. "When things go wrong... don't you ever feel like... you're inside a bad dream, and just waiting to wake up? I know I'm not going to wake up from this... but my mind just doesn't want to accept it and move on."
The J'Naii thought about her own issues with her people and nodded. "I think I understand." she said. "I suppose when I woke up from the coma I thought things were the same as before but I had missed so much. It took me a while to adjust to things being different."
"Yes... things are definitely different," Rakka murmured. She leaned back as the waiter came with the hot chocolates.
"Are you ready to order?" he asked.
Rakka glanced down at the menu and made a hasty decision. "Oh... I'll have the double-meat lasagna... extra meatballs on the side," she said. "And extra garlic bread."
"And for you?" he asked, turning to Petro.
"Um, how about the eggplant parmesan." she said. "Garlic bread too." she added.
"Very good." he said, taking their menus. When he left, Petro turned to Rakka again.
"I suppose it will take a little while for things to become real again." she said.
Rakka sipped her chocolate. "Yes. It just... it's more painful than I expected. I've never... lost anyone... special to me. Not before this. And there are all these... these things I'm still dealing with. His quarters... his things... going through his logs... it's like he's not really gone."
"Would you like me to help?" Petro offered.
Rakka looked up. "With what?"
"With anything." Petro said. "His quarters, affects, and things like that."
"Here you are ladies." The waiter said, setting their food before them. "If there is anything else you will need, please just let me know." he said before turning away to leave them be.
Rakka swallowed hard, slipping a hand into her pocket and feeling the chip containing the holo program he had made for her. "It's really... sort of... personal," she tried to explain. If there were any other secrets hiding in his quarters, she would hate for anyone else to discover them.
"Oh." Petro said, her voice quiet. "I..understand." she picked up her fork and toyed with her food, no longer having much of an appetite.
Rakka sighed, knowing she probably could have phrased that better. She inhaled a meatball and swallowed hard. What could she say to her friend without saying everything? Maybe she had to tell someone. But would it be a violation of Riley's privacy? ~Tell me what to do!~ she begged him silently, but of course, there was no answer. "I would like to have company," she finally said. "And you are the best company. But the thing is... oh, I don't really know how to say this. There are things... things he left there for me. For me."
"Oh." Petro said again, unsure how to respond. "Some things are private." She tasted her eggplant and sipped her hot chocolate. "But you know I'm here for you. Right?" she asked. The whole funeral issue still lingered in her mind. Didn't Rakka just say that we don't take the time to know our friends and now here she was not letting her friend get to know her. It didn't make sense to Petro but she would still respect Rakka's wishes.
"When you need company, ever, you can call me." she said.
"Thank you," Rakka said honestly. "I hope I'll have plenty of chance to take you up on that." She shoveled in some of her lasagna. "Petro... I know you didn't spend much time with Riley, but... what did you think of him?"
"Well." Petro said, trying to remember her impression of him. "I suppose I thought he was, um, brash? I'm not really sure to be honest. He seemed to be a, practical joker and liked to have fun. Spoke his mind, as the humans say." She said, taking another bite of her eggplant. "He seemed nice though."
"Yes..... he was nice," Rakka whispered, lowering her fork as she felt a lump rise up in her throat. "Petro.... what do you think of yInchu'?"
"yInchu?" Petro asked. The question had caught her off guard so she took another bite to give herself time to think. She followed it with a swig of not so hot chocolate.
"I think he likes you alot." she said.
"But... does that mean I should be with him?" She picked apart her garlic bread. "Am I only with him because he likes me? What if... what if someone else liked me, and I just didn't know it?"
The J'Naii didn't know how to answer that question. The ways of relationships was something that eluded her. "If you like him and he likes you." she said, shrugging. "I suppose then maybe you could be together. If someone else likes you and you don't know, how can there be a relationship?"
Rakka swallowed another mouthful. "Well... let's just say, hypothetically... there was someone else who did like me, and I decided I'd rather be with him than with yInchu'. Does that mean I shouldn't have ever been with yInchu'? Does it mean I shouldn't be with yInchu' even if... that other person doesn't really exist?" She stared down at her fork, hearing her own words and not knowing if they made an ounce of sense.
Petro replied in the only way she could. "Huh?"
Rakka buried her face in her hands. "Never mind."
"I can't." Petro said. "I'm confused. If a person that likes you doesn't exist, then how can they like you? How can you be with them? Do you not want to be with yInchu?"
"I don't know," Rakka sighed. "Well, I didn't really want to be with him in the first place, but somehow it happened anyway. I guess there have been nice things about it. But there are also... worrisome things. But if I push him away... then I might never have that again. Maybe yInchu's as good as I'll ever do."
Petro frowned. "You don't think you're good enough for another kind of relationship with someone else?" she finished what was on her place and began gnawing on the garlic bread. "What if you could do better?"
"Do you think I could?" She looked up to meet her friend's eyes.
"I think that you could." Petro answered. "Not that there's anything wrong with yInchu. I don't think there is anyway. What makes it worrisome?"
"Well... I don't know, it's hard to explain," Rakka admitted. "I guess... I just wonder what he likes about me. Klingons like... strong women. Maybe that's all it is. I mean... he doesn't really know me, not even as much as you know me... and he wants to share everything with me. I don't feel like I could tell him... personal things."
"You don't feel.... connected to him?" Petro asked. "He's not a friend?"
"Not in the same way you and I are."
"I see." Petro said. "If you aren't comfortable with him, thend don't be with him." It made logical sense, but somehow she felt that it made no sense at all. "Maybe you could slow things down a little. Become friends first."
"Maybe," Rakka mused, although she wasn't sure yInchu' would have the patience.
"All finished here?" The waiter asked, looking at their empty plates. Petro nodded and allowed him to take her plate. "Another hot chocolate please." she said.
"Me too," said Rakka, relinquishing her plate. She turned back to Petro once the waiter was gone. "Thanks for listening."
"It's what friends are for." Petro replied.
OFF:
Warrant Officer Petro - Quartermaster
Lieutenant Commander Rakka - Chief of Security