The Tears that water the soul

Posted on 01 Dec 2019 @ 2:39am by Lieutenant Commander Aidan Datari & Commander Amelia Fox

Mission: Mission 2 - The Agora crossroads
Location: Gymnasium Deck 11
Timeline: MD7 1930
1945 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Amelia had invited Aidan to the gym for another fencing practice. She had the feeling that he wasn't telling everything that happened to him while he was a captive. She had been around enough poker tables to know when someone was holding a lot inside. and she got the impression that he was holding onto a lot!

Since it was fencing, Aidan brought a replicated sabre to the gym, rather than his replicas. He was dressed in a dove grey fencing suit though he wasn't carrying a helmet. "Ma'am," he greeted quietly as he stepped onto the mat.

Amelia noted his somber attitude and his quiet tone. This was going to require some drastic measures to get him to come out of his shell. With her own blade, she saluted then launched quite a sudden and unexpected attack.

Surprised, Aidan tried to parry the attack but she struck him full in the chest. He stumbled and fell, his own weapon tumbling from his grasp. Chagrined, he made a grab for it and crawled back to his feet. "Again," he said, feeling more prepared this time.

“If you say so.” Amelia replied with a neutral expression. Another quite vicious attack. Amelia kept pressing and eventually caught the back of Aidan’s hand with her blade quite painfully. His sword clattered to the floor.

“Come on! You can do better than that!” She mocked him.

The Trill yelped, shaking his hand in response. He glared at her for a moment before deciding to change blades. Clearly a sabre wasn't going to help him, and he did want his own sword. He walked off for a moment, then came back seconds later with a fresh replica. Something that felt surer in his hand. He glared at her a second time before launching a haphazard, and uncontrolled attack of his own.

Amelia managed to block his attack and took a quick sidestep, catching one of Aidan’s feet and causing him to land on his back. She pressed the tip of her sword to his chest. “Are you even trying?” She asked with a smirk on her face.

His back was a sore spot, even if his injuries had been healed the day before. While he knew it was gone, his mind thought otherwise. He cried out as he landed flat on his back, before rolling to his feet. It showed there was actually nothing wrong with his reflexes. "Yes," he bit back before launching into a full on attack, barely giving her any chance to defend herself.

Amelia was having to work harder now but she was still teasing him, getting under his skin. She side stepped again and this time slapped him hard on his ass with her free hand. “Ohh! That had to hurt! Are we going to dance or are we going to dance?” She chuckled.

Aidan froze, eyes widening, fear crossing his features. Then, he whirled around, bringing his sword into a deadly swing towards her head. "What do you know about dancing," he snapped as he pivoted with his swing, which was far more calculated than the ones before.

“Apparently more than you do.” She replied with a wink. She still managed to block his swing. “I’ve been working on my foot work, and it seems you’ve got two left feet this evening.” The tension was mounting. They were both breathing hard as she took a step back and held her arms wide open. She practically challenged him. “Stop trying to hit me and hit me!”

Taking the sword with both hands, he stepped out forward and charged her with a right scream of frustration. he knocked the sword from her hands, his swing carrying through across her chest, causing a thin red line to well up. Unaware of what he had caused, the Trill danced away, out of her immediate reach.

Although the cut was not deep, the sudden unexpected pain caused Amelia to lose her footing and she fell backwards landing with a small yelp. She sat there for a moment trying to slow her breathing. She looked up at him and studied his face. “There. Did it feel better to let that out? She held up her hand for him to pick her up.

Breathing hard, Aidan pulled her back up to her feet with a swift yank. "No," he said, "it didn't." He had never been one to scream in frustration, but somehow it did feel right. But it hadn't been enough, so no, he wasn't feeling better. He caught a trickle of red from the corner of his eyes and he shifted, pointing his sword down. He went pale as realization hit. "You're hurt..."

She shrugged it off. “I deserved it. I’ll live. What’s important here is that you’re hurt and you’re still hurting and you need to let it out. Move past it and get on with your life.” She set her sword down. “I’m your colleague and I’m your friend and I want to help you.”

"I don't know how you can help," Aidan said softly, turning away from her, "if you want me to blame you I can't do that. You couldn't have known this would happen." He closed his eyes, drawing in a shuddering breath. "I don't know who to direct my anger at...."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok to be angry and you have every right to be but you've got to either learn to deal with it or find a way to let it out healthy because if you bottle it up you are going to explode, and next time it might be on someone far less forgiving than me."

He shrugged the hand off, hand tightening around the hilt of his sword. "We should've used dummies," he said, looking down at the blade in his hand, "not live blades. I could've seriously hurt you. I'm the expert, I should've known better." Stepping out, he hurled the blade towards the wall with a cry of frustration. The blade quivered as it buried into the wall.

She looked at the blade now buried into the wall. “Maybe we should have done this on the holodeck.” She mused. She then looked back to Aidan. “Talk to me. Or are you wanting to let off more steam? I am proficient in unarmed combat as well.”

"I'm not proficient in unarmed combat," the Trill answered flatly, eyes still on the blade, "but I do need this.." He nodded. "Do not be easy on me, I will take that as an insult."

She managed a smile. “I would expect nothing less. Come on then. You were kind enough to teach me some fencing skills, now it’s my turn to teach you. We’ll start with some basic holds and blocks and see where we go from there.”

Amelia then proceeded to take Aidan through some basic moves for holding and blocking an opponent.

He picked up on them quickly enough, though lessons wasn't what he was after. He needed a good work-out, not a calm lesson. So, he decided to be on the offensive and gave her a firm shove. "Fight me," he growled, "I don't need all these baby steps."

Amelia sighed. “Fine. Right then. Smack. Don’t watch my hands!Smack Watch my eyes. Smack They tell you where I’m aiming for Smack. While she was talking she hit him lightly on his arm, stomach, the other arm.

He tried to slap her hands away, his face turning into an angry scowl. "Stop playing with me," he growled, clearly frustrated at the lack of action.

Finally, Amelia reared back her right fist and hit him square in the face. Hard! She stopped immediately. “Oh! I didn’t mean for... Are you ok?”

Not expecting this, Aidan reeled back, anger replaced by utter shock as pain lanced through the side of his face. He went down to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes, head bowed. His shoulders started to shake as he curled up into a fetal ball. He said nothing, as if the question hadn't registered.

Amelia knelt down next to him and picked him up by the shoulders. She put her arms around him and held him for a moment. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

"I'm useless," Aidan sobbed, "I'm no good on away missions..." He didn't lean into the offered embrace. "I don't know what to do, I'm so scared."

She looked at him incredulously. “You can start by not talking so daft! Unless you want to get hit again.” She kept her arms around him.
“Why do we fall? So we can pick ourselves up again. You’ll be ok. It will take time, but you’ll get there. And remember you have friends here who want to help you.”

"No I don't want to get hit again, it serves no purpose other than make me relive things I don't want to relive. This isn't the way, but I don't know how to move on. I'm so afraid a wrong word, or wrong move will have me hurt again. And by being hurt, I hurt those I care about." Tears fell down his cheeks, onto the mat and dripping down his collar.

She looked into his eyes for a moment. "I'm afraid pain is a part of life and we all have to deal with it. You can't avoid pain, or sadness or grief. Without them, there would be no pleasure, no joy, no happiness. Without one there can't be the other. And to try to live without getting hurt you might as well be dead. Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing. Fear has two meanings. Forget everything and run or, face everything and rise. The choice is always yours."

"But when is it enough? Haven't I sacrificed or grieved enough?" He shook his head and swallowed a few times. "I'm twenty-six years old, I have lost both my parents and sister as a child, my first partner at eighteen, my husband at nineteen, I've seen friends die, I've endured torture at the hands of an AI.... Can't I demand a break from being hurt? Doesn't my wife deserve a break? I want her to be happy... She's the best that ever happened to me..."

“And you are probably one of the best things in her life too. You draw strength from each other.” She took a breath. “Look, life is not fair, it’s never easy. The rewards are great but the price is high. Especially out here. It’s wonderful. With treasures beyond your imagination. And terrors to freeze your soul. But it’s not for the timid. And you my friend are not that.”

She paused before adding. “I think we better go to sickbay and get cleaned up. Then we’ll go and have a drink.” She released him and stood, holding out a hand. “Shall we?”

"You don't know me very well," Aidan murmured as he accepted the hand up. "You have a mean punch ma'am," he added while rubbing his cheek. No doubt that was becoming a black eye...

“You should see what I can do with just my thumb.” She quipped as they headed out of the door. “So after sickbay you can let me get to know you better.”

Aidan just nodded, as they walked out.

OFF:

●● Lieutenant Amelia Fox
Executive Officer
USS Andromeda


●● Lieutenant Aidan Datari
Chief Science Officer
USS Andromeda