STF

Finding a Safe Haven

Posted Oct. 29, 2020, 10:01 a.m. by Lieutenant Commander Ryder Raauhl (Executive Officer) (J Ridgley)

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Finding a Safe Haven

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ryder Raauhl (Executive Officer) in Finding a Safe Haven

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in Finding a Safe Haven
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(snip)

Casela could hear his thought and though she’d never allow him to ‘protect’ her, her life was too uncertain for that, the sentiment touched her. She shook her head at his appology. Sometimes words were the last thing needed. “There were three of us, all fresh operatives, our first mission. We thought we were invincible. It was an easy enough assignment; we were simply to integrate into the colony and listen and report back. But we were discovered, the other two, Shane and Hollis, died. The explosion came out of no where, it was small, but enough to create panic. Shane took two hits to his chest, Hollis, he stumbled into one of the shooters, disoriented from the concussive blast, and took a hit, point blank. I remember getting hit, in the shoulder. I woke up, strapped to a table.” She pauses, lost to the shock of those first hours. “They wanted information, that I didn’t have. The doctor was very careful to not inflict deadly damage, unless Mad Man got mad. Then, it didn’t matter.” She looks over at him, registering his lack of clothing, but unbothered by it. She felt more vulnerable in the memories than any lack of clothing could cause. “Six months and each day was like a life time.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“That sounds horrible, beyond horrible.” He said sitting silently for a few minutes before adding, “I am sorry you had to go through that, nobody should ever have to go through something quiet as horrific.” Ryder knew she wouldn’t want his sympathy or his pity but he did feel terrible, how could other humanoids impose so much suffering onto another life from, it was beyond his capability of thinking.

  • Lt Cmdr Rauuhl, XO

She knew what made people do those things: Hatred, fear, but mostly a lust for power. She looks at him, into his eyes, brown and blue that swirled together. She looks haunted and incredibly sad. “They never came. The backup team. They never came, left me there with them. Even told my parents I was dead. I died in a horrible shuttle accident. Pilot error as the official record goes. It’s still in there if you go all the way out to the first level security clearance levels.” She fidgets with her necklace quietly for a few minutes. “About 5 and half months in, I guess, Mad Man decided he was tired of torturing me. He liked beautiful things, so rather than kill me he decided to keep me. That meant that the doctor had to let me heal. And why the scars don’t reach past my clothes. I had to be-flawless, but he wanted me to remember.” She laughs darkly, “He was strange, Mad, crazy. He didn’t like women, but he wanted his associates to think he did. They were all slaves, but he never touched us, never let anyone else either.” She shrugs that part wasn’t really important. “They forgot I was Betazoid.” The word sounds dark and terrifying like she’s naming some demon. “I blew that compound to the 9th level of Dante’s hell on my way out, or I tried to. I hid, gods, it seemed like weeks. It couldn’t have been that long though. I stowed away on a freighter and eventually found my way to the Centurion, a hospital ship. The only wounds that were healed were the ones on my exposed arms and lower legs. The rest were....Well the rest weren’t.”

This was why she didn’t trust anyone, why she never had anyone to cover her ‘six,’ why she was always armed. It kept her alive and kept her safe. She hoped he understood what she was trying to tell him. For a counselor she didn’t have the words to convey it. Not right now, maybe later. Her past ensured she trusted no one but herself, relied on no one but herself. But in her trauma induced distress she’d chosen to come here, to his quarters, to him. Because whether she realized it or not she trusted him and here beside him there was a modicum of safety.
Casela

“It explains a lot” he said trying to smile, but finding the meaning behind the smile lost to him. He knew she could read his mind and that he felt sorry for her, angry at those who attacked her and in a way glad that she was able to finally tell him, opening up must be difficult for her, he didn’t need to be a betazoid to know that. “They got what they deserve and you now have a second chance, I cant even begin to imagine what it was like but thankyou for opening up.” He leaned in and kissed her, “And there’s nothing they could have done to destroy your beauty, you’re beautiful both inside and out, even if your interior can be sometimes shrouded in shadow.”

  • Lt Cmdr Raauhl, XO

Cas shook her head, it seemed absurd to her that he would thank her for telling him. She heard his thoughts and his emotions and there was a part of her that understood the meaning behind his words. That one incident had formed the rest of her career. It had shaped her into the person that came with the reputation. A reputation she had been very careful to cultivate over the years. When he kissed her it seemed to bring her out of her memories. She was still hugging her knees to her chest and finally took a stead breath and released her grip. She rested her head against his shoulder for a moment in the quiet. “I’m sorry I startled you. I didn’t mean to.” She took note of the time. Gamma shift was almost over and that meant she’d already missed her regular breakfast with the captain. She didn’t think he expected her anyway, and she really didn’t want to go. This was where she needed to be.
Lt Synthi-er, CNS

He shrugged dismissing the apology “No need, it keeps me on my toes and well eventually I’ll get used to you being in my room both when I’m there or not” Raauhl gave her a reassuring smile and wished just once that he could read her thoughts but as their relationship grew it would seem so did her trust in him and vice versa. “I certainly like having you around Casela and I’m glad our paths led us to this moment even if our future is slightly uncertain at present. Either way, I’m glad you’re here.”

  • Lt Cmdr Raauhl, XO

Casela had gotten used to his thought patterns: between being his ‘girlfriend’ but not actually dating and the endless number of duty shifts they shared. He often had the ‘sense she can hear my thoughts anyway’ thought she’d started actually listening. Like hearing someone’s voice from across the room. You can identify them from the sound of their voice even if you can’t understand the words. But when you are closer you not only recognize the voice but the words as well. Being Betazoid it would be such an easy thing to put her thoughts into his mind, but she had no finesse for it, and the last time, had almost knocked him out, and that was an accident.

“Right now? I’m wondering why I would be in your room when you aren’t there to the point you would be used to it. I’d have to be in here a lot for that to be something you are used to, that you anticipate, that I haven’t just arrived early, but I’m already there. It implies a different level of seriousness to what’s going on between us, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. But I like being here with you, Ryder. I like giving my time to you.” She touches the rune stones and smiles just a bit. Her voice softer. “I like that you don’t care I’m a hot head, a know-it-all, and brash.” Yes she’d heard that thought how many weeks, months, ago? “But mostly I like I don’t have to be that way around you.”

She turns to look him in the face. “So did that answer your desire to know what I’m thinking or did you want to know something else? You just have to ask, I’ll tell you.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“Oh no that pretty much answers everything for me” He smiled gently watching as she held her runes, “And for the record, I care I just do a very good job at suppressing it because when it comes to you I don’t care, and to answer perhaps an unconscious question I think we may be getting more serious than either of us may have intercepted I have certainly noticed a change in our… relationship. I like it but if you think were going to fast?” he stopped, leaving the question hanging in the air.

  • Lt Cmdr Raauhl, XO

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