STF

Peace Offerings

Posted May 5, 2021, 11:27 a.m. by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) (James Sinclair)

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in Peace Offerings

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Medical Research & Development) in Peace Offerings

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in Peace Offerings
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
She stared at the writing, picked it up and looked at him, but he was gone and the pods were his work table. She was tempted to run out after him and ask him why, but she couldn’t leave the simulations and she had to set up the samples to run the next day. Her work had to come first, it was all she had. Her work and Frigga. She worked through the rest of the shift. But at 1900 she appeared in the lounge, despite her better judgement, Frigga walking beside her, glancing up at Alexis frequently. Oddly enough she was in jeans and knit sweater and not in uniform. She glanced around spotted him at the table and hesitated, but she was already there. She didn’t sit down but placed the drawing on the table. “Why are you doing this?” Her voice cracked and she wasn’t proud of it, but there wasn’t much she could about it. “Is it really that funny to try and humiliate me?” She’d played nice, hadn’t she?
Lt Bonner

Kane was dressed in jeans and green v-neck shirt with a worn leather jacket over it. Oddly, his hair was brushed back and tied at the base of his skull with a silver clasp with some kind of engraving on it. When she spoke, his face clouded. He sat back and looked up at her, his fingers drumming on top of the picture. For almost a minute, he just looked at her, his green pupils burning between narrowed eye lids.

“Humiliate you, huh? So thats why you dragged your feet? Because having a dinner with me would be humiliating for you?” His question was delivered quietly, but there was an edge to his voice that caused his words to sound like an growl.

She blinked, well it was but not because she felt he was less, the other way around. She’d been told often she was not catch, she was too weird, too smart, but not too pretty. “No…that’s not…”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t go to the Academy at 17 and become the poster child for theoretical experimentation by 22. Some of us actually had to work to get where we are.” Kane stood up and looked down at Alexis. “I thought you were different, that’s why I asked you to dinner. And I don’t play games with people’s heads. Thats for cowards.” He looked back at the table. On it sat a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a PaDD.

She opened her mouth and closed it. She was wrong. Her body went so hot she was cold, and her ears were ringing. She misunderstood.

“Enjoy the wine. I won’t bother you again. And don’t worry. I’ll say you are playing nice if they ask. Wont be the first time I’ve lied to ‘em.” and he moved past her and towards the exit.

Kane, R&D

She touched his hand, barely as he moved past. “I’m sorry. I misunderstood. I…was afraid it was like before. I was young…” She didn’t think he’d let her explain but she had to apologize, he deserved it. She didn’t deserve to explain, “I’m sorry.” She wiped her face, where she’d started crying. Solis’ mocking laughter rang in her ears.
Lt Bonner

Kane stopped when her hand touched his and his head whipped around, the scowl on his face more than apparent. When he saw her tears, his scowl deepened, but it wasn’t anger based then… it was confusion.

“Before? Before wh-…” and he cut himself off and simply jutted his chin towards the table. “Sit. You don’t want to walk through here like that.” and he guided her to the table and took a seat. He handed her a napkin and said “Here. Now take a second and then maybe you can let me know what the hell is going on.”

Kane, R&D

She sat, taking the napkin with a soft thank you. The dog was pressed against her legs, nosing her head under Alexis’ hand. She licked her lips, “I…I was 20, three years into my first assignment. The work kept me busy, that’s all there is when you’re ‘smart.’ You’re too smart for your peers and too young for your intellectual peers. It was different, it was exciting, he was interested in my work, talked to me about it, he understood when I talked and never told me to dumb it down. He didn’t care that I read research journals instead of novels or watched shows. He didn’t care I was different, he liked me the way I was, but I misunderstood then too. He…he proposed. I was naïve, I was supposed to meet him for..for dinner but I finished the experiments early.” She could see it so clearly, like everything else she could recall in perfect detail. “He was kissing her good bye. When I asked him, he asked me if I honestly believed he’d go through with it…with marrying me.” She shrugs, “After awhile when everyone tells you you’re too strange, too smart, not present enough, too…” she swallowed hard, “inexperienced. You put the math together and find you are the common denominator.” And now he could laugh at her too.
Lt Bonner

Kane listened to her. He could infer parts that she glazed over or omitted… and he felt his jaw clench. He looked at Alexis and said “By the gods… what an a%$hole!” and he shook his head. “Seriously… the stones on that guy! Who the f#$% does that to somebody?!” and he leaned forward.

“Hey… Im sorry. Okay? I didn’t know about any of that bull%$@#. Sorry if I brought it back up. I literally just wanted to have dinner with you.” The scowl hadn’t left his face, but the edge to his words had definitely softened slightly. “Listen… if this isn’t your thing, that’s fine. But…” and his face showed his struggle within himself before he said “… but I dont care what anyone else did or thought about you. They can kiss my a##. You’re… well… you’re pretty damn frustrating… but you’re also pretty damn interesting. And I want to get to know you outside of the lab. If you want to do that, let’s eat. And if you don’t… really… no hard feelings. The choice really is yours… and if you need some more time, I’ll wait. Your call.”

Kane, R&D

“You didn’t…” she could tell him. He worked for intel too, right, maybe she couldn’t give specifics. “To be totally up front, the work I just returned from, he was in charge of the project. They didn’t tell me that till after I agreed and couldn’t back out.” She looked away, not that she was looking directly at him to begin with, when he said she was frustrating. She knew she was, she didn’t mean to be, it was just the way she was. At the word eat, Frigga whined very softly pressing hard into Alexis’ leg. Frigga got fed by the medical staff, lots of treats, she was never ignored, but the dog knew from experience that Alexis’ probably hadn’t eaten all day. She got involved in her work and forgot everything else.

She didn’t want him to offer because he felt sorry for her. But then again she didn’t think Solomon Kane did anything he didn’t want to do. If she was honest with herself, she came wanting to have dinner with him. She was intrigued. She’d changed into one of the few off duty outfits she’d had. She had no use for them, she was always working. She’d misunderstood though and assumed the worst. And that was very hypocritical of her, when she always hated how others judged her. She was intrigued and drawn in, which scared her, but he’d grabbed her undivided attention, and no person had ever done that before. Experiments, results, samples all had briefly, but never a person. She didn’t know if this, dinner, was her thing or not, but she would like to know him. This was all processed in seconds and of course he’d correctly told her that earlier she’d just been stalling, she knew what she wanted she just didn’t know if she’d go through with it. “I’d like to stay.”
Lt Bonner

When she said the guy that had treated her like crap had also been her boss, and that the bastards hadn’t told her before she was ‘recruited, he snorted derisively, but not at her. At the ones who did the recruiting. He was all too familiar with their tactics to get what they wanted… who they wanted. But when she said she wanted to stay, he just nodded and said “Good, I’d like you to as well.” and let the whole thing drop.

He opened the wine and poured her a glass and then himself one. He then leaned and looked under the table at the dog. “None for you. You’re too young.” and reached down stroked her neck softly a few times. “And I’ll make sure she eats, ok?” Kane had always liked animals. It was people he had issues with.

Frigga leaned into the scratches as far as possible, without actually moving away from Alexis. She was trained to recognize and react to distress. Alexis was distressed, or she had been,she was less so now. And she, Frigga, hadn’t done anything about it. But this man was not the cause of Alexis’ distress so Frigga had no problem with him. She stared into his face as he talked like she understood. She nosed his hand as if agreeing. Then, as if no longer concerned, she laid down, head on Alexis’ shoe.

Leaning back up, he looked at Alexis and said “So about those tattoos of yours…” and he gave her a half-smile.

Kane, R&D

Alexis accepted the glass but didn’t drink it. She had taken classes once about wine, just like cooking, dancing, warp core theory, botany, and many others. Simply because she needed to learn something, to do something, to let her mind focus on something to prevent boredom. Though the aroma was appealing she knew she shouldn’t have too much on an empty stomach. For in fact she’d skipped both breakfast and lunch that day. She knew what Frigga’s soft whine had been about, but it surprised her that Kane did as well. Her mind worked that over the training Frigga had received and what she thought she knew about him. He’d worked for NDFD, of that she was certain. Perhaps she had experience with working dogs…He was talking, and her mind had wandered, trying to solve the puzzle. But thankfully she didn’t miss anything, obvious by the fact her face turned a shade of pink. “What about them?”
Lt Bonner

Kane saw the blush. Shes kinda cute when she does that. he thought. “Relax, Alexis. Im not asking to see them or anything.” and he laughed quietly. “Just making conversation.” At that moment one of the bar staff came over and set a plate between the two of them. On it was an assortment of meats, cheeses, fruits, and crackers. “Didn’t know what you liked, so I got a variety to start. I saw you skip lunch again. You gotta be careful with that. Hypoglycemic index will make you miss things in your research. Maybe keep some glucose bars in your desk.” and he took a drink, but his eyes stayed focused on her.

Kane

She made herself relax. This encounter couldn’t get more stressful than how it started. Alexis took an assortment not really giving what she grabbed a lot of thought. “I’m not picky. As long as it has actual nutritional value and is safe to consume, I’ll eat it.” Did she need to put it that way, probably not but that was how she thought about it. She ate a cracker and a slice of fruit. She nodded in agreement, “From a medical stand point you are right, of course, low blood sugar is a concern. Causes all kinds of problems with orientation, balance, the ability to process and analyze. It changes the blood chemistry. Which probably gives off a different scent. Probably how Frigga knows when I haven’t eaten. I know dogs can be trained for such things. To detect high or low blood sugars, chemical changes for seizures, respiration and heart rate changes in cardiac patients. Usually trained for a specific person though. Frigga wasn’t trained for any of that though. I wonder though, each person has a different body chemistry, but the fundamentals are the same…if there is a base scent that dogs could be trained to recognize.” She looked down at Frigga who had raised her head at her name, “You may have to come to the lab.” Frigga huffed and put her head back down. Then seeming to come back around to the conversation. “No food and drink in the labs.” She had gone on for several minutes but hadn’t eaten anything else.
Lt Bonner

Kane listened to her go. Her mind was wholly different than anyone he had ever known… save one. And she was Vulcan. The thought of T’Aria made a shadow cross his face, but was swiftly gone. Kane reached over and put a piece of cheese on a cracker, topped it with a piece of meat, then a piece of fruit. He set on the tray near her and said “Try that.” and the made the same for himself. One of the abilities Kane learned was how to make food taste good. Growing up on the streets of a slum city, you had to do what you could with what you had. Given fresh and tasteful ingredients? Kane could make a plasma conduit palatable.

Alexis picked it up and bit into it. Her brows raising slightly and the flavor. She finished it with a sip of the wine, and then began, automatically, to make another. She liked it.

“So can I ask you a personal question?” he said after he had slowly chewed and swallowed. He took a sip of wine and his eyes searched her for… something.

Kane

He kept looking at her like he was trying to make sense of her. It made her nerves dance. She put her hands in lap and nodded. “Sure.” He said he wanted to know her outside the lab and she’d stayed. But there really wasn’t anything to tell.
Lt Bonner

“How does you mind handle things like this?” and he gestured between them. “I’ve seen it at work… but that’s all you seem to do. Work. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ve known someone else like that. Just… curious… how you handle it.” He made another bite, different from the first, and set it on her side before repeating again for himself.

Kane


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