STF

Lt Glass: Quarters

Posted March 21, 2019, 10:11 a.m. by Ensign Toren Nalar (Security Officer) (Chris Perry)

Posted by Ensign Toren Nalar (Security Officer) in Lt Glass: Quarters

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Micah Glass (Doctor) in Lt Glass: Quarters

Micah had been on high alert since Collin told her of Toren’s presence in sickbay. What was he doing on the Olympic? What was he even doing in uniform? Collin had let her cut her shift short and she’d hurried to the day care center to pick up Lake. Luckily, it was a good day and her daughter had been happily surprised that she got to go home early. The two of them were sitting at the small dining table now, a cup of coffee near Micah and a glass of chocolate milk within reach of her little girl. Crayon wands and a half colored picture of a puppy, held the child’s interest.

Micah sighed. She’d never mentioned Toren to his daughter after he was taken off the Oympic. Even the birthday gifts he’d sent were still in their festive wrapping paper up in one of the closets. She’d really never expected to see him again and hadn’t wanted to introduce his memory to her daughter until Lake began asking her own questions about him. The only thing in their quarters that was a reminder of his time in Micah’s life, was a holo photo of the two of them during an afternoon in the holodeck at an amusement park.

“Mama, look!” Roused from her thoughts, Micah looked over and saw that Lake had drawn her version of a big, pink, bow on top of the puppy’s head.

“Mmm hmmm. That’s very pretty. What’s the puppy’s name, Sweetie?” Before hearing the answer, her mind was back on the possibility that Toren could show up at their door at any minute.

”…like it?” Lake watched her mother for a response, but none came. Kneeling on the chair, she was able to reach over and put her small hand on Micah’s arm. “Don’t you like it?”

Caught not paying attention again, Micah made a goofy face. “I’m sorry, Lake. My mind was on something else. Did you tell me the puppy’s name?”

The little girl who was almost always in a good mood, looked serious for a moment. “Are you sad? Is Uncle Collin okay?”

Micah leaned into her daughter and gave her a smile and a hug. “I’m not sad, pumpkin and Uncle Collin is fine. He’s at work right now.”

The little girl’s grey eyes brightened immediately. “Its Oliver. My puppy’s name is Oliver.” She went back to coloring.

—Micah and Lake
OOC: Chris, I thought her having no knowledge of Toren as her father would allow you to write something wonderful about their Betazoid connection as soon as they get near each other. Its also a reason to be unhappy with Micah :)

OOC: Ok, here goes
-Chris

In the next instant, Lake’s eyes shot up and fixed on the door, in a manner that would bring to mind a dog, sensing a stranger outside. Her normally sunny expression suddenly turning darker, as if she had been confronted by the monster under her bed. She dropped her crayon and slid off her chair, rounding the table and standing before Micah, arms outstretched “Mummy” was all she said, but her voice was unsettled and her body language radiated fear.

Instinctively, Micah picked up the little girl, pulling her onto her lap. “What is it? What’s wrong?” Little arms encircled her neck and pulled her as close as possible. Micah knew Lake was afraid of something, but didn’t know what. Nothing in the room had changed.

The moment was broken by a sudden chime at the door. Lake’s body tensed and she clung tighter to her Mother, not understanding that she was actually feeling the emotions of the man standing on the other side of the door.

They both jumped at the sound and immediately, Micah knew who was on the other side of the door. She wondered if his presence was affecting Lake.

Toren’s heart was pounding in his ears, he half wished that Micah simply wouldn’t answer, but he could sense both of them on the other side. In times gone by, Micah’s presence had been like a fire in the dark, but he found, somewhat surprisingly that the years had softened the sensation. No longer did she inspire the same level of desire she once did, but still, the tightness in his guts and the sweatiness of his palms indicated that neither was she nothing to him.

What caught him out was the smaller, less well-defined presence. Clearly a child, there was something different about her, and he immediately realised it was because she was -his- child. There was something about her, something impossible to explain, like a mark on her that showed she was his. He had never experienced anything quite like it, and the fact that she was so clearly afraid did nothing to dim the overwhelming sense of a deep, undefinable connection.

He pressed the chime again, waiting, trying desperately to rehearse what he was going to say, but finding himself suddenly unable to think clearly.

Nalar

As she had refused to be put down, Micah carried Lake on one hip toward the door. Her small face pressed into her mother’s body, hiding from the scary thing she thought was on the other side of it. Mother tried to comfort daughter with soft words of assurance that everything was okay, and there was nothing to be afraid of, while stroking Lake’s long, brown hair.

Micah’s physical presence at the door activated the sensor and it slid open. Toren stood on the other side, just as handsome as he’d ever been. Perhaps he looked a little more haunted now—a little more tired. “Toren…” With an inner gasp, Micah felt the familiar current ignite in her body that had been consistently present during their time together. It made her sad. Just one more thing to fight off in the upcoming battle between them.

—Micah and Lake

Toren froze in place, whilst being able to sense Micah through the wall had not inspired the same lust as it once, seeing her, and being able to sense her reaction to seeing him, lit a fire in his blood that was as familiar as it was fierce. If it hadn’t been for the presence of his daughter, then he had no doubt that he would have taken her there and then.

“Micah…” he said weakly. He had rehearsed this moment dozens of times in his head over the last two years, but now he was here, he found that he had forgotten all of it. At that moment, there were just waves of emotion, lust, fear, hope, love, pain, all swirling around him in a maelstrom of feeling.

Of course, Micah could sense none of this, but Lake could, and she became restless in her Mother’s arms, reacting strongly to the feelings she understood and being frightened by those she did not. Toren sensed her discomfort, and he made a physical effort to keep his emotions in check, he calmed himself with a deep breath, settling his mind on the task at hand, and Lake followed suit, regarding the man in front of her with nervous curiosity.

Toren’s black eyes locked onto Micah’s, even a non-telepath could see the desire in his eyes, it was almost a physical pain, such was his hunger for her, but his face remained passive and his voice was level “May I come in?”

Nalar

Knowing there was nothing else to do, Micah just nodded and stepped to the side, allowing him entrance.

“What are you doing here?” There was true confusion in her voice—also some anger. How dare he show up now that she’d finally gotten her and Lake’s lives settled. What good could his presence bring? How was it even possible? Grey eyes strayed to the collar of his uniform. One gold pip—an Ensign? Micah didn’t offer him a seat or a drink as she would ‘normal’ company. She just stood looking at him while their daughter sat quietly in her arms.

—Micah and Lake

Toren could sense her anger and he had to bite back a retort, how dare -she- be angry at -him-!? He did not wait to be invited to sit, taking a place on the couch, he motioned for her to do the same, trying to appear comfortable and in control, even as his pulse was racing.

She moved to a chair opposite the couch and sat on the arm of it, pulling her bare feet up into the seat, holding Lake very close.

“I didn’t expect you to be happy to see me,” he said truthfully, even though he could sense her desire, he knew enough about her to know she’d throw herself in the Warp Core before openly admitting it to him or even to herself.

“To answer your immediate question, I was reassigned, it seems that Starfleet can’t get rid of me, despite their best efforts.” He spoke with uncensored bitterness, the last 3 years had been a nightmare and he wasn’t about to pretend otherwise, even to spare Micah’s feelings.

Lake shifted, staying close to her mother but keeping one eye on the man across from her. He was a stranger, and yet somehow she felt that he wasn’t, her undeveloped mind unable to process exactly what the implications of that were, so rather than outright fear, she regarded him with something of a nervous curiosity.

Nalar

“Starfleet wouldn’t have reassigned you to the Olympic—not after what happened.”

Toren smiled, in times gone by it would have been the kind of smile to ignite a fire in Micah, but the years had hardened his charm, and now the smile was dangerous, even frightening “I may have asked nicely…”

Lake looked up at her mother’s face and whispered. “Mama…?” One, chubby finger pointed at the man on the couch. A three year old’s way of asking who he was.

It was at that moment, that a vague thought in the back of his mind suddenly clarified, his daughter didn’t know who he was. She was half-Betazoid, so she wasn’t completely ignorant of their connection, but her juvenile mind couldn’t process the bonds shared between Betazoid children and their parents, simply because she had never been taught how. A cold fury grew in him as he realised that there was only one person to blame for Lake’s ignorance of him.

Micah took the little hand, folded the finger back in with the others and planted a kiss on it. “Not now, honey. We’ll talk about this later, okay?” She looked from the curious eyes of her daughter to the angry stare of Toren.

“You could have given me notice that you were coming back. I don’t…What do you…” An exasperated sigh parted her lips. “I don’t know how to begin this conversation, Toren. I never expected to see you again.”

—Micah and Lake

Toren’s eyes blazed, one didn’t need to be a telepath to see the fury in his eyes, but his face was passive, even as his stomach churned with rage. “What would you have done differently? If you’d had time to prepare? Perhaps you’d have had time to come up with some story about why our daughter doesn’t know she’s -our- daughter?”

Nalar

Micah rose from the chair and carried Lake across the room to a door that surely held a bedroom on the other side of it. “Okay Pumpkin, I want you to play in your room while I talk to my friend. When he leaves, maybe we can go get some ice cream. Kay?” She shooed the girl into the room and shut the door.

Lake went quietly enough, but she stole a final glance back at the man on the couch, giving him the barest hint of a smile before disappearing into her bedroom.

When Micah stood up from her crouch, you could see her set her shoulders and jaw. She would not allow Toren’s presence to threaten the goodness of her and her daughter’s lives together. Returning to the chair, she sat down and crossed her legs. “You’re right. Lake has no idea who her father is. Like I said a moment ago, I never expected to see you again so why would I introduce your memory to her? Why set her up for disappointment that she would never meet the man who fathered her?”

—Micah

Toren settled himself for the battle to come, although it was unspoken, both of them knew that their passion for each other only ended up in one of two ways, and given that their daughter was in the next room, a fight seemed a lot more likely in the short term.

“Did she get the gifts I sent? The messages?” he shrugged “I suppose not, one less thing for Mummy to have to explain right?” his voice was level, even as his stomach churned with the effort of holding his temper in check.

“I spent 6 months in a Federation prison, and not a word from you. I’ve spent nearly 3 years since then getting shunted around from one backwater deathtrap to another, sending you and her messages whenever I had the time to do it, not so much as a peep in return, and you expect me to believe that that wall of silence was just to protect Lake?”

He made a noise of derision “Please Micah, lie to yourself if you want to, but spare me the theatrics, you and I both know you hid yourself away because you hoped I wouldn’t come back, not because you didn’t expect me to”

Nalar

Micah was silent. She understood his anger. It wasn’t something she thought she’d ever have to deal with because she’d convinced herself that he was out of her life for good. Sure he’d sent a few presents for Lake, but she hadn’t expected that to continue much longer. Relationships that weren’t encouraged didn’t take long to fizzle out.

Micah dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry you went to prison, Toren. They should have given you a medal.” Micah’s pretty face grimaced with the memory of the attack.

“I don’t know about any messages. If you check, you’ll see I never accepted any of them.” Gray eyes looked to a storage cupboard on the living room wall. “Your gifts are in there. Lake doesn’t know anything about them, but I couldn’t throw them out. I knew one day that she ask about you and I was going to give them to her then—so she’d understand that you tried.”

—Micah

Toren had been ready to explode, his whole body was tensed for the fight to come, but her admission deflated him entirely, visibly. He sank back into the chair, for a moment unsure how to react as he felt the soft cushions of the couch envelop him. His eyes momentarily roamed over her body, he allowed himself a brief moment of fantasy in which the past three years hadn’t happened, and their relationship had continued to blossom. In his mind, instead of two strangers sitting over the pieces of broken lives, they were a couple, the kind of couple who had grown so comfortable with each others company that there was no need for meaningless conversation.

But it was just that, a fantasy, and reality soon came crashing in. He tore his eyes away from her, looking at his hands, picturing them in shackles again.

“Every day,” he said softly, almost to himself.

He looked up, his jet black eyes meeting hers “Every day for three years, I planned this moment, how it would go.” he looked up at the ceiling, focusing on nothing in particular “It was different every time, some times you were angry, sometimes relieved, I even pictured your frightened at times. I imagined you tearing my clothes off and taking me there on the floor” he motioned vaguely to the floor beneath his feet “Sometimes you weren’t here at all, and there was a stranger in your place, or you’d met someone else and moved on, but in every. single. one. She” he pointed to the distant door “knew who I was…”

He threw up his hands in despair “I just never planned for this…I don’t know what to do”

Nalar

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