by Ensign T'Dara
91229.2330
Concurrent with Yes or No Will Suffice
-=Base Camp, Sibalt=-
91229.2330
Concurrent with Yes or No Will Suffice
-=Base Camp, Sibalt=-
"It's colder than Detroit on New Years Day!" Landry complained, rubbing her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. Her frenzied motions did nothing to stave off the cold in her hands, and she feared frostbite may be setting in.
The snow was blowing in frantic, almost psychotic squalls; piling up at a rate she couldn't believe possible and what was worse, in addition to the threat of freezing to death it was really messing up her hair.
"Quit your moaning, Steele. We were warned to be prepared for any potential weather...happening." Dane remarked, as he looked at Gira, still shivering beneath the hood of her jacket and wondered how anyone could possibly look as adorable as she did. All he could see poking out from beyond the synthetic fur lining of the head covering was the tip of her nose and her soft, tempting lips. Then, when she turned her head just slightly he saw the light from the hazy morning sky shine in her eyes and he wondered if there was any possible thing she could ever wear in which she would not look beautiful to him.
He doubted there was.
"Yeah, well, here's the thing." Landry bit down on the gum she'd been chomping furiously, frowning as she discovered that it was so cold that it was actually getting stiffer in her mouth instead of easier to chew. She sighed. "I left my gloves in the forest after I shot Blane. I was going to go back and get them this morning but now I can't find the forest."
"Things are tough all...over..." Dane watched as Landry's eyes glinted with a hint of a spark as she caught sight of a form moving in the distance. He laughed once in disbelief. "What? Him?" He leaned over to whisper to her but Landry felt the need for no such subtlety.
"Yep. Him, and he's gonna be mine. Gotta go."
Dane could only glare in surprise as Gira lifted the hood of her coat again, unsure she'd really seen what she saw and so looking to Dane for confirmation. He nodded.
"Boy," He had to laugh slightly as they watched Steele heading over to try to flirt- again- with Trev Sterling, the Alchemy's newest engineering wonder.
"Boys." Gira nodded along with Dane and wondered how it was that Landry couldn't see that Tryst and Sterling were already competing against each other in the very contest that she was so interested in winning with Sterling herself.
Whether or not Sterling or Tryst would ever be called victor remained to be seen, but it was clear to both Gira and Dane after the Tug of War alone that the game was afoot just the same. "Is she barking up the wrong tree."
"Speaking of...now look at that." Dane's eyebrows elevated until they were nearly independent of his forehead as he watched Micah Samson, heading for Steele on an intercept course.
"Oh no. No. Micah, veer off! Change course! Pull up! Pull up!" Gira groaned. She liked Samson. Everyone liked Samson. He was a sweet guy and that seemed to be his trouble. He was so sweet that by the time he got up the nerve to talk to any girl that interested him, she was already interested in someone else. Maybe even married to them.
The man just couldn't seem to get the hang of the whole dating scene and Gira for one really hoped that he'd just find a nice girl and...
"No, Micah. Don't do it, man, don't..." Dane had to look away. With all he'd seen in his life he still couldn't stand to watch the impending crash and burn of Samson's already toasted ego- especially not with Steele holding the flamethrower.
"It really is better not to look." Gira averted her eyes as well, and the two of them turned and retreated back toward the fire. They observed that there appeared to be some commotion going on, and as Dane saw the look on Keiran O'Sullivan's face now he knew that it must be serious.
"C'mon." He urged Gira to quicken her steps as he broke into a jog. "Something's happening."
Gira's brow furrowed as she also saw the look on the face of her former CO. "Yes, and if I know Captain O'Sullivan," she added, still calling him by that rank out of respect as she always would, "it's nothing good."
-=Across the camp=-
"Ensign Steele!" Micah Samson rushed toward Landry. He was pulling the gloves off of his hands and the moment that they were removed he felt a bite from the cold so severe that he was convinced the planet must be rabid. *It is not supposed to snow in the middle of a hurricane zone.* He thought to himself. *That weather modification net has another thing coming to it.*
"Yeah, um, somebody call me?" Landry spun around, and as she did the heels of her boots kicked up a spray of snow that flung itself all over the legs of Samson's pants.
"I...did." He said, feeling the cold seep through his now wet clothing. "I saw you didn't have any gloves, I wanted to offer you mine."
"Hey, now that's really nice. Thanks Samson! You're a great guy!"
"Steele, I was wondering, would you maybe like to, you know, when we get back..." Micah continued as she pulled the gloves on and sighed contentedly, feeling the warmth they still held.
"Thanks for the gloves! Got to go!" Landry waved at him with her newly covered fingers, to which she gladly discovered the feeling seemed to be returning, and headed forward again on her way toward Sterling.
As she approached she frowned to discover that he seemed to be busy now; engaged in a very spirited exchange with Vol Tryst.
"I'm telling you, I felt it clear as day. Don't deny you were thinking it!" Vol insisted. He had a hand on his hip as he struck a dramatic, indignant pose that stunned Sterling into near silence with its undeniable appeal.
"I...I'm telling you, Vol, I was going over the rules for the next game. I swear, I was not thinking what you're implying I was thinking!" *Not then, anyway.* Trev thought as he held up the PADD in his hands. He wiped the screen again as newly fallen snow covered it once more and displayed the rules as evidence. "See? I'm telling the truth."
"Well if it wasn't you then someone around here has a real thing for..." He stopped as he heard the sound of a female clearing her throat just over his shoulder. *She's interested in Sterling all right but it wasn't her I was sensing,* Vol thought, as he nodded and smiled slightly to Landry, *the emotions were too focused, too intense. Too utterly clear to be...uh oh.*
Vol looked up in the distance and he happened to catch the eye of the Vulcan woman who was standing several meters away. She had at first been staring as if at nothing off into the distance before she caught sight of him too, and then she looked away. He did some quick math in his head, and given what he knew of her from their time working together coordinating care of patients between Medical and Psychiatric Services, he realized...
"Um...you two have a nice chat. I have to talk to a...about a... yeah." Vol headed off distractedly, nearly walking into the tree trunk right in front of him as his thoughts were so focused on trying to handle the sudden barrage of emotions coming from that one particular officer that he could think of little else.
Sterling shifted nervously as Landry gave him her most winning, flirtatious smile and put a hand on his arm. "Hi."
"Hi." Trev replied, nervousness turning to dread as she began running her hand up and down his arm.
"So, you're really strong. You did so well in that rope...pulling...thingy."
"I-" Trev winced, eyes snapping shut in pain as her fingers clamped down tightly on his Tug of War weary, still aching bicep.
"Very strong. So, gorgeous, tell me about yourself!" She interrupted. "I can't wait to hear all about you."
*There's one thing about me you're not going to want to hear.* Trev groaned inwardly. He smiled at her as politely as possible while he attempted to extricate himself from her clutching, unrelenting grasp.
-=/\=-
Counselor Tryst's feet crunched in the snow as he trudged unhappily through it but he was far too preoccupied to be truly aware of the sound it made as he approached the person he was seeking.
"T'Dara." Vol spoke her name softly, as gently as possible. She startled, and jumped back a step.
She turned and looked up at him with large, crystal clear blue eyes so intensely focused on trying to hold back the tears that they now held that she could not speak.
It was too late- he knew. Now they would all know.
She nodded to him, urging him to just say what he had to say.
"Are you unwell?" Vol asked, already knowing the answer.
"I...am in a great deal of trouble." T'Dara replied. She had managed to hide her condition thus far through the use of medications she had replicated for herself and brought along with her, but the extremes in the weather had wreaked havoc on her supply pack, and the hypos were malfunctioning. She couldn't get them to administer the correct dosage of medication, and then this morning the last vial of the delicate liquid compound she required to combat the onset of Pon farr had frozen solid in the cold before she woke from her fevered sleep to realize what was happening. Now it was too late, two doses had been missed, the fever would take her over.
She sighed wearily, her eyes brimming and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
When Vol inquired compassionately if there was anyone here among the crew that she had...romantic interest in, T'Dara's shoulders began to shake with sudden, wracking sobs. She dropped her head into her hands.
A picture began to form in Vol's mind, and he had only one word for her in response as he tried to suppress his shock. This might not be a bad thing, after all. "Really?"
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Ensign T'Dara
Nurse Practitioner
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Ensign T'Dara
Nurse Practitioner
USS Serendipity NCC-2012