Finishing Touches

Posted on Wed Dec 30th, 2015 @ 2:13am by Ensign Six of Ten & Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Suresh & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III

* Archadia III - Suresh’s House *

Suresh stepped out to the veranda and stood looking down to the beach. There, seated in the sand and facing each other, sat Six and Eli. They were knee to knee and he had his arm draped over her shoulder, hand on her back. Neither was moving. Suresh didn’t think either of them had moved in at least an hour. He raised the glass of lemonade he held and sipped from it, then turned as he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

“Hey Chance, how was town?”

“Ah... interesting,” Chance replied. He’d been nearly molested by a woman who’d been reluctant to take ‘no’ as an answer. He glanced over at Eli and Six and frowned. He worried about Eli doing this, but... not doing it wasn’t an option, all things considered. “How are they doing?”

“Good question. They are exactly where they were when they started an hour ago. I was wondering if they’d turned to stone.” It was a joke but Suresh barely smiled. “At least neither one of them has collapsed. That’s a good sign, yes?”

“Yes, though I hope Eli isn’t overextending himself. I know you want this done as quickly as possible, but...,” he shrugged, watching the two with a worried expression. “We haven’t had the best of luck with dangerous situations.”

“I know.” He rested his hand on Chance’s shoulder. “I told him in no uncertain terms to watch himself and stop if it got to be too much. He seems to think that once he is done, a regeneration cycle should take care of the rest and Six agreed.” He paused briefly, then turned back to Chance. “Can I ask you something personal?”

“You can ask; I may or may not answer, depending on the question,” Chance answered almost defensively.

“You two have been through hell twice now. Yet, you still seem so at ease, so upbeat and not paranoid. How do you do it? I’m fighting the urge to hover over Six like a hawk in case someone even looks at her funny and I know she won’t put up with that.”

Chance blinked, glanced at Eli again then shrugged. “Um... there are times when I want to lock him up, but neither of us could live that way. For me, part of it is that I’ve been going through training to learn some Vulcan meditation tricks, which brings with it calm... um... calming thoughts.”

“Makes sense, given what you went through.” He watched the pair on the sand for a few more seconds. “I’ve always been so in control of everything around me and I’m fast learning that with Six, that has flown out the window. Most of the time I can handle it but times like this, the urge to be too protective is strong. Then she swats me and I pull back.” He smiled fully now. “Day by day I suppose, yes?”

“Absolutely.” Chance nodded, smiling. “The hazard of loving someone independent.”

“And someone who’s light years ahead of me in all her technical knowledge. Scarily so.” Suresh shrugged, then lowered his glass. Eli had removed his arm from Six’s shoulder. “I think they are stopping.”

“Good,” Chance said vehemently. He winced then and glanced at Suresh. “No offense. Dinner here or shall we head back? If Six needs her regeneration alcove...?”

“None taken. We should get back I think,” Suresh answered. “I’m guessing Eli’s wiped out too.” He watched as Eli stood, then helped Six to her feet. I am more grateful than you may ever know, Chance. If I can ever do anything for you two, you only need to call.”

“We’re glad to help.” Chance knew he was safe saying that for both of them; even from this range, he could tell Eli agreed with the statement. “I hope, however, that we won’t need to call on you.”

“If you don’t that means life is going well.” Suresh stepped off the verandah and began to cross the sand to meet them. He clasped Eli’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thank you so much. Now go home, rest up. You’ve had a long two days.”

Eli nodded. “I have but I think things are about back to normal. What’s left will come from just being around you I think.” He hugged Six and then left them, hurrying over to Chance. “We’re going back home?”

Chance grabbed Eli and hugged him fiercely. Suresh's question had reopened some of his fear and worry and he just wanted to hold his lover for a moment. He nodded and finally said, "Yeah, we're going home." He blinked back tears as he let go of Eli and joked, "Come on, race you to the shuttle port."

“Don’t be getting all sappy on me.” Eli prodded him in the arm then laughed. “Race, my ass. I’m so tired I’ll be doing good to walk there. Why don’t we just transport? Phoebe can have us home in seconds.”

"Sounds good. Let me get Ariande and call Phoebe," Chance said, looking around the area for the pink and green spider. She waved a leg and called, Here!, so he could find her. Minutes later, they were on the Station.

Suresh watched as the two men left, then turned back to Six. “You ready to get home too? Hit the alcove for a few hours?”

Six nodded, then hugged him tight. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”

He pulled back and put a finger to her lips. “Don’t ever apologize for what Niro did. Not ever. It’s over and you have nothing to be sorry about. Let’s get back to the station. Once you’re done regenerating, we’ll go home and let you get settled back in.”

“That sounds perfect.” She smiled, then took his hand as they walked back towards the house.

**************
Suresh
Cadet JG Chance Conradi
Cadet JG Eli Ziyad
Ensign Six Of Ten