Drying Out - Part One

Posted on Thu Jan 30th, 2014 @ 7:10pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicolao & Petty Officer 1st Class Drusilla Dupree

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Robin's Quarters / Archadia III

Robin was relaxing in his living room with a glass of wine and reviewing some of the patient files for the next day. He'd wondered about Dru and why he hadn't heard from her yet, but she could take care of herself and, even more, he trusted her.

As he went to another patient's file his console beeped, indicating an incoming message. He waited a moment before checking, he was too involved in his wine and work, but finally his curiosity was piqued. "Computer, view new message."

He read the message sent by Nicolao and flopped down into the desk chair. "The beach? Now?"

Quickly replaying his conversation with Dru about escorting Nicolao to Archadia he couldn't remember stating a date for when they were to begin. With a sigh he shook his head and drained the wine glass. "Drusilla, I really hope you know what you're doing."


* * * Archadia III * * *

Drusilla had, in fact, begged Nicolao to reroute by a bathroom and he stood guard outside while she used the facilities. He was beginning to wonder if she'd dozed off in there when finally the door opened and she appeared.

"Everything alright?" He eyed her to see if she was steady.

After an overly dramatic sweeping back of her hair, she replied, "Just peachy!" She didn't seem to notice the small bit of paper towel stuck to her face, probably where she had dabbed away the vomitus and water she'd splashed. "Onward, to the beach."

Nico reached out to pluck the bit of paper from her face. "Let's go beach bunny."

He led the way out of the terminal to the tram that would take them through town and to the beach. The trip was quick and they stepped out to a stretch of brilliant white sand and turquoise water. Nico blinked against the bright sun, then motioned to a cluster of tents. "You can get something to wear over there I believe."

A bit of panic flashed through her eyes. "I'm not wearing anything!?" She looked down at her uniform. "Ugh...no matter what you say, I'm not drinking like that ever again."

She trudged over to the tents and looked through what they offered. Robin did tell her to escort him to the planet, but he was a little vague on where, exactly, they were to go. And since they were at the beach, she was going to enjoy it while they were here.

Ten minutes later she exited one of the dressing tents in a royal blue two-piece bathing suit with silver accents and a long, white light cotton cover up. In a bag she carried was her uniform and another outfit she purchased in case they were headed into town. She couldn't very well walk about Archadia in a bathing suit.

"I'm ready for some sun and some water," she said. "Maybe the sun will help sober me up a bit."

"Sure." Nico now sported a pair of surf shorts in a wild floral print and nothing else. He wiggled his bare toes in the warm sand and gave a contented sigh. Relaxation spread through Dru in an instant as Nico turned to lead the way over to two lounge chairs and a large umbrella. He flopped down into one of the chairs and stretched out his long legs.

"Much better."

She sat beside him and stared out at the water. They were both quiet for the longest time, her head beginning to pound. But it seemed like the waves of tension from Nicolao were easing up a bit. "So, I take it you like this, eh? I'm not getting as much 'Grrrr' off of you like before."

"I do. Reminds me of Pacifica. I was there for a few weeks --" He stopped, looking out at the waves for several seconds. "A while back. Before."

"Don't think I've ever been there," she replied quietly. "So, do you even want to go back to your job?"

He considered the question for some time. "I honestly don't know, Drusilla. I've done this job since I got out of the Military Academy and went to work for the Enaran government. Then I was recruited to work with Starfleet after their arrival in the Delta Quadrant. It's all I've ever known." His voice softened. "And I've spent so much time being anyone but me that I'm not too sure who 'me' is anymore."

"Do you have to go back to that specific job?" she asked, trying her best to help him out. "We have all kinds of intel people on the station who aren't pretending to be someone else. Well, unless they're in a situation where they have to, but they always come back to being themselves again."

"That all depends on whether we can get to the bottom of the problem Starfleet thinks I have. They've had some of their best look me over, they should know." He brushed back his long hair that now flowed free, caught in the ocean breeze.

“It seems to me that if you could work all of this out, you could do whatever you wanted. And I think Robin may be your best chance at that.” She glanced over at him then back again as the wind caught his hair just right. He looked quite nice like that. Quickly turning her head back to the water, she continued. “And who knows? If you actually take part in these sessions, and I mean fully and not just sitting there because you’ve been ordered to, this may all be over sooner than you think.”

“Maybe so,” he mused. Leaning his head back against the lounge he lowered a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. It was more than to block the sun, it made it impossible to read anything in his eyes. “So where do you fit into all this?”

“Well, I’m the Counselor’s Aide. But I’m not just a file clerk, or another pretty face. I can be the personal side for Robin because he can’t really get invested in people like that and treat them in an objective manner.” Leaning back in her chair she closed her eyes against the sun. “That’s not to say that he doesn’t have friends--he does. But for you, and others like you, who he hasn’t already gotten to know before becoming his patients, he has to keep his distance. That’s where I come in.”

“I see.” A smile passed over his face at her words, but it quickly vanished. “I do know two people here as it turns out.”

“Good. Because there’s nothing worse than coming to a place the size of 900 and not knowing a soul. I had to go through that. Luckily for me, Robin is a cool boss and we became friends rather quickly. He introduced me to other people and I’ve become quite close with them now.” She turned to him, her hand shielding her face from the sun. “This may sound like a silly question, but are you interested in making more friends, as in those that aren’t in your line of work?”

“Well, the two I know…” He shrugged. “Are two I’ve not seen in years. What did you have in mind?” He couldn’t tell her just how he knew Janice and Jackson.

“Nothing specific,” she said, still shielding her eyes. “I just thought you might want to get to know other people on the station because they’re good people, or fun to hang out with. Not because you used to sneak around on the job with them. I know it’s early, but we’re not off to a bad start, you know. But you could find some people to do more of this with, or go rock climbing with or...well, just to hang out with.” She shrugged, which looked a bit weird the way she was laying. “I guess it just seems that you’ve kept to yourself so much, out of necessity I assume, that making real, lasting friends might help you through some of this.”

“One step at a time. You at least understand the situation and won’t get edgy because of my species or my former job.” He motioned to a vendor passing by and took two bottles of water, one of which he passed to Dru.

“Thanks. And, yes, I understand. I don’t think Robin would let me do stuff like this with his patients if he didn’t think I could cope.” She twisted off the top of the bottle. “This is kind of a brag on myself, but I think I’ve helped quite a few patients myself in this way.”

You do have a way about you,” Nico joked, then held up his hand. “All kidding aside, thank you.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. I may not be a doctor, but I like to help. Besides,” she said with a smile, “it gets me out from behind that desk and I get to meet all kinds of people this way.”

“I take it that the people in Saturnalia are not your usual.” He took a long drink of water, draining half the small bottle. “To tell the truth, that place is upscale compared to some places I’ve been.”

“No, I don’t normally hang out there. I’m more of a Nexus or Wormhole type of girl.” She drank some of her water and set the bottle in the sand beside her chair. “Ooh! Or Lao’s! Oh, man, the food there is to die for. I love Chinese food.”

“So I’ve heard. I did visit the Nexus for a bit two nights ago. Lovely place.” Nico looked over to Dru, studying her for a moment. He felt suddenly awkward and changed the subject. “Are you going to get wet?”

“Is our conversation getting boring?” she asked with a smirk.

“Not at all. I’m just looking out for you. People in my life bear a lot of collateral damage it seems.” He finished off his water and set the bottle down in the sand.

Sitting up she took one more sip of water and replaced the bottle. “I guess since I don’t know how long you’re going to want to stay down here, I may as well get a little water time in.” She stood and removed her wrap. “Are you coming? Surely you didn’t come to the beach just to sit there.”

Finally, he nodded and rose. “Lead the way.”


To Be Continued...

*********

Nicolao
PO2 Drusilla Dupree