Relapse...
Posted on 29 Jul 2015 @ 12:22am by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Lieutenant Elas Vonti & Federation Ambassador Ayren Kelan
Edited on on 10 Oct 2015 @ 2:39am
1,616 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
M13-B: The Big Goodbye
Location: Personal Quarters- Elas
Timeline: While at DS9
[2300 hours, Elas Vonti bedchambers]
Staring at the hypospray had become a nightly activity for Elas, it kept his telepathic cortex from leaking subconscious desires and traveling where it didn't belong. It also made him taste metal, and robbed him of dreaming, the medicine was not perfect. It had been a good long time and Elas was tired of restless sleep, he was tired of the tastes and groggy feeling. He loved his ability, it felt like a part of him, to do this was a necessity for his peaceful interaction, and a mandate from Starfleet Medical.
Pressing the stud to his neck, he almost pushed it when the hesitation gripped him. A moment later, the hypospray fell away from his neck, and Elas set it down. He was in control, if he relied on this medicine for the rest of his life, it was no life worth living. Closing his yes and relishing the full feeling of his senses, Elas slid between the crisp sheets and closed his eyes, ready to dream.
[Captain's quarters]
Ayren wiggled herself into her usual sleeping position, on her side facing outwards with her back against whatever part of Dan'al's body was turned towards her. This time, as were mostly the case, they faced the same direction. His arm loosely rested on her waist, and his even breath letting her drift into a deep sleep.
--------
The rich silk against her skin always made her feel that when she moved, there was a slight delay before the fabric moved slid over her smooth skin. The microphone in her hand touched her lips as she stepped down from the low stage in her restaurant. Cassen's Why Not? was packed to capacity. With the band accompanying her melancholic love ballade, she weaved through her patrons, touching a shoulder, flirting with another, letting her sultry voice manipulate the mood of her patrons. She entertained and they loved it, and so did she. By now, she was used to her strange ability to sense their emotions, even 'hearing' the background murmur of their thoughts. When she was close enough in proximity, she could even 'listen in' on their thoughts and thus 'eavesdrop' on their conversations from a distance.
In her dream, Ayren was Erina Cassen again, the identity 'stamped' on her on the away mission to Turpara, on a previous assignment. Unaware that she was not fully human, Erina thought her strange mental abilities were unique and she used them to help a good friend. Crime boss Darius Cole provided protection for her and her establishment and she provided him with information that could help his business. Her eyes scanned the tables on the upper to see who of her regular guests were there and who of her VIP guest were in their more secluded tables. Darius was there, watching her from his table.
Once her song ended and she gave attention to some of her regular patrons, she made her way to Cole's table. His guards standing in the shadows of the heavy curtains that provided some privacy to his table, nodded and stepped away to allow her closer to their boss. Darius stood up and took her, pressing it to his lips. His tailor made expensive suit outlined his masculine body with casual elegance.
"Erina... as always... the most beautiful woman in this city..." he said as he pulled a chair out for her.
Erina giggled lightly as she lowered herself in the seat. "Flattery will get you everywhere..." she quipped back, taking a glass of white wine from the server that served this table and anticipated her needs. After their usual banter and chit chat, habitually the conversation steered towards business.
"It is true," Erina said, cutting the juicy blueback buck fillet with her knife. "Meslo is going to sell the river property and our 'good friend' Passet wants it."
Cole leaned back in his chair, a small smile playing on his lips. "So he fell for it... good... let him buy that piece of sinking shit... "
Erina looked up at Darius, but jerked back in confusion. "Elas...what are you doing here?"
For a split second Elas felt the dream hold him, he was in the role of a boss, Erina's fling tied in a knot around her little finger. Reality crushed him in a second, and pure terror invaded his senses. He saw Ayren, but in a dream caste version of a holoplay drama. He definitely noticed how the silk was draped so provocatively, and he could even taste her on the lip of the shadow he was occupying.
~Ayren? I... I dont know. ?... I shouldn't be here. < Oh no I can hear myself think~
The confusion swirled but he forced sanity onto the mess. He had learned mastery over his ability, beyond anything his people had thought they were still capable of. The illusion finished, a haze departed from his awareness.
"Ayren, where is this?"
It took a few moments for Ayren to switch fully back into herself. Her mental barriers snapped into place, as anxiety threatened to rise in her throat. "It is a dream...Turpara....the second planet in the Turparian system... it is beyond the Virdana Nebula," she said giving Elas some idea where the system was. She looked away from him. Nothing had changed with Elas's appearance in her dream, the patrons were eating and chatting, her band played jazz in the background, even her server, always hovering within her line of sight was still standing against the wall. He now looked at her with a questioning expression. One eye movement would bring the large man into action. He would kill for her. She turned her gaze back to Elas. The fear had made place for anger. "Question is, what are YOU doing here.."
Elas had played the rube for long enough, her anger was not something he had patience for. "Ayren, clearly we are back in a shared... vision. I stopped taking the castration formula, this wasn't my intent it was only once, tonight. Why are we linked like this? Why do I have to take a foul chemical into myself-" Elas realized he was beginning to shout, his fear and anxiety manifesting quite literally into the dream.
~...I just wanted to dream, and to sleep, and to taste food in the morning again...~
"So why are we here, of all the places for us to come to, what is this to you Ayren.?"
Ayren regained her composure, realizing that she reacted emotionally which was unreasonable. "I am sorry," she said. She looked around the restaurant... 'her' restaurant. "I am so tied to this place...I enjoyed being Erina Cassen, it was a stamped identity, still...I loved singing, entertaining, gathering information for Cole... the whole life... it felt I belonged here," she said her black eyes welling up with tears, which she wiped with the back of her hand. "Everyone else on my crew... they weren't so lucky, they suffered, but me... I enjoyed it... I felt so guilty because I loved being here..." she said quietly, but the turmoil she felt, threatened to overwhelm her. "I experienced horrible things too... but yet... I long for this... that is probably why my subconscious come back here...." she said finally.
[Back in the real world]
Da`nal stirred in his sleep. His connection to Aryen was there and it rose and fell with her reactions so subconsciously he knew she was upset but wasn't to a point to wake him...yet.
The link she had with Da`nal pulled at Ayren's consciousness, causing alarm bells to sound in her head. "No....no not again!" she said pushing the table away from her, sending everything on the table to shatter on the floor. The fear of being trapped as she had been before turned into anger even if she wasn't sure whom to direct it to.. Moving away from Elas without regard of who or what were behind her. "Get out of here. Now!" she warned. She was not sure that he understood the dire situation they could be in. That they could both be trapped again. Half bewildered she ran out of the establishment even if she knew it nothing to do with physical distance. Once outside in the street, she stopped. "I have to wake up.....have to....."
Her distress and tossing roused him from his sleep and he shook her. "Ayren...AYREN.... What is it.?"
[Dream World]
~Ayren, I can help you? This isn't like last time, I am aware this is real! I have... control and ability. I can help you explore this, make sense of it....~
Out loud he called after her, "Ayren I am only here by accident I mean no harm!"
[Commodore's Quarters]
Da`nal was now out of bed and around to the other side of the bed. Lifting Ayren, he held her as he tried to awaken her. Klingons were psi-null so he couldn't initiate contact but he could feel her in his mind. Shaking her again he called out again, "Ayren!"
Opening her eyes she looked up into his and whispered, "Elas".
Lowering her back onto her bed and he slapped the com-panel on the nightstand. =^= Medical team to the Commodore's Quarter's! Security, detain Lt. V Almost immediately an EMH materialized in advance of the medical team. Getting out of its way he glanced the weapons on his wall and his hands clenched tightly. He needed no weapon, grabbing robes and throwing them on as he left his quarters padding down the corridor. "Computer locate Lt. Elas Vonti."
Commodore Da`nal
CO
Ayren Kelan
Federation Ambassador
Lieutenant Elas Vonti
Chief Counselor
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