Kismet

Posted on Fri Mar 22nd, 2024 @ 10:49pm by Lieutenant Tracey Walker Jr

Mission: Thunderdome
Location: USS Chuck Norris
Timeline: Current

Off:

On:

[Sickbay]

Trace sat on the edge of Geneva's biobed, reviewing reports from Engineering. He's been there ever since she was admitted, and had refused to leave even when K'Ner had asked him what he hoped to accomplish by waiting. Though he had no logical answer, he still waited.

Geneva had been awake for at least ten minutes, but didn't move so as not to alert Trace. She lay there thinking.

Up until now, she'd done everything in her power to make him care about her on a deeper level than a crewman caring for a fellow crewman, but had had little success. She knew that he was apprehensive about their relationship progressing to the next step, but she had no such reservations.

Like him, she'd had relationships before, but never had she felt such a deep connection to another human being. What they had, well, it was beyond friendship or even love. It was...Kismet.

Giving up the ruse, she moaned theatrically, as if she was just waking up. He turned to her, his padd forgotten.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at him. He instinctively laid a hand on her leg. "Hey," he said.

"Hey." She replied, her hand seeking his without thought.

They sat there for a moment, drinking in the comfort of touch, holding hands and enjoying the moment. Trace cleared his throat.

"Listen," he started.

"I uh..." She said at the same time.

"Go ahead." He said.

"I uh...I appreciate you waiting here to make sure I'm ok, but I'm ok," She said. Her gut was twisting, and she hated herself for everything she was about to say. "I'm ok, and..." she willed herself to push past her reservations, "and you don't need to watch out for me. "You and I...we're too close. I think we need to take a breather."

Trace's gut felt like someone had landed a kick right in it. He was silent for a second or two, but finally spoke. "You're right, Ensign." He said, nodding as he stood. "Look out for yourself, ok?"

"I will." She said. When he'd gone, she wept.

It was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do, but she knew it was the right thing. She loved him, she knew it, but they needed distance from each other to know if the love was real, or if it was just circumstance that drew them together.

Trace walked out of Sickbay, his thoughts in a swirl.

Off:

Lieutenant Tracey Walker
Chief Engineer
USS Chuck Norris