***Backpost*** Drowning Thoughts In Orange Juice

Posted on Thu Mar 25th, 2010 @ 4:41am by Colonel Damon Raine

1,467 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: What Lies Beneath?
Location: lounge
Timeline: BACK POST Before the Away Mission

Afternoon.

I don't think Ted and Damon have had a chance to meet yet. Seems with the lounge in disarray, it's as good a time as any. =)

Sorry it took so long for me to answer. I needed a piece of clothing that is EXTREMELY hard to fit. If you really want to know, I will tell you.

lol, that does sound like an interesting story. I am intrigued. =)

ON:

Ted was grumbling to himself as he watched the operations personnel repair the upper level. Toras was standing beside him, looking out at the carpet being laid down. The upper tier was still being worked on, but they had pool tables that needed to be placed on the upper level. Ted looked away from this depressing view and saw his first customer of the day walk in. It was Cpt Raine from the Marine detachment.

Ted walked forward and said, "Need something to drink, soldier?" Ted tried to smile, but he wasn't the happiest right now. "Sorry it's a mess, but we had a bad time last mission."

Damon nodded to Ted as he glanced around the room "So it seems." He sat down at the bar and ran his hands over its surface. "Hmm, do you have any orange juice? I mean the fresh kind."

Ted smiled. "That I can do." He gathered up some valencias, mandarins, and navels before putting them a few at a time in the juicer. Soon a full pitcher of juice was ready. Ted strained it into another pitcher and poured some into a chilled glass for Damon. 'There you go. Let me know how it turned out." He stood there, waiting for an opinion.

Damon lifted the glass to his lips and tipped it back. He took a long sip before lowering the glass again. He smiled appreciatively at the liquid before looking back up to Ted. "Perfect. It has been a long time since I've had a fresh glass, nothing beats it in my opinion."

Ted nodded. "Not a problem. You're going down with the away team, right?" Ted sometimes knew about things before security did on some ships, either because scuttlebutt reached his ears that quickly or because the security people were a little lax. He didn't know which it would be here.

"Looks that way." He said before taking another drink. "I wouldn't send my Marines where I won't go." He decided the real reason for his trip to the surface didn't necessarily need to be mentioned.

Ted gave him a long look. "I don't think it's because of your Marines. That's part of it, but not the real reason." Ted had been in this business long enough to gauge when people were hiding something. "I think it's because of Commander York."

Damon looked at him with a slightly surprised look on his face as he was caught off guard and felt slightly embarrassed by its truth. After a moment his expression changed into a frown before he looked down to his drink. He was unsure what to say, the admission in words sounded worse than it did in his head.

Ted shook his head and leaned forward on his elbows. "It's not a crime to care about someone. It's only natural to want to keep her safe. I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a tough girl. Just make sure she knows you care and be there for her. That's all you can do." He gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Some chocolate cake, brownies, and icoberry torte are ready if you want to have some."

"Brownies. Those sound good." He said absently while still looking down at his glass. He splashed the liquid inside the glass back and forth while trying to makes sense of his thoughts. After a moment, he spoke again "It's not that I don't trust her to be able to take care of herself. I guess...it's just that iv'e never had to worry about anyone before. I was never supposed to live long enough to..."

Ted set a warmed brownie in front of Damon. "I know. Everyone, including the Marines themselves, think that Marines are supposed to live for the fight, die for the Federation, and to hell with their own feelings. I say it's a crock. You're still people, and everyone needs someone to care about. Everyone needs to know someone cares about them. Otherwise, what's the point? What's the point of fighting for billions of nameless, faceless people who expect you to die for them, instead of trying to protect someone you care about?" He leaned forward on his arms on the bar. "Treasure each moment with her, Damon. Treasure each moment as if it's your last. And don't let anyone tell you different." Ted leaned up and scratched his nose with his left hand, a ring still visible on his finger before picking up a plate and reclamating the food.

Damon saw the ring and nodded with understanding. He had overheard something about how Ted had lost his wife who was in Starfleet. "Okay," He started "losing someone you love hurts, doesn't it? I mean, after as long as it has been, it still hurts right?"

Ted slowly lowered his hand, looking at his ring. "Yes it does. But it lessens with time. There are times I'll hear our song, or see some girl with green eyes in a red hovercar and I'll be taken right back to the day I met her."

Damon nodded, expecting an answer of the like. "I think that's why I have a problem with the whole thing. It's not so much that I'm afraid to care for someone as much as I'm afraid of hurting her in the end." He sat up straighter in his seat. "My old platoon leader in the war made a point that has stuck with me to this day. After every day of hard fighting he would say the same thing; 'Our reward for surviving a fight is to be given an even harder fight. We fight as hard as we can for as long as we can, the rest is out of our hands. Make no mistake, it doesn't matter how good you think you are, the best Marines rarely die of old age.'" Damon shrugged "After what I've seen believe him. I don't want to die before my time and leave someone behind to be tortured by a memory."

Ted considered him for a moment. "I can understand where you're coming from. Kelly was an engineer, but she was still in Starfleet. She didn't want to get married after she enlisted. She had the same worries. The enlisted always died first, she said. But I'm going to tell you the same thing I told her: it isn't just up to you. The other person should have a say in it. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But if it does...it will only make both of you that much stronger because of that love and make you want to fight that much harder."

Damon nodded thoughtfully. "Your words make a lot of sense. I guess now the trick is to convince myself of them." A sideways grin stretched across his face "I'm pretty damn stubborn."

Ted leaned forward on his hands on the bar. "What you have to think about is this. Do you want to take the chance that it'll work out and that you'll both be happier and stronger, or do you want to let it go and be haunted for the rest of your life with the ghost of the family that you could have had. When you can answer that question, you'll know what to do." He picked up his rag and started polishing glasses. He placed the first one in a rack overhead and took another.

Damon let Ted put away a number of glasses in silence, absorbing his words. After a long pause he let out a soft chuckle. "My sister will never let me live this down. I was pretty forward about telling her not to get mixed up with a Marine. The irony isn't lost on me."

Ted smiled. "I wish you both the best of luck."

Damon nodded with a smirk left on his face. "Yeah, so do I." He put the empty glass of orange juice back on the table and stood from his stool. He extended his hand to Ted. "It's been a pleasure to meet you finally. This ship is starting to feel like home."

"Pleasure's mine." Ted smiled as he firmly grasped the other man's hand. He watched him walk away, thinking of life, love, happiness and sadness. He smiled. "They'll make it."

OFF:

Cpt Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

Ted Turner
Lounge Manager
USS Orion

 

RSS Feed