The Torrin-Dragumovs : The Soldier and the Diplomat

[Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart-Mortemart de Montespan]

(OOC - Okay! Finally something! Its short, but its something. I have tagged "someone" at the end, so whoever feels like playing with me please respond :) 

((Sickbay))

::Torrin slowed his breathing, afraid he would actually start crying in earnest. He could not believe he was having a breakdown in front of the ships doctor, and that he had gotten so carried away in their conversation. ::

Torrin: Well, this has been mortifying. Am I healthy enough to leave you in peace and go try to salvage some of my dignity?

Laxyn: ::Smiling gently:: Having emotions is not undignifying, Avaris. But yes, you are done here. Watch that blood pressure, I'll have it checked regularly to make sure it won't become a problem.

Torrin: I think ill start by going and lying down.

Laxyn: If you need anything... you know where to find me.

::Torrin was turning away to make a hasty retreat, but at that turned around and looked into the eyes of his fellow Trill ::

Torrin: Thank you doctor, that is very kind. 

::They shook hands, and he beat a hasty retreat back to his quarters, stopping for nothing ::

((Later, Quarters Torrin))

::Avaris had crashed in so thorough a manner upon his return to his quarters, that he had not even heard Artem come in. Avaris had not even made it to the bed, he fell into the oblivion of deep dreamless sleep on the simple couch in the small living/dining room, the extra four steps to the bedroom being far too much for him to handle.

Artem sat down on the edge of the couch. He was tired too, but he possessed stamina that Avaris did not. He was a soldier, had been trained to go without sleep and to stay alert, and Avaris was … well right now he looked exactly like what Artem thought of when he imagined a professor of ostensibly useless things like anthropology.

Artem had been frustrated earlier in the day, and wanted to interrogate Avaris on whether or not he had made a horrible impression on the Admiral. He also suspected that his husband had not gone to sickbay or applied to work in the school, and was expecting to find the quarters half-way unpacked and a disaster. Much to his surprise, the quarters were mostly set up, he had not received a call from Sickbay wondering why Torrin had not showed up to his appointment, there was a PADD with an application to the Federation Board of Education's Spacefaring Department which had been filled out and sent, and only a third of the Saurian Brandy was gone. 

Artem sat down on the couch. Avaris hair was coming loose from its tie, strands were across his face, and Artem tenderly brushed them back, leaned down and gently kissed his forehead. 

Avaris started awake with a slight snorting noise, and saw his usually severe, blond husband looking down at him with his most tender and loving of the serious and stern facial expressions in his repertoire. 

Avaris: ::Sleepily:: Hey buddy, how was your first day?

Dragumov: ::chuckling:: looks like it was less tiring than yours

::Avaris leaned forward and kissed his husband lightly ::

Avaris: Its been a bit of a time, I am not going to lie, but Im glad your home finally 

Dragumov: And I am glad you have napped because we are going to a party in the holodeck 

::Avaris huffed and dramatically fell backward into the couch. ::

Avaris: I just want to sleep! 

Dragumov: And I need to meet my new colleagues, and I need you to charm them so that i don't have to pretend to know how to do that

Avaris: ::With theatrical flair that would have made his new friend Georgio proud:: Fine! Use me to do your dirty socializing work! How long do we have ?

::Dragumov looked gravely down at him ::

Dragumov: I fear we are already going to be late, you must hurry and get ready ::

::Avaris looked crestfallen, until he noticed Artem smirking slightly ::

Avaris: you are a monster.

::Artem did his impression of his father, exaggerating his russian accent to ludicrous effect ::

Dragumov: You need figure out what you want,  I am try to be serious, you are unhappy, I am try to be funny, you are unhappy, there is no pleasing this man!

::Avaris ignored his husbands weak attempt to be funny and sprang into motion, grabbing the smaller man and rolling to switch positions so that now the tall dark trill was pinning the smaller blonde human down on the couch. He leaned in and kissed him again, a lot less lightly than before. He had missed him so much, a feeling he had not experienced in a long time of them being too much in each others space and fighting. Perhaps life on the Apollo would be good for them after all. ::

(( Timeskip to the Evening - Holodeck 3 ))

::They approached the doors of the holodeck. Avaris had talked Artem out of wearing his uniform ("its a party not a court marshal, can you please relax") and Artem had talked Avaris out of wearing his Vrans City Feather Cats team t-shirt ("if people think you are really into the FFL and start talking to you about it what will you do?"), and so, dressed appropriately and feeling more affectionate than either of them had for quite some time, they walked arm-in-arm through the doors into a beautiful beach scene. The sand was fine and white, large palm-like trees swayed in the breeze, it was not Risa but the OPS department had outdone themselves with the program. People were already milling about, and Avaris found it incredibly disconcerting that in a setting like this, he couldn't tell who were officers and who were civilians (although logic dictated that most of them would be officers). 

A beautiful dark Rodulan woman was approaching them. Avaris smiled at her warmly, while Artem smiled with the awkward forced quality of the business-oriented and socially awkward ::

D'Sena: ?

Dragumov: Yes, I am Ensign Dragumov Sir.

::Torrin smiled, he found his husbands inability to schmooze incredibly endearing ::

Torrin: ::reaching out to shake her hand:: Avaris Torrin, thank you so much for inviting us, this program is lovely! Where is it modeled after?

D'Sena: ?

Torrin: Oh yes its absolutely delightful. I grew up on the water myself, although ::conspiratorially:: I can never get used to oceans being blue instead of purple. 

D'Sena: ? 

Torrin: Well we have taken enough of your time, thank you again for the invitation ma'am 

::Artem was visibly struggling to fight the urge to salute the First Officer, and Artem was trying to hold back laughter, when he heard the delighted squeals of children a little bit down the beach. The woman who had showed him to his quarters was wrangling a pair of unruly boys who appeared to be throwing fistfuls of sand at each other, delightfully oblivious to their mothers attempts to corral them. Avaris smiled wistfully. Artem noticed his expression and sighed ::

Dragumov: You have that look again

Torrin : ::distractedly:: hm?

Dragumov: We can talk about it again you know, once things get settled with my placement…

Torrin: :snapping out of his daydream:: oh, yes… of course, no rush buddy it will happen when we are ready. For now, I put my application through to theSpacefaring Department at the Federation School Board, they are hiring for the position of headmaster of the ships elementary school.

Dragumov: You should get it, you are more than qualified

::Torrin hesitated awkwardly ::

Torrin: It comes with a background check.

Dragumov: … oh. 

::There was an uncomfortable pause, which was interrupted by the approach of another crewman ::

Someone: TAG

The Torrin-Dragumovs

Civilian and Security Officer

USS Apollo A