LtCmdrs Skyfire & Moonsong: Lightyears Apart [Backsim]
Chythar Skyfire
OOC: In CD’s timeline, en route to Earth.
((Astrofori 1, Commercial Quarter, Holodeck 6 & USS Yarahla, Holodeck 2))
::The program was a standard garden, not one of her personal programs. When news of the Gorkon’s rescue came down, Raissa put in the request for the holodeck with all the authority she had earned over the last year, hoping it was enough. They had towed the battered ship directly to Earth and with the upcoming mission, she knew she wouldn’t be able to take the time for a trip there and back. While the holodeck was useful, Raissa missed being able to feel his mind connecting to hers. But her awareness of him, missing for so long was back.::
::Chythar had gotten a haircut and was clean-shaven, though he still had the rugged smuggler look going for him. It was a nice break from the scruffy-looking ill-kept pirate look he adopted in the other reality. He was wearing his casual attire of jeans and a tank top, because he wasn’t in the mood to put the uniform back on. ::
Skyfire: ::calling out:: Ris!
Moonsong: ::She jumped to her feet, her hands pressed to her heart.:: CD? Is it really you?
::He came within full view, stopping a few feet away and braced himself to be pounced, with a full on cheshire grin on his face.::
Skyfire: Last time Ah looked!
::Once she rushed him, he pulled her into a brotherly embrace and whispered to her softly, his Irish accent filling into his words as a tear of happiness at being reunited ran along his face.::
Skyfire: It’s me, lass. Ah’m here...
Moonsong: ::She held him tightly, tears down her face.:: Oh CD! I missed you so much… When they stopped looking… it was like losing you twice…
::He maintained the embrace for as long as she allowed, relaxing in her grip.::
Moonsong: ::She leaned back slightly, bringing her hands up to cup his face.:: I was afraid I was never going to see you again…
Skyfire: Ah thought ah would never see ye again either. Ah thought we’d all die out there…
Moonsong: ::She noted the accent. It generally came out during emotional stress.:: Oh my Nisaye was it really that bad?
::It was horrible. It had been a long, painful, and uncontrolled year. Everything about it was hellacious; from getting sucked into that universe to losing his first patient, not to mention the bursts of emotion he had to deal with in order to learn how to control his gifts. He wasn’t sure where to begin.::
Skyfire: Ah saw things...did things that...that Ah ne’r want to experience ‘ere again.
Moonsong: ::She took his hand and led him back to the bench so they could sit down.:: Do you want to tell me?
::He sat down on the bench alongside her and took a slow breath before recounting the horrors. The abridged version of the horrors, as to tell the entire year’s worth would be just as painful as reliving them.::
Skyfire: The Triumphant was rationing pain medication. We helped them for a while, then their ship exploded. Quinn kept me in red for a while, then later put me as a mission specialist when she discovered Ah didn’t have the enthusiasm for being her right hand. We became marked by the Dominion. Ah recently replaced Vess as CMO, so Ah’m back in teal. Learned to control my gifts with the help of a Vulcan refugee. ::He paused and bit his lip, his voice cracking as he continued.:: And Ah lost a couple patients. Ah’ve never...never lost patients before..
Moonsong: ::That was something every doctor had to face without exception and it was always the hardest thing to deal with when they were as compassionate as Chythar was.:: I am so sorry…
::CD nodded slightly and tried to speak again. In this moment, words failed him.::
Moonsong: I know how difficult that can be. I am so sorry that it happened to you… I wish there was something I could do… but I know I cannot… ::She held tightly to his hand.::
Skyfire: ::found his tongue once more.:: It’s fine. Ah’ll make it.
Moonsong: The most important thing to me is that you are back and back safe…
Skyfire: Ah missed ye too. ::He once again pulled her into a brotherly hug, because healing hugs were his specialty.::
::Her arms slipped to wrap tightly around his waist, her head on his shoulder.::
Moonsong: I really missed this. There are not a lot of people I can hug like this. At least not a lot I can trust.
Skyfire: Me either...Ah missed it too. ::He paused thoughtfully:: Ah got close to someone while Ah was out there...unexpectedly. Don’t know if it’ll go serious, but we’re definitely friends.
Moonsong: ::She lifted her head to look at him, smiling.:: What is his or her name?
Skyfire: Commander Alex Blair. Mission specialist.
Moonsong: ::tightens her hug for a moment.:: Oh CD, I am so pleased for you. I hope it works out… I really do.
::He gives a soft smile and nods.::
Skyfire: How about ye, lass? Found anyone ye can get close to?
Moonsong: ::She shook her head before laying it on his shoulder.:: That was an almost up for consideration but then he returned to Delta. So my celibacy vow remains intact.
::He dimly remembered her taking it after Carter, but that seemed like...two years ago? In a brief flash of confusion, he glanced down at his watch to check the stardate. oO That can’t be right… I’m so confused… Oo before he kissed her forehead gently.::
Skyfire: Been..two years since then?
Moonsong: ::She smiled weakly:: Well combine the fact that I am a counselor and a powerful telepath… Not that attractive a package. ::She looked up at him.::
::Skyfire knew full well that attraction, in this case, was in the eye of the beholder. He had felt it once before, stronger than that of sibling love, but had since learned to live with what they had. Speaking of telepathy, it brought up another subject he felt she should know.::
Skyfire: Ah learned new measures of control while Ah was...over there. It...Ah broke a table…because the lessons were...complicated.
Moonsong: ::She sat up a little, definitely interested but she kept her arms around him.:: Tell me about it? I still need some training myself.
::He nodded slowly and took a deep breath.::
Skyfire: Remember Saveron stating mind melds were complicated things? That’s what happened. One of the refugees we rescued saw that Ah was having difficulty blocking out emotions when Ah lay eyes on the sorry lot we pulled off the Triumphant. After the first session, Ah managed to leave before hurting someone. After the second, Ah broke a table and my hand with it. The third...Ah felt better. Like Ah’d gotten twenty years of Vulcan training. Calm like Ah’d never felt before.
::Raissa sat up and looked at him. Really looked at him. Her fingers trailed over his face, tiny lines that didn’t exist a year ago when she last saw him. She met his green eyes with her own brown. She saw it. The control he had gained under such trying circumstances.::
Moonsong: Yes… you have changed have you not? No longer a curse?
Skyfire: Ah have. Being there challenged my perceptions and preconceived notions. It never was a curse. Ah learned to adapt, and became the comedian in a crew that crumbled apart but held firm despite all we’ve endured. Alex made me the morale officer.
Moonsong: ::smiling:: You have always been good for my morale…
Skyfire: Ah kept it together...barely...
Moonsong: Now that you are back… is the crew going through counseling?
::CD gave a somewhat clueless shrug. He knew it was mandatory for him, due to mentions of previous temporal incursions nobody else experienced on his record, not to mention the occupational coping of losing patients. He knew that a few others had been knocked off balance, but it wasn’t his place to divulge it.::
Skyfire: Some of us need it, some of us don’t. Ah don’t recall if Quinn made it mandatory while the Gorkon’s undergoing repair.
Moonsong: Of course you all need it. You have essentially spent a year as a prisoner of war in a hostile environment.
::She was right, of course. He made a mental note to mention it to Vess the next time he went near the former CMO. He replied with a steady nod.::
Skyfire: If our paths cross again at A-1, Ah’ll share what Ah’ve learned workin’ with Selamdaran.
Moonsong: ::sighs.:: I do not know when we will be back. We just left on a new mission.
::He nodded faintly. Some portion of his mind wanted to open up to her now, but with the holodeck in the way it wouldn’t be a true sharing of minds. He wasn’t sure if it’d work.::
Skyfire: We’ll see each other again. Ah’m sure of it. Not sure when, but we will.
Moonsong: We will find a way. I plan to see you in the flesh again.
::He nodded faintly and hugged her again.::
Skyfire: Next time Ah plan to have our baby too. ::He smiled at the thought of seeing Devlin again. The little beagle was now a year old, and still probably 10 pounds of adorable cute.::
Moonsong: ::She made a cute pouty face.:: Oooo I miss our baby. He is probably big now. No more puppy. Grown dog now. ::She smiled:: I keep wanting to get a pet and it never happens. All I have managed is a Gorn tooth.
::Chythar smirked in surprise. He’d served with a Gorn or two, albeit briefly.::
Skyfire: You got a pet Gorn?
Moonsong: ::chuckles:: A gift from someone who… is very good insulting me.
::CD snickers slightly as he gets an idea.::
Skyfire: Next time he does, threaten to make a handbag out of him.
Moonsong: It was a her. And she punched the Gorn in the snout and the tooth was embedded in her hand. She has a temper… ::Not to mention it was the same Gorn that attempted to slice her in half horizontally. A flicker of that memory washed across her face until she pushed it down again.::
::Chythar ran a hand through her hair gently and just enjoyed the moment, not sure what to say in reply. So, instead, changed the subject to other happenings in this universe.::
Skyfire: So, other than Gorn fighting, what else ‘ave ye or the Invicta been up to?
Moonsong: ::She smiled as she leaned against his side.:: Not a whole lot really. Possessed by aliens who were in the middle of a genocidal holy war… Dealt with a planet that considered telepaths disgusting deviants until their leader decided to make them all telepaths. We only lost Aron twice… though the one time we thought he was dead, so perhaps that doesn’t count as misplacing him.
Skyfire: Still serving with Alora over there?
Moonsong: ::She nodded but the smile faded from her face.:: Yes but… since her exposure to the Adovan toxin… she had been different…
::Chythar blinked a few times as the word registered in his mind before his doctor’s mind began to take over.::
Skyfire: Toxin?
Moonsong: Adova… About three hundred years ago they attempted to purge those with telepath or premutation telepathic genes from their world. They wanted to atone and asked for Federation help. Some of the drones were activated… Alora was affected.
::CD ran a hand thoughtfully over his chin, thinking about what had been said. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to assist without a bit of research.::
Skyfire: Hm. Not sure how Ah can help. Ah’d be willing to assist if you’d like.
Moonsong: The toxin is not the issue. Blueheart and Rosalee were able to deal with that since they had worked on an anti-toxin. It is her mental state. She is not the same. It awoke some ability in her.
::She was silent as she looked at him with a slight frown.::
::He nodded faintly, but couldn’t offer any solid comfort to that. Instead, he used some psycho-babble he learned from someone else.::
Skyfire: People change, Ris. It’s a fact of life...and Ah wish Ah could say something else to bring her back to normal.
Moonsong: ::She pulled back slightly.:: We are in Starfleet. Define normal.
Skyfire: Previous mental state? ::he offered. He knew normal was subjective.::
Moonsong: I am working with her. She still has her plants and her cat. She has friends to help her learn to deal with it.
Skyfire: ::nodded.:: Ah’d be happy to give her a call if it’d help.
Moonsong: I am sure she would appreciate it. She is fond of you and know she missed you as well…
::He nodded and offered a faint smile. That made one more person he had to add to his list of people to call.::
Skyfire: Ah didn’t know, but Ah’ll make time to call her.
Moonsong: :She sat up a little more and held his hand.:: Have you called Carter? He took your disappearance hard… Especially when Starfleet stopped looking for you.
Skyfire: Hm. He’ll be my next call. ::He ran a hand along his chin again, as he pondered over the list.::
Moonsong: Saveron transferred so you might want to send him a message…
Skyfire: Looks like my list keeps growing….Mkay.
::He nodded again and debated the order. For once, Stripey had no commentary.::
::She was silent, her eyes moving over his face. Familiar, yet now strange.::
Moonsong: I was not exposed to the toxin.
Skyfire: So..apart from altering one’s mental state, what else can you tell me?
Moonsong: Tell you about what? ::She sat back away from him.::
Skyfire: Nevermind. Don’t remember where that train of thought was going. ::He paused thoughtfully.:: Talked to Sasha recently?
Moonsong: You mean my mother? Yes… I talk to her… I sent her a message that you are back… she was relieved… ::pause:: So who is Chris?
::CD cast his mind back to his youth, and attempted to recount the nature of his relationship to his...not exactly estranged adopted uncle.::
Skyfire: Like you and Sal, he’s chosen family. My uncle, if you will. He got me interested in language and science at an early age, and helped me come to grips with my mother’s death after the Hobus supernova. We write letters because he’s not big on the whole subspace call thing. ::He paused. oO Why would she bring up Harrington at all? Oo:: Did he contact you?
Moonsong: He did not stop looking for you… even when Starfleet gave up.
::Chythar knew that Chris was stubborn like that, and it was that stubbornness that got him thrown out of the fleet. The supernova, his means of finding out what happened, and the brass in charge of the Zilog.::
Skyfire: Ah’m not surprised. He always had a bit of a stubborn streak.
Moonsong: I guess… I guess that is all.
::He leaned in once again and wrapped his arms around her in a brotherly embrace, kissing her forehead gently..::
Skyfire: Ah should go make some calls. Talk to ye later?
Moonsong: ::She nods:: Of course… any time… ::pause.:: One more thing…
::That was usually a bad thing to hear at the tail end of any conversation..::
Skyfire: And what’s that, darlin’?
Moonsong: Mom expects you to stop by. She’ll make arrangements. ::faint smile.:: Don’t try to put it off. If you are on Earth, she will find you.
Skyfire: Uh-oh...
END
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=/\==/\==/\==/\==/\==/\==/\=
Lt. Commander Raissa Moonsong
Chief of Counseling / Attache IEC
USS Invicta
=/\==/\=G239107RM0 =/\==/\=
&
Lieutenant Commander Chythar Skyfire
Chief Medical Officer
USS Gorkon, NCC-82293
History Team Co-Facilitator
Medical Duty Post Facilitator
Dear Doc Columnist
Podcast Script Writer
O239002CS0