JP: Lt. German Galven & Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau - "Not Goodbye, See You Later"
Amanda Nordstrom
((Starbase 118 Ops - German’s Quarters))
German was nearly done getting his things in order for his departure. Out of all the missions he had been through within Starfleet, the last one was the epitome of them all. He even survived the last few moments of the Montreal detonating and dealing with pirates, terrorists, and ex girlfriends.
He sat down on the bed and folded his clothes neatly into a pile next to him when he heard the door chime an entrant.
Alora had paced through the corridors, her expression tight, jaw locked. Every step had been quick and with purpose, undaunted by the usual distractions that might have normally caused a delay. There would be nothing that deterred her from her intended destination, not even the friendly call of an acquaintance. Time was ticking down and it would not wait. Eventually, she came to the right sector, the right hall, the right door. When she arrived, she pressed the button to indicate the occupant had a visitor.
Galven: ::stands up from the bed:: Come in.
Her hand whipped out and struck the side of his cheek, red immediately springing to life. The action nearly caused him to fall, but he managed to catch himself. DeVeau: Idiot! She spat out, her anger thrusting the word from her mouth. Then, just as suddenly, Alora threw her arms around German’s neck and dragged him down for a hug.
DeVeau: Stupid idiot.
A hug was the last thing he expected from the science officer, but he accepted it and wrapped his arms around her. After a few moments, he lightly pushed himself back and ran a hand through her hair that was covering her left eye. His gaze rested upon hers. German didn’t know exactly why she was behaving so erratically when they’ve only been serving together for a short time, but it was nice to see that someone cared for him as a person rather than just a rank. Galven: You do know that I’m sorry for making you feel this way, right?
DeVeau: Are you? For putting yourself in harm’s way?
Galven: That’s the thing. I wanted to get those people out of that before the Nimitz was no more. My life is no better than theirs, Alora.
DeVeau: All life is precious. Theirs. Yours too.
But the way he had acted, the way he was just willing to throw it away without a moment’s thought, it was both unselfish and selfish. Alora knew they would all sacrifice their lives if they had to, but that didn't mean going in without a plan to try and preserve everyone’s if possible. Alora had put her own life at risk, yes, but there had been a plan to try and preserve it. It had worked, thankfully. What irritated her was that German hadn’t had a plan other than to get in there. The Nerendra had been doing what he wanted to do, and they would have gone back for any survivors, but German seemed to think they wouldn’t. He’d just inserted himself without thought to the consequences.
Despite it all, she still cared about him - about all of her fellow officers. They were her friends.
They were her family.
DeVeau: I wish you weren’t leaving.
Galven: ::gives her a peck on the cheek:: That’s nice of you to say, but the Captain feels otherwise.
Yes. And the Captain was probably right. German needed help, and maybe the best place to find it was on his home planet.
DeVeau: It’s only temporary.
She hoped it was only temporary.
It was either go back to Denobula or be kicked, pushed, threatened, or whatever it took to get German back in the head of things for his career. That’s if he wanted to continue in Starfleet.
Galven: We’ll see what happens.
DeVeau: What are you going to do?
German didn't have much time to think about what he was going to do. He walked over to his bed and picked up the folded clothes to put inside his duffel bag. Stopping midway, he turned back to Alora.
Galven: More than anything, I need to find my roots. My family moved away from Denobula a few months after I was born so I never really had any experience with my own species. ::softly chuckles::
DeVeau: You need grounding.
Alora winced at the irony of what she was saying. Wasn’t that sort of what she needed herself? At least she was trying. Trying to find her way. Although unlike German, she couldn’t imagine attempting it without Starfleet. She needed that, needed her job. Without it, she’d be completely lost. Was that how he felt?
Galven: One of my specialties is in Xenobiology, yet I hardly know myself. Do you ever have that kind of problem?
DeVeau: Yes. And no. And...I guess in a way, I feel like I know others better than myself sometimes.
Galven: Is that why you have such strong feelings about what almost happened to me?
DeVeau: I have strong feelings about what happens to my family, German, and you’re a part of that.
Galven: ::rests his hand on her shoulder:: Sounds like there's more than what you're telling me.
Alora looked down, watching her fingers fiddle with each other. She was struggling, Alora recognised that, and she was doing her best to heal, to move one, but it just seemed like she was taking two steps forward and one and a half back some days.
DeVeau: I don’t really want to talk about it.
German liked being around Alora and they had a lot in common. More so than he cared to admit. One of those commonalities was that they both had underlying issues they never really spoke to others about. Let alone with each other.
Galven: One of these days, you'll have to let go of whatever happened in the past and in order to do that, you have to talk about it.
Alora’s verdant gaze lifted then to settle upon the Denobulan. She hadn’t confided in anyone except Raymond. None of her friends knew. The only one in her family who knew was Aimé, and even Alora hadn’t gone into certain details.
DeVeau: I’ll make a deal with you.
Galven: And what's that, Alora?
DeVeau: When you get yourself together and you get back, I’ll tell you.
Maybe by then she’d be able to have some semblance being put back together herself.
He didn't want to push it any further since he had more than enough troubles of his own. He grabbed the last few things from the nightstand and put them in the bag.
Galven: You know, out of everyone I know other than my immediate family, you've been the only constant person in my life. Ever since I met you when I was an Ensign until now. You're just as much a part of my family too.
Alora smiled. That’s how it was with Starfleet, especially those with whom you worked side by side on a regular basis. Despite what had happened, you still cared about each other.
Galven: Promise me something?
DeVeau: What?
Galven: That you'll write or video call me every now and then? Just so I know what and who I'll be coming back to?
DeVeau: You bet I will.
Alora had been pretty good at that before she’d gone off to the research facility. Now that she was back in a regular posting, she’d been trying with her other friends, but it seemed that, in some ways, life had moved on for Raissa and Chy. Aron? Well, he was so busy, she hadn’t been able to get in touch with him yet despite multiple attempts. She missed them all so very much - and it had been so wonderful to have a friendly and familiar face in the form of German when she’d been assigned to Ops.
He smiled softly and took hold of her hand. He never really noticed how soft Alora's skin was. Granted, that'd come off as creepy at any other time, but in the moment, it was welcomed.
Galven: I've got a couple hours before the shuttle leaves. Do you have to go back to work or can you stay with me a little longer?
DeVeau: I’ll stay. They were on shore leave, such as it was, and while Alora did have to file a report, she would wait until German was gone. She’d keep him company until he left. She’d be one of the last faces he’d see as he entered the transport. And she hoped she could be one of the first ones when he returned.
Galven: Great! Cause all this packing has made me hungry. I can't leave my quarters though. Captain's orders.
DeVeau: Wanna make a run for it?
Alora wasn’t serious, of course, and had he been in a different mood, she probably wouldn’t have jested so. Since the Nerendra, however, things had calmed down sufficiently she felt comfortable attempting a joke.
Galven: Well, I could. But there's a few security officers in plain clothes outside that door. So, I can definitely make a good homemade replicated meal for us?
DeVeau: That’s fine. It’s not so much what we eat that matters but quality time spent.
Galven: Thanks. It means a lot. Would like to leave with a better memory than anything. By the way, I am sorry for what happened. I can't imagine thinking about losing a crew member during a mission.
*********
Lt. Cmdr. German Galven
Science Officer
StarBase 118 - USS Narendra
V239507GG0
&
Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau
Science Officer
Starbase 118 Ops
M239008AD0