Stealing a Kiss...

Posted on Wed Jul 5th, 2017 @ 2:41am by Akira Zhuri & Chief Warrant Officer Daytona Ral

Mission: Death is in the Details
Location: Operations
Timeline: After "Savoring the Past"

There had been reports to compose and debriefings to attend to, including a really annoying debriefing with Asshat the Foreverman from Temporal Investigations. Daytona was even ordered to see a counselor! For what? All he'd done was kill a man, and one that really deserved killing! It was as though he'd never taken a life before! Besides, if he was suffering from emotional trauma, it wasn't a counselor he needed to see. No, his emotional well-being would be much better served by visiting the short, attractive, female hologram who had him wrapped around her little finger. Not only did Daytona desperately want to see her, to talk with her, to kiss her...anyway, he was worried about her. He'd overheard someone saying that 'the hologram from OPS' had almost blinked out when the trouble had jumped off. That didn't make Daytona happy at all.

Daytona had a difficult time locating Akira at first. The computer was still adjusting to locating a lifeform that could exist as either solid light or as software. Finally, he gave up and just called her. He was perturbed when she didn't answer, but then he had an idea. His wrist comm was large enough to have a small keyboard, and it could send electronic text messages. So, Daytona texted Akira in the hopes that even if she wasn't manifested at the moment, the message would get to her.

Akira, it's Daytona. Can we meet? I've missed you.

A moment later, he was rewarded with a text message in return.

Meet me in the Operations Center

Daytona grinned like a silly school boy and texted back.

On my way!

Operations was chaos; it wasn't the grand area that Main Engineering was, but it was big enough that people were darting about making repairs as consoles sounded off with alarms, one of which actually exploded, and in the middle of all this chaos was Akira. She was drawing heavily on her father's experience as a seasoned officer, and as she barked off orders she hardly seemed like the same person that had Daytona so entranced.

"Close off that relay, we can't have anymore explosions!" she called out as she moved through the din, directing the Officers under her like an orchestra, making sure all areas of damage were covered. "You, you and you, head down to the power distribution node, make sure it didn't take any damage from the explosion; then when you're done, check on the teams replacing conduits in the jefferies tubes and provide assistance as needed." Her orders given, the Officers nodded and darted off to see them done. It was then that Akira noticed Daytona and approached him.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Akira said to him in her usual soft tone. "I'm sorry I didn't respond to your call earlier, I've been busy."

Daytona smiled. Akira in action was a wonderful sight. He'd gotten the sense that there was more to the tiny young lady than one appreciated at first glance. To Daytona, she was more lovely than ever. He wanted to kiss her, but she was working and her subordinates were present, and he didn't want to undermine her authority. He'd have to find another time to steal a kiss...or maybe two...possibly three or...anyway, for the moment, he settled for taking her hand discretely and giving it a gentle squeeze. With regret, he relaxed his grip and let her hand go. He'd have to be satisfied with the little thrill that ran up his spine during that brief touch.

"I'm fine," Daytona said. "I just had to take a detour to...wrap up some unfinished business. I wasn't really in much danger...well, not until the demon showed up and tried to blow us all to bits. But let's not worry about that now. You, my dear, have nothing to be sorry for. Actually...well...I was worried about you, so I wasn't really thinking about how much damage the Hera had actually taken, or how busy you'd be. I know how important you are to this ship and crew. So, I'm sorry for being selfish. It's only that I overheard a couple of crewmen saying something about you nearly flickering out of existence when the trouble started. Are you sure you're alright now?"

"I was monitoring communications between teams, I heard what you said and what you had to do... I'm just glad that everyone was able to return safely," Akira replied with a small smile. "And there was never any danger to my existence; since being moved from the Katana, Mother Andy and I have been working with Hera's Engineers to ensure that even if the ship were to go offline, I would be preserved, so it's more a matter of inconvenience being unable to function if the emitters are offline. Although I do admit, it did give me a fright, and brought back a few memories I've been trying hard not to think about; for a moment it felt like I was back on Katana's holodeck..." There was a harrowed look in her eyes as the memory continued to haunt her, and after a moment she shook her head to dispel the memory and her frightened expression. "But I'm fine, I promise," she attempted to assure Daytona.

Daytona hesitated, then decided no one was paying real attention to them, and if they were, no one would care, so he reached out and touched Akira's cheek softly.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said. "And if you ever want to talk more about those memories, I'm here. You'd be surprised how sometimes just sharing a bad memory with someone close to you can make you feel better. And, if you have questions about what I did or why...I will do my best to answer them."

"Thank you," Akira replied softly, blushing slightly as he caressed her cheek. "And you have nothing to explain to me; you had a life before all this, and a family, and there is no need to justify that for me. I just hope that... that with this fellow you were hunting, now that he's gone... uh, in the books I've read, I've come across this concept called closure; I hope you were able to find closure with what you had to do."

"It's strange," he said. "When I realized what was supposed to happen and began planning for this mission, I thought that it would bring me closure. For years I struggled to see her as she was when she was happy and whole. When she was little, or after she grew up and started a life of her own, with work and love and family. I had to struggle because those images fought for dominance in my mind with the images of how I last saw her, at the end of her life. I guess I'm not sure how I feel now or even how I should feel. I knew he'd been killed, that he'd gotten at least a fraction of what he deserved, that he wouldn't hurt anyone else like he hurt my daughter. Should I feel better now that I've discovered that it was me that killed him? I suppose only time will tell. Whatever the answer to that question is, the deed had to be done and it was. I think, though, I'd enjoy sharing a bit about my old life with you, or perhaps lives is a better term? I think my daughter would have liked you very much. Anyway, that can wait until you aren't as busy as you are now! Want to tell me what you're doing? I'll probably only understand less than half of it, but I'll enjoy listening to you explaining it to me."

Somehow, and she didn't know how, but Akira sensed that Daytona was telling her all this not because she needed to hear it but because he needed to say it, so she listened attentively, smiling slightly when he finally stopped. "I can't even pretend to know what you're going through or feeling," Akira said sympathetically. "As you said, if you ever want to talk about this some more, I'm here. And as for what I'm doing, I would enjoy narrating everything to you, but I really must go. I've been blinking all over the ship, and now I'm being called to check in with the Quartermaster about our supplies, which I fear we're running low on. I'm sorry, maybe later?"

"Of course," Daytona said. "I was being selfish again. I'll leave you to your work. If you are able to take a break later, and want some company, come find me. After I clean up I'll see if Commander Enaes needs me to do anything else, and if she doesn't, maybe I'll track down the damage control chief. There's likely something I can do to help if I look hard enough."

He smiled like a silly school boy again.

"Be safe," he said. "Hopefully I'll see you soon."

"I don't think you're selfish," Akira replied, smiling warmly. "And we can use all the hands we can get, so thank you in advance if you do lend us a helping hand. I will try to make some time later to check in on you, but if we're going to get back to our time then we'll probably have to work round the clock to make it happen, so I apologize in advance if I forget."

"No worries," Daytona said. "I am nothing if not patient. I bet I can wait two hundred and thirty-four years for a second date."

Daytona grinned at Akira and then decided he really didn't care what her staff thought so he leaned in and gave a her quick kiss.

"So long, Akira my sweet," he said, rejuvenated just from spending a few moments in her presence and seeing her gentle smile. He winked at her and turned to go.

With a blush and a bright smile, Akira waved good bye to Daytona, then blink out of the Operations center to see to other areas of the ship.