Interlude at Ten Forward

Posted on Thu Nov 15th, 2018 @ 6:28pm by Ensign Avendar Jurot & Lieutenant Alex Sexton

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: Ten Forward
Timeline: After

"What am I doing here?" she thought. Counselor Avender Jurot sat alone at a table in the Hera's Ten Forward lounge. She felt empty- for the first time in over seven years, she couldn't feel the bond with her Izmadi. He was assimilated by the Borg, but she could still feel him across all the distance that separated them. That was a benefit of being a telepathic race. She was never really alone.

However, two days before she felt that bond break, and she knew that meant only thing: he was dead.

Now she sat in the ship's lounge aboard an unfamiliar vessel. She had a hole in her memory of over a year, caused by an intrusive "god." Until two days ago, she was kept under 24/7 guard.

She knew what she'd tell a patient with her issues: "try to relax." So, there she sat, with an empty drink glass, watching the stars go by.

Meanwhile, Alex completed his after action report, which was pretty grim. This first outing for him and French was not a good one. They got their asses handed to them and French almost died. If Alex hadn't got her out when he did she surely would have succumbed to her injuries from fighting that Minotaur. But that was the past, they were back on the Hera and recovering. Still he could not shake his feelings for the Counselor. So it was time he found her and told her how he felt.

He opened his communicator. "Computer, where is the ship's Counselor?" He asked
[Ensign Avender is in ten forward] came the reply. And he closed his communicator and took off for ten forward.

When he got there, the doors were in open mode so he stopped at the doorway and scanned the room. He found her sitting at a table near the bulkhead, staring out into space. He headed directly for her table and stopped mere feet away. "Earth to Earth Angel come in Earth Angel." He quipped jokingly in an attempt to break the trance she seemed to be in.

The Betazoid beauty felt his presence before she saw him. She turned to see a Security officer.

"I'm sorry, lieutenant, I thought I was no longer required to be under guard," she said.

Alex smiled; "I'm not here to guard you Avender, consider me a friend, someone who just stopped by for a drink and maybe some conversation with his favourite Counsellor. You mind if I join you?" He asked in a soft unassuming voice.

Avendar smiled. "Of course. Please sit down."

Alex took the chair directly across from here. "Thank you. So tell me, how are you feeling? I understand you really took on a lot out there." Said Alex trying to ease his way into it.

"I was physically unharmed," the Betazoid said. "I'm sorry, lieutenant, have we met?"

"How silly of me. Yes, we have met. You had a counselling session with me upon my arrival here on the Hera. I guess your short term memory was affected by the encounter you had. I for one really hope you get your memory back as I feel that we were becoming friends." He said hoping something might spark.

Avendar smiled. "Well, more than just my short term memory, really. I've lost fourteen months of my life. I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Well it's not everyday I get the chance to make a first impression for the second time, and with the same person, so here goes. Hello." As he stuck his hand out for hers. "My name is Alex Sexton. What a pleasure it is to meet you again." And he gave her his best smile.

Avendar smiled a sad smile, and took the offered hand. "Avendar Jurot."

The look on her face said it all. There had to be some way that he could bring her out of this depression. "Look, I understand, about as much as anyone who hasn't lost their memory, what you must be going through. But let's look at what you can be thankful for. First off, you're as beautiful as the heavens. Secondly, you were not physically disfigured or hurt, and lastly you're here to talk about it. So I'm of the opinion that you are ahead of the game on this one, and should concentrate on the things we control, and not the ones we don't. Do you agree?" He asked.

The Betazoid beauty laughed softly. "Maybe you should be the counselor instead of me," she said. "Thank you for the compliment. You're too kind. I guess in some ways I'm lucky- Gaia didn't kill my body or get a tattoo or something while she had me." She smiled, looking a little happier.

Alex smiled. "I could never be as good as you at your job. I've just done a lot of living." He offered. "But I'd hate to see you stop living a productive life because of this unfortunate side effect of your incident." Said Alex.

"Good point," she said. "it's like waking up from a long sleep."

"I know you never asked my opinion, but I'm going to give it anyway. I think, starting right now, you start living again. And I'm going to make it my personal mission to make sure that your new memories are two times better than the ones you lost. And before you say anything, I know there's no way I could know how wonderful any of your old memories were. But I have some idea of how wonderful your future could be. Because to be honest, I'm very fond of you and I'm hopeful that someday in the near future you might feel the same about me. But there is no rush or pressure. I just want to be here for you so you know you're not in this fight alone!" He said with confidence and his best seductive smile.

"You're fond of someone you've never even met, Alex."

"I understand your confusion. But we have met as I stated earlier. When I came on board the Hera we met. But you wouldn't remember that because of your present condition. We had even made plans to have a meal together. But if you feel it's too soon to go down that road, I understand. I just figured maybe I could help you start some new memories!" He said sheepishly.

"The woman you met wasn't me. She was... well, an ancient goddess who possessed my body," she said. "What can you tell me about her?"

That was unexpected as he didn't know her long at all. He adjusted his position in his chair and decided on the best way to answer this question was to explain why he himself thought she was so amazing.

"Well, that's a great question. Let me start with honesty. You and I had only talked one time, but it was with you in your capacity as the ships counsellor, which means, all barriers and attitudes were dropped at the door. I opened up to you in a way I've never done before. I attribute that to your beauty and professionalism. That tells me, you won my trust immediately. And that allowed the security minded me, to let you in. The Investigative minded me to believe in your ability to do your job. And by so doing, I was able to see you, the real you. On Earth where I'm from there's a thing called Women's Intuition! It works on the premise that woman are born with innate abilities to see things in people depending upon the relationship they have with that person. You being a Betazoid, you would be considered the God of Intuition because you are empathic. Having said that, people who work in my profession develop an intuition also. We know what's good for us and what is not. By the time we had finished my very first session with you, I had determined that you were good for me in a multitude of ways. And I was and still am ready to give you the key to my heart and see where it goes. Now more than before, you need someone with whom you can confide in. You need to regain any confidence that you may have lost. And if only for a season, I believe I could be good for you." He said, noticing for the first time that at some point during his speech, they had joined hands on the table top.

"So, you fell in love with the Goddess?" Avendar asked, raising one eyebrow. She didn't withdraw her hand.

"No...I fell in love with the vision of loveliness I see right here before me. It does not matter what was inside the packaging before, because the first thing you see is what opens the first lock in the sequence, is the physical. Knowing you're an empath allows me to look past anything contrived because we never had our first date, so to me, you are the same. Now I get to find out who you are. Before you were the Counselor. This amazingly beautiful and intellectual being. Now I get to take a look inside, like you were supposed to be doing when I had my coming aboard check up with you. And amazingly enough we get to do that all over again, so you can get a fresh look at me, but this time as you. By the way, the other you did agree to a date by the way!" Said Alex with all the confidence he could muster.

"So the inside doesn't really matter as long as I'm beautiful?" Avendar smiled.

"That's a good try. But it won't work. You never heard me say that. So to clarify what I meant is simply that I never got to know the person you were, we never had our date before the mission. So in a way, I'm lucky because I would have fallen for a fake you and now I have the chance to fall for the real thing." And he smiled as it came out just like he wanted it to. "I mean I'm not sure what your mission was, or even if you had one. But I'm sure glad it happened before we started talking on a personal level." As he made his point.

"You certainly are determined," Avendar said. "Maybe you would've liked the "Goddess" me more."

"Well, we will never know. But the idea of getting to know you stuck from the moment I saw you. Not knowing who or what you were. I'm just happy that nothing worse happened to you down there, cause it could have been worse. Frenchie almost died. So I'm just happy to have this chance to get to know you. Now shall we get something to eat, or would you like to relax and watch a movie? It's a human custom to show his date a good time, so whatever you want to do, im your man!" Said Alex giving her hand a light squeeze.

The Betazoid beauty rolled her eyes and smiled. "I am rather hungry." She picked up her empty glass. ""And I could use another drink."

"Bartender, could you please refill this drink for the lady over there, and have your team prepare something well liked from your menu that comes from Betazed. And some finger foods from Earth. We're starving!" He said with a smile. "And I'll have an ice cold Budweiser." As he waited for the two drinks, he looked back over to the table. He could not believe that fate had dealt him such a hand. She was likely the loveliest female on the ship, her and French of course. But in his mind, for some unknown reason. There was only room for her in his heart. Never had he fell so quickly or so hard. He thanked the bartender for the drinks. "Your food will be with you shortly. Take these chips to nibble on until it comes." Said the man, and Alexi took both drinks in one hand and the chips in the other and returned to the table.

"Here you go, our food is coming. I got you a surprise. Truth is I don't even know what it is, but you should be able to tell me all about it when it gets here." And he sat the drinks down and them himself. "Please, tell me about your home." Requested Alex.

Avendar smiled. "Thank you. My home is a starship currently heading toward the Galactic Core. Tell me about yours?"

"I see what you did there, redirecting like that, but it won't work. But I'll tell you about my home, then I want to know about Betazed. I'm from a place called Chicago, in Indian it stands for smelly swamp. Or something close to that. It sits at the bottom end of a big lake called Lake Michigan part of the five Great Lakes. It's a bustling Metropolis and a beautiful city. Dangerous at times, but hey it's home." And he took a sip of his beer and sat back, admiring the woman he was having dinner with. "Now if you please, tell me about your home world!" And he waited.

The Counselor cocked her head to the right. "I'm familiar with Terran geography. Remember, I graduated from the academy in San Francisco- like you!" She laughed slightly. "Cyndriel, that's what we call our home planet, is beautiful, with blue skies, pink clouds, and cozy warmth. I grew up near Iscandar, which is on the coast of the Thexian Ocean. We used to swim, walk on the beaches..." Avendar stopped suddenly, her eyes becoming misty. "So why did you join Starfleet?"

He realised she was getting emotional, so he reached over and took her hand again, hoping she wouldn't pull away. "There there, We all miss home a little." And he took a deep breath. "I joined star fleet because being a young Police Officer just wasn't cutting it for me. Plus with aliens now on our world, it made my mind wonder about what was really out here so I wanted to see for myself." He told her.

"Alex?”

He looked at her as she said his name. “Yes Avender. What is it?” He asked.

"You're trying too hard. Throttle back. Just be you."

He just smiled. "Point taken. However, one tends to do just that when they are serious about something or someone." As he looked down at his drink, not sure where to direct his attention now for fear of being misunderstood.

The Betazoid beauty raised her glass. "To new beginnings," she said.

Alex liked the sound of that. He raised his glas to meet lightly with hers. Then he took a sip.
"I'm looking forward to it." He said.