A Little Down

Posted on Fri Feb 23rd, 2024 @ 5:26am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant JG Revana Nazar
Edited on on Sat Feb 24th, 2024 @ 4:19am

Mission: S1 Episode 7: Prime Factors
Location: XO's Quarters
Timeline: Date 2371-09-15 at 1615
3466 words - 6.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Three days of confinement had done little to reform Andrei Petrov, and quite a bit more to irritate and depress him. Besides the corridors in between, he had spent his days since his punishment in the agonizer here in his quarters, working in his office, or standing watch in the Bridge. Considering they were in orbit of a pleasure planet, it was agonizing work.

Having just hopped out of the shower, Andrei pulled on a black beater and a pair of gray sweat pants before attempting to relax to some music. His efforts had been rewarded with distracted disinterest, and so he’d resolved to just sulk in silence. After the chime won, he spent the next few minutes standing in the doorway of his quarters talking with a civilian-clothed Revana about the joys of being cooped up when everyone else was having fun. He stood mostly in the corridor, holding his leg at an awkward angle so that the confinement band on his ankle remained inside the room.

“Maybe you should stop being such a downer and make your own fun.” She said with a smile, pretty and green. She was wearing a deep añorante velvet dress that was both short and low cut, displaying much of her shapely green body and smooth, moisturized skin.

“What exactly do you have in mind?” He asked, seeming engaged in the conversation decently, but a bit dry.

“Throw a party in here that puts the planet side to shame.” she said with a wink. ”That, or we can see about neutralizing that simple tech on your ankle for a few hours; bust you out.”

“That would most definitely land you in a similar predicament, Lieutenant, and I hear you live in boxes over on the Gladius.”

Lyra’s voice cut into their conversation. The two had been so focused on each other that she had exited the turbolift and moved nearly three quarters of the way toward Andrei’s quarters unnoticed by either. Her voice wasn’t hostile though it was a bit dry; she didn’t look particularly pleased or displeased to see Revana outside of Andrei’s door. As always, she was extremely hard to read even for the man who knew her better than others. She had technically still been off on shore leave even now, but she had decided to return to the Vengeance to be with Andrei. While she wasn’t taking her normal shifts in the name of giving some of her lower ranking officers experience, she had spent the day on evaluations and other more mundane tasks. She was in uniform, but being off now her jacket was open.

Finally completely closing the distance, she let her cool gaze settle on the green woman, though a smile appeared on her face. “Best not.”

“Lyra!” Revana said with a smile, bright and bubbly, pretending not to hear the threat the woman just leveled against her. “I was just joking, girl. I’m having too much fun in the sun to risk it.”

She turned her eyes to Lyra, but her green feet remained pointed at Andrei, framed by stringy brown flip flops.

“I’m just trying to cheer Andrei up a bit. It’s tough being cooped up all by himself while everyone else is out having fun.”

Andrei, for his part, had a similarly neutral expression to Lyra, excepting the slight friendly turn of his lips. He watched the two women interacting, silently wondering what would happen next. After being stuck on board for a few days, things like this were at most entertainment.

“Yes it is.” Lyra agreed, still smiling and seeming at ease. She didn’t linger where she was though and shifted to move past Andrei into his quarters while he stood in the door. Her hand gently pressed into his abdomen as she walked by, a simple greeting in its way. “Not too by himself though.”

Revana watched with sparkling eyes as Lyra’s hand touched Andrei’s muscular abdomen over his black beater, drawing her gaze to his physique. She gave a curious expression.

“Did she give up her vacation for you?” She asked, looking at his face again. “All because you decided to go rogue and beat the shit out of my XO?”

“I didn’t have to go rogue. I was already there.” He said with a grin, “and yes, she’s been very generous to stay with me.”

“She must be helping you keep yourself busy then.” Revana said with a suggestive expression, her eyes resting on Lyra again. “You’re basically roommates now, hmm?”

Lyra had moved over to one of the chairs and pulled off her jacket before she sat down to do the same with her boots. She caught Revana’s comment and chuckled, but seemed content to let Andrei have his own conversation with his “friend” for the moment without interfering. Far more than roommates of course, but Revana knew that; she wasn’t stupid.

“Oh, pretty much. She does the dishes; I take out the trash.” He said with a shrug, jovial and light.

Revana giggled. It was girly, and only just a bit over the top. She gave him a shove on his arm, but immediately pulled the hand back and crossed her arms under her chest. It seemed defensive, but lifted her considerable bust.

“I’m having a hard time imagining you doing housework. You’re more bossy than that.” Her hand moved up and twirled a finger in her straightened black hair. She paused there, leaning one hip to the side and accentuating her hourglass figure. Pursing her lips dramatically, she looked between Andrei and Lyra in the background. “Well, I’ll leave you two to your exciting plans. Have fun..sitting there and staring into each other’s eyes.”

She fluttered her eyes then, playful.

“You two are the perfect couple. Completely jealous.” She said, giving no indication if she was speaking the truth or if she was joking. She turned then, on her heel, and started walking away.

“Don’t have too much fun.” Andrei said with a light sigh, stepping into his quarters and allowing the door to close behind him. The smile he had on his face faded slowly as he looked at Lyra. It wasn’t clear if it faded as a result of it having been fake or because the cause of it was gone. “Hello, love.”

“Hello, darling.” Lyra noticed his smile fade but decided to not borrow trouble by dwelling on the meaning. Andrei had been respectful of their agreement and had spoken with Revana at the door instead of inviting her in and that wasn’t nothing.

“Nice of her to drop by.” She stood, gathering up her boots and jacket and walking into the bedroom so she could continue the process of changing, but obviously wasn’t shutting down the conversation.

“It seems news of my misdeeds on Gladius has circulated and some people are coming to gawk at the maniac.” He said, laying down on the couch and staring at the ceiling. “She probably just came to see if my nose was still broken.”

“No, darling. She came to gawk and flirt and make sure you don’t forget her.” Lyra said simply while stripping out of everything but her panties since she wasn’t planning on going out again. Instead of getting something of her own, she pulled out one of Andrei’s plain black t-shirts and threw it on. It didn’t comically swallow her, but it was comfortably large and covered her body - barely.

She wandered back out into the living area and immediately moved onto the couch with him, crawling over him and then laying down on top of him with her chest to his. “I had a thought.”

“Well, good thing for her. I had forgotten about her.” He said, comical but not making fun of her. Despite it all, there was a certain neutrality and grayness to his voice. “What might that thought be, though?”

“It is on your desk for the morning, but as XO I thought it was important that you come down and watch some of the martial evaluations I’ll be running for the security staff over the next few days.” She touched his cheek, tracing his lips with her thumb gently. “It will be a change of scenery at the very least.”

“Mmm, so you’re trying to break me out too then?” He asked with a smile. “I’ll have to forward the request to the Captain. We can pray the man has mercy. Or else you might have to get a blow torch.”

“To be fair, my request actually has merit.” Lyra smiled down at him. “You still consistently score the highest in martial evaluations; the only one who really gives a challenge is Law, but he’s partaking and wouldn’t be impartial evaluating himself, obviously.”

“No, he’d obviously consider himself perfect in every test.” Andrei said, his hands finding her waist through the shirt. “I see your point. I’m all for it, as long as it can be done. I should talk to Jackie. The girl can talk most people out of their shirt.”

“She’s tried a couple of times.” Lyra chuckled in a good natured way. “But yes, she’s good with getting things done in that way.” She kissed under Andrei’s ear gently then and then looked back down into his eyes. “What have you been doing while I was gone?”

“Mysterious and interesting things, of course.” He said with a smile, reaching up and touching her face. “As always. Lying here; laying on my bed; climbing the mountain of my desk chair and drooling over engineering reports. Talking to an unknown number of mysterious and interesting visitors.”

“Sounds thrilling.” There was a sympathetic look in her eye as she reached up to place her hand on top of his on her face. “Come now, darling, we can surely find something else for you to do that will stimulate your mind and distract you.”

“Distract me from what? What could I possibly have to think about that needs distracting?” He asked, playing the role of the fool. He wondered what she thought he needed because, truth be told, he really had no idea at all. Sulking wasn’t his favorite thing to do, and brooding made him sick. He preferred to plan and act, and not to feel.

The look she gave him wasn’t exactly disappointed, but there was definitely some level of disbelief that he was going to play this game with her. Still she supposed he had to amuse himself somehow, so she simply shook her head and kissed his wrist. “Have you thought about reading Dracula? I do think you’ll enjoy it.”

“I don’t feel like reading. I want to run, and lift weights, and go to the bar.” He said, still holding her on top of him. He frowned, not at her, but at the situation. He was used to being active. He was strong, and swift, and full of energy. Talking to people, playing games, and honing his overt skills was his favorite way to spend his free time. He was starting to wonder what was worse: the agonizer or the confinement.

Lyra listened to him quietly; her hand moved up and she caressed his cheek while he spoke. She found herself genuinely wondering if this was the first of this type of punishment he had really experienced in his life. She wouldn’t have been surprised given all she had learned of him and his family thus far. “I know you do, darling.”

There was that note of sympathetic understanding in her voice again, though it wasn’t patronizing nor coddling. She seemed to consider a moment and looked into his eyes again. “But unless you want me to invite your father over for dinner so you can cut his heart out with your steak knife at the table, we’re just going to have to make the best of it.”

She placed a hand on his chest firmly. “We can replicate weights to use here and I’m sure I could figure out how to get a treadmill for you if you would like that. The bar we can’t do, but we could invite some people here for drinks - we shouldn’t do that too often or your father will likely cut off that as any sort of option… maybe even to the extent that I wouldn’t be allowed to visit you.”

Andrei sighed and leaned up, moving her on his lap at first, and then gently nudging her off of him. He placed a reassuring hand on her thigh, but his eye contact didn’t follow it as he moved to the sword display above his viewscreen on the wall behind his desk and pulled off a black-hilted one. It was he had used to cut off the hand of Romano after the man had made an extremely aggressive pass at Mika. He observed it for a few seconds and then sat behind his desk in the large black chair.

A pile had accumulated there, as well as in several other places, as the ordinarily tidy quarters started to collect some of the clutter which was metaphorically collecting in his mind. He was starting to do silly things, like finishing a beverage and leaving it on a table rather than simply popping it back into the replicator.

With an unusually dour expression, he opened a drawer near him and pulled out a bottle and rag.

“Lyra, I’m discovering that I’m exactly like this sword.” He said in a slow and listless tone. “I was made for fighting, forged for overcoming challenges. I am meant to clash, metal on metal, and to best others, and not to be hung up on a wall. If I am not used, I start to rust.”

He turned the bottle of clear liquid onto the rag and then started to run it down the sharp blade carefully; slowly.

“Unless I’m polished, of course.”

Lyra remained where she was left on the couch, watching him and listening to him while he sat behind his desk. His tendency toward the melodramatic was rather tedious; it had been three days and he was wallowing. She’d tried to help him of course, but it all seemed for nothing and she was beginning to regret giving up her vacation just to sit there and watch him sulk. She looked away and was quiet for a long moment, then finally looked back at him, brows raised.

“Well, what are you going to do about it then, Andrei?”

He looked up at her, knowing what he would be feeling in her position, at least. He could hear his better angels telling him to get over himself, but he found it more difficult than normal. There was nothing here that energized him outside of his increasingly irritated girlfriend, and he wasn’t sure exactly what could be done. Gratefulness was due, and he had shown it. At least, he thought he had.

“Polish my sword. Then, when that’s done with, I suppose I’ll find a way around these damn rules without getting caught. I could go to the holodeck on some trumped-up excuse. After some exercise, I could try a bit of Dracula. It would be much more enjoyable then.”

“If you get caught, this is only going to drag out longer and you’ll likely lose your position on top of that.” Lyra looked away, frowning. “You’ve really never had to deal with something like this before, have you?”

“Sitting around and doing nothing? No. Why would I have?” he asked, frowning at her. There was a hint of hostility in his tone which was mirrored by the hardness of his eyes. He knew he had no reason to be annoyed with her, but she was, quite honestly, the only person around. “I had the entire Palace and its grounds to run in growing up, and that was just when we were home. I’ve always been able to come and go as I liked as an adult. The closest thing I can compare it to, is…”

He fell silent then, and averted his gaze. He blinked several times, displaying a moment of genuine, silent sorrow. Then, avoiding the thought, he shook his head.

“I have no business being a prisoner.”

Lyra looked back to him, about to speak when she caught the hostility in his eyes. She wasn’t even angry to see it, simply disappointed. She had been about to tell him about her own childhood, but why would he care to know? He’d never shown much interest before and he certainly wouldn’t now in this mood of his.

Finally she stood, tall and proud despite the current outfit she was sporting. “No, you don’t, but you also made a choice, Andrei, and while it was necessary you had to know there would be consequences to that choice. It could have been worse - you could be in the brig completely alone.”

She walked into the bedroom then.

Andrei watched her go, keeping silent. When he was young, he couldn’t learn compassion, but he could learn to choose. He had been taught to choose what he did as well as what he said, and mad as he was, he knew she was correct about that. Still, he didn’t appreciate the lecture, considering what he was going through.

He finished polishing the sword, as he said, and then he changed his mind on the next point. Placing the sword back in the wall, he went to his side table and pressed his combadge.

“Petrov to Urso.”

“Urso here?” Kit’s voice replied, sounding confused and possibly mildly annoyed.

“Do we have holographic projectors in stock? I only need one.” Andrei said, noticing the tone but hardly bothering himself about it.

“Uhh, maybe. What is it for, exac- stop that! - what’s it for, commander?” She asked.

“It’ll be mounted in my living area, at least for the next few weeks.” Andrei said, crossing his arms. “If you’ve got something compatible, send someone down to install the emitter.”

“Sure but like… what are you going to be doing with it? There’s different ones so I kind of need to know.”

“I’ll be using it to project holographic objects and characters into the room. It doesn’t need to be advanced enough to do anything more than that.”

Lyra walked back out of the bedroom now dressed in her uniform again and putting her hair back up into a ponytail.

“Okay, are you going to want to interact or just project them?” Kit asked.

“Interact.” Andrei answered, suppressing a sigh

“Mmm… yeah I’ll have to see what I can do. May or may not be able to but I’ll look.”

Lyra moved to Andrei’s side then, her hand moving down his arm and finding his hand and her lips finding his shoulder gently.

“Make it work, Lieutenant.” He said, giving a clear command in a clear voice. “If you Don’t have the equipment, put someone on it. Petrov out.”

He looked at Lyra, frowning at her change of dress.

“I’ll try to stay out of trouble.” He said in a voice that sounded half like a promise, and half like a plea. “If this works, I can make things work here. It will…improve my mood.”

“I’ll be back soon, darling, don’t worry. I’m going to go talk to your sister to see if we can figure out a way to find some respite for you for a couple hours at least. I’m sure there’s some medical fine print somewhere we can take advantage of.” She kissed his shoulder again and then looked up into his eyes.

“You will get through this.”

“Right. Of course.” He said, and gave a small smile. He kissed her cheek gently and quickly. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

Lyra turned and left the room then without anything further, but when the door closed behind her and she was alone in the corridor, her shoulders dropped slightly while she headed for the turbolift. She was feeling rather rejected and for once it showed on her face. Thankfully she was alone, and by the time she got to the turbolift doors, her head was up again, her shoulders back, and her face that cool, unreadable mask.

Hopefully Mika would be able to help.

END