Stormy Weather

Posted on Wed Oct 2nd, 2024 @ 4:57am by Private 1st Class Cedrik Feng & Captain Ivan Petrov & Lieutenant Commander Yana Petrova & Ensign Mika Petrova

Mission: S1 Episode 8: Resolutions
Location: Gamma Eridine II
Timeline: Date 2371-12-31 at 2030
6791 words - 13.6 OF Standard Post Measure

More and more often in weeks, Mika had been the first one in the science lab in the mornings and the last one at night. Of course she would take several breaks during the day, but it was noticeable that she was pretty much running herself ragged in order to find a cure for the disease.

She looked up from the screen and sighed, using her delicate fingers to run her tired eyes. Her brain was mush and she felt like she couldn’t try a single additional idea without going mad. Deactivating her computer, she stood, through her brown jacket on, and turned out the light.

While her initial plan was to go back to the women’s building and see what socialization their was to be had, her eyes caught the darkening tree line in the distance. The evening was calm and still, and something about the air felt electric, like some event was on the cusp of happening. She decided all at once that what she really needed was a nice walk in the woods to clear her mind, and then maybe she’d get a few more hours of work in. Without another thought, she stepped down the familiar path to the river and disappeared amidst the trees.

—

Almost an hour later, Ivan cleaned the dishes in the kitchen. Dinner that evening had been delicious, and he was looking forward to getting to bed. Like many, it had been a long day full of building and moving. He was determined to make the planet home, and while he hadn’t given up on making an escape in theory, in practice, his resolve was dead.

As he scoured a pot, he looked over at Cedrik. The man had volunteered to help him clean, and Ivan wasn’t sure if he had done so to be dutiful or to kiss his ass. Sometimes it was hard to tell, especially with the smart ones.

“It’s been nice eating food we grew with our own hands, hasn’t it, Cedrik?”

“It has been.” Cedrik agreed as he focused on his own pan he was working to get the residue from the bottom. “I’d gotten so used to replicated food that I almost forgot how much you can really taste the difference.”

It wasn’t that Cedrik had abandoned the dream or desire of home, but he was from a practical family in both thought and practice. Dreams could be worked toward, but not at the expense of reality. The reality was that even after months of concerted efforts, they had not seemed to come any closer to a cure, so based on that reality, Cedrik had been all in on the effort to make this place a home. Things had become more routine around their little “colony” which was leaving more time to develop more personal relationships.

At least it would have been if he could coax Mika from the lab more often, but she was fully dedicated to her current cause. While at times he found it frustrating, he was raised to be patient, so patient he would be. He was not unaware of the way the other women around the camp looked at him though. While there were more available options for women in the amount of men on the colony, Cedrik was young, strong, and quite handsome. He was also not unaware of the eyes Mika drew from the other men; she was a beautiful young woman after all. Thankfully, the presence of her parents combined with Cedrik’s surprisingly imposing presence had kept most at bay.

“I never liked the replicated stuff. You’re the son of a Lord, so you understand. When I came to the table growing up, it was always the best of the best.” Ivan said as he placed a bowl on a stack of others. “But all this hands-on work has been good for us. Things are real here, despite all the tech we brought down.”

“Well, while we could live without it, it certainly makes life easier.” Cedrik put what he was working on down and picked up another pan. “Are we still planning on expanding the cultivated plots over the next few days?”

“Yes. We’re going to want to start storing it for winter.” Ivan said. He understood how defeatist that sounded, but he had been the one who decided to stay behind voluntarily after all. He knew they were likely stuck. In the background, the distinctive sound of thunder made it’s peel loud and clear. “Uh oh. Sounds like a storm is brewing. I hope it’s less destructive than the last one.”

Cedrik frowned and looked to one of the windows more on instinct than expecting to see anything since it was facing the dense surrounding forest. “Mm… well, I’d like to hope after the reinforcements we did to the buildings and windows, everything will hold up better. We were lucky it was just a storage area with the last storm.”

“You’d think a planet like this, with such a mild climate-“ Ivan started, but was interrupted by the shaking of the building. He put the pot he had in hand down and turned to Cedrik. “You go and make sure everyone is actually here in camp. I’ll make sure all the windows and tables are secured.”

“Yes, sir.” Cedrilk agreed like a soldier. While he still called Ivan sir, it was on a personal level of respect rather than military obligation. He’d had a much easier time than most returning to addressing the Petrovs as Lord and Lady when it was appropriate, but that wasn’t exactly surprising given his upbringing. He quickly finished what he was working on, dried his hands, and left the area to hustle over to the women’s lodgings.

The door led into the common area, so he entered without any hesitation. “Checking to see if everyone is inside.”

Riley Scott sat in the common room with her legs up and a paperback book resting on her knees. There was a long-haired shirtless man on the cover. She paid no attention to the other women milling around in the room. When she heard Cedrik’s voice, she hid the book’s cover and glanced up at Cedrik.

“Hey, Cedrik.” She said, smiling femininely. “Almost everybody. I bet Mika is still working, as always.”

She rolled her big blue eyes, but her smile was exaggerated and inviting.

Cedrik noticed the look and it caused him just a second of pause, but then he frowned slightly on hearing Mika still wasn’t back in the woman’s quarters even this late. Perhaps he would need to try and have a talk with her about all of this. That, however, could wait.

“Alright well, I’m sure you’re not deaf but there’s a nasty storm coming. Stay inside.”

“Yes, sir.” Riley said in a sarcastic tone, reflecting playfulness if not particularly strong intellect. She accompanied it with a crisp solute and a jocularly resolute expression.

Cedrik eyed her a moment and was tempted to engage in a bit of banter, but with the storm coming he had to go and make sure Mika was out of the lab. They may have reinforced it, but her being there alone during the storm wasn’t safe at all.

“Be safe.” He bid and then immediately left. It wasn’t a long walk to the lab area and he opened the door to be met with an empty lab. Immediately, he frowned and tapped his commbadge. “Cedrik to Mika.”

The static that met him wasn’t a surprise exactly, but it was frustrating nonetheless. He left the lab immediately and began to look around for Mika.

“Mika?!” He yelled.

No reply game from the beautiful young woman, and the only response the universe gave him was a rather large drop of rain on his forehead followed by several more in quick succession. Lighting flashed nearby, close enough that the thunder followed in under a second. The ground quaked with the impact, and the wind was starting to pick up.

“Godsdammit.” Cedrik cursed under his breath. He quickly moved to check on the men’s barracks and then to make sure Yana was in the private little home she shared with Ivan to make sure Mika wasn’t just somewhere else. He fought through the rain and though the lightning being so close was extremely dangerous, he wasn’t going to give up. He took a moment under the shelter outside of the Petrov’s door and then looked to the forest. Surely she hadn’t gone on a walk alone so late in the evening, but even as the thought moved through his head, he knew how likely it was. He knew some of her favorite places to go and decided despite the danger, he needed to try to press on.

He jogged toward the lab again in time to see Ivan coming from the mess area.

“I can’t find Mika!” He called to the older man through the rain and thunder.

Ivan was soaking wet already as the rain started to act more like a howling, sideways shower than a natural event. He closed the distance to Cedrik, his eyes squinched against the wind and rain.

“What?! You checked her room, the kitchen?! The men’s building?”

“Everywhere, sir. No one has seen her!” Cedrik replied, his voice raised only to be heard over the noise. “I’m going to go look for her.”

“We’ll go together!” Ivan declared , clapping the young man on his wet back and starting with him into the woods. “Why in Tartarus would she not come back when it started storming and raining cats and dogs?!”

“I don’t know! Maybe she found somewhere to hide out?” Cedrik offered as they moved toward the trees. The other alternative was of course that Mika was hurt, but he didn’t even dare speak those words.

He didn’t need to. Ivan was nothing if not protective of his girl. He’d been worried about how much time she was putting in working on a cure. He knew it wasn’t healthy, but he figured she needed to take her time and get past their terrible loss in her own time. As the two of them started down the muddy path, he cupped his hands and called her name.

“Mika! Mika Krasivyy!” He called, the worry in his powerful voice fairly obvious. “Mika Zaika, gde ty?!”

“Mika!” Cedrik called out himself. His voice wasn’t as deep as Ivan’s, but it was no less loud or distressed. “Mika, where are you?!”

He frowned as another peal of thunder roared above them. “She has a few places she likes to walk to…”

“Where? Are any nearby?” Ivan asked, looking at Cedrik with what almost looked like panic in his eyes. It was controlled and quiet, that of a captain and former admiral who understood that fear was like fire; it spread to everything it touched.

“There’s a bank down by the river that’s very sandy and comfortable.” Cedrik said and pointed the way toward it. “There’s also a hill up the way that has a view of the mountain range.” Pausing, he thought and then added, “there’s also the area where the scientists have most of their sample traps set up.”

“If there’s anything I know about Mika right now, it’s that she can’t think of anything accept finding that damn cure. Maybe she went there to preserve to samples, the silly girl.” Ivan said.

“She might have, but who knows when she left the lab, maybe she really was just going for a walk.” Cedrik frowned. “Either way she probably was either on her way back to camp or over to the samples wherever she had gone.”

He looked at Ivan then, his brows lifting slightly in ask of what the older man wanted to do - split up or stay together to cover more potential ground.

“You go look for her by the samples and I’ll check the river.” Ivan said, his eyes blinking away the rain.

“Right.” Cedrik agreed and pointed Ivan’s way one more time for him and then left the older man to his own search while he himself now started to hustle through the trees toward where he knew the sample containers had been set up given he had been one of the people to go and help with that.

“Mika!” He called out to her as he drew closer, wiping his face to little avail against the rain. “Mika!”

For several minutes there was no response as he moved toward the samples. When he arrived, however, he found the containers toppled over and clearly destroyed. In the distance the subtle sound of feminine shouting could be heard.

Cedrik frowned as he looked around, wiping his eyes and breathing hard. He saw the ruined containers and downed branches and looked for Mika; when he didn’t find her, he turned to leave to head to the hill, but the faint sound caught his attention just before he took off. It had to be her. It was hard to tell exactly where the shouting was coming from, but he took off in that approximate direction - he didn’t run hard for fear he might not be able to hear her over the sound of his feet, his heart, and the beating storm.

“Mika?!”

“Help!” Came the frightened voice of Mika several meters down the road. As he drew nearer, he saw a mess of felled branches and, beneath them, Mika squirming. “I’d someone there? Help me! I’m stuck!”

As soon as he saw her, Cedrik sprinted the rest of the distance on his steady feet. “Mika! Hold still, baby, hold still.” He commanded above her, looking at the branches quickly and then started to pull them off of her with relative ease given his strength and size.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you!”

“Cedrik, what are you doing out here?” She asked as she layed in the muddy puddle that was the ground. Her clothes were filthy, but it was hard to tell in the dark. “You shouldn’t be out here. The storm isn’t safe!”

“Well I wasn’t going to fucking leave you out here!” He yelled, the marine coming out more than the gentleman as he moved the branches until he could reach down and pull her out of the rest.

“What were you thinking, Mika?!”

“Ugh.” She replied nervously, her voice timid as she looked up at him. She paused in trying help him move the branches. “I don’t know! I'm sorry!”

Cedrik moved the last brand and then knelt down by her. He slid his hands under her arms and pulled her out from under the rest of the debris and into his lap. He held her there, looking over her body with his eyes and running his hand over her legs. “Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so..” she said, leaning against him and pulling as close as she could. “A little sore, but I’m okay.”

He let out a loud sigh but hugged her to him gently and kissed the top of her head to comfort her, rocking her just slightly in his arms. He only remained like that for a moment however and moved to stand. “Alright, let’s try to get you up then. Take it easy though in case anything is broken or sprained.”

“Okay.” Mika said, cooperating with him as he lifted her to her feet. “Did you happen to get a look at the samples? I was on my way there when these branches hit me.”

“I didn’t get a good look at them, but things are in pretty bad shape.” He admitted, being mostly truthful. He held her steady so she could get her feet underneath her. “Try to walk?”

Mika obediently put weight on her left foot to take a step and immediately felt a sharp pain shooting up from around her foot. Considering the tenderness, she pulled back right away and leaned on him again.

“Ow…I think I rolled my ankle. It hurts to step on.”

Cedrik had kept his arms mostly around her and as soon as she had wavered, he pulled her back to him. Glancing down at her ankle, he frowned and then scooped her up in his arms without a word. Holding her body close and tight, he set out in the direction of the river. “We need to go find your father.”

“Papa’s out here too?” She asked as a flash of lightning in the far distance ignited a tree with an orange fire. She gasped, clinging to Cedrik as he carried her through the rain. If conditions hadn’t been so bad, she would certainly have been actively impressed with his strength as well as his heroics.

Cedrik looked at the tree, frowning, but pressed on in the direction he was heading when he decided it wasn’t a threat. “Yeah, we both came out here looking for you when I didn’t find you at the camp.”

“”Oh.” She said, worried but also glad they had left to look for her. “It’s good you came. I think I would have drowned in the mud if I had to stay out for people to come searching in the morning, and I couldn’t get those branches to budge an inch.”

As they walked by the containers which held the samples, her heart sank. “No..” she whimpered. “Most of our research depended on those samples!”

“We’ll see what we can salvage when the storm passes.” It was weak assurance of course, but it was all he could offer at the moment as the bulk of his focus was on moving forward and keeping his feet steady to not slip with her in his arms.

“Captain Petrov!” He called out as loudly as he could manage for the man, opting to use his military title as the sharper consonants would carry better through the storm.

“Papa! Where are you?!” Mika shouted, joining Cedrik in the search despite her weakened and dependent position.

As they approached the banks of the river, the frame of the large Russian man could be seen wading into the shallows of the river, leaning over and running his arms ferociously through the rushing tide like he was looking for her body.

Cedrik blinked once when he saw Ivan down in the water, but walked the last few yards to the upper bank of the river. “Captain!” He called out again.

Hearing the voice this time, Ivan looked up and saw the pair of them. His aging face slackened and his mouth opened. Immediately, he waded out of the water and started toward them.

“You found her!” He cried out. “Mika!”

Cedrik didn’t move from where he was simply for the fact he didn’t want to risk sliding down the bank and slipping while he was holding Mika; Ivan also had to come up to where they were anyways. What he did do was gently lower Mika down and then slide his arm around her waist so she could keep her weight off of her injured ankle.

Mika used Cedrik’s strong body to brace herself, but when her father was within touching range, she leaned over and wrapped herself in his familiar bulk. Her face went to his shoulder and neck, and though the wind and rain had gotten powerful enough to silence them, the shaking over her shoulders told Cedrik she was crying.

“That’s okay, Mika!” Ivan said, his eyes going back to Cedrik. “We need to get back. Now.”

Cedrik nodded and then seemed to hesitate before gently placing a hand on Mika’s shoulder. “Mika, we need to go now.”

His voice was gentle but firm as was his hand as he coaxed her back toward him. He wasn’t going to argue with Ivan if the man wanted to carry her himself, but the fact was Ivan wasn’t exactly a young buck anymore and it wasn’t a short walk back even if one didn’t factor in the weather and slick terrain.

“Are you hurt,” Ivan asked Mika.”

“My ankle. Cedrik can carry me, Papa. Please, let him.” She said, her expression worried as she transferred between the men again. She was petite, which helped.

“Fine.” Ivan nodded, seeming unbothered.

Since Ivan gave no protest, Cedrik coaxed Mika’s arms back around his neck and shoulders then lifted her into his arms without any effort at all. He held her close, and then nodded to Ivan so he could lead the way back.

Ivan watched the two of them with squinted eyes, then took the lead in heading back up the muddy trail toward the camp. It wasn’t far, but the storm had gotten bad, and he was increasingly concerned more people would come out soon to find them.

“Not too far from here.” Cedrik spoke to Mika and glanced down at her in his arms. “You need to get yourself dried off and warm as soon as we get back, alright? I’ll take a look at your ankle.”

“I was just going to say the same about you, Hero.” She said in his ear. She kissed his cheek near his ear and then whispered to him words that indicated the panic and chaos of the world around him didn’t register for her with him around. “You’re so strong, Cedrik.”

He looked down at her again and smiled, easy and confident, and basked in the way she was looking at him and the way she spoke to him. If he hadn’t been soaked to the bone and really rather cold, his body would have likely reacted in a certain way too. “I’ll always be strong for you.”

She kissed his cheek again and clung to him tighter.

“When we get home, you take a shower too. I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I will once I get you settled.” He looked forward again, focusing on Ivan’s back. “Do you want to go stay with your parents or go back to the women’s’ barracks?”

“I’ll take one of the spare rooms in my parent’s barracks.” She declared, her hands moving tenderly on his wet back. The small group arrived back at the main building and stepped into the large common room within the next few minutes.

“You want to stay with your parents then?” Cedrik asked again once they were inside so Ivan could actually hear her say it and gave her an easy, encouraging smile.

Mika nodded, but before she could respond, her mother’s voice sounded as the woman closed the distance between them.

“Mika!” She exclaimed, her voice indicating her concern. Her hand was on her wet daughter in a moment. “Thank the gods you’re alright.”

Yana looked at Cedrik and smiled.

“Thank you. I can take over from here.” Yana said, and took over some support for Mika, walking her toward the rooms.

“Come back after your shower.” Mika called to Cedrik over her shoulder, but went with her parents as she’d been told.

“Her ankle is hurt and needs to be looked at.” Cedrik called after them calmly, feeling a bit cheated he hadn’t been able to carry her home himself but obviously not going to make an issue.

“Well, you’re a medic.” Yana said knowingly, her sharp gray eyes moving to Cedrik over Mika’s shoulder. “You’re dirtying my floor. Come back when you’re clean and dry.”

There was just a slight frown that crossed his features at her comment, but he nodded and left without another word. It wasn’t exactly going to be something that happened soon given the weather - an umbrella wouldn’t cut it in this storm, but he didn’t want to stress Mika more by even hinting toward an argument with her parents.

The Petrovs walked away, leaving Cedrik alone in the room. They would no doubt help her to clean and dress herself again. It was something Cedrik couldn’t exactly do considering their circumstances

It was a little over half an hour later when Cedrik was finally able to head back to the Petrov’s’ separate abode. The storm hadn’t really let up at all, but a long rain poncho and his quick stride had gotten him there mostly dry. Before entering, he took the poncho off and also slid out of his muddy boots, politely leaving them by the door and outside.

When he returned, Mika was sitting alone on a couch, her legs laid straight beside her. She wore a white shirt with a light gray jacket over it and a pair of black shorts. The wind howled outside, but she seemed content to sit and listen to it in the silence. She looked up when the door opened and smiled.

“My hero.” she said, her voice gentle.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Cedrik asked immediately as he walked over to her with a relaxed, confident stride. His dark eyes moved over her slowly; he kept it to a look of medical assessment, more or less, but the back of his mind certainly was registering her beautiful curves and the softness of her exposed skin.

“Better now that I’m not laying in the storm. My ankle doesn’t hurt as much when it’s still.” She said, looking down at the ankle. She had already wrapped it, figuring that the pretense about needing a doctor might seem a bit ridiculous coming from her. She lifted a finger and made a motion toward herself. “Come here.”

He closed the rest of the distance and then knelt down next to her on the couch. He placed a hand on her ankle while glancing at it, and then looked back at her. “Want me to take a look?”

He knew doctors made the absolute worst patients, but he also didn’t want her trying to power through something because she was embarrassed.

Instead of answering his question, she leaned forward and her lips pressed against his softly. She kissed him sweetly, like an exploration. Her hands found his face a first, breaching a significant barrier between them.

He was surprised when she leaned forward and for a half a second he started to move away on instinct of being approached by something he wasn’t expecting, but then it clicked in and he met her lips with his own. One of his large, strong hands lifted and he lightly grasped her chin while she touched his cheek. He kept the kiss gentle and chaste, but let it linger as he enjoyed the feeling of her soft, sweet lips against his. Eventually, he pulled back just enough so he could look into her eyes and gave an easy smile. “Still gonna look at that ankle, though.”

“You’re sweet.” She said, rather than trying to tell him how unnecessary it was. After all, it wasn’t about the ankle as much as it was about him showing that he cared. She leaned back and presented her leg, smiling up at him with shimmering brown eyes.

Cedrik remained kneeling and placed one hand under her calf to support her leg while the other went to her wrapped ankle. Mika could feel the strength in his hands, but he was very gentle with her as he always had been. “You’re sure it’s just a sprain? No fracture?”

“I’m sure.” She said with a giggle, her eyes remaining on him patiently as he looked at her ankle. “But feel free to give me a second opinion.”

It wasn’t so much that Cedrik didn’t trust her capability to diagnose, but he didn’t completely trust she had actually taken a scanner to herself to make sure the problem was minor. He shifted to rest his foot on her knee and pulled out a tricorder with the other hand to scan her ankle. “If the storm clears up by tomorrow, I promise I’ll take you back out to where your samples were and we can see what we can do.”

“You know, if there’s no storm, there’s no reason I can’t just go myself.” She said, her tone a bit cheeky, but her face a smile. He was being protective, and she did that in him. Her smile faded slightly after a second, however. “I just hope there’s something left. We can’t afford to lose all that research.”

Cedrik lifted his dark, steady eyes to her and just looked at her in a way that clearly communicated she would be doing no such thing, but there was an easiness to the gaze that seemed to indicate he understood she was mostly joking. “Best not to borrow trouble before we know what is what.”

“Are you afraid there will suddenly be another?” She asked, enjoying the feeling of his hands in her leg.

“It wouldn’t be the first time it happened.” He reminded her gently. This had certainly been the most severe storm they had been through. “For all we know, we could be entering some sort of monsoon season and they become a regular occurrence.”

Satisfied that the injury was just a sprain, he closed his tricorder and put it down then moved his hands to very gently start to massage her ankle and calf to help promote the blood flow and healing. He knew there was likely nothing left of the samples after this kind of storm, but he didn’t have it in him to break her heart like that and maybe there would be something salvageable in the end.

“That’s true. I suppose that means I will need the accompaniment of a chaperone every time I leave camp.” She lifted an eyebrow, her sweetness still quite alive but joined with a bit of challenge too.

“Yes.” Cedrik said simply while he continued to massage her leg gently. His dark eyes settled on hers, kind but firm in resolution. “No one should be leaving camp alone at this point until we are sure this wasn’t just a random bad storm.”

“Okay.” She said, showing more meekness on the subject than she had in weeks. All of her efforts to leave this place had been confounded, and she had a bad feeling about those samples. Perhaps it was near time to give up.

“I’m not saying you only have to go with me, but if you need someone to go with you’re always welcome to come find me or call. If I’m not in the middle of something I’d be happy to escort you on your walks.” He finished on her leg and then shifted to get up on the couch with her. He picked up on the shift in her tone, but he didn’t point it out. Maybe once the tragedy of losing so much research was over, she might open herself up to actually trying to live a little while still continuing her research.

“That’s where I go for some alone time.” she said with a sigh, her eyes moving down to her hands. “Every other place is shared. Don’t you think you’re being a bit paranoid about it, Cedrik? It could just avoid stormy weather, after all.”

Cedrik took a deep breath. “No, I don’t think I’m being paranoid about it considering these are some of the worst storms any of us have ever experienced - your parents included - and we have no idea if these would be considered severe or mild for this planet.”

Cedrik reached out and picked up her hands in his own, rubbing the backs of them with his rough thumbs. “You could have died today, Mika.”

“Not the first time, though.” she looked up into his eyes. “Probably not the last. But I am a Starfleet Officer. I can’t justify going around like a delicate china doll. I’ve got a job to do.”

“As a Starfleet Officer you should very much be aware that it is irresponsible to wander off alone without anyone at least being aware you are going.” Cedrik replied, keeping his patience for now. “I am asking you to be responsible and safe. Choosing to not be reckless isn’t being a ‘china doll’.”

“You’re asking me to take an escort any time I want some freedom.” she responded, her tone a bit more pointed, but far from angry or resentful. Her accent got slightly stronger, but her expression was still calm, as was her body language. “Letting people know where I’m going is reasonable, but that isn’t what we’re talking about.”

“I am asking anyone to take a partner when they go out of the camp. It isn’t about an escort Mika, and frankly I don’t really understand why you’re being so resistant to being responsible and safe.” He released her hands and stood from the floor.

“Well…what use have I been anyway?” She asked, her brows furrowing. “It’s not like it really matters if I wander off and don’t come back. Not like you..or my father.”

Cedrik blinked and looked down at her with a frown on his handsome face, then finally moved to sit down next to her as he intended. “Mika of course it matters. How could you say such a thing?”

“Everyone else around here seems to be able to do their job, that’s all.” She said, looking at him with the eyes of a sad puppy. There were no tears in them, but she seemed to be actively preventing that from happening. “You saw those containers out there in the woods, Cedrik. It’s over… I failed…”

“Hey…” he began, his voice gentle and warm. He moved one of his arms and wrapped it around her shoulders to draw her close. “You do your job around here Mika. You’ve tended to your fair share of injuries and sickness while we have been here. You were not the only one working on finding the cure.” Gently, he rubbed her upper arm. “Just because those things are broken doesn’t mean it has to be over.”

“It’s taken months to get this far, Cedrik.” Mika said, her frown deepening and her voice taking on a sudden edge. “Meanwhile you and everyone else has been working to make this place a permanent home. Everyone’s working like me and the other girls are going to fail anyway.”

“So would you prefer us to live a life without comforts while we wait?” Cedrik asked, his brows raising but he didn’t meet her sharpness with his own. “Most of the people here have no expertise to help you, have you considered that we need something to do to feel useful as well?”

“Well congratulations.” She said, a rare tone of resentment creeping into her voice next. “You are the useful ones. And you were right.”

He had to fight hard to not roll his eyes and removed his arm from around her shoulders, though didn’t pull away. “Mika, I understand you are upset from the loss of your equipment, but there is no need for you to be acting like this.”

Mika looked at him silently and noticed he was upset. She couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out how he wanted her to feel, and regretted saying anything at all. For months she’d kept all of her anxieties to herself, and now that she was letting them out, she got the impression from him that she was being selfish. She licked her lips and looked down at her hands again.

“Sorry.” She said quietly.

Cedrik placed one hand over hers and used the other to get her to lift her head. “You are perfectly useful and important to this place, you always have been and you always will be. We didn’t work to expand this place and make it comfortable because we all thought you would fail - that isn’t fair of you to think or to say.”

“Okay. Sorry.” Mika said, wishing to the gods she hadn’t opened her mouth in the first place. Otherwise, she seemed to have absolutely nothing else to say. She lifted her head at his gesture, but her eyes avoided his. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

Cedrik felt the strong sense he was being placated, and with her repeated non-reactions to his attempts to physically comfort her, he abandoned the endeavor and moved his hands from her and back to himself. “Well, anyways, I can’t order you to take someone with you on your walks, so you’ll have to do what you think is right for you on that front. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Okay.” She said quietly, and the sun seemed to force herself to look at him and smile. There was nothing genuine about it, but she had almost managed to make it look like it was. “I’ll listen. I won’t go out alone.”

Cedrik was a kind and gentle young man, but his youth betrayed him in moments such as these. At only twenty-one, he couldn’t understand why she was reacting to these perfectly reasonable points and statements as she was and while he wasn’t necessarily getting angry over it, he was left feeling very confused. He could see she was upset, he could see the lack of warmth in her smile and eyes and that her acquiescence hadn’t been from actually agreeing with his assessments, but he didn’t know how to fix it. With a frown, he reached up and rubbed the back of his head.

“Alright.”

“Okay.” She said, adding yet another layer of awkwardness to the exchange between them. When he’d come in, all she’d wanted to do was to kiss him. His chastisements, no matter how pure their motives, had totally changed the dynamic. “I..I shouldn’t hold you. You worked hard to find me and you’re probably tired.”

Cedrik felt the presence of his frustration, but his father had always made it a point to teach patience, especially when it came to women. “I’ve obviously upset you with what I said, but I really don’t understand how or why.”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Mika said after a pause of a few seconds. Her hand moved to his leg and rested there. Her face was still hidden from him slightly, though she did occasionally glance in his direction. “Obviously it isn’t always safe to go out alone.”

He wasn’t stupid, he knew she wasn’t fine, but he finally felt that dam he had built around his frustration break and while he didn’t show it on his face or in his tone, the simple act of accepting her word that she was “fine” and not pursuing the matter with her more was good enough. If she insisted on lying to him even when he was obviously concerned enough to try to fix the problem, that was a her issue.

“No, it isn’t.” He said and placed his hand over hers, giving it a light squeeze. “You should get some rest.”

“Thanks for saving me.” Mika said, meek but still appreciative. She could tell he was frustrated, but as far as she knew, his approach was the solution to that problem, not the cause. “I’ll be fine here. Don’t get too wet on your way home, okay?”

“I’ll try.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek while giving another squeeze to her hand then finally stood from the couch. “If you need anything just call.”

He knew she wouldn’t given she was staying with her parents again, but he made the offer anyways.

Mika nodded, having received his kiss with a slight smile. She really did like him, but it was possible he underestimated the impact her upbringing had on her. She gave him a gentle, feminine wave and watched as he left. She wished she could have given him more than the awkward compliance she had.

END