<USS Avalon> BACKPOST Tery/Moreya - Seeking Counsel

OOC: Sorry this is so backposted, but I thought Ayesha was going to send it,
then my workload went crazy. So I finally got back to Google Docs and saw it
was still there. So... here it is... late but here. SO sorry!!

 

 

"Seeking Counsel"

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Ensign Sera Teryn

Engineering Officer

USS Avalon

 

LtCmdr Moreya 

Chief Science Officer

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Tery had left Skyler's quarters with a heavy heart. She'd half expected the
reaction shed gotten, but that did not make it hurt any less. She wished
fervently that she could take that pain from Skyler's eyes, bear it for her,
but she knew better.

 

She made her way to her own quarters and lit some meditation incense in the
brazier in the corner of her sitting room. Taking one of the pillows from
the couch, she sat on the floor and closed her eyes, trying desperately to
meditate, to find that calm center of her own consciousness that she had
been taught so long ago to find and tap. But her mind and heart refused to
be distracted from the trouble at hand. She had to find a way to show Skyler
that her love was true. But how?


She'd watched the way Skyler looked to Moreya, how she'd looked *at* her.
There was something there, between them. Tery feared what it might be, that
she was losing Skyler to Moreya. She understood that Moreya was Deltan, and
Deltans could not help but to attract people; it was in their physiology. So
she did not blame Moreya for what she saw. She did not even really blame
Skyler. She'd been gone, so Skyler had sought comfort in someone and found
it in Moreya. At least that was the impression Tery got from watching them.

But that still left Tery... where? She gave up on the meditation and put the
pillow back on the couch. "What the hell is wrong with me!?" She growled to
the empty quarters. This time, even Theida did not answer. The question was
rhetorical.

Tery flopped down in front of the desk terminal and was centimeters from
calling Moreya when she stopped. Yes, the Deltan had made the offer to talk
with either of them should they need or want it, but should she really
impose on the other woman? This was *her* problem to solve. Did she really
have to make it Moreya's problem too? Then again, if she was right about the
relationship between Skyler and Moreya, it was already Moreya's probem. She
sighed and keyed the comm.

Moreya had muted the comm alert when Skyler had fallen asleep on the couch
behind her.  She spoke softly as she answered the call.  "Moreya."

The soft-spoken response made Tery pause. Had she wakened the other woman?
"This is Tery. I'm sorry if I've wakened you. If this is a bad time, I will
call another time..." she offered equally quietly. The woman had offered to
hep, to listen at the very least, but that did not mean that Tery was so
rude or selfish as to just impose upon her at inconvenient times.

"Not at all," Moreya replied.  "If you wish to talk, however, it might be
best if I come to your quarters."

Tery frowned for a moment, putting the pieces together. Oh, yes, she'd
chosen a bad time, but not for the reason she'd originally thought. Those
looks Skyler had been giving Moreya in the office, and now this. She'd
already lost her.

A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed, nodding. "Of... course." She
answered softly, "And thank you."

"I will be right there."  Moreya closed the channel, and immediately slipped
quietly out the door, silently offering up prayers to all the Nine Gods that
Skyler remained asleep until she returned.  Quickly she slipped down the
corridors, enjoying as she did the feel of the ship's deckplates under her
feet.  It was too long since she had gone barefoot outside her own quarters
... but before the sensations could become a distraction, she found herself
at the door to Tery's quarters, and sounded the chime.

Door chime. Now she *had* to go forward, terrified or not. "Enter." She
called, moving to the replicator preparatory to offering her guest something
to eat or drink.

"Hello again, Tery," Moreya said as she stepped inside.  "Thank you for your
indulgence -- under any other circumstance, I'd've gladly asked you to come
see me.  But Skyler came to see me right after we three met ... and she is
now asleep on my couch."

Tery nodded with a slight shrug. She had no reason to doubt the veracity of
Moreya's statements regarding Skyler, yet the fear suggested otherwise. She
looked over her shoulder with a half smile. "It's ok. I just hope my
quarters are as comfortable for you as yours are. Can I offer you anything
before I just talk your poor ear off?" She asked with an attempt at humor.

 

"A glass of crushed ice and water would be very nice," Moreya said with a
warm smile.  "And I'm glad that I can listen."

 

Tery nodded mutely and got the glass of iced water, handing it to Moreya
before going back to the Replicator for her own tea - she could have gotten
them at the same time, but this way gave her an excuse not to face the other
woman just yet. "I'm sorry to trouble you, Moreya. I... know this is my
problem and I should solve it. But..." she took the glass from the
Replicator and sighed, turning to retreat to her overstuffed chair. "But I
don't know what to do. What I *should* do." She took a sip of the tea and
sighed again.

 

 Moreya sat on another, nearby chair, tucking her feet underneath herself
and taking a long pull from the glass. As the sensation of cold radiated
outward from her esophagus and across her chest, she said, "Listening to
someone's trouble and so helping to solve a problem is never trouble --
especially when that someone is a friend."  She smiled.  "Maybe the best way
to start is to figure out what it is you want to achieve -- what your goal
is.  Knowing that, the answer of what to do in order to get there will come
much more easily."

 

Tery shook her head. Normally, she would agree with Moreya, but this was
different. This was a matter of emotion, of the heart, rather than a
simply-solved physical problem. "What I want is easy to define. I... I love
her, Moreya. I want to be with her." She stated with conviction, even though
her tone was laden with emotion. "But the question is not what I want. I'm
worried, Moreya. What if she can't forgive me? What if the wound is too
deep?" Her normally light grey eyes had gone storm grey, dark and filled
with pain and fear.





And there it was, the fear. The reason all of this was so hard. She
understood the pain she'd unintentionally caused Skyler, and it tore at her
own heart that she had so hurt the woman she loved. What if she could not
mend the rift she'd created? Had Skyler not already turned to another, after
all?

 

Moreya smiled ruefully.  "We Deltans have very little in common with the
Vulcans, but Surak was without doubt one of the Wise.  He said,"  and she
spoke in Vulcan, "Dakh'uh pthak. Nam-tor ri ret na'fan-kitok fa tu dakh
pthak."


Tery winced. She'd had a roommate in the Academy who had been half Vulcan.
The girl had taught her the language in exchange for Tery teaching her
Bajoran. And that statement Tery especially remembered. She'd asked her
roommate then where she'd been during the Occupation, and the other girl had
smiled and said "Learning that crap." Then they'd both laughed. But that
single piece of Vulcan wisdom had helped Tery deal with a lot of things over
her life. Now it was being driven home again, and Tery had to admit that
Moreya was right. But it was much easier said than done. She sighed and
looked across at the Deltan. For all that it seemed odd to hear a Deltan say
such things, the point obviously needed reiterating. So she pursued it.

"Easier said than done." She said softly.



 

"Of course it is.  But, I think I might know some things which could help
ease your fear.  First, I do think Skyler is capable of forgiving you.  She
wants to be with you.  But she has her own fear, that she will be forced to
choose between you and I.  I have tried to convince her that she does not
have to choose, but her fears also run deep."

 

Tery blinked. Hope flared for a second in her grey eyes. "Truly? But why
should she have to choose?" Tery queried, confusion flickering in her eyes
and tones. "I want her to be happy. As much as I love her and want to be
with her, the primary thing I want is for her to be happy. And if that means
that I have to share her with you, I..." she swallowed "I can live with
that." She finished. Not that it would be easy; who could compete with a
Deltan, after all? Skylar would be forever spoiled in a way Tery could never
equal by Moreya. But neither would she give her up or make her choose
between them. She knew who would win that if she did. "I couldn't do that to
her. I wouldn't let anyone do it to me." She asserted. "So it'd be a double
standard if I turned around and did it to her." She shook her head. "Not to
mention that I just couldn't wittingly hurt her like that. This hurt wasn't
my choice. I..." She sighed and shook her head; she was repeating herself.
And she suspected Moreya already knew that.


"I understand you had no intent to cause her pain.  We all make mistakes.
It is the price of sentience, of free will.  I believe Skyler will come to
understand this as well.  Between us, we should be able to convince her. "  

Moreya's mouth twitched into a momentary wry smile.  "I hope I can convince
you of one thing.  My only wish is that both of you be happy.  Skyler wants
both of us in her life; it seems that each of us, you and I, want her in
ours.  And I -- I very much want to be your friend, Tery.  But I will not
force myself on anyone, in any fashion.  It is not my way, nor is it the way
of my people, despite our reputation."

Tery's eyes held Moreya's for a moment, studying the look in them. Then she
nodded. The Federation had weird ideas about Deltans, thought they were all
over people with those pheramones. But Tery's kind knew better. They had
encountered the Deltans long before the Federation had and understood their
'freer' ways in a way that the more... strict Federation races did. The
Maltosians were, by virtue of their very nature, a more... flowing and free
people. Thus Tery's confusion at why Skyler would have to choose.

She smiled at Moreya. "I'd very much like to be your friend as well." She
offered. "There are other reasons, but one important one is that you are
important to Skyler, and anyone who can reach her as you have is well worth
my... study." The last word was spoken with a bit of mischief in her tones
and eyes. It seemed that these two had some things in common, and Tery found
that she wished to explore those similarities. But that took second place to
her desire to repair the rift between herself and Skyler. Still, she
couldn't resist the moment of playfulness.

"Together we can reach her... yes?"

Moreya smiled, a smile that reached every part of her body.  "Yes."

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