<USS Avalon> "Old Times, New Times"

Old Times, New Times
Elijah Dareth and Ryan Jaeger 
(Played by Jet Grey)

 

Jab.

Jab, cross.

Jab, jab, cross.

The final punch sent the bag away from him and sweat dripped into Elijah?s 
eyes, stinging and burning. Vision blurry, he didn?t even see the man who had 
grabbed the bag until he spoke.

"Someone crossed you the wrong way? Or did you have a score to settle with this 
bag?" Came the humored question as Ryan Jaeger held the bag. "It's good to see 
you again, baldy," he quipped with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Scooter!" Eli laughed, wiping the sweat from his face and looking at his old 
Academy room mate. "What the hell are you doing here? And last time I checked," 
he ran a hand over top his head, "I had hair again." 

"Oh, you mean that dusty brush you had you swore you were still using?" Jaeger 
laughed as he let the bag go, "Consider me your friendly neighborhood 
psycho-analyst, bro. I've been on board for a little while now, but I haven't 
had much time to get out of the office."



"And you just now said hello? Some friend. I should've known when you shaved 
stripes in my hair as part of some psy-geek initiation. You just had to use my 
hair." Elijah grinned lopsidedly and walked over to the bench to pick up his 
bottle of water and towel. Drying his hands off, he reached out and clasped 
Ryan's with brotherly affection. "Glad you're here, man, glad you're here. 
Sorry 'bout almost hitting you with the bag." 

"Beats that stick you were sparring with that night with what's-his-name. And 
just you watch it," Jaeger said with more amusement in his voice, "this geek 
has pulled us both out of trouble more times than I can put dots on that 
hairless skull of yours." He sat next to Eli, "So how are you man? Security 
life treating you alright?" 

"Laren Jackson," Eli remembered.  "Haven't thought about him in ages. And, it's 
great Jae. You know what happened before... Man, I didn't think I'd get passed 
that, ever recover from losing rank, but I'm damned lucky. Got a new supervisor 
that believed in starting over. Just made rank again," he smiled, "But I 
haven't told anyone yet, so keep it secret." 

"That's why you're punching the bag so hard?" he wryly observed. 

Eli threw his head back after a lengthy drink of water. Taking a breath, he 
turned his head to the side and asked, "You always did read me. Must be all 
that psych stuff they jammed in your head." The attempt at humour was mostly 
half-hearted though. Turning sideways on the bench, Elijah pulled one foot up 
to the narrow board and rested his elbow on his knee. "My girlfriend's 
pregnant," he finished bluntly. 

"Oh," Jaeger managed. Not intended to be the right response, it was training 
that went with his mind, not his emotions. But.. among friends, it was 
completely reversed, "You...?" He shook his head in question to what Eli was 
trying to get at. He shifted on his seat, moving a little out from the bench to 
get better eye contact with Eli. 

"Of course, me. She's a good girl. A great girl. I just..." he sighed, then 
covered up the awkward moment by taking another drink. "I just didn't expect 
it. Not this soon. I just don't know what to say or do... I gotta be careful." 

Ryan merely shrugged. It was the best response to this situation. "Maybe you 
should go back to punching the bag." 

Elijah shrugged in return. "It's why I was here in the first place. I love Mel 
and I want to marry her, but if I asked now, she would think it was because of 
the baby. Not to mention that I'm, oh... terrified of the thought of being a 
father. I can't tell her that. She'd take it personally, think she was an 
imposition." He sighed and stood up. 

"Ever thought she is terrified of being a mother? To have a family this early 
in her life?" Ryan said, not getting up from his seat, "You both need to talk 
this out. You know that as much as her or myself." 

Elijah chuckled. '...this early in her life?'  Melanie was eight years older 
than he was. He was pretty sure she could handle something she'd always wanted. 
"I know we need to talk, but it's been odd. I'm not trying to hide from her." 
Yes, you are, he admonished himself. "I just... I'm trying to be careful. Mel's 
a hot tempered one and a little quick to jump to conclusions. I have to figure 
out just how to phrase things. And for once, when I'm trying to think of the 
right words... I'm lost." He walked over to the bag and gave it a swift side 
kick, then turned to regard Ryan once more. "Sorry to dump all this on you. 
Let's go grab a drink and you can catch me up on what you've been doing for the 
last two years." 

"Fine, have it that way. She's probably making conclusions already just by you 
not talking to her right now," when Eli gave him a look, Ryan waved his hands 
casually, "Not to make you paranoid. Lead the way," he concluded, following Eli 
out the doors. 

"I knew there was a reason I stopped recording you letters," he quipped, 
heading to the lounge. "You always were insistent with your advice. Maybe 
that's why you're still on assistant level." He didn't know for sure, but he 
did know that Ryan wasn't the ship's counselor, so it was a fair enough guess 
to jab at his old friend. 

"Ha-ha," Jaeger replied. "So what do you recommend for a drink?" They took a 
table relatively near the replicator. 

Moving over and ordering them both something, Elijah slid the blue and purple 
concoction in front of Ryan as he sat on the chair opposite. "So, are you going 
to tell me what you've been doing or just keep me guessing?" 

"Nothing big, just helping the new counselor. Though I?m new as her- ship wise 
and what not. Getting appointments in. Reading up on profiles, the life of a 
psychologist." 

"We all have our crosses to bear," Eli agreed. Then, lifting his glass, he 
offered a tiny toast. "To friendships past and present." 

"To friendship," Ryan replied.


                
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