[TheNoir] "Hallucinations?"
- From: Lyryn Cate <wistful_fancy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: thenoir@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 12:40:23 -0800 (PST)
Hallucinations?
By Isabella Valentine and Vanir Wagner
Vanir paid very close attention to the captain during the meeting but he
couldn't help but notice that Bella kept staring at him. He knew it had to be
the image inducer's display that was causing her such consternation, but he
just didn't think a public meeting was the best place to discuss the thing.
Captain Nicks knew and so did Mr. Molari. He planned on taking it off
afterward, but by then Bella had already split and he was forced into a
discussion on human genetics. No one had recoiled though.
Vanir made as quick a get away as he could and headed back to the cabin.
Ethera was fast asleep, the doll he bought her clutched tightly in her arm. He
left her a note that he'd be in Engineering and to call if she needed him. He
kissed her forehead lightly then headed to his domain.
Bella left security after her little visit with Anita, feeling more lost than
found. That woman - if you could call her that - left a bad taste in Bella's
mouth, so to speak. She had hoped the walk would clear her mind and calm her
down. All during the meeting she had been looking for li'l boy blue to show
Shane she wasn't crazy...and he wasn't there! That fellow that looked like him
only wrong colouring was there, but that just helped prove the fact she must be
hallucinating. She didn't say anything to Shane because of that fact.
It occurred to Bella that it could be withdrawal symptoms from her lack of
medication. Meds weren't a luxury that she could afford right now and she
could tell a difference. Her emotions were bouncing all over the place, she
knew it, and was trying her best to deal with it. But she had never
hallucinated before! And now she was having conversations with crazy
people...who may not even be there. Surely that wasn't the case. There really
was a sick, twisted woman with no pants on sitting in the brig. Wasn't there?
Bella shook her head to clear the thoughts and headed to engineering. She was
gonna settle this somehow. Maybe the blue boy was back.
Vanir hated working without music so set the audio at the console to a very
soft volume and let it play some random Mozart from one of his discs. That
done, he started in on another checking of the engines. One could never be too
particular about that.
The console he was working at was away from direct view of the entrance but he
heard the doors open. Out of habit, he 'ported to the ceiling and waited to
see who his visitor was.
Bella automatically looked up when she walked into the room, scanning for the
blue guy. Sure enough, he was clinging to the ceiling. "I wanna talk to you,"
she declared.
Vanir almost laughed. He knew why she was mad. In a perfect triple roll
somersault, he drop to the floor, landing lightly on his feet. "Yes, Miss
Bella, how may I help you?"
"You were there, weren't you?" she asked, eyes narrowed. "Only you didn't look
like you, did you?"
"Do you mean at the meeting?" he asked innocently. "Ja, I was there, in the
corner. You don't care for my alternate appearance?"
"Not when I'm telling my boyf - err, Shane about you and then you aren't there
in all your blue splendor to prove I haven't lost my marbles. I was startin'
to think I was hallucinating. Then again, I'm the only one talking to you
still, so I guess I haven't proven a damn thing."
He couldn't help it. He started laughing, but he didn't have the heart to keep
it up. She might very well scare the daylights out of him, but she also
reminded him of somebody back home. He smiled and said, "I am sorry, Bella. I
accidently turned my holograhic image inducer on and I did not want to cause
too much of an interruption by turning it off."
"So...you really are blue and I'm not seeing things, right?" She actually
looked a little bit nervous.
"Yes, I am very much blue," Vanir replied, holding up his hands as evidence.
"For the last twenty-seven years. What you saw was the hologram."
Bella sighed in obvious relief. "Okay, the next time you see me - especially
if I'm with someone else, can you look like that? Like yourself, I mean.
Blue."
"Of course," he said simply. He didn't know what to think about that. Normals
at home..they flinched at his appearance. "The image is..for when I need to
appear like everyone else. Normal." The last word was said so softly that it
was just above a whisper.
"And you ain't normal now? You look normal to me, just a little cold maybe,"
she grinned. "Are Romulans normal? They have green blood. What about Orions?
C'mon, I mean, really, in this galaxy, what is normal? No reason to get all
sad about it." She tried to offer a reassuring smile.
Vanir felt the beginnings of a small smile. "It isn't sadness, Miss Bella. It
is a matter of getting used to things all over again. At home, I knew what to
expect from normal Humans," he told her, then he shrugged. "Chased or
attacked...easy to expect that. Mein Gott, it happened on station, too. I
almost wrecked Xid's bar. I am the way God made me and I am fine with that. I
just wish everybody else was. That way I wouldn't need the image inducer."
Bella shrugged. "I don't think you need it at all, but what do I know? I
imagine up blue people and half naked women in the brig."
"I..." Vanir began. He was a bit stunned at what he perceived as kindness from
her, considering their previous encounter. "Thank you for that, Bella. Now,
you can see I am very real but what is this about a woman in the brig? Her
name wasn't Allea, was it?"
"Allea...uh, it started with A... Allea, Alleana, Anina, Anita! That was it.
Her name was Anita. This woman couldn't possibly be your friend. If you're
scared o' me, boy blue, this woman would make your blood run cold." Then
tipping her head to the side she asked, "You're not cold blooded, are ya? It
would explain the coloring..." She was teasing him.
Vanir knew his face must have shown his disappointment, at least momentarily,
when he found out the woman's name. Of course not, he told himself. He shook
his head then turned his attention back to what else Bella was saying. He had
to. Otherwise, he knew he'd find himself back in the depths of misery. Again.
He had to admit it. The joke was pretty good. He smiled slightly. "Very warm
blooded, Bella. And warm hearted. Maybe too much for my own good. If that
were not the case then, as you said, I would not be so...afraid...of a little
slip of a girl."
He didn't mean to be so honest about himself but it was in his nature. He just
hoped she wouldn't take offense at his attempt at returning the teasing. He
didn't want to have a repeat of their first encounter.
"I don't understand why you're afraid of me. I'm really not that dangerous.
I'm actually a rather horrible shot. I know computers. That's about it," she
admitted. "So, this Allea girl must've meant a lot to you. Were you expectin'
her here or somethin'?"
"Allea..." he began. He stopped to draw a steadying breath and, for a second,
wondered why he was teling her this. He kept going. "She is the first woman I
ever loved. I still love her. She was here on the station looking to kill
her former lover and I had hoped...I would have been happy to spend the rest of
my life with her. I don't know why she left. The note didn't say."
He offered Bella a shrug. He tapped his temple with one slender finger. "As I
said, too warm hearted for my own good. I know how to make myself completely
miserable, ja?"
"Don't we all?"
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