Its Christmas on Vanguard - Part Eleven

Posted on Tue Dec 27th, 2022 @ 2:06pm by Lieutenant Commander Ouros Yamaguchi & Lieutenant Morg "Morgan" Wolfsong
Edited on on Fri Feb 10th, 2023 @ 2:41pm

Mission: Mission 118: The Christmas from Hell
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1900Hrs - December 24th, 2393

Yamaguchi smiled as she regarded Wolfsong. "Okay. Now that I've been fed and watered. It's time we dealt with the issue before us."

"You've not finished your meal yet," Wolfsong answered softly.

"Meatballs are a delicacy for me," Yamaguchi answered. "Meatballs smothered in pasta sauce and cheese will win you a great deal from me," she explained. "What can I do for you Morg?"

Wolfsong regarded her as a million different responses surged through his mind. From the mundane to the downright crude and lewd. "It's been a while. How've you been?" was the answer he settled on. Somehow Yamaguchi found his response rather disappointing. She had been wanting and hoping for him to say something crude. On that same note. She had expected him to be angry with her. She had not been on the Starbase for several months now. It had almost as if she had been avoiding him but she had her duties as the first officer of the USS Gaarni and before that, she had been located planetside on Utgarde Four. Training with her marines and handling her various issues planetside.

"I have no complaints. Honing my personel into a well-oiled machine has been demanding but rewarding. Gaarni's crew are a fine bunch of men and women." Yamaguchi explained with a smile. "How are things with you?." she inquired.

Wolfsong regarded her. "I have no complaints. Life continues as it should. I work with your twin, she's an experience to behold but." as he huffed a soft sigh at her.

Ouros knew where this was heading. "But she's not me." She commented with a gentle nod. "Elizabeth already told me as such." Ouros knew she was walking into a large minefield and the slightest misstep could cause the buried ordinance to all chain detonate in her face.

"What did she tell you.?" Wolfsong asked the woman before him.

"She said you were." Ouros paused, but she knew she was in enough trouble with the man before her already, she didn't need to make things worse. "She said you were still carrying a torch for me. You tell her every chance you look at her."

Morg regarded Ouros in silence. He had no idea of what to say here to this comment, so he held his silence. It grew thick and obscure. Ouros turned her attention back to her food. She truly had no idea of how to bridge the impasse that she watched develop right before her. She used to think that she could overcome any problem with the right amount of rage and muscle.
"For whatever it's worth. I'm sorry." Ouros said, almost without realizing she had said it.

"Sorry?" Wolfsong whispered at her. "What?" he added after a moment, more in surprise than anything else.

"Yes. It's clear that I can't do relationships. I suck at them." Ouros then sighed in resignation. It was suddenly clear to Wolfsong that she had quit mentally, she had resigned herself to the inevitable.

Wolfsong sighed softly. "Ouros. just tell me something," he commented quietly. "Why do you do this to yourself.?" he asked while he regarded her with a look of contemplation. "Hmm?" he added after a moment. Indicating he wanted an answer and he wanted one now.

Ouros was tired of trying to explain herself to people who did not seem to understand how she thought or how she operated. "I don't. I don't know..." she answered before she sighed softly. "I always thought I'd die in battle with my hands wrapped around the throat of my enemies," she admitted. "I always suspected that when the end came, it would be short, graphic and exceptionally violent."

"Well. Thats uplifting." Wolfsong answered. "But was that in your reality of origin or in this one.?" he inquired of her before she had a chance to snap at him for his witty retort. "Because I suspect its not from this one."

Ouros stopped as her thought process skidded to a halt. "I never... considered that," she admitted.

"How long have you been in this reality anyway?" Wolfsong asked gently.

"Two years and a month," Ouros answered quietly. "In all that time, it seems that my reality of origin and this one share much," she admitted. "I was led by my unit commander out into the sands around Mesquite Station and left to die. In some mad deranged scheme of his to..." she ran out of words. "I still don't know what the fuck he was thinking about on that particuler day," she admitted.

"I think I have an idea as to what might help you," Wolfsong commented. "What hobbies or intrests do you have?" he asked of her.

"Nothing that's not work-related," Ouros admitted.

"Thats likely part of your problem," Wolfsong admitted. "When you're at work. You're safe and comfortable because you are able to showcase your skills and the like," Wolfsong explained. "What you need is a hobby thats as far from work as possible," he explained. "Something you can enjoy," he added. "Something to help you relax and unwind. Swimming or aquatic sports might be worth considering."

Ouros paused as she smiled, it would give her a chance to do something new. "Morg. I will consider it," she answered.