The Other Side

Posted on Thu May 24th, 2018 @ 6:39pm by Commander Liselle Qwyyn
Edited on on Thu May 24th, 2018 @ 7:06pm

Mission: Season 2: Mission 2: Just Breath
Location: Liselle Qwyyn's Quarters
Timeline: MD0
566 words - 1.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Her uniform expertly pressed, her hands carefully folded together in front of her, Liselle Qwyyn stood before the lone window in her quarters. She had come here thinking to sleep. Her bed reamined neatly made behind her. Hours now.

One of those stars out there.

On one of them was the other Liselle. An old woman.

Though she had been given ample opportunity to meet with the older version of herself, Commander Qwyyn had pointedly declined. In truth, the rumors had upset her more than she would ever dare admit. Whatever sage wisdom her alter ego might have had to offer would have to go forever unheard. So many dead. River. Lia. Phoenix. It was a world she wanted no part of.

She closed her eyes. Breathed slowly. Through the nose. Her former host, Juntis, had been well studied in Vulcan mediation. And Melbin, of course, had been a Trill Guardian. So many hosts before her had tried to save the Qwyyn symbiont from descending into madness. Gods, but the universe knew how to test Liselle's resolve on her turn.

Exhale. Through the mouth.

What could have possibly happened on that planet to ever allow herself to hold a scalpel again?

Her eyes opened. She looked down into her hands as they fell away from one another. Doctor Liselle Qwyyn, Head of Medical, Elysium village? Nonsense.

This Liselle Qwyyn could vividly remember waking up for the first time on Trill, after joining with Qwyyn. That urge to kill. Oh, how the young patients on her table excited her. Supple flesh, waiting to be cut. Smooth bone and hard cartilage begging to be broken and pruned. Blood and screams.

She closed her eyes. Breathed slowly. A tear fell.

How could she have ever found her way back to that profession again without those urges consuming her once more? Even now, the thought of holding the knife, long painted fingers grasping tightly on the thin handle...

Exhale. Through the mouth.

Shaking breath.

Nonsense. Utter nonsense.

Matias.

His name popped into her head all on its own.

Twenty years together. A lifetime. She didn't know where she stood with the man today. A part of her enjoyed the chase, the mystery and the flattery. Yet another part of her knew that they were never going to work, no matter how much time they tried to make that happen. Liselle Qwyyn just wasn't made for relationships. Not this one, at least.

Taylor.

She opened her eyes and looked out the window again, toward that unseen star. Somewhere out there, the two of them were together. Did that notion strike her as any better or worse than being with Matias? She shook her head uncertainly at the unspoken question.

It didn't matter. None of it did. The only woman who could have given her any insight into these questions was far beyond her reach now. This Liselle was ready to move on. She didn't need to linger any longer on the hows and whys of how those people lived. She had her own problems to deal with.

The Trill teachings bubbled into her consciousness: honor the lives in your past, but choose this one. Choose now.

And so she did.

And she let her unanswered questions stay with those people who would forever exist on the other side of her window.

OFF

Commander Liselle Qwyyn
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Elysium

 

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