Confronting meeting

Posted on Mon Jun 12th, 2023 @ 10:01am by Cadet Junior Grade Gérard Dirsye [Reece] & Cadet Junior Grade Triston Montgomery [Lalor] & Miran Lalor [Lalor] HRH

Mission: Season 6: Episode 2: Survival
Location: Cadet area tents.
Timeline: MD4 EARLY MORNING
2668 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Miran had something to say to Triston and she needed to say it without Clary being around. So she waited and watched as the blond was escorted to her next shift then Miran walked over and intercepted Triston who was exiting his tent with Gérard.

"Triston," Miran said as she stopped up to the two young men.

'Miri!" He said somewhat startled.

Gérard smiled warmly when he saw Miran, but didn't say anything. This was clearly between the two of them.

"Oh, so you do remember my name?" She asked cooly. "Here I thought Clary had insisted that you forget it."

Triston crossed his arms. "Clary has done nothing of the sort." He said, an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Oh? Is that why she said what she did to my niece yesterday?" Miran may not be as tall as her sister, but she could make presence felt nearly as much, which was what she was doing now.

"She won't talk about that Miran," Triston replied, which was true because all Clary had said was that she didn't want to talk about it if he was going to take Tristi's side.

Miran glowered. "I bet. Answer me this, Triston Montgomery, are we or are we not best friends."

"Of course we are Miri!" Triston replied.

"Then we have different definitions of friends. Because I certainly would not stand for someone I was dating physically assaulting a civilian, especially one who is related to my best friend."

"Look Miran, Captain Taylor is punishing Clary and your sister and Mattias are punishing Tristi, what more do you want?"

"I want you to make a stand for yourself and stop being led around by your male appendage." The Erisian teenager said coldly. "Because all you are doing is showing people that you lack a backbone and are what you humans call Pussy Whipped." She was not sure what punishment was being handed out to Tristi though she knew it would not be bad.

Hearing such language from the Erisian made Triston flinch. Miran had done a lot for him over the years. "I am sorry Miri." He conceded. "I'll try to do better."

She nodded and then turned to Gérard. "Hi," she said to him. "I am on my way to the mess tent, would you like to join me Gérard?" She asked.

The Betazoid had been silent during the whole exchange, though mentally, he was taking in all the pain and hurt feelings between these two.

When Miran address him, he smiled softly and nodded. "I'd love to." He the turned in the direction of the mess tent and offered Miran his left elbow.

She smiled and placed her hand through his elbow. She stepped up so she was right next to him as they moved towards the mess hall.

Triston however was frowning at them both. This was not something he had ever considered. His gaze narrowed at Gérard.

"Oh Triston?" Miran said as they moved away "Tell Clary if she comes for my family again, she better have her affairs in order, because, I will come for her, Erisian Style." She turned her head to face forward. "And that is not a threat. It's a promise."

For his part, Gérard didn't say anything. If Triston couldn't see what had been in front of him all these years, it was his loss. He did start to feel animosity towards both himself and Miran though. This, he would not stand. Stopping, he turned back to face Triston. "Did you forget that I'm Betazoid, Tris? I would be very careful what thoughts and emotions you transmit. You never know who can hear them." He gave Triston a hard stare, not repeating some of the things he had picked up on.

"Come on, Mir," he said to her as he turned them back to head towards the Mess Tent.

Miran didn't even look back at Triston as she walked away with Gérard.

Triston however, moved off towards the shuttles, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

As they continued to walk, Gérard asked softly, "Your brother-in-law didn't give you any grief last night, did he?"

"No more than normal." She shrugged. "He is protective."

Gérard nodded, feeling the good vibes coming off from Miran as she spoke of her brother-in-law. "He's earned your respect, hasn't he?"

"For now" Came the reply. "If he screws it up, he will be mincemeat and he knows it." She smirked.

The image made Gérard chuckle softly. "Did he say anything about seeing us, with me kissing your hand?"

"Oh, he had comments." She sniffed. "He wanted to know if we kissed." She had lowered her voice.

Looking over at Miran, he raised an eyebrow slightly. "What did you tell him?"

"That we did kiss," Miran replied. "I am not going to lie." She looked up at him. "He was a bit pushy."

Smiling as he started to lose himself in her beautiful eyes, Gérard responded. "I'm sure he was just being protective of you." He leaned in then and whispered, "That was a great kiss, by the way. It was the second thing I thought of when I woke up this morning."

She blushed and ducked her head. "Shall we get breakfast then?"

He nodded. "Sounds like a perfect idea, Mir."

A few moments later, they were in the line, with their trays, waiting to choose the food that was available for breakfast.

Miran selected her breakfast foods and then when Gérard had his, they moved to a table near the back of the room.

As Gérard held his tray with one hand, he pulled Miran's chair out for her with the other. He smiled when their eyes met.

"Thank you," she said with a smile and held his gaze. She sat and put her tray down. "Oh, and Mattias wanted to know if I lied about my age to you."

"You're welcome," he replied. Gérard then moved to his seat and, after putting his tray down, sat and leaned closer to Miran. "I'm guessing you told him that I know the truth and also how old I am?"

"Well he didn't ask your age, but I told him you were in your second year of the academy and yes that you know I am only just 17."

Nodding, Gérard said, "I give you my word, I will never force you to do something either untoward or that would make you feel uncomfortable."

She smiled and peeled the mandarin she had picked up, "I know. But who says you would be the one to push me?" She asked impishly.

This made Gérard smile and chuckle slightly. "You know there are things that we cannot do, legally speaking?" He reached over a gently took her hand into his. "However, if you want, there are other things we can do."

"Oh?" Miran asked softly. "Do tell."

"Well, we can certainly kiss, within reason of course. And, I could start to teach you to hear my thoughts, if you want, that is."

"Hmm, interesting ideas." Miran smiled at him. "And ones that do deserve exploration."

Gérard smiled in reply. "Well, after we eat, we could find someplace a little quieter?" He knew that idea was bordering on dangerous, however, he felt that he could control himself.

Miran considered it carefully. She sipped her tea and then nodded. "Okay." She said with a small nod. "Where though?"

Shrugging slightly, Gérard replied. "Wherever you currently feel most at ease. Baring in mind our age differences of course." He smirked playfully as he finished speaking.

Miran studied his face as he spoke. "Hmmm I am not sure anywhere down here really fits." She admitted.

He nodded, sighing softly. "I know what you mean. For a planet that is supposedly frozen, I can sense an awful lot of....something" he grasped at how to describe what he was feeling.

"Could it be the crew you are sensing?" she asked curiously. "There is a lot of depression right now."

"Maybe," he replied with a shrug. "There certainly is a heavy level of unspoken despair hanging over the camp." Gérard got quiet as he thought of the friends he had lost.

Miran finished her drink and placed it on her tray. "Do you want to go for a walk?" she asked softly.

Gérard nodded and smiled. He was finding it more and more desirous to be in this young woman's company. "I'd like that." He combined their trays, then stood as she did and followed her out of the tent, depositing their garbage in the recycler.

As they left the mess tent, Miran slipped her arm through his as if it was natural. She didn't shy away from it, ignoring the looks several officers gave as they passed the pair.

To his credit, Gérard kept his composure. While he pulled Miran in closer, he still did so in a respectable manner. "If you want," he spoke quietly, "I could start the process of building a mental bond with you while we walk? It wouldn't allow anything untoward to occur, more just my feelings and a few simple thoughts. If you wish to, that is."

She calmly leaned her head against his arm as they walked. "It's a thought, but I would like to know more about it." she was cautious.

He nodded slowly. "Of course. I would not do anything without talking to you about it first." He then tried to think of how to put in words what had always come naturally to him. "The best way that I can describe it is, you would need to clear your mind of all conscious thought save one, hearing my voice. Then, when you were ready, I would concentrate on your voice as well. And, if we are successful, you would hear me and I could start to hear you, though on a less powerful level, as you aren't telepathic."

"Erisians while not telepathic, have very strong mental barriers against telepaths," she said softly. "It may take a lot for you to do it."

Gérard grinned at that. "So long as the attempts won't hurt you any, I enjoy a good challenge. It will be like when I was learning my abilities as a young boy."

"Okay.. Don't say I didn't warn you" She replied with a smirk.

This made Gérard grin even broader. "Challenge accepted." He gave her a playful wink. Then, as they reached the outer perimeter of the crew's tents, towards the rear of the caves, he said, "This could be a good place to try." He released his hold on Miran and cleared a space for her to sit, pulling out one of his emergency blankets, so she didn't need to sit on the cold rocks. "For you?" He offered to help her sit.

Miran smiled and sat down on the blanket crossed legged. "Why thank you sir." She said with a grin.

Once she was sitting and as comfortable as she could be, Gérard next pulled out a survival flare and, after activating it, sonit could provide heat for them, he placed it down infront of her, then moved to sit down across from her, the warming flare between them. "Now, clear your mind," he said as he closed his eyes and started to do the same.

"You know that always sounds funny," she mused as she closed her eyes. "Clearing one's mind is always so hard."

Shaking his head and chuckling softly, Gérard replied. "It's only hard to do for those untrained." He closed his eyes and took a deep slow breath in through his nose, then slowly again out through his mouth. "At first, pick a color that you find soothing, and focus on that." He breathed some more, his words slowing down some as he started to relax. "Slow your breathing...quiet your insides...let go of any distracting thoughts."

She frowned though he could not see it as she focused on a soothing green colour and tried to relax herself. It took a while but she soon matched her breathing with his.

Feeling her mind starting to calm, Gérard spoke softly. "Now, continue to breath slowly and focus on my voice." He continued to speak slowly and quietly, giving Miran plenty to focus on.

Her mind was indeed behind rather strong mental barriers but they were not actively controlled by Miran. They were genetic. Romulans had found that to their detriment when they had tried to break her sister. He could read surface thoughts, but even then they were vague, simple words, nothing beyond that.

Hearing the whispers of her thoughts, Gérard could feel the biological defenses that her mind had in place. It was something he had been trained to expect from some races. He knew that, with effort, he could break through those defenses, however, that would not only be illegal, it would hurt them both mentally. So instead, he flowed his thoughts along the boundary of her mental defenses, like a river sliding against the shore. ~Mir...~ He started to speak to her mind. ~Can you hear me?~

There was silence for a bit as she took her time to figure out how to reply. ~yes~ it was tentative and shy.

Gérard smiled slightly, though he was starting to sweat from the exertion of communicating, even at this low level, through Miran's natural, biological barriers. ~Good! Now, keep focusing on this connection for a moment~ He took a breath and continued. ~I'm not going to push any further in for now. However, if you want to, the more we communicate in this manner, the stronger the connection will become.~

Miran nodded physically not that he could see her do it. ~it's strange though~

~Strange, how?"~ he asked gently, as he continued to carefully build their bond.

She shrugged again, though he could not see it. ~It's weird for me to have someone else in my head.~

~If you want to stop for now, we will. This is a lot to take in, especially on the first go round.~ He sent her feelings of safety and affection.

~hmm, might be an idea... how long have we been at this?~

Pulling clear of her mind slowly, Gérard left a few of his own mental imprints behind, to help build their mental bond. Once they were separated, he opened his eyes. "It's been almost two hours, Mir. "The first few times, intakes a while to build a bridge between us. However, if you want to continue, it will get faster, the stronger our bond grows."

She shook her head. "I promised my sister I would take the twins for a bit today, while she is in meetings. I do not really have time today."

Grinning, Gérard chuckled softly. "No, I didn't mean now. I need to rest my mind before we try again. Your natural defenses are very powerful." He reached up and wiped the sweat that had been beading up on his forehead.

"I did warn you." She said with a smile. "My sister would be stronger as she is older, and she has had training from a Betazoid counsellor when she joined the fleet."

Gérard chuckled again. 'You did," he agreed. "However, I still enjoyed spending the time with you. I hope we can spend more time together again soon." He was starting to feel fatigued, but didn't want to worry Miran any.

"You should go rest," she could see it on his face. "I will be napping when the twins sleep anyway." She stood and held out a hand to him.

Smiling softly, he took her hand and stood up. "Thank you," he said softly. I'll walk you back to your tent." He offered her his left elbow.

Smiling she slid her arm through his and together they walked back to the tents.

~OFF~