Catching up and opening up

Posted on Wednesday, 27 May 2020 - 8:22am by Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Raith Kolani
Edited on on Wednesday, 27 May 2020 - 9:13am

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: Raith’s Quarters
Timeline: 2393 MD7 Evening

With everyone back onboard ship T’Lanna couldn’t wait to be reunited with Raith. She’d missed him while they were apart and was looking forward to hearing all about his adventures off ship. Most of all she just needed the closeness the two of them shared. Arriving at his Quarters she hoped he wouldn’t mind the visit, pressing the chime she waited for an answer.

Having put in his report from the AWay Mission on Morning Garden and what information they had found out whilst there, Raith was glad to be back on board once again. Although the Shuttle trip home had been quite uneventful, he also realized once more how much he had missed T'Lanna and it also brought home to him how he felt about her now that they had decided they would be together.

As he packed away his stuff, Raith heard the doorbell. "Come," he said and then for a moment added. "Come in" not knowing who it was.

T’Lanna entered Raith's Quarters smiling as she saw him. “Hey, I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time? I missed you while you were away!”

Raith smiled as he turned around to see T'Lanna waiting in the doorway. "Hello you, come in," he said as he put down the clothes he'd just folded up to be put away. Walking over to her, Raith took T'Lanna into a tight hug. "I missed you too," he said.

As he moved back a bit, Raith ran his fingers through her hair. "I missed you whilst I was gone...that Away Mission felt like it could go on forever and it seemed that way," he admitted. "Have you been ok?"

She gently held onto Raith. “Yeah, it’s been okay. I had to go down to Broz and play Romulan, not one of my favourite impersonations but it had to be done. I’m glad to be back here with you though. I missed you very much.”

Raith couldn't help but grin. "You also play the part of a Romulan? Wow, I never knew that you were so talented." He could also see that this was something that had also troubled her as well.

"Hey, are you ok? I can imagine it wasn't something you wanted to do willingly, but would have been for the good of the mission?" he offered.

“It was, it’s not like we met a load of people just a shaman and her guard but we didn’t hang around.” She offered a smile. “I guess it’s that I didn’t have to have any surgical alterations to do it, Commander Victrix figured the pointed ears were enough.” She walked over to a mirror and looked at herself. “Somehow that makes me feel ... less than comfortable. It obviously wouldn’t work on the Romulans we know, but to those people, it would make me some powerful deity or respected figure. I’m not sure I like that.”

Raith watched as she walked over to the mirror. Fully aware that there were times when being a Starfleet Officer often meant that you were required to perform your duty in difficult circumstances and often do things you either didn't like or wanted to do... and T'Lanna was now going through the fallout of this.

He walked up behind her and gently held her shoulders. "It's okay... what you need to remember is that....that powerful deity isn't you. You are not that powerful deity either. You're a good person who has had to do something very difficult that goes against your what you believe is right...but you have to remember that you are not that person at all," he explained.

"You are T'Lanna, you'll always be T'Lanna and you will always be that good person...despite what duty asks of you," he ended, making sure that he made full contact with her eyes as he stood behind her and talked to her reflection in the mirror.

“You know you’d make a very good Counsellor.” T’Lanna smiled as she turned to face Raith. “Thank you for making me feel better.” She gently brushed his cheek with her hand. “I am a lucky woman to have you Raith.”

"A Counsellor? never thought about that one before..." Raith said as he saw her demeanour start to become more positive after listening to him. He gave her a hug, hoping it would help to make her feel a little better.

"I told you, you and I, we're together...I'm going nowhere and I'm yours. Period." He made sure his statement was clear and seeing T'Lanna nod as she heard him also made him realise that she knew this and understood that this was what they both wanted. Come what may.

“I’m yours too Raith, no matter what.” She grinned. “So how’s about we cuddle up and you can tell me all about your time off ship? We have all night after all.” She smiled as she took his hand.

"I like that idea," he said, before moving to the replicator and ordered them both some drinks. He put the drinks on the small coffee table and then joined T'Lanna on the sofa. "I should be honest and say that you may have been more of a help on our Away Team whilst on Morning Garden, I've never felt more uncomfortable on a planet where a colony is run by both Humans and Vulcans and none of them thinks highly of Starfleet..."

Raith took a drink before he carried on. "It was difficult to cope with but at the same time, it wasn't a wasted mission either," Raith said.

“I wish I could have been there to help you. It would have been nice to work alongside you as a team.” T’Lanna smiled warmly. “I’m glad it wasn’t a wasted mission for you though.” She picked up her drink and sipped it before putting the glass back down and cuddling up with Raith. “What was the planet like? When we went to Broz there was a gorgeous sandy beach that I would have loved to have shared with you.”

Raith smiled. "That sounds wonderful. Morning Garden was a much more sparse place to visit, in fact, it almost had a more Vulcan feel to it even though we knew that there were Humans based there as well," he explained.

"It was also beautiful in a way as well. Bright sunlight showed many crops and plants were in season and there was endless colour, almost as if someone had taken a canvas and decided to just create an explosion of colour. There are were mostly Farmhouses and barns on the outskirts of the town we visited, Irilia Province. There were lots of farmer and fish markets every day whilst we were there and despite the general feeling of not welcoming off-worlders, there were other civilian craft there as well from other worlds..." he continued.

“Wow! That sounds amazing.” T’Lanna smiled. “Perhaps you can show me a replica on the holodeck one day so I can see it for myself.”

"I think that I can arrange that some time, then you can see how the place looks for yourself," Raith said. "We were lucky to find out that Captain Stillwater was there, however, I got the feeling that as we were from Starfleet, we weren't welcome. It's not somewhere that I'd recommend going on leave to."

Raith relaxed back as he cuddled with T'Lanna some more. "What I do know is that I have missed you and I'm glad that we're both able to catch up in peace together," he admitted. "Although it was fun being on an away mission with Alex, it wasn't fun being planetside with our guests."

{OFF}