Wedding Woe Part I

Posted on Saturday, 10 July 2021 - 12:11pm by Ensign Oriana Skye Sety & Lieutenant JG Hayashi Hamura

Mission: Operation: Lazarus
Location: USS Standing Bear | Crew Quarters
Timeline: 2394

ON:

Hamura tossed aside the tie that had been way too tight all evening. The wedding had been interesting and fun. Despite saying a quick exit was needed Hamura had stayed for the reception and had been surprised at how much the ship needed this wedding and this celebration.

Beaming; it was a word that Hamura would have used to describe the bride and the groom. Both had eyes only for one another and the captain had even played father of the bride. It was interesting to see.

Hamura, however, did notice one absence from the group; Oriana. She had arrived to ensure all the details were correct and that everything got started on time, Hamura had seen her there, and then just as the ceremony was starting, she had hastily left. At the time Hamura thought she had left to check on the reception details to ensure everything was right and she had done that, but she had been absent from the reception too. The quarters that they shared were quiet and Oriana’s room was open, but she was not there.

“Curious,” Hamura said prowling the rest of the area. It was clear that Hamura was alone and the energy that came with having Oriana there was gone. The quarters felt lonely, lifeless, and cold.

“Computer. Locate Ensign Oriana Sety.”

It took a moment, but the mechanical feminine voice said, “Ensign Oriana Sety is on the star observation deck.”

“Good choice.”

“Please restate command.”

After an eyeroll Hamura said, “Wasn’t talking to you, computer.” Taking a moment to change into a t-shirt and sweatpants Hamura headed to the observation deck. It was the best place to see the stars on the ship. It didn’t take long to get there on the account of the ship being so small but when Hamura entered the room it was dark. The outline of Oriana sitting on the floor cross-legged and watching the stars as the ship sped by. She sat still and unmoving as of lost in a trance or thoughts that were too heavy to hold.

“Kitten?”

The day had been stressful to say the least for Oriana. She had been working on her tasks for the CO, the tasks delegated by the XO, some department head assistance that she was providing and then there was the other things that had come up. Earlier she had watched her brother’s messages, and another came in just as she finished it. It was more urgent than the rest. She had read it and it had sucked the air out of her lungs.

She had almost felt her heart go cold. On top of that, the previous engineer, Eyelaya, had left a lot of wedding things undone and a to do list that was surprisingly detailed and easy to follow. That had been the hardest to bare, the wedding tasks. Stillwater had asked her to take those over and she had done it for him but every second that she’d spent working away on that wedding had all but destroyed her. Weddings were painful for her, and she really hadn’t wanted to work on it, but she had.

The ceremony had started, and she’d left the room to give herself a bit of space to breath. After checking on the details of the reception she had run away to the quarters she shared with Hamura and had showered, as if to get the stink of the wedding off, and then had changed and come here. She’d been here, in that very position for ours now. She looked up at the familiar voice. Despite her mood Hamura using the nickname made her heart flutter.

“Hi,” she simply said not taking her eyes off the stars as they flew past. She felt Hamura walk up to her and out of the corner of her eye she saw Hamura sit down beside her. It was as if a comforting wave of energy washed over her at Hamura’s nearness.

“Are you alright? You weren’t at the wedding or reception.”

“No. I was not.”

Hamura raised an eyebrow imitating the perfect Vulcan gesture. “Okay…so how come? It was a nice wedding, and I can see you worked hard to make it nice for everyone.”

“I’m glad that it went well,” she said.

Hamura sighed. “Okay…again what’s up?”

Oriana shrugged. “Weddings are not my thing.”

Hamura let out a sigh, “It’s more then that. You’re …. Depressed, I can sense it, you feel…” Hamura’s eyes closed as the Betazoid senses reached out. “You feel broken, scared, angry, upset, depressed, so many things.”

“Yes,” was all she said.

“Okay not good at Zombie talk. Just say something, talk to me.”

Oriana’s head lowered her hands clasped together. “It’s hard to explain.”

“So, take it slow. Just go a little at a time, you know?”

“I hate weddings.”

The bluntness and the flatness of her voice made Hamura laugh. “Well, that was easy to explain. How come?”

“Honestly? Jealousy, I’ll never have one and when I see one it breaks my heart. It’s like the highlight to my loneliness.”

Hamura sighed. Not knowing what else to do Hamura took one of her hands and held it gently. “You don’t know that. Why on Earth would you say that you won’t have a wedding?”

Oriana looked over at Hamura their eyes meeting. “Seriously? Who would marry someone like me?”

“Someone like you? What the heck is wrong with you? Why would you think that there is? You’re a smart, funny, beautiful woman. Why would someone not want to marry you?”

“I’m an ace who doesn't like physical intimacy Hamura, you know that.”

“So?”

“Would you marry someone like that?”

“Well yeah! Of course. I mean come on Oriana, there is nothing wrong with you.”

Oriana said nothing.

“It’s more then that though, something else is wrong.”

Oriana stayed silent and still a moment and then she reached over plucking a PaDD from beside her. “This is the latest from my brother.”

Hamura sensed the wave of pain and fear that came through her. Reaching over Hamura took the PaDD and read. It was only a moment that it took to read the text but anger and shot through Hamura. It was raw, powerful, and complete. Now Hamura understood.

Hamura shut the PaDD down wrapping an arm around Oriana.

“I wanted a new start Haya,” Oriana said using Hayashi’s shortened first name. “I wanted to close that chapter and I was succeeding until now.”

“What do you think your father will do?”

Suddenly Oriana burst into tears. “I don’t know.”

Hamura wrapped both arms around Oriana. “We’ll get through this, together. I promise you.”


To be Continued...