[AU] A World Away

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 6:03am by Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick & Mauricio Arnaldo
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 4:55pm

Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Deck 3

A Mission Post by 1st Lieutenant Mauricio Arnaldo & Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick
Mission: Divided We Fall
Location: Deck 3
Timeline:

A Marine without a purpose was like a ship without an engine. Mauricio Arnaldo had spent the last week listlessly patrolling the silent, empty halls of the remaining three decks of the Pandora without any real purpose. The other survivors were gathered in the Conference Room or the senior quarters. The ship was not under attack, nor any closer to being rescued. There was zero possibility that his services would be needed at all.

The young Marine sometimes liked to stop by the internal ramp-way that lead to Deck Four. He would just stand there with the door opened, staring out into the black vacant space for seemingly hours. He would sit down, cross legged, on the carpeted floor and just watch the nothingness outside.

Fick often seemed like he was happy-go-lucky and that he was just skipping through life the easy way, not caring or not paying attention to anything, but the reality was he paid attention to everything. A lot of times he used his "cute" behavior to distract people. Of course he had to admit that he also used it to bring humor to tense situations. He had seen the young Marine come up here several times and finally his curiosity got the best of him and he followed.

He stopped and watched the Marine for several quiet moments. In so many ways he understood the man's behavior. Fick did it too. He would often go to the end of the Jefferies tubes and just sit. It allowed him to clear his head. He didn't really want to interrupt the Marine's alone time, but Fick too had been feeling alone. Maybe it was time for new friends and Fick was never short of friendlieness. He took a deep breath and stepped forward until he was next to the Marine and then sat down, cross-legged, next to him. "Hi..." he said softly.

Mauricio jumped a little and then laughed. “Oh, hello, Lieutenant. I’m sorry, did you need me?”

Fick grinned. "Nah... but you look like you could use some company and you can call me Fick. I'm pretty sure that I'm not really a Lieutenant here. At least not at the moment. So is this your thinking spot? I have one too... in the Jefferies tubes."

“Mauricio,” the Marine replied, giving a glib salute. “Jeffries tubes, huh? Too claustrophobic for me. I’m feeling closed in enough already being on a ship with just three decks.”

Fick's smile went a little wan. He looked out into the blackness and sighed. "Yeah... well I'm not very big. So the Jefferies tubes are comfortable. My boyfriend and I used to sneak into vacant areas and snog." He chuckled, but it wasn't humor. "So, Marine... how are you doing?"

Mauricio smirked a little as he tried to suppress his internal critic of the officer, knowing he would never be allowed to requisition ship space for personal relations in such a manner. ‘The Marines have different standards than the Starfleet folks’, he thought. At least they used to. He wasn’t sure what his standards were now.

“I’d feel a lot better if I knew what was happening.” He finally answered. “Point me at something, give me a job to do. This endless sitting around in the middle of... nothing.” He sighed loudly. “It doesn’t feel like we’re working towards anything. It feels like we’re waiting to die.”

Fick actually laughed and nodded. "I'm totally right there with you. I feel like... we might even already be dead and just don't know it yet. It's bizarre to not know. I feel like I always know. I mean yeah there's always a little bit of uncertainty with everything, but I had this confidence in how the world worked... ya know? And it seems like here... that is just... shattered." His shoulders sagged a little and he looked sidelong at the Marine. He was kinda cute. Too bad most military boys didn't go that way. He was, of course, making a gross assumption, but didn't recognize it as such.

“I’m not ready for los Muertos,” Mauricio replied gravely, still staring ahead. “Far too much left to do. Besides, this is supposed to be a science ship, right? All that fancy equipment and sciencey people? Why haven’t they figured a way out yet?”

Fick shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not a sciencey person. I'm a flyboy. I mean... okay... I can do some engineering stuff, but that's not science. That's more like... vehicle repair. I did built a Klingon motorcycle though." He laughed a little. "That bike was how I met my boyfriend."

Mauricio smiled a little, noticing it was the third time the Lieutenant had mentioned his partner. The Marine had no one at home to miss, or be missed by, but that didn't make things any easier. "Who's your boyfriend?" He asked curiously.

"Lieutenant K'Laus," Fick said softly. "Hey, what's los Muertos? I've never heard that before. I've heard a lot of languages too... being from Risa and all." He grinned and seemed to want to change the topic off of invisible boyfriends. "Where are you from?"

The Marine nodded and leaned back a little. "It's Spanish for the dead. I come from a little town in Mexico, on Earth. We have a lot of traditions around our departed loved ones, but I am not ready to see them again just yet." He gave a laugh. "Especially not, as one of them. But that's how I know we are not dead, my friend, this is nothing like the afterlife. This is something else."

Fick leaned back as well and looked at Mauricio and smiled. "I always wondered what it would be like to have traditions. Risa is a little short on those... at least ones that are in any way native to the people. We've spent so much time with everything surrounding the tourist industry that we've sort of lost sight of who we are as a people. My father's people have more traditions... he's Bajoran and all... but he never really wanted to teach me anything about any of that." He put his hands behind his head and actually lay back on the deck. "Did you have a big family or a small one?"

"I've never been to Risa." Mauricio just shrugged, "But I have heard Bajorans are usually very dedicated to their traditions. It's a shame your father didn't pass those on, I've always felt traditions bring families together, give you comfort and support." The Marine sighed a little when considering his own family. "Yeah, pretty big familia. I am the youngest of four kids, but two of my brothers have passed. Killed in the Dominion War. And I have many cousins, though none of them went into service. They're most back home still."

Fick smiled and rolled toward Mauricio to look at him and smile more. "I always wondered what it would be like to have a big family. I'm the only kid. Just me and my parents. My mother's family lives there, but I'm pretty sure my father's family is all dead, Cardassian occupation and all. I'm sorry about your brothers." He frowned and tucked his arm under his head so he could lay on it. "I can't even imagine what that would be like. Is your family close?"

"Sorry about your family. Seems all this life give us is more death." Mauricio replied. "Yes we're close... Uh, we were. My parents didn't want me to join Starfleet, because of what happened to my brothers, so they're pretty cross with me about it. But as I told them, I'm going to make a difference. I'm going to do something to stop all the fighting."

"Interesting way to go about peace joining the military," Fick said, his tone was without judgement though. It was more of an observation. "Although, not everyone can be reasoned with and it is true that sometimes the only way to peace is through violence. So many worlds out there can attest to that." He smiled. "It's been really nice to just talk to someone about normal stuff... ya know? I mean... I've enjoyed talking to you."

"Me too." Mauricio replied, giving the Lieutenant a smile in return. "It's good to feel normal again, even if for a moment."

"Maybe we should make this a regular thing, just for our sanity... until we can get home," Fick suggested.

"I'd like that." The Marine replied, giving a nod. "I try to come here every day during my off duty time. Maybe we could cook up some rations and make it a picnic?" He suggested out loud, before really considering the idea. "If that's, you know, okay?"

Fick giggled. "A picnic! We should totally have a picnic... Maybe we could do better than rations. I'm not sure, but we could try." He looked at Mauricio, thinking about what they were talking about. "Are you asking me on a date?" He intended the question as a joke.

“Oh, no!” Mauricio cried, believing he’d made an inappropriate suggestion. “Just trying to find something normal... it’s okay, we don’t have to.”

Fick laughed again and shrugged. "I was teasing you... and I love the idea. I also agree with you. Something normal needs to happen. At least in my life... sounds like you could use some normal too." He grinned. "It's okay."

“Good,” Mauricio replied with a nod. “I’ll see what I can rustle up for tomorrow. It’ll be nice to have something to look forward to for once.”

Fick laughed. "Rustle up? I mean, I get it, but I've never heard that expression."

"Well, get used to be expressions." Mauricio replied with a cheeky smile.

The Marine settled back into looking at the dark abyss ahead of them, somewhat comforted by having something normal to do. If only that helped their situation.

OFF