Cracks in the Foundations

Posted on Tue Jun 21st, 2016 @ 12:55am by Captain Rueben Gregnol
Edited on on Sat Jun 25th, 2016 @ 10:50pm

Mission: Mission 1 - Bridges
Location: SS Mary Rose - Deck 5
Timeline: MD27 :: 15:55
1847 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Rueben frowned as he saw Keera walking towards him, he wanted to turn and walk away. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the woman who knew far more about him than he liked. He offered a look that wasn't quite as cold as the one he wanted to give her.

"Settling okay" he wondered all his executive officer training coming in handy.

Either the man forgot she could feel what he did or she didn't make it clear enough on their first meeting. It didn't matter to Keera, but she'd rather be on good terms with Reuben, now knowing the truth. Besides, he was rather handsome. Not that she would make advances with the man, because he was once Jeass' fiancé. However, when she got here, maybe they all could have a fun night together.

She decided to make a joke of it. "Not what you truly wanted to say," she chuckled, "but yes, I am. Thank you for the accommodations."

"But i am too polite... too Starfleet to say what is really on my mind." He murmured as he stopped and looked at her carefully. "What would you like me to say... Stay away from JJ... Get off my ship?" He demanded in a low deadly voice.

Maybe it was better for Keera not to have this man trust her. Every man she had trust in her past used her for their own benefit without any thought of how that might make her feel. At least with Reuben, she could be prepared for that to happen. He didn't like her from the beginning. If those she trusted had used her, why not him?

"You know, Ruby," Keera laughed, "I just may prove valuable to you someday. What better way to get back at the Admiral than for him to find out his girl is with you?"

"Don't call me that!" He shot wanting to throw her out of the air lock.

"Point taken, Rube," Keera fired back. "Look, I know you don't care for me. But give it time; I may grow on you." She gave him a wink and blew him a kiss, thinking the conversation was over. What more was there to say. He didn't care for her. Maybe she shouldn't have told him that Jeass was her lover. Maybe that was the last straw. But, even before that, Reuben didn't care for her.

"Don't... Don't play these games. We both like Jeassaho." He said in low voice. Pleading almost with her.

Keera froze as she turned to go. Like was the wrong word to use there, especially for him. Keera did love Jeass, but realized she couldn't give her everything a man could. They were more like friends with benefits. Reuben however, fell into the deep waters of love. He drowned in them, which was why this was difficult for him.

Keera turned back to Reuben. "Love is more like it," she corrected the man. "So, what would do you expect from me?"

"You love her?" Those words surprised him. He didn't expect them but Jeassaho was easy to love. He had known the second she walk up to him and told him it was hid responsibility as security to look after her.

Keera took a step closer, wanting to reach out to the man, but controlled the impulse. In all of her life of no-string relationships, she had never found a man to love her in the deep way she felt from Reuben for Jeass. It was something Keera desperately needed from a male figure after the epic fails of the two fathers she had known. Inwardly, she envied Jeass just a bit because of this. Yes, she loved her, but envied her at the same time.

"Yes," Keera admitted to Reuben. She lowered her head as she further confessed, "Maybe not the same as you, but I do love here. I'm not a man, so there's some things I can't give her. I can release the tension within her and bring her intense pleasure, but she only fully feels secure and stable in a man's arms. In your arms," she quietly confessed, her eyes no lowered to the floor.

"Not that Marine you kept mentioning?" He demanded bitterly. All he wanted was to take the woman he loves in his arms and show her how much he missed her.

Keera basked in the feeling of love she felt from Reuben. She wished it were for her. She'd give anything to know a man felt that way about her.

"No," Keera confessed. "She tries, but can't get over you." She still kept her eyes lowered to the deck.

"Why do you love her?" He demanded wondering why she was staring at the floor. She normally glared and stared him in the eyes.

"She's my friend," Keera explained. "I never had a close one. Our friendship has added benefits. When two empaths make love...well, you can imagine how eventful the night is."

She looked up to catch Reuben's gaze. "It's just that I can't give her everything she needs," Keera admitted. And I need more than she can give. A tear fell from her left eye. "That's one reason I chose to seek you out. Yes, maybe we can help each other to break away from Intel. But, she needs you to complete her."

Rueben frowned a little bit as he realised a few things about Keera. She truly possibly loved Jeassaho enough to let her go. "That didn't answer my question at all." He murmured wanting to know exactly.

Jeass wasn't like others she knew, where they just wanted Keera around for her skills. In fact, Jeass hadn't given in at first to Keera's advances. As their friendship grew, the more they realized that they would more fully enjoy each other as lovers. They were friends with benefits.

"Really," Keera thoughtfully said, "it's because she needed me as a person. Most people I have known only wanted me around for my skills. If I didn't have them or there was another who had the skills, I wasn't needed. Jeass did cause me to feel used."

"I know why I love her. The moment I saw her standing there in these ridiculous heels, I knew that I had to protect this woman who should have been a doctor but had this stubborn streak that made her strive out to be an Engineer." He grinned.

Keera took Reuben's hand. "Hold on to that," she said, "once she feels I'm settled in, I'll get her here. I'm not telling her whose ship I'm on, so when she gets here, be ready. She's pretty angry."

"She doesn't know what happened." He said weakly. He wished he could just tell her right then and there what was going on.

"I know," Keera explained. "I didn't fully know until I met you again. I had to take the chance for her sake. Everyone thinks you left her to die so you could start your new life. But, feeling your intensity, I realised that the Admiral is using you as he had used me."

She lowered her eyes again, not wishing him to see them redden. "It's the story of my life. From on user to another."

Rueben burst out laughing, he suspecting the Marine put those thoughts in her head. "Why would I leave Jeassaho when all I've wanted for the past few years is to have her lying beside me and be allowed my commission back. I would take being a lowly Brig Officer or an armoury guard if they let me. I wake up most nights and for a split second im in her quarters in the extreme humid temperature, with her curled against me, her hair everywhere and it breaks me a little more when the illusion is shattered." He poured his heart out actually thinking this woman might know his feelings better than anyone else.

Yes, she felt every aspect of his aching heart. The deep pain that seemed to be in a chasm never finding its way out. It was to the point the pain almost felt physical.

"I wish there were something I could do," she replied. "I know your pain."
Rueben just shook his head and turned away. He didn't want to talk anymore. Days like this led to nights where he drunk.

Keera looked at the man, feeling his misery. It was heavy, as a weight upon the heart. It was just a matter of time and she'd be here. How long? Keera wasn't sure. Keera put a hand to his right shoulder. She did the only thing she could think of at the moment. Easing the tension by kneading the muscle in the shoulder. If it helped, she'd begin the left. The msn winced at her touch on his shoulder.

"That hurts..." He admitted paling from the pain that went through him suddenly.

She stopped the action. "I'm sorry, just trying to help in a way I know. I was raised to work in a massage house." She lowered her head feeling useless. "I'll leave you now," she quietly spoke. "I can feel you're hurting too much to continue talking. I'm certainly available if you need to talk more."

"Muscle damage!" He said moving his tee a little show the deep scars.

Keera lightly touched his scars, remembering those on Jeass. It seemed to be poetic that both had outward scars, symbolizing those that were inside.

She sighed, "They match those on Jeass' abdomen." Rueben let his tee fall back into place. He frowned, he really should look at what that Bolian Thief had gotten him.

"She got hurt?" He wondered. His memory of that day was fuzzy.

"In more ways than one," Keera revealed. "She was burned, she lost your child, and she lost you." Rueben frowned he k ew that and he regretted it every second of the day.

"I didn't know about the baby till Chatty told me." He said quickly.

Keera was worried that Reuben couldn't handle anymore information. He seemed the strong and rugged type. However, he seemed to be hanging on a lifeline that was fraying and only had one string left. She gave him a hug, letting him know she understood.

"I know," Keera whispered. "I'm so sorry that Intel has ruined your life."

Rueben froze at the woman's hug. He didn't relax into it he was so used to people not hugging him he didn't quite know what to do.

Keera sensed the confusion. However, she thought he might have been uncomfortable with her because of his love for Jeass. She quickly released him and stepped back.

"I'm sorry," she quietly said. "You just seemed to need that. I better move on. If you need me for anything," she sincerely added, "you know where to find me." The man nodded. His voice frozen in his voice as he watched his only other connection to his soulmate walk away.

OFF::

Rueben Gregnol
Captain
SS Mary Rose

Keera
Data Broker
SS Mary Rose
[NPC - Joss]