Crunch Time

Posted on Sun Aug 7th, 2022 @ 5:46pm by Leiddem Kea (*) & Delaney O'Callaghan

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Cargo Bay
Timeline: MD 05 16:00
4657 words - 9.3 OF Standard Post Measure

The lights kept going out.

It had been predicted, at least, and thus was less of a shock than it was a nuisance. At first, it had been more of a flicker, the occasionally dimming to herald their increasing proximity to the storm that would eventually, likely, wipe out lights altogether for however long it took them to move beyond it. Gradually, it had worsened to sporadic patches of darkness up to ten seconds long and each time, Delaney had held her breath and wondered if this was it. Under her blankets, a flashlight hanging from her belt loops gave reassurance enough that she'd at least be able to get to her designated bunker with minimal fuss but the battery was low enough that she didn't want to risk using it until she was sure. This particular outage had reached 15 seconds and counting, which is exactly what Delaney was doing. 16, 17, 18...

She jumped slightly as lighting returned, though it was dimmer and punctuated by one globe in the corner that strobed several times before blowing.

It wouldn't be long now.

Straightening to a stand, Laney murmured to the crewman she'd been assisting with a cot repair and glanced towards the command area in anticipation of Ford's official interjection. Easing herself through the gradually-increasing huddle of cold bodies, the Operations adjunct slipped quietly out of the doors that lead to the chapel. One of the final major tasks was relocating any patients that could be back into the main area and that made it an easy assumption that she'd find the bulk of the remaining active crew there. At the very least, it was where Leiddem would be.

The man in question stepped through the door and unbuttoned his coat and his rebreather from checking the perimeter after giving out the porridge. He looked freezing but in good spirits. "Nice and secure," he announced to anyone who was listening in a tone that was far too light and breezy for anyone else but he was trying to keep up morale. When no one perked up or even bothered to respond he looked around more and noticed Delaney. "How can I help?" He asked quietly.

There was a moment where, even from beneath her blankets, Delaney's slight shrug was evident. She'd exhausted her own reserves of adequate responses to that question and was pretty much running dry herself. "I came to see if they're moving anyone else to the main hangar," she stated quietly, not having made it very far into the chapel before deciding to hang back. "It doesn't look like there's anyone being treated at least, so I guess they're done relocating Sickbay for the duration of the storm." The only people left were securing the equipment that had to remain, a job that seemed mostly completed. Had she been alone, Delaney would have simply wandered back to the cargo bay and improvised on the way what she was going to do next. Now, with Leiddem to witness there being really very little left that required any attention, momentum wasn't quite as easy to maintain. Instead, Delaney studied his face, her own expression saturated by an exhaustion that was absolutely uncharacteristic, and quietly asked, "You okay?"

"That is good we have no one walking wounded or anything. Was coming to help where I can before I bunker down and get snuggly" He said before rubbing his face and wiping off the dampness from the melting ice off of his face. It was not a nice experience noticing icicles on his eyelashes but checking the barrier needed to be done. "I have had better weeks but yeah not too bad. Things are all done and secure." He assured.

It was a sensation that Delaney couldn't explain, though perhaps tell-tale signs of it explained why she'd been content to leave Leiddem to his own devices and only verify his continued safety in fleeting interactions. In his company, where pretence was more or less not very successful because he had a habit of reading her like a book, the weight of everything doing its best to pull her down seemed harder to ignore. It wasn't that the Betazoid added to the burden, more that she was just less fixated on trying to shield him from how it was affecting her than she was everyone else. A resolute brave face was a natural preference, not only because Delaney preferred to add value to solutions than problems, but because stubborn denial of weakness usually let her barge through obstacles until they ceased qualifying as such. This was bigger. Pervasive. This wasn't going to go away.

She nodded mutely at his reassurances and broke gaze to watch the others work, fatigue rendering her gaze more of a vacant stare. With a blink, Delaney rallied and willed herself to make eye contact again. "What else needs doing?" To her surprise, the words came out barely above a whisper.

Lieddem paused at her question. He had come to her as he had nothing to do now that he had secured everything and she was asking him what there was to do. That was irony at it’s best. He had nothing to do and she had nothing to do. “Nothing.” He said honestly with a small smile. “We could do nothing together?” He offered. “At least until more people get cold and join us?”

Hearing it from him, that acceptance of inevitability, the realisation that there really wasn't anything they could do now except wait it out and hope that all their preparations were enough, twisted something inside of Delaney that was foreign and unwelcome. It made her faint smile fleeting but she nodded along with it, resigned at least to his accuracy. "Yeah, okay."

Movement back towards their sleeping tent was smooth enough until, on the approach, the lights dimmed again. Delaney, who had moved ahead, stopped suddenly enough to create a gentle collision and immediately tensed. Squeezing her eyes shut to control her initial impulse to swear, the bundled-up redhead leaned backwards instead to the reassuring bulk of her boyfriend. "I kind of just wish they'd go out and stay out," she tried to quip. "This is like the worst carnival ride in history at this point."

The man wrapped an arm around her resting it on her stomach for a long moment until the light came back on. "I do not. I like that fact I know it is going to come back on. I like that reminder that it will be okay." he said kissing behind her ear before pushing her to the little area they had created with a tent.

Manoeuvring inside had become an awkward artwork, the extra bundle of blankets both of them were forced to wear crowding the minimal standing space. After several attempts, Delaney wriggled around to face Leiddem with an expression that was far more typical of her; wry amusement. "See? Now we're playing bumper cars. This is some trashy theme park that hasn't updated its thrills in decades." Carefully sliding her arms beneath her poncho, Delaney lifted it up over her head and immediately regretted it. "Holy balls." There was no need to make any sort of proclamation about the cold, announcing it had been redundant for hours now, but the shock of it saw her wrap the blankets around her like a burrito as she struggled to remove her shoes standing up.

They had been given some instruction by the medical team about how best to balance wearing layers and sharing body heat. In Delaney's case, she was lucky enough to have an ex-marine for a bunk-mate and, in the end, she accepted defeat with a soft huff of laughter and let Leiddem take over. Once they were curled into their blanket nest, limbs arranged as best they could to ensure multiple points of contact, Delaney rested her forehead against his sternum and released some of the tension she'd been holding as a long, silent sigh.

"How long do you think it will be now?," she asked quietly after a moment.

Leiddem stayed quiet trying to keep his voice patient throughout despite how eager he was to finally just lay down and just relax for a bit. It was a strange feeling in his mind for someone who was active and wanted to be moving constantly. “Not a clue. No idea what time it is nor how long it will take to get to the moon. Jeassaho seemed positive about it and ready for a challenge.” He said thoughtfully relieved for the blankets under his back keeping the chill off his back as well cushion it. Even he could not spend hours lying on the floor without punishment.

She hadn't expected a definitive answer, though the inevitability of further uncertainty only cemented the feeling of dread that had preyed on Delaney all day. It was an odd sensation in that it didn't really resemble anything she'd experienced in the past. There had been several times previous where she'd been forced to deal with stress, and tension, and heartache, and the sensation of slowly circling a dark pit that wanted to drag her down, but she'd never lost the sense that things would improve. Keeping herself afloat, digging deep to find the determination to rise above her own mind's harsh inventiveness, was not usually something Delaney needed to think about. Shared optimism and determination form part of the core traits that had bonded her to Leiddem in the first place.

They were currently somewhat abandoning her.

Danger; pure, present, persistent danger, had just never been something she'd faced before. Her experienced diverged from the former marine's in that regard, as even their last shared adventure didn't really count. The Holoworld had been dangerous for much longer than any of them had expected but it had only threatened Delaney directly once, and that had been very swift and immediately dealt with. This slow, plodding march towards a threat that they couldn't outrun was confronting. As she closed her eyes and tried to let the thud of Leiddem's pulse against her forehead act as reassurance, Delaney let go of the restraint she'd cobbled together all day and chose honesty with the one person on board she could actually trust with it.

"I'm scared," she admitted softly. "I don't know why I should be surprised but I just didn't think it would hit me this hard."

Leiddem would never admitted that he had been feeling her fear since they had settled down to try and relax and keep as warm as they could. “It is more than likely hitting so hard as we have nothing to do but wait for one thing or another. It’s a healthy emotion though, we should be fearing this. So can I admit something too.” He paused and kissed her forehead. “I am a bit scared too. This is really the unknown.” He admitted hoping he did not sound like he was only saying it to help her cope.

One thing that rarely required a lot of effort was trusting Leiddem to speak frankly. For all his soft, gooey centre, he was also as much of a pragmatist as she was and had that Marine mentality when it came to dealing with exactly what was in front of him. He'd been her only constant through all of this, the only one of her closest friendship group who hadn't, at some point, left her scrambling to figure out what she'd done wrong. It hadn't left her clingy, because clinginess wasn't Delaney's style, but it had allowed for this sensation of being swaddled by understanding and affection every night they had laid down together and finally had time to decompress in each other's arms. That, she was coming to realise, was what she needed. That was exactly the kind of relationship dynamic that felt healthy. Connected, but by bonds with enough elasticity that they didn't have to live in each other's back pocket.

For the first time all day, Delaney felt the tension cramping the base of her neck finally let go. And in place of the hurt feelings, and uncertainty over her dizzy spells, and feeling isolated and scared, an overwhelming sensation of inner-warmth flooded her with gratitude. Even before they'd decided to give romance a shot, Leiddem had been this person to her. A voice of reason, a kindred spirit who not only understood her ebb and flow but actively encouraged it. Would he be enough if her friendship group continued to fracture the way it felt determined to? Possibly not, but he would always be a source of strength when she returned from a day of trying to keep it together and she loved him for it. She loved him. The full radiance of that admission was the one thing about their current situation that Delaney didn't fear.

"I'm so glad you're here," was her first attempt to articulate. Had she been aware that he'd already mapped an emotional awareness of her state of mind, Delaney may have simply allowed the honesty of her happiness speak for itself.

“Me too.” He said without a moment of stopping. He really could not see himself anywhere else than with her in their little house so to speak. No one else had come close to the confusion and intimacy he was sharing with the woman and he really wished he could explain it to her. “What are you thinking?” He wondered softly trying to keep the conversation flowing seeing it allowed them both to speak and share what was going through her mind.

"Do you mean right now or ten minutes ago?," Delaney joked with a soft huff of laughter. It was easier, she had determined, to veer closer to her normal self when Leiddem was present. The day have been one of extreme tension and the week, with its slow disintegration of behaviour on several fronts, had easily been the worst since she'd arrived. Somewhere beneath the agitation of cold and vertigo, Delaney still held out hope for a return to the security of friendships that didn't involve constant bickering, but for the moment, her only source of reliability was tickling her hair with each exhalation. "I keep thinking of home," she admitted. "Wondering what everyone's doing right now, trying not to think too hard about what happens to them if I don't make.."

Her tone tapered off, unwilling to give voice to the pessimism that came from having to consider worst-case scenarios.

"But mostly this is just making me realise I made the right choice." Pulling back just a little, Delaney craned her head to look up at him. "I don't like that I can't see them, or reach out to them, but if I was back in Ireland, I wouldn't be here with you." Delaney smiled faintly. "Remind me to thump you for turning me into a sap later. Right now, you get a free pass." She leaned until her forehead rested against his nose. The swirl of her emotions twisted again, another tug of a powerful sense of connection that ought to have left her feeling wary but honestly didn't. "Mostly, I'm just feeling incredibly lucky."

“You would not be here at all even if it’s not quite how I imagined my life or this moment. Goddess, even the lift was not how I imagined first kiss but beggars cannot be choosy.” He finally said deciding what to say. It was not hard thinking about it all but he was really trying to not mess up anything with her when it felt perfect. “I will remind you at the most impromptu moment.” He promised. “We are both lucky, babe.”

It was the calmest Delaney had felt all day. More to the point, her head was the clearest it had been, which possibly gave some validity to everyone's insistence that she take to bed much earlier than she had but also, Laney preferred to think, was just a reflection of how she always felt in the Betazoid's company. Grounded. Focused. Granted, he could provoke her like no other and if they took it into their heads to incite mischief at the same time, the resulting shenanigans rarely spared anyone but Leiddem knew time and place far more instinctively than Delaney ever had. Slowly, over time, she'd adjusted the way she approached her impulses. These past six months had changed her. He'd changed her.

And so it was hard to regret being here, even though that meant being currently confronted by her own mortality. And it was also hard to spend what might be their last moments together agonising about issues outside their control. If they got through this, there would be time to bring him up to speed on her conversation with Curtis, to enlist his help in repairing the bridges neither of them had been aware they'd damaged. Right now, and perhaps they'd pushed it right down to the wire, but there was finally time for just the two of them. Time to finally address whatever needed to be said before there was no longer a chance to say it.

"So how did you imagine it?" The sly humour was back in her tone, indominable now that he'd managed to bolster her spirits.

"Oh well, I imagine something a little more romantic and possible less dark. Maybe taking you for a meal in one of the ice caves or something. Something a lot more romantic." He hated to admit that he was that soppy and romantic but he was. Maybe it was the fact he had grown up surrounded by more females than he cared to think about or maybe it was something else but he had always been like that towards men or women. "Maybe I just want to treat you right?" He offered with a bit of a shrug trying to not seem to under the spotlight despite how a spotlight would be warming right then and there.

To be fair, he'd earned the kiss she placed on his jawline just from having imagined it at all because there was security in knowing that none of this was built on fleeting attraction. Six months of solid friendship made for a very comfortable foundation, and having discovered through the day's slow deterioration that some of her other friendships just didn't have the cushioning to deal with life-or-death scenarios, Delaney found herself back at a place of peace purely because it didn't matter. Very rarely did her own spirits ebb low enough to warrant bolstering and it seemed fitting that it be confined to the intimacy of a connection like theirs, rather than an expectation that someone like Curtis have any idea what to do when his friend wasn't behaving normally. Some friendships were fair-weather and that was okay. It wasn't as if Delaney attracted thunderstorms very often.

"Well, for the record," she murmured, "I thought it was perfect. Nearly." A grin curved her lips against the prickle of his days-old stubble. "Got interrupted way too quickly."

“Well I did think to keep you there but it seemed that it would … almost lower the tone of what I was going for.” He chuckled trying to lean back away from her lips that were tickling him. “I’ve rushed things before and it’s not gone well. I did not want that again.”

"Ehhh, well, we both know my track record." She'd confided in him once, not long after the entire Holoworld situation had left them both in a particularly reflective mood. That late night conversation had probably been a turning point, the first time Delaney could actually remember a pull that was stronger than physical attraction. That had been present from the start and hadn't seemed like enough of a reason to risk potential complications. It went without saying that she was beyond grateful now that she'd controlled her impulses.

Tucking herself back under his chin, now a fraction warmer than when they'd first arrived, Delaney closed her eyes and found it easier than it had been all day to see past their current predicament to a time where they were immersed in the challenge of making this work amidst a normal routine. What struck her as the most impressive thing was that she couldn't really see monumental changes to the way they already orbited each other. Both up early, workouts before breakfast, the usual breakfast table whilst the others rolled in, bleary-eyed. Work duties that moved them in circles around each other, occasionally intersecting but never piled directly on top of each other. Basketball, poker, pool, terrible karaoke... They'd already built their relationship to a point of sturdiness; the only difference that remained was agreeing on whose quarters they'd wind up crashing in. And maybe the occasional date. He did do a romantic dinner very well, after all.

Everything felt very...solid. Even her arms, curled up and pressed between them, snuggled against the reassurance of his bulk and could testify to his strength. It would just take the tiniest flick for her to fall in love. Like anyone believes you don't already love him to distraction, she admonished herself.

“You… you love me?” The man said before he could stop himself from sharing the stray thought he had heard. “Sorry you were very loud then, Del.” The man apologised instantly wishing he could have stopped his surprised tone.

It spoke a lot to Delaney's natural disposition that her initial reaction was one of intrigue rather than embarrassment. "Wait, what?" Pulling back, her blue eyes scanned his features like someone scouring a newspaper for vital information. "You heard that?"

The man lowered his head for a moment before he looked back up searching for something. When he couldn’t find what he was looking for he nodded. “Yeah it was hard to miss that thought.” He said scrubbing his face.

Just like any other time when the topic of telepathy had arisen, Delaney's inquisitiveness overrode any sense of anticipated trepidation. The concept of being understood on that level fascinated her, as someone who often struggled to convey her deeper thoughts and feelings with any eloquence. As he studied her, she returned his scrutiny until, finally grasping the specifics of this particular exchange, a slow grin spread across her features.

"Cheater."

The man looked embarrassed to say the least he really had not set out to pry it had just happened as he was comfortable and her thoughts were just there. “I did not mean to cheat.” He assured quickly trying to placate his own annoyance at having over stepped.


"I know," Delaney was quick to reassure. She hoped, at least, if he was this capable of picking up on her thoughts that he at least knew how sincere she was when she said she didn't mind. "Say something to me telepathically," she invited, adroitly dodging, at least for a moment, the topic of inquiry. Love was kind of a big deal, after all, and she was only just sorting through her head in regard to it.

The man looked at her and shrugged. What could he do other than agree? “I do not know if it’s going to work here.” The man said knowing it took concentration and closeness for telepathy to work outside of his own species. He focused on her and called her name.

Delaney frowned. Whilst she hadn't technically heard anything, there was a sensation she couldn't place and yet it also felt somewhat familiar. She'd never thought to equate it to telepathy before but it was exactly the sensation she always had when she caught him trying to make eye contact across the security offices. Not a voice; after all, her ears weren't involved in the exchange at all. But an impression, perhaps, a neatly packaged snapshot that resembled the psionic equivalent of running his fingers through her hair.

"If I said I mostly just feel a weird sense of you having sneezed inside my brain, would that make me crazy or you?"

"I would never just sneeze in your head." He said simply, running his fingers through her hair as he narrowed his eyes and tried again. It was less her name and more a sensation of warmth he shared that time, it was louder and likely something that she needed.

Once again, the impression that Delaney's freight-train mind managed to slow enough to translate was an amplification of something that had always been there, or at least had definitely emerged over the past few months. The totality of Leiddem himself, a bundle of all the soft and gentle aspects of his nature that others liked to pretend didn't exist. It made her smile, though with the way her head had been spinning all day, it also left her with the sensation of a slight brain...itch. It was the best description she had.

I really do love you, you dope. The first time had probably been a fluke and, now that she was intending to fire psionic truth bombs at him, Delaney was sure it wouldn't work. But that mischievously let her off the hook when it came to verbalising, which accounted for the pursed-lipped grin she was trying to suppress.

The man leant forward and kissed her forehead. “Me too. But less of the dope. “ he said gently in a tone that was just as teasing and gentle as anything else he did. “Love is a strong word that translates badly to Betazoid but I definitely feel very strong emotions for you, Lan. I don’t want you to think I don’t but it’s hard to translate.” He said keeping her close and not hurt for the warmth.

"We'll just have to add telepathic training to the hours in the shooting range that you owe me." Delaney grinned, having recalled only hours previous what their conversation in the turbolift had started out as. Finding things on the other side of their current situation to pin her focus to was proving to be the only way to keep her spirits high enough to meet her minimum standards. "But, for the record, you really don't have to feel pressured to explain anything. Even I find words woefully inadequate at times."

With a sigh that bordered on relief, Delaney closed her eyes then and lapsed into uncharacteristic silence. When she did speak, it was with more reason than she often got credited for having. "I think I might try to sleep a bit. If things get too bumpy, it might be too hard to get much rest later on."

"Okay. Would you like me to stay?" He asked happy to stay or leave. He did not want to smother her when things were so new in their relationship. Any other time he would have just stayed without question but after the telepathy thing she could be raw or wanting some time alone with her own thoughts even thought he was firmly keeping his senses to himself.

"Yes," came the immediate response, genuine to its core despite her taking no time to dwell on it. She'd waited all day, content with the necessity for both of them to just get on with what needed to be done. Now that there was finally pause enough to stop, Delaney sank openly into the comfort of having him close. "Don't you dare wander off again."

“I will try not to wander off.” He said with a smile leaving anything else unsaid and not needed for now. There would be plenty of time later on when they were less in the dark to expand more but for now just holding her in the dark was perfect.