Grateful, Even If

Posted on Tue 21st Jul, 2020 @ 4:13am by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark

1,646 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: Various, mostly Brown Sector
Timeline: MD 14, 0230

The morning news report from Caroline Post had indicated there was a festival of some kind down in the Brown Sector. Never having been down there, and being at loose ends on her day off, she was thinking about going. But not alone! Some people say it can be dangerous down there. Of course, some people are afraid of their own shadows, too, she mused.

What if Andrew were free to go? Would he want to? He'd been working a lot lately, and she hadn't heard much from him. Should she contact him and see if he were interested? Chewing her lip, she dithered. On the one hand, they'd seemed to be getting close for a while. On the other ... he hadn't been in touch in ... ten days? Not since they'd had dinner at his place. Had she done something wrong that night?

"You're getting nowhere fast, girl," she muttered. "Either call him or put on your shoes and go alone, but quit vacillating!"

Before she could think of another reason not to contact him, she spoke to her computer. "Computer, is Commander Eberstark at work?"

=^=Commander Eberstark is not working today.=^=

"Contact him for voice only," Serena said, before she could second-guess herself for the third time. Did that make it sixth-guessing? Fourth-guessing?

As much as he wanted to, Andrew couldn't seem to read without his mind wandering to something else. His upcoming meeting with Commodore. The Starbase itself. Even his family back at Earth. After rereading the same paragraph a third time, another thought came into his head that caused him to smile. Although he immediately sighed realizing he hadn't been much of a social person over the past two weeks and Serena must hate him for it.

As he started reading again, the computer chirped, =^=Incoming communication from Serena Alia, audio only.=^=

"Or not," he mused out loud to himself. Thankful it was only audio, Andrew still fixed his hair if only to gather his thoughts. After a few moments, he acknowledged to the computer to accept and responded, "Good afternoon, Serena. I was hoping my lack of availability didn't scare you off."

"Oh, have you been unavailable?" she teased. "I hadn't noticed." Laughing, and relieved, she said, "I have the day off, and the news this morning was talking about a Gratitude Festival down in Brown Sector. I guess because there are so many Bajoran refugees still living there? Anyway, I've never been to one, and thought it might be fun." She didn't actually take the step of inviting him, because just mentioning it seemed a little needy to her.

Andrew wasn't one to believe in a higher power, but this was a sign if there ever was one and he wasn't going to ignore it.

"Sounds like a perfect afternoon to me," he responded. Looking down at his disheveled clothes and appearance, he asked, "Want to meet me down there in 20 minutes? I just need to make myself look respectable since this is the first time I'm making a public appearance outside of my job in awhile."

"Sure ... by the tram stop on Deck 2250? Then we can ride the lift down and maybe not have such a big crowd to search for each other. Oh, I'll be the blond with a rose stuck in her braid. You know, just in case you forgot what I look like," she laughed. It was a dig, but just a mild one. She'd been busy herself lately.

Andrew laughed at the deserved tease, "Noted. I'll be on the lookout. Outside of my uniform, I don't really have anything in my wardrobe that would stick out, but maybe just look for the confused human wandering around looking for one person in particular." As he spoke, he laid out his slacks and dress shirt while changing out of his uniform.

"See you in twenty, then!" Serena agreed, disconnecting. She checked the mirror. Yes, the red off-the-shoulder blouse and comfortable black jeans would be fine. It was casual, and it didn't scream I made myself up just for you! She slipped her feet into black flats and at the last minute, on the way out the door, she pulled a red rose out of a vase by the door and pushed it into her braid.

---

Taking the tram down to deck 2250, even if one caught the express ride from the Promenade, took a few minutes. Serena preferred being early to being late, and arrived at the tram station within 15 minutes of her chat with Andrew. She made her way quickly to the tram stop and stood with her back to the bulkhead, waiting to spot Andrew's blonde hair. He was taller than many, and looking for his hair meant searching fewer people. It wasn't long before she spotted him, but she waited for him to find her.

As he neared her waiting place, she noticed the scar she seldom thought about, and wondered if she might find out today exactly how he got it. It wasn't a fresh scar, and didn't stand out, so many people might not even notice it. When he was thinking or worried or even frustrated, she had sometimes seen him rub the length of it from his brow toward his ear. It was sort of an endearing habit.

Andrew surprised himself with the quickness in which he was able to get to the location he and Serena agreed upon. Naturally, he started second guessing and did a full visual inspection and mental checklist to make sure he didn't forget anything in his haste to leave his quarters. After a few minutes of paranoia, he was satisfied and instinctively tugged on his long sleeve button down as if it were his Starfleet uniform.

It only took Andrew one real inspection of the area around him to spot Serena only a few meters away on the deck. As promised, she had a rose in her hair but he recognized her reddish blond hair without the help of it. Shifting through the people between them, he gave a warm smile as they met by a bulkhead, "I hope you weren't waiting long," he paused. "We did say in 20 minutes right?"

"We did, and you are punctual as ever," she said. "Let's catch a turbolift while we can. I have a feeling that things are going to get crowded before long."

They both turned toward the bank of lifts near by and noticed one would soon be heading down, so they hurried over and walked in. Once the door closed and everyone had given pretty much the same destination, deck 2245, Serena looked up at Andrew and asked, "How have you been? I know you've been busy at work, but I mean in general. Is everything alright with your family, your little sister is doing okay?"

Andrew instinctively rubbed the side of face at the question. He realized the question was polite and courteous but was hoping spend time in the moment, catching up with Serena. Hell, he had a brief moment of preferring to talk about pirates or the investigation but immediately cursed himself for even thinking that. Trying not to make it too obvious he was stalling for time, Andrew just smiled, "Doing well. Last time we spoke she was living comfortably on Earth. I've been meaning to get in touch," shrugging, "but, you know, work."

All of what he said was technically the truth but he just left out how long ago their last conversation was. As the doors of the lift mercifully opened to break his inner thoughts, he motioned for Serena to exit first into the hallway, "Speaking of sisters, how's the musician slash actress?"

Serena laughed, as she stepped into the corridor. "Continuing on her infamous way. She touches base with me about once or twice a month, and I hear all the latest drama she's living. She thinks I lead a boring life and need her excitement to spice it up. Really, I don't mind. She was always the adventurous one, and I love her dearly. I simply don't want to be her. Two twins were never farther apart. Still, I'd miss her if she weren't out there, and she is fun to be around."

She looked around her, seeing that most people were heading in one direction. "So, shall we follow the crowd, at least until we get somewhere? I've heard there are really two parts of Brown Sector, and I don't know if they are both celebrating. I think this deck is more Bajorans than anything, while the decks in the Zodiac are more diverse. Do you know anything else about this place?"

"What I know of it is mostly from PADDs and reports I read throughout the day, I'm sorry to say. I haven't been able to make my way down here," he paused. "Or anywhere else outside of my routine for that matter," alluding to his lack of availability over recent weeks. "I'm sorry about that. I would suggest following the masses though. While this place has some interesting areas to check out, such as this festival, the nature of it also allows for some not so savory areas to spawn. Best not to stray too far from the crowd." He smiled as he finished, "Or that could just be me being overprotective."

"Even if it is, it still sounds wiser than your years," Serena grinned and tugged him along to wherever the crowd was headed. It soon turned out that there was a central area of walkways, from which many streets branched. They all appeared to have people, though it relieved the crowds when they reached that point and people picked different paths. "I guess it doesn't much matter which way we go, so ... let's keep going around to the right and branch off on the first interesting street we see."

 

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