by Nadja DeChevalier & Vinn Silver
[Stardate 201007.08 2339.02]
Login
TIDES
Part 2
"Birds of a Feather"
"Birds of a Feather"
Nadja stared at the little comm unit on her nightstand. It had been laying there for longer than she could remember. From way before the wormhole had disappeared and all the trouble with the Nigalans had started. Even now it seemed surreal to her. There was still a sort of memory gap in her mind. She was told that she had been caught in the explosion of one of the assassination attempts on the Nigalan president and completely lost her memory for weeks. But as hard as she had tried it was difficult for her to even recall the minutest part of the events happening while she had experienced amnesia. Perhaps it was for the better.
Her gaze fell onto her reflection in the mirror at her open closet door. She ran her fingers through her red curls. They were still short, though not as short as they apparently had been when she first had awoken to her memory-less state. Evidently, she had thought herself to be some sort of mercenary and eventually had set fire to the arboretum. Why? She had absolutely no clue. She was only glad that Rylan had been nice enough to not make her repair the damage. As matters had turned out, the heat had ruptured some sort of container with a gas that had rendered her unconscious on the spot, and she had almost died, if it hadn't been for Dolon teleporting her out of the inferno.
She sighed, wagging her head. All she remembered of the whole incident was waking up in sickbay, thinking she had been taken there after the explosion on the planet. Hearing the stories about the weeks she was missing was like hearing about the tales of another lifetime. She had to admit, she was glad to be back to her old self again.
Once again, her eyes drifted to the little comm unit by her bed. She was surprised that during all those weeks it had stayed there. 'Vinn...' She wondered where he was right now, while her mind lingered on the memory of their last meeting when he had snuck up to her in that silly cloak. Admittedly, recalling it was leaving her emotions in a twist. She was tempted to reach out for the gadget.
'No. I can't.' She pulled her hand back and quickly moved into the bathroom to get herself ready for bed, and her mind off Vinn.
It only took her a few minutes to conduct her business in the bathroom. When she reentered the bedroom, her gaze once again fell onto the small device. She stopped and sighed.
Quickly, she grabbed the item, ready to take it into the living area and to the recycler. Anything to keep it from beckoning her to use it. He was probably nowhere near the station anyways. But then she remembered Maxx was already sleeping on the couch. She halted her step, her eyes going to the comm link in her hand once more. She turned it over a few times, biting her lip.
With a long sigh, she flopped down onto her bed. What was she doing? "Damnit, Vinn," she muttered. One more time, she looked at the device, hesitant. But finally, she flipped it open and pressed the button inside.
There. It was done now. If he was close enough, he would surely answer the call. If not, it was just as well.
Her heart started beating a bit faster as she waited.
Vinn rubbed the stubble on his chin in thought staring at the sensor readings before him as his little ship entered the Nigalan system. They confirmed the rumors he had heard while being gone. The Nigalan wormhole truly was gone. Great. That meant everyone had to take the long way to the Alpha Quadrant, lest they had a ship equipped with special drive. He shrugged. He wasn't much interested in going back to Sector001 anyways.
He sighed. His last mission had been extremely dangerous, not because it was something he couldn't handle, it was due to the fact that his concentration hadn't been there. Instead it had been on the Nigala and the life he was made to leave behind, and a woman. Nadja was certainly hard to understand, but he found himself drawn to her. He shook his head. There it was again, his mind wandering when he should be concentrating.
His head jerked sideways at the sound of the commlink. For a moment he stared at it in disbelief. Could it really be? He flipped it open. "Nadja?"
Vinn's voice coming over the comm made a chill run down Nadja's back. Why was she even entertaining the thought of letting him back into her life? She had long felt foolish for kissing him on Vulcan, after working so hard to keep him at a distance while he had had his bar next door. She sighed. It all seemed so long ago now.
She took a deep breath, before she spoke, "Who else? I wasn't aware you hand these things out like candy."
He chuckled a little, "Well, you did have someone else staying with you... last time I dropped by." He thumbed the commlink for a moment, the metallic object glinted from the light emitted from the LCARS panel. It was good to hear her voice. Then he broke the silence, "So, I assume you have made a decision? or do you just want to talk some?"
"A decision... yeah..." She paused, remembering his words to her during his covert visit. "Vinn." She let herself fall back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Vinn... I'm not the kind of woman that likes to be made the fool, you know that, don't you?"
Vinn picked up the commlink gently and leaned back in his chair. "Yes, I know." He laid his head back and took in a deep breath. "Nadja, if you ever have felt that way because of me it was never intentional. My profession doesn't always let me be close." He turned his head and looked through the port view at the planets he was passing by. "I understand if that is not the type of relationship you are looking for."
Laughter came through the comm.
"Vinn. One of the things that always drew me to you is the fact that we are birds of a feather," she replied, after her laughter had died down. "My 'relationships' have never been the normal type. They have never consisted of stability or even lasted long. I'm a Gypsy, for crying out loud. I'm not one to settled down. I'm restless. Free spirited." She rolled to her side, her voice suddenly changing. "And I damn sure don't need you around to make me feel like I'm whole!"
Vinn raised his brows, "Then why did you pick up the comm?"
Nadja scowled. Yes, why had she? She bit her lip again, pondering. Despite not being able to remember anything about the 'missing weeks' of her life, one thing was lingering with her, something that must have welled up in her during that time, that restlessness she had just mentioned, the ever-growing urge to take to the stars again. It had been long enough that she had stood still. She exhaled.
"Because..." She paused, fighting with herself over admitting this. "Because you seem to be the only one that can understand that part of me. And...," she sighed heavily, "and I miss that."
He smiled to himself, "Well it has not always been easy, but it certainly has been worth getting to know you." He looked out the other view port. Soon enough Nigala and the station would be coming into view. "So where do we go from here?"
"Your bed... or mine...?"
Vinn cleared his throat, "Well, I was thinking of something a little more romantic, and we could get to know one another on a deeper level first."
Romance? Nadja sat up with a start. That was new. She couldn't recall anyone really wanting to... oh, wait, yes... there had been Max. "Okay." She ran her hands through her short, red curls briefly wondering how Vinn would take to her temporary change of hair style. She would just have to see his reaction when they came face to face. "Then, I suppose you should tell me what you want to do."
He shrugged even though he was alone, "To be honest this is new territory for me, too. Perhaps, dinner overlooking a nebula, a walk together on an alien world. You know, the normal stuff."
"Normal, hm?" She twirled one of the curls with her finger. It wasn't easy due to their length. Normal to her had been, 'should we do it here, or wait till we're in more private settings?' "But... are you sure you want to be seen with me? I mean... you seemed awfully concerned about not being recognized last time you stopped by."
"That was for your protection, but for some reason the threat doesn't exist now," he said nonchalantly. He sat up in his chair. "So, dinner tomorrow night?"
A surprised look came to her face. "You're that close?"
"I'll be docking at the station within the hour."
"Alright then... dinner it is." She was surprised at how excited she actually was over that prospect. "Just... don't expect me to cook," she chuckled softly sure he had no idea about the lack of unreplicated foods on the station.
"Leave everything to me." He smiled. "See you then." With a bit of reluctance he set down the commlink.
Nadja snapped the little device shut, still wearing a smile on her face. Maybe this would be the beginning of something special.
Maybe...