A Friend in Need

Posted on Wed Oct 28th, 2020 @ 9:37pm by Lieutenant JG Haru Hernandez & Lieutenant Bianca Lee
Edited on on Sat Dec 5th, 2020 @ 3:32pm

Mission: Enforced Intermission

ON:

Haru sat in the mess hall. He had thought about tea but he allowed himself a cup of Tellerite Whiskey, a substance in the same class as turpentine but the burn of it down his throat kept him tethered. They had gotten out alright, Walker had stayed behind, he'd convinced Haru to 'forget' that he'd seen him.

Then he'd gotten home and the pain had shot through him. He'd known instantly something was wrong. The call had confirmed it and he'd cursed himself in every way that he could.

Sighing he took another sip and even though the glass was not empty he refilled it.

Bianca saw Haru as she entered the mess hall and instantly noticed him off by himself, something in a cup in front of him and a decanter. It was almost like he was screaming quietly for company and she allowed herself a small smile as she made a quick stop by the replicator for a cup of coffee and silently walked up to him from behind and reached a hand out to rub a shoulder, "This seat taken?" She asked even as she released the shoulder and slid into the seat and her coffee on the table between them.

Haru had been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard her. "Of course." He motioned to the seat just as she slid into it. "Are you alright?" The mine incident had not been a picnic for either one of them.

"Ah'm fine, only a couple bruises, since you were there to break my fall durin' the explosion." She gave him a smile, "Ah'm glad we were able to help Walker, and Ah can get some information into the system, maybe a false sightin' report. But what about you? How are you holdin' up?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm...confused. As a part Vulcan an unsettling feeling."

"Confused about what?" She asked him, eyebrows rising a few milometers, "Speakin' as a full-blooded human, that's not a really awkward feelin' and I've usually been pretty good at sortin' out confusion, even in the mind of my sister and she can be totally confusin' at times."

"I didn't do my job. I failed. As a TACT/SEC it was my job to haul him in. It was not my job to make a decision based on my one situation yet that is what I did. I urged you to let him go because the thought of...the person special to me won out." He paused. "Does that me a failure?"

"You didn't do YOUR job?" Bianca laughed quietly so as not to gather attention in the sparsely populated mess hall, "Heyll, Haru, if the truth of the matter comes out, it's my career down the toilet for lettin' it happen. Ah made the decision, Ah live with the consequences." She shrugged at that, "Ah'll be fine with my decision. So to answer your question, no, that doesn't make you a failure, that makes you a good person." She brought her coffee up to her lips to take a sip, "Ah'm jealous, by the way, for findin' someone that special to you."

He smiled a little. "It was accidental. Unexpected, I would even say difficult at times. I'm still trying to figure things out." He hadn't talked about it but for some reason he trusted Bianca. There was something kind about her. Something that made him want to talk. God knew he could go to the Vulcan counselor, he'd been in that office but he couldn't do it.

"Perhaps don't try too hard to figure it out?" Bianca half-shrugged, "What is, is. What will be, will be. Sometimes things just fall into place where they really need to be and there's no explanation for it happenin'. You could go 'round and 'round tryin' to find a reason for somethin' going on and eventually realize it's just sittin' there starin' you in the face."

He looked up at her and smiled faintly. "It's what I did I guess. I may be good at my job and seeing what others need or don't see but somehow...when it comes to my own self I tend to drop the....what is it human's say...Ah yes drop the ball."

"Meh, it's normal." Bianca waved it away with a lopsided grin, "Ah know Ah get focused on the job and my duty because Ah see it as doin' what needs doin'. Ah've got a lot of life left to live, Ah can look to my own happiness later."

Haru smiled as he studied her. "You should have been a counselor."

"Heyll no, way too boring for someone like me." She chuckled, "Thought about a career in Intelligence, but Ah don't think that would be the right way, so eventually Ah intend to be Admiral Lee and command some sorta fleet somewhere. Ah tend to be pretty good with tactics."

He smiled a little. "Well you would make a good Admiral." He genuinely wanted to get to know his friend. "So what do you do around here for fun?"

"Around here?" Bianca shrugged, "Not quite sure, Ah'm still new enough that Ah've not gotten a routine in place, aside from tryin' to cadge watches as often as Ah can so Ah can be on the bridge as much as possible. Otherwise, Ah just sit back, relax, watch some vids and read some books. Ah was an actress in my youth and did a fair amount of reenactin' of the American Civil War with my family, but not much place on board to be doin' much of that."

"Well there is the holodeck." He paused and sipped his drink. He studied her. "I think I have an apology to make to you. I'm sorry I got us into that mess on the surface."

Bianca reached out and placed a hand over his, "It's part of the job, Haru, hell, Ah was the one who volunteered, was not ordered, to help you investigate that mine. No one forced me, so Ah do not accept your apology because Ah don't think you need to apologize for anythin'. Heyll, my mouth almost got the tar beaten out of us, so Ah should apologize to you for that one."

He smiled. "No need for apologies. Speaking your mind is vital. It's what makes you good at your job and it shows strength of character." He was starting to really like Bianca. It had been along time since he'd had made a new friend. He was really excited about getting to know her. It made the prospect of being away from Max seem a little less lonely. "I also owe you a thanks. I know we should have brought Dallas in but...I can understand his reasoning. He deserves to make his own life and love who he loves."

"Ah agree with that, Haru, it's not everyone that gets to do that." Bianca smiled softly, "But again, no thanks needed. Yeah, we shoulda brought him in, but it just didn't feel right. And his father is kindof an asshole, truth be told, and not just to his own kid."

"Yeah." He sighed. "So. Tell me have you ever been to an authentic Japanese tea ceremony?"

"Ah can't say Ah have." Bianca shook her head, "Ah've heard about them, only heard the best of things about them too."

He smiled. "Great!" He sighed. "I should head out but meet me on the holodeck tomorrow after shift and you can attend your first ceremony."