EXETERRPG: (1 - 1930, 2030) CO Cpt Trip Williams and Dir R&SE Ashlyn Williams

[Mark Howard]

Mission: Auld Lang Syne

Day:01

Stardate: 2445.12.28



(Risa–Suraya Bay Resort, Waterside Bungalow- CO, Captain Trip Williams and
Dir. R&SE Ash Williams- 19:30)



“Honey I’m home.” Trip said as he entered the bungalow that he had booked
for Ash and him to relax.



Ashlyn smiled as she heard her husbands voice from the door, and walked
through into the spacious lounge area. She reached him, and slipped her
arms around his waist, and kissed him, “Hey babe.” she said as he moved to
the couch. She moved toward the fridge and got them each a drink, passing
him his favourite beer.



As he plopped down on the couch, mind tired, he sighed. “Ash, are we old.
Did we throw away our youth?”



“Okaaay?” Ashlyn said, sitting in the corner of the large, luxuriant couch.
“Where did this come from?”



"Confession time."



“You’re wearing my pants?” she’d been napping, and was suddenly awake and
in a silly mood.



Trip laughed.



"I think Addison is into me and I may have accidentally flirted with her."



“Addison? Addison Addison?” she looked puzzled. “Where?”



"Yes, You're Little protege. Umm anytime I run into her when you're not
there. It's my fault. I've been super open in confiding with her. And about
my fears about growing old too fast and I may have given her the wrong
impression. I'm to blame, I think, and I'm sorry."



“Okay, Trip, you’re giving me an awful lot all in one sentence. Why don’t
we start at the beginning.”



"I set boundaries and she knows how much I love you."



She gave him a gentle look, and lifted his feet onto her lap, rubbing the
balls of one foot, then the other. “I know you do, and I also know that you
wouldn’t do anything to hurt or upset me, us. So talk to me. You mentioned
being old?”



"I guess, I imagined this age being a young Ensign, able to make mistakes.
Go to Risa and take a stranger home."



Ashlyn smiled, and nodded. She new Trip well enough to let him finish
offloading the things on his chest.



"Instead I'm married to a wonderful woman who is beautiful and smart. Kid
due in like four months and I'm a captain. Its just that ever nagging
thought. Did I grow up too fast"



“Your empathic abilities are only just at normal, but now you are
surrounded by a hedonistic paradise. I get that. I really do, and you see
the trade off that you had to make?”



"Its..just…"

“I know, I’m not suggesting you have regrets.” she smiled.



"I don't. Only when have naked women hit on me." He winked.



“Wait; Addison was naked? Where were you?”



"No. A very revealing dress. But this is Risa, everyone is in bikinis and
she's not the only one to hit on me. Just the only one who made me...unsure
of what was going on. Everyone else is easier to ignore."



“I get that. Humans, Bajorans, Betazoid, are all highly charged, highly
emotional beings.”



"Addison whispered into my ear don't let it go stale. I wasn’t sure if she
meant my relationship with you or my umm sex drive"



Nodding, Ashlyn smiled. “Does it matter? What do you feel? Do you feel
stale? Do I?”



"I don't feel stale around you. Even with you five months pregnant we still
have a good sex life."



“But…” she squeezed his toes. “You can say it, how long have we known each
other.” sme smiled gently



"But….I just… dunno. Maybe we could spice things up."



“Well I’m not quite as bendy as I was.” she winked.



"Addison had an idea."



She turned her head slightly, “where’s this going?”



"Not a three way." Trip laughed.



“Right answer.” she chuckled. “So?”



"We get fancy. Create aliases. Go to a bar separately and I try to bring
whoever you're pretending to be home and into bed."



“The thrill of the chase?”



"Yup. And you get to make me look foolish if you want."



“And I get to pretend to be a cheap bar girl like you and Ailynn chatted up
on your stag do? Don’t think I don’t know about that.” She winked.



"I didn't though." He confessed.



She laughed. “I’m teasing. Relax.” she smiled. “I like it.” she held his
hand. “Trip. digressing slightly, This is about more than just picking up
girls in bars isn’t it.”



"What do you mean?"



“You’re twenty-three. The youngest Captain since whenever. You not only
outrank your peers, you transcend them. Ailynn too. Your meteoric rise
through the fleet is bound to set your balance off. Do you regret it?”



"No. But its hard. I can't have friends the way everyone else does. Not the
way Ire and Ravok are bestie. Even with Ailynn, its different. She has
Ronnie now. And there are things I can't tell her or anyone because they'd
lose confidence in me. The only person I can let my hair down with on the
Exeter and really be myself, is you. Even with the other civilians I'm
still captain Williams. Hell even calling my sister is hard because of how
far apart we are"



Once again, Ashlyn let Trip talk his frustrations out, she watched him
gently, with a quiet, loving, understanding eye, a gentle look of concern
on her face.



"With Addison, I opened up because I wanted a friend. But I guess even
then...Im … maybe I'm jealous. Jealous of everyone being able to make
friends and mistakes that won't kill 500 people."



“And that is where she may have thought you were into her, some people, and
I’m not saying that she’s one of them, some girls, like those with power,
they’re attracted to the influence and status that that kind of
relationship is perceived to have, and actually don’t see the strain, the
stress that I see you bear each and every day. They don’t see the trauma
that you have to burden for those 500 souls.”



Trip just nodded and listened.



“I get you and Ailynn aren’t how you were, but I see you together, she
trusts you like I’ve never seen her trust anyone, and you her. I see the
times that you’re working, and you have entire conversations with each
other in a single bloody glance. So yeah, she isn’t the friend you want.”
Ashlyn smiled, “She’s the friend you need, and the one that you need to
offload too more. She’s stronger than you let yourself think.”



"She's also the friend under an ethical and moral duty to relieve me from
my post if she thinks I can't handle it."



“And would you trust anyone else with that burden?”



"Just you, her, and Sy. But obviously I couldn't have my sister as FO."



Ashlyn nodded, and smiled, stroking the back of his hand with her
fingertips.



"I told Ailynn I don't want her to go to the Hood."



She nodded. “She isn’t going to go.”



"How do you know?"



Ash shrugged. “Ailynn is a lot of things, indecisive is not one of them.
Everything that she does she is absolutely certain about. She has an almost
supernatural belief in her own success and ability. However, if she’s taken
this long and hasn’t told you she’ll do it, then she’ll turn it down because
she had to go away and think about it.” she paused. “Does that make sense?”



"Maybe."



“Any better?”



"Yeah. Im going go change then head out. But I won't see you until the
morning." He winked. "If you still want to play."



Ashlyn’s eyes twinkled. “I might head out myself. See if there’s any greasy
fighter Jocks around.” she giggled “I’ll see you tomorrow dear.” she leant
forward and pecked his cheek. “I love you.”



"I love you too."



(Risa–Suraya Bay Resort, The Sunset Club- CO, Captain Trip Williams and
Dir. R&SE Ash Williams- 20:30)



Trip walked through the outdoor club looking for the bar, he wanted a
drink, something sweet, but he’d settle for the love of a good woman. He
was wearing the same clothes he had to the conference, but his shirt was
unbuttoned showing off his abs and pecs. He was a lion on the prowl and
then he saw her, sitting at the bar, with a special glow.



“Hey there beautiful. Name is Tristan Steele, and you are?”



Ashlyn had spent a while getting ready, and strode into the sunset club.
She ignored the line of people waiting to get in, and slinked straight to
the doorman, who lifted the rope and gestured her through. “Pleasant
evening ma’am”



The thronging bodies were an assault on her senses, the music wasn’t loud,
but the sexual tension in the air was treacle thick. She managed to reach
the bar and motioned to a bartender to fix her a cocktail, alcohol free.



“Isolde Lexington. So...you’re about to tell me I’ve lost that lovin’
feeling?”



"You think I'm a pilot, what gave me away?" He said with a laugh.



“Isn’t that what all the boys dream of?”



"Mind if I sit down?"



She motioned to the seat to indicate it was empty. “So a pilot huh?
Shuttles?”



"Nah. Valkyries. Fighter pilot. Combat. Where the real men play."



“I always liked those, used to live near the end of the launch strip at
Mars.”



"So Isolda huh. That'd make us Tristan and Isolda. Fancy that."



“Fancy.” She replied, actually impressed, and smiled. "So...Tristan. How
long are you in dock? Girl in every town?”



"I've been around, but never met anyone as charming as you. Plus tonight,
we have a chance to change history."



“Well, I’ve never heard it called that before.” Her eyes widened, a smile
erupted on her face. “How so? Dare I ask or am I to much a fair maiden not
used to such matters?” she couldn’t help herself giggle.



"How familiar are you with prose and legend from 12th century Earth.
Particularly Britain?"



“It’s been a while, and my ancestry isn’t solely Terran, but I dabble in
literature?”



"The legend of Tristan and Isolde.  Tristan was a valiant knight, nephew of
the king of Cornwall who had raised him like a son. Tristan was tasked to
go to Ireland to bring back the fair Isolde, an Irish princess, back to
Cornwall to marry his uncle. Yet on the way the two accidentally ingested a
love potion and fell madly for each other. Yet Tristan was honor bound to
respect the man he loved as a father. So he brought Isolde to his uncle and
she soon became the bride of the king of Cornwall."



“These legends and the love potions. I doubt there were ever two people who
ever just loved each other like that without a potion.” She smiled



"Yet the potion stirred the two to be together. And in secret they shared
their love until the king found out and sentenced Tristan and Isolde to
death. Tristan escapes in daring fashion, swooping in to save his love but
they are pursued."



“And then?” She knew the story, but was impressed at ‘Tristan’s’ retelling
of it.



"Eventually the king finds them and they reach a truce. Tristan is banished
and Isolde is then forced to remain with her husband the king of Cornwall.
Yet by doing so they both keep their lives."



“How sad. Poor Isolde



"How bout tonight we change their story and give them a happy ending?"



“Mr Steele, you are assuming an awful lot. A few lines of poetry doth not a
notch on your bedpost make.” she smiled, drinking from her glass.



"It was worth a shot. But you strike me as one less interested in muscles
and stories of daring and more interested in someone's soul."



“I like stories. Facts become legend becomes myth becomes stories.” she
sipped her drink once more. What are stories? Perhaps an assortment of
words that has never before existed? Or perhaps a pathway through someones
train of thought, taking you on a journey of their design.”



"That is true."



“However, yes, I adore people. Maybe, people are their own stories? Their
own narrators?”



"Then I have a story for you. If I haven't bored you yet."



“pray...continue.”



"There was a young pilot named Tristan who walked into a bar and gazed on
the Visage of aphrodite herself. Confused and befuddled he made his way
over. Not a care in the world."



“Aphrodite?” she smiled. “Good start.”



"The young pilot was confused, he was normally confident, headstrong, and
rash. Yet upon seeing her, he felt as cowardly as a little child."



“And how did he confront his fears?”



"Well he could not woo her with his abs. Nor his knowledge of tales. So he
took a gamble a shot in the dark. And took one last chance at impressing
the goddess."



“And how did he do that? He couldn’t have known that the goddess really
fancied a dance.” she motioned to the patio, where a slower tempo of music
was playing. Ash slid off the barstool, a flash of stocking top as she
straightened her dress. Catching his eye she said nothing, but her eyes
twinkled and her eyebrow raised an eighth of an inch.



"Well then my goddess I shall play your game, but save my final gambit in
case I fail." He took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

Feeling his hand wrap around hers, her heart leapt as the cooler night air
hit her. She then felt his arms start to lead her in a dance.



"Ash?" Trip asked.



“Trip?”



"That pilot already gave the goddess his heart. I don't need to pretend.
I'm just happy you accepted my heart when I gave it to you."



She blushed, and smiled. “And me likewise. You made this chick from the
wrong side of 5th and main a happy girl. I love you.”



"I love you too."



“I have a question…”



"Yes my dear."



“Do I count as a notch in your bedpost...or do you count as one in mine?”
her eyes twinkled naughtily once more.



"Both/and baby, both/and"



she pulled him into a deep kiss, it was just the two of them, alone in the
universe.



(Reply none)

(Posted by Will and Mark)
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