EXETERRPG: (1 - 1530) CO Trip Williams/Tristan Steele and Civilian Addison Queen/Faith Morgan

[Mark Howard]

Mission: Lights, Camera….Action?

Day: 1

Stardate: 2446.01.01/2025.06.30

(Toronto, Canada - Pinewood Studios, Trailer of Tristan Steele- CO, Captain
Trip Williams/Tristan Steele and Civilian Addison Queen/Faith Morgan -15:30)

As Faith entered through the trailer door, Trip perked up. “Hey,” He said
weekly from the couch covered by a comfortable blanket. He hadn’t fel this
hollow, defeated, and longing for escape since Rae died. “Thanks for
umm...coming.”

Faith had received Tristan’s message, and as it happened had been on her
way over anyway. She’d got out of the uber at the gate and headed over to
the trailer, a sway to her hips as she walked. She looked up at the trailer
with a contented smile as she pulled off her sunglasses and shook her hair
loose.

“What’s the matter Tristan you great lump?” Faith’s Northern Irish brogue
twisted the pronunciation somewhat. Seeing him on the couch covered by a
blanket she dashed over. “Tristan…” she pulled him into a hug as best she
could given the difference in size between them, and kissed his forehead,
and pulled his head gently to her shoulder.

“What’s happened?”

“I just feel so alone.” he said weakly, sitting up. This was a man who had
faced down pirates in a fighter. One who lead the Fighter wing on numerous
missions. He had led the Exeter into combat and helped track down a
demented, body swapping, universe hopping murderer. But those tested his
mettle, his resolve. They didn’t make him question his own sanity. It’s one
thing to face down an enemy in a dogfight, it is another to begin to ask
yourself what is real and who you really are. He had hoped that he would
find some clarity, but as his day went on, he felt more and more like maybe
his gut instinct was wrong. His gut instinct screamed that he was Trip
Williams, but his head, his head was confused. His head kept wondering,
pondering who he was. Then there was his heart. His heart was breaking. If
it was a dream, then it was a cruel nightmare he would bring up in
counseling. But if he wasn’t Trip, and somehow he had gotten too into the
role, then it meant the love he felt for Ash, for Sy, for Ailynn even, had
never actually existed. For the first time since he left academy he
actually felt his age. Young, inexperienced, and unsure.

“Alone?” She asked her face a picture of concern and worry. “Alone how so?”
Faith said, sitting next to him, curling her feet under her legs and
stroking the back of Tristan’s hands with her fingertips.

“Can I tell you something and promise, promise not to shrug it off, laugh,
or ask me if something is wrong?”

“Of course babe.” She agreed. “I promise.” she shrugged, it was easier just
to say it.

“I could have sworn, yesterday, I was Trip Williams, I was on the Exeter,
we were having a New Year’s Eve party, I went to bed next to Ash my wife,
and then I woke up today, and I’m here, and I’m supposed to be Tristan, but
I’m not, I’m Trip, and so many people look like those I know to the point
that I don’t know if this is a dream, or that, and I swear, I just, I’m
pretty sure I’m trapped somewhere.”

“I believe you.” Faith said, holding his hand. “But memories are fickle
things, especially where you are so into your role like the way you can
get.” she said gently. “Especially where it was the scenes where it was you
and I, like the conference at Risa where I had to flirt with you after a
horrible amount of alcohol. The amount of times we rehearsed that here.”
She laughed, running her fingers over his hand again. “Do you remember
that?”

“No, I...I mean I remember, you and me, and I remember being there and
feeling uncomfortable, because I could have sworn you were flirting with
me.”

Faith smiled, “I was, but it was kind of a private joke between you and I,
you remember, see how much chemistry we could get on screen you know?

“I…” Trip tried to remember the memory, how felt, the bar of the conference
room, her dress, the emotions he read of her, but as he tried to picture
the bar, he could only picture the living room at Tristan’s house. He tried
to remember her emotions, but all he could remember is how much he wanted
her in that moment. He couldn’t remember Risa… “I said I love you that
night didn’t die. For the first time.”


Trip paused, that wasn’t his memory, he didn’t know where that came from.

Faith nodded in mock coyness, “Yeah you did.” Drawing a breath, she carried
on. “Would the Trip that you know be tempted at all by a girl like Addison,
when he had Ash at home? Of course not.”

“No, he wouldn’t be. I mean I wouldn’t be.” Trip was confused, Certain
memories begin to shift.

“Have you seen any of the other cast? Gabbie maybe, I swear you two hit it
off, if I didn’t know her from years back, her and I would have words.”

“No, I did run into Sy, but she wasn’t Sy. No one, no one is who they are
supposed to be. And I’m begging to wonder if I’m alone.”

“You’re not alone. You just have that thing where you’re overly into a
role, immersed. You know you’ve been going over scripts in your sleep for
how long now.”

“You’re not listening….I’m not Tristan, I’m Trip dammit!!” he said standing
up almost wanting to yell it. “I am James Andrew Williams the Third,
Captain, USS Exeter, Serial Number 04261986. I am not Tristan Steele, I am
Trip #$#%#@ Williams dammit!”

“Sit down for f#&*s sake, and calm down.” Faith snapped. “I said I believe
you, I said I understood what you’re going through, but I also have the
right to express my view of perhaps a slightly different course of events.”
She patted the seat. “Now. You said that you felt lost. Tell me about that.”

“Imagine you wake up in a world where nothing seems right or feels right.
Where you wake up next to the person you think has a crush on you. When the
woman you love is indifferent to you, and looks at you in a way that makes
you feel empty. Where yesterday you were on a Starship and today you wake
up almost 450 years in your past. Where every thing you knew about your
life is supposedly entertainment.”

“I’m doing my best to imagine, and it must be really scarey babe, but
here’s the thing. From my point of view, and from everything around you,
you’re Tristan Steele, you have friends and a large, loving family.”

Trip you sat and listened. He wanted to rant, scream, be heard. But
something about what she was saying, her words. He didn’t want to fight it.

“You haven’t known Gabrielle that long, since the start of the pilots, you
two just...got on. I’ve known her longer. Look, this is from seven years
ago.” She unlocked her phone and after opening youtube, and tapping
briefly, passed a clip over of a younger Gabrielle on a catwalk, wearing a
figure hugging exotic red dress, just behind her was Faith, dressed
similarly.

“That’s Ailynn, but she looks so…. So….”

“Sensual?”

“Confident, in control of herself, comfortable with her body, not trying to
hide it, she looks, at peace. More at peace than I’ve ever seen her.”

“That’s Gabbie alright. Always been the same, so seeing her pretend to be
Ailynn with all her issues, was...funny isn’t the word. Unusual.” She
looked at him sadly. “Studio said that casting director was crazy when they
cast a wrestler as Trip, especially since your those few years older.”

“I’m 23….or 33…or, I don’t know. I don’t know. If I’m 23, I’m having to
grow up so fast. But I’m 33, and all this is my life, then I grew into it,
had adventures, learned to be me, got to make mistakes.”

“Exactly that, you’re 33, and had a life of fun, adventure, growing gently
into yourself. Tell me a story again, about your wrestling I mean.” She
smiled and held his hand.

“Well, one of my favorite matches, when was it, I know, it was
Wrestlemania, our first one on the main roster, Lance and I, itw was a tag
team ladder match for the titles, and we won it. But we didn’t just win
them, we stole the whole damn show. It was a five star match. I hurt like
hell the next day. I was close to the titles, but was up there with our
opponent, I think it may have been Matt Hardy, yeah it was against Matt and
Jeffy Hardy, tag team legends. And I threw Matt down, and he he landed on a
ladder, and I remember the spot, because I then jumped off the ladder, and
then hit an elbow drop on Matt, through another ladder, giving Lance enough
time to climb and get the titles. I mean yeah it’s scripted but I put my
body through hell and it was worth it.” Trip paused that memory, it wasn’t
his memory, but he felt it, all of it, as if he had lived it.

“Your body remembers the pain,” She shook her head sadly, rubbing his
shoulder, “tiny injuries, sprains and strains. I was never really into
wrestling that much, but I always liked the athleticism, especially you and
your brother tag teaming.” She smiled. “The roar of the crowd and the smell
of those awful hot dog things.” she laughed.

“My last match,” Tristan said remembering, “Was wrestlemania this year, LA.
Big cross promotion thing. My brother was the Universal champ, the goodguy,
the brother that stayed for the fans. I was the bad guy, the one who left
for hollywood stardom, come back to claim my prize as the better brother.
It was a grueling 30 minute Iron Man match, where I won, with a pin in the
last 10 seconds, to take the lead 4 to 3. Winning the title, beating my
brother, pissing off the fans. It was great. The thrill, the rush, the
crowd. I miss it, I miss live audiences. Getting them to connect with the
story. Getting all of them to hate me. To be the heel, to be the villain.”

“Fun being the bad guy sometimes.” She smiled warmly. “You have missed
that. That’s why you negotiated the addition to your contract to allow you
to carry on in the ring”

Yes…” Trip paused. “No….where are these memories coming from.”

“From the same place as the story that you told me about you and your
brothers growing up, a house with five boys, and a mother who had to have
two pairs of eyes in the back of her head to stop you all killing each
other before the age of twelve.”

“Yeah, yelling at you with that welsh accent, sweet, scary, frightening
even.” Tristan then did a mock welsh accent, “If your gonna kill your
brother, do it upstairs.”

“Don’t bleed on my clean floor…” Faith giggled. “I can see your ma saying
that to childhood you.”

“I’m just so confused.” he said, “one minute I feel like Trip, the next its
like Tristan is taking over and I don’t know what is real, and who I should
listen to. I don’t have my anchor or an anchor. Faith...Addison...whoever
you are….I need….I need something to hold me to some reality. I feel like
my mind is about to shatter. Who am I?”

Faith nodded. “I understand baby. I do. Addison isn’t real. There is no
Addison, not really. I know you’re going through a lot, and lord knows I
wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but I’m your anchor through this, I’m not
sure what I can say, or show you. Pictures? Do you remember our first
date?” She laughed gently. “There was that photographer following us most
of the evening, even to the restaurant. We kept sending him drinks and he
got so wasted he fell asleep in the middle of ‘Spring Sushi.’

“Then I took his phone, and took a selfie with him and it, and then left it
be. I was trending on twitter.” Trip paused….”This is real?”

“All of it.” she held her hands out “We could go to the sushi place this
evening if you wanted, for old time’s sake.” she winked.

“Prove it, give me some sign, give me anything….something that just puts my
mind at ease. My heart has been torn in two today Faith…..I just want
something real to believe in. I can fight, I can fly, I can handle
war...But mind tricks, mind games, war of the heart...it’s crushing me.”

“Prove it?” she said gently. “I don’t know exactly what you’re wanting me
to provide. A picture of us? A call with your mom? Something more…” She
nodded. “You lovely daft…” She leant forward and pulled him into a kiss,
gentle and demure at first, but slowly turning deeper and more and more
promising. “Well?”

At that moment, Trip entered into the kiss, kissing back passionately,
happily. In that moment, he was truly Tristan. Every memory of Trip faded
away to the back corners of his mind, then into nothing, then oblivion. All
that was left was Tristan. He did not even remember ever thinking he was
Trip. He was Tristan Romanowski also known as Tristan Steele, WWE Superstar
and actor. He was with his beautiful girlfriend, in his trailer, all was
right with the world. He was whole.


“Well, what babe?” he asked.

“Well, are you going to kiss me again, or do I have to ask every time?” She
winked playfully, relaxing now that Tristan seemed to be calming down,
settling into himself again.

“Yeah. Why the hell not.” Tristan said, “Might as well have some fun before
a boring meeting with Gabby.”

(reply none)
(posted by Will and Mark)
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