EXETERRPG: (1, 1700) CO, Captain Trip Williams/Tristan Steele and FO, Commander Ailynn Bracken/Gabrielle Knight

[Will Banowsky]

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 FO Cmdr Ailynn Bracken/Gabrielle Knight
-1700)

The day had been long, and disturbing to the maximum level. Waking up in
someone else's room, someone else's life lay heavily on Ailynn, and though
discovering who, and where she was, and how to basically function in
everyday life had been fun, a joy almost; it was getting wearing.

Her emotions were also in tatters. The visit to the hospital should have
piqued her interest, however it had ended with Ailynn’s heart being torn
from her chest by the realisation that even given 25th century technology
she wouldn’t have been able to increase her chances of Jenna’s survival.
That truth had been a hard one for Ailynn’s ego to swallow. After that,
returning to Pinewood should have been a moment to calm, and recentre;
however meeting Caity, or rather Sam, it was abundantly clear that her
girlfriend wasn’t the person that Ailynn had grown to know and fall in love
with. Her ex too, Ailynn still held Sienna in a great deal of affection,
and always would, however the person that had told her that she was
Sienna’s actress was about as far from the loving girl as was possible to
be. Slowly, but surely Ailynn felt anything resembling happy being filtered
out of her and thrown to the dogs.

She knocked on the trailer door that she saw labelled as ‘Tristian Steele’
having walked over from her own similar one a short ways away.

“ ‘T’, are you in here? We...have a meeting it seems?”

“Come on in Gabs” Tristan said as he began tidying up his trailer a bit
after the “mess” he made when Faith came by to see him. He waited for the
door to open and smiled. “You ready to discuss our characters for season 2?”

Ailynn felt her heart sink, and the remaining atoms of optimism leave her
as Trip called her 'Gabs.' Whatever situation she was in, and however she
had got there, it seemed that for the moment she was alone, perhaps some of
the others were still themselves, she however couldn't risk what little
remained of her sanity.

"Yeah...I suppose." She sighed as she sat down, watching Trip tidy. "Call
this a long shot but I don't suppose you're yanking my chain are you?"

“What, that they cast an American to play Captain Britain in an MCU Disney+
series? No it’s true. I mean if Batman, Superman, two spidermen, and Dr.
Strange can be played by a Brit, why not me as captain Britain?” Tristan
said in a rather accurate posh British accent.

"Ah Frak. You too."

“You ok there Gabs?”

"Honestly? I'm not sure. Just had the weirdest day. The make a wish thing
was harrowing. Then I met Cait..Sam...and it seems that my...on screen
girlfriend hates my guts."

“Well, I mean, look, it’s not her fault.” Tristan smiled, “I mean think
about it, like she went to college for this, to be an actress, and all she
can book is a recurring role on sci-fi show. Meanwhile a rather successful
model and an Elite in ring performer, aka pro wrestler, are able to book
the leads of said show without any issue. So she has to make a choice,
either realise that she isn’t really that great of an actress and she
should hang it up, or say that all they care about is look not skill, that
she’s getting screwed over and be bitter about it. She made her choice, so
just you know, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

"Just cuts deep when someone you thought you got on okay with isn't who you
thought they were. So...Err... going to sound crazy...this ever feel like
more than a show? I mean, you ever actually feel like Trip?"

“Feel like Trip, I mean sometimes, but only because I get into character
easily. I mean I’ve played myself dialed up to an 11 on WWE Programming for
like a decade now. So I guess I take that approach to Trip. Though, I mean,
when I was with Gail, there were times, I thought it was kinda surreal that
we played lovers on a show and were lovers in the night, but that obviously
didn’t end well. Other than the whole I’m having a kid thing. Stoked about
that. It’s a boy.”

~Gail...Ashlyn~ she remembered the cast list. "Congratulations." ~Not
together...~ she looked around the room, seeing a picture, but couldn't see
details from here. "Is your current girl...understanding about all that?"

“Faith, yeah, she’s excited. I mean we’re still seeing how umm, serious
we’re gonna be, you know if this is a long haul thing. I think so. I mean
we’ve talked about it. Her only concern is being viewed as the wicked
stepmother. But since the baby is a boy, I think her fear is, if she and I
work out, the poor kid grows up with a crush on his hot stepmom.”

Despite her crashing mood Ailynn laughed. "Eww...gross." She scowled, but
smiled. "Well, however...he'll grow up not short of love."

“Yeah, probably super rowdy too.”

She smiled and nodded "if he's like his dad's family yeah probably."

“Anyways, thanks for stopping by. Lets get to it.”

"So...characters...tell me...and you can be honest I'll not be upset. So do
you like Ailynn?  Does she...work do you think? As a pers...character?"

“Oh yeah, she’s great. I mean she’s smart, kick ass, three dimensional.
She's a great character, and you do a great job. I do think the character
is a bit uptight, but I think they’re gonna try and mellow her out this
season.”

"I hope so, let's hope that Sam is a good enough actress, I can't see what
other options Ailynn has for getting more mellow."

“It’s a shame they killed off Ryelle. You and Ryan had such great natural
chemistry, which is of course why you started dating. I think he’d have
been perfect for Ailynn. But the writers know more than me. And I wasn’t
about to tweet out #teamryelynn. Folks on twitter already hate me for well
getting Gail pregnant.” Tristan laughed.

"I don't understand twitter at all." Ailynn replied honestly, but hearing
Trip...no...Tristan talk about Ryelle, about Ailynn’s deepest feelings and
emotions toward him was disconcerting.

"It is a shame, I get why they did it, but yeah...I think she still loves
him because of all that, poor girl. Let's hope season two gives her
something more long term fulfilling." Ailynn said in reply.

“Well that all depends on how many people Sam ticks off behind the scenes.
If you thinks she’s too much, I’m sure if they ask they’ll replace her. But
maybe she just needs to be reminded that she’s lucky to even be working.”

"Bit harsh maybe...she'll settle. Maybe I just caught an off moment. All a
bit stressed." ~what is going on here? Trip would never be this
overcritical of someone.~

“Yeah folks have been acting weird all day. Maybe that’s it, jitters. And
you’re right. She’ll settle.”

"So about Trip….Haven't seen all the scripts yet, what's for him?" She got
up and looked at the picture that had been bugging her. ~Addison?~

“Well, at some point this season his son is born. I think they’ll have it
coincide with Gail. But I think the comes into his own. I’m trying to get
more fight scenes, but looks like you get all the best ones. Then of course
the rumors that they might be writing out Camilla St. James as Ronnie, so I
don’t know how that’s gonna go. Rumor has it, she’ll be deaged. But I don’t
know. Those scripts haven’t been written yet.”

"Of course. Ronnie, and The Empress. How could I forget." Ailynn sighed.
Her whole life reduced to words on a sheaf of red pages. Her oldest friend,
seemingly unaware of anything outside this...whatever the hell this was.

A random thought crossed her mind, and she looked at her left palm to see
the sliver of a jagged scar. " Tri...stan, do you know what this is?" She
held it out for him to see.

“It’s a scar. A nasty one. I remember when you got it. Messing around with
a prop bathleth. Didn’t end well for you.” Tristan took her hand, with the
hand that would have contained the identical scar Trip had. But like all
the other physical scars that Trip Williams had, Tristan Steele had none.
Except those scars from Medical surgeries due to ligament tears suffered in
the ring.

"Weird, I thought...never mind."  Ailynn said, the remains of her sanity
beginning to evaporate. In the back of her mind she hoped that she could
call the others, Erin, Ravok, Kiera, and maybe one of them was still
themselves. However what if they weren't, what if it really was just her.
She couldn't take that risk.

Gabrielle clenched her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear the fog,
but failed. "So we're on the first shoots tomorrow for episode 1, we're
leaving dock in Risa and...going where sorry?" Ailynn picked up her script
and scanned the pages.

“Home.” He said almost as if he was programmed to say that. “To Mars. I
think. Characters showing how they’ve grown and past demons. It’s gonna be
a real mind %$@$. They’re bringing back Lana Korikova who played Alexandra
Petrova in the pilot to mess with Trip. I think they may be bringing in Li
Monroe who played Rae in flashbacks in the pilot to further complicate
things. For Ailynn, well she gets a sit down with that mom of hers.”

"That'll be a fun one. I'm pretty sure that she hates me. Next you'll say
that Ernesto is on Mars too. Seriously, who writes this nonsense."

“Why would Ailynn’s mom hate you? Do you mean the actress? She’s the nicest
woman in the world and loves the crap out of you.”

"Just me being daft, everyone else seems to round here." Ailynn shrugged.
Nothing was as it seemed, so much was going round her head and she was
losing all sense of security that she had. "Be nice to see Mars again. See
what they've done to my hospital."

“Your hospital?”

"You know…the one that Ailynn was...rebuilding in the pilots. New sets I
suppose. That was all."

“Oh yeah, I guess. Will be fun to see.”

"See what they've made of things." Ailynn said noncommittal. Trip wasn't
Trip, and it was getting to her. Her oldest friend was a complete stranger.

“So what do you hope Ailynn gets to do this season.”

"Honestly? That she has the confidence to be the person everyone sees her
as, but she's utterly unable to see in herself." She shrugged, she could
feel the emotion rising again. "And Trip? Baby notwithstanding."

“I’m content. I’m happy. As soon as we wrap up here, I’ll go on the road
for a few months, help make some new stars, in wrestling that is, then its
off to the UK to film Captain Britain, so I’m happy with whatever. I just
want one epic fight scene where I get to use my signature move. Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson guest starred in one episode of Voyage and got to do his
signature move, I’m the star of the show, I just want to do it at least
once.” Tristan said laughing. “I’m simple.”

Ailynn smiled but really didn't recognise the stranger next to her. "I
can't wait." She said. "We got much more?"

“You that ready to go?” Tristan laugh, “I didn’t realize I was that boring.”

Ailynn forced a smile. "Sorry; no not at all. Just been a trying day.
Dinner, glass of red, and I might let Ryan give me a shoulder massage." She
smiled, actually realising she wasn't just feeding a line. As she
considered that, another thought crossed her mind. That at the moment she
was the actor.

~Wait...I'm an actor playing an actor who's pretending to be me~ "You and
Addi...Faith doing anything?"

“Yeah, dinner tonight.” He smiled.

"Sounds good. I might cook something from home."

“Hey Gabs, remember, you have a great life, you are loved by your folks,
and you have a wonderful dude waiting for you at home. Don’t take that for
granted. Ryan is special. Guys like that are one in a million.”

"I know, and you're right." She smiled. " had a moment this morning, and
Ryan was so sweet. He'd gone out to get coffee."

“He really is a sweet guy. Always trying his best.”

"I mean it was the sweetest most sickly thing in the universe, but the
thought was lovely, double death by chocolate donut too. He is lovely.
Really does remind me of Ryelle, the way we connect I mean."

“Yeah, again, shame Ryelle had to die. I mean he saved your character’s
life twice, once in the pilot, and then in the Bajor arc. You could say
without Ryan, you wouldn’t have a job.”

She nodded. "Yeah. I do love him." Smiling gently, she sighed. "Early
starts again."

“Yup. Want to go get a beer?”

"Nah, thanks really, but I'm headed home, my apartment is literally like a
mile away on the lakefront. I need some alone time to get my head back on
straight. Had a weird day like I said."

“Rain check then.”

Ailynn nodded, and replied gently. “tomorrow maybe.” She smiled, hoping
that Tristan hadn’t taken offence, it wasn’t that his company was bad, it
just wasn’t what she needed right now. She needed love and familiarity. “

Tristan then smiled as the woman he knew as Gabrielle walked out the door.

The door closing behind her, Ailynn sighed, deeply. Another door in her
life had been slammed shut, perhaps the final door that her sanity would
allow. Trip had been a constant in her life for as long as she could
remember. Ailynn stood there for a moment, trying to pull her thoughts
together, but realised that she couldn’t do it here, not at the moment. She
was holding back the tears, and wanted desperately to be in a private, safe
place. Sighing deeply, swallowing her fears, loneliness, angst and
increasing all encompassing fear, she walked toward her car, desperate to
get out of here.

(Reply none)

(Posted by Will and Mark)
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