Let Me Be Your Demolition Man

Posted on Mon May 1st, 2023 @ 12:03pm by Captain Akiva ben-Avram & Commander Arianna Frost & Lieutenant Calderon Jarsdel

Mission: Season 1 Interlude II (E5.5)
Location: Risa - Lagoon
Timeline: ID5 Evening

Habits he'd been forced to endure died hard, but were worryingly easy to resurrect. A skillset that Cal knew both he and Frost possessed, from past careers and a specifically inherent ability, flowed back into his mood like they'd never wandered away. Jumik's kinks and additional nuances still lingered in muscle memory and darker corners, the important factor being that Cal was in control now. Completely and utterly. Dusk though? It brought back memories from before the Lethean times and pulled old skills into the forefront.

There wasn't even a shred of guilt as Cal follow-stalked the blond spy. Whatever else she was, to him she would always essentially boil down to that moniker. Spy was in both their skillsets, a mutual appreciation of the ups, downs, sacrificies and mental health struggles involved in their line of work. Unfortunately.... he still saw it more negatively than positively when he looked from Frost's point of view... Unfortunately, her mind to Cal was more of a new fascinating chapter in available research. An invisible tome with an open door. Needs must and all that, though he felt no need to apologise or mansplain.

"Evening," Cal said, smoothly falling into step beside the Commander and exiting his constructed, shared, obfuscation that had allowed him to arrive so closely without warning. "You and me, we're gonna have a conversation." It wasn't a question, he wasn't asking for permission, and his tone, stance and expression all stated those facts clearly even in the murky darkness of Risa's early night hours. "Maybe we could sit by fire if you prefer, but if it's my choice, we'd walk and talk."

Arianna had slept after the turbulent breakfast meeting. Or so she thought at the very least. Some state of unconsciousness had happened in any case. She'd found answers to some questions the night before, sure. She'd also found many, many questions. Amongst those, one particular one kept creeping up.

Could she trust Cal to keep whatever else he dragged out from her head to himself? How would one perform a read-in in such an event anyway? Psionics and countering of the same were a strategic weak point for non-psionic agents, always have been and likely always will be. Reason said, ultimately, that she had no choice but to trust him.

After she'd woken up and had a shower, she pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt and left her room, the communicator in her pocket. At first, she didn't know what she was going to do, or where she was going to go. Her bare feet decided for her. Away from Hut 1, as far as possible.

She didn't anticipate that seeing Akiva and Laena in the same location, as amicable as they had acted would affect her so. Laena's volunteering to investigate Admiral Tau, whilst brave and worthy of her respect concerned her. An untrained officer could easily get themself into trouble and for all intents and purposes, this was the Orion woman, unless she proved Frost otherwise somehow. The fact that she was so closely tied to Akiva, with whom Arianna herself had a complicated relationship and/or feelings only amped the concern further. She had to make sure Laena had all the support she needed...for all three of their sakes.

And then there was...

Cal's voice cut through the dangerous thought that was about to form in her mind. Frost clamped it down quickly as the Betazoid appeared next to her. Was she so lost in thought she failed to notice someone's footsteps on the sand behind her?

Probably.

It took her a moment to reply, as she took in the posture and the tone. Someone was bound to come-a calling eventually, she supposed.

"Not here..." she said finally, feeling that anxiety return and having to clamp it down. "Let's get as far away as we can. Hut 3, most of them are off the atol. Shouldn't be disturbed on the other side of it." She motioned towards the darkened hut.

As they began walking, she couldn't help but ask, "how long have I missed your presence?"

He didn't physically touch Frost, but Cal kept his proximity exactly the same. Within reach, alongside, cool, calm and very much collected for them both. He let her speak, picking up on every undertone in her relatively unprotected mind. Without the luxury of needing to ask for permission, he could do far more than just listen and read, but that? For that he still felt the need to offer a semblance of consent.

"We won't be disturbed here, or there," he pointed out simply, maintaining eye contact long enough to imply the underlying question. "But we can walk further if you need to." It made no odds to him, and distance was sensible though too much might work against them. "Sometimes plain sight implies less covert action than an obvious attempt at separation."

Cal hadn't answered Frost's question either.

"You want to talk about things others shouldn't hear." Arianna sighed as they walked, "and if there are other eyes on us, at the very least they will get the wrong idea..."

"Yes," confirmed Cal, rolling his eyes at her sigh. Control freaks, both of them. He'd waited as long as he felt was necessary to put them out of immediate reach in the evening's dark. But... whatever. He gestured to the beach ahead. "Walk as far as you need to, then," he said.

Arianna caught his expression from a side glance and chuckled but said nothing. There was a peak in the sandy pebble of the beach. Once they reached it Arianna sat down at the very edge of it, dipping her feet in, toes digging into the silken oil beneath. The stars were out, as usual, and there was a slight cooling breeze in the air, dancing through their hair.

She rested her arms on her knees and closed her eyes, taking comfort in the windy, dark hug of the night. She leaned her head back, eyes closed, and forced herself to relax. "So, Cal...what do I need to share? I assume I don't have much of a choice as to whether I want to participate or not."

He could feel the shift in her, nuances of character and thoughts, emotions. He ignored the wind and stood before her, dropping to a comfortable crouch in the shallow water and canting his head to the side - to the right, then to the left. Crick. Stop, reset. Lock glances with those closed eyelids, a barrier to those soul windows that meant nothing to him but personal choice. His mind was free to push effortlessly beyond as hard Cal chose, but for now, he trod with light, verbal feet.

"I'll start," Cal said, voice clear and confident. "Stop me when I hit a nerve." A pause for one second, then he forged onwards. "You feel no one is taking this current threat seriously. You are holding back the walls on a major emotional breakdown that has been foreshadowed for a while. You have a theory you've not shared with anyone else, yet. And..." he paused, holding back as he watched Arianna's expression and felt the depths behind it.

Arianna gave a resigned sigh, and opened her eyes, looking at the black pools. "You understand you are treading into classified territory, don't you?"

He laughed at that, a genuine amusement, not any intended malice or mockery, but real humour. Cal's smile coloured his words as he answered her question. "I do, yeah." He noted. "But, I'm no stranger to those lands. And besides, kinda comes with the new job."

"You're right." She said, "I do think no one is taking this seriously enough. For people who work at a Black Site, they are shockingly blase about this." She leaned her head to the side, "it will hit soon enough. We won't be able to hide this for long. We are up against an enemy that's miles ahead of us. We will misstep somewhere...I just hope we're prepared enough when it does happen." Ari added quietly fighting back the anxiety that decided to remind her it was still there. "You're right about the theory...all I've found so far is pointing towards it being correct, but I have no physical evidence...yet."

She straightened up again, leaning closer to her knees. "Cal, not a word to the Captain. Not yet, not until I have proof. It's too devastating even as a theory, let alone if it turns out to be true."

"It's probably best for all of us if they don't, at least externally," Cal countered. "If they take things too seriously, they'll be way to obvious to anyone paying attention. We need to remain covert and uninteresting on the wider spectrum and a bunch of holidaying Fleeters isn't going to cause too many alarms. Meantime, those of us who understand the more clandestine side to operations can continue to do the necessary work behind those 'idyllic' scenes," he added. "Right?"

She had a point. The enemy was definitely ahead of them, but wasn't that always the case? "I don't really remember many major incidents where the bad guys weren't in the lead by a good few miles," Cal said. "They pretty much always have a head start, and they do go with those inventive plans and all."

Cal shrugged, no less serious than Frost in his demeanour. He eased off her anxiety just a notch, because he could, and watched her face. "We'll find evidence," Cal said, eventually. "And of course I won't say anything, we need to prove it. And I know you care about him, but he will need to be prepared for that news, should it be true."

Arianna reached over and took one of his hands and moved it to her temple, a wordless bid for him to see inside. She took a conscious effort to relax and not fight the intrusion. To trust Cal with her inner sanctum.

"It's sadly a bit more than care." She said to him in her head. "I now firmly believe that Taskmaster is Omri ben-Avram. The Captain's dead brother. At first it was just a crazy theory fuelled by my addled mind...and this particular image."

Flashback...

Slow clapping echoed across the open space as a lone figure walked out of the shadows. "Well done, Persephone," said the Taskmaster, still applauding. "Well done. And here I'd gathered from your transmission that you required backup."

"I had an unpredictable element in play," Arianna said through a series of heavy breaths as she motioned over to the remains of what had until mere minutes ago been the Efrosian known as Tarani. "They turned him. I've got audiovis recordings from my lenses, and if we manage to recover Aeneas' and Gol's we may have more evidence."

Just at that moment she noticed in the corner of the display that there was another set of data waiting to be accessed, sender - Vokau?

"I didn't know if I could handle both of them." As hard as it was to admit, Frost knew she did the right thing.

The Taskmaster spat on Tarani's remains. "Worthless son of a bitch," he growled. "Dumb enough to get flipped, smart enough to nearly take out a field team, and too cowardly to end only himself." Looking at Vokau, the Taskmaster asked, "What about him?"

Arianna reached behind her and fiddled with one of the straps of her belt, producing a set of restraints. She then walked over to the prone form of Vokau and with some exertion flipped him on his stomach, then she grabbed each of his arms and secured them firmly behind the Vulcan's back.

"I managed to stun him just as he was ducking for cover from the fallout of the grenade. Lucky shot really." Arianna said finally as straightened out. "We are leaking and we need to do something about that."

"One day at a time, Persephone," said the Taskmaster. "You plugged one leak today. Tomorrow we'll plug another. That's the job."

"I know, guv. I'm just sayin' that we need to...." Arianna started, then blinked. For a moment she could swear she saw another man standing there for a moment. Then she shook the thought away, Akiva was back on Memory Theta, and definitely not an intelligence officer. The Taskmaster for some reason reminded her of Captain ben-Avram but she couldn't put a finger on it. It had never happened before.

"Need to what?" the Taskmaster pressed. "Are you all right, Persephone? Do we need to get you a medic?"

Arianna shook her head, "no, I'm fine. We need to make sure we're not losing valuable data while we get back on track."

End Flashback...

"That mission...Operation Donnager...this is when the whole mess started. Everything from the death of my team trying to chase down the target, to the betrayal...to me losing my fucking mind....

Arianna went on to describe the catastrophic events of "Operation Donnager" and she let him feel the grief, the guilt, the worry.

"This was where Teejay's dead brother whom we found roaming Overwatch with other butlers was captured, he was the target." She continued and unleashed another flood of guilt infused feelings.

That a silent exchange was happening, there was but a tear that slid down her face shown.

"He wasn't getting out of that, Cal..." Another tear in the outside world. "I couldn't help him...other than in the way that I did. I can't even begin to describe it all to Teejay...he still thinks I am the monster..."

The things that people buried deep always fascinated Cal. Little things that might even feel inconsequential to an outsider, someone who wasn't entirely keyed into the details of someone's soul, their heart's desire, their hard-kept secrets. Did anyone care who a potentially lonely spy loved? Did that name need to be protected with as much energy and passion as this one was? Yes. In this case. And for more than one reason, it seemed.

But that was a theme running through a whole other horror story. One that Frost had now openly invited to watch along with her reliving of an older memory. Persephone. Taskmaster. And the latest wild card - the half-Vulcan's brother.

'Damn' seemed insufficient in response, so Cal allowed that word to solely permeate his own mind.

Damn....

"Lesser folk would have broken for sure," he said, in response to Arianna's admission that she was losing her sanity somewhat. "But you're far from lost, and you're still fighting the good fight. This," Cal exhaled slowly. "It's a lot," he agreed. "Really a lot." He took his time to think back over all that he'd just been shown and steeled his expression. Serious. Focused.

Both his hands took Arianna's, strong and sure in the way of a good friend or a trusted ally offering support. He was neither yet, and Cal knew that, but everyone had to start somewhere. He could be trusted, his voice, expression and stance said. He was here, for what it was worth, and a pain shared was at least a trouble out in the open. First they had to face it all, then they could deal with moving forward through and onward.

"You're not responsible for everyone," Cal reminded her. "And you'll never be able to save them all. It wasn't your failing, or your fault and neither was it yours to forecast or prevent. His own actions determined that outcome." There was warmth in his face as he squeezed her hands and mustered up a wry smile. "To Teejay, you'll always be a little bit monster, just like I am to many. Neither of us can change our history." It wasn't an apology or a quick fix, neither was it patronising or trite, but Cal knew such things were wasted on most. "We just have to face what we've done and what we've been through and keep walking. With support from those who understand..." That last sentence was spoken with the inflection of a question, though it may or may not have been. Would she let him help moving forward?

It wasn't until then that Arianna realized just how much she needed to hear these words. She didn't have his senses to be able to fully tell if he was being he was being completely honest with her or if he was just saying what he thought she needed to hear. It didn't really matter in the end. The burden on her heart and mind felt less heavy, so she would take those words and cherish them.

"Consciously and professionally..." she said, clearing her hitched up throat as she did so, "I know. Personally...it's hard. I do my job too well sometimes...keep people at arms length. But this lot..."

A shake of the head and a fond smile followed.

"This lot get under your skin, and that's become dangerous." Ari sighed again, "Cal, I defied orders to help you on DS9. I was ordered to help bury you all and shut you down. I was ordered to stay out of whatever was happening and observe. By him." She looked over at their still joined hands. "I've made him angry and he exiled me here. And now the whole thing with the butlers...we could all hang for this if we play it wrong. Primarily me, because I keep stirring his pot. I will do my very best to to not let that happen, I just hope the others start taking it seriously before its too late." She said in a hushed tone.

"You know...in our job, things this big always have a team." Frost's voice cracked again, "I don't have one. I have friends and I don't know if that's better or worse. Yet somehow I still feel very much alone...and it gets a bit much sometimes." She took a deep breath, and pulled a hand back, wiping under her eyes. "Sorry, I'm depositing too much. Unless this is actually what you wanted to talk about?"

Even before she joined Intelligence she hated not being in control, especially around people who had the upper hand on her, be they friend or foe. Cal meant well, she knew that much, but she felt unbalanced, off kilter and she didn't like that feeling. She needed to find her footing again, and quick.

Denial, and an overconfidence in herself. Good traits in an undercover operative, Cal knew from personal experience, but also particularly rough on the mental health toll. Frost should have broken down months ago, by all she'd been through, but telling her that wasn't going to change her attitude. He didn't need the Lethean edge or the Betazoid quarter to understand that, just his own past experience.

"People always find a way," he acknowledged. But Arianna had more. Defying orders? Shut them all down? Hell, that was interesting. He kept his eyes on hers, and when Ari looked down, Cal maintained that straight gaze to her temple and let himself 'listen' to the underlying tune. "I guess if you made him angry that's a good sign," he said. "And worse places, and people, to be exiled with. Besides, he doesn't seem to be keeping you pinned down, you've been away from here at least once already, right?" Advantage Cal there, using those overpowered skills again without permission - probably shouldn't be owning up to that cheat of a guess so readily. "They're not going to take it seriously and we both know it," Cal confirmed. "Most of them are espionage idiots who completely underestimate the powers behind the curtain and amplify their own egoes through naivety and overconfidence." He forced a smile. "I won't let you hang, if I can be of any use at all," he promised, meaning every word. "Us cloak and dagger types gotta stick together, right?"

Team. The one she thought she didn't have. Friends. The downfall of most operatives.

"Friends make things infinitely more complicated," stated Cal. He'd been grateful for his lack of them when Jumik had struck, happy that no one else had been immediate collateral damage. "And you have a team. I mean, I know you haven't asked for one," he shrugged, expression deadly serious. "But with how much I've learned from you, I think you'd be remiss to not consider me part of your team, now." Again, there was zero humour in his statement, the observation more fact that conjecture. Whether Frost liked it or not, he was involved now, up to speed for the most part and useful. "Let the tears come and go as you need to," Cal instructed. "Your body needs to let the emotions flow, pass through you and allow you to reset. Only by embracing the emotions will you find your balance again. You're a race car in the red right now, holding everything in only messes with your motion. Let it out. I promise I won't tell anyone else." A faint smile offered solace.

"Whatever you need to talk about, is why I'm here, listening," Cal confirmed. "You're like fireworks contained in a locked barrel from my point of view, your mind, your emotions, they're pinned down, crushed down and spinning too fast. If you work through them, talk this all out, you'll find a clearer head and an ally," again the flash of a smile shone in those blue eyes, "whether you want one or not."

On the outside, a second tear followed, and another, "thank you." Emotions flooded across her barriers, "On top of all of this attachment I've developed with the crew...I find myself caring for the Captain was more than I should. More than I have the right to be."

She showed Cal the scene on Deep Space Nine, before she returned to the Castermer base. The forbidden kiss.

"It felt like home and it's been haunting me since. And then I found out Laena is back and she was on Deep Space Nine at the time of...our indiscretion and they had slept together the night before and now I feel like a homewrecker and seeing them try to reconcile and the Captain running away from me every time he sees me." Ari echoed the ridiculousness of the situation to him.

Another scene played into his mind, this time from the spa incident the day before. The other, accidental kiss. Luckily this was one relationship she had managed to salvage, thanks to both Storr and Jaya's good grace.

"Then there was that...I feel like whatever I do, I am destroying something...or someone and then it gets flaunted in my face and it hurts, Cal. It bloody hurts and I...I don't know how to work through this. I don't know what I'm supposed to do or feel. I know I can't have what I want, and you know what, that's fine. That's the life we chose...but I don't know what to do with the rest other than keep going with it day by day," Frost sighed internally, tears still flowing.

A lesser telepath might have been temporarily overcome by the rush of that emotional flood, and Cal knew that from past experience. He'd been that weak force by comparison to one entire side of his family. But now, Lethean skills protected and enforced him, and Arianna's unleashing was easily handled within, gifting no outward shift in his expression at all. Even when she mentioned Akiva, if not by name but by rank. His eyes opened wider as the DS9 scene's visuals played out in Cal's mind.

Silence.

Absorption of information. Envy? No. But surprise, curiosity and empathy for sure, all held back by his own internal barriers, but not by that telepathic speech, where it was safe to react. Protected. Private.

"Are they married?" Cal asked, unsure as yet of (and previously not interested enough to pry into) all the intricacies of the team's interpersonal relationships. "A moment shared in pleasure is not cause enough to punish yourself so harshly, especially not such a simple and mutually enjoyed one." It wasn't, was it? He queried internally. A kiss was not unforgiveable, even if it did imply desire on both sides, and Frost's being the one to currently concern himself with. "He runs away from you?"" Cal queried, intrigued by this notion of Akiva hiding from Ari.

It was a lot to unpack - the Captain acting strangely, the Captain indulging two women, the Captain ducking and diving - and Cal knew that next time he saw Akiva, he would be very tempted to break protocol just enough to see what was going on inside the man's head. Curiosity really was a heartless, unforgiving bastard.

Then a second mental scene hit. A spa. Another kiss. Wow - Cal internally grinned - Ari really needed some adventurous romantic time with someone trustworthy, someone who cared for her, whoever that might truly be.

Externally, he was a rock of supportive, non (well slightly) judgemental, emotional solid ground. He didn't attempt to stop Ari's tears or mentally ease her pain with powers he could certainly have called upon. Cal maintained a neutral expression, a grounded outlook and tone, and an offer of physical stability if Frost needed a literal hand-hold to even out the landslide earthquake that currently shook her to the core.

"You are destroying nothing by feeling your feelings," Cal promised. "It takes two to kiss, kill, hit and console. The Captain kissed you back. Storr acted on impulses beyond your control. That you have deeper feelings for one than the other is neither your fault or a malicious intent. I can help you walk the path a little more clearly, I can support you to fathom a pathway through this, but you will have to allow yourself to feel everything. To keep doing what you've been doing here and now. The only way through is one step at a time, but those steps do not have to be taken solo." He paused to let that sink in and stopped short of using words like 'safe space' from personal choice and forward assessement of Arianna Frost's nature.

"We can all only control ourselves, our own feelings." Unless, of course, Cal added privately, we have dangerously strong mental abilities. "You need to let the guilt slip away - this will take time and practice - and believe you deserve happiness. Feel... everything. In the right time and place. Our work and some semblance of an emotional relationship are never entirely mutually exclusive." A short pause. "I have to believe that."

Arianna looked up at him, a smile breaking the teary, silent features. "I have to believe it too." She shared sympathy now with him. "Every time we are alone, he tries to run away from me, physically and emotionally. He keeps saying it's not my fault and yet...he is fighting himself, I can see it. And...the physical reaction he had to me," embarrassment and the feeling of being a little flattered too coloured her words.

"When we were in the spa." She added. "I haven't been this attached to a group of people in so long. Both as friends...and whatever the other thing is. It goes against all of my training and experience. It's like my muscles want to fight it, but my bones crave it like the air that I breathe and it's a constant struggle to keep the balance. It's strange...foreign and so tantalizing at the same time. Words were followed by the corresponding emotions.

"Consciously, I know what you said is true and I agree with it and would say the same thing to someone else. As for Akiva and Laena - they were never officially married...the rest of the reasoning is not my story to tell. Suffice to say there are attempts at reconciliation." Ari added a reply, before continuing her train of thought, "Subconsciously, it's hard to reconcile what my rationale knows. I need to do the right thing and respect all the liaisons, all the connections. I think...

A thought crystalized in her mind just then.

"I think I'm afraid of my own ability to manipulate things into being what I want them to." Her inner voice added quietly, coupled with a little self-targeted horror. "Because I know I can and I want things to be real. Genuine. Not a conscious or subconscious product of my machinations. I want it to be for me."

A blank pause before shame entered the field.

"Is that selfish?"

"I don't know him well," Cal advised, his time with the Captain relatively short, though he had the beginnings of a sense of the man. "But if someone kept avoiding me, I personally would call it over. If he wishes to hide, let him come back to you when that need has vanished." Harsh and unfair? Probably. But less self-destructive. "It's not your fault, but it is what he wants, for reasons he clearly is currently unable to share." Let it go. Not easy. Necessary.

Then Arianna shifted to more of an internal focus, and Cal took a moment to look beyond the words, a little deeper into her psyche again, before he answered.

"I don't believe you're afraid," he said, with a wry smile about that thought. "But, I understand what you mean. Too well, believe me, do I understand." For Cal truly had the ability to enact such a somewhat terrifying outcome, to control others should he wish. "The fact that you recognise the potential for the behaviour, means I must say no, you're not being selfish," Cal confirmed with a casual ease. "Your next move is your own. But my advice would be. Step back. Disengage. Mourn the loss. Be independent but not unavailable. Sometimes people don't know what they really want until they don't have that option before them," he told her. "Sometimes absence is the key to decision."

Ari gave a wry, internal chuckle, "believe me, I have been trying. The spa was out of my control and in truth so was Deep Space Nine. Ever since my return I've gone out of my way to stay away, stay focused on other things and the Universe keeps throwing our paths together. My re-assignment to DS9...Cal he fainted when he saw me." Frost recounted that event and the subsequent talk, "Then there was the whole thing with Teejay's brother and the chaos that's come out of that...then the spa yesterday. That one was completely out of my hands."

A wry smile this time, ""I should have taken Matija on his offer...but alas, I've been warned not to intertwine with the local folk this time around."

Calderon nodded. Sometimes the universe was a real bastard. He picked up from her most interesting admission. "He fainted?! Wow..." Words failed him for a moment, but the conflict of amusement and secondhand despair for the other man warred on his face as Arianna expounded further on the incident and their conversations. "Seems it's not going to be an easy ride," he noted, with a demonstrative exhale to make her aware of his empathy for such things. "But there are ways - if you have to be constantly thrown together, cool detachment should be an easy go-to move for one of your calibre," Cal suggested. " Treat it like a mission if you have to, but protect yourself first. And remember, I can help. Support. Listen. You really aren't alone in this now, for what that's worth."

"Matija?" Cal asked, but the imagery was easy enough to pull from her surface thoughts and brought a smirk. "Yes," he added. "You really should have. It helps, trust me." For all the times he'd wished for an easy get-out of riding shotgun in his own head while Jumik exercised those base, but necessary pleasures, Cal felt the pain of not having that option available. Nandi... Nandi was definitely making up for lost time. "Oh," He asked then though, "What's the reason for avoiding local... hook-ups?"

"Have you met, Qurban? He...has a way of seeing certain events and realities. I've been speaking with him on occasion when I was in investigative conundrums. He's the one who initially set me to look into Omri Shaw...and you know where that clue lead up to. He warned me not to sleep with locals on Risa, quite emphatically so. He never mentioned the exact reason why, but I think it will reveal itself with time." Ari said with amusement and fondness. "If you ever interact with him, careful what questions you ask him...he tends to reset, as if he has a switch inside him that prevents him from revealing too much information. I've reset him a few times by accident. Anyway...yeah, I'm inclined to listen to his warning." Ari wondered if she should mention the conversation that preceded the warning, about multiple husbands and wives in multiple realities. "I am grateful you made me talk about this, Cal. It feels easier now." Ari added, letting the feeling of gratitude and relief flood her. She needed an outlet and this one was unexpected.

"Qurban?" Cal's right eyebrow raised. No, he hadn't. But now he really wanted to. Clearly Memory Theta had secrets aplenty and this one had been locked down enough that even Jumik hadn't sensed it even at full strength. Good secret. Very interesting. "I'm kinda envious," he said, good natured humour infusing his words despite their honesty. "But clearly yes, the answer will show up sooner or later. And I have the distinct feeling we're not gonna like it." He frowned, letting the concern for Nandi overwhelm him for a moment. She wasn't a local, of course, but if he had put her in any danger at all he would never forgive himself.

"He resets?" He asked then, curiosity increasing by the second as he wondered what questions he could - should - ask. He had so many. "No worries," Cal said then, addressing Frost's gratitude. "Happy to be of help. And I still have plenty of guilty conscience to work through, so just gonna keep helping wherever I can. If you need to talk and keep things private, maybe we should agree a code word we can use in public?"

Arianna nodded outwardly, yet still no words were spoken, "There is some sort of a switch in his head that prevents him from relating certain information. I'm still working on a theory as to what is the exact trigger, but I haven't had the time to delve into it." She answered the first question, before locking her eyes with his, "It's a deal, but only if it's two-sided. I may not be psionic, but I'm very good at keeping secrets." An outward smile echoed her mood. ""Tourmaline. Don't know why, just came to me. How's that?"

"Interesting," noted Cal, his expression unreadable in that moment. He was curious for sure, and definitely about to go seeking this fella out for entertainment purposes alone. "Agreed on the two-sided," Cal consented then, the deal struck without need for any more questions. A confidant who was both used to the covert world and able to imprint words so easily for them to hold a private conversation was a valuable ally indeed. "Thank you," he added, then, with a wry smile. "A lot of folks don't consider offering return support." He nodded and gave a thumbs up to the code word - whatever Ari wanted was fine by him.

"So," Cal said casually as he stood up, stretched and took a breath. "That was a great and much needed meditation. Shall we head back?"

Arianna stood up as well, "Indeed, I've meditated with vulcans before but never betazoids. Thank you for that experience, Cal, and for allowing me to get to know you better." With that, she gave him a nod of respect, while gratitude colored her emotional spectrum.

"Am I interrupting something?" While Akiva had not meant to eavesdrop, the sight of Cal and Arianna in quiet repose had given him pause. Evidently they had been meditating. Odd. Did Cal meditate with people often? What did it consist of? What exchanged between them? Akiva felt on edge and didn't hide it well. There was... no reason he should be. No rightful reason, at least. Were they staring? Akiva felt the weight of a million eyes on him even though there was no sign of anyone but the three of them. He should go, but his feet couldn't move. So, in the end, he just stared.

"Oh for fucks sake! Of course this would happen..." Arianna swore inwardly as Akiva made his presence known.

Instead, she shook her head. She conjured Arianna the Deputy Administrator, that was safe. Right?

"No, sir. Of course not." She shook her head and offered a smile, one she tried very hard to reach her eyes. "Anything we can help with?"

Obviously, he was looking for one of them, if not both. The other option was too uncomfortable to consider. So, they had to be available to their Commanding Officer, no matter how they personally felt about it. This was the job, even on Shoreleave. Yeah, this was safe.

Cal's response to the unexpected interruption hit the other end of the emotional scale as he automatically picked up slightly beyond mere surface emotions from both of the others present. He beamed a big, relaxed grin to Akiva as if the man had simply caught them at their most relaxed ever and the telepath simply welcomed anyone at this point.

"Perfect timing," Cal noted cheerfully. He suspected Akiva had come across the two of them by accident, but either way was an interesting coincidence given Cal and Arianna's silent exchange. "Did you want to schedule a meditation yourself, Captain?"

Akiva shot up an eyebrow. "Meditation?" Skepticism radiated from his face. "I didn't realize you were taking appointments, Lieutenant. I'm unsure whether Jaya will feel threatened or overjoyed at the competition."

Arianna shook her head, her shoulders shrugging. "It's the kind of meditation someone of Cal's specific skill set is more equipped for." She said, tapping the side of her temple, briefly. "And I don't just mean the betazoid side. I needed a bit of help, is all." Another truth that felt like a lie. "Besides, I don't think Jaya and Storr would appreciate me intruding upon them any further than I already have the last few days."

"And you're busy with Laena...so." She struggled with herself not to voice that thought. If Cal were not there, she probably would have.

Cal's voice was the epitome of calm, his response neither rushed or held back, but waiting for the two others present to say what they needed to say. "Neither a threat, nor competition, I assure you, Captain," he noted for everyone listening. "Simply finding my role in a complicated mix. If I overstepped, please tell me." He regarded Akiva with a level and politely curious expression. "I did not expect us to be interrupted, I was under the impression everyone was enjoying quality time with their significant others on this gifted vacation."

One nosy, know-it-all empath was bad enough. Now there was a... what was Ari getting at? A tactical telepath who is giving out counseling sessions? It was enough to give Akiva a nascent migraine. On the bright side, maybe a migraine would make it harder for Cal to read his thoughts. "I suppose I can look forward to that in Jaya's next evaluation," Akiva said far more grumpily than he intended. "If you're...finished... I was hoping to have a word with Ari." Then, just to drive the point home, he added, "Alone."

"Fuck's sake...." Arianna sighed inwardly, "sure, Captain." She said with a silent nod to Cal, signaling that it was okay.

She wasn't really in the mood now, to talk with Akiva, not after all that had just spilled out of her, all tha Cal absorbed. Arianna needed processing and distancing time. It seemed though that the universe had other plans.

A migraine didn't hold back Cal's ability, but his Betazoid sensibility recognised the shift in colours across Akiva's mental spectrum. It didn't take much ability at all to pick up the man's displeasure, so Cal shrugged. He had no intention of sharing Ari's private thoughts to Jaya or Akiva, but he kept his expression neutral as Captain and Commander conversed briefly and nodded in response to Frost's own.

"I'll leave you to it," Cal conceded easily and politely. He gifted Ari a courteous upward nod and met Akiva's eyes briefly before turning to walk away into the darkness along the shoreline. It was as good a time as any, Cal considered, to test the limits of how far from them he could walk before he stopped picking up their thoughts.