“The greater the tension, the greater is the potential.” ~ Carl Jung

The last few days could only be described by one phrase, and things didn’t go as planned. Naris had hoped the ship would be operational, her crew would be ready, and they could have departed. The more she went over her plans, the more she realized she was talking past tense. Nothing about this assignment was going as she had predicted. The only consistent in her life, for now, was that awkward tension every time she passed by Engineering. She knew in time she would have to address, as the humans say, the elephant in the room.   However, avoidance was easier than tension.  

Eli was a capable officer. He didn’t need a babysitter, or so she kept telling herself. But, the simple fact was that she knew she couldn’t avoid the man forever. He was a part of her crew so that only meant one thing. She took a deep breath as she entered the central area of Engineering. To be honest, she wasn’t sure what to expect, but something was better than nothing. She nodded to the nearest officer, “as you were,” she spoke, realizing he had stopped working. “I’m just going to go…” she sheepishly pointed, “I mean, I am here too,” she coughed. “Never mind why I am here,” she turned. “Great job,” she told herself, “definitely not awkward at all.”

The Ensign just gave the Commanding Officer a strange glance and brushed it off. He’d heard enough of the rumors to know what would occur.  

Eli walked back into Main Engineering from one of the side Jeffries Tube access areas. In front of him stood Naris, who looked awkwardly out of place. He sighed ‘Great now to make things even more awkward.’ He made his way over to where she was standing and cleared his throat.

This whole situation was awkward for both of them, but he tried to interact, and it seemed like Naris had really avoided him in any way that she could. He had just brushed it off and gotten the Steamrunner for departure; in fact, from all the Staff briefings, he was the only one to have his department ready, and for that, he was proud of them, even if they were a little green. He had tried to talk to Naris on about three occasions after briefings, but she had done everything she could to avoid him. This seemed to be an attempt to talk to him.

“Hi Naris, what can I do for you?” He said in his normally booming voice.

Naris nodded, giving a pleasant yet awkward smile, “I figured it was time we talked for a bit,” she motioned to his office. She didn’t wait for a reply as she made her way to his office. She needed to get out of the watching full of the rest of the staff. “I know this is odd,” she stopped adding, “for both of us. However, if we are going to work together, I think I need to explain a few things.” She straightened her uniform, trying hard to keep things professional. “After I, I mean Ladra passed, the Naris symbiont was sent over to the USS San Diego for transport to Trill.” She sighed as some of the memories came flooding back. “I was never supposed to be joined, and you gotta understand you go through years of training and education to prep for this.   When the symbiont took a turn for the worse, I was given an atta boy,” she gave a fist bump with her left arm, “and one of those if you need to talk, we are here. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I had just lost my husband, we had just adopted Grace, and then,” she gestured to her abdomen where the symbiont resided, “this happened.” 

“When they offered me this Command, there truly wasn’t any good Engineers available, at least none that wanted an older Steamrunner class, especially the Galileo. Then I saw your name, and I jumped,” she smiled, “I shouldn’t have done that. We have rules. I mean,” she started to ramble before looking up, “another trait I get from Ladra,” she sheepishly smiled. “I am not entirely sure where I was going with this, now.” 

Eli looked at Naris and blinked before taking a sip of his coffee and looking her straight in the eye. “To hell with the rules and regulations. It doesn’t mean we have to be so awkward to each other that the crew even talked about it when we aren’t around. I know Ladre is still there, so you know me, but I know you don’t like me. I came to do my job. Do I still have feelings for Ladre…yes.” 

He took another sip of coffee. “I am here to do my job hell, I think this ship is in better shape than when I arrived. If you don’t want to talk to me formally, so be it, but please, for the love of this ship and our sanity, don’t ignore me every time you see me.”

Outwardly Naris tried hard to control her expression, but there was the Eli she remembered. This was the man that Ladra had broken down over time and managed to bring him ever so slightly out of his shell. “Well, then, as we both agree on that, Captain Bates,” Naris smiled, “we have a starting point, and that is good. There is no need for awkwardness,” she wasn’t fooling herself, but maybe Eli; she’d hoped.

“Starfleet has given us our orders. We will be taking the ship out to the Fourth Fleet’s Deep Space Operations,” she looked at the man. “A steamrunner class ship in deep space operations,” she couldn’t believe she was saying that.  This class wasn’t built for deep operations, “We’re going to need everything you can muster out of these engines.” 

Eli sipped his coffee looking at the PADD in front of him. He glanced up at Naris and quickly looked back down. Truthfully he wanted to tell her to forget the Trill rules and regulations, but he didn’t even know how Naris felt about him being that it wasn’t Ladra. “I am sure I can make these old engines purr like a baby kitten.”  

He chuckled and gave her the PADD with the operational updates regarding what he had done. He looked back at her again “Are we going to forget the past Naris? I am not sure I can forget it because it was the one thing in my life that was constant. 

“Ladra may be a part of me,” Naris responded her smile a bit warmer than maybe it should have been.  “We’ve never met before and yet I can remember every encounter the two of you ever had.  “I know Ladra spoke to you about encounters with the previous relationships,” she looked at him, “Eli, I need time. This is a huge taboo in my culture, I am not even sure we should be in the same room.  But here we are.” 

Eli shook his head “I never did understand the Trill rules that Ladra followed, though I am sure you know she broke some of them to be with me. When I lost her life shattered and I didn’t think I would recover, but I did. Now I meet you and see the same qualities, but in different ways.” He sighed “I have waited this long I guess I can wait longer.” He smiled indicating he would give her time.

Naris straightened her posture up, as she tried to hide her internal dialog.  “I appreciate that Captain Bates, for now, our focus needs to be the ship after that, well.”  She stopped herself from finishing that sentence.   Her mind drifted back to the very last thing that Ladra told Eli right before she died, “this is not how our story ends. This doesn’t mean our story is over.”  If she only knew how true those words were.  ”I promise no more avoidance or awkward meetings,” she turned without much more to say.  She needed to leave the area before more of Ladra came forward.

Eli watched as Naris left his office and smiled because something felt similar to the conversations he had with Ladra. The future was uncertain, but he knew he had made Naris think. He sipped his coffee and grabbed a toothbrush going to yell at a crewmember and give them the task of cleaning the remote Jeffries tube section with the toothbrush.