Come with me

Posted on Thu Feb 2nd, 2023 @ 12:02am by Lieutenant Xavier Leiko & Jerant van Rijn

Mission: Character Development
Location: Various
2026 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Jerant was carrying two packs as he called to Xavier's quarters, having taken the liberty to pack something for each of them. First having debated taking him to visit his family, Jerant had quickly dismissed that ideas, figuring they needed to spend some time together first. Still the debatable point was whether to spend that near a mass of people, or somewhere secluded. His own telepathy was still not working as it should, but it was still better than having nothing at all and he felt that any progress was just that, progress. And any progress had to be cherished.

"Xav!" he called out, "are you ready to go?" Where they were going however, was still much of a mystery, just as Jerant had planned it to be.

"It's hard to be ready when I don't know what I'm getting ready for," Xavier replied in jest. In all honesty, he was looking forward to spending time with Jerant, away from the ship and he wasn't too fussed about what that activity may be.

"And that's why I packed for you," Jerant grinned as he thrust the pack towards his friend, "and I have no doubt you'll like it, when we get there. I have remembered what you said before." His dark eyes took on a mischievous twinkle as he spoke. "Come on or we'll miss the transport." He all but pulled Xav along, his enthusiasm very easy to see (or sense), as well as the excitement of his little mystery. "You'll love it, I promise," he reiterated as he led the man towards the transporter room. "Keep your eyes closed when we transport, and no peeking," he added, "or it's no surprise."

"I swear if you have planned for us to jump off buildings again, it's going to be a very short outing," Xavier chuckled, thinking back to the first time he met Jerant. Despite his slight reservations, he stepped on to the transporter pad and as instructed he closed his eyes tight. Let's see where this adventure leads he thought as he felt the familiar tinger of the confinement beam.

"No jumping from buildings, I promise." The transporter beam took them and deposited them into what hopefully would be familiar surroundings, of sorts. Jerant had never been here before, and he did wonder if Xavier had. "You can open your eyes now," he said and gestured towards the courts below. "I'm not sure if you've visiting Wimbledon before, but I thought it would be something ah..good to start?"

Xavier opened his eyes and looked around the arena. As an avid follower of tennis, he instantly recognised one of the oldest courts on Earth. He had never visited Wimbledon before, outside of the holodeck, the sheer exclusivity of this place was beyond intimidating, even for the son of a high-ranking Admiral. "How did you pull this off?" He asked in sheer wonder.

Pleased with the result, Jerant just smiled. "I'm glad you like it," he said, "the courts are not used today I was told so uhm..." He gestured ahead. "We can use it for a little while, if you like." He wasn't going to tell Xav how he had pulled this off but he sure was going to owe a favour or two to a few old friends and family members. "I'll do my best to be a worthy opponent," he promised. Arranging a practice match against a renowned pro of the time unfortunately had been several bridges too far.

"We get to play on the court?" Xavier asked, his eyes full of wonder. He looked around again realising exactly where in Wimbledon they were. "This is centre court, of Wimbledon, and we're going to play on it. Are we going to get arrested?" He added jokingly, half-jokingly.

"Not unless you want to be," Jerant laughed. "Come on, gear is waiting for us down there. we have some time," he repeated, "an hour or two at least if wanted."

Xavier hurried down the stairs so quickly that he nearly tumbled the rest of the way down. Thankfully their gear was just off to the side and not on the actual court, he figured it would be disrespectful to be on the legendary grass when not in his tennis gear. He stripped down to his underwear, not thinking too much about it. The two of them had shared a week in a shuttle together not so long ago, after that all rules were off. He pulled on the clothes Jerant had supplied and was thankful it was a good fit, Jerant had thought of everything.

"You ready?" Xavier asked, "I hope you've been practising. Though this is the first time I have played without my telepathy, maybe I'll be rubbish too?"

"I would've if I've been able to!" Jerant called cheerfully as he vaulted down across the seats . "We're on even field then," he added with a smile, "we can have some actual fun with this." He had deliberately not brought up their faulty talent, but now it was out here. "Still nothing then?" He asked carefully as he got changed too. "You're welcome to try with me any time you feel like it you know." He picked up the racket and gave it an experimental swing, the item nearly flying from his hand.

"Easy there," Xavier said as he prematurely ducked before realising that the racket hadn't left Jerant's hand. He picked up one of the green tennis balls and bounced it a few times on the ground before catching it in his hand and throwing it to the Betazoid. "Quit stalling," he said, avoiding the question, "it's your serve." He hadn't told Jerant about everything that had gone down with his mother a few days prior though he couldn't fully comprehend why. Maybe he was still processing everything himself or maybe he was scared to be that vulnerable again. The whole saga had drained him and now he just wanted a bit of fun.

Xavier took up his position and waited to see what Jerant had to offer. In all fairness, he wasn't too bad, especially for a novice. Xavier took it easy on him at first, placing his shots directly in Jerant's path and the returns were pretty smooth and even challenging at times. Eventually though, Xavier got bored and did his best to keep Jerant running around the court, sometimes to the furthest back point, others to the front of the net. He thought he would miss the expert levels of his usual holodeck counterparts, but Jerant's technique was so amusing he was having a great time which went by way too quickly.

"And that's game, set, and match," Xavier declared triumphantly. "Shall we call it a day?"

"Already?" Jerant panted, wiping soaked strands of hair from his face. He was well aware of the fact that he'd been kept running, and that he was nowhere near any level Xavier was at. "And here I was trying to show off," he teased as he walked towards the net. "We still have a little while, unless you really want to go somewhere else?" He nodded up the rows of seats to the side of the court. "Seems we got a few spectators," he smiled, not having noticed anyone come in while his attention had been on the game. "Maybe it is time to leave then."

"Let's watch the next match. We can get some strawberries and cream, it's a must-have when you're at Wimbledon," Xavier said as he wrapped a white towel around his soaking neck.

"And chocolate?" He reached for a towel as well. "After we get cleaned up right? So what do you think? Nice surprise?" Jerant smiled brightly as he stepped closer. "Because I think, that it is."

"You can have whatever you like, you did well today, this was a great surprise, exactly what I needed," Xavier said. "Come on." After the pair freshened up they made their way over to the courtside seats and settled in to watch the next match and enjoy their various snacks. "Thank you for this," Xavier said, keeping his eyes on the ball bouncing from one side of the court to the other. "It feels so good getting off the ship."

Nursing the large bowl with strawberries, chocolate ice cream and cream, Jerant leaned back. "Good, that was the idea. That, and I wanted you for myself for a little while too. Where would you like to go next, when we finish watching this match and I feed you some of these delicious strawberries?" He held out the spoon after scooping up some of it. "I can probably think of a few places, but what would you like to do?" He turned his eyes towards the court, then back to Xavier. "Penny for your thoughts?" he finally ventured.

"Penny what?" Xavier repeated, with a grin. He sighed heavily, "you know Finn has left right? Well I didn't get to say goodbye, I didn't even know she was struggling as badly as she was. I can't help but think that if I had had my telepathy, I could have helped her."

"From what I heard, no-one got to say goodbye," Jerant answered softly, reaching out to take his hand. "And she's stubborn, I don't think you would've been able to Xav. Even if you had your telepathy, we both know she's very good at keeping things bottled up. There were no indications whatsoever, even others that knew her probably didn't see it coming. Now I don't know her as well as you do, but I honestly don't think it would've made a difference. We can't dwell on could've dones, that won't help us any. You know I've had flashes of my empathy, even telepathy and I want nothing more than for us to get it back. But I think, it'll just take time and we have to be patient." He held out the spoon a little further. "She'll be back before we know it," he all but promised, "or do you want to go find her? I'm not sure that'll be a good idea but if you want my support, you have it."

Xavier held out his hand, waving the spoon away. "Find her?" He repeated, "no I don't think that would be a good idea, she needs time and I think we owe her that much. I don't know what happened when she was captured but I do know it changed her, she needs to rediscover who she is. I just wish I could help that's all. I worry," he added with a half smile.

"I know all about worry," Jerant answered, echoing the smile, "just a different person that's all. And just as she needs to rediscover herself, so do we. And I have no doubt that'll help us recover too, it just needs time and patience." He offered the spoon again, the chocolate ice cream already starting to melt. "Come on, chocolate will cure all for us," he grinned.

"We will, together," Xavier said. He was happy he had Jerant, happy they could talk this way and share their doubts with each other, it made the universe less lonely. He waved the spoon away again and blushed. "Promise not to judge me?" He asked, slightly sheepishly. "I don't care for chocolate, it's actually kinda overrated in my humble opinion."

A look of mock horror. "What kind of Betazoid are you," he teased, taking the bite for himself. "Well more for me and what's your fancy then?" He reaches out after putting the bowl aside, touching Xavier's cheek. "You're very cute when you blush like that, anyone ever tell you that?"

"A broken one," Xavier couldn't help but joke. He looked down at the court and realised that the match was over. "I might have been told that," he replied as he took Jerant's hand in his own. "Come on, let's have a stroll, I have so much to tell you about my mother." The pair set off around the grounds that held more history than Starfleet itself, as the two discussed Xavier's recently discovered family history.