From: Kim (kimtoussaint_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Jan 17 2008 - 10:55:46 PST
"Confusion"
( Continued from Bethany's Puzzles )
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Location: GS2
Scene: Corridor -> Ben's temporary quarters
Stardate: 2.80117.1048
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Grief was something Daisy knew only too well. During the years that she and Ben had been apart, her youngest child was murdered. Little Jason was only a toddler when he was brutally taken from his mother.
Approximately 10 months ago, when Ben and Daisy saw each other in San Francisco....Daisy had avoided talking about her kids. It was nice simply to see Ben again. They walked along the beach alone together. Sometimes, they talked. Sometimes, it was just a comfortable silence.
Finally, the question about how her children were doing came up in the conversation. She talked first about Erika. Then, Gavirosh. She hadn't met LJ yet. Finally, she had to tell him that Jason was gone.
Ben's heart broke for what Daisy had endured. He had often had nightmares about what it would be like if he lost his own son, Arthur. He pulled Daisy into his arms and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe. The two of them found a hotel room and spent a long night together making love and just laying curled up in each other's arms until the following day.
Knowing what he'd been through, Daisy had hoped to offer Ben the same kind of comfort he'd given her. Her every instinct screamed about the pain he had to be in. Ben Kenta was very much the strong, silent type. He kept things very professional on his ship, not making many friends easily. He spent more time alone than anyone should. She kept showing up at sickbay and then at his quarters trying again and again to gently nudge him towards a more open conversation about what he'd gone through. Time and again, though - he kept shooting her down and discouraging her from coming back.
She had some help today, though. After her shift, she'd gone to the science department to check on the other survivor from the PATRIOT. Little Marty, the pet lizard Ben kept in his quarters - had once again survived the ship's crash.
Dressed in civilian clothes, denim shorts and a white beader tank top, she held a pet carrier with her left hand and rang the doorchime with her right.
First no responce. Then, she rang it again.
"Come in, Daisy." Ben's voice finally called out gruffly.
The door whooshed open and Daisy was left standing there, an awkward smile on her face.
"How'd you know it was me?"
Ben sighed and stood up, looking at her coldly. "You always come by before and after your shift to give me updates that could have been sent through the comm system and to ask the same unnecessary questions like ' How are you, Ben?' and 'Are you sleeping well, Ben?' or 'Are you getting enough to eat, Ben?'"
Daisy exhaled patiently and gave him a patient smile.
"They released Marty yesterday. That small burn on his foot healed nicely."
Ben calmly took the carrier from Daisy and said, "I would have been by to get him soon enough. Now, if you don't mind, I was going to curl up with a good book...."
Daisy managed a little bittersweet chuckle. "Must be some book - since you'd apparently rather curl up with *IT* than me."
Kenta gave her a sideways glance. "This is hardly the time and place, Commander."
She frowned. "Commander? We're off duty, Ben. And, we're alone."
"You'll never really be 'off-duty' on the front lines of a war zone, Commander." Ben replied coldly. "Neither of us will."
Daisy smiled again - that same weak and almost pleading smile. He turned away, groaning inwardly and wishing she'd stop.
"Yes, we are off-duty, Ben." she chided him gently. " Right this minute, we are. And, some of us were going to spend some off-duty time working to rebuild the arboretum. After having lost so many people, I thought it would be good for them to build something that's alive and watch it grow. I was hoping you'd like to get out of this room and join us."
"No, thank you" Ben replied flatly.
Daisy frowned again and Ben just stood there, Marty on his shoulder. His hands in his pockets and his eyes looking at the floor, he almost looked to Daisy like a wounded little boy. She stepped closer to him, wanting to take him in her arms, wanting him to atleast
*look* at her. He stepped backward and spoke again.
"Thank you for bringing Marty back to me. You're dismissed."
Daisy flinched and gave him a sad look. "Ben, what's going on?"
The Captain groaned inwardly and mentally asked himself **What am I doing? **
Then, as if on 'autopilot', he found himself gently putting Marty back into his carrier and saying in a cold voice to Daisy,
"I'm tired, Commander - and you're dismissed."
Daisy inhaled sharply - as if his tone and words had caused her physical pain. Then, she turned and left his quarters without a word.
After she was gone, Ben felt a sickening knot of self-loathing in his stomach and stepped into the bathroom feeling like he might be sick.
** God, what's wrong with me? Why am I doing this?! **
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Location: Arboretum
Scene: Area where Daisy's working
Time index: Half an hour later
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Her frustration with Ben had her digging aggressively. She threw her confusion and anger into the soil as she dug a hole for a small blackberry bush. Occasionally, her eyes would tear up and she did her best to choke it back. Times when she would brush away a tear that threatened to spill down her face left little smudges of dirt transfered from her hands to her cheeks.
Then came another clump of dirt. Only this one was thrown by hand from a good distance away.
It flew with precision and landed in Daisy's hair. She nearly jumped out of her skin and cursed "Sonofabitch..."
Mav did his best to hide behind the coffee shop and be still - but the sound of Daisy's indignate cursing left the Marine doubled over
and laughing. Then, he expected Daisy to come after him and they'd bicker like they usually did.
Hell, the chance to torture his old friend "Moo" a bit was the only thing that had motivated him to come to the arboretum in the first place. Whenever he was down or depressed, torturing Daisy always made him feel better.
She didn't come after him, though. She just shook the dirt out of her hair, rubbed at her eyes again and made a sniffling sound. Then, she turned and walked into the public ladies room. Her body language screamed at Mav's knowing eyes that she was upset about something far more than a clump of dirt in her hair.
When she emerged from the restroom, Maverick was there to grab her wrist and pull her over his shoulder. People turned and laughedas Daisy began yelling, "Put me down you....." her language devolved into a whole string of expletives as she struggled .
The muscular marine easily held her in place while sniggering, "You kiss your kids with that mouth?"
"Get the hell off my ship, you sorry heap of muscle!" Daisy grimaced awkwardly.
Mav finally put her down and sniggered. "You're on a station, Moo."
She snarled at him. "Shaddup" Then, she promptly gave him a firm kick in the shin and then pinched his left breast pocket. He groaned and pushed her hand away, sniggering....
"Oh, the purple nurple?!? Really?! What's next?! Noogies?"
Again, she grimaced. "Shaddup." Then, she made a sniffling sound and turned away, muttering "Go away" over her shoulder.
That time, Mav truly did grimace. He realized she'd been crying.
Much as he loved to torture his buddy "Moo"....he never could stand to see her cry.
"Whoa...Daisy...wait."
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NRPG:
Erik and Bethany - I hope this sets you guys up nicely for that JP with Ben and the Counselor
Erik - My time was limited this morning because Vinnie is sick and Beth and PJ only have half a day of school. I hope I handled this scene with Ben and Daisy well and we can discuss another one the next time I see you on MSN. But, in the light of my dialogue with Jerome not going as well as I'd hoped it would - I thought it was important to post and keep character development going forward.
Taylor - TAG!
Katrina and Shawn - TAG!!
Ken - TAG! I'd really love to see Mowree in the Arboretum right about now. :)
Kim Toussaint AKA Commander Daisy Byrne Davidson, M.D.
Commanding officer of GATEWAY STATION
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Oct 11 2008 - 03:10:19 PDT