A Little Something Sweet

Posted on 24 Jan 2014 @ 5:05am by Lieutenant Commander Landon Milo MD
Edited on on 18 Aug 2014 @ 2:42am

3,178 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Echoes
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: December 28, 2387 || 2300 hours

Doctor Landon T. Milo, Chief Medical Officer was usually sound asleep in his personal quarters with his fur covered canine associate curled up in a snoring ball, nestled against Landon's legs, or in his own little bed. However, tonight one of the two medical workers were not sleeping. Tonight, it wasn't the anxious canine. Beside him was Owen, the stuffed unicorn that he brought with him wherever he was assigned.

Landon had been having some rather restless nights since his last time on Risa. If he had not been the Chief of Medicine aboard the USS Black Hawk, he would not have been able to subtly self medicate with sleep aids. He was trying to only use them when necessary but the insomnia, nervousness and anxiety was only becoming increasingly bothersome. I hope wherever you are Duncan, that you are happy. thought the Chief Medical Officer with a bit of depression, mild bitterness and even a small side of remorse despite nothing was of his doing. This did not stop him from blaming himself though.

I need to go for a walk, stretch my legs a bit. Hell, maybe treat myself to a little something sweet the young man mentally decided with a stiffened sigh. He was carefully to roll out of his bed without causing Julian to stir. The canine opened his eyes for a few seconds but then went back to sleep as Landon slid on a shirt and pajama bottoms. It was not a very professional look for the Chief Medical Officer of a starship but it was late, at least late for Landon and the Alpha shift bridge crew.

Landon made his way through the corridors, onto and off of the lift without passing too many officers on duty. On the Venture, he would have passed a good dozen because of the size of a Galaxy-class starship. The Black Hawk however, was a great deal smaller.

The entrance to the Mess Hall parted ways, revealing a rather darkened room, only dimly illuminated. Landon almost forgot about his desire to have a sweet delight when he saw the First Officer of Black Hawk sitting alone. He should not be up this hour Landon commented privately to himself as he ordered a bowl, double scoop of espresso ice cream with hot fudge syrup and an iced coffee for a drink.

He made his way over to Lieutenant Commander DeVries table, say his food and beverage down and flashed his blue eyes at the First Officer. He quickly brushed his bangs away from his face and smiled, sitting down at the vacant seat across from the Commander. "Fancy meeting you here, Commander. Now, shouldn't you be asleep in your quarters?"

Jason was sitting at the table with a glass of rum and coke when he heard the doors slide open. He didn't bother to look up, figuring it was someone on Gamma shift coming for a quick cup of coffee on their break or something. He had a padd in his hands, reading a novel when he heard the CMO's voice.

He looked up, smiled at him, and sat the padd down on the table while leaning back into the chair. "I'm a bit of a night owl, actually." he said. "Always have been, but especially after being in intelligence. Most of our best work is done at night, sneaking around, gathering information and things like that. It's nice to see a friendly face in here though, what are you doing awake?"

"Oh I don't know, gathering intelligence information for the Vorta" replied Landon with a small smile. "Intelligence, our second one on one encounter, Commander and you bring that up again. Not very Clandestine of you" commented the doctor.

Landon took a small spoonful of the icecream, brought it to his mouth and swallowed. "Being a night owl is all well and fine when you work the Gamma shift, Commander. However, it does no good for one's physical and mental health when they have to work the next two shifts" added Landon with a small counter.

"It was a big part of my life. I guess it'll take a while to get used to the idea that that part of my life is over. I'm sorry if I seem to dwell on it. And as for lack of sleep, I always get enough. I won't be up too much longer. Mostly I just wanted to come have a little drink and unwind." Jason replied, giving him his most reassuring smile.

The young Chief of Medicine's blue eyes flashed warmly at the man across from him and he followed suit with a small chuckle. "I did not mean to imply that you dwell on it. I can tell that it is something that is very significant to you, maybe something you even miss a little. Don't worry, I won't say a word" added Landon with small wink.

He took a sip of the coffee beverage and leaned in, eye widened and blushing slightly. "So, why did you leave it behind? Was it by choice or did you just do what Starfleet told you to do like good boy?" asked Landon inquisitively.

Jason leaned forwards onto his elbows and laid his arms on the table. "I'm not much of a good boy, actually, and I rarely just do what I'm told." he said, looking into the other mans brilliant blue eyes. "I left it behind because I wanted to move forward towards a command of my own." he added, "I figured if I was going to do that I might as well do it in a way that would also be accepting and adventurous." he finished and took a sip of his drink.

Landon let out an airy stiffened 'hmm,' and mimicked that First Officer's posture with his elbows and arms. "Someday we should compare notes, see who has more reprimands on their record" joked Doctor Milo. "There are sayings about the past following you. Do you ever worry your Intelligence past will follow you?" asked Landon gently.

With a small nudging with his elbow, knocking it against the other man's, Landon continued "No offense intended but you don't come across as the sort of man who is ready for his own command. Too fidgety for long days of paper work, diplomacy and listening to the moaning and groaning of halfway dead prune faced Admiralty tell you where to go and what to do. A 'bad boy' like you just doesn't seem like the type to behave and stay on their starship."

Jason chuckled lightly and tried to cover his nervousness, not bothering to move his arm as he felt the other man bump him, "Nah, I'm not too worried about my past following me. I was pretty good at my job, not many slip ups to allow it to follow me. And I don't take offense to much. I guess it all comes down to how we look at things. I may seem fidgety but in the end I can get down to business and do what needs to be done. This is important to me so I will do whatever it takes to make sure it works." he replied.

"But don't get me wrong, I'll be doing as much off-ship work as I can whenever the chance comes up. And in the meantime I can always come down here and get a little break from the paperwork and the blustery Admirals. I might even sometimes run into someone to make the time spent down here even more interesting and fun." he added with a coy smile.

Being empathic from his Betaoid heritage a quick flash of nervousness swept over him. It was there and gone quickly. At first Landon thought that it may have been from himself because he was quite nervous. But it wasn't from him. He could not quite pinpoint it and shrugged it off.

"When you get your own command, make sure you have a capable Chief Medical Officer. Us blue shirts may be as Mister Finchley was so kind to label us... 'sissies,' and that is not always true by the way, but anyways, a good Chief Medical Officer will keep you on your feet in more ways than one."

"I'll do that. Gotta have someone to keep me up and moving. But, really though, I do try my best not to take any unnecessary risks. So I don't think you'll have to worry about keeping me patched up." he said. "You might see me around Sickbay but it probably won't be because I'm all banged up and in need of help. And trust me, I don't think you, or any member of the medical community are sissies." he added, taking another sip and feeling some of his nervousness fade away. He was getting a bit more comfortable being in the same room with Dr. Milo and he couldn't tell if it was the drink of just talking and getting to know him.

"So, that's an interesting outfit, did you come here straight out of bed?" he asked, taking a different route for the conversation, not wanting all of their talk to be about work.

"Well, if I had come from my Sickbay duties dressed like this, then I don't think you would be seeing much more of me. I am pretty sure that the Captain would have me tossed out the nearest airlock" commented Landon.

"I was in bed trying to do that whole sleeping thing. You know how overrated that can be. I may need some sort of Bajoran exorcist though. Personal demons and history kind of keeping me awake at nights."

"Well, I don't think you'd have been thrown out of an airlock. I would have stopped him at a formal reprimand if possible. But he wouldn't have been happy. That was a bit of a dumb question though. As to not being able to sleep I generally find physical activity does a world of good to help me get to sleep. If I just lay there I will just continue to lay there until time to get out of bed." he said.

He wished he could give him some advice, but since he was a doctor he was probably a hell of a lot more knowledgeable in those matter. He still felt bad about it though. "As to the exorcist I can't really help you with that part, but I can listen if you need to talk. I'm not the least bit sleepy, and I have nothing to do for the next few hours, so feel free to talk my ear off." he said with a smile he hoped was at least a little bit comforting.

Landon shook his head "Well, my personal demons are sort of linked to the lack of physical activity before my bedtime" quipped the spry doctor. "It's a long story and without going too far into the details of it... I met someone on my previous assignment. It developed over a short period of time but it was ephemeral. It is why I am here" Landon replied.

"Not here like here with you" added Landon but realized that most likely sounded a abrupt and perhaps offensive. "I meant on this starship exploring the Gamma quadrant, not that I don't like being here with you. I really like being here with you but you can be a bit distracting...and now I'm babbling and digging myself into embarrassment."

Jason smiled at him, noting the obvious discomfort he felt at his comments and the truths they sort of gave away. "First of all you shouldn't be embarrassed. Second of all how exactly am I distracting?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.

Screwed came Landon's inner voice. Landon physically retracted, pulling his arms off the table and sitting back in the chair. He had only made minor progress on the double scoop, but was his desire to eat was far gone. "Appreciated, you're right I should be. It happens, it's life. However, my personal history and issues that I have because of them should be handled by a ship's counselor, not you Commander. You have enough of on your broad shoulders."

Damn. Come up with something. Landon fumbled around thinking before explaining carefully. "You are the First Officer of Black Hawk. I don;t know, Sir. You just are. Maybe it is the rank and position."

Jason couldn't help but notice the man jerk away like he'd been slapped. He immediately regretted that he'd pried. "I apologize, Dr., I seem to have overstepped my boundaries. I will leave you to your dessert." he said, taking the last sip of his drink and making to stand up from the table. He felt a knot in his stomach and a feeling of being a complete ass. "I hope you find a way to get your sleep and I'll see you tomorrow." he added before turning to walk away.

Landon stood up swiftly in protest, it was instinctual and impulsive. There was hardly any thought about it. "It's improper" said Landon added firmly.

Jason stopped in his tracks and turned back, confused, "I think a lot of what just happened was at least a little bit improper, and I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I hope you can believe that and forgive me. Would you like me to stay, or should I go?" he asked, not sure what would be best in the long run. He really had been enjoying their conversation, as well as the company of the man in general, but he felt like he'd definitely screwed the whole situation up.


Landon sighed. He collected his cup and bowl, headed for the food replicator and tapped a few commands to place it in recycling mode. "Commander, you did nothing wrong. I apologize for my behavior and I will make sure that it does not happen again."

Jason reached out and touched the other man's arm as he was walking back from the replicator about to leave the room. "While it's just us you can call me Jason if you'd like, and don't worry, misunderstandings happen, especially when it comes to emotions and our pasts. Not a single one of us is perfect or has a perfect past, that's why I was offering to listen if you needed to talk. Not as a counselor, not even to give you advice, but as a friend, just someone to listen to you." he said, hoping the physical contact and first name basis familiarity wasn't too forward. "As to that implied promise you just made I only ask that you promise me one thing, don't let it bother you, I want to sometimes be surprised by your smiling face and friendly conversation late at night, when both of us can't sleep and maybe just want some company." he said, smiling. Not once did it occur to him what it would look or sound like if someone was to walk in, somehow he just felt like it was the right thing to do and just went with it.

Landon smiled. "Jason," he said calmly. "A good name for a leader" added the doctor. He headed for the exit but stopped before leaving. He looked at the First Officer, at Jason. "We're both all off duty. May I speak freely?"

Jason gave him a quizzical look, "I just told a subordinate that they could call me by first name in a deserted mess hall in the middle of the night while I was touching his arm and standing much too close, I'm pretty sure every rule in the book has been broken by me so you may as well say whatever is on your mind." he replied with a slight chuckle.

Landon countered "Well then, let's get one thing sorted out, Jason" began the doctor. "You may out rank me and you may be First Officer of this starship, but I can still medically relieve you of duty" quipped Landon.

The young Chief of Medicine then moved closer to his 'superior,' standing nearly chest to chest with the man. "I have been through a lot recently, more than I want to talk about right now. But it is time that I start making changes in my life, and one of those changes is not running away with my tail tucked under between my legs when things start getting hairy."

"Jason, I don't regret tonight. It was weird and I think we both were acting strange for whatever reasons. You're not empathic and you aren't telepathic but I don't think it takes a career in Starfleet Intelligence to read me."

Jason could feel the warmth of the other man's breath as he stood so close and talked, slightly looking up at him. He caught himself staring at his bright blue eyes as he listened to what he was saying. "No, it doesn't." He replied, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper as his hand moved up Landon's arm. "But I also never want to be the one who steps over a boundary and makes someone feel uncomfortable." he finished, barely stopping himself from kissing the man.

"Worried about crossing boundary lines?" Landon looked at Jason and took the man's hand. "That's not very risky of you. I would kind of expect you to just cross lines. But I thin that it is sweet that you don't just act."

Landon wasn't sure what was going to happen but he felt a kiss was coming. He held up his free hand and pressed his index finger against Jason's lips. "I share the feeling and impulses, but I think we should take this carefully and tactically. I don't want to get hurt again and I need some time before anything else. I haven't quite said my own goodbyes to the last guy to touch these lips."

Jason smiled around Landon's finger. "Agreed." he said, "And for the record when it comes to other peoples feelings I never cross lines. It's been done to me too many times." he added before kissing Landon's finger and taking a step back.

"Now I suppose we should probably get ourselves to our respective beds. Morning comes pretty early and we don't want to be zombies on shift tomorrow." he said, gently squeezing Landon's hand, "But I definitely want to see you in here again sometime soon." he added with a grin. "Goodnight, Landon." he said and turned to leave.

"Oh what the hell does it matter. Nobody is going to notice us zombies when we have that intoxicated albino at Tactical" joked Landon. "If you have to go on an Away mission with him on your team, please don't go before I test his sobriety. Good night, Jason."

Jason stopped at the door to hear what Landon had to say and with a chuckle and a smile waved goodbye as he walked out the door.



Lieutenant L. Milo
Chief Medical Officer

&

Lt. Commander J. DeVries
Executive Officee

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