SIM:Daniels - Too Long On The Edge

((Lounge - Maklau Resort Hotel - Risa))

Colt Daniels sat in a large comfortable chair across from the person that he'd dropped everything and traveled halfway across the known galaxy to see. If he was being honest with himself the trip had probably been more about his prevailing guilt at not being as good a friend in the intervening years as he would have liked than anything. They'd kept in contact, but not as frequently as he would've preferred and he'd paid her visits, but not as often as he'd wanted. Somehow, life always tended to get in the way of his good intentions.

As the years had passed since he'd retrieved her from Erscyne station he'd tried to convince himself that he had his place and she had hers, but more and more, he had begun to feel as though he wasn't where he should be. The nagging sense that somewhere, he had fallen off track. His eyes fell on the familiar face across from him. In so many ways Kali looked the same as the day they had met, back before she had ever commanded a Starship of her own. Only the faintest of lines when she smiled or frowned betrayed the time that had passed. That and her eyes. Whatever pleasant, encouraging thing he had planned to say fell away and words appeared in his mouth, seemingly of their own volition.

Daniels: That’s good to hear. ::A sort of sad smile played across his face.:: I’m tired of it, you know. The politics, the over-compartmentalization. ::He sighed.:: It wasn’t what I signed up for.

If she was bothered by his non-sequiturous outpouring, she didn't show it. She just nodded.

Nicholotti: Then do something else.

She made it sound so damned simple. She always did. At times it felt like their whole relationship had been built on her encouraging him to rise and meet his potential. As far back as he could remember Kali had always done that; just delivered potentially life-altering advice with the same amount of bombastic gravitas as her lunch order. The crazy part was that she was almost always right.

He let his gaze find her gleaming cerulean eyes and fixed her with an amused grin.

Daniels: Just like that, huh, Kali? ::Even as he scoffed, he could feel the idea growing on him.:: Just change gears this far into my career and do something else?

She seemed to ease back into her chair a bit, her expression settling on him in a way that said more than her words could. Instantly, as he sat across from her, he was transported back in time to one of the many late nights spent sitting across from her, just like this in her office on Starbase 118 or the Victory, talking through how they'd avert the latest crisis, whatever it was. For a moment, his heart yearned for a timeline where that had never stopped. Where what they had shared had been able to see itself through to whatever it might've been. He could see it all. The branching paths that had never been and would never be. He let his own bulky frame sink into his chair a little, like the couch he'd crashed on all those years ago.

He ushered the thoughts away as quickly as they had come. They had been friends now exponentially longer than they had been more-than-friends and it was something he'd long ago accepted as the way it would always be.

Nicholotti: Time is not something you have an infinite amount of. If you don't like the direction you are going in, then change directions.

For a protracted moment, he didn't say anything at all. Just stared across at the only consistent fixture in his life, wondering if he had the courage to do what she said. He'd risked life in limb in the service and protection of others more times than he could readily recall, but the idea of admitting to himself that the choice he'd made to leave all those years ago and pursue his career with SFI had been the wrong one, when it had cost so much was truly terrifying. But sometimes doing the right thing was scary. Sometimes you had to stop standing on the edge and jump in.

Daniels: Maybe I will...

An expression that he immediately recognized formed on her face. A sort of devious smirk that often preceded an idea or a plan that would soon be set in motion.

Nicholotti: Only you can make the choice. Only you can commit. The path won't always be easy, and it won't always work, but at least you won't meet your end wondering what it was all for.

He clasped his hands together in front of him, leaning forward slightly.

Daniels: Do me a favor then. ::He smirked.:: When they give you a shiny new boat... ::He jabbed a confident pointer finger in her direction.:: and they will. Keep an eye on the transfer requests, alright?

Nicholotti: I look forward to seeing your name among them.

Colt smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand before reaching under his chair and pulling out a small hastily wrapped package. The little bundle was wrapped in what looked suspiciously like the printed-out deck plans of Starbase 118s Command hub and bound somewhat clumsily with twine. In his defense, he'd never really had anyone to give gifts to over the years and his wrapping skills were pretty rusty.

Daniels: I almost forgot. ::He smiled warmly as he handed her the little package:: I thought maybe you might be needin' another one...

She untangled his unorthodox wrap-job to reveal a small-scale model of the very plane she had sitting in a hangar at Saburō Sakai Historical Aircraft Park in Tokyo. As long as he'd known her she'd kept a model of her Super Hornet on a shelf in her office, now, he supposed it was a part of the new planet that had blossomed out of the Resolutions wreckage. When she had been announced KIA on the Excalibur, Colt had ensured that the maintenance contracts on the antique multi-role fighter had been extended indefinitely, so it was relatively simple for him to get an ultra-high fidelity scan of the aircraft for the model.

Nicholotti: Colt, I cannot tell you what this means to me.

The warm smile on Colt's face felt for the moment like it might never leave as he saw her reaction to the gift. If it gave her some small bit of joy in what had to be an otherwise difficult time in her life, it was literally the least he could do.

Daniels: I know nothing can bring back what you've lost, ::His smile saddened slightly:: but the future always has so much left to give.

Nicholotti: I do believe you are right.

He rose from his chair, knowing that he'd already monopolized too much of her valuable time.

Daniels: I'll let you go. ::He straightened his uniform jacket a little.:: I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, but I just wanted to stop by and make sure you were alright. ::He paused.:: I'll see you around, Kali.

Nicholotti: You better.

He crossed over to her, finally making good on the bearish hug he'd wanted when she'd first arrived, before releasing her and making for the exit.

He paused when he was only a few of his admittedly long steps away and turned back.

Daniels: When you're ready, I want to meet him, by the way.

The look of surprise and then understanding on her face re-ignited his grin. He really would've had no business being an Intelligence Officer if he couldn't see the signs in his own best friend.

Nicholotti: Maybe next time you're in town. ::Beat.:: How'd you know?

Shaking his head, he began walking away again, calling over his shoulder as he did.

Daniels: I hadn't seen that look in your eyes since David left. ::He tapped the side of his head dramatically.:: I know you...

With that, he stepped through the doors of the lounge. The advice she had given him rattled around in his mind like a song that just wouldn't leave. He had some things to take care of first before he could truly make the leap, but he knew that every second spent walking down the wrong path was time he'd never get back.

END

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Guest PNPC:
LtCmdr. Colt Daniels
Intelligence Officer
SFI S.A.D.

As simmed by:

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Ensign Talos Dakora
Intelligence Officer
USS Resolution
O238811CD0

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