Valhalla Deliver Us: Part 2/2

Posted on Sun Jun 22nd, 2025 @ 3:59pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen

2,310 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: Valhalla Bar, USS Fenrir
Timeline: Day 10 - after the crew board Fenrir

PREVIOUSLY:

Constantin watched him before he smiled. This man was a shipmate. And he wanted to be honest. "I was born in zero g. My body can't handle gravity naturally so I am on medication to increase bone density, vascular toughness...all that stuff. I was too old for gene therapy, so rehabilitation and medication."

Gabriel's mouth dropped open with surprise. He hadn't expected that answer, not in a million years. His brain worked overdrive to try and fit what he was saying together, to give it meaning. His exposure to a zero g environment must have been prolonged for it to effect his body that badly. "How?" the question fell out of his mouth before he could stop it. How had a child been exposed to so much physical trauma. He remembered himself, shaking his head with a frown. "Sorry mate," he looked into his glass with disapproval of his own question. "I shouldn't have asked that, it's none of my business."

CONTINUED:

Constantin chuckled as he looked at him, tilting his head with surprise at how he seemed to have caught himself. "My parents planned for exploring without being hampered by rules and regulations. I guess they forgot the birth control when they went," he said lightly, looking at him with a small smile. "And...I sort of opened the hatch for you to ask, you know."

"Sure, but I couldn't help but try and pry it open a bit more, could I," Gabriel shook his head at himself, looking slightly abashed. He valued his own privacy greatly, and he wouldn't have taken kindly to some stranger trying to poke around in his own past. Many had, and it had taken a lot not to knock their lights out for their efforts. "Although...I still don't get how your parents being explorers ended up with a low g situation..."

“Cheap ship without working gravity,” he said softly as he watched Gabriel with a small smile. “Not a big deal when you go to warp if you got the bone density to deal with it…not so great for pregnancy or a baby growing up.”

Gabriel's lips parted at how he'd put it. He felt a familiar stirring of anger, at the irresponsibility of treating a child that way. Just another selfish adult, dragging their child around, oblivious to their needs and too selfish to care about the consequences. He knocked his drink back, as if it would help him swallow the anger down too. "Unbelievable..." he breathed, not quite succeeding in keeping the disapproval from his voice.

Constantin watched him for a long moment before he looked away, a small smile. "I don't know, I think it makes me sound all sexy and mysterious," he said jokingly, watching him. "And...I'm pretty good in zero gravity as a result. There's benefits too, no nausea on spacewalks, quick at repairs. Works well for Operations and Engineering."

Gabriel chuckled softly at the soft defusion of tension Constantin had deployed. Although, the words also did have a ring of truth to them, not just reassurance. "I did NOT do well at spacewalks," he had to admit as he leant in closer, as if sharing a secret. "It felt like I was riding the worst kind of hangover. That bit just between the drink wearing off and the despair kicking in. I mean, maybe I was actually also hungover, I don't remember, but still..."

"I don't know, maybe you just need to change your perspective," Constantin said lightly as he looked at him, with a small smile, before he looked down. "Out there, you can only see the sea of stars. Nothing pulling at you except the magnetic boots keeping you on the hull, the tether keeping you safe. It's...a moment where you can feel both...insignificant and magnificent."

Gabriel couldn't help but grin at the image he'd painted, shaking his head as he tried to match the words to what he had experienced. "I can't say that sounds familiar," he admitted with a soft laugh at himself. Yeah, wasn't that just typical. "But it *does* sound very poetic, almost romantic," he teased with mock accusation. Because not many people liked to admit they were a romantic, but a huge amount were.

Constantin's smile widened, even if he felt a flash of heat reach his cheeks. "I only take the most handsome men out there," he said, in a teasing tone. "Hence the romantic location. Want to try one day?" He kept the light voice, in case he had read the spark of interest wrong. You never knew after all.

Gabriel groaned softly, laughing as he dropped his head into his hand as if an epic conundrum had just been thrown at him. "Wow...I don't know how to feel. I mean, how can I possibly turn down an invite when you put it like that? But on the other hand...I'm going to end up sick and making a huge fool of myself in front of you. So..." he lifted his hands up and down as if weighing it up. But his tone made it clear that he wanted to be persuaded.

Constantin smiled at the words, at the way he was moving...and looked. "I am sure that if you made a fool of yourself...you'd find a suitable punishment for me," he said as he leant a little closer. "And you seem like someone with a sense of adventure. Why not try something new and different?" he sat back, looking down at his drink. "After all, I did today."

"What did you do?" Gabriel leant to him with narrowed eyes, not even bothering to hide his curiosity as he tried to make a guess on what it might have been.

"I tried a new cocktail and spoke to you," Constantin said with a smile, raising an eyebrow as he watched him. "It doesn't always have to be the biggest things...the small things still matter."

Gabriel gave a soft, relenting chuckle, lifting a hand up as if yielding. "Am I really that scary, Constantin?" he asked with a soft, teasing voice, leaning in a little closer to narrow his dark eyes in mock accusation. "Or do you just have a rule about not talking to strangers, hm?"

Constantin leant a little closer at Gabriel doing it, searching his eyes. "Not scary," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "And no rule. But you're so full of life, it was a bit daunting, the first ten seconds. Like staring into a star."

Gabriel's confident mask softened for a moment at the words, a bittersweet smile finding its way to his features. It wasn't the first time someone had said he was too much. And it wouldn't be the last. He agreed...and he had to live inside that head. "Stars shine brightest before they supernova."

"They do," Constantin said with a small smile, watching him with warmth before he let out a breath. "And they can draw even the most jaded pilot closer to see it."

"Ah, you're not jaded, Constantin," Gabriel shook his head with a soft laugh, enjoying watching the warmth in the other man's eyes. "Nah, you're too sincere to be that jaded..." he bit the inside of his lip as his mind turned over what he'd seen and learnt of this man so far, considering him carefully. "A little lost perhaps, but not jaded."

Constantin looked at him, with surprise, before he looked down again. "Mm...not sure Starfleet personnel are meant to be lost," he said lightly, but there was humour in it. Warmth and humour, as he met his eyes again. "Good thing I am in Operations rather than a pilot."

"Hey, all the best explorers get lost..." Gabriel grinned, the more cocky persona settling comfortably back over him. "Odysseus...Cook...von Humboldt...er....Polo...er...Lewis...and...Clark...er...no, no that's it, that's all I've got..." he had to admit as he trailed off casually, finishing off his drink as if it were water.

Constantin looked at him with awe at how he just listed people off. Explorers. Gabriel was just listing of explorers, knowing their names. It was far more than Constantin could ever hope to do. "How do you do that?" he suddenly asked, his awe clear on his face and in his eyes.

"Do what?" Gabriel chuckled softly, glancing to him with an arched eyebrow even as he motioned to the bartender to bring them another round. It didn't even occur to him to ask Constantin if he wanted another one...he was such a drinker himself that he couldn't fathom a 'no' on that front.

"Just...know these things," Constantin's voice was small as he looked down, heat rising to his cheeks at saying it so plainly, to make obvious the gaps in his own knowledge or education. He would never stop feeling embarrassed about it, but his curiosity would always win.

"Oh, I'm a cheating fraud," Gabriel shrugged, as if it were just a disappointing fact he'd grown used to over the years. "I have a photographic memory, or something like it. Don't be fooled. It's not being clever, I just remember useless information well."

Constantin shook his head, watching him for a moment. "That's not...cheating," he said, and his forehead wrinkled with the frown. "And not a bad thing...I think you're clever," he gave him a small smile as his features smoothed out, but his eyes were watching Gabriel with a slight sadness. That there was a profound truth in Gabriel that he felt like that about himself.

"Oh I don't know, sometimes it's more fun to do some not very clever things," Gabriel said softly to him as he leant in close, laughing gently to lighten the mood, moving on from the uncomfortable brush with himself.

He wanted to tell Gabriel he didn't have to do it. Didn't have to joke it away. But something in him told him not too...he wasn't even sure where that came from, the instinct to not push. He gave him a chuckle and it was genuine. "Such as a spacewalk with this guy from Operations you just met?" he asked, putting a playful challenge into it.

"Exactly!" Gabriel sat back, relaxing at the shift in conversation, nodding with gratitude to the bartender as he set the drinks down. He arched an eyebrow, watching with appreciation as he walked away. "He's a pretty guy," he chuckled gently, shaking his head. "Piece of advice though, only dally with bartenders if it's not your local. It gets way too awkward when you have to come back."

Constantin blinked at that, surprised, looking at the retreating bartender before back at Gabriel. He smiled, a smile of warmth and ease. "I'm...not exactly suave enough to pick up a bartender. Not on purpose. I think a lot of my...social interactions that end up in more than just a chat happen accidental. Still getting used to..." he gestured between them, a moment of vulnerability coming through. "...you know...that..." words failed him and he shook his head, but the smile was warm and easy.

"Flirting?" Gabriel grinned as he offered the word up, watching him with gentle amusement. Constantin's near shyness was endearing, but he felt like there was so much more going on behind the blue eyes.

Vansen looked at him for a moment, giving a small nod. "Flirting," he agreed, letting out a soft breath. He had struggled adjusting to people. He liked people, he really did, but there were a lot of interactions he didn't understand. Things people understood naturally from nurture and social clues were lost on him. The dance of flirting, just like brawls, were foreign to him. His romantic conquests had been from places of fun and directness, not...flirting. "I'm still learning that bit I guess. At my age. I feel that might be a bit sad..." he grinned as he shook his head. "The Federation doesn't offer that as a module for kids raised outside of it."

"Maybe that should. Hey, that might actually be a class I'd have a shot at being an instructor in," Gabriel laughed softly, shaking his head as he watched him openly. "Listen, there's only one rule...just do what you're comfortable with," yeah, so, he was terrible at following that rule himself. The amount of times he'd found himself in situations he didn't want to be in. "Everyone else and what they think? Shove it."

Constantin watched him with awe, his eyes running over his features. At the ease he did it. "I like you flirting," he said lightly, then gave a firm nod. "I am comfortable with that." And just that quickly he implemented that rule, that little bit of guidance from Gabriel.

Gabriel grinned at the response, not just because he enjoyed flirting with him, but because it suggested Constantin had maybe actually gotten something out of it. "Just as well, because I don't think I can stop," he teased.

Constantin watched him for a long moment before he smiled. It spread over his face, warming the blue eyes. "Good," he said, meaning it as he leant closer for a moment. Not intruding, not even too flirtatious...even if he was trying. Trying to flirt, to reflect back on Gabriel the warmth he felt under his gaze. "Now how about you get me another drink, Gabriel?"

Gabriel couldn't help but smile as he watched the change in him, seeing the effort, feeling...appreciated for it. It was a nice feeling, he couldn't deny it. He reached up to motion to the bartender before he could change his mind. "Now that, I think I can manage..."

OFF:

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Hanlon)

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical
USS Fenrir
(PNPC Blake)

 

RSS Feed