=/\= Begin Log =/\= Lt. Richards looked up at the roof of the turbolift and tapped his foot on the floor. He sighed. "Computer...open door" For the fourth time nothing happened. "Computer..." the doors jerked open, closed quickly opened again and began to slide towards each other slowly. Rob made a sharp exit and looked back with an expression of disbelief. He shook his head, lips in a tight line and straightening his uniform, made his way to Lt. Wellington's office and rang the chime. Athena looked up from the report she was compiling while she waited for Rob. She took her hand out of the bowl of ice and dried it on her pants leg as she said, "Come in." He entered the office and walked towards the desk giving Athena a friendly smile. "Despite the efforts of the turbolift I'm on time!" he told her, glancing at the two pictures he had hung for her. {That's REALLY ugly} he thought and shifting his glance wondered what the bowl of ice was for. His displeasure for the ink blots fairly screamed at her senses and she said, "They aren't that bad," before she could even think to hold the words back. That's what she usually did when thoughts came through so strongly, unless she was ordered to do otherwise. Trying to ignore that she just broke a rule so to speak; she said, "I'm glad to see that the turbolift couldn't keep you captive. I'm not sure if they're getting better or not. Most of them work now but they seem to be trapping every other group that uses them." She flashed him a smile. He grinned back. "They got me twice so far." He sat in the chair opposite to her. "So.." he said in a resigned voice,"What do we talk about today?" His eyes were drawn back to the picture and he frowned at it. "We can talk about that if you like? I'm just getting the basic down for my files here." She looked to her half full glass of ice water and asked, "If you're in for an adventure we could see if the replicator works and get you a drink?" "Never one to shy away from a challenge!" he smiled standing up and moving towards the replicator. "Do you want anything?" With his back to her he raised his eyebrows and smiled to himself {Nice uniform today} he thought. "Want to try water or something more adventurous?" "Hhmm... I think for safety sake I'll stick with water, thanks, but feel free to try whatever you want." She paused for a bit before adding, "I've already had a disagreement with that particular machine." He half turned to her and nodded "You have to be precise," he said and squaring up to it, pressed the buttons and said, "Two glasses containing H2O with three cubes of ice in each glass." Giving her a quick grin he pressed the last button. A bright light shone for a second and two brimming glasses of iced water materialized. He lifted them carefully and carried them to her. "How's that," he asked smiling to her. "Well, its good to know if you hunt an engineer down and ask him to fix it, it works for the next person who uses it." She smiled as she finished her last glass of water and accepted the new one." She looked up at the ink blot and motioned with her hurt hand for him to take a seat. "What bothers you about that blot so much," she asked curiously. He sat in the chair and took a drink from his glass looking up at the 'blot' "Its so ugly" he said simply "The one with the soldier I mean...its not what I would...what happened to your hand," he asked turning to look at her as he spoke. He reached across the desk and gently lifted her hand to see it better. "Turbolift casualty," she said absently concentrating on what he saw in the blot. "It's not what you would... what?" Her gaze drifted from the blot to his eyes and she removed her hand from his. His blue eyes looked into hers and held them for long seconds. He blinked and dropped his gaze momentarily to her white 'top'. Looking back at the picture he continued "Err..its not...what I thought someone like you would want to live with..." "I don't live with it," she paused a second, "I mean I generally see butterflies when I look at it." She stood up and came around the edge of the desk. "They are a tool of my trade that have been used for years. Everyone sees what they want when they look at them and sometimes the same blot can look different to the same person on another day. Maybe I should go back to keeping them in my desk again." She looked at the blots thoughtfully. Feeling a bit warm, she reached across one side of the desk to reach her glass of water and took a long swallow. "Butterflies," he asked giving her a doubtful look just as she reached for the water. He glanced at her tight white 'top' and focused back on the picture, standing up and moving closer to it. "I don't see any butterflies" he said, "..only the soldier and the woman. He looks aggressive...can't you see that?" She turned back and looked, "Well, yes because I sense the feelings that you have towards it," she let her words trail off and silence filled the room. She didn't know exactly how to explain any better how she could see what others saw in the blots. "How does the aggression of the soldier make you feel?" She had a pretty good idea, but wanted to hear him voice it. Rob stared at the picture for sometime in silence. "I don't like it," he said quietly and shifted his look to her face. "I don't like 'him' and what he's done to the woman there. She's in fear of him...isn't she?" Athena turned her head and her eyes met his, "Remind you of anything," she asked. His expression became hard. "I just don't like the picture," he said turning away. "I don't know why you have it there." He tried to reign in his temper and took a deep breath before facing her again. "I don't see the 'pretty' butterflies" he said coldly, "You don't expect me to either do you?" Sensing and seeing his obvious frustration and anger, Athena laid a hand on his chest. "No, I don't," she said quietly. His impulse was to push her away and to tell her what to do with her 'clever' picture but he didn't move. Their eyes met and held. Neither spoke. He looked down at her hand and once again, took it gently in his own. "You should get this looked at," he told her and raising his eyes to hers added, "why don't you ask Rangi to help you?" "I'm sure she busy with her own evaluations and I have my job to do and its not that bad a little redness and a little swelling." She tried to look away but couldn't bring herself to do it. A short silence enveloped the room and she finally turned back toward the ink blots. Taking a step toward the chair that the offending blot was behind, she said more to the inked picture, "Back to the desk you go." She began to step onto the chair to reach the picture that was really just out of her reach. Rob caught her arm and pulled her gently but firmly back to where she had been before."There's no need to move your picture." he said quietly once again meeting her eyes."Leave it where it is." At the sudden change in direction she fell against chest as their eyes met. She brought a hand up and steadied herself. She put a couple of steps distance between them and then turned toward her desk and picked up her glass as her sore hand bumped the edge of the desk. She winced quietly and almost dropped her glass. "Athena.." he began, but half turned away, giving the 'blot' a withering glance. He sat down in the armchair exhaling a long breath and looking across at her asked "Shall we go on?" =/\ end part 1 =/\= Lt. Athena Wellington ship's counselor USS Chimera & 1Lt. Rob Richards NPC apb. LtJg. Summers