Talk To Me
A/N: I wrote this story for the Guess The Pairing contest 2013 and Vicki looked over it. You can guess the pairing and the episode here. The answers are in the second chapter.
He has nothing more to report. He carefully places the PADD onto the coffee table and makes a hesitant step towards her indifferent shoulders. He pauses at the brink of deep shadows and only his voice crosses the invisible barrier between them.
"Talk to me," he whispers. "We used to talk a lot, and laugh. I don't ask you to laugh, but I beg of you… please, say something… anything…"
Her forehead touches the viewport and the cold endless blackness beyond it.
It pulls me in, she doesn't say. The vortex of shadows numbs my mind; it leaves only the bitterness and regrets – the bitterness of regret is the feeling that pulls me in, and I let it. For you see, my friend, the insidious nature of regret lulls the victim into the dreamful slumber, the slumber full with dreams of being able to change things long past.
The air shifts behind her and she can almost feel his hand on her shoulder. She senses it hovering an inch above her turtleneck, radiating uncertainty and warmth. She tries again.
The darkness is everywhere, she doesn't say. The vortex of shadows lulls me into thinking that my eyes are closed and if I see you, you are but a dream. The insidious nature of this illusion summons unavowed regrets and frays at responsibilities, and my mind can't navigate out of it for the absence of stars. We will perish if I give in, but I will still have held you.
A momentary pause, then her jaw sets, and she doesn't continue. …But we've got quadrants to go, my friend. Your voice is the only thread out of this labyrinth so keep talking to me, please… say something… anything.
She hears a resigned swoosh behind her and she is again alone in her quarters.