Confluence
Posted on July 24th, 2015 by T'Kirr and Ian Blackthorne

by T’Kirr and Ian Blackthorne

Risa was known in this corner of the galaxy as a world of paradise, a place to relax and in the case of a starship’s crew, recuperate after a long mission through space. As Ian Blackthorne and T’Kirr entered the luxury suite of their hotel, they were welcomed in detail by a space intended to provide just that.

The living area was a canvas of sand color accented richly in light blue tones of the sea. Paintings as well as the surface decor were unobtrusive but thought-provoking if studied further. An abundance of plush carpets and seating were everywhere, meant to envelop their guests in comfort. Topping it all was the wall-to-wall view of the ocean, its panels sliding out four doors wide to better immerse its inhabitants in Risa’s near-perfect weather.

None of this was much appreciated at first by its latest guests, however. Difficult battles had claimed many lives in their charge, and the captain and first officer of the USS Atlantis were physically and emotionally drained. Ian placed their bags onto the couch and looked around, taking in the suite’s superficial details. "Not bad."

T’Kirr stopped at the windows and gazed out at the ocean, her eyes drawn to the gentle surf. It was an image she had grown accustomed to only on shore leave. “It is quite suitable to our needs.”

"Yes. Well, probably. Whatever those even are right now, aside from the basics."

T’Kirr gazed down Ian’s stiff yet weary posture. There was no need to “get settled” before moving on. If anything, it was exactly what he needed to start his leave from duty. She herself was certainly ready for some much needed meditation. “Shall we change into something more comfortable?”

"Yes, let’s." He already knew that her intent was to meditate, but under normal circumstances, he would have likely taken the obvious route of an innuendo-laced reply. Now, Ian knew that he needed the meditation more than anything else.

Going to her bag, T’Kirr pulled out a silky dark brown and slightly reddish bundle. It was her favorite traditional meditation robe, loose-fitting and comfortable. Taking her bag into the bedroom, she mechanically changed into the garment, efficiently and orderly. While she was at it, she put her clothes neatly into the drawer and stowed her bag, finding the activity helped to clear her mind and provide fewer distractions. Ian followed suit, donning the robe that had been a gift from her just for this purpose and stowing the rest of his clothes.

Moving back out to the living area, T’Kirr took another contemplative look out to sea. The hotel was situated at the tip of a small peninsula, and their room faced west. One of the suns was setting, a fiery ball in the clear open blue sky. The windows were tinted for the purpose of filtering out its harshest rays without blocking too much light. She closed her eyes. Yes, she could use this to their advantage.

There was a couch and small table facing the view, but T’Kirr was eyeing the open space between the table and the windows. Ian came out from the bedroom, adjusting the robe he didn’t often use, and she turned her head towards him. “Would you find the sound of the ocean relaxing?”

"As much as anything could be, I think." He opened one of the sliding doors onto the wide balcony and took a deep breath of sea air. "Yes, I think that’d be nice."

T’Kirr slid open the other door, and together they opened up the way fully. She then settled herself with her back to the table, squinting up at Ian in the now fully-exposed sunlight. “Sit here, next to me, facing the sea.”

Ian obliged with a long exhale. Settling down to meditate did not come naturally for the overly-emotional Betazoid, but it had helped him in the past, so he tried to begin to calm himself.

Closing her eyes against the setting sun, T’Kirr drew in a deep, slow breath. “We’ll use the sun as our focus. It’s low enough that it shouldn’t be overwhelming even with your eyes. Do you remember what you did before to begin?”

"Yes, I believe so." Ian began to slow his breathing and focus on the setting sun as he closed his eyes. Over their bond, her calming influence was already apparent.

“Tell me what you’re doing.”

"I can still see the after-image of the sun and its light penetrates my eyelids. I’m focusing on that, and the sound of the waves, as I try to clear my mind."

“I can tell you remember how to breathe. Let everything but the light fall away. It will still be there later. Only when your mind is clear can you pick up what you want, and therefore you can focus on that one thing in clarity.” T’Kirr sensed Ian’s efforts in the right direction and turned her focus to herself, letting go of the strain of the past few days as her muscles relaxed. Each released breath measured progress towards her own, familiar meditative state.

It was certainly not as easy for Ian to reach such a mental state as it was for his Vulcan wife, as he lacked her years of mental disciplinary practice, but his mind eventually started to calm itself. As she had suggested, he let the sun’s lingering light fall away from his sight until he looked inward. T’Kirr’s thoughts met his own like a confluence of two rivers, his the more turbulent.

Telepathy was a simpler thing in meditation–at least, sensing thoughts from Ian was. T’Kirr didn’t have the ability to project as he did, but with their bond and his Betazoid physiology, he could easily read her. In a relaxed state, she had fewer distractions to filter through so it wasn’t as noisy, but those thoughts that did come through were clear and vibrant. They had learned that very little effort was needed to communicate this way and it was better to “whisper”, which only helped them to relax further.

T’Kirr could tell that Ian’s mind was struggling for clarity through his emotions. “You’ve let go of the light too quickly and your focus is on your emotions,” she spoke very quietly. “Use the more neutral way you feel about the light to overcome the others.” In her mind, she used her own feeling of loss of their crewmates as an example and let him sense her pattern of thought, perceiving the pure constant of the sun’s light, breathing out and relaxing, letting the stress drop away and repeating.

Even with his gaze turned inward, the light filtered through, though it was more a metaphysical representation of it than actual light at this point. Ian followed her guidance and let himself drift in it, his perception of its warm glow soothing his mind.

Time in a trance was therapeutic. T’Kirr was unaware of how much time had passed, but when she opened her eyes, the sun had set. Only the shine of moonlight on the sea and the gentle roar of the surf remained. As she looked to Ian’s softly-lit face, he opened his eyes as well. “How do you feel?”

Her voice and the sound of the ocean returned his awareness of reality. After a few moments of introspection, he answered, "Peaceful."

T’Kirr offered Ian a contented expression, perhaps the Vulcan equivalent of a smile, as one more of her worries faded away. “Me, too.”

In a quiet, calm voice he simply offered, "Thank you, love."