round 4 Captain Blueheart/Lt Ravenscroft - Photograph, An Alternate Tale

[Tarsii Asmara]

((Bridge, USS Atlantis))

::The ripple in time gently rolled across the ocean of consciousness, and in its wake, fragments of past, present and future lives, intricately entwined yet remarkably distinct, lay scattered along the shores of forever.. .. ::

((Through the rift – an alternate tale))

((Il Diavolo Blu, Living Museum District, Sigma Iotia II))

::His flame-colored hair appeared black under what must have been a ton of pomade. A stray strand of scarlet had still managed to break free of its waxy sticky prison and now hung carelessly over one twinkling emerald eye. His face was flushed from all the dancing and Red Death, the crimson jarring with the dark olive vest that he had on. The crisp white shirt was unbuttoned at the top, the knot of the solid mauve tie loosened around the collar, and the sleeves rolled up above the elbows.

Blue smoke filled the high vaults of the nightclub, the sweet scent of tobacco intoxicating. The chandeliers had been dimmed, but they still defiantly scattered their light in a thousand snowflakes that drifted about the dancehall like fireflies on a summer‘s night. Couples swayed languidly to the lazy bluesy jazz number filling the air, their individual bodies merging into one shadow.

Raj loosened his own magenta tie and unfastened the top two buttons of his lavender shirt, pressed firmly against his sweat-moistened skin by a pair of thin suspenders. He rested his head against Emerson’s chest, the top hairs tickling the latter’s chin. He could hear Emerson’s heart beating, almost in tandem with his own. The heart sang a comforting canticle to him, a song without words, for no words were necessary. It was a song of solace and serenity, sanctuary and surrender.

The other patrons hardly moved in the smoky, lulling ambience. They were faceless shadows that filled the chairs and booths and stared at the dancing couples. Thin trails of smoke escaped the mouths of these shadows and rose to the high-arched ceiling like inebriated souls seeking the forgiveness of heaven. A murmured I love you here, a whispered plot to kill there. Smoke and shadows, lingering in time.

Emerson held Raj close to him and they danced to the rhythm of their own hearts. The night was young, the night was endless for all those who seek eternity. The night will never die! And the night belonged to them!

It was an exquisite snapshot in time. It was but a photograph of a single frozen moment in time, a photograph out of time, and there on the wall of this timeless consciousness of the multiverse, it hung, framed.

And within the confines of its frames, solace and serenity, sanctuary and surrender.::

TBC

================================

Captain Raj Blueheart

Commanding Officer

USS Atlantis

NCC-74682

&

Lt Emerson Ravenscroft

Xenolinguist

USS Atlantis

NCC-74682

as simmed by

Captain Raj Blueheart