Between Dreams and Duty

Posted on Thu Jul 31st, 2025 @ 1:09pm by Lieutenant JG Malcolm Beckett M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Eirly Andersen

1,602 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Gone, Without Ever Knowing the Way
Location: Malcolm's Quarter's
Timeline: MD 03 Inside the Expanse, Evening

While Eirly had been on the ship making sure everything was running smoothly as possible while Spello and Remy had been dealing with their own individual side quests, Malcolm had been helping survivors, dealing with a busy Sickbay due to crew that were exhibiting strange behaviours caused from extended time in the Expanse.

Which left Eirly and Malcolm missing each other, a kiss on the cheek or forehead of a morning or evening the only time they'd connected for a few days. The Typhon Expanse was to blame for it, of course, and Eirly yawned as she sat on edge of the bed to take her shoes off.

Even though they were in his quarters she had some clothes stashed away, more pyjama type clothing than anything, and decided to get changed into her normal loose-fitting dark grey pants and a nicely fitted t-shirt. Once her shoes were off and she was changed, Eirly looked over at Malcolm sleeping and leaned back to snuggle into him. "Hey, are you asleep?" she said quietly, hoping he would wake up.

Malcolm stirred, caught somewhere between dreaming and waking, his mind having trapped him in a series of dark tunnels with no apparent way out. He was panicked, trying to run, but his legs wouldn't cooperate. He was looking for something, but he couldn't remember what. Eirly's voice cut into the dream, echoing through the walls. He spun around, desperate now to find the origin of the voice, to find her.

"Eirly!" He cried out. "Eirly, where are you?"

The panic in his voice caused Eirly to roll over and look at him with concern as she crawled up onto the bed properly. "I'm right here, Mal, just open your eyes." She tried to keep her voice as light as possible but the concern was evident as she stroked the side of his face where sweat had started to bead.

"Just open your eyes, Mal." She repeated to try and get him to wake up.

He felt a sensation on his face, something cool pressing against his cheek, but it didn't stop him, he was able to continue to walk right through it, but the cool pressure continued to nag against his face,

Then he found himself hearing her voice again. He somehow knew he was asleep, but felt paralyzed, unable to wake himself up or move. He fought against the sleep, against the paralysis. His words coming out inaudible at first, until he finally broke through with a startling jolt.

"What the..." Malcolm exclaimed as he gripped the edge of the bed. "Where am I? What time is it?"

"Hey, you're okay." Eirly said gently as she moved so he could sit up. "You're in your quarters on the Astrea, and it's a little past 1930 right now. What happened, how are you feeling?"

Malcolm blinked his eyes forcibly and pushed himself up into a seated position. "I- I haven't been sleepin' 'n I thought I would lay down for a wee bit. I must have fallen asleep."

"I know you've been working hard lately and we haven't been able to spend as much time together with everything that's been going on, so maybe it's your bodies way of saying you're burning out and needed the rest?" Eirly suggested in reply. How did a person doctor a doctor when they're not well or having trouble? She had no idea. "Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

"It doesnae matter. Probably just remnants of this bloody place and thinking that we'll never make our way out of here." He reached over and squeezed Eirly's arm. "I'm going to get something to drink. Some electrolytes I think. How are you doing? Did we have plans?"

Eirly shook her head, "No, you're staying right where you are, and I'll get it for you." She got off the bed and walked over to the replicator before coming back with two glasses of almost clear water and offered him one. Seeing the question of what it was on his face, "It's coconut water. It'll give you all the electrolytes you need and it'll keep you hydrated."

"And to answer your question, we didn't have plans. We haven't had any plans for like the last week or so, but that's okay." Eirly smiled at him, more grateful he was okay than anything else.

"I'm sorry, I thought maybe I forgot to... I'm sorry." Malcolm took the drink from Eirly. He tried a small sip and then took a larger drink. It was then that he realized his shirt was drenched in sweat.

"Thank you for this. I'd reach over there, but I dunnae think you want me giving you a hug right now. Do you mind if I shower and change right quick?"

"Yeah, no thank you," Eirly laughed and gave him a grin, "I'll be waiting here when you get out." She put her own drink on the bedside table and then proceeded to sprawl out across the end of the bed while he got up. A deep breath in and out once he'd disappeared had her feeling the tiredness settling in for the night and she stared at the ceiling for a bit before she rolled onto her stomach to keep from falling asleep.

A few minutes later Malcolm walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair still wet. He stopped by the nightstand and chugged the rest of the coconut water, emptying the glass. He was still a little uneasy just because the dream had felt so real and still did, like it was more than a dream; and, he'd had such a hard time waking up from it. He tried to push the thoughts out his mind for Eirly's sake.

He approached the end of the bed and carefully holding his towel in place with one hand, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips, his other hand brushing imaginary strands of hair off of her face for a brief moment.

"Did you want me to get dressed for heading out to do something?" He asked. "Something nice for my leannan."

"My leannan? That's a new one," Eirly smiled as she kissed him back and giggled, "What's that mean? And I don't mind if we go out or not, I just want to spend some time with you." She was oblivious to the inner turmoil the love of her life was facing.

"It means, 'my love' or 'darling.' Just sort of slipped out. I'm sorry if it bothers you, I don't have to say it," Malcolm offered, his cheeks turning a light crimson color.

Eirly giggled again, "I like it and think it's really sweet, so please don't stop saying it."

Malcolm chuckled softly at Eirly's giggle, and her encouragement. "Well, I know we've not done anything in a while, so I want to take you out, if you'd like." He winked at her before standing up and walking over to the closet to pick out something to wear.

She gave him an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes playfully while still keeping the grin on her face. It was all she could do to not start the overthinking process of what he was going through but not telling her. "I just got changed into these clothes, you know. Where were you thinking of taking me and do I need to dress up for it?"

"Don't change a thing. We can go somewhere casual. Take a pizza to the promenade, have a picnic?" Malcolm floated the idea as he walked to the dresser and picked out a pair of briefs and a pair of trousers.

"A pizza picnic sounds good, we haven't that for a while now." Eirly got off the bed and stood up to put her shoes back on before she looked back over at Malcolm, "Are you sure you're okay? Do I need to be worried?"

Though his mind was still a little rattled from the dream that he couldn't shake, he didn't see a point in continuing to talk about it. He knew Eirly would worry more than necessary. A lot of people were having trouble sleeping in the Expanse. He just didn't expect to be one of them. And certainly not so soon.

"Nothin' to worry about. Just a bad dream is all. Maybe one of the anomalies does something with our REM cycles. No one has just stayed here long enough to study it," Malcolm said, trying to sound dismissive. "Thankfully we don't plan to be here too long."

Eirly wasn't convinced but let it slide for the moment. "Okay then." She said slowly with a smile after, "If anything changes, you let me know, alright?" She took his hand, "Let's go get some pizza."

"Right, then." Malcolm replied as he walked over, pocketing his communicator. he finished buttoning his shirt on the way to their door. He didn't want to worry her over silly dreams while the Expanse was playing tricks on everyone. He made a mental note to not let her see it get to him like that again.

"I know you want pineapple, what else are we having on the pizza tonight?" Could be heard as they walked down the corridor.

---

Lt. Commander Eirly Andersen
Second Officer
USS Astrea


Lieutenant J.G. Malcolm Beckett
Medical Officer
USS Astrea

 

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