Dog Day Afternoon, Part II
Posted on Thu Jul 2nd, 2026 @ 3:36pm by Lieutenant Ezra Van Wijnbergen & Ensign Nala Rider
Edited on on Fri Jul 3rd, 2026 @ 7:33am
2,170 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3 - The One Who Got Away
Location: The Quarters of Nala Rider - Deck 5 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD004, 1340 Hours
"Wwanna come in for a cup of..." Nala sputtered, not wanting to offer something Ezra he wouldn't want, and fairly embarrassed by her attitude.
Ezra grinned and tried his best to hide it.
"A cup of...?" He knew she was being polite and he only wanted to tease.
Milo glanced up expectantly at Nala.
"Tea, coffee, juice?" Nala swallowed as her hand found Milo's head and scritched his ears.
"A tea sounds wonderful," he replied, as they reached the door to her quarters. "Um, maybe it'd be best if we wait out here for you--unless you want dog noses sniffing everywhere."
Ezra stepped inside with Milo, following Nala and Trigger.
"Just let me close my bedroom door...nnot that there's anything WRONG with my room! I mean!...oh brother." Nala scurried over, closed the door, and came back out to hold the door open for the trio.
"I've got Roobius, Jujubean, Chamomile, Jazmin, Earl Grey, and several fruit teas." Nala said as she started the water. Despite having the replicator, Nala kept various teas from around the world, and beyond, in her quarters and stashed in her pack at all times.
He raised an eyebrow, watching her shut the door to the bedroom. Ezra wondered why she would be so worried about the state of it--he judged nobody.
"A rooibos sounds great, Nala."
"Coming right up! So, did you and the boys have a good time?" Nala asked as she poured water into the teapot and started looking for mugs.
"Which mug would you like? I've got plain ones, ones with designs, funky ones, and this one." Nala held up a mug that looked like you would be kissing a dragon every time you took a sip.
Ezra grinned at the sight of the dragon mug. "Oh, the dragon mug--definitely."
"Pff! Yeah, it's quite the conversation starter...I made it." Nala chuckled softly, blushing slightly.
Turning away from her, Ezra made a hand signal to both dogs and in response, Milo and Trigger laid down on the deck. This allowed Ezra to relinquish the leash for Milo and examine Nala's quarters. Books were neatly arranged on shelves around the main living area and several potted plants were scattered throughout, in various stages of maturity. A pair of hiking boots were left haphazardly near the door.
"Do you have a green thumb, Nala?"
"Yes. My Mother and I were always covered in dirt when I wasn't studying with my Dad." Nala flittered around the room and watered the plants, almost tripping over her hiking boots.
"Oops...gotta remember to stop leaving those out." Nala giggled sheepishly as she put her boots away.
Ezra smiled again. Nala's quarters were an ode to nature, it seemed. Plants stretched toward the overhead lighting, while the leaves of other plants appeared glossy and alive. The only other place on board that teemed with life was the Herbology Garden, but it wasn't exactly a place where one could live. That somehow made this cabin all the more intriguing.
"You're from Colorado," Ezra said, his mind working. "You have a nice pair of hiking boots. And you're from Colorado. Colorado has mountains, right?"
"Eyup, lots and lots of them! And I've climbed just about all of them! Er...nnot to brag!" Nala giggled sheepishly, swirling her foot, and not sure why.
"It's not bragging if you enjoy doing something and want to talk about," Ezra said reassuringly. "You know, sometimes I don't get enough downtime to take these guys--" he motioned to Milo and Trigger--"out to the holodeck for physical activity. You're always welcome to take them whenever. I know they'd love it."
"Really!? Thank you!" Nala beamed... then almost dropped the tray she had placed everything onto.
"Oh, nuts! Sorry about that!" Nala blushed as she quickly rebalanced the tray.
Ezra grimaced and flinched as she nearly lost it all on her way to the living area.
"No harm done," he said softly and reassuringly.
Milo, of course, looked personally offended that the ship's artificial gravity would even attempt such a thing in his presence.
Glancing around, Ezra noted the lack of any photos of a partner. "No special someone in your life, Nala?"
"Who what now? Er...I mean...I thought maybe there was someone, but they were higher in rank than me...and well...it's safer for him if we just stay friends." Nala swiped away a tear at the memory, knowing it was for the best things hadn't gone farther, but still sometimes curious as to the 'path not chosen'.
"I know that feeling," Ezra said, his thoughts briefly turning to the face of a brunette Bajoran. He pushed the feeling aside and returned his focus to the present, picking up his dragon mug full of steaming hot rooibos tea. It was still far too hot to bring to his lips, and so he set it back down and adjusted himself on the plush sofa.
Ezra decided to pivot.
"I'm guessing facial reconstruction isn't a career someone just stumbles into?"
"Nope! While they were cleaning up the edges of the scars on my face... Mom insisted on at least that, it WAS close to my eye after all, I was able to watch other doctors and nurses work on other patients, and I became fascinated with how they put people's faces back together with such precision that I started asking them questions, and the doctors were more than happy to answer my questions, even let me handle the tools... something Mom wasn't too thrilled about though!" Nala burst out laughing, doubling over and wheezing at the memory of her Mother's rather huffy complaints and frustrated sighing about how Nala'd already gone through enough without playing with more sharp objects!
Ezra smiled at the recollection. As a counselor, he had spent years studying trauma, tracing its stiff, wood-like roots through memory and behaviour, watching the just how it can smother people like a blizzard blowing its way into a valley. More often than not, painful experiences returned--fear remained fear. Grief remained grief.
Yet Nala spoke of the bear attack as if she'd simply encountered some shaggy messenger sent down from the mountains with a lesson for her.
The child she had been had inadvertently wandered into danger. The child she became afterward had climbed mountains, crossed worlds, and somehow carried real, physical scars--of her own choosing--keeping them as a compass. It was enough to make Ezra wonder if the memory might possess a secret life of its own. Perhaps certain memories did not remain where they were planted. Perhaps they wandered through life's years like dandelion seeds taking flight in a heavy summer breeze--rooting in unexpected places until something terrible would gradually flower into something useful and meaningful.
He found himself studying her for a moment. There's was no shadow in her voice when she spoke of Colorado. No hint of bitterness or lingering tremor of fear. The attack itself seemed to have pulled away into the distance and Nala had decided the remaining silhouette was the lesson she'd carry.
Human beings were endlessly strange that way. Two people could survive the same devastating storm and emerge from it carrying entirely different experiences inside them.
In Ezra's eyes, Nala had made peace with that mother bear a long time ago.
"You're an incredibly strong individual," Ezra said, finally daring a sip of the rooibos tea. "I mean that."
Nala tried to suppress a giggle as she turned just in time to see Ezra take a drink...then blushed as she realized he'd said something! After mentally scrambling for a moment, she caught up to the comment, and blushed again.
"Ththanks...er, ahem...thank you." Nala finally sat down with her 'She Blinded Me With Science!' mug of chai tea with both white and dark chocolate mixed in under whipped cream. Unconsciously, Nala removed her shoes and drew her feet up into the chair under her.
Milo lazily wandered over, his golden tail whipping back and forth.
"Milo," Ezra said, slightly irritated.
Something was in the mouth of the golden retriever/border collie mix's mouth. It was one of Nala's hiking boots, and he seemed to be bringing it to her.
"W...oh, hahaha! You silly puppy! Thank you." Nala leaned down and held her hand out for the now soggy boot.
Milo dropped the boot into Nala's outstretched hand, his tail wagging in satisfaction.
Ezra couldn't help but smile. "That's the retriever in him. You have to let him know he did good."
"Good job, Milo! You found my boot!" Nala praised, scratching Milo's ear and head.
[I wonder if he did that on purpose, or if he was just goofing around.] Nala thought as she put the boot in a safe spot on the back of her chair to be returned to it's partner when the trio left.
"That's really all it takes," he said. "You've validated his entire worldview."
By now, the tea had cooled enough to drink properly. Ezra took another sip and found himself relaxing in a way he hadn't expected when he stepped through the door. There was a peacefulness here. It was easy to exist here with plants occupying the corners, and shelves of books. Somewhere between the smell of tea and the damp soil, Nala's quarters felt like it might be a piece of Earth and not just another compartment on the Artemis.
He set the dragon mug carefully on the table.
"Speaking of worldviews, where do you see yourself in five years, Nala?"
"W...I...well, I guess I've never really thought about it. I guess I'd like to either be sailing through space slashing bad guy's faces like they slash the innocent lives! Ssorry...it's just that...well, sigh let's try that again. I want to be wherever I can do the most good to help justice be served. Who knows, might even own a small ship of my own with a crew of super sleuths." Nala chuckled, taking a sip of her tea to avoid his eyes.
Ezra grinned and stifled another laugh. "I like the first one better. Who doesn't want to go gallivanting across the galaxy slashing up bad guy's faces? Count me in if you need a counselor."
"Pfff! I...er...that is...hehehe. Ththank you. [Oh just shove me into the dark void of space so that no one can hear me scream or turn red!]" Nala was melting!
He glanced down at the tea in his dragon mug and noticed he had already consumed most of it, with only the faintest hints of steam drifting up and vanishing in the warmth of Nala's cabin. It reminded him of the campfires his father would made when they went camping in the eastern hills of Shodash Province on Betazed.
"I should probably let you have the rest of your evening," Ezra said at last, though his words were not eager.
Rising to his feet, he set the mug down on the coffee table and looked directly at the young woman.
"I'm glad Milo tackled you in the turbolift," he added. "I mean it. I've come to learn that the best introductions begin only because an overly-affectionate dog has absolutely no respect for personal space."
Milo thumped his tail against the floor as though the words were a compliment.
Nala giggled, but also felt a strange, disappointed twinge at Ezra's imminent departure.
"Me too...I mean...I got nothing." Nala laughed outright, blushing deep red as she tried to catch her breath.
"Hhhave a great rest night, I mean rest OF your night!" Nala was completely flabbergasted and extremely embarrassed at her off-the-wall behavior.
[...am I falling for him?] Nala thought.
Ezra smiled fully now. He let a low whistle and both dogs came to their feet, following him toward the door.
"Thank you for the tea and I'm sure we'll see each other soon."
With that, the trio were through the door and gone.
"Woof! What the whatitty what what is WRONG with me!?" Nala flopped back into the chair and tried to catch her breath.
"AM I starting to fall for him?" Nala asked her plants. The plants remained silent...unlike that batch she made a few years ago...Nala shuddered at the thought as she set about washing the dishes and getting her quarters in order for bed.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Nala Rider
Facial Reconstruction Specialist, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Ezra Van Wijnbergen
Victim Advocate Counselor, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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