Marco's eyes grew wider as Raluca continued on. By the time she finished, both Marco's mind and face froze with a mixture of astonishment and pity.
Finally, he said,
"Well, I never would have thought my current situation would pale against someone else's."
He took a sip from his shot, although he despised the taste he somehow forced himself to do it as a part of a normal social gesture. Then he continued,
"Although I can never feel the pain you must have felt, I want to say I'm sorry to hear about your ordeal, Ral. If there's anything I can do then I shouldn't even tell you to ask."
He looked at Raluca with a somewhat strained reassuring smile and put his hands forward. But it did not last long, he sighed heavily and retreated his hands.
"Sorry, but I can't do this," Marco said looking down, "I'm in trouble, Ral, and I dunno what to do."
[font=Century Gothic][color=#FF99FF]A little surprised by his gesture, Raluca asks:
Would you like to share with me?
Marco wants to say something when she interrupts him.
Wait! First thing, first. I'm not very talkative when I have an upset person in front of me. So... if this will bring a smile on your face we can do it how it's done in the annonymous meetings, you know?
She imitates something she saw in old holo-movies.
"Hello! My name is Marco and I have a problem." Then she changes her voice and continues "Hello, Marco!" You know, stuff like that...
Raluca is using her childish charm to make him feel better. She doesn't know what his problem is but she suspects it's something very important.
Bo sat at the table in the corner with the good view on the Omicron Theta jumphole where the Athena patroled the area and enjoyed his beer,
the one or other trading vessel supplying Freeport XV passed by. "Holy sh**, what the heck..." he screamed and spilled the rest of his beer when he noticed a corsair fleet entering Omicron 74. "Guys, thats 3, no 4... no 5 legates and a massive support fleet. We're under attack again,
i can see gunfire, The Athena is under attack! Come over here and see it yourself." he screamed with an excited and desperate voice, worrying about Jake and his crew aboard the Athena. "But there, look over to Tirane. The cavalry is coming! He screamed with a happy voice. 3 Juggernauts are heading towards the Athena, they're going to bail their sister ship out!
Go guys, get them all! Drive them back to their barren planet where they came from! He cheered vociferous. As soon as the Juggernauts arrived, they opened fire at the intruders and crippled their fleet.
Only a few were able to retreat to Omicron Theta, chased by 4 Juggernauts. "Woooo! Get them guys, get them all!!! Now that's what i call a lesson! Ral, hon. I pay my beer later,
but now i need to get the Auzawandilaz to salvage the few valuable things what are left from the corsair fleet." Bo ran out of Ral's towards the docking bays.
[font=Century Gothic][color=#FF99FF]Interrupted by the battle, Ral moved to the window and enjoyed the view, then she returned to her table where Marco wanted to talk. She managed to tell Keek to bring some mineral water to the Arcadia while he's in space.
Interesting fight, wasn't it, Marco? But you were about to tell me about your problem...
She finished another glass of juice and waited for Marco to speak.
The colourful light show produced by the sudden skirmish of the Corsair intruders and Zoner defenders startled most patrons in the tavern, eventhough most of the regulars should be used to it right now. Although this sort of display of Zoner might is nothing new to Marco as he worked in unison with Lividia weapons and ship testing all the time, he was still a little impressed by its display in real time.
But all the explosions and weapons fire did nothing more than interesting Marco vaguely, in his current state of mind. He watched the last of the Corsair vessels break down and go up in flames closely, as if a metaphor to his diminishing mental stability.
The tavern slowly regained its original setting and its patrons returned to their previous states. This was when Marco's mind snapped back into gear. He looked back round to see Raluca smiling, waiting for him to describe his mental crisis. He felt a strange sense of security and maybe even a hint of love, something absent in his life for the past few weeks.
Marco sighed heavily and began to tell what he could not in front of his colleagues and friends. He thought about it for some time, then finally decided upon a way both understandable by him and Raluca.
"I've been feeling this sort of... insecurity, inadequacy and I guess what you'd call paranoia for the past few weeks. It all amplified sometime after I lost my position as the administrator of Corinth but it had occurred to me way before that, when I was still young with the AngelWing.
Back then I just curbed this sort of feeling by being occupied, working 24/7 around the ship you know. But now, I mostly supervise and give lectures. So these began to resurface again. I always feel I'm not doing enough, not achieving enough, and what I do go unappreciated by others. It's this sense of underachievement and self-doubt that really drives me mad, sometimes I can write a report 10 times and still be unsatisfied with it. Losing my position was another blow to me, because it made me realise I wasn't good enough to deserve it. I've been a proud man, but sometimes I just look at my weapons locker and think about ending it all."
At this point, the once proud explorer almost broke down. He covered his face with his hands and shook his head,
"I don't expect you to understand and burden yourself with all this Ral, you're still young. It's mid life crisis, I guess. It's just... I couldn't tell this to anyone and you're the only one I've ever told because... I dunno, I just wanted someone to listen. I'm sorry."
He looked up again, even under the dim atmosphere of the tavern, his face all worn and his eyes showed visible redness.
[font=Century Gothic][color=#FF99FF]After listening everything that Marco had to say, Raluca commented:
So, you're saying that having nothing to do makes you think of stuff like that? Why don't you see the full part of the glass? You must have some achievements in your career... and have more fun. I haven't seen you in the Arcadia for ages while the others come here every day. It's true that Bo and Finn spend most of their time here, but I'm refearing to the others that come here for one or two hours in the evening, they have a chat, drink something, share experiences and release most of the daily stress. You should do the same; I bet it will help.
Every problem had a solution that involved parties and fun in Ral's mind. She tried to apply the same theory here.
Marco looked at Raluca then chuckled lightly. He was amused by the naive and energetic young woman.
"Not quite, Ral," Marco replied, "it's a little more complicated than that. But you're right, maybe I do need a break to properly collect my thoughts."
He was then distracted by the sharp sound of something shattering and saw the barman clumsily trying to clean up the spilled liquid and broken glass on the ground.
"Anyway," he continued, "I really appreciate your suggestion and I don't know how to thank you enough for listening."
"Perhaps a tour around Corinth?" Marco offered, "I still know the place pretty well even though I'm not in charge of it anymore. It'd also brighten my mood to introduce some of our best technologies to a beautiful girl like you."
Raluca blushed, and Marco admired it.
After spilling all his problems, even to someone who could not understand, Marco felt relieved. The mental barrier within his psyche began to crack due to the overwhelming pressure of positive thought and the glowing optimism from Raluca. Tonight was a crucial stage in finding purpose and determination again both in Marco's life and career.
Marco smiled. It was one that bled through his guise of disappointment.
"Alright. Unload the cargo. I will have a drink in the bar here." The man went towards Raluca's and let his Borderworld transport moored at the Freeport. Arrived in the bar he looked around. "Nice in here." He got himself a stool and sat down. "I would like to have a water." He looked around again if there is someone he probably knows. The man scratched his head and yawned. "Hmm...quite empty it seems like." It was 1:41 AM SMT. Still wondering why nobody is in the bar he looked at his PDA to check his messages. "Hmpf...still so much things to do....if I would have more time to to talk to others...." He rubbed his eyes, waiting for his water.
[font=Century Gothic][color=#FF99FF]Raluca just came to the Arcadia after a long week spent on board of Rhea. She was discussing with Rubben when a customer entered.
One water right here... and the normal question: Why just water when we have something like this, she asked while pointing at a bottle of some sort of alcoholic drink.
"Thank you". He took the water. "I really would like to have something more...exotic, yes. *he smiles slightly* But I have to fly my transport back to some ice fields in one or two hours again. Maybe next time when I am here again." The man took a sip of his water and said something. "It won't be the last time I will visit this bar. I am passing Omicron 74 at least two times per week, one reason for that is to supply the Freeport with water and oxygen. But in general I am supporting the Order with Deuterium...oh man...I am beginning to talk too much about personal things again...*he shaked his head* Anyway....for the next time...what kind of drink would you recommend? I prefer not that strong alcoholic amount in the drinks I am drinking." The man took another sip of the water and looked at the young woman.