Klingon Heart and Marine Colors

Posted on Thu Aug 27th, 2026 @ 6:17pm by Lieutenant Colonel Ashok 'Ash', Son of Norath & Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine

2,689 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Warriors of Two Banners
Location: Nyx's Temporary Quarters
Timeline: After: Home World Bound?

ON:

Ashok walked down the Starbase's corridor, heading to Nyx's quarters. Or at least, the quarters she was assigned onboard. With his new orders now circling his head, there wasn't much he could do about it, other than decide who was joining him. Which left him with an interesting idea. He had his choice of who to bring and, while he had several people in mind, there was one position he felt needed someone with the most experience in that field. While they weren't a part of his Marine squadron, he knew they would be an asset, but it would require the pulling of a few strings.

As he approached the door, he paused for a moment. Ash tucked the PADD under his arm and let out a breath, before tapping on the chime to announce his arrival.

“Enter!” Nyx called out as she made another pull up on the bar she had installed even here on the Starbase. The tank top she wore was half soaked with sweat, but that was normal after what she’d put herself through this morning already. She’d been given the day off, so today was the best day for an intense workout and she already had done the first and second repetitions of the arm curls, pushups and crunches, this would round out the complete second round, only two more to go, so an interruption wouldn’t go amiss.

Ashok came in, before stopping just passed the door. As they closed behind him, he looked over to Nyx and gave her a smile. With a soft chuckle, he said. "You seem busy. I can come back if you want to continue."

Two left, she let her arms relax before flexing them again to pull her chin up above bar again, “Not a chance, you’re giving me an excuse to take a break and get some fluids!” She released back to a hanging position again and did the last pull up before dropping to her feet again, shaking out her arms as she felt the burn before picking up the towel and wiping her face as she turned to face him, “What can I do you for?” She asked as she walked to where a bottle of water sat on a bench.

"I... uhh..." Ash hesitated slightly, looking away for a moment, before focusing on Nyx again. "I have orders to go to Qo'noS to train a group of Klingon Warriors on how to fight the Heralds." He reached under his arm and took a hold of the PADD, holding it in his hand, before adding. "They want me and a group of Marines to head over there. A Klingon ship, the SuvwI' 'etlh is coming to pick us up and bring us there. It's my brothers ship. Which leads me to believe the General, my father, might actually have a hand in this request. At least, on the Klingon side, anyway."

"Damn, that sounds like it could be fun." Nyx caught the flicker of motion from one of the ceiling nests where Gigi had poked her own head out to observe the visitor, "It's going to probably be a prickly assignment, though, trying to teach the warriors who think they're all that in a fight, and they may be right, how to fight a new enemy. Not just that, but Marines or not, you're the only Klingon in the bunch, so it's going to really piss some of them off. All I'm doing is staying here and helping with the standard workload of the starbase, so it should be a boring wait for the ship to get fixed."

"I don't expect much of a welcome from them. My brother, Koll, was furious when I walked away from the KDF. So, I am not expecting a grand family get together from him either." Ashok hesitated again, taking a few steps in, as he played slightly with the PADD in his hand. "In fact, the thought occured to me, when I was looking for names to add to the team that would be coming with me. It would have to have a seasoned field medic in the group. Someone who has experience handling wounds from Herald weapons and who can train them how to treat a Herald weapon wound should these warriors decide it's not their day to die, so to speak. I mean... technically... you are still a Marine and you were never discharged. Dishonorably or otherwise." He stopped for a moment, looking at her, as a smile formed on his face. "All it would take is a few calls to some people who I know to get you back in your greens. Even if it is for this assignment."

She looked at him in disbelief as he smiled, "That is right, technically, though I remember signing some resignation paperwork at some point.. I'd love to go along with you on the trip, even if it's just as a Starfleet officer, but if you could get me back into the Green Machine?" She shook her head in wonder, "I always felt better in that uniform than the one I moved to. Even if it IS just for one assignment, it'd feel good to be back in it. Of course, how likely are they to listen to a medic?"

"Just because you signed paperwork, it doesn't mean you can't rejoin. As long as it was an honorable discharge, your re-entry code is still acceptable, and you meet the current medical and physical requirements, you can be reinstated and placed back to your last rank." Ashok replied as he approached her. "I did it after I found Cirilla. I went through the whole process of stepping down, but I couldn't stay away, so I went through the whole process of reinstating myself to get back to active duty. And, don't worry about them not listening to a medic." He let out a chuckle. "Just shove a gun in their face, like you did me, and that will turn some heads and get them to take you seriously."

"Then sign me up!" Nyx laughed harshly, "I'll pass myself on my medical exam and if you want to set up the physical test? I'll pass that too." She gestured to herself, "As you can tell, I'm in good physical condition and I don't intend to change that if I can help it. If they need me to prove myself, I think I know a way or two to do it. Think I'll have to go back to being a First Lieutenant? Or think I can get my oak leaf instead?"

"I don't see why not." Ashok replied with a smile. "You said you regretted being out of uniform and never wanted to leave the service. Consider this my gift. My way of telling you, I would prefer you at my side and watching my back, than somewhere far away regretting not being in the thick of it. I don't want you to be a lioness in captivity. You deserve to be out there, fighting the good fight, the way you were trained to do."

Nyx stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, Ashok, Son of Norath." She meant it, "That is probably the best gift anyone could give me." She gave a grin at him, "I can even help train your special operations people, if you've got some people picked out and naturally, your combat medics will get the best training any which way."

Ash smiled back at her, pleased she was going to be joining him this time. These orders no longer felt so bad. The idea of her being with him, made the thought of dealing with his brother and every other Klingon all the more bearable. "You're welcome, Nyx." He closed his eyes and placed his forehead ridges against her forehead as he whispered. "Knowing you're coming with me, makes everything we may encounter, easier to deal with."

"Besides, I think it's about time I met your family, don't you think?" Her eyes didn't close, so as to give him something to look at when he reopened his, "I'm not sure how big of a tradition it is among Klingons, but for my people? It's a big deal. If they don't like me? Screw 'em, we'll deal with that as it happens."

As he opened his eyes, his gaze immediately locked with hers, as he continued to smile. Ashok whispered back. "I like you. Ciri loves you. If they can't see what I see then you're right. Screw 'em. All that should matter to them is how we feel about each other. How strong we make each other. How much we are willing to go through to keep each other in our lives." He let out a slight chuckle, as if something just hit him, before adding. "Don't hate me for saying this. I know it may sound odd or over the top, but... dying for you would not be a sacrifice, Nyx. It would be my honor."

"If you were a Betazoid, I'd call you weird, but because you're Klingon? It's the best compliment I can get." Nyx bit her lip as she placed her hands on his neck, "Now, this has been a wonderful break and all, but I have a workout to finish. You have two choices right now: Come and join me for another couple rounds of what I was doing, or come with me for a more... Full body workout." Her eyes glinted at him, "Running away isn't an option."

Ashok seemed to pause in thought, before replying. "How about... We do the first one and, if it leads to the second one, we try out best not to annoy your neighbors?"

"And if I said that they're already at the medical center and on shift?" She asked.

"Then, at the very least, let's not get security called on us." Ashok countered. "Last thing we want is the Captain or XO having to come bail us out for being too loud. I can't imagine that will go well when we finally get back on board the Tokyo."

"I can be quiet." Nyx said as she slipped away with a jaunt to her step, then looked back over her shoulder, "What about you?"

Ashok looked at her intently. His heart was racing as he felt that instinct kick in, but there was a part of him that was reluctant. There she was, offering herself to him, but he still felt like this was pushing forward too quickly, which made him afraid it wouldn't last long.

"Nyx..." Ash finally spoke, his smile slowly began to show his reluctance, as he spoke softly. "Are you sure this is what you want? Don't get me wrong." He added. "This is amazing... you are amazing... it's just. I don't want this to start off at warp speed and end up at impulse just as fast. You know?"

It didn't take someone with an empathic sense to pick up on his words and body language and Nyx turned back to him fully, closing the distance between them again, concern on her face only. "Oh Ash, I didn't mean to make it look like..." She sighed and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, "We're still learning about each other and it takes time."

She withdrew to half-arm's length, just so she could look up at him from this more severe height disadvantage, "What we're doing here is just that, learning about each other. I'm used to living to the fullest, 'Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die', that sort of thing. I can burn hot and I've never been a nun and I guess I just didn't think that through, which is how I ended up in my situation in the first case." She gave a chuckle, "But I can take it slow, too." She looked into his eyes, making sure she made hard eye contact, "If that is what you want. You never have to be afraid to voice your concerns with me, or your opinions. I value them all."

Ash let out almost a relieved breath, followed by a smile. His heart slowly started to calm itself as he replied softly. "I do... believe me, I do. It's just, since Ciri came into my life, I haven't been with anyone in such a long time. I became about her and doing my job, that everything else, it just drifted right by." He paused for a moment, as he added. "The old me wouldn't think twice. Like you said... Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. This me, I guess, is looking for something... I don't know... deeper. I'm not saying you need to be prepared to be Ciri's mother. You have your own on the way. Just that..." He looked at her firmly, with care in his eyes. "When this happens? I want us both to not just want it, but feel it." He let out a quick scoff. "I don't know what I am saying. Does that sound stupid?"

"It doesn't sound stupid at all, not in the slightest." Nyx replied, voice full of sincerity, "But if this does work out, I'm not just going to be a mother to mine, it would also be to Ciri. I'm not going to be a hypocrite or anything like that, that's not in my nature." She clenched one hand into a fist and thumped his chest with moderate strength, "I'm not going to say I'll be happy about waiting all the time, but I'll certainly understand. This is an itch that will eventually need to get scratched, so if I ever seem like an alley cat in heat? That'll be why. BUT," She sighed, "I'll be fine. I may push a bit, but I do know how to take 'No' for an answer." She cocked her head to the side and gestured with a finger, "Come down here a bit..." When he did, she gave him a kiss. It wasn't anything dramatic or passionate, she would work on his level of comfort.

Ashok kissed her back and left his head there, his eyes closed for a moment. As he opened his eyes, he replied softly. "Nyx... I'm not saying it will never happen, only that I'm not ready yet." He eased his hand up, placing it on the side of her face, as he continued softly. The tips of his fingers slowly brushing her skin. "Listen to these next words, very carefully. If you do every become a mother to mine, that will also mean, I will be a father to yours. We will be in this together. Heart and soul. Good and bad. Whatever may come, we will face it as a team and never alone. If we go down this road together, know you will be my only one. I will not seek another. Should you ever get lost, know in your heart, I will search for you. Just as I know, if I were to ever get lose, you will not stop searching for me."

"And the Heavens help anyone who gets between the two of us, for they may not survive the experience." She agreed with him entirely, "You'll be ready when you're ready, and you WILL be ready eventually. As I said, I'll survive one way or the other. But." She grinned up at him from zero distance, "If we're not going to sweat doing that, I, at least, am going to sweat exercising. Feel like joining in?"

Ashok watched her slowly, a comforting smile forming on his face, as he slowly nodded his head. He took her hand in his, before replying. "An alley cat in heat?" He asked with a chuckle. "Are you sure a part of you isn't Klingon?"

---

Lieutenant Colonel Ashok 'Ash', Son of Norath
Marine Commanding Officer
U.S.S. Tokyo

&

Lieutenant Commander Nyxala Valentine
Chief Medical Officer
U.S.S. Tokyo

 

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