Title: Untitled

Author: tarotgal

Fandom: Star Trek: TNG

Rating: G

Status: So unfinished that it's silly to bother posting it anywhere

He ran a finger up and down the ridges on his nose, sniffing slightly. He was upset, yes, having just lost a mission, a colleague, a friend, a once lover. But his sniffling was due to something more. It had been a stressful mission, and he was looking forward to some rest, perhaps some vacation time on Risa, even. A warm, friendly Risa, a much needed change from the coldness of space and the Maquis settlement. He leaned against the wall, watching the doors of the turbolift, hoping that if he stared hard enough he could make it stop on this desk.

“Commander?”

Riker looked over to find Geordi there, a data pad of some sort tucked under his arm. He nodded a hello. “Geordi.” And before he could dispense with the normal small talk, the lift arrived. “Bridge,” he said, leaning against the wall of the lift this time.

“Deck Eight,” commanded Geordi and the lift started up. “You all right, Commander?” he asked, looking Will up and down through his visor.

Riker nodded, rubbing the bridge of his nose again. It was not so much that the surgical alterations bothered him as the fact that he felt the distinct need to sneeze. “It's just Ro,” he explained with a sigh.

A nod back, understanding. “When she and I were… dead…” he said with a smile at the memory, “You were going to say something at our funeral. She always wondered what it would have been.”

Smiling, “We all had experiences with her… mine were just a bit unique.”

The turbolift slid to a stop and doors opened as Geordi passed through. “Well, sometimes it's the things you don't say to people that mean the most.” He tilted his head in point and took off down the corridor.

Will sighed, closing his eyes. True enough, but that didn't make things any easier. Just another day aboard the flagship of the federation- you never knew what to expect. “huh-Cheesh!”

The sneeze, while wanting to come for a long while, had still taken him somewhat by surprise.