Chez Sandrine Part 4: What's Going On

Posted on Wed Jan 17th, 2024 @ 8:21pm by Thrita sh'Qirhess

3,417 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Holodeck 3
Timeline: MD: TBD After Part 3

Vevi looked around the room. Her head spun. What was HAPPENING?

"Wait, you were bonded as kids, then met again here? Weiiirrddd. I'd freak out if my bondmate were here. We parted ways YEARS ago, with our parents' blessings, though it took some convincing." She paused a beat. "So...did you both move on, then?" She was still confused.

Thrita giggled. She was glad the question was asked. Now everything could be clarified. "No. Our bondgroup was arranged back then, but we never really met. At least not that I remember. My thavan Ryhl was being an imp and pulled to get him assigned here. Then he convinced me to move here without telling me about Shan. He said he wanted to give us a chance to run into each other.. I guess we did. We locked eyes at Ice and we just took it from there."

"We're just now all coming of age," Shan added fidgeting with his cue stick uncomfortably. "Turns out we were all stalling, not sure how we felt about the fact that it had been arranged. We didn't know if any of us would have anything in common at all."

Vevi's hazel eyes were wide with recognition, her antenna drooping as she realized what was happening.

"OH GODS," she shouted, then clamped a hand over her mouth. She looked from Andorian to the Orion. "WAITTTTT. I gotta sit down," she said, sitting on one of the stools nearby. "Your dad is the CAPTAIN? And you're bonded to Shan?" She pointed from Thrita to Shan. And then she turned to Lissa.
"Did you know?? And didn't say anything?"

Lissa laughed light-heartedly. "I just knew Shan was seeing a girl he was really into. What's the big deal?" She asked with a shrug.

"What's the BIG DEAL??" She made a face. "The big deal is that now they gotta find two more people, and I feel like that's why I was invited along!!" She growled. "This is NOT nice, you know!!" She shook her head. "But I mean...I guess it's a thing that needs to happen, especially if Thrita's Thavan is my CO," she sighed deeply.

Embarrassing. Nuts. Insanity. The cheese has slipped off the cracker. WEIRD.

"Uh, no," Lissa protested offended by the remark. "I invited you along because you seemed cool back on that away mission, and I wanted to hang with you, and this program isn't for everyone."

Lissa jumped off her stool and approached Vevi, Zeke right behind her carefully watching the tension in holodeck rise. Lissa lowered her voice. "I told you I didn't even know their status, I just met Thrita. I don't have anything to do with ... how would I? This is dumb. If that's what you think you don't need to stick around."

Lissa grabbed her drink and walked over to the tables away from the bar, and sat down, her back facing her friends so they wouldn't see her tears.

Zeke shot Shan a look, you need to fix this and went after Lissa.

Shan looked back and forth and Thrita and Vevi, not sure what he could say to fix it. "Look, Vevi I don't know what you two have been talking about. Lissa, well she doesn't like to be alone, so she plans a lot of things with friends and just invites people. I'm sure she thought she'd made a new friend. And I..." Shan looked over at Thrita, "We are still figuring things out ourselves. We certainly wouldn't have agreed to a secret set-up like what you are imagining."

Vevi gave Shan a cool stare. "I'll go," she said, setting her drink down, and crossing the room. She slid across the table from the Orion. "I am sorry," she said. "It was just...a surprise. I don't do social things well, and I think I panicked, and it's happened before. Don't cry, I am not upset. I was just...surprised, really. No one is mad," she said. "DO you want to keep playing? Maybe something to eat is better," she said. "I'm used to keeping people at arm's length because of my job and that sometimes spills over into personal time. I am sorry." She sat back, and waited to see if Lissa would respond. Vevi would understand if she didn't, though.

Lissa quickly wiped her eyes on Vevi's approach hoping she wouldn't notice upset she was. "That's a bullshit excuse. We all have dangerous jobs to do," Lissa responded. "It shouldn't be so hard to think people would want to spend time with you. I don't know you that well, but even when our away mission went sour you found a way to make the best of it and were easy to get along with. Annika would have been here too, but she had a date."

Zeke looked solemnly up at Vevi. "Lissa's whatever-he-is is working late this week, she and I aren't, if you were thinking that..." Lissa scrunched her face and backhanded Zeke on the arm playfully.

"Stop it. I don't want to talk about it too much and jinx it," she said under her breath.

Thrita stood in shock watching the proceedings. Her mouth fell open as her antennae froze. She was hurt on such a deep level that it showed in the depths of her eyes. All she did was flirt slightly with somebody she thought was attractive. Now she was being accused of some convoluted scheme. It was even more painful because Thrita has opened up and was so summarily rejected. "Let me tell you something", Thrita said as she approached Vevi, teal with anger. "That was so unnecessary. I really don't understand why you had to take things this far." Thrita offered Vevi a final look of disappointment. "Yes I do want to keep playing. I just want you to know that I'm really hurt. And so are others."

Vevi simply shrugged. "I apologized. I am unused to social things. Maybe I should go," she said, standing up. "I am sorry, Lissa, to ruin the night. You'll have more fun without me," she said.

"No don't go." Thrita sighed, her expression disarming. "This whole thing is a misunderstanding. We didn't have some plan to hook up with you.." She blinked slightly flirtatiously as her eyes rolled. "I just have a roving eye for attractive zhen at the moment." The corners of her lips turned upwards slightly towards a weak half smile.

Vevi shrugged. "Ok...And I AM sorry. I have a standing appointment with counseling about it, but...it's just a lot at once." She said. She was trying to improve her communication skills-she couldn't interact with people in real life like she did on the job.

"I understand", Thrita said weakly. "Meditation is central to the arts of Chako Tlanni. When I open my studio, you should sign up for courses. It feels so good to center one's balance."

Vevi nodded. "That would be helpful," she said. She was open about her own problems with communication, and the airs she put on. Her antennae lifted slightly.

Thrita moved to Lissa and placed an arm around her shoulder. Her breathing was deep but steady and her facial expression held calm.

Lissa smiled at Thrita. "Now that we know who your dad is, maybe next night out we can get a little more adventurous." Lissa turned her head towards Shan. "Columbia Bingo?" she called out trying to break the ice.

Thrita's expression warmed. Her rearward, Thalassan antennae lowered as they rotated. "Bingo?" She hadn't heard of the game that was somewhat of a Federation custom. "I'd love to have more fun. I just didn't want to be judged as being Ryhl's shei." She offered an apologetic look to Vevi.

Vevi nodded. "I wouldn't've. My parents work for the damn government, so I understand....trying to convince people that's it MY work that has gotten me here, and not nepotism, right?" She asked. "What is Bingo?"

Shan put a protective arm around Thrita and gave Lissa a stern look. "Well 'Columbia Bingo' is game that involves playing pranks around the ship and trying to not get caught by the senior officers. Lissa, don't think you get a free pass if Thrita decides she wants to be your friend."

Lissa put her hands up feigning innocence. "I would never, but if we were to say challenge the Delta shift she might have some creative workarounds that could come in handy." Lissa shrugged her shoulders dramatically. "But it would totally have to be your idea Thrita. If that's not your thing..."

"You can ignore her, Thrita. She's always like this," Shan interjected.

Thrita clapped her hands quickly and vigorously, deep purple irises gleaming in the faint light. "It sounds like it would be so much fun. Sure we could play, can't we?" She leaned into Shan, large eyes begging non-verbally as her eyelids winced. Her voice rose an octave. " She turned her head back to study Vevi.

Vevi smiled. She already had some plans. "Sounds fun. I can get us into Security and Intel," she said.

"I don't know, Thrita," Shan said cautiously. "I don't like the idea of getting caught. Almost everything on the list involves going somewhere off limits."

Bubbly laughter escaped from the young shen once more. "I don't mind taking the heat. My thavan can't stay angry at me. All I have to do is beg in a certain voice and he'll give." Her mind did wonder exactly how far the game would go. "That's pretty intense that you could get us into Security and even Intel though." Her glance turned from Lissa to Shan and finally Vevi. " I'd love to see more of the ship. We should plan this for as soon as possible."

"Well, I am the infiltration specialist. If I can't figure out how do to that, we're in trouble," she said.

"Yeah, Shan. She wants to see more of the ship. There really isn't a more fun - or complete way to do that than by playing Bingo, really," Lissa goaded.

Shan let out a defeated moan. He really wasn't one to push the limits on Starfleet rules. "You know I am still trying to impress Thrita's dad - not just as an officer, but you know..." he responded, though clearly he was starting to warm up to the idea.

"Well, if any prank seems like too much.. We could just avoid that particular one. Sounds like it would be a list of pranks." Her mind wandered nervously. She knew the senior officers even less than the others. She was curious how they would take to such behavior. It still sounded like a good time. "Besides.. Who says we'll get caught?"

Thrita squared up to Shanir and locked her hands with his. She shook them playfully into dance-like motions to loosen him up.

"Yeah. So long as no one gets hurt, and things don't get damaged, what's the harm?" Vevi asked. "How do we do it, Lissa? IS there a list? OOOOh, filling the Turbolift that goes to the Bridge full of popcorn would be funny!"

Lissa stood up and nodded. "There is a list. It gets updated every year, so I'm not sure what's on it this year, but the point of most of the pranks is to go unnoticed. Almost always there's something to do with getting into the Ready Room or the XO's office."

Shan groaned as he continued explaining. "You are competing against another team, and you only have so much time get as many items done as you can, but some items are worth more points than others. It's whoever has the most point at the end.

"I say we should start planning this soon." Thrita's regal Thalassan antennae swayed slowly, attached to the rear of her skull. She pondered how hard it would be for her to get past the bridge and into the ready room. Thoughts shifted to what it would be like to wander the ship with a teammate in search of adventure. "I feel like this is such a big ship for a game like this. I can't imagine seeing it all."

Vevi shrugged. "You get used to the size," she said. She realized she'd never been aboard one as a civilian, and she could see how it could be overwhelming. To her, it was just a place to patrol. "We could make a list, split it up." She suggested.

"I guess whoever I'm paired up with will have to help get me into certain places." As a civilian, Thrita didn't have the same level of credentials as the others. "We could all write down a bunch of ideas and get the list together soon." She moved closer to Vevi, subconsciously taking in her pheromones with her antennae.

Lissa nodded. "I'll reach out to Brad on Delta and Chelsea on Beta and see if we have ourselves a competition."

Vevi nodded. "Sounds good. I could probably recruit Annika to help us out," she said. "Especially if we're targeting her boss with one of the pranks," she said, with a smirk. "Let's make a list now!! I think starting off on the Bridge might be funny. OR make that the final one!! Who can get into Science?" She asked. "What if we did something like spread our hands on an agar plate, so they have to look at our germs or something?" She shrugged. Maybe that was dumb. "We will make sure it's a fresh one, replicated JUST for that, so we don't contaminate anything important." She said.

"It would be too funny to get my dad involved." Thrita had picked up the human term for her thavan Ryhl during her youngest years when the family still lived together in Starfleet. "It might make for a tricky bingo point. Like.. Each team should get him to tell a story about the past." A grin spread as she spoke, fighting not to giggle. "He loves to tell stories, but it'd be super awkward. Maybe we can sneak random items into his Ready Room. He won't know where they came from."

Sneaking into Ryhl's Ready Room would be difficult given its proximity to the bridge. It still wouldn't be impossible. Thrita still felt new to the Columbia, so picking at her father seemed the easiest route.

Vevi smiled at Thrita, and touched her arm playfully. She'd picked up, finally, on the woman's flirtiness, now that she had calmed down. "Ooh, I love a challenge. It won't be THAT hard; we can get one of the Engineers to burrow in through the ceiling panels!" She said. "I have done that before...Not into a CO's office, but other places," she said.

Shan reached his arm up and scratched the area behind his left ear nervously. "Well like Lissa said, there's actually a Bingo list to access that's updated every year... and it's not like we're going to do this tonight So, I don't know maybe we can do this some other time?"

Zeke laughed at Shan, and clapped him on the back. "It's alright buddy. Consider it a rite of passage. I've already been there, done that, but you guys have fun," Zeke commented. "I'm headed out. See you later, Lissa. Nice meeting you both," he said to Thrita and Vevi.

"Nice meeting you too", Thrita replied. "It's been fun. Don't worry. We won't be doing anything too crazy." She wondered if the security officer seemed uncomfortable with discussing the pranks or if she had imagined that.

"We have time to plan. So.. Vevi. Do you have any good stories? You must have seen so much in the Corps." Her eyes looked warmly over the zhen.

Vevi shrugged. "Yes. What do you want to hear?" She had calmed down now, and was relaxed. "One of my favorite stories was how I found a Captain that was a little dirty-selling bootlegged supplies to a bunch of rogues," she said. "He had a thing for "exotic races," he said, if you catch my drift," she said. She realized that Thrita was flirting, and she smiled brightly.

Thrita giggled at mention of the word exotic. Her eyes dropped down to study Vevi's facial features, relaxing internally as the other seemed to be more open. "Don't we all", she said, subconsciously avoiding eye contact with Lissa. She tapped Vevi's arm once again to reaffirm the vibe. She did not realize her instincts were driving her to connect with the shen.

Now that she wasn't focused on her pool game, the vibe that Thrita was sending out to Vevi was more than a little obvious... and seemed to be continuing despite the outburst from earlier. Lissa was torn. Stay and be the thir - err fourth wheel, or risk looking like she was abandoning Vevi and it was a set up all along. She sided up to Shan to try to figure out what to do.

"What is going on here?" Lissa whispered. "Are you even paying attention? You haven't reacted to any of this."

Shan shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure. I don't really know how is is supposed to work. I don't know that any of us does. I'm starting to see why parents make arrangements for their children," he whispered back.

Thrita turned back partially towards Shan and the others. She caught Shan leaning towards Lissa, but couldn't hear what was said. She had been too distracted by Vevi. Thrita grabbed his hand and pulled him a little closer. Thrita stepped closed to Vevi, resting her arm against the other woman's. "Well it's been really fun! Thank you all for inviting me out. I know you all have to be up early in the morning. I should handle the final paperwork tomorrow and choose the space for the training center."

Shan was tugged away from Lissa, and he looked at her as if to say sorry. She waved her hand brushing it off.

Vevi nodded. "Minus my terrible behavior earlier, it's been fun. Let's do it again soon," she said, sincerely. "I am on patrol tomorrow night, so I have a bit of free time now if anyone wants an after-party," Vevi said.

"No worries about that. I'm sure you were confused. I'd like to go somewhere and look at the stars for awhile", Thrita replied. "Shan, do you want to come?"

It was now definitely time for Lissa to go. "Well, I do have an early shift, so I'll let you guys figure it out," she said. "I'm sure we'll hang out soon. See ya!" She said waiving nonchalantly before calling for the arch to duck out.

Shan looked at the women somewhat sheepishly. "Uh sure. Whatever you two want to do."

Vevi grinned. "Well. If you two want to go look at stars, don't let me impinge," she said. "I can find some fun with one of the Pilots," she said.

Shan smiled sheepishly. "Well, I think Thrita invited you first. Maybe I should just go uh..." He used his thumb to gesture toward the exit.

Thrita tilted her head as she looked to Vevi. "Um.. I was hinting.. There is a nice view of the stars from my quarters. I was hoping you would come." They exited soon. "Shan, don't be silly. Let's give it a shot." She was a little put off that Vevi would have cast her aside so quickly for a random fling, but tried to ignore that.

"Well, if the view from your quarters is the best, I guess I should come along, then," she said. "Sorry, I don't do well with hints," she said. "I am trying to learn that, but it's slow going. I was taught and drilled to be direct-it saves lives-and it spills over into my personal life, I think. Lead the way. Come with us, Shan?" She asked.

"Sure," Shan responded, then cringed when he heard his voice squeak. He cleared his throat. "Right behind you."

Vevi grinned, but followed the others out of the Lounge. "Thanks for a fun time, Lissa. Do you need help ending the simulation?" She called over her shoulder. "Lead the way, Thrita," she said.

"Yes! Thanks for everything, Lissa. This was a special night. Really." There was an emotional look in Thrita's expression as she wrapped an arm around Vevi's lower back. She reached over to pull Shan closer, hand tugging on his clothes until she brought him against her.

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