Gremlins and Chocolate

Posted on Thu Aug 26th, 2021 @ 5:56pm by Lieutenant Chaali & Ensign Noah Balsam & Lieutenant JG Irynya

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Crew Quarters on Deck 5
Timeline: Mission Day 9 at 1800

[Crew Quarters, Deck 5]
[Mission Day 9, 1800 Hours]

The doors to Lieutenant Irynya and Ensign Parsons' quarters hissed open to nothingness for the third time in five minutes. Chaali's bald, cerulean brows flexed and turned. "It looks like you have some Trainkuls, Iry," the Bolian said amiably. She smiled and leaned back on her hands, citing the Bolian equivalent of gremlins in the tech. It was after shift and the Sojourner was continuing into Federation space, toward Starbase 22.

She sipped a bottle of Risian whisky- the bottle she'd hastily bought on Risa in the few hours she was down there- and eyed the vacant bed beyond. "How is sleeping in the same room as-"

- The doors hissed open again, to nothingness, and then closed. Chaali frowned and got up with a sway. She moved until the doors opened and peered out of them. She glanced back at Irynya. Chaali shrugged and returned, sitting with her drink and her dining companion. "How's sleeping next to Ensign Eccentric?" She gestured with her drink- and an extended pinkie- at the empty bed.

Irynya was settled at the head of the bed, one long leg running down the wall while the other was tucked up under her. She watched the doors open once again, pause, and then sweep shut. "It's not too bad, actually," she remarked holding her hand out to indicate that Chaali should pass her the bottle. "That's going to drive him nuts, though." Her head indicated the door with a flick.

The Risian Whisky went from blue hands to fleshtone. "It's like its presence sensor is stuck. Should I just lock it?" She asked. Chaali leaned and lounged on an elbow, her chosen wig of the day pooled like a furry Andorian heap near her breast.

Irynya swigged from the bottle, it's golden contents burning a happy trail down her throat and warming her belly. She offered the bottle back to Chaali. The whisky changed hands again, sloshing in the bottle as it went.

"Probably not a bad idea," she remarked, "I don't think Sheldon is off duty anytime soon." Long fingers went to her hair, gently tugging the band she used to keep it in a ponytail free. She began to absently finger comb it down her front, pulling the strands between her fingers to work out any obvious knots and then laying the section she worked through over her shoulder so it spilled down her front.

Chaali pushed up but the door swished open before she had a chance to step inside its presence. Chaali quickened and peered outside. "Have you been...?" She said to someone. "Oh get in here." She muttered. Chaali walked back inside with a slinking Noah in tow, his head low. He had something in his hands, in purple. "I wonder if I found the Trainkul."

Irynya smirked, a touch of mischief on her face. "I didn't expect that Trainkul resembled my roommate so specifically," she remarked wryly, before pulling up the leg she had extended along the wall and patting the bed. "Join us, Cadet."

Noah nibbled his lip. "I-I can't stay. I just..." Noah looked between Chaali and Irynya. From the purple gift wrap in his hold he shifted it hand to hand and then held it out to Irynya. Chaali's eyebrow rose as the shimmer, tube-like gift was passed. Noah glanced at Chaali. "Sorry, I just didn't want to-to interrupt. But I wanted to, make, well, I wanted to give this to you so... I wasn't sure."

Irynya cocked her head slightly, a bemused look on her face. She scooted forward, swinging her legs around the side of the bed so she could hop down. Taking the few steps forward she accepted the purple wrapped tube, tugging aside the wrapping to find a tin of what appeared to be long thin pastries.

Her face lit up in a smile as she read the label. "Piroulines." She read out loud. "I don't know that I have ever had these before. But that clearly says there is chocolate involved." Her smile extended to a grin, but her eyes still held a question that she didn't voice. "Thank you, Noah."

"You're welcome," Noah smiled tight but wide, clearly a little nervous at Chaali's presence at what he thought would be more private, "I'm sorry you saw my penis. And... s-sorry you got stuck in the shower because of me."

Irynya's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I can't say that I have ever had anyone apologize to me for full-frontal nudity before," she replied. "There's honestly nothing to apologize for. I'm just thankful you were there to get me out."

Chaali's hairless brow rose even higher.

A flash of uncertainty crossed her features as the memory of being stuck in the locked shower stall ran through her mind, but it was quickly replaced with a warm smile. "You sure you can't stay?"

Noah smiled and swayed his hair with a slight head shake. "I-I told Debbie I would try and help her with the dinner rush." He took a step back and waved slightly, "But next time?"

Iry nodded, still smiling. "Absolutely," she confirmed.

Noah mouthed silently OK and then backed out the door. They hissed shut. Chaali chuckled- dirtily. She thumbed toward the door, "Should I still lock it?"

Irynya smirked back at her friend, pulling herself back up onto the bed and resuming her earlier position. "No," she remarked.

Chaali nodded, her arms folded over her t-shirt. She went back to her chosen spot on the bed.

Carefully she pried off the lid of the tin, revealing a bright-colored crinkly looking cellophane bag. Thumbs and forefingers tugged, freeing the treats from inside and releasing a sweet chocolatey smell into the air. Irynya snagged two of the treats, offering one to Chaali. "It's not what you think," she said with a pointed look.

"I have to call my co-husbands in an hour," Chaali said though she took the stick. It was more delicate- and yet very solid- than she had imagined. "I like chocolate but it has a narcotic effect on us," she alluded to. "It makes me weird and dizzy." Chaali lounged. "So, his penis? That's the," she swayed a finger downward and in a couple of little circles, "That's the strange dangling thing between their legs, yes?"

Irynya smirked. "The one and only for them, yes," she replied, biting into the treat and making a comically enthusiastic face. "Oh good grief, what are these again?" She lifted the tin to look it over.

Chaali smiled, "A pity. Evolution did such a nice job on the rest of them." She smiled around a small, delicate mastication of a nibble of the candy wafer. "I appreciate my co-husbands very much but Bolian males don't look like that."

A few more bites made quick work of the treat and Irynya eyed the tin for a long moment before replacing the lid and setting it to the side. "I don't think he remembered that he had a female roommate when he decided to groom naked in front of the mirror in the shared bathroom yesterday."

"Perhaps he will learn," Chaali said with another bemused bite. "He seems contrite." She sighed happily. "These are lovely, what did he say they were called?

Iry snagged the tin again, turning so the title was facing front. "Piroulines," she read. "Looks like a mixture of dark chocolate and hazelnut flavors."

Chaali nodded. "And your sonic shower got stuck?"

Irynya felt her insights turn slightly at the memory. The rising panic of the moment was still fresh, recalled as easily as a mere mention. "Yeah," she said, pulling out one more pirouline and taking a bite to give herself a moment to pause. "The door release was stuck. I don't know exactly what was wrong with it, but Noah was in the other stall and was able to get it opened pretty quickly. He said something about a service order for sonic showers on the way to Risa?" She shrugged, trying to look more nonchalant about the experience than she felt. She took two quick bites of the filled wafer spiral and chewed quietly a moment.

Chaali's nod was slow and sage. That sounded very unpleasant. "So much was off about this thing when we left Antares, I wouldn't be surprised. They pushed this ship out way too early. I must have gotten stuck in a turbolift three times." She chuckled with a smile that didn't quite meet her usually laughing eyes. Her mouth opened to add to that.

"How are your co-husbands, by the way?" the Risian asked, redirecting the subject to Chaali's upcoming conversation.

"They're in for a shock," Chaali said after a moment's hesitation. "But they're fine, last time I saw them a month ago. They were setting up domiciles in Brusi City, near the Reefwall. Whichever has the better view, I'll stay with more often, I imagine."

"A shock?" Iry repeated back to her, eyebrows raised. She looked at her friend expectantly to see if she would clarify further.

Chaali nodded, "Doctor t'Nai needs to confirm it but I'm pregnant." Chaali reported with a grimace. "I don't know if it's Huuk or Bolti's seedling. But it doesn't matter. So I have to return home." Chaali leaned back on her hands with a note of bittersweet. "But at least I was able to see some people again after Adelphi."

"Chaaaalllliiii!" Irynya exclaimed, drawing out the "ah" and "ee" in the Bolian woman's name. "That's exciting!"

Shoving the tin of treats aside, she sat up, leaning forward until she was awkwardly hugging the other woman. "How are you feeling? Do you have an idea of how far along you are?"

Chaali hugged the Risian back, the soft whiff of something medicinally bleachy that was Bolian biochemistry at the nose. But she wasn't quite as enthusiastic as her counterpart.

The second part of the other woman's explanation hit a moment late and Irynya drew back, her face transitioning from excitement for her friend to an "oh" of understanding.

"I'm going to miss you," she said, a touch of sadness to her voice.

"I'm going to miss you. All of the people here. And Nico and Timmoz.. and his skants." She chuckled at that. "Poor Isan. Karim, that acidic Taveeni. Lenek." She smiled ruefully into a cheek, "We were planning when I went home and had the position at the station. But when I was called back to service with the replacement falling through, we suspended it. Bolti was furious because he's getting on in age and soon he'll go through The Change. But... I have all the symptoms." She smirked- unusual for her- and dappled fingers down her cranial bifurcation like she was running fingers in her hair. And I can hardly ask Captain Kodak to flood an extra set of quarters with methanated water for me. Just so I can visit the child. And the child should have their parents if they can." She lamented with a shrug. "I imagine you will all be in the Delta Quadrant when I give birth."

"It doesn't matter where we are, I want to know. And see pictures. And tell you how awesome you are," Irynya expounded. "You're going to be such an amazing mother."

She fell quiet then, the bittersweetness of the moment catching up with her in waves. "When do you have to leave us?"

Chaali smiled sadly, "I'll resign my position when we reach Barzan and try to find something locally on Bolarus. I can take a transport home from there. It gives the Captain time to find a replacement." She smiled and touched her head to Irynya's. "Of course. I will send holos when I get home." Chaali, too, was riding the waves of pride, anxiety and sadness.

Irynya nodded, forehead gently leaning against her friend's. Taking in a breath, she sat back, picking up the bottle of whisky that they had been sharing earlier. Grasping it by its neck, she held it aloft, a smile on her face. "To new lives, old friends, and unexplored futures," she quipped, raising the bottle a bit higher before taking a swig and handing it to Chaali. "And to the most beautiful new cerulean baby that the world has ever seen and their amazing mother."

Chaali humbly and silently met the toast- she took the bottle and downed a shot of the Risian cocktail. It burned pleasantly down. She checked the chrono and still had forty-five minutes until she had her subspace window for Bolarus. She smiled and just enjoyed the company of another female, chatting about what came to them.

A Post By:

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Control

Lieutenant JG Chaali
Chief Operations Management

Midshipman Noah Balsam
Systems Specialist