Disembarkation

Posted on Sun Nov 16th, 2025 @ 3:18am by Lieutenant Irynya & Ensign Noah Balsam

Mission: Port of Call
Location: Sundry Locations
Timeline: Mission Day 18 at 1600

[Iry's Quarters]
[MD 18, 1600 Hours]

Iry's bed was littered with the detritus of packing. A few outfits. Pajamas. The requisite undergarments. The essentials for cleanliness and appearance. A tiny kit, not dissimilar to a makeup bag, held the paints and brushes she used to apply her ja'risia. It had been a while since she'd redone it and she thought that maybe this would be a good time. One of her fuzzy blankets was neatly folded next to a pair of flat soled shoes resting atop a pair of ankle boots.

She stood at the foot of the bed and surveyed the piles feeling as if she was surely missing something. It was just shore leave on Pathfinder Station. She could easily pop back into her quarters at any time for anything she needed. She'd assumed she'd need to come aboard at least once. Worrying about what she might be forgetting skirted the edges of being silly.

But she didn't want to come back unless she absolutely had to. This was supposed to be a break. A true break with a change of scene.

Giving the piles a stern look, as if doing so might make them march orderly into her bag, she set about tucking things away. She chewed her lip as she did, thinking through her list and wondering what she might be missing. The replicators on Pathfinder were working, she knew that much. So surely she would be able to replicate anything she needed.

With some strategic shoving she muscled the blanket into the bag overtop of her other things. Turning she surveyed her room, looking for items left behind. An errant hair brush or a stray pair of socks.

Hazel eyes lighted on the shelves above her desk and she moved across the room reaching for the item that had caught her eye. The totem was small for its type, but she'd always preferred to be conspicuous about them. Her fingers smoothed across the lines of the horga'hn, traveling a well worn path. Something anticipatory fluttered in the pit of her stomach making her feel nervous in a way that was both new and familiar. It was a feeling she was still trying to evaluate and put into its right place.

Her expression shifted to decisiveness, fingers curling around the figure. And then she put the horga'hn back in its place on her shelf.

------

The t-shirt pile caught Noah's eye, with a discerning squint. From experience: as yet completed installations tended to have questionably... uniform... environmental stability. No guarantees of constant 22 degree celsius. His dark gaze shifted to his sweaters. His lips frumped in consideration. He'd split the difference. Dress in layers. And anyway, he wanted something comfortable. Who was he dressing to impress?

Well. Maybe. Hmm. The feeling came and went, half-formed. A... tickle. The kind that made itself known without a full acknowledging wiggle. His eyes cast to the gray sweat pants he'd been quite sure about until then. Noah went for his small closet and he found, with his lanky reach, a pair of more... dressy?... pants? They- and two t-shirts, and a couple of sweaters- were cast in to the cylindrical shell satchel he was taking with, along with some tighty-whities and some socks.

He breathed in, eyeing the... the pair. The... well... they were the furthest from tighty whities that he could get. Very sculpted very... well... they were Orion. His fingers picked them up and the contoured and complex front pocket. The rest of it was mostly strings, Noah felt. His mouth twisted. No. He tossed them back away, pushing them in to the back of his drawers so the Dots- or perhaps an abnormally nosy Sheldon- wouldn't find them.

Hmm. It came on. The heaviness. It was like a slow creeping wash and Noah pushed the drawer closed and closed his wardrobe. Her face... kind. This would've been where they parted. Jyl-eel had been readying to go to the Kressari botanical exchange program. With it came the feeling of being hollow. That cold, hollow... like a hole in the road. Noah squinted his eyes.

"Uh, computer, download the following replicator p-patterns to my PADD. Saag Paneer Custom 11. Hot Jala, extra spice. Umm..." His eyes squinted again. "What else... That's all." The computer chirped and Noah stashed his PADD into his bag a moment later. "Locate um, Lieutenant Irynya."

------

Irynya stood in the corridor just outside of the range of the door chime. She was unaccountably just the tiniest bit nervous. What if Noah didn't want to go after all? What if he was just going along because she'd asked. She knew he hadn't wanted to go camping those few months back and had come along at her urging. She frowned, and plucked at the hem of her shirt. It wasn't quite long enough to be called a tunic with the hem coming in just at fingertip length. And besides that it had a sculpted sort of bodice form which the fabric at her fingertips flowed outward in a soft cascade--a style she had often favored back home. The neckline plunged downward in a V, showing exactly enough to hint without being inappropriately provocative. The soft black leggings underneath were slightly lined with a warmer fabric than she would have chosen at home. But she hadn't been sure of what the environmental controls might be like in their room.

Their room.

Even as roommates, she and Noah hadn't actually shared a room. They'd only ever done so recently, on the few occasions he'd fallen asleep at her quarters, and during their last shore leave away from the ship which she had botched in a way that still mortified her when she gave it any kind of close consideration.

Squaring her shoulders and letting her anticipation overrun any nerves that were working to make themselves known, she stepped into the range of the chime and waited.

"Lieutenant Irynya is on deck four, section 10."

Noah smirked. As computer spoke, the chime sounded. "Spooky," he said with a tilt of his head. He shouldered his goods and left his room for the commons. "Hi Iry. Come in." He stated to the door and it whispered open. Noah stood in a pair of gray sweatpants and a baggy navy blue sweater that looked at least a size too big for him. A hard case cylindrical Starfleet duffel laid across the roll of his hip, a vaguely satin metallic color with his name and ID in a frosted white. His hair was on a more mussed side of his more on-duty feel. Cow-licks curled behind one ear and one sprung quite randomly near the opposite temple.

His eyes held a tiredness, that sort of dry bruised look. But he was smiling. "Hi. You wanna uh come in or should we just go?"

"Hi yourself," she commented back to him as the doors opened. She grinned, eyes sparking with excitement where his were tired. With a quick tracking of her gaze--a move that had become habitual since they'd returned from Subrek's ship--she looked him over, taking in the mussed hair, sweater, and sweatpants. It was as if her brain had developed a default need to confirm he wasn't injured, even though she knew full well he wasn't. It wasn't a purely critical evaluation, though, and a stray thought that he was handsome even in sweatpants and an oversized sweater flitted through her mind. She felt an odd tingling just behind her ears as if her skin wanted to flush toward a blush, but wasn't quite doing so.

"I like the sweatpants," was out of her mouth before she even gave the comment a thought and the prickling tingle shifted forward along her jaw and down the back of her neck. "Umm... they look cozy, I mean," she added quickly before deliberately forcing herself to look around the familiar common room.

And yet... while the room certainly was familiar, there were new touches. No doubt from Sheldon and Noah's new roommates- Tamblem and Ral. They'd left their marks and, somehow, the room was different. And yet much the same. It was less than someone moving in to your old house, and more just time passing.

Irynya chuckled, shaking her head, and returned her gaze to Noah. "I'm ready when you are," she said.

Noah had followed Irynya's gaze, his chin tucking and he smirked for a moment, until his mouth made his telltale pensive little pucker-knot. "It's... mostly the same. Khrys' added a lot of touches. Tam... I think he's kept it mostly to his and Khrys' room. Shelly sleeps in my um." He chuckled a grimaced, "I guess our room. He needed some breathing room between you know... um..." Noah stuttered to find the words. He gestured at the door and then adjust the strap of his satchel into the nook of his shoulder and neck.

Iry's eyebrows crept up and she tilted her head, fixing Noah with a knowing look at the short form use of Tamblem's name. They'd both grown closer to the security officer since their living situations had changed, but she was used to folks calling him Dravor and hadn't heard Tamblem use a shortened form himself. It was an interesting development. One she thought boded well for how things were going in her old quarters.

Noah strode out lankily. "He doesn't want things to get going too fast. And being in the same room I-I think he felt like it was too much too soon." Noah smiled like a cat that found the tuna. "It's kind of funny to watch." He tilted his head, "Not-not that I've been in here much lately. We've been really busy. But I-I mean... look who I'm telling." Noah pushed his hair behind his ear.

"So um. Do you have our reservations?" He asked.

If the change in topic was meant to distract it was ineffectual. "You do realize I am going to want all of the gory details while we're on Pathfinder... yes?" she asked, her tone matching Noah's cat that found the tuna smile. "I don't get a front row seat anymore, so I'm counting on living vicariously through you." She chuckled, and falling into step with her friend half leaned over and nudged him with her shoulder.

Noah snickered with a crinkle to his nose, his toothy grin displayed. "Hook line and sinker, I caught you huh?"

"Yes, I do have our reservations. The guest quarters we've been assigned are part of a block run by a newer vendor. They claim to be boutique rooms. Something about how they're all differently themed? I asked them to put us in someplace that felt soft and warm and cozy. We'll see what we get."

"Tha-that sounds fun. Which uh... reminds me." He stopped, opened his satchel and handed Irynya his PADD. "Tha-taht crossed my subspace comms this morning." On the PADD were some replicator recipes- probably not what he meant. But one was labeled, "BINGO."

She didn't add that she'd also made sure that the room had two beds. Noah hadn't seemed to mind occasionally sharing, but she knew that he was also prone to wanting his own nest. So she'd made sure he had options. "There was something in the info about a projection screen. Projector screen?" She frowned, unsure of her description. "A screen we can play movies on. So I put a couple on my PADD. Just in case."

This last was said as they came to the lift, doors parting for them to enter.

Noah stepped inside. "Disembarkation hatch, starboard. Deck Five." Noah stated. "Movies huh? Tha-that could be fun. I'm... um... curious what they'll have on the station. And how much isn't meant for us to get in to." Noah smiled with an eyebrow raise at that.

"Oh. Me too " she said with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Movies are for at night when we're done exploring. What are you most hoping to see on the station?" As she spoke she scanned the PADD. Her expression softened from mischief to warmth as she spotted saag paneer on the list.

"Wait..." She looked up at him as the file named BINGO registered. "Is this? Did you read it yet?"

"No," Noah shook his head, "I thought we'd read it together." The woosh of the turbolift had been brief. As soon as it had eased in to motion, it eased to a halt. The doors whispered open to show, perhaps unsurprisingly, a line. Not a large one, but about ten people. She and Noah would make an even dozen. Noah sidled up in to the queue. He adjusted his easily errant shoulder strap back into his groove.

Irynya kept step with him, falling into place next to him rather than behind him in the queue. A few spots ahead of them she spotted Tolbert. Her eyes darted quickly away from the other woman, well aware of how Tolbert would interpret the two of them leaving the shop together. She hadn't told Noah about Tolbert's comments over the last few weeks. Even after Irynya had insisted that she was mistaken the tall redhead had still made the occasional teasing jab.

"Do you think the game... Umm... Runner knows we're on shore leave?" She asked, offering Noah his PADD while angling towards him so that she had a more natural place excuse not to be looking ahead of them.

"I'm not sure," Noah carried on, unaware that Ariadne Tolbert had drawn Irynya's attention. He'd assumed, however briefly following her glance, that she was eyeing the customs agents at the hatch. "I'm guessing?" He said about the time that Tolbert happened to pivot, turning a necklace in a twist between her fingers. She spied Irynya, and she smiled. Then her gaze sidled to the lanky one near Irynya. Her gaze followed what was firstly a baggy sweater of navy blue that looked old and comfortable. Then she spied his gray sweatpants. And her brows rose. She mouthed, 'whoa.' And Tolbert stepped back in to line in time to deal with Customs.

"So I guess we'll never know. But that's my guess." He smiled into a cheek, "Sorry... that was a lot of guesses." Noah's gaze rose as Tolbert as sliding back in to her place in line.

For the second time that day Irynya felt the telltale flushing tingle spread across her neck, down her jaw and, finally, up into her cheeks, making a slight pink stand out amidst her freckles. What business did she have blushing, not only at the very clear line of Tolbert vision, but because she... agreed with the other pilot even if she wouldn't have been so blatant about it. She had at least first hand visual knowledge of what the sweatpants he was wearing so clearly intimated. Not that she'd any business thinking about it.

By the time she recovered she realized she'd missed half of of what he had said. "Yeah," she agreed. Looking at him just made the frustrating blush worse and she was quietly thankful for lower lights and a tan skin tone. "That makes sense."

Noah rocked on his heels with a note of goofiness to his grin, "Oh. Good, for a second, I-I was wondering if I was just theorizing out of my ass." His nose wrinkled. "But um, change of topic... we'll get to that. Have you actually met Khrys yet? He's..." Noah pursed his lips, "Really different. I-I thought Shelly was going to burst a capillary the first time he came in..." Noah glanced ahead at a woman with red hair. She knew Irynya, he thought, but... Noah couldn't quite remember her name.

With a snort of amusement at Noah's depiction of his theorizing, the awareness that had seemed to take over began to abate, replaced with comfortable familiarity. "I haven't yet." She'd heard the Betazoid mentioned, but besides seeing him from afar they'd never really met. "Good different or bad different," she asked, inching forward as the line moved again. "Shelly hasn't said anything that made me think he didn't like Khrys."

"Good in some ways, weird in others? It's..." Noah's nose wrinkled. "The Human term is um..." He pinked some, "A sausage fest." His eyes widened then, "Oh I uh... I didn't mean Shelly was angry with Ral." His mouth squinted with a pinched amusement. "I meant uh... blood a capillary as in... nevermind. I meant, I think Shelly thinks Ral has nice muscles." Noah shrugged. "And he does, I suppose. Shelly has good taste in men. I-I mean, look at Dravor." Noah shrugged again. "They're kind of-of a cute... odd... couple."

"Wait. No. Back up," Iry said, not wanting her friend to move past the description he had so delicately sidestepped explaining. "What is a sausage party?"

"Sausage party?" Noah's eyebrows perked under his mussed bangs. "Oh. Lacking feminine energy. Uh. Just a bunch of..." He shrugged after a moment, "Basically a bunch of guys. Referring to a Human food in the shape of a cylinder. Sausage. And our, um, genitals. Looking like. Sausage is a slang word for," and he gestured vaguely at his below.

The Risian's answering giggle came paired with widened eyes. Her lips rounded into a silent 'Oh' before she pressed them together to hold back her amusement. "I see," she finally said just as the customs officer waved them forward. "And I want to come back to Khrys after we're through," she stage whispered before stepping forward. A few quick swipes brought up their reservation as well as her shore leave orders to show she was authorized to disembark. The officer did a quick review, glancing between the image on her orders and her face to confirm she was the same person. He tapped a few things into his own device, presumably comparing her records with his own, and then handed her PADD back with an almost bored, "Enjoy the station."

Noah was next and he produced his PADD again. With a few key squelches, he turned it to them. The Customs official scanned it. "Thank you, enjoy the station." They said to Noah as well. He passed by them. Stepping through the hatch and then a step down on to the station's bulkhead was... an experience. This area- and the vague bow of it suggested they were in a ring of disk- had polished metallic floors and black structural arches. It felt... well, it felt new. It felt cutting edge.

His voice squeaked almost pubescently for a moment. "Wow," Noah's brows popped with a giddy smile, followed by a soft, quick chuckle.

"Excuse us," Noah felt a hand press against the spot between his shoulder blades.

"Sorry sorry..." He sidestepped as a couple of people behind them turned a right like they knew exactly where they were going. "Ok um." Noah pushed his hands into his sweats' front pockets. "Where to?"

While Noah was taking in the station with wide eyes, Irynya was watching him. She had come aboard the station for a department heads gathering a few days prior, so this wasn't her first time setting foot in this area and she much preferred to take in Noah's appreciative first impression. "Hotel to drop our stuff then..." she shrugged, "then whatever we feel like doing."

She grinned and, looping her arm through Noah's, moved them off in the wake of the folks who had turned right just moments ago.

Like a comedian reluctantly being crooked offstage, Noah's body hesitated and then relented under Irynya's pull. He was busily pointing at something, "Whoa, that's a site to site gate tra-"

----
Post by:

Lieutenant Irynya
Flygirl

Ensign Noah Balsam
Techie

with a cameo from Crewman Ariadne Tolbert