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Post by spacedaisy on Feb 25, 2019 3:01:01 GMT
Stardate 11902.18
The door to the turbolift shut and Mari exhaled heavily. It felt like ages since she had been fully herself. It was a relief to finally be separated from Stark, but the last thing she had expected was to show up naked on the bridge. “Why do they keep it so cold in the turbolifts?” Mari wondered irritably, rubbing her hands briskly over her upper arms to warm herself. The doors slid open and she found herself face to face with an engineering officer she didn’t recognize. He stood there, mouth agape as he took in the sight. Giving him a curt nod of greeting, she said, “Going down?” He held the door open hesitantly as if uncertain how to handle this absurd situation. Finally stepping back and stammering, “I’ll … I’ll catch the next one.”
The doors slid shut once again and she muttered to the empty lift, “Good man.” A few moments later they opened once again on her deck and she strode purposefully down the corridor, ignoring the stares and double takes as if she meant to walk down the hall in the nude. Once inside her quarters though, she leaned back against the door and closed her eyes. She frowned for a moment as she thought she heard Stark’s voice from distance. His quarters weren’t on this deck, why was he here? She snatched a robe and tied it closed before opening the door and sticking her head out. A glance in either direction made it clear the corridor was empty. Mari turned back inside and stood thoughtfully staring at nothing in particular. It had been a long time since she had felt the presence of another mind. The last time was many years ago, when she had visited the Lo’Ami colony. So she had found sharing her mind with Stark to be both strange and familiar at the same time. Now she wondered if there wasn’t some lingering effect from their being conjoined, or if she was just going crazy. This had been a really weird week.
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Post by aoibheni on Feb 25, 2019 15:30:57 GMT
Stardate 11902.18
“Going down?” 100% loled at this. Top Marks!
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Post by spacedaisy on Mar 3, 2019 14:14:58 GMT
A joint post with Einar as Jeremiah
Stardate 11902.25
Mari sat on her couch, feet tucked under her, staring at the box and certificate sitting on the coffee table. It was absurd to receive an award, she hadn’t done anything. At least nothing worth praise. She had gotten infected by some goo and started turning into a fungus, broken out of quarantine and put the whole ship in danger, and then inadvertently gotten merged with Stark by a bumbling engineer eating ice cream. What did she do worth getting an award for? She turned her head, resting her chin on the arm slung across the back of the couch and looking out the viewport. There was a time she did things worth awarding, with people more worthy of recognition than she. Mari watched a worker bee zip past and sighed. She needed to get out of this room, out of this mood. She needed a drink.
Glancing down at her comfy pjs, she muttered, “But not dressed like this.” Crossing the room, she slid open the closet door and looked over her wardrobe for something more suitable. Something to make her feel good about herself, or at the very least, less shitty than she did right now. Her gaze fell on a brown leather fitted jacket. She reached out and ran her fingers lightly over the worn material, recalling how she had laughed at him when he gave it to her.
“This looks more like something Tessa would wear than me,” she teased.
“I saw it in the shop and thought you would look great in it. You should branch out, you don’t live on Shephelah anymore. You don’t have to keep wearing those traditional dresses,” Zeke countered.
“Mm hmm, I’m sure it’s not because you have a thing for women in leather.”
“That’s just a perk,” he responded with a playful wink as he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
She grabbed the jacket out of the closet, it was exactly what she needed tonight. A short while later, she eyed her reflection in the mirror with satisfaction. Skinny jeans, ankle boots, a loose white tank top that hugged her just tightly enough in the right places, and the brown leather jacket on over it. Mari smiled at the reflection, she fully intended to forget that Purple Heart. Tossing her wavy white-blonde locks over her shoulder, she ventured out into the Starbase to find herself a good drink.
There were a variety of establishments along the promenade. A couple cafes, a pretentious fine dining restaurant, a few fast food joints, a handful of shops and three bars. Mari sized them up and headed into the smallest and least reputable looking of the three. It was that kind of night. She found a spot at the bar and flagged down the Betazoid tending the bar. His dark eyes seemed to assess her as he took in her emotions. It was what made him particularly good at his job. Anticipating his customer’s moods and getting them the perfect drink to suit it.
“Let me guess, a Sundowner?”
She shook her head with a smirk, “No thanks. Orion rum, neat.”
A faint look of surprise crossed his face. “Don’t get that one too often. There are better rums than Orion. Sure you don’t want a Jubalan rum instead?”
Mari shook her head firmly, so he shrugged and poured her drink.
“Cuban”
The bartender, and Mari glanced in his direction. Jeremiah sat a few seats over, hunched over a pint of lager. “Cuban is apparently the best rum...its from Earth”. He looked the newcomer over, taking in the skinny legs and boots. His frustration and annoyance with Jean still fresh in his mind. “It's Mary right? Jeremiah” he tipped his glass slightly in a weak toast.
“Mari,” she corrected him with an amused smile as she took her drink from the bartender, “and I know who you are. I’ve seen you on the bridge.” She lifted her glass toward him before drinking. “Can’t say I’ve tried Cuban rum. I guess I just stick with what’s familiar.” She studied the liquid in her glass thoughtfully and then turned back to Jeremiah, noting the way his lanky frame seemed to casually slouch over the bar. She wondered if he was here for the same reason she was, but she only commented, “Apparently, huh? I take it this doesn’t come from personal experience.”
Jer didn't seem to register the question at first, his attention fixed on the contents in his glass, then turned his head slightly, “yeah no offense Mari,” he took care to pronounce her name before continuing, “I am kinda having a bad day and I picked this place so I could get some alone time.”
Mari stared at him in shocked silence for a second, and when she spoke again her words were curt, “Next time you don’t want to talk to someone, try not starting a conversation with them. You’d be shocked how well that works.” She faced forward and downed the remainder of her drink with a grimace then motioned for another. The bartender cast a glance between the two and poured her drink. She had come out to forget how shitty she felt, not to have some asshole flyboy make her feel worse. Lifting the glass to her lips, she muttered into it before taking a sip, “chi”
Jeremiah closed his eyes and sighed internally. He could be such an idiot. He looked up at the bartender, bashful. “Do you have anything that says ‘I'm sorry?’” The bartender rolled his eyes and grabbed a laminated menu and threw it across the bar. “You can read.”
Jeremiah watched the menu slide across the dirty surface and fly off the other end, then glanced back over at Mari. “That was rude. I'm sorry.”
He took a sip of his beer, now room temperature and watery before he dared continue. “They gave me a medal for dying, then said I was a ‘carbon copy’ of my uncle…”
Mari felt a twinge of guilt for being angry with him; she was feeling sorry for herself over an award she didn’t feel like she deserved. At least it wasn’t an award for someone she cared about dying. “That would put me in the mood to punch someone in the throat,” she opted for honesty rather than comfort.
Jeremiah chuckled softly, “screw or punch, that's what my squad leader used to say if we got emotional and unable to focus on the controls….she was a gentle soul.” He averted his gaze to the bartender “I'll have what she's having, and get her another round on me”
He shook his head as he poured the drinks; now he had two customers drinking crappy Orion rum. Mari laughed, “How’s that advice working out?”
He grabbed the glass and cautiously sniffed, his left eye twitching. “I’ll tell you when I find out…...honestly, I think they use this to degrease stembolts.” He took a sip of the rum and grimaced as he fought to swallow, slamming his fist into the table, “Dear lord that’s vile”
She shot him an apologetic look, “I should’ve warned you, it’s an acquired taste.”
“I told you to go with the Jubalan rum,” the bartender was thoroughly enjoying Jeremiah’s reaction.
She lifted her glass toward him again, “Here’s to awards we didn’t want and reminders of things we can’t forget.”
Mari could feel a little of the rum’s effect as she worked through her second drink, with the third one Jer had just ordered her sitting in wait on the bar. She was a bit warm now and a slight flush was creeping into her cheeks, giving her skin a distinctly silvery sheen.
Jeremiah slowly sipped the poison as the silence crept on. He did not really know her, other than having shared the occasional lift ride or exchanged nods when he used to work Bridge duty. But he kinda wished he did, now after having rudely brushed her off and still she stuck around. “I heard you took a walk in the nude.” The words came out before he even realized it and he grabbed the glass and downed it. His face contorting as he struggled to keep the liquid down.
She choked down a mouthful of rum, narrowly avoiding snorting it out her nose. “You heard about that? Gossip travels fast on this ship. Who told you? It was that engineer at the lift wasn’t it?” Mari giggled, not even pausing to give him time to answer, “You should have seen the guy’s face when the lift doors opened.”
Jeremiah laughed awkwardly, motioning for the bartender to fill him up before answering. “Yeah, he was one of ours….guy could barely talk.”
“I’d take a walk in the nude over still being stuck sharing a body with Stark anyday. Talk about awkward… Hey, why haven’t I seen you on the bridge lately?” She suddenly changed the topic, eyeing him curiously.
Jeremiah accepted the newly filled up glass and turned his chair to face her, still leaving 2 empty chairs between them, then raised a toast, his hand shaking violently. “That’s why.”
She frowned, it seemed like she’d hit all the tender topics in their short conversation.
“The Doc says it’s in my head….I have tried to believe that, but it just won’t stop shaking.” He placed the glass back down on the bar “Why did I even order that again? It’s disgusting.”
“Glutton for punishment?” She joked weakly, still feeling a little guilty. Picking up her glass, she moved down the couple seats, saying to the bartender, “Give him the Jubalan rum instead, this one on me.” She gave him a sheepish look, “To make up for subjecting you to the Orion stuff. I used to drink it before I joined Starfleet. It was plentiful and cheap. So it tastes like home basically.” Downing the last of hers with a cough she conceded, “And stembolt degreaser.”
“It's all yours,” he said curiously as she moved closer. He slid the glass over her way as the bartender poured him a new drink. He took a moment to examine her closer, from the boots to the leather jacket, hoping she would provide a better look at what was under it but confident it was just as fit as the rest of her. “You don't look green,” he stated, sniffing his new drink and finding it way more pleasing to his senses.
“Good, then your eyesight is alright,” she quipped, then winced at her own bad joke, “Sorry. No, I lived in an area with a heavy Orion presence. Let’s just say I like their rum better than I like them. They liked me though,” she tipped her head a bit and pushed the hair away from her ear, revealing the scar just behind it from her tag.
He bit down, anger rising in his stomach. Through near clenched teeth he offered his useless apologies. “I am sorry….those animals..it's not right, what they do.” He composed himself, surprised at his own visceral reaction and grabbed his drink and downed it, despite his head telling him to slow down. “I'm..glad, that you know, that you're okay now.”
Mari hadn’t expected it to affect him like that. With a smile she reassured him, “They didn’t have me for long. There are a lot of good people out there, even working with the Orion Syndicate.” She thoughtfully studied his youthful face for a moment, “Humans especially seem to have great capacity for compassion.”
Jer chuckled, almost as if he was remembering a joke. “You should meet my dad, or the great Captain Rome….not all humans are so compassionate. Some are just rough, rough and worn,” he couldn't let himself say mean.
He glanced at her delicate hand covering the glass. “I like your tattoo.”
Her hand closed tighter around the glass and she deflected with humor, “Aw, now see you’re just hoping I won’t notice you’re already talking about meeting your family.” Mari gave a mischievous wink.
His smile widened, ending in a joyful grin, “I move fast.” He glanced back at her hand and noted the tattoo away for another day. “Any other scars or modifications? …. If you want I can also just ask Crewman Stilts.”
“Is that his name?” Against her better judgement, she took a sip of the remaining Orion rum he had decided not to drink, and commented, “Thank you, seriously. It was bugging me that he’s the only man to see me naked without even knowing his name. Now I know.” She loosened her grip on the glass and trailed a fingertip around the rim, “And I could say something mysterious and sexy, like, ‘Why don’t you find out for yourself?’ but then you’d just be disappointed to discover the answer is no.”
“I doubt I'd be disappointed," he responded decisively, a vague grin painted on his face. “And for the record; no tattoos and no scars. Just plenty of broken bones”
She smirked and lifted the glass to her lips, “Good answer.” Then took a sip and set it back down. “Just so you know, Stilts didn’t get that long a look. Don’t believe everything you hear.”
He merely smirked, raising his glass in a toast before taking a lingering sip. “I rarely rely on gossip, Mari. I much prefer first hand accounts.” He placed the empty glass on the bar, his head swirling from intoxication and lack of food.
Mari leaned forward on the bar and rested her chin on her hand, a small grin settling on her mouth as she considered his response, and his blue eyes. She was a sucker for blue eyes, especially when she drank. At this thought she glanced at the glass in front of her and decided she had better stop, before she was too drunk to recognize the decisions she was making. Slipping off her bar stool, she leaned in and rested her hand lightly on his arm as she spoke softly into his ear, “Are you saying you’d like a first hand account,” she added playfully, “Or do you still want that alone time?”
Jeremiah´s head was spinning - he had come here to be alone, but wound up sharing drinks with the unlikeliest of specimens, a girl he hadn’t even bothered to learn the name of or get to know before today. And every bone in his body told him to go for it. Not too nice now am I Jean?.
Jeremiah bit his lower lip, a large grin splattered over his face. Instead of answering he put his arm around her back, pulling himself up from the stool and her closer and looked into her eyes for that recognition of approval and lust, before kissing her.
Leaning into him, her lips met his willingly. She savored the kiss, his mouth still tasting of Jubalan rum; and after it her lips lingered just barely grazing his. Enjoying both the rush that comes with the thought of giving in to desire and the feeling of his arms around her. She looked once again into those blue eyes and gave him a coy smile before whispering, “You’re right, you won’t be disappointed.”
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Post by aoibheni on Mar 4, 2019 14:00:30 GMT
You two, oh my god. This is SO FULL of brilliant lines I don't know where to start. Lovely piece of joint writing, guys.
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Post by spacedaisy on Mar 5, 2019 23:02:38 GMT
DON'T PANIC
A joint log with Einar as Ensign Jeremiah Perez-Rome.
Stardate 11902.26
As Jeremiah pulled his pants on, somewhat gracefully despite the ringing in his ears, he watched the sleeping back of Mari, especially fascinated by the metallic sheen of her skin. He hopped and pulled the pants around his waist before grabbing his denim shirt. It too smelled of rum.
He walked towards the door, but thought better of it. It wasn't right to sneak off. There was no guilt or shame associated with the night. It had been fun, and something he felt they both needed.
He threw the shirt over his back but left it unbuttoned as he sat down on the bed again, placing a palm gently on her back. “Hey..”
With a soft sigh, Mari stirred, her body curling instinctively toward the space he had previously been occupying in her bed. Her brow furrowed a bit as she slowly woke up and sorted herself out mentally. Cracking one eye open, she peered up at him sleepily. She hadn’t expected him to still be here; they usually snuck out.
“Good morning,” her voice cracked and she stretched lazily before pulling herself up into a sitting position with a groan. Mari’s eyes gave him an appraising glance. Nope, definitely no regrets, she thought to herself with satisfaction as she recalled the night before.
“So..” he began, taking in her appearance and he let the sentence fade off as a smile crept onto his face. “I didn't want to sneak off...since we kinda work at the same ship and all.”
Ah, that explained it. “Right,” she said the word slowly as she considered it, “Wouldn’t want it to be … weird.” Mari sat silently for a moment, unsure what to say.
“Coffee,” she finally said as she disentangled herself from the sheets and slid off the bed, “I need coffee.” Mari picked up her silk robe and slipped it over her shoulders easily, then tied it loosely as she headed for the door into the living space. It suddenly hit her that she was being rude and she asked him over her shoulder, “Would you like some too?”
Jeremiah shrugged in surprise “why not...better make it a Raktajino, double strong with cream.” He stood up and followed her into the living area, taking in what he had failed to notice the night before. Frames with pictures of friends or family, trinkets, underwear...that was familiar. “ I think we are being extremely grown up here,” he stated as he sat down on the side of her sofa.
Mari held a steaming mug out to him and grinned slightly as she once again fell into deflecting with humor, “We were certainly being extremely grown up last night.”
She settled down on the sofa, angled towards him with her feet drawn up on the opposite side of her body, and adjusted her robe to keep it closed. Her slender fingers wrapped around the warm mug as she took a sip of her coffee. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal,” she tried to comment cooly, feeling more uncomfortable than she cared to admit.
“Nope” he said, accepting the mug and sniffing the warm Klingon coffee “Just cool,” he stated, watching the door across the room. “Cool, cool, cool.”
She followed his gaze, “You don’t have to stay, you know…”
He took a sip of the hot coffee to delay. Every instinct told him to run, but his sense told him it was alright not to. “No..unless you want me gone?” he asked, suddenly aware he might be intruding and stood up, the mug close to his chest.
Did she want him gone? Mari wasn’t sure what she wanted. Why was this so complicated this time? Standing up, she carried her still nearly full cup over to the very small counter space and set it down, giving her a few seconds to think. She turned around and leaned back against it, “Listen, if I’ve made you uncomfortable, I apologize. It was fun, it really isn’t a big deal and I’m not expecting anything. So…” she trailed off, unsure how to finish the thought.
“No!” he put the mug down on the small table and took a deep breath, “really, I’m okay….surprisingly so, I believe that Orion stuff is magic….and it was fun, and I’m not looking for anything either, so...there’s no pressure,” he put on a genuine smile, “just don’t expect me to drink that stuff again.”
Mari felt a sense of relief and a small grin spread over her face, “Deal. I’m not sure I should be allowed to drink it again either.”
“Nah, I think you’re good,” he said with a smirk. “And if you’re ever near the shuttlebay, drop by and I’ll replicate you a coffee okay?”
“Sounds good.” She fiddled with the tie of her robe still a little nervous, “Well, I should probably get a shower and, y'know…” she shrugged, “pretend I didn’t drink enough to want to die today.”
“Yeah, of course” he said, still longing for that coffee. “I’ll get out of your hair,” he stepped towards the door and hit the keypad. “Thanks for the talk.”
She gave a small nod, “It was really nice.” Closing the short distance between them she gave him a quick and impulsive kiss, then blushed, “Sorry…”
Jer grinned, then took a step back into the hallway “No, it was nice…..see you around Mari,” he winked before looking around confused. “That way?” he pointed left.
She laughed and nodded, “Yes, that way.”
Jer winked and spun to his left “Later.”
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