Dox is Being Stupid

Posted on Mon May 27th, 2019 @ 11:13am by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Mona Gonadie

Mission: Fractured Fairy Tales
Location: Shuttlebay two, in the remains of the Khallianen.
Timeline: 2396

In the morning, the long-awaited tribunal of Captain Enalia Telvan would begin for real. The overtures were complete and the investigation teams were on their way back to meet up with the U.S.S. Hera within a few hours.

There was nothing to do but wait for the morning to come and face whatever fate had in store for the members of the crew that would be participating in the ceremony. But for one such member, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox, waiting was something she was absolutely terrible at. So as her shift ended, she made her way to Shuttlebay two to try and tinker with the remains of her Artan pirate ship, the Khallianen.

The Khallianen rest in pieces in the corner of the shuttle bay. Damaged in a failed assassination attempt on the young Baronesses life and later dismantled to search for clues and ensure there were no other assassin droids hidden in the ship by the Hera's investigation teams.

But those investigators didn't put back together what they had dismantled, leaving it to the young Romulan pilot to deal with. So, she found herself buried underneath the dismantled flight console trying to wire the ship's computer back into place in order to occupy her conflicted mind ahead of the tribunal. And she wasn't doing a particularly great job of it.

Her crimson uniform top was folded up on the side the console and she was wearing a tight black tank top and her uniform pants as she worked.

"Imirrhlhhse!!!" She shouted, cursing in her native Rihan tongue as she sat up, tossing a circuit spanner across the dismantled deck of her formal personal craft.

As the spanner slid across the deck and onto the shuttlebay floor, Mona picked it up as she was approaching the dismantled shuttle. She was wearing a pair of her overalls with the yellow chicks scattered across the front that she sometimes wore when she was off duty working on her own projects. "Knock knock... May I come in?"

Sitting up, Dox looked towards the twisted metal of the ship's hatch that was heavily damaged in the attack at her bond-mate, Mona. "Uh... yes. Yes, of course."

The brightly plumed Miradonian stepped into the remains of the personal craft and looked around. "It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. From the rumors, I thought the investigation teams had pulled apart the deck plating and everything as well. I wish I could have seen her in one piece though."

"I think the deck plates are the only thing they put back." As she spoke, Dox kicked one of the plates and it rattled. "They're all still just basically laid here. They didn't secure them back or anything."

But the anxious young Romulan pilot was dodging responding to her partner's real statement. In the months that the Khallianen had been on the ship in which the pair had been a couple, Mnhei'sahe had never brought Mona to see the small ship. But she knew better than to try and duck Mona Gonadie.

"Yeah... well. It was never all that exceptional..." Dox tried to change the subject until she looked into Mona's deep, Amber eyes. "I'm... sorry I never brought you here."

Having a pretty good idea why, Mona slowly sat down on the deck, not close enough to touch, but obviously not going anywhere. "Why didn't you?" she asked softly, letting that simple question hang in the air as her bond-mate came up with an answer.

Pausing silently, Dox scooched to sit up more and folded her arms across her raised knees, running her hand through her disheveled red trusses. "I... I don't know. I just... I never..."

But as the anxious young officer spoke, she sighed and hung her head just a little. "I... This was 'Baroness' Dox's ship. I shouldn't even have had it to begin with. All it's done is..." But Dox trailed off as she spoke.

"It gives you something that was yours that you could work on in your free time. The Captain approved and supported it and so do I." Mona paused for a moment. "So... If you didn't feel you deserved it in the first place, why did you accept it?"

Sitting for a long moment in silence, Mnhei'sahe chuckled under her breath. It was gravely and slightly hoarse. "I thought it was all I did deserve. I thought... once you all figured out that I wasn't meant for Starfleet, it would be all I had. When the Captain came to me and told me she had known my Mother and asked me to be a Baroness, I thought..."

While she spoke, Mnhei'sahe's eyes stayed low, on the deck plates. Anywhere but up to meet the eyes of the woman she loved. She was too ashamed of her thoughts in the moment. "I figured that was the only reason I was on the Hera. I figured it was only a matter of time before I would be pulled back into that world. I figured it was all I deserved."

"She asked me to be a Baroness a week after I learned my real name. Learned what had been down to me. I... Didn't trust anything about myself. But... After a while, Rita helped me. And Asa and Sonak... and then I started hoping you might... I was just starting to try and tell you how I felt." Dox's voice started cracking slightly as she recounted the events that had led her here.

"Then I got the ship. And it was this... this massive reminder of that other life. Just when I thought that I MIGHT really have a home on the Hera, I was reminded who I really was. And this ship took me there." Dox sunk her head between her knees.

"To Mars," Mona said softly. "You didn't want me to see that side of you, did you?" She wasn't trying to scold her lover or be harsh. She just wanted her to realize that she was being unjustly cruel to herself and in so doing was doing her bond-made a disservice in the process.

"See?" Mnhei'sahe sat up straighter as she stiffened up. After a second, she closed her eyes and sighed slightly. "You've... you saw it? Through our bond? You saw what I did to those men? The ones that hurt Asa?"

Mona nodded solemnly, confirming that she had. "I can't say that I would have done the same... But I'm still here, aren't I? I love you with all my being, Minay. And I tend to avoid conflict, which is why I waited so long to bring this up. I was afraid it might drive you away. With the Tribunal though... I'm afraid I might lose you and having not settled this is more frightening to me." Mona twiddled her thumbs a bit - a nervous habit that she'd never really displayed before on the Hera but she'd had when she was a chick.

Nervous habits were something Dox herself knew all about as she picked up on the fidgeting. "I'm... scared too. I don't know what going to happen. I don't know what I might need to do before this is all over. I don't know what... I can live with anymore. I've done... too many things I've tried to forget about or move past. Having something to move towards has been... everything to me."

Looking back up, finally meeting Mona's eyes with her own, Mnhei'sahe's we're swollen and thick as she held back tears. "All I want is to put that life behind me. But it won't go away... and I don't want to lose you because of it. I can't. I'm... I'm so sorry I've been so afraid."

"You won't lose me tonight, so can we at least be afraid together?" Mona asked, holding her arms out.

Hesitating for only a second, Mnhei'sahe looked up as tears escaped her. Scootching across the deck plates, she fell hard into Mona's arms. "You... you deserve so m... much better than this. Than me. I don't want to ruin you. I don't want... what I am to ruin you."

The brightly plumed Miradonian clung to her lover as if she was afraid she was going to slip away, the tears falling from her own eyes now as well. "That's not how it works. Not how it works at all. You make me a better person and I try to help you be the best you that you can be. We have since we met and we will until we return to the moon."

In that moment, the weakening of their psychic bond had never felt more painful for Mnhei'sahe. As she clung to Mona, all she wanted was to feel that radiance she had once been lost in. She wanted to feel enveloped by the glow of Mona's light again. But in spite of her efforts to strengthen her mind back up, she could only feel the slightest bit of Mona's light.

Clutching Mona even tighter, Mnhei'sahe began to sob thick, ugly tears. I... I'm .. I'm so sorry. I should have been better. I should be better."

Mona was full on ugly crying as well. "That's why we're here. To learn and grow. We'll be better together. And we can rebuild the K... together better than before."

Looking up, Mnhei'sahe wiped away a tear from Mona's cheek and shook her head as she pursed her lips. "You're already so perfect. Do you even know how perfect you are?"

"Less perfect than you are. The way you eat, the way you sleep, the way you brush your teeth and hair... You're so enchanting." Mona definitely lived with rose tinted glasses on when it came to Dox, but she loved it.

"The way I brush my teeth? You're crazy. You really are." Dox chuckled, setting her head on Mona's shoulder and gently rocked in place, looking around at the remains of the ship around them.

"I promise. No more hiding here." Dox replied, sniffing slightly. "I promise to try harder. No matter how scared I am... I'll let you in."

Gesturing with her head to the ship, Dox let a smile crack out. "Besides, The Khallianen's not just mine anymore anyway. It's as much yours as it is mine now. And... I don't know. 'Khallianen' means 'seeker' or searcher' in Rihan. But I called her that because I was still trying to find out who I was. Maybe she needs a new name now. A better name for when we put her back together. What do you think?"

Mona smiled softly. "I think that's a wonderful idea. We can find the name as we rebuild her. Together." Then she kissed her lover on the nose. "I hate to spring more stress on you but... How about we finally have that ceremony after the tribunal?"

Chucking at how quickly Mona often shifted gears to the positive, Mnhei'sahe smiled broadly this time. "I wish I knew how you do it. How you look out past every obstacle and damage and see the future you want. It's really something special, I hope you know."

As she held her bond-mate, Mnhei'sahe nodded softly. "But, yes. We've done the technical, legal stuff. So it seems all we have left to do is make it official for ourselves and our family. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have something else to focus on with the Tribunal. Something special to work for."

As she spoke, Mnhei'sahe's heart sank then swelled for a moment. "And... with everything else that's supposed to happen... the sooner the better. So... everyone can be there."

Mona nodded solemnly. "Plus you'll get to meet my foster family. They're visiting Trill and..." She had to take a deep breath before pouring the rest of her words out in a rush. "They found me, called, and I told them about you, and insisted on being invited, and will be here the day after the tribunal..."

Smiling broadly, Dox scooched up so she could sit and see Mona as she replied, more excitedly then she would have thought. "Mona, that's wonderful! I can't wait to... wait a minute?"

Stopping mid-sentence, Dox smirked inquisitively and cricked her neck as she continued "They insisted on being invited to the ceremony we just now agreed to have after the tribunal? Okay... how far have you planned this, specifically?"

"Well..." Mona just sighed and pulled out a small PaDD from her pocket, handing it over to her Minay. "I wrote down a lot of ideas I wanted to talk with you about. As in like enough for three weddings... A few of them involved this ship and the Thunderchicken..."

Looking at the PaDD, Mnhei'sahe scrolled through the lists, ideas, visual aid, pictures, and multiple planned timelines as her eyes went wider. "For someone who comes from a culture that doesn't really do 'bonding ceremonies', you certainly have embraced the concept and ran with it." Dox chuckled as she talked in her usual, raspy fashion. "Are these dress patterns?"

A bit embarrassed now, Mona nodded. "Sixteen of them. Three of them are partially holographic. Just in case we need enough for us and some others. I designed a holographic cathedral with Miradon's two moons and the Romulan Phoenix, as well."

For the first time in their conversation, Dox said. "No." But it was said softly, with a warm smile as she shook her head a bit. "No holograms. Nothing that won't be real to those beautiful eyes."

As she spoke, she brought her fingers up and gently touched the bridge of Mona's nose. "This is as much for us as it will be for the others. The Hera is the only cathedral I'll need."

Mona smiled softly, happy tears coming from her eyes now as she nodded.

As she looked down at the PaDD, Mnhei'sahe smiled again. "There is one thing that I will need, though."

"What's that?" Mona asked softly.

"I need... a single feather." Mnhei'sahe asked gently as she ran a hand over her bond-mate's brilliant plumage.

The brightly plumed Miradonian blushed, the fine feathers on her face turning yellow as she turned to look behind her for a nice, pretty, large feather from her tail feather cluster. She found one and pulled it out with a small squeak before handing it to her bond-mate.

Smiling at how impossibly cute that was, Mnhei'sahe stroked the feather gently, marveling at the stunning array of colors that seemed to almost shimmer in her fingers. It gradated from a brilliant magenta to a rich teal to a bright lavender and to the young Romulan woman, it was the softest thing she had ever touched every time she touched Mona.

"Thank you, Jhu Dhael." Mnhei'sahe replied, her eyes tearing up again as she smiled, specifically not saying why she needed a feather as she nuzzled up next to her love. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for seeing through every foolish wall I put up. Thank you for believing that I can be more. You make me want to be "

"You are very welcome, my Minay," Mona replied, snuggling tenderly with her lover, then pointing out the menu items. "So I was thinking full-on vegetarian tapas with some fried tofu dishes. What do you think?"

Chucking at how quickly Mona course corrected back to the subject of a wedding, Mnhei'sahe smiled and nodded. "That sounds good and takes more of the crew's diets into account. I know it's not strictly vegetarian, but we need to put your Deviled eggs on there."

"Soooo... these are very elaborate plans, Mona. Who else knows about all of this or has this been a top secret agenda?"

"Super top secret," Mona replied with a soft chuckle, snuggling tighter and thrumming softly. "You're the first to see them. I wanted you to be the first."

When Mona's thrumming began, Mnhei'sahe shut her eyes. The rhythmic vibration she generated went deeper than the young Romulan's bones and enhanced their empathic connection. "That's good. I knew you couldn't have told Asa. They would be shaking through the bulkhead between our quarters trying to keep it a secret."

Sighing contentedly, Mnhei'sahe looked at the PaDD as the unlikely couple continued to scroll through Mona's many, many plans for a wedding.

And while the morning would bring the Captain's tribunal, tonight it was enough to be in each other's arms and plan for a future neither had believed was possible not too long before.