That Weird, Coffin Shaped Box in the Corner

Posted on Wed Jan 15th, 2020 @ 10:46am by Lieutenant Mona Gonadie & Kodria Mizu & Baroness 2nd Class Schwein von Alcott & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox
Edited on on Fri Jan 24th, 2020 @ 2:07pm

Mission: Neutral Zone Neutrality
Location: Deck 8, Crew Quarters
Timeline: 2397

It was the end of a particularly long shift and Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox was very much looking forward to returning to her quarters and trying to shut her mind down. And while her regular duties as the Flight Chief of the U.S.S. Hera were enough, she had also begun sword training with the ship's Captain twice a week, which made her even more tired than usual.

But tonight wasn't a training night, a fact for which the worn-out Romulan pilot was quite glad as she arrived at the quarters she shared with her wife and bond-mate, Mona Gonadie. As she entered, the first thing she noticed was that, at last, the engineering department was done knocking out the wall that separated their quarters from the now-empty quarters to their left. What had been covered by tarps while their living room furniture was stacked in the corner was now a completed, open doorway that stretched into the freshly expanded double quarters.

The kitchen, which had been a small affair in the far corner, was now opened up to more full-sized affair with a small prep island in the center and the rooms for Mnhei'sahe and Mona's three children now complete in what used to be the quarters of the ships departed doctor, Asa Dael.

The furniture had been moved back into place and the expanded quarters looked almost as if they had always been that way, except for a large, coffin-shaped crate that was in the corner, no longer covered by a worker's tarp.

Stepping inside, the door to the corridor wooshed closed behind her as she unfastened her crimson uniform top and let out a sigh as the door to her right opened, and Mona stepped out. The very pregnant, brilliantly plumed Miradonian was beaming in her new, blue uniform she now wore as the head of the now officially formed R&D department. Looking over, a smile stretched across Mnhei'sahe's chubby cheeks. "Mona. I actually thought I might beat you back to the room tonight for once."

"I had to sign off on all the work, saying it was complete so I decided to call it a day early. One of the privileges of being pregnant with three chicks," replied Mona with a bit of a smirk. "So... two things I have to wonder about now. What do you want for dinner, and when are you going to open that crate from Schwein? It really offsets the mood in here."

Looking over at the crate, Dox tilted her head as she walked over and gave Mona a long hug and a tender kiss. "I liked it better under a tarp. I guess I might as well see what it is."

Stepping back, Mnhei'sahe put her hands on her hips and cricked an eyebrow. "And actually… I was working with Ensign Wieaex most of the day. She's picking up the paperwork for the assistant chief position really well, but… well, you've worked with her. She's really… high energy. And apparently, in spite of being Edosian, she grew up on Earth in New York and spent half the day talking about Italian food."

"As such, I kind of have... Eggplant Parmesan on the brain." Mnhei'sahe continued, course-correcting before saying 'chicken', "What are you hungry for?"

"Egg... Plant?" Mona tried wrapping her brain around plants growing eggs before shaking it off and just shrugging. "I've made quite a few Italian pasta dishes. I'm sure I can figure out this egg... plant... Parmesan. I could go for a good pasta and you know I'll always eat eggs."

Looking at her wife with a quizzical expression, Dox started towards the crate but stopped for a moment. "You know, the big purple vegetable… thing. What's the other word? Auber… something. Auber Jeans?"

"Or…" she said as she began to lift up the clasps that sealed the large box, as long as she was tall, "If you're thinking something with pasta AND eggs, we could do Hibachi. With the garlic sauce, maybe?"

"Whatever you…" the red-headed Romulan froze, mid-sentence as she pulled back the lid to reveal what appeared inside. "...want."

"What in areinnye?" Mnhei'sahe said as she stepped back next to Mona to look at the contents. Inside, resting in a padded bed of fluffy white cotton stuffing, was a shining black suit of banded metal. It was a suit of some kind of armor, with black metal boots, gauntlets, and a chest piece. On the shoulders, were sculpted black metal falcons, not unlike the sigil of the Romulan Empire acting as shoulder caps over a mid-length, dark green cape. The sleeves and pants were a matching dark green leather-like material and the edges of the armor was trimmed in thin gold bands. At the top, was an ornate headpiece of black metal in the shape of birds' wings that peaked in the front, not unlike the Romulan Centurion Helmets from Rita Paris' era.

"Oh my..." was all Mona could gasp out as she took it all in. Almost instinctively, she reached out almost to touch it, but pulled back as a small, smiling holo of Schwein popped up in front of it.

"Hello! Schwein here! This is your specially made shieldmaiden armor for my wedding! Now, I know it looks incredibly hard to put on and take off, but it is actually really simple, ja? It is keyed to your voice with a passphrase. I believe yours... Mnhei'sahe Dox... is..." Here, the tiny holo paused and seemed to be looking at an Asgardian datapad of some sort. "Ah, 'Wings of Althindor, set me free.' Once you have the bracers on, say that and the rest will follow. After that, you will be able to store the armor inside the bracers as you would the other bracers on the Hera." Schwein then waved happily. "See you soon!"

Glancing over to Mona, Mnhei’sahe tried to process what she had just heard as she took in the details of the armor. Slowly, she stepped forward and reached out to run a finger across the breastpiece, which gave slightly under her touch. It was metal, but also slightly flexible. As she examined it, she al but whispered to Mona, “It’s… I suppose whoever made this knew who they were making it for. There are Rihannsu glyphs along the gold edging of these shoulder caps of Al’thindor. It’s… it’s a prayer. The passcode, actually.”

Squinting to make out the tiny details, Mnhei’sahe began to read out loud in her native tongue, “Theil nnea Al’thindor, vnai arhva. It's a prayer made for those that are passing to Vorta Vor... heaven... the next life. A way of saying 'good travels'.”

Standing back up from her crouch, Mnhei’sahe stepped back. “Something tells me that whoever made this knows a little too much about me… and my friends.”

"Well... They are considered gods in some corners of the galaxy. It may be expected. Plus, I've heard that Odin has that all-knowing thing? He might have had a bit of say in it." Mona was a bit creeped out as well, especially with the activation phrase being so eerily similar.

"I... really should brush up on my comparable religion studies before this wedding. I barely remember anything from my classes at the Academy regarding the Norse pantheons." Mnhei'sahe admitted somewhat nervously. "Regardless, though, it is really beautiful. The work is... look at this, Mona."

Pulling the right bracer out of the box delicately, she held it up. Like the rest of the armor, it was a shimmering black. Across its surface, a relief of a stylized bird's wing, also rimmed with a thin gold band on either side, with more etched Romulan letters in it. "This one is decidedly less cryptic. It's just the Rihannsu names for the elements, Fire and Water, on this one and Earth and Air on the other."

"Rihannsu culture isn't monolithic. Some of the earliest settlers worshiped ancient Vulcan gods. Others, the great firebird, Al'thindor. However, a respect for the balance of elements is the most common." Mnhei'sahe said, holding the bracer up and looking intently at a thin slit in the narrow side of the right bracer. "My mother still occasionally will blurt out something like 'Oh, Elements' as an expletive and... oh..."

"Yes, whoever designed this absolutely knows about me look." She held the bracer up against her right wrist and pulled her sleeve back, revealing the black metal wedding bracelet she wore, which lined up perfectly with the thin slot. "They designed this bracer to fit around my bracelet."

The revelation of other, less cryptic glyphs lightened the tone a bit as Mnhei'sahe tilted her head. "Do... you think I should try it on?"

"With how much work went into it, I think it might offend someone on a slightly higher plane of existence if you didn't," Mona replied. "I mean, you do have to make sure it fits in time for the wedding, right?"

"Hmmm..." Dox moaned slightly, with a nervous expression. She set the bracers back in the box for a moment as she took off her uniform tunic. Beneath was a simple black undershirt and a lot of anxiety, which she removed to leave her in her underwear. "You're right. I mean, It IS beautiful work. It really is."

Picking up the bracers, she slowly opened them one at a time and gently latched them around her wrists. As the one with the slit snapped shut, it clamped perfectly around her bracelet with a light locking sound. The fit was perfect and Mnhei'sahe let out a light gasp. "Heh... a little cold."

Of course, Romulan biology ran hot to begin with, so the distinction was likely magnified, but it was still there, nonetheless. Stepping back, Mnhei'sahe kicked her boots off and tossed her pants on the couch somewhat absentmindedly. In the center of the room, she held her arms out at her side and gulped lightly as she smiled nervously at Mona. "Okay... Al'thindor... set me free."

There was a brief pause, and then the armor in the crate shimmered and hummed slightly as a ripple of light ran across its surface. Then, one by one, the pieces lifted up into the air and hovered over in front of Mnhei'sahe. There was a clanking sound as the seams of the armor released and the pieces, in unison, spun around in the air and rushed towards Mnhei'sahe, who winced and shut her eyes tight.

Seconds later, the armor was sealed around her as if it had been built upon her stocky frame perfectly. The shimmering headpiece deftly opened and wrapped itself tightly around her head, with slots that allowed her pointed ears to stick out the side as her red bangs flopped over the headband. The hum receded away to nothing and there was that same light clanking sound as the armor locked itself upon her, the seams appearing to vanish.

"Hnaev",Mnhei'sahe cursed slightly as she looked at herself, impressed. Then she looked over to Mona, who had watched the entire thing unfold with wide eyed fascination.

"I think I'm in love all over again..." Mona muttered as she reached out and actually did brush her fingertips against the beautifully crafted armor, now sealed onto her bond-mate. "I don't suppose you could get them to make a set for me? Or maybe let me run some scans on it?"

Moving her arms, the armor almost felt like it wasn't there, it fit so perfectly. Looking at Mona, Dox blushed a slight green and chuckled a little as Mona continued to caress the armor and began to thrum ever so slightly. "Well, I can surely ask, of course. As for scans, I can't see how that would be a problem. She said that the armor would go into the bracers, like Rita's. So I imagine the basic technology must be similar. I wonder if there's anything else in the bracers?"

"No idea, but it looks like something long and hard I also in the box," Mona was definitely turned on by now as she pressed up against her lover and pointed at the collapsed shaft still inside the box.

Amazingly, the armor did little to blunt the feeling of Mona pressed against her as the thrumming began to feel more intense. And while their telepathic bond generally required skin-on-skin contact for it's full intensity, the somewhat otherworldly manufacturer of the armor, a gift from Schwein's Asgardian in-laws to be, seemed to almost amplify their connection in that moment.

Feeling herself go flush as the blood rushed through her, Mnhei'sahe's pulse quickened. But she swallowed lightly and looked in the crate. Half covered by the packing material was a short rod of matching black and gold metal, about the length of her thigh. Looking close at the ends, she saw slits in both edges and held it out horizontally. "Hold on… I think…"

And as she spoke, with a thought, the rod shimmered slightly and from both ends, there was a Green flash and golden bladed ends extended out to a nearly two-meter, double-edged spear. Along the blades, beveled ridges made them resemble golden raptors' wings. At the sight, a shudder went through Dox and resonated into Mona through their link.

"Oooh... Now that looks like one of the traditional Miradonian Royal Guard spears..." Mona was starting to drool just the tiniest bit. "My love, you're getting hot feathery bird snu snu tonight."

Feeling Mona's thrum grow stronger, Mnhei'sahe's cheeks were flush even greener as she bit her bottom lip. Her already fast Romulan pulse was beating like a hummingbird and her skin felt positively scorchingly hot. Suddenly, the armor felt very much like an impediment that she wanted very gone.

And, with the armor being controlled by thought, there was a shudder of light like a heat ripple in a desert, and with a momentary hum, the spear and armor vanished. Pulled into the space within the bracers, still on her wrists, Mnhei'sahe gasped at the sensation as she was immediately standing in just her bra and underwear as Mona's hands never left her. "Fvadt…". She whispered as Mona waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

There would definitely be much snu snu that night.