The best friend meets the girlfriend.

Posted on Sat Dec 29th, 2018 @ 6:01am by Lieutenant Commander Thex sh'Zoarhi & Ensign Tathaa & Commander Rita Paris

Mission: Escaped Pantheons
Location: USS Hera, Deck 8, Lieutenant Commander Thex's quarters
Timeline: 2395

The soft familiar light of her bedroom meet the andorians eyes as they slowly drifted open. The soft snoring at her side made her look around to the sleeping aenar at her side. It was funny she thought to herself that she could never imagine feeling this way about another lifeform. Amazing what a few weeks could do. She didn't want to move as her body just wanted to snuggle up as close as possible, but she had stuff to do.

She placed a kiss on her bondmates cheek before leaving her to her slumbers before she headed to her rooms bathroom. As she switched the sonic shower on she looked at herself in the mirror. A smile was on her face one that she didn't recognize on herself. A face of someone in love.

It didn't take her long to shower and to change into some blue trousers and a black tank top before she heard her room alarm sound. " Come in." She said as she walked into her living area.

Clad in her modern crimson minidress uniform, the ebullient Rita Paris strode into the quarters of the icy engineer, then struck a pose as if she expected there to be paparazzi snapping her holoimage on the red carpet. Flashing that million watt smile of hers, one hand draped on her hip, the fabulous first officer eyed her diminutive and petite friend, a study in opposites from her own comically voluptuous figure.

“You rang, Thex?” Rita asked with the typical good humor with which she seemed to approach just about everything in life.

Thex smiled as she quickly walked over and closed the bedroom door. No sense in waking Tathaa up she had been busy on the last shift. " Nice to see you my friend. Can I get you anything?" She said politely.

"Glass of water. I'm gonna use your bathroom too," Rita declared as she scooted to the head. That didn't stop her from talking though, as she left the door open. "So what did you want to see me about?"

" Okay just keep it down okay...." Thex said blushing slightly before heading to the replicator. " I have company in the other room."

That bought her silence for the duration of Rita's visit to the bathroom and subsequent hand washing before she emerged to close on Thex's personal space to begin speaking in hushed whispers, her eyes alight with excitement. "You have company? Like, bedroom company? Thex!"

Thex said nothing as the slightly embarrassed yet pleased look on her face was more than enough to say what company she had. Though she gave her friend a nod to be sure.

“Good on ya! So who is it, that gal you were talking to awhile back who you were making a genetic compatibility test with? Which somehow sounds terribly unromantic,” Paris chuckled as she took the offered glass of water. “But whatever works for you. So how’s it going?”

Thex nodded again as she replicated herself her own drink and took a sip. " Yeah, it's her. Me and Tathaa seem more than compatible. We both have a love of dancing, swimming and looking after the crew. Plush we both have the modified gene and if the weird dreams are the ones I'm thinking off we've already begun to form a bond." Thex explained with a smile on her blue face.

“Well, I’m happy for you then! I’m glad you found somebody… I was afraid I was going to have to put in for an Andor mission just so we could enact Operation: Get Thex Laid,” Rita joked, although it wasn’t actually a jest. She had been outlining a plan to present to the captain to detour them to the Andor system so that their lonely engineer might just find someone to love. Now it looked like she had found one part of the puzzle at least, although she suspected there might still be a need for that mission. After all, Thex and her new friend still needed 2 males to do… what Andorians did.

"Thanks and I'm glad we don't have to make a detour to Andor. After the god fighting, I'm just looking to get some rest and it's far easier with someone next to you. Speaking of partners how are you and you're vulcan doing?" The andorian asked politely with a grin on her face.

Rita turned slightly toward Thex, both eyebrows coming up in the middle a bit. There was a moment of consideration, then with a "It's... deeply fulfilling, honestly. I try not to brag, but... okay, ready for this?"

Dropping onto the couch, Rita Paris leaned back and smile indulgently. "The superhuman strength and endurance and brilliant mind aside, he has a detailed knowledge and understanding of nervous systems and can manipulate them. He doesn't give a massage, he plays on a few pressure points and he's finished, because you're done. He knows me... I mean, really knows me. There's probably an entire copy of my mind compartmentalized up in his. But every night, hell, every time we touch, I am a part of him and he is a part of me, literally."

"I'd wonder what he sees in me, but I can see it from his perspective because of our bond. I think that's the key to our relationship- in one another we each found someone so precious, we could not live without the other. I mean, you saw what I was like without him. I can do it, but with him, we're both so much more." Rita sighed contentedly, then her eyes flashed over to Thex. "I'm sorry, that was a bit rude. It's just... now that you have someone I can brag and not feel guilty. Because my life is pretty wonderful. I hope you and Tathaa find out how that feels."

Thex smiled as she sat down on the other couch with a smile on her face. "It's okay, I think I understand."

Before she could say anything else the door opened slightly as a tired white head pocked out. "Thex, is someone there?" The Anear asked, the weariness in her voice showing, though her eyes were wide open and looking around the room.

Realizing that introductions were in order and Thex wasn't going to make them, Rita stood and stepped over to present herself, a dazzling smile in place and a friendly tone on deck. "There is. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you... I'm Rita Paris, the first officer of this boat, and friend to Commander sh'Zoarhi over there. You might see me around the ship from time to time."

"I thought it was you. Thex has told me a lot about you. Is it true you're from another time?" the anear said as she appeared to look right at Rita with her blind eyes and antenna fixed on the human. She was dressed in some of the standard fleet pajamas as she stepped out of the bedroom. "Oh, my apologies It's a pleasure to meet you, commander," she said, offering her hand.

Taking the offered hand, Rita shook it with practiced professionalism. “The pleasure’s mine, Tathaa. And to answer your question, yes, I am indeed a throwback to an earlier age- I graduated from Starfleet Academy in the year 2255, and I served on the Constitution herself.”

The anear shook the hand though she continued to stare at the human. She then appeared to snap out of her trance and looked very embarrassed. " My apologies commander, it's just your aura is so strange. You appear to be multiple flowing colors. I wonder if it because of your time displacement. "

The white skinned girl shook her head looking even more embarrassed. " I'm sorry, I know my people's way of seeing the world must be impossible for you to imagine."

The curvaceous commander smiled, a little piper’s smile. “I’ve spent a few years as living energy. You might be surprised how it changes one’s perceptions. As my better half often comments, in a universe of the strange and unusual, I am somehow unique. So what brought you to the Hera, Tathaa?”

" It sounds rather pathetic, but I was looking for someone to bond with and Thex was looking for someone. We talked a little, went on a few dates on the holodeck and decided to try and make it work." The anear said her antenna twitching as she talked.

Thex had walked over and placed a kiss on the side of her white bondmate a smile on her face. " And it looks like we're more than compatible." She said as two of their antenna curled around each other in a sight of andorian affection.

"It does indeed," Rita offered an expansive smile to the affectionate duo. "So you're Starfleet, Tathaa? You two met on the Starfleet dating app, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm a nurse down in medical." the aenar said politely before she turned to look at Thex. "Mind if I use the shower? I'd like to freshen up."

"Sure babe," Thex said as she placed a kiss on her cheek before looking back at Rita. "Thanks for giving me the push, Rita. It looks like it's going to work out great."

“Well, I’m glad for you, Thex. I do hope it works out- it’s nice to have someone.” Rita crossed her legs and eyed her friend, and when she spoke again, her voice was low and quiet, almost conspiratorial, but with enough humor to offset the threat. “Just know that if she hurts you, I’m gonna shove her out an airlock.”

Thex let out a grin and a faint laugh. "I'm sure she won't hurt me Rita, and she probably can guess you'd beat her up if you hurt me."

“She’s telepathic- I’m sure she is well aware of my protective nature, and I’m nothing compared to the Captain,” the throwback officer observed. “So what’s the plan from here? Going to try to collect the other pair to round out the quad?”

"Yeah. We'll start looking for two strapping andorian males and see if we can get some little ones. Though it will be quite the effort to find them." Thex said her voice dropping slightly with a tone of sadness.

"Cap'n and I discussed it at one point, and she's on board with 'Operation: Thex wants to continue her species'. So if you are serious and this is something you really want... well, it's important to the Federation, too. We have an obligation to future generations. You found one, now you need two more." Rita Paris nodded, the internal decision already made and a course beginning to plot. "We've got a fast ship and a hopefully willing captain- what do you say we lay in course for Andor, and get you laid? Fertilized?"

Thex couldn't help, but laugh at her friend's words. " You'd both be willing to do that. Divert the ship to Andor just so I can hopefully find two to complete my family? I appreciate the offer, effort, and friendship of both you and the captain, Rita, but wouldn't Starfleet have an issue with us diverting there? Besides..." The chief engineer said as she held her arms in a sign of discomfort. " I didn't exactly leave that planet on the best of terms."

"Okay, point," Rita ceded as she sat forward, uncrossing her legs but keeping her knees together like she'd been doing it for a hundred years. "Yes... not to be blunt but you mentioned one time that you were running out of time. Your people are only fertile until 25 on the average, then they are sterile. That's a very small mating window. You're 26 already, and your birthday isn't that far away. It's kind of now or never."

The few seconds of silence in response prompted a shrug from Rita. "What, you brought it up, I worry, so I looked it up. What I don't know is the 'not best of terms' part. I don't mean to pry into what isn't my business, but it sounds like it might be a little kink in the plan. So fill me in? If you're okay with it," Paris added with upraised reassuring hands.

Thex gave her human friend a warm friendly smile as she offered her a hug. She knew she had been willing to do this for her. "Rita, my dearest friend... I thank you for thinking about me, and be willing to do all this for me. But I don't need to run off to Andor just now. I have the biology patch from my great grandmother, so my reproductive systems will keep running for another thirty years. That's also not taking into the account the eggs I'm scheduled to have frozen.

"So you make the eggs..." Rita murmured in realization, then snapped out of it. "I... oh. I'm..." Rita laughed musically and lowered her head, shaking it with a sigh. Looking up sheepishly, the old school gal pal was contrite. "Sorry, Thex. I guess I should have checked your medical records, or asked you before going charging off crusading on your behalf. So. For now..."

Sitting back again, Rita crossed her legs and took a long sip of her water.

"It looks like you have a nice girl, who you like and who likes you. Personally, I like the idea of you sleeping with a nurse, because I think we both push ourselves too hard, and someone specifically looking after you is actually reassuring. Both of us love our jobs and love to work, and that's all we'd do if we were left to it. But having someone to come home to changes it. Gives you something in your life besides the ship and the job. I'm happy that you're gonna have that now." Raising her glass, the emotional executive toasted the sentiment.

Thex had nothing to toast with, but she raised her own imaginary glass in response. "I do push myself too hard, but when we have a race of gods being are the main problem we have to deal with, I can't take it very easy can I?" She said politely.

"There will always be something, Thex," Rita rose from her seat to return the empty glass to the replicator. "There will always be some crisis or puzzle or pending doom. We're Starfleet, it's just the job. But you can't be just the job, or it'll kill you." Nodding toward the bathroom door, Rita smiled. "Now you have a reason not to, so I'm glad for you."

" Thanks. " Thex responded before the door opened before the anear emerged. She was dressed in a white Starfleet shirt with some tight fitting jeans. She smiled at Rita as she sat down next to Thex before speaking. " Commander, I hope you don't mind me asking, but Thex has been telling me of a few off the missions you've been on. Is it true we have a greek goddess in one of the guest rooms? " She asked politely.

"How did you know?" Rita gaped at Thex, then shook her head. "Scuttlebutt travels faster than warp. Yes, Ms. Tathaa, the Hera is indeed carrying her namesake at the moment. While she seems to be reformed and of no danger, we are still restricting her movements about the ship. So to answer your question... yes. We have a goddess in residence a few rings in from where we sit. Which is a marvel, I must admit." Rita fixed Tathaa with those bright blue eyes and grinned at the Aenar. "Best part about living in the future- the universe is still full of surprises."

In truth, Rita had forgotten that the snow white nurse was blind. She moved as one who could see, she made eye contact, and as a humanoid shaped face Rita treated her as she would anyone else. After all, she was all about equality.

"Actually commander, I was on the ship that was assisting the planet she had occupied, and I was on the team that was conducting the autopsies on some of her fallen troops. They were quite something, and I wouldn't mind asking some questions about them. Though I know most of Starfleet medical will be wanting to ask them as well." The nurse replied, sensing the look towards Thex.

“That’s what the chain of command is for, Miss Tathaa,” the old school officer replied. It often surprised her in the modern Starfleet how often she had to explain how the chain of command worked. Of course, she was Thex’s girlfriend, who often used informal names and titles in formal settings and bypassed protocol on Hera the last time she’d been aboard. Between that and the theoretically classified information that Hera was aboard again, Rita figured she’d just offer the Academy answer and see if it got followed. “Submit a request to your department head, who would be Doctor Dael, and they in turn will submit it to command for approval. If approved you would likely be able to do some Q&A with supervision.”

" I have, commander, but it may take a while. Medical always does have paperwork that piling up, and I don't want to endanger any of the crew due to my curiosity. It's just if we could figure out how she could do this, it could be used to help mine and Thex's races, and fix the mess we've gotten ourselves into. " The anear responded as politely as she could.

" Would be nice if we could just get a god to fix our mess though I don't think most of are people would be happy with it." Thex added.

The curvaceous commander took a moment to consider before responding, running her fingers through the sharp bob cut of blonde hair. "I'll talk to Doc Dael about the paperwork piling up in Medical, if it's as serious a problem as you say. Meanwhile, trust in the process, Miss Tathaa." Rising to her feet, smoothing out her skirt as she did so, Commander Paris stepped toward the door, pausing to wag a finger in her wake.

"A philosopher once wrote that the gods neither create nor solve our problems. They are instead almost exclusively within our own control. If you want to help your people, I'd look to modern medicine, not witch doctors. But that's just me." Strolling to the door, Paris waved. "It was nice meeting you, Tathaa. Thanks for having me over, Thex! Duty calls..."

~tag

OOC: I'll finish this off in a biit and post when the next mission starts. Thanks for writing with me :)