Friends

Posted on Mon Aug 6th, 2018 @ 12:22am by Lieutenant Hel Samedi & Commander Cor Cordale

Mission: Trills and Thrills
Location: Cor's quarters
Timeline: Evening

There was a ring at Cor's door.

Cordale perked his head up from his latest model project and made his way towards his door. A formality, since he could just command the door to open but he believed in that personal touch. He also was tired of being cooped up and welcomed any interaction. Once he was sure all the glue was off his fur and his prosthetic hand didn't have any stray paint marks on it, he did indeed beckon.

"C'min." he called from the 'casual room', the first room the door would open into.

The first thing Cor would see was Hel's shapely behind, in a simple black dress, half bent over and dragging something. "Oof. Hey Cor. Just - oof - don't mind me. trying to - hurg - drag this thing inside - oof - but it's a bit heavy." She then sighed, stood up straight and turned to face him. "Maybe you can give me a hand with this." she said as she stepped aside, motioning to a large wooden crate, about 1 by 1 by 2 meter in size. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

It took a few moments for the Thuxbrain to return to the here and now. "Oh no, no I'm just a bit... behind on some, you know, personal projects."

Smooth, Cor.

Though at her request for aid he responded with a nod, and made his way out to the crate. "Huh. Where'd you find something like this?" he asked as he took over the task of dragging it inside. "Also, nice dress. What's the occasion?" He refrained from making any off-color comments like it being 'wabbit season' or anything. After all, the Ts'usugi just happened to resemble rabbits. Just like he just happened to look like an Arcelian Star Sable.

"This dress? Oh, Valeria seems to like it. Probably because it accentuates my hips." Hel mused. The box was a shipping crate, fairly standard model. "This, is a present, from me to you. You've been having a hard time of it lately and could use a pick-me-up I think. The crate I replicated with the large scale materials replicator, some of the contents I've been gathering over the past few weeks from here and there, everywhere. Earth, Vulcan, Q'onos, Asphodel, all over the place. Some I ordered online. And there's something in there I designed myself, replicated the components and put together by hand." She helped him drag it in, allowing the door close behind her.

Cor just chuckled, "Glad to see you two getting it off so well. Truth be told, everything I know about her people you could fit in a shot glass. They seem interesting, and really kinda secretive too. Still, you two are cute together." he chuckled, underplaying exactly how 'cute' the two women were. "And, thanks. I'm a bit better now, but that was just... It hit a little too close to home, really." With that said, he opened the box carefully.

She handed him a hammer to help open the box a little less carefully. Seems that shipping crates were rather well closed, and very sturdy. Once he had it open though he would see three compartments, two larger one and a smaller one. One of the larger compartments held a number of smaller boxes, high end garage kits of several space ships and science fiction vehicles, ranging from a rather sizable wet navy battleship refit for space use, to an imposing looking triangular capital ship, along with assorted brass etch detail sets and fiber optic lighting kits. There was also some glue and the appropriate paints and weathering tools.

Finally the other larger compartment just held a number of felt bags of various sizes, each with a label on them. Seems that these bags held coffee beans from all over Federation space, and some rarer variants from outside it, ranging from your basic common but high quality beans in large quantities to exceedingly exotic variants in single-use packets, some that Cor might not have tried before, and some he might not have heard of before.

Finally, the last and smallest compartment held a cardboard box with the words 'fragile' and 'careful' written on it, held securely in a layer of packing foam. "Happy birthday, big guy." she spoke, her voice soft, a warm smile on pale features and a hand on his shoulder.

Hammers worked. And with the hammer's help he opened the crate, and looked upon the contents for a moment before going through them gently. The models were very nice, and expert grade. Carefully, he removed one or two of the pieces and examined the art on the box. "Oh, oh these are beautiful. Thank you." he toned, while then being drawn... almost magnetically... to the coffee box. He opened the compartment, and ran his living hand along the bags and bags of coffee beans, just absorbing the scent as it filled the room the moment that shipping seal was broken.

Though, the final compartment is what held his attention now. Hel wished him a happy birthday just now, and that almost ran a shiver through his form. He didn't really quite know when his actual birthday was, but if it was today, he wouldn't argue. As careful as he could muster, he opened the final seal...

Inside the small box was an intricate device of polished brass pipes, an equally shiny funnel like device at the top with a hand crank, a bulbous crystal receptacle below it, a reservoir for oil and a small burner underneath that, with elegant piping going around it, and finally a small tubular, crystal reservoir to the side. It all looked very intricate, almost a steam punk aesthetic. It took him a moment just looking at the device, trying to figure out the function before it hit him ....

This was a hand designed and hand made, hand operated, single cup coffee percolator.

"Careful with that. It's the only one of its kind." Hel mused.

"And here I thought those hips were the most amazing thing I'd see today." he joked, but this hit him heavy. He carefully put the percolator back in its housing, to be lodged in a place of honor at another time. "I want to set that up proper, get her working right, and then pour a cup with you and Valeria. She's your plus one, so she gets invited to social events. Them's the rules."

He took a deep breath and just held it for a moment. In future recounts of this story, he'd tell listeners that he was just absorbing more coffee scent. In reality, he was overwhelmed by Hel's generosity. He almost had an idea of what two of those containers would set her back. That last one, well, what's the cost for something priceless?

"Thank you ... is too small a word Hel. But it's all I got right now. Permission to hug?" he asked, not wanting to break Starfleet regulations.

"Always." She gave him a warm, tight hug, for as long as he wanted it to last, and then a little bit longer for good measure. "And thanks for the compliment. I do my best to stay in shape." she whispered. After the hug broke she sat down on the couch, heaving a sigh. "Your ship's all back in order now. Took some work, but managed to track down and nail the final few irregularities in some of the tertiary systems and redundancies. Ship's purring like a kitten again."

He held the hug, the odd dichotomy of the Thux in that half of his shoulders were soft and fuzzy, while the other one was hard and unyielding. Yet, he made it all work. After a moment, and after that little moment extra, he let her go. "Thanks. You know, for everything. And thanks for stepping up and taking charge while I was out of commission. Once I get the official working papers from the doc, I'll probably want my office back. But that's only because you can only spend so long being alone with your thoughts that you realize your thoughts sometimes aren't the best thing to be alone with." he said with all the tone of a wise sage Thux.

"I knew the ship was in good hands. Never a doubt. Though, I have one question. Just, need to know. Are they real?" Cor leaned in to ask, like it was a grand conspiracy. "They're so big. I mean, they're firm and... I guess I just need to know, and you're the one to ask." he smirked a bit, "Are those her real ears?" and he chuckled.

She listened with rapt interest, about to allow him to cop a feel just to prove that she was, in fact, 100% natural, when he dropped the punch line. She laughed a musical laugh and gave a nod. "Far as I know. And if not, they're bloody convincing. Have to admit, I don't have a large sample size to compare them to."

He joined in with her laugh. Source, it felt good to just laugh.

"Yeah, I can't imagine they'd just let you run up and start stroking their ears." he chuckled again, about to join her in sitting down. "Can I get you a drink? Birch beer, or some scotch?" he offered.

"I'll take a pint of stout, cold. I think that the replicator has a decent recipe for Guinness, that'll do." she gave a nod.

He diverted from his sit-down animation to the wall replicator and conjured up a pair of glasses. One filled with a soul-crushingly dark liquid, the other in a glass more suited for the consumption of a fine scotch.

To Hel, he handed over the tall stout. He kept the scotch for himself. "To hot friends." he chuckled, and offered up a toast. After the clink, he took a sip and just enjoyed it. "Well, you two look happy as hell together, from what I've seen, and if it means she visits engineering more often I'm not saying no." he chuckled. "Let me know if you need any extra time off once I'm back in the seat. Love is important, and should be given time to blossom. Or something." he chuckled again.

He looked back at the crate, just mystified at the whole of it. "I... you really floored me here."

"And hairy ones." She smirked, hefting her tall, heavy stein. A swig taken, face made, and she lowered her drink again, her face turning more serious. "I've made myself a promise that this relationship would never get in the way of my duties. The moment that starts happening, I might as well quit my job. So, thanks for the offer, but my duty comes first."

Hel fidgeted a bit, looking down at her glass. "I just haven't had 'that' talk with her yet, and part of me is afraid she'd take offense. I just - " She looked up again. "We've all heard the stories, right? We all know why there's a general rule about officers mingling, so to say. It's to avoid conflicts of interest. And as much as I love her, everyone on this ship relies on me doing my job, and doing it well. And I can't let anyone, no matter how spectacular her set of ears, get in the way of that."

"Her culture really is that different from our's, isn't it?" he offered, and then gave a nod, "Well, far be it from me to give you advice." he chuckled, a smirk on his features, "You'll do fine." then the smirk faded, "Yeah, there's that. The whole 'put the safety of the ship before the safety of one person' aspect. Needs of the many, and all." he paused, to take another swig. "You're a fierce hard worker, Hel. You put in an honest day's sweat for an honest day's pay. I never had to worry about a task I assigned to you, and I've never been disappointed whenever you deliver a report."

"You're an asset to this ship. Even a Ferengi accountant would rank you as such, if they knew what they were doing. Don't ever forget that." he motioned with his glass to punctuate the point. "And when it comes time for you and her to talk, you'll do as well then as you do now. In regards to the conflict of interests, this job is full of them." he pointed out. "Just, be comfortable with everything you do and you'll be alright."

"Yeah, I know... terrible advice."

"I didn't take this job to be comfortable with everything I do. I took it to make a difference with the things I do." Hel punctuated her own comment with another swig of her stout. "I've got designs on that center chair, some day. Well, not this ship's specifically, but my own center chair at some point. Still have a few rungs to climb on the ladder before I get there. I took this job knowing that difficult decisions will have to be made and attachments just get in the way. So it's kinda stupid of me that I got to forming attachments anyways."

Another swig, another thoughtful face. "I meant more in the terms of 'no regrets', not comfort. Sorry about that." he clarified, then continued. "That should just say how strong that attachment is. Pure, elemental, raw." the Thux commented. "And you know, I can see you in that center chair. Maybe not on a full flagship, cause I think a flagship might actually bore you. Maybe a line of dedicated engineering vessels. Like a fleet of emergency repair ships. Warp into a region, pull someone's bacon out of the fire, and then off to the next call." he described.

"And don't use such harsh language. Love isn't stupid. It's blind, ambitious, and clumsy but never stupid." though his words could, at any point, have taken a chiding tone, he remained neutral. He wasn't here to discipline her, certainly not.

Hel just chuckled. "Fair enough. As for regrets - if you have no regrets, you've never truly lived." she smiled, chugging down on her drink again and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand afterwards. It was quite the sight, a shapely woman in a simple black dress, monstering a stout the way she was doing. "I've always believed that life isn't about arriving safely at the finish line but sliding across it sideways with screeching tires, hollering 'YEAH!' and leaving people behind wondering what the hell just happened." She pumped her fist in the air as if to emphasize her words.

"You know, I think that's a good visual." Cor had to admit, and he smirked at her visual punctuation. "So I guess, here's to living life like you're behind the wheel of a monster truck." and he raised his glass.

Hel laughed. "Yeah, just ignore the hovercar alarms and burning wreckage behind me. I have no idea what happened there." she clinked his glass with her mug and took another swig. It was good to see Cor's spirit raised again. He'd be alright. It might take a while, but he'd get through this.