Day 10 [1326] Chaos in the Clouds of Qo'Nos

Re: Day 10 [1326] Chaos in the Clouds of Qo'Nos

Reply #50 – March 04, 2024, 01:04:49 PM

[ Lt. Enyd Isolde Madson | Mekro'vak Region | Qo'noS ] ATTN: @Eden

“Oh,” Enyd paused in her clean-up efforts, “I’m not sure how much you know of Klingon culture; I may have dumbly assumed you knew.”

Suddenly, she dropped her hands to her lap as the last of his words registered. As much as it pinged her pride and the not-so-subtle musings of attraction towards the pilot, she couldn’t blame Cal for feeling that way if he was operating blindly. And, even if he wasn’t, it was still his choice, and he’d rather a Klingon woman taking a mating chunk out of his face, then so be it. Squaring her shoulders against the desire to pout, Enyd resumed her work, likewise not giving into the temptation to press harder than necessary. Cal was the victim here in so many ways; her girlish pride had no place in wrongfully punishing him. She could do that later in her daydreams if necessary.

“Klingon mating customs are…violent. Not a surprise I’m sure given what we’ve lived through the past few hours. Usually, the female initiates the mating by verbally and physically antagonizing a male. Once it gets to a tipping point, so to say, she’ll bite the male, usually on the face somewhere, to show to the other females that he’s been claimed. At that point, if the male doesn’t want to mate, he can protest by fighting her off, and only if he wins does he win the right to say no. Also, if another female wants to contest the claim, she can challenge the original female to a fight, and the winner takes all, in a fashion.” Enyd set aside the cloth and picked up the salve, her touch light but efficient as she dabbed it over the bite mark. “I’m giving you the very summarized version of their customs, and even then, that’s the baseline with many variations depending on the region.”

Finished with her work, Enyd wiped her hands off on the cleansing cloth. Not quite knowing what to do with them now that they weren’t employed in cleaning up the mess she’d made of Cal’s face, Enyd opted to sit on them. If she didn’t, in her state, Enyd knew she’d be tempted to talk with her hands, lose her balance, and knock them both to the ground. The chaos goddess had taught her that much at least.

“Sickbay can have that gone in a few seconds once we return to the ship.” Since her hands were restrained, her feet began to kick back and forth as they hovered over the ground. “Not that you should be grateful for any of this mess but, truth is, that bite is a hell of a lot smaller and less ferocious than the one’s I’ve seen Klingon women leave behind, which makes me oh so grateful that woman didn’t feel like challenging me. I’d have lost, that much is a given, and then I’d be out of commission until a medical evac, and you’d have been sex-napped to who knows where with probably another bite taken out of your other cheek.”

Unbeknowst to Enyd, and likely Cal, the log they’d been perched on all evening had a rotten underside in the middle and with each subtle shift of their weight, it rubbed away a bit more of the supportive “belly.” Until now, with one more kick forward and back of Enyd’s feet, the middle gave way entirely, dropping like a wooden V into the ground and thrusting Cal and Enyd against each other as gravity tossed them to the ground with the log.

As she pushed herself into a seated position out of the momentary tangle of limbs covered in dirt and rotten wood, Enyd leaned against what was left of the log. Mutely studying herself, then peering at Cal’s similarly disheveled nature, Enyd’s eyes stung with unshed tears. It’d been a long day, with mighty ups and terrible downs. Her chin quivering as she fought the unexpected bout of self-pity, Enyd took a deep breath.

“Well,” she tipped her head back and gulped in more campfire smoke-scented air, “yup.” Enyd rolled over into a kneeling position and, using the leftover of the log, got her her feet. Though she doubted he'd be interested in accepting an offer to help, not when her last attempt to help had gotten his cheek bitten, Enyd still offered her hand. “I’ll go get our combadges so we can skidaddle.”