[2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

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Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #25 – March 07, 2019, 08:16:46 PM

[Blue Tiran | Bringing Back Memories | Reaching Blue | Finding the Stars | Small Things Have Big Impacts]
@Top Hat

The walk back was nice.

Talking, holding hands, leaning against one another. Blue was the sort that always needed to be busy, she wasn't good at being still. It was one of the harder things for her. She could be nice when she wanted, she was nearly always firm, and she expected greatness out of her people. She pushed people she knew could do better, to be better, and often times they surprised themselves. They never surprised Blue, while she wasn't the kind nurturing kind of Chief, she did believe in her people and tried her best (in her own way) to help them flourish.

Ranaan was lucky in the sense that he could know all these things about Blue, the carefully hidden and cloaked things, that she kept locked behind her spiky mental shields and curse words. He had known when they first met that she wasn't a bad person, how greatly the mission she had recently been on had effected her, and how proud she was for helping turn the tide with her hacking skills. He could see her kind heart, and the way that -while unorthodox- she actually cared for those around her. She reveled in being different and she was a true and loyal friend to those that stood by her side despite her attitude.

It was easy, for her to be with Ranaan. She didn't have to open up in the ways that terrified her. She still remembered their first fights, when she was always terrified he would leave. That this fight, always about osmething stupid, would be when he left. Or kicked her out. She had always been scared of it, every brig visit, every time she was called into the Captain's office for something. But, each and every time, he surprised her. What settled it, mostly, was one day that still stuck heavily in her mind. A day that he had given her something she hadn't had given to her before; space.

Quote

It had been a long day.

Longer shift.

Blue and Ranaan had gotten into a big fight that morning over the fact that she had legitimately taken over his desk. The only desk, in their small Quarters. Which she didn't technically live in, she had her own Quarters elsewhere on the ship. But there was something nice about sleeping beside Ducote, about being in the same room as him. Eating together, watching television together, him bitching about her mess, and her bitching about his OCD. This morning though, he had gone to sit on the couch to have his breakfast and check on his schedule for the day. He didn't look where he was sitting and popped right back up with a string of Portuguese that she didn't have to guess the meaning of. Glaring at her as he pointed at the screwdriver that had gotten fresh with his backside.

“You have a desk you know.”

“I h... I have a desk. Yes. I do have a desk but look what is on my desk.” he pointed with the hand not holding his plate of eggs to the mess that was his desk.

Blue bleary eyed looked over at the desk and swallowed heavily. “I was going to clean it up last night but you got tired and wanted to go to bed!” she reminded him. Totally, most definitely, not her fault.

“You never clean up your stuff Blue, don't even.”

“I did that one time!”

“Making a one foot square spot bare of your shit so I could set my own things down does not count as cleaning!”

“I was nice! I could have told you to get fucked and use the couch!”

“Which is what I was trying to do just now, but you have your shit on the couch too!”

“I have to have my tools for work!”

“Your work is about sixteen decks below us!” he shouted loudly.

Blue had never seen him this angry before, and by default, she knew she had to be angrier. Blue Tiran didn't cry, she hadn't cried in so very very long, so she rose her chin and looked right at him. “I work every fucking where. This fucking ship is my fucking job!”

“You have an entire office in Engineering.”

“Well it's not enough! So fuck you!” she whirled angrily and stormed to the replicator. Got herself dress and left. The eggs he had made for her, still steaming, sat uneaten next to a small twinkie on the coffee table between the small couch and the wall.

Now she had to go back and face the music. She imagined stepping in to a box of her shit by the door, all tossed in with no organization at all. He would tell her it was over, too hard, get back to her own Quarters. He didn't need this kind of stress off duty. Palming the door, she had hacked her own code into weeks ago as a joke that stuck, she stepped in. The sharp sound of metal screwing through metal being attacked to metal sounded. It was a sound she knew well. She stepped in fully trying to figure out what the fuck he was doing when she saw him attaching the last screw in a large shelving and drawer unit that he was installing on the bulkhead next to the desk.

“Wh..what are you doing?” she asked curiously, she couldn't help but admonish how soft her voice was at the moment. The steel she had been prepped to use as she stormed the corridor nervously, gone.

“I organized your stuff. I know you don't like me touching your stuff but this is where your screws, bolts, and things are...” he went down the list of where things were, and Blue stood absolutely gobsmacked in the center of their Quarters. Her entire being just flayed open with this one simple gesture. He paused mid sentence and turned to look at her in shock and confusion.

“You... mean I can stay?” she asked guarded but there was a soft vulnerability to her eyes that Ranaan Ducote had yet to experience before this day.

“Well you've practically moved in anyway and this way we can both use the de-” he paused again. “Are you okay, Blue?”

She didn't answer, she just crossed the room and hugged him tightly. It took a moment for the shock of the moment to wear off and his own arms came around the wounded Engineer. He had given her space. A spot in his life, in his place, in his home. A place to belong.

They headed up the stairs to the house where Ducote had lived for years. It was small, but perfect, and Blue was glad that one of them had a semi-normal upbringing. He had at least had parents and a family while he probably would trade his dad in, at least he had one. She expected that they would go inside but, instead he let go of her hand and pulled some deck chairs over to the center of the garden deck. Patting the chair beside him he told her to come and talk to him about the satellites that she could see. A bit of a smirk played on her features, as she crossed the deck and sat down beside him, scooting her chair close enough their arms brushed against one another.

Her eyes shifted up to the sky as she relaxed back into the chair. “Did you know, when I was a child, the satellites up there only clocked twenty eight thousand kilometers per second. But now, they go so much faster than that. Many of them have the capabilities of great speeds but in order for the cameras and sensors to work properly some of them are slowed down or are using lower level thrusters so that their equipment works better. It all depends on their purposes up there.” she said softly, she didn't take her eyes off of the sky.

As one of them darted above and across the sky, she began to talk more about the logistics, the power, the propulsion, and the purpose for the satellites as well as the differing kinds. She cold go on forever, she even dove into the actual circuitry and the wiring that was capable of keeping the things going for decades. They all knew about the sheer amount of space trash that was circling the planet due to dead satellites and so forth, but no one ever really talked about those kinds of things they just talked about the beauty of what they did up there.

“Are you asleep?” she asked when she felt like he had his ears full of satellite information and she had properly bored him enough he could sleep without the fear of bad dreams. She turned her head to find, that in fact, that odd sound she had been hearing for the last couple minutes was Ran snoring in the chair beside her. She turned on her side, to face him a bit, watching him sleeping in the chair beside her. He was too cute for his own good. Too amazing to be stuck with someone like her, but she sure as fuck wasn't going to let him go.

Blue felt sleep tugging at her as well, she knew she should get them both up and get into an actual bed, but she would close her eyes for just a minute... only a minute then she wo-

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #26 – March 13, 2019, 12:25:21 AM

[ Ranaan Ducote | Rocinha Neighbourhood | South Zone, Rio de Janeiro | Earth ] attn: @BZ

Half of him was fairly chilly, but the other was deliciously warm. Though he didn't feel particularly able to move even if he'd wanted to. Ranaan was that combination condition of supremely comfortable and the sort of stiff that comes of lying in one position for too long. Around him the breeze was warming up, already starting to carry some of the humidity that would come later. The air was lifted by the chirp and call of tropical birdsong. He sighed contentedly, the action letting him consciously register the weight on his chest.

He cracked a black-irised eye, and instantly regretted it. A beam of pure sunlight stabbed him in the retina, searing his entire optic nerve and vaporising his visual centre. "Mmf," he complained, slamming his eyelid shut again. Last time I fall asleep in the garden facing East...

Nevertheless, the brief glimpse he got before he permanently destroyed his natural eyesight told him all he needed to know. At some point in the night, Blue had joined him on his deck chair and curled herself into his arms, hooking her leg over him and snuggling in. She was still sleeping. "Mmm," he decided. His eye was even - against all medical science - beginning to recover, the spots fading from the red-orange view of the inside of his eyelid. He felt a little bad for nodding off during her astronomy class, but he clearly wasn't in the doghouse. He'd take it.

~Good! You're awake.~

Ranaan managed not to groan aloud at the sound of his mother's voice in his head, but he couldn't defeat the diplomat's keen telepathy. ~I heard that,~ she said, mock-disapproving. ~Come on, get up. I'm making breakfast.~

The hybrid spent a few delicious seconds weighing which he'd rather do - doze with Blue, or eat after last night's exertions - before sighing again, suppressing a yawn. He squeezed Blue's shoulder, rubbing her arm a little. "G'morning you," he mumbled. "Think ma's making, uh..."

~Uttaberry pancakes!~

"... pancakes," he finished. That was likely to get her attention. She would want them because, well, pancakes. He didn't mind, because fruit - one of the many ways he was treacherously trying to squeeze some actual nutrition into her diet.

"Th'fuck you think I'm moving for?" came a muffled reply, thick with sleep and slurred with comfort. Ranaan chuckled.

"Homemade pancakes, Blue. No replicator pattern like 'em..." He shifted. "And if we stay out here much longer your hair's gonna explode." The humidity was already creeping up. At least he remembered it would be a problem now. "C'monnnn," he shook her shoulder insistently.

"'ck off 'm comfy dammit..."

"I will throw you into my shower fully clothed."

The tone was stern, but he was joking. As far as Blue knew. Probably.

"Ffffffine." She pushed herself up, propping up on one arm while the other scrubbed the sleep out of her eyes, a cute little yawn escaping her - not that he'd ever tell her so; she'd just punch him again, he reflected with amusement. The air reaching new parts of his shirt revealed a wet spot from where she'd drooled on his during the night.

~You've got a few minutes if you want to shower and change after last night?~ his mother suggested.

~I- come on, ma. Please,~ Ranaan complained in good humour. Aloud, he said, "It'd be quicker if we shared a shower, thinking about it. Get outta last night's gear?"

Logistics took a while to manage - and on reflection he figured it would probably be quicker showering separately after all, rather than seeing each other naked and soapy again so early in the morning - but there was a tall press of coffee brewing in the kitchen by the time he made it back down there in fresh clothes, with Blue not far behind him. Four plates of still-steaming, purple-fruity, syrupy pancakes stood on the island, and both his parents were already present.

"Morning both," he greeted. A grunt from his pre-caffeine father, and an amused smile and a bright "Morning!" from his mother.

Taking a stool, he found he was hungrier than he thought. The first forkful of breakfast passed his lips and he nodded appreciatively. "That takes me back," he said. "Great as ever, ma."

"Well, special occasion and all..." she replied. But there was some subtext there he felt he was missing.

"It's just shore leave... it's not as if we don't all know how it works by now," he said, pouring himself a coffee. It smelled fiendishly dark-roasted, and he couldn't wait. Erich was already finishing a cup, sitting in a pressed Security uniform. "Speaking of; you heading back to HQ today?" he asked the captain, looking pointedly over his uniform.

"I'm out of leave days," he offered, though Ranaan wasn't sure how much stock he could put in that. The man must have about nine years' accrued shore leave by this point. "But I did have something to say, before I beam north."

Here we go...

"Blue," he started. "I know you don't really have a family-"

Ranaan choked on his next bite, his eyes settling into 'flinty'. His mother's voice sounded in his head again, before he could impale the man with his fork, ~Just hold on, Ran.~

"-Ah, I mean..." Erich cleared his throat. "For the wedding. The church one, anyway. Because your- he wouldn't be there, and..."

Ranaan stared. What was happening? He'd never seen the man so awkward, evidently trying to talk about Blue's absent family without actually talking about it. Was he trying not to offend someone? Up was down. Gravity pulled ninety degrees to the left. The sky was green. Nothing was true any more.

"... and I was wondering if it would be alright- if you would want- if I could give you away? Walk you down the aisle, I mean-"

The son looked at the mother, and his face (mouth closed at least, though it did still have a mouthful of uttaberry pancake in it) must have been an absolute picture because she couldn't help but laugh. Erich flushed. Flushed, thinking at first she was laughing at him, then looking at up at Ranaan and seeing the true reason. Ranaan looked at Blue, probably of no help whatsoever to her if she was trying to ascertain how genuine the offer was.

~I told you how many times that you should have had faith?~ Ratela said to him.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #27 – March 14, 2019, 03:56:42 AM

[Blue Tiran | Legit Pancakes are the Shit | Speechless | A Balm for the Heart | Shock and Awe]
@Top Hat

Bribery.

Ranaan Mother-Fucker Ducote knew how to get Blue Tiran up when she didn't really want to be. She wasn't easy to wake up, he knew that, and usually there was some form of sugary breakfast offered that would pull her out of the warmth of her covers and the cuddles of her favorite Commander. This morning was no different. Despite the humidity that descended around them like a thick down comforter of suffocation Blue was pleasantly comfortable against Ducote. Laying her head on his chest, with his arms having come around her some point in the night. She could sleep anywhere, as long as he was with her, and she was quite glad to have his undivided attention. She knew that he was much the same, she was a busy body on the ship and often pushed herself past shift so that she could get more shit done.

His shaking her awake was met with a groan of discontent. Mornings were evil. The sun was surely the devil. And … pancakes?!

Little else could get Blue out of her comfy Ranaan cuddles. Finally she popped herself up on one elbow, holding herself aloft as she scrubbed at the grit in the corner of her eyes. A little yawn escaping her as he commented about how they could save time to shower together. Giving a nod, her mind starting to boot-up as she moved her limbs and got up out of her comfy spot. The left side of her body giving protest where the muscles had bent in odd angles all night to share the chair with Ran.

Upstairs, it was no shock to Blue, that it took longer to shower together than separate. What they had not done last night when they got home filled with love and stories of the pasts, they made up for in the shower. Blue didn't even register the fact that his mother could likely tell what they were doing. She didn't really fucking care anyway. They were engaged, in love, and everyone else could get fucked. A little while, and some clothes later, they made their way to the kitchen that smelled heavily of fluffy pancakes and sugary syrup.

Pops was in his uniform again, and Blue grinned wondering how long she could get by without calling him Captain. Their little teasing spats were something that she actually looked forward to. She wondered, if her father hadn't turned into a complete waste of space, what kind of relationship they would have had. Pops was pre-coffee so he was nonverbal at the moment as Blue parked herself at the bar right next to Ducote. Her hair was still damp, and there fore, nice and calm at the moment. Ringlets of black and blue were slowly working their way back into being. She didn't waste any time grabbing up the offered plate with a heavy stack in the center from Mrs. Ducote.

“Thanks.” Blue beamed with childlike excitement. She picked up the glass jar of syrup and nearly upended the whole fucker onto her plate. Not only was it soaking her pancakes but there was a healthy moat around the plate's edge that meant there wouldn't be a single dry bite. Ratela just beamed over at Blue almost as if she was proud, and maybe she was, getting to be the mom to someone that hadn't had one since before her truly formative years. She dove in with gusto as Ranaan mentioned how good they were, Blue gave a triumphant smile and around a mouthful of syrup laden pastries, she said “These are so fucking good!”

Seemed Pops was heading back to work. It was one thing that Blue and Pops had in common was the fact that they both preferred work over the art of socialization. However, she was surprised to see him go. He usually stuck it out until they were gone, with Ratela mentioning that this was a special occasion and all Blue figured that she was just overly sentimental about the fact that they were engaged now. It was no secret that Ran wasn't a spring chicken anymore, and Blue was much younger than him. It never bothered either of them.

He had something to say before he went though. Blue was only half listening because this seemed like a family matter and well..- So she was just happily munching away on her tasty pancakes when he suddenly spoke to her directly. She heard her name and those blue eyes of hers looked up at him, it was often why people thought she had gotten the name, but it wasn't. When he mentioned her family, and how she didn't have one, she just froze. Her eyes were staring right at him, and even her chewing stopped. Her entire body was rigid.

It was a very sore subject.

Surely, he had a point though. Pops didn't do anything without a point, he wouldn't breathe if his body didn't actually need oxygen. She was waiting for his point. This way she would know whether she should be pissed, raged, or just plain laser death glare. As he worked his way through the subject about the wedding and how her father wouldn't be fucking showing up, her brows rose. He was skirting dangerous territory. Blue's eyes flickered to Ranaan who was about to kill a man with his thumbs, and then to Ratela that looked expectant as if she knew what was coming, and then back to Pops.

Finally, he came out with it.

Blue sat there .. her ears weren't working right. Her fork clattered from her hand onto the plate and bounced off onto the counter top where it left a swath of syrup in it's wake. Her hand hadn't moved she had just lost the feeling in it for a moment, she was so shocked. He wanted to take up the honor of walking her down the isle. He wasn't picking on her, or being an ass, or telling her not to wear a blue dress. Because, lets face it, it wasn't going to be white no matter what. She had never really thought about a church wedding, Blue had absolutely no thoughts what so ever about religion. She would go with whatever Ran wanted to do, and marriage was just a way to be together on paper.

Ranaan was looking at her, and she shifted her eyes to him to see him just as shocked as he was. She thought to tease him about his shit empathy but figured it was not really the best time. Forcing her throat to work she swallowed the mouthful of pancakes that she had been working on when he began to speak to her.

She'd never had a dad.

She didn't know if this was one of those... hugging moments. Or if this was a get fucked kind of moment, or if it was … something entirely different. She was still trying to think of the words to say, her mind still working desperately to catch up to the fact that he was offering her something. It was no secret that he didn't particularly care for her, or at least she had thought he didn't with his exasperated sighs and the way that Ranaan carried some kind of weight around on his shoulders when the both of them were around at the same time.

“I.”

Blue picked up her coffee and took two long sips. “You're .. you're fucking serious...” she said because she could tell by the blush on his face and the way that he had stumbled through the words to ask such a thing to begin with. She looked at the others in the room before focusing back on Erich. “I .. th.. um... I would... I would really like that... actually.” she said softly, her words were gentle for the first time since he had likely met her. The real unshielded Blue Tiran sat there, a girl without a family. Probably the very person that Ranaan saw when he was with her.

“I thought I would.. just walk alone.. which.. which was fine I mean I'm not unused to being that way. Thank you...” she said softly and genuinely. Ratela had the hugest smile on her face. Blue and Erich had somehow reached one another .. shields down.. and had a full on moment.

Erich cleared his throat and finished the last sip of his coffee. “Well, that's settled, I will be heading out now.” he said putting his mug in the sink, a quick peck for his wife, and clasped his son on the shoulder before heading out the door.

“I like you better when you aren't a fucking prick!” Blue called over her shoulder.

“I like you better when you don't curse every other word!” he called back at her.

Blue grinned and turned diving back into her pancakes. What the fuck had just happened? Was that really Erich Ducote? Did he really just accept everything that was going to happen but not only accept but actually want to be part of the whole fucking thing? Funny thing was, she hadn't even thought about the actual wedding. She figured they'd probably be losers and do it last minute in front of the Captain. She could replicate herself a nice blue wedding dress, he would wear a suit, and it would get done. She hadn't really thought about a full fledged church wedding. With a huge dress, and pews, and … who knew what the fuck the religious people did when it came to weddings.

“Uh, am I the only person here that doesn't what the fuck a church wedding actually entails?” she asked before biting into her pancakes to the sound of Ratela laughing.

“Friends and family come to the church to see you get married. Eric will walk you down the isle in your dress, give you to Ranaan, then the Priest will bless your marriage and you will say your vows and then leave the church.”

Blue's eyes narrowed as she sipped at her coffee. “That sounds deceptively easy.”

“Well it isn't hard so much as it is long.”

She grimaced, but then looked over at Ranaan. If it was important to him and to his family it was important for her. “After that is the honeymoon right? I like that part.”

Ranaan nearly spit his coffee out and she shrugged. Blue wasn't exactly shy, though she was pretty modest all things considered. Ratela was trying, desperately, not to laugh.

“What? It's a fucking vacation. I want to go somewhere that doesn't turn my hair into a massive matted mess though. So somewhere North or lacking humidity, okay?” she said as she shoved the last bite of pancakes in her mouth chewing hungrily before swallowing and sitting back on the stool to sip at her overly sweet coffee. "And no fucking holodeck honeymoon, that's cheap shit, and if I'm wearing a fucking massive dress for you, I get the good shit."

Ratela lost it then, and laughed hard as she washed out the mugs and began to get some of the dishes started.

"Oh yeah! And you can wear a suit like you did the first time we met." she decided and looked over at Ranaan who was just staring at her with laughter in his eyes and a bit of surprise as well.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #28 – March 26, 2019, 02:05:49 PM

[ Ranaan Ducote | Rocinha Neighbourhood | South Zone, Rio de Janeiro | Earth ] attn: @BZ

Ranaan let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. Blue was not only amenable to, but enthusiastic about the idea. He wasn't sure which revelation surprised him more - the fact that a heart clearly beat within the dead chest of his father, or the fact that she hadn't told him to fuck off. He drained his cup and poured another.

"He did rather beg the question of whether or not we'd be having a religious ceremony though..." he murmured, but shook his head to clear the notion. Again, another surprise, Blue had been (relatively) enthusiastic about the idea, and it wasn't up to him to tell her what to get excited about. And besides, they could work out the details later, whenever their jobs allowed of course. No doubt that'll be another conversation months in the commencement...

The hybrid couldn't help but find Blue's enthusiasm and his mother's amusement infectious. He smiled, admitting to himself that if Erich hadn't mentioned a church wedding they'd just have gone back and forth over what to do instead anyway. Somehow, he suspected a Betazoid ceremony wouldn't go over well with Blue. Even if she was excited by the honeymoon prospect.

~Oh, she is a card, Ran.~

"But yes. As I understand it, suits and dresses are expected," he grinned. "You don't scrub up half-bad yourself, you know."

He poured another coffee, face thoughtful. "If we're avoiding anywhere tropical, Risa is out. Probably overdone anyway. And while the nightlife in the shadow of Mount Seleya is legendary," he deadpanned, "Vulcan would probably make for a dull holiday for us." Ranaan chewed the last mouthful of his pancakes, then snapped his fingers. "Caldos! Yeah. Temperate north, desert south. We can stay in an actual goddamn castle if you want, and there are some canyon races I wanna fly. I heard the engines on those sleds are something else..

"Now all we need to do is find the time to get there."

"Ever the optimist is my son," Ratela smirked at Blue. "It's a wonder he gets anything done."

"The Tellarites rubbed off on you, mother dearest," he returned with good humour.

They had the rest of the day before they were due to catch a shuttle to meet the Endeavour at Starbase 12. No doubt there would be a mountain of administration for him to catch up on, and myriad engineering quibbles for Blue to tackle, but for a few more hours they could avoid thinking about work. It wasn't as if they had much to worry about packing.

"My friend invited us for lunch down at the marina in Botafogo; he's found his latest 'favourite restaurant'," Ratela offered. "He's an incorrigible gossip, but that goes with the territory to being an attaché sometimes. It's a wonder anyone gives him clearance at all... At least he's entertaining."

"Ha, sell it harder, ma. You sure you like this guy?"

"It's Derin, you know him."

"Oh!" Ranaan half-raised his coffee cup. "I remember. The Zakdorn..?"

"That's him. He was asking-"

The plans and conversation lasted into the day, through lunch and beyond. Family visits might not be so bad after all, he admitted. This time. In isolation. But Blue was in the family in all but name now. Erich had built the bridge. Ranaan couldn't be happier.

Smooth sailing, no doubt, from hereon.

-FIN