[2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Topic: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations (Read 10536 times) previous topic - next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

[2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

September 08, 2018, 09:27:52 PM

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

Ranaan handed a bag of brigadieros to Blue, already munching one of the cocoa bites himself. The rich, bittersweet flavour filled his mouth, and he wiped the corner of one lip with his thumb to catch some errant chocolate. The sun blinked as a seagull's shadow passed over him, eliciting a glance at the bright blue sky overhead and the fluffy clouds falling off the mountainside a thousand metres higher up. The taller hybrid looked back at his partner - well, now his fiancée - a faint smile on his face. They'd had several visits to his home city so far, but most of the street food was savoury - which, coupled with Blue's distaste for humid heat, meant that they had never really taken long to go looking for the sweeter offerings.

"There you go," he said, "You'll like these. There's nearly no nutritional value in them at all."

Leaving the street vendor to her cart, they continued walking up the long hill to his parents' home. Behind them, beyond the glittering trapezoidal high-rises of the city proper, lay the South Atlantic ocean. Partly he'd had them stop off for a snack because they were now only a few minutes away from what promised to be a couple days' trial; in various ways he found his parents' company smothering.

But Blue hadn't had much of a chance to see a functional family, and he knew she enjoyed their visits almost as much as his mother did. There was also the matter of their News.

Well, at least papai might go nuts. I suppose I could take one for the team, he thought with not-insignificant self-deprecation.

He was flippant, but for all that he was still excited. For all her rough edges, Blue Tiran had a heart of gold and had, in her own way, supported him in ways immeasurable. What some in the past had quite unkindly called a lopsided arrangement (not least of all his own father, nearer the outset of their relationship) was anything but.

They continued on, chatting away, finding some relief from the beating sun underneath the overhanging apartments in what had replaced the favelas of the 21st century. South America had escaped many of the ravages of the Third World War, especially compared to their northern continental neighbour, and had been able to spend more resources on improving conditions a lot sooner than many parts of the Earth had by the 22nd century. Lessons learned in buttressing the rain forests and river basins against the nuclear winter had been instrumental in the planet's recovery, not to mention the averted disaster that could have hit ecological diversity there.

Some lazy minutes later, and the gate before his parents' home stood before them. Ranaan shared a look with Blue, before he shifted the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder and scanned his thumbprint at the pad by the lock, then pushed it open and climbed the stairs up to the garden of em Ducote.

~Mamãe?~ he called. "Father? Estava aqui!" Out of uniform as he was, his UT wasn't available to keep up through his switching between Standard and Portuguese. He tended to be lazy about sticking to one or the other; coming from a Starfleet family meant there was usually a combadge around somewhere.

A wide trans-al glass door slid aside to reveal a statuesque, late middle-aged Betazoid woman in a loose-fitting white linen sundress, stepping out to greet them with her arms held wide for a hug. "Blue! You brought my boy home again," she said. "Goodness knows he won't come by himself," she said, with an exaggeratedly-long-suffering glance in his direction. Ratela Ducote, née Jal. Veteran of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, and his mother.

"Good to see you, too," he said, chuckling.

"Erich!" she called back into the house, folding them both into an embrace. Ranaan kissed her cheek before extricating himself to look over the fruit trees in the garden. He gestured at them in general.

"These are looking well. I suppose you pruned them recently?"

Ratela grinned, releasing Blue before she got too uncomfortable. "There's fresh-pressed juice in the kitchen, too." Her tone changed a little from before, then: "Erich..."

At length, as if surprised by this visit arranged weeks in advance, his father stuck his head out of the door. "Ranaan!" he walked over to join the group. Ranaan himself tried to ignore the up-and-down look he gave Blue, before nodding and saying Hello to her. Captain Erich Ducote, now-staffer for the division headquarters after a career in Starfleet Security. His father, for better or worse.

He wondered how the endless sparring would go between him and Blue this time.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #1 – September 08, 2018, 11:43:11 PM

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Humidity Bites | Fuckin' Brazil – Center of Hell | Hellborn Paradise | Vacay]
@Top Hat

She had prepped well, this time.

Shorts, those were a thing and since they weren't traipsing through the mother fucking jungles of Peru advertised as vacation and fun.. she didn't need the pants she had forgotten last time, those were packed in her bag for later. Though, having Ducote fixing her legs up that first night had been absolutely worth one hundred percent all of the discomfort of the sharp leaves of the jungle cutting into her skin all day. That and she had pre-braided her long curls with their dark strands securely so that the curls wouldn't become something once seen in the 1970s on Earth. She didn't need that kind of hair. Curls were already a fucking hot blanket on the back of your neck. Working in the cool and temperate areas of Starfleet they never bothered her much. In the Central Hub of Hell, also known as Brazil, she found that it was like wearing a fucking fur animal around your neck. She still remembered Ducote noticing her hair as soon as they had arrived in the Jungle. Laughing as she tried to get her curls under control.

This however, was not a Hellfest of the jungle. This was a completely different affair. This was their third, by her count, visit to Ducote's parents. The first had been rough. There was Captain Ducote, who was practically straight backed with the Starfleet Logo up his ass so far it shimmered out of his eye sockets. He didn't like her, her rap sheet alone made her unworthy though Blue was used to that shit. Never once had she allowed anyone to tell her if she was worthy or not because honestly, she didn't give a shit. She didn't want Ranaan to have any ill effects of choosing to date her.

Things had warmed up over time but this visit was a big one. Ranaan looked back at her as they walked through the flavorful streets of the city. Once they hit the Ducote residence they didn't tend to leave. Blue found just about any project she could find, and they tried to soak up all their time with the family that they could. They didn't always get a lot of time to spend with his family and Blue certainly didn't have any. He thrust a bag of something in her hands. Saying that she would like it. Her dark brow rose on her pale forehead. She always left Brazil with a burn while Ducote sported a beautiful golden tan.

The lucky mother fucker.

“You know if they taste like shit I'm going to spend the rest of our journey throwing them at the back of your head, right?” she said as she dipped her pale Engineer's fingers into the bag and pulled out the small treat.

Popping it in her mouth as they continued down the street the sweet flavor of chocolate filled her mouth. She shared a bit of a grin with her sweet Ranaan. Only he knew her well enough to know when she was actually mad, or when she was just joking. When she was giving him shit, purely because she could. They walked, snacked, and chatted as they made their way through the bustling city to the beautiful towering bungalows that were stacked upwards instead of out. Allowing a smaller footprint for more people. There were beautiful gardens, not that Blue liked that sort of thing. Honestly, she didn't mind sitting in the Ducote's garden but when it came to average life she couldn't give two shits about a flower.

It wasn't long before they wound their way over towards the Ducote residence. He thumbed open the gate and the pair entered the property. Blue's eyes cast around, noticing the height of the trees and the well kept grass. She was honestly looking to see if there was a single blade out of place. Because, anything, to jab at Daddy Ducote with was a joy to her life. There was a game a foot, and she truly enjoyed every minute of it. She and Erich found themselves liking one another in their own way. They had settled into an odd rhythm. Though it also helped that Ratella and her son shared the exasperated sighs of 'why had they chosen such stubborn lovers' but in a way she was pretty sure that they were just happy they had made peace with one another.

The door slid open and out burst Ratella screaming back at the house for Erich to come back. She slipped slightly behind Ranaan as his mother descended on the both of them. Speaking to her first. Blue slid her arms around Ran's arm softly and held it to her chest a grin playing on her lips. “Ah well if you don't take him away from the Captain's side he's never any fun. Besides, he knows I'll kick his ass.” she shrugged and smiled warmly at the woman.

Few people in Blue's life had ever seen her experience such a smile, they were all standing outside this house. The others were disowned or dead. Blue saw Ratella's hope for a hug in her arms and face and she stepped out to hug the woman. Letting it last for as long as she could stand. Blue was not a big hugger, they were very rare but she understood that Ratella enjoyed doing this and felt that she was bridging the gap to Blue's heart in this manner. Blue loved falling into Ranaan's arms, they were her safe place, her favorite place to be, and the place she slept every night. Other than that, it was just not something she gave out. The hug was just long enough that Blue didn't cringe though Ratella would be able to easily figure out Blue's threshold.

Ran talked about the trees and Blue's eyes shifted to the man finally coming out of the small home. Blue couldn't help but quirk her lips in a grin. Though she could hear Ratella sigh, because never was their game over. She had a feeling that since her last visit when she had fixed everything she could find that was remotely loose, squeaky, or in need of repair that Erich had done it himself this time in the hopes that he could thwart her busy body needs. Last few times she had been there, Erich had been in his Captain's uniform pips and all. When he was like that he very much preferred to be called Captain, so just to piss around with the fucker she had worn her own uniform today. Pips and all.

Erich's eyes, so reminiscent of Ranaan's lit her up and down. A frown turning his lips just slightly as her own quirked up. “Hello, Erich.” she fought to keep the smirk off her face. Blue was highly talented at schooling her face. Still, it was a challenge.

His eyes dropped to her collar and read the pips that lay there. “Lieutenant Commander.” he said inclining his head. Before looking over at Ratella as if to say, I told you so.

“I brought some supplies incase you need some maintenance done around here.” she told Ratella, who smiled at her, but Erich jumped in.

“I think we're all fine here, Commander.” he stated swallowing heavily, clearly not enjoying that he had to go by rank today.

“I'm sure something was missed.” Blue said quickly.

“Turned anyone blue lately?” he shot back at her.

“Not today, but then, I just got here.” She grinned back at him, noticing the light in his eyes that tended to come when they were teasing each other heavily.

Ratella cleared her throat. “How about some juice and some snacks.”

“I'm hungry.” Blue admitted with a shrug, she always was when she wasn't busy. It was getting her off a project long enough to eat that plagued poor Ranaan. The snacks on the way were good, and she would try to get some on their way back out to take back home with her. But, right now, she was eager for some good food and juice. The more sugar the better.

Ratella chuckled and gave a nod. Blue reached up to brush a stray bang out of her face and behind her ear. Even secured tightly in a braid, her hair had a mind of it's own and over the course of the day would likely defiantly worm it's way out of the tight confines. Though at least for now, it was still up enough not to be a hot blanket. The sunlight shimmered across the blue engagement band that encircled her left ring finger. The meteorite material in the central ring, flanked by the blue steel, caught the sun brightly for just a moment.

Suddenly, Blue's hand was snatched out of the air before she could even think twice about it. Apparently Ratella is a mother fucking ninja in her fucking off time. she thought to herself as Ratella examined the ring.

“Well Ranaan Ducote, you finally did it! Tell me! How did it go down? What did he do?! I'm dying to know!” she exploded in questions and Blue turned bright red.

“Uh well... abou.. well I mean... it wasn't exactly.”

Ratella stood up straight, still holding Blue's hand in her own. Her eyes bore into her son's face. “You're not, serious.”

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #2 – September 13, 2018, 10:42:09 PM

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

He had to admit, Blue's hair looked good in a plait. Though even assuming it was his place to ask, asking her to wear it like that more often would be pointless twofold; she would tell him to take a long walk out of a short airlock, and even if she agreed, she'd likely forget in pursuit of the next tinkering project anyway. And besides, if he were to tell the complete truth, he'd admit to thinking Blue looked good most ways. His mother had a simpler way to put it, usually managing not to roll her eyes while doing so: Ranaan was smitten.

The uniform... well, he took a perverse joy in needling his father, too. Especially when he earned it. Though he could sense Blue's growing discomfort, wearing mostly-black as she was, soaking up the tropical sun.

Ratela was quick off the mark, though, never one to miss a personal detail as she was. It was a trait that both served her well in the diplo corps and made it a nightmare to get anything past her.

"You're not serious."

He chuckled, a little awkwardly himself, and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while he held up his other briefly to show his own ring (which he was still getting used to wearing). It was strikingly similar to Blue's ring, despite them obviously not having collaborated on what they would be getting - the base was Damascus steel rather than blue, and the inlay was rosewood instead of meteorite. Otherwise, the setting and ratios were almost identical. It was eerie. More than one fit of self-deprecating laughter had been had about it.

"Yeah, we are... Let her go, ma," he said with a smile. His bag nearly slipped off his shoulder, so he took it in his hand instead. "Shall we go inside? Blue's making me sweat in this heat," he said.

Once inside the shade of the house, bags deposited on a couch for now, the four of them sat on stools in the kitchen while Erich got a jug of orange juice from the refrigerator unit and poured their drinks. Blue slid her hand into his, then pulled his hand into her lap. Ranaan smiled as he swilled the ice around his glass, choosing a place to start the story.

"We were at Starbase... Three Thirty Two to refit the sensor array for a planned upgrade, arrange transfers.. the usual. Anyway, we managed to catch a shift pattern where we both finished work at the same time for once, and Blue made some comment about... what was it?" He sipped to give himself room to think back. "'Not having to do everyone else's bullshit when we're settled down and moved in', I think it was," he looked sidelong at her with a twinkle in his eye.

Erich snorted, though somehow not unkindly. Ratela radiated an excited sort of impatience.

"Anyway," Ranaan continued, "it reminded me of something I'd planned to do a while back. I even had an evening planned for it at the time, but then we had a problem with a visiting delegation denting the back wall of the shuttle bay when they arrived and- ah, never mind. It slipped my mind completely. The comment about being settled down as if it was a forgone conclusion made something click. I ran to the sock drawer where I'd hidden the thing, and grabbed the first box I found. I opened it to check and saw a ring I hadn't met before.

"Then Blue starts laughing her ass off at me. Still don't know how she kept the secret..." he shook his head, suppressing another chuckle. "We ended up swapping rings with zero pomp and ceremony at all, replicated tacos for dinner, and watched Princess Bride. Great success overall, I'd say."

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #3 – September 17, 2018, 06:07:43 PM

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Hot as Hell | Burning my Biscuits | Family is Made not Given | Brazilian Boogaloo]
@Top Hat

Tell me there is climate control inside.. and I'm not halucinating but remembering this shit properly.

Ranaan was a trooper, mostly because he could tell how much picking on Erich was making her suffer. At the same time, it was totally worth the look on his face as he had to call her Commander while she didn't have to call him Captain. The fucker deserved it. He had a good heart, she thought so anyway, he was just so used to the stick ramrodded up his overly tight asshole that he didn't seem to know the meaning of the word relax. He couldn't have been all bad, Ratela had married him afterall and she was a stand up woman. Never asked the hard questions. Never prodded Blue about her life previous to coming into the Fleet. She likely could feel the pain that resonated deep in her soul much like Ranaan could.

Inside the brush of cool air was pure heaven. Who the fuck wants to live in virtual hell anyway? One of the many fucking reasons I don't go home to Houston, ever. Blue would change soon as she could but she didn't want to book it upstairs immediately and prove her discomfort to the man she had come to tease. Whatever relationship they had going on, she quite enjoying poking and prodding at him and suspected that he was exactly the same. They headed for the kitchen and Erich went to the fridge to grab the juice Ratela had mentioned earlier. Blue perched herself on the stool next to Ducote and stole his hand for her own devices. Pulling it into her lap as he began to tell his mother the story of how everything had gone down.

At the mere mention of the delegation denting the wall of HER fucking shuttle bay she rolled her eyes. “I hated those mother fuckers, they could have fucked off a whole lot sooner than they did.” she told them with a sigh. Eliciting a sigh from the captain, he was not a fan of her cursing nor was he a fan of the brash way she tended to talk. He had seen her softer moments here and there during their last visit but it had been very brief. She fell quiet to let Ducote finish his telling of how it all happened. How he went to the drawer and found a ring, but it wasn't the ring he had bought, and then it all made sense.

“You ate tacos. And watched an ancient movie.” Erich reitterated a bit in shock.

Blue wondered briefly if he had ever even had a romantic bone in his body or if he just tossed a ring at Ratela one day and was like, 'I'm Captain Ducote and now you're Mrs. Captain Ducote, okay? I've officiated my own wedding because I'm a Captain. Congratulations.' At least that was how Blue saw it going down. He was pretty sure that he likely was the sort that ironed his fucking underwear every morning with half a can of starch.

“We watched Princess Bride on our first date.” Blue chimed in. Ratela's face softened at the knowledge of this, that while neither she nor Ranaan were particularly romantic, she less so than he, that they had done it very much in their own way. Tacos were something Blue loved and they had shared a meal together which was also particularly rare.

Blue looked over at Ran and smiled. There was nothing but absolute love in her eyes. While it was very difficult for her to actually say those words, even now, they came out occasionally and she knew that he could feel her love for him even if she didn't say it outloud all that often. He wasn't overly exuberant about it either. They supported each other, and trusted each other, and leaned on each other. He was always there. After every fight, after every bad decision, every rough night. Every time she thought he would run away, that this was it, this time he finally wouldn't return to her. He always did. Always. It took time for her to start trusting that he would. The abandonment of her parents at such a young age had scarred the small girl that still hide, pained, inside Blue. Because of Ranaan she was much different, stronger, and more secure than she had ever been in her life. Leaning over she kissed his cheek softly before pulling back catching Erich pulling on his collar. Adjusting it as though he was uncomfortable with the situation.

“Blue, do you think perhaps your fa-” A glare that could literally set a man on fire came from Ratela and Erich cut off his sentence mid-way before suddenly becoming very thirsty and quickly began to consume his orange juice. Blue looked down for a moment at her own juice, still untouched, and swirled it around just a little bit. She should drink, she had certainly sweated enough outside in their walk to warrant it.

“I was thinking.” Blue said looking up with a quick subject change. “I'd like to do dinner tonight, if that's okay?”

“It's stir fry ni-” a grunt punctuated the end of his sentence and he glared at his wife for a moment, the second time in as many minutes he had been cut off from his sentence. “Ah, right. I'm sure Ratela could use a night off.”

“Yes, because replicating food is so complicated not even you can do it.” she said rolling her eyes expressively causing Blue to chuckle.

“I would love for you to do that, Blue, thank you.” Ratela said smoothly.

“Speaking of replicators.” Erich dove in with a devilish grin. “You fixed it last time you were here.”

“Yeah it was shit. That's why.” she said with a shrug.

“Right well since then it's been squeaking when we use it.”

Ratela rose her brow in curiosity because it's the first she had heard of it, though... she wondered if that was what he was up to last night when he was up late.

“Squeaking?” Blue asked for clarification.

“Yes, I think something you did was wrong.”

Blue looked like she had been shot for a moment, her shoulders straightened. “That isn't possible.” she stated as calmly as she could.

Erich shrugged.

Blue slid out of her chair and crossed the kitchen to the replicator. She squatted down so that she was on eye level with it and tilted her head to the side studying it as though it was new. It wasn't, something she hadn't seen before but she wanted to study it anyway. She leaned over and grabbed her bag from where Ducote and put it down and pulled it close. Opening it, she reached in and pulled out her messenger bag. She never went anywhere without it, and Ranaan shouldn't have been surprised, she began to get her tools out and got to work.

“Honestly Blue, it's fine, I don't actually know what noise he's talking about. And even if there is a noise we have maintenance crews for that.” Ratela tried, giving Erich a look that said he was going to get it later.

“Maintenance crews are shit. You need an Engineer and luckily you have one in the fami-” she stopped herself from finishing that sentence. Her shoulders were tense, and Ratela's face showed the softeness and fondness she had for Blue. Before they knew it Blue had the replicator screen off and to the side and wires hanging out.

“What in the seven fucks is this even doing in here.” she pulled out a pair of tweezers with a long reach and slid them in to grab up a small piece of metal that had been crammed underneath the coolant fan and buffer assembly.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #4 – September 24, 2018, 11:08:38 PM

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

"Blue, do you think perhaps your fa-"

His mother's was not the only glare to pierce his father at that. Ranaan's initial mental spike of furious 'back off' he managed to get a handle on, before he said anything unwise or his mother ended up presiding over yet another failed family meeting. But it was replaced by a lower, simmering anger. Erich should know. He dug into Blue's entire service jacket after the first time Ranaan had let slip she had just finished a disciplinary... what, just after they had started dating each other seriously.

Blue's jacket specifically declared "Not Stated" where one's parents would be normally listed. It was unusual, though not unheard of, to enter the Academy that way, completely without next-of-kin. If nothing else, so they had somewhere to send news of graduation and awards, et cetera. He didn't for one minute think that Erich's digging would have stopped there, though. It would be trivial to go to her hometown's census and find them. And just how long it had been since she left them.

The fucker-

~Ranaan.~

His mother's voice sounded in his head as Blue offered to make dinner. Before he could wind himself up any further. ~Please,~ she said. ~This is a good-news-day.~

Almost imperceptibly, he nodded his acquiescence, even though she didn't need to see one. As if on cue, though, Erich taunted Blue again about her repair job on the replicator. He narrowed his eyes, suppressing the exasperated sigh that fought to escape him. If he could tell Erich was lying - probably having introduced the 'squeak' himself or just plain making it up - then Ratela certainly could. Honestly, there is no pettier man in the galaxy than you when you want to be, he aimed at his father in a sort of l'esprit de l'escalier internal monologue.

Ranaan drained the rest of the juice from his glass while he tried to ignore his father's antics. He reached for the jug to refill while Blue stripped the replicator in record time.

"What in the seven fucks is this even doing in here," she asked, holding aloft a shard of metal.

"Good going, Dad," he said before engaging the filters again. Erich's look of feigned innocence wouldn't have fooled a Pakled child, let alone a pair of telepaths. At least there was no real trace of actual malice he could detect from his father... just gross misjudgement.

"Oh come on," the older Ducote grumbled. "Just a bit of fun. Right, Blue?" Ranaan looked at Ratela, while Erich forged on. "Ah, what were you thinking for dinner, anyway?"

The question went some way to proving that Erich was not, in fact, an idiot, and occasionally took the cues his diplomat spouse threw at him now and again. Though watching him flounder was personally entertaining for Ranaan, and at least showed it was possible to unsteady the tyrant (out of uniform, anyway), there were other things to be done.

"I'll take the bags up; back in a minute," he said, standing. ~Don't kill my dad, Trouble. Not til tomorrow, anyway..~ He pretended not to hear Ratela's sigh, before the conversation picked up again a little behind him.

The late afternoon sun cut glowing ribbons through the hallways of his old home, as he carried his and Blue's packs to his room to get them out of the way and make sure it would be tidy - though, of course, there was no mess to be found given he didn't live here any more and there had been enough warning for his parents to freshen the place in anticipation of their arrival this time. The decorations, much like his quarters on the Endeavour, were the austere end of minimalist, but he did spot the fuzzy comforter that was folded neatly across the foot of his bed.

Great. I'm gonna be picking strands of that out of my teeth for days.

Bags deposited, he made his way back downstairs as the conversation bubbled its way up the hall to meet him.

"- how many kinds of macaroni cheese?" Erich asked, looking concerned. Ratela was trying not to laugh.

Ranaan paused mid-stride, before breaking into a bemused sort of smile as he took his seat and reached for his glass again. "What did I miss?" he asked, looking enquiringly at Blue.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #5 – October 02, 2018, 04:36:17 PM

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Fixing Idiocy | You Don't Win | Should Know Better | Mac & Cheese is Totally a Food Group]
@Top Hat

The piece of metal was carefully placed to the side. Blue quickly put the replicator back together, a civilian unit like this was honestly child's play for someone that had basically memorized all the ins and outs of far more complicated models. So within a few minutes at most the whole thing was back together and working just fine. She took the piece of metal and leaned over placing it in front of Erich with a bit of a grin. “Just incase you might need this fucker later. Wouldn't want you to lose something inside the replicator again.” Her grin deepened as she moved around the counter back towards where Ducote was sitting.

Just as she sat down, he rose, and mentioned taking the bags upstairs for them. She nearly rose to go with him, but his mental voice entered her mind and she remained seated. There was only one person in the entire world that could call her Trouble and make it an endearing comment somehow. She blushed slightly, only because, she figured his mother could hear her little nickname as well. But, she didn't give two shits who could hear, it was something that was special between the two of them. Ranaan was something special, someone special, and he was the only one this far that had even dared to scratch the surface of Blue Tiran. What he had found beyond her shields had apparently been worth it.

Her eyes sought his out, and she gave him a quick 'no promises' look, and an unapologetic hug. He never truly expected her to be anything other than what she was. It was one of the many things that she loved about him and how quickly he had won her over. She had, truthfully, been starved for friendship and companionship. But, it wasn't desperation that had turned them into more than friends it was that he took her seriously. Saw beyond her foul mouth. Supported her always, no matter what piss poor decisions she made. And she, in turn, was a highly loyal girlfriend. She always stood beside him and supported him when she could. Bitched about the ship with him and enjoyed finding little pockets of time that he forcefully drug her away from her current projects for movies and food.

She turned her attention from the retreating form of Ranaan. Love that man's ass in civilian clothes... she thought whistfully to herself as she brushed another unruly curl out of her face.

“Dinner, Lieutenant Commander, you stated you were cooking but haven't said what.” Erich reitterated tapping on the counter between them to get her attention.

Sharp blue eyes shifted over to the man and stared straight through him for a moment. He wasn't really phased, he had dealt with unruly officers in his life before, but Blue was a bit above many of them when it came to the bravado she carted around with her. “I'm only really good at replicating one kind of food.”

“Well you're from Texas so I'm expecting a full barbeque experience.” Erich admitted with a shrug of his shoulder.

She wasn't phased that he knew her origins. He had probably done at least sixteen different background checks on her, talked to all her previous Captains, requested the security feed of all her indiscretions, and more that she hadn't even thought of.

“Uh. Yeah, no. I never learned how to do any of that shit.” she said with a shrug of her shoulder. Not that she was actually sorry about it, she had actually lived on very little variety as a kid.

Erich furrowed his brow. “Then what is it?”

“I'm making Mac and Cheese. You know there are at least twelve worth while kinds to try?” Blue asked curiously.

“How many kinds of Macaroni cheese?” he asked in shock.

“Well I'm not going to make all twelve there are only four of us that would be a gross waste of good food. So I'm thinking a small selection of six different ones.”

Ranaan came back in the room with a grin on his face. Blue, at this point was leaning against the counter, still in her uniform, and very much enjoying the shocked look on Erich's face. She grinned at Ran when he asked what was going on, her eyes sparkled slightly with the fun she was having. Fucking with Erich was one of her most favorite pass times. As was getting Brig'd and having fun discussions with Ducote when he came to inquire about what happened this time.

“Just telling Pops here about our dinner of Mac and Cheese.” she said with a shrug.

“Pops!?” Erich burst out. Blue's grin deepened, you could quite see the discomfort on his face as he puzzled what he should do about referring to such a moniker at the moment.

“I could come up with something more derogatory?” Blue offered, hiding a chuckle behind a sip of orange juice. She was rather enjoying herself at the moment.

Ratela just shook her head, probably unsure how she ended up with three stubborn, hard headed, officers in the same house at the same time. “Blue,” Ratela burst in before Erich could come back with whatever nasty comment was spooling up in his mind. “why don't you change into something more comfortable. I could actually use your help in the garden.”

Blue's brow rose, and her expression turned from one of humor to one of curiosity. “Well I don't mind helping but just so you know I killed a plastic tree once. I'm not good with things that.. need actual care.” she said with a shrug of her shoulder. She put her drink down, it was mostly empty. Just a bit of orange tint at the bottom and looked back at Ranaan.

Ratela smiled comfortingly. “Don't worry.”

Blue smirked and gave a nod heading up the stairs to take off her uniform. She had been hot anyway and if they were going out to the garden she would bake. Changing quickly she pulled on a pair of cut off denim shorts and a simple tank top. Nothing fancy. Leaving her hair in a braid as she headed back down. Already, she felt better, at least this time she could wear her fucking shorts. Not like the fucking jungles of Peru. That was a memo that hadn't been read... though.. having Ran patching up her legs every night definitely made the pain of the cutting grass worth it all. The thought of those memories pulled at her heart and she gave him a soft kiss on the way back through to head out with Ratela into the garden. Leaving the boys alone to their own devices.

“Don't kill each other, it'll be too fucking messy and I'm not in the mood to mop!” she called behind her shoulder as she headed into the bright Brazilian sunshine with Ratela.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #6 – October 08, 2018, 10:50:21 PM

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

"Pops?!"

Ranaan belly-laughed before he could stop himself, unable not to enjoy Blue's own amusement at his father's discomfort - though he did feel a wave of gentle admonishment from his mother. It was hardly the first time she had to watch as her husband and child enjoyed prodding each other. It must be difficult; he knew his parents loved each other, easy as looking at them over the table. His empathy saw to that. But he had never, outside early childhood, wondered how they fell together. His father was a tyrant and a narcissist, and that was that. Ratela had told him more than once that his adamant dismissal was immature.

Before the situation could descend any further and spoil dinner before it began, his mother spirited Blue away in what was somewhere between a subtle move and a blunt one. While his partner (fiancée!) went to change, he sighed and drained the last of his juice. Erich sat for a moment in the new quiet, before refilling his own glass.

"You sure do pick 'em, Ranaan..." Erich began. "She's hardly the model officer," he continued. "Little respect, more marks in her jacket than I've ever seen in someone who's never been in a stockade, and her profanity..."

The younger man suppressed a sigh. "Plenty of respect for the competent," Ranaan replied, wincing as he picked up the affront Erich felt at the apparent second-hand insult, even if he hadn't meant it as one. "She's one of the most gifted roboticists in the fleet, and..." he held up a hand as he felt Blue coming back this way on her way to join Ratela by the garden doors.

She leaned in to kiss his cheek, and he managed to land one in return before she swept off. "Don't kill each other, it'll be too fucking messy and I'm not in the mood to mop!" she ordered.

"No danger!" he called back, smiling for a moment before turning back to his father, his expression sobering again. "... And her profanity is mere punctuation. When she swears at you, you'll know it."

"It just isn't-"

"Give it a rest, Dad. I'm tired of defending her to you. You're not her CO, you're not in her chain of command, and my personal life is outside your jurisdiction."

"The hell it isn't. She's apparently joining this family now, carrying my name?" Erich shook his head, greying hair catching the afternoon light. Ranaan just blinked. "Emelia "Sweary" Ducote?"

"One: it would be Blue Ducote, if anything. Second: we hadn't got as far as discussing names, but I imagine 'Tiran' is probably staying. Thirdly: what the fuck. This is not about you." He released his grip on his glass before he crushed the thing, and wiped the gathered condensation on his pant leg. "I live in perpetual amazement at the depths of pettiness to which you will sink. I suppose Blue isn't the only one who's lucky career advancement isn't solely limited to social interactions?"

That provoked a rise, certainly. Erich aimed a finger at Ranaan. "I have worked damn hard my entire life to be useful to Starfleet and the Federation. Your mother the same. You can't comp-"

"Ah yes, the famously-lazy Blue Tiran is going to spoil your good name. Of course. The woman who has to be reminded to stop working to eat food doesn't work hard. Alright."

~Good grief, I can hear you two all the way from down here,~ Ratela pinged him from the little grove of orchard trees at the foot of their garden, annoyed that she had been distracted from her chat with Blue. ~You were instructed not to kill each other, remember?~

Ranaan took a deep breath, and held up his hands palm-outward in a placatory gesture. "Look. She's a superlative engineer. All she needed was a chain of command - and I'm including Captain Amasov here, because he signed off on that transfer too and has yet to tell her to find gainful employment elsewhere - willing to give her half a chance to prove herself. I am in no doubt that you have noticed that the frequency of her infractions is way down now that she has a little latitude?"

Grudgingly, Erich nodded. "Alright then. If that isn't enough - I love her, Dad. She's always there, whenever I need her. And since- since the bombing on one-forty-seven, she's one of the first people I've actually been able to open my empathy fully to. You know what they say - a Betazoid that doesn't 'hear' anyone else goes mad, psychotic. Maddening as she can be, she keeps me sane."

He could tell that Erich didn't get it. Or didn't want to. Whichever; same end result. He sighed, shaking his head. "Well, whatever. I'm gonna get a drink and go outside. Reckon if I leave you alone with the replicator for a while, you can manage not to fuck with it?"

The elder Ducote rolled his eyes before Ranaan replicated himself a caipirinha and wandered towards the garden. The sky was turning a golden orange, as tiny black forms betrayed gulls lazily turning circles on the thermals rising from the hills. The hybrid leaned against the frame of the open sliding door, sipping the cocktail as he took in the view. Despite his father's efforts, it was nice to be home.

Nicer to have Blue here to share it for a few days, too.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #7 – October 09, 2018, 08:40:11 PM

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Hard Labor | Heart to Heart | Part of a Family | Brazilian Bonding Rituals?]
@Top Hat

The sun was far too fucking bright. I left Texas for a reason. she thought to herself for a moment as she stepped out into the bright garden. It was a beautiful place if you actually liked outdoors. Blue was very much a creature of habit, she enjoyed being inside, temperature controlled, and natural lighting could get fucking bent. She had never been the sort to seek things out but then Ducote had been pushing her outside her interior comfort zone since they had met. Peru had been a test in every ounce of fucking patience that the woman had. Though the fact that Ranaan had been there and it was just the two of them and not a shit full of nosy mother fuckers that had nothing better to do than shadow them and turn information into the rumor mills. It had just been them and she felt that in many ways it had solidified their relationship much harder than anything else had done.

She still remembered, fondly, the way that they had met. But more than that, at the time they had been on different ships and until her transfer had gone through she had been away from him. The reunion had been hot and heavy, a massively deep kiss in front of his crew on the gang plank of his ship. Not a single second that she regretted either. She had claimed him as her own in front of every fucking one and it also served to prove to people that, she too, was not on the market. Not that anyone would usually touch her with a ten foot pole. She wasn't easily approachable. She had moments though as Ranaan could attest to.

“Would you mind doing some of the more physical labor for me?” Ratela's voice called Blue out of her thoughts as she realized that at some point they had stopped in front of a large bare spot. Sitting there were a few different small trees, Blue had no fucking clue what kind of trees they were, but they were trees. Green leaves, trunk, and in a pot of dirt. Couldn't get much more tree than that. Her eyes shifted to where some of the tools lay and Blue rose her brow.

“Don't fucking mind at all.” she gave a shrug and picked up the shovel. Testing the wood in her hand and grimaced. “This is a bit archaic isn't it? Wood for a handle. You know there are far better and more durable materials out there for handles.” she said looking over at the Betazoid.

“Yes, but that one has been in the family a long time.” Ratela chuckled softly. “I need three holes large enough for these pots to go into. I'm going to add onto the fruit trees.”

“Sure thing.” Blue stepped into the bed where the trees would be placed and her muscles worked underneath her pale skin as she slipped the metal lip of the shovel down into the ground and began to dig. Making a neat pile of dirt in the wheel barrow that was sitting to the side. So they could reuse the soil later.

Ratela shifted her head for a moment. “You've worked in a garden before.” she stated as Blue continued to work. Her muscles working as she moved. Sweat beaded on her pale skin already but she didn't make eye contact with the woman.

“It was a hobby. My mother's... not mine, as I said I don't fucking plant shit. Anyway... yeah.” she shrugged her shoulders, a pang hitting her heart heavily at the thought of her parents. One would think that the pain would go away at some point, being abandoned like that, but it didn't. Oh it dulled, and it wasn't nearly as sharp as it had been but it was still there. An ache, that came and went, and seemed to be deep and all consuming at the most random occasions.

“Ran will be angry if I make you sad.” Ratela said softly.

Blue chuckled softly. “Ranaan... “ she bit her lower lip trying to think of what she was going to say. How could you say .. Is more than I ever deserved. to his mother.

“You don't have to say it Blue. I can tell how you feel about him. Not just from you but from him too. Even if I wasn't Betazoid it's plain on your faces, even from the first time he brought you home.”

Blue rose her brow and then blushed and got back to digging. First hole done, she moved to the second and began again. “I'm still waiting, I think, for him to realize just how fucked up I am.” she admitted as she continued digging. Making eye contact would only make this so much harder. She wasn't good at conversations like this.

“He knows who you are deep inside, Blue. Anyone that gets to know you does.” she replied as she began to carefully cut the bag off the bottom of the tree so that it was just covered in burlap that would, over time, dissolve.

“Erich doesn't.” she said quickly. “I mean, I don't have super powers or any shit like that but I can tell he doesn't like me.” she said.

“Erich.” she sighed... “Hold that thought.” she went quiet for a moment and Blue couldn't help the grin as she assumed that she was giving shit to the men in the house .. that or she was trying to find words, but a moment later she was back in her mind again. “He doesn't like what he doesn't understand. You're different, but he knows you make Ran happy and we're glad for you to be part of our family.”

Blue stopped digging. Faltering slightly in the movement her hands slipped on the shovel. She felt the bite of a splinter but said nothing as she looked over at the woman finally. “What now?”

“Family, Blue. You have one.”

She shook her head. “No, the fuck, I do.” she said as she grabbed a hold of the shovel.

“You have us, Blue. Ranaan, your ship, your friends, and us.” she said as she stepped up and she put her hand on the sweaty shoulder of Blue Tiran. Blue's eyes shifted up to meet hers for a moment. She swallowed loudly.

“Family doesn't mean shit.” she said her voice heavy.

“It can. It should, Blue.” she smiled warmly and brushed a curl out of the Engineer's face. “You opened to Ran, in time, I hope you will open to us as well.”

Blue was quiet for a while as they continued to work. She helped Ratela putting the trees in the ground. They ended up being too heavy for the woman but Blue made fairly short work of them and then she helped fill the holes back in. Ratela brushed the sweat off her own forehead and tossed Blue a bottle water which she cranked open with a twist of her wrist before chugging the whole bottle as quickly as it would go down.

“You're the first woman he's brought home.”

“Well I'm really fucking glad that I wasn't drinking when you said that.” Blue said with a chuckle.

“You hide your emotions really well with your words. It's a talent I don't see all that often.” Ratela countered.

Blue grinned. “It's easier to keep all the nosy fuckers out of my business when I'm not saying a lot about myself.”

Ratela nodded. “You take good care of him, I can tell, there's a light in him now.”

Blue shifted uncomfortably. “He saved me in ways I didn't think I even needed to be saved.” she said as she looked at a distance across the garden and toyed with the cap of the water bottle in her hand.

“I think it goes both ways.”

Blue chuckled. “I don't really see how. I mean I did help him get rid of that stupid cane.”

Ratela laughed. “Well yes, but more than that. It's hard to describe but you fit well together.” she looked back at the house from where they stood and then back at Blue. “Welcome to the family, Blue.” she said as she gave Blue a gentle hug.

The young Engineer tensed and blushed heavily at the physical connection. “You know I'm so fucking sweaty right now, we could have waited until after bodily fluids were washed off before we did the physical affection test.”

Ratela chuckled. “I don't think we could have.”

Blue's arms slowly raised up and she wrapped them around Ratela for a moment. It took another moment but Ratela's smile would widen as she felt Blue relax and just find a center in her mind and heart for a moment. The wounded girl hadn't been hugged by a mother since she was in grade school. And while this wasn't her mom, she felt, for a moment that it could be. Maybe. One day. Ratela pulled back before the hug could get awkward and walked across to another bed this one in the brighter sun and full of rocks and cactus. She reached down and pulled a large piece off a cactus and handed it to Blue.

“It's aloe. Give it to Ran when you head back up. He'll know what it's for.”

Blue took the large triangular cactus before she gave a nod. “You don't need anything else?”

“You're good, go on up, I'll be up soon.” she said warmly as she gathered some of the trash she needed to recycle.

Blue nodded and headed back up to the house. She didn't realize that she was bright red. The Brazilian sun had, once again, done a number on her skin. Her shoulders, and exposed skin from her tank top, as well as her face were decently burned. She saw Ranaan up at the door way and she smiled. The smile that was reserved for him only as she came up to the house she gave him the aloe.

“Your mom said to give this to you. You'd know what it was for?” Blue shrugged not realizing yet, just how burned she was.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #8 – October 18, 2018, 10:43:46 PM

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

Ranaan couldn't help but answer Blue's smile as she walked up to him. It was a rare thing to see, in a life of sarcasm and evasion. And as she approached, he realised it wasn't just the reddening sunlight that tinged her skin. The hybrid suppressed a chuckle; while the worst that happened to him was turning progressively darker shades of brown, Blue stayed all but completely pale until her skin reached some tipping point and she turned into a mammalian lobster.

"Your mom said to give this to you. You'd know what it was for?"

He cleared his throat a little before grinning. "Yeah. Here; swap." Ranaan offered his drink before taking the aloe leaf. "My hands cold?" his grin turned shit-eating as he pressed the fingers that had been wrapped around the tumbler into her collarbone. Blue yelped and pushed his hand away.

"Aw you fucker," she said. "Shit's cold and wet."

"Sorry," he said, with perfect insincerity, then waved Blue inside into the shade of the sitting room. "Come on, turn around." One of his hands might be cold, but the aloe had at least been sitting in the sun. He smeared some of the sap on his fingertips before rubbing it into Blue's shoulders in small circles. "One day you'll remember your UV blockers to stay out there long enough to tan..." he said quietly as he worked the aloe into her skin. "And as much as we'd both enjoy a good rubdown," he smirked, "I just knew I was going to need to bring a regenerator on this trip. It's upstairs."

As he slipped past, his hand slid around the small of her back as she turned her head to look at him. So, seeing an opportunity, he left the last spot of aloe from his fingers on the tip of her nose. And then skipped out of her reach before she could punch him. He chuckled quietly before they got to his room.

"Legs, arms, shoulders, face... it's Peru all over again." Ranaan retrieved the regenerator and tested it before crouching down before Blue and relieving the deepening pinkness on her legs.

[ Ratela Ducote | Rocinha Neighbourhood | South Zone, Rio de Janeiro | Earth ]

The Betazoid diplomat spent a moment looking at a point somewhere beyond one of the corners in the ceiling. "They're in his room," she said, before looking back down at her husband as he cleared away the glasses and empty juice jug. Erich just shrugged, not feeling the need to speak. Idly, and not for the first time, she wondered if she were responsible for that habit. He had never been one for unnecessary words at the best of times, but he did seem to lean on her telepathy more than she felt he should.

"What happened in here?" she asked reasonably.

"He's a stubborn son of a bitch is what happened," Erich said without eye contact, mopping up the rings of condensation on the countertop with a cloth.

"I wonder where he could possibly have inherited that..."

The captain sighed, but made a bobbing motion with his head that matched the grudging acceptance in his mind. Ratela adjusted an imaginary fold in the hem of her shirt, patiently waiting for him to continue. She knew he would.

"He jumped down my throat because I didn't instantly get the right words. Again. Isn't he... y'know.."

She raised an eyebrow, enjoying the opportunity to poke. "One of 'those people'?"

Erich chewed his tongue for a second, suppressing a burst of frustration. "You know I didn't mean-"

"I know, I know. You're just an easy target." She sat placidly through the glare that earned. "You also know that he doesn't feel it worth his time to bother 'listening in' with you. You'll just have to make sure to use the right words next time."

"Oh, come-"

"Erich Ducote, that man is your son and you will reach him or you will answer to me." He looked at her for a long moment. He took a breath. "And no, I will not do it for you." Erich closed his mouth.

"Well, let's get dinner out of the way. They're here for a couple of days," he bargained. "I'll ask tomorrow."

Ratela flashed a bright smile. "Good enough for me, sweetheart."

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #9 – October 23, 2018, 09:43:46 PM

[Blue Tiran | The Sun is Evil | I Live in Space for Legit Reasons | Lobster Girl | Ouch]
@Top Hat

Blue traded the aloe leaf for the drink. About to sip at it before he touched her with his cold ass fingers. She glared at him as she told him that shit was wet and cold getting that shit eating grin in response. She loved Ducote for many reasons, including the way that he wasn't afraid to push her outside her comfort zone and joke with her. Most people would be terrified to do it but he had learned early on that Blue was mostly bark and no bite, but she could bite when she had to and if you backed her into a corner she could come out flying with teeth and claws ready. Still, she was glad for him being around even if she wanted to kick him in the knee. Old war injuries and what not pushed to the side, she had no problems popping him in the knee when he was being an asshole. Right now, she was contemplating it until he lead her into the sun room and told her to turn around.

The hiss that escaped her lips when the aloe hit her sunburn was rather loud. Like most people, she didn't realized she was even burned until she was out of the sun. The aloe was nice and cool on her shoulders and the way that his cool temperatured hands aided it was very comforting. But, she knew it wouldn't be just her shoulders that were bright red. He playfully teased her about UV blockers and staying out long enough to get tan one day.

“Hey, one, I didn't fucking know this was a garden adventure. Two, I have two colors, pasty and red. There is no in between, and three you probably wouldn't recognize me if I had a slight color about myself that wasn't just pissed-the-fuck-off-red.” she said quickly.

At the mention of a rubdown her smirk answered his own while he told her that he had brought the regenerator with him just instead. She rolled her eyes. While they were in their movement he dared to put the last bit of aloe on her nose. Her eyes narrowed and she lashed out kneeing him right in the thigh. She hadn't gone for the knee, this time but he knew the warning signs when he saw them. She wiped the end of her nose on her forearm, there was no cloth there because of her tank top, but she wiped it off anyway. He mentioned heading up the stairs.

“Sure, Dad.” she schlumped off after him up the stairs the picture of the sullen teenager all for show of course. She trudged up the stairs and into the bedroom that the Parents Ducote had decided to give them. She was surprised that this time they were able to stay together. The previous two times Mommy 'Cote had decided they needed to be in separate rooms, but it hadn't stayed that way for long because Blue had gotten awfully used to sleeping with the heartbeat and breathing of Ranaan beside her for months. She couldn't sleep without him, even with the addition of the furry blanket. Which, she was rather excited about seeing the furry blanket that was folded carefully on the end of the bed. Knowing Ranaan had been up here and not hidden it when he had the chance surprised her.

“If you wanted me naked there were other ways to do it.” she reminded him as she carefully took off her tank top and her shorts so that it would be easier to get all the burns. He began to fix her up so that she would look less lobster and more girl. He mentioned that it was like Peru again.

“You know, that wasn't my fault. You didn't mention we were going to the hot hub of hell not known as Texas.” she reminded him. “You said we were going into a jungle to go hiking. You didn't mention sharp plants, the fact that pants should be a thing, nor what happens to curls there!” she reminded him giving him another glare. She had loved every second of the fact that he had cured her legs every night from all the cuts that the sharp grass had given her in their hiking. But, she had wished that she had recalled him ever mentioning some kind of pants being required.

Ranaan stood up and began to heal her face, which had taken the brunt of the sun and was actually rather painful at the moment. But, the pain lessened as the regenerator did it's work. “Why don't you carry that fucker around in your pocket?” she asked him curiously as she rose her brow a bit of a grin on her face. She was already without her shorts and tank top and the sheen of sweat had become a dried crust on her body. Something that was really fucking annoying and something she needed to get off. The last thing she needed was to be chafed and he had promised her a night out. She wasn't going to let him get off of their date so easily. They never had time for dates. Holodecks, the occasional movie and Brazilian food, the lack of working at the same time... some of them under duress. Some of them required bribery. But in the end... a date hadn't been had since the actual first fucking time they had met.

She wasn't sure the arm wrestling contest she won in that bar counted.

“I'm going to rinse off.” her blue eyes flickered to his. “Want to join?” she grinned a bit, the empty glass was put over to the end table as she circled the bed towards the door that would lead to their bathroom. She paused at the door and looked over at him with a smirk. “You promised me a date. You might as well get cleaned up.” she called over her shoulder and turned on the water. Blue was the sort that took room temperature or just above kind of showers, but when Ducote joined her, which was only rarely, she cranked it up to what some would call 'warm' and Blue would call hot. Losing the rest of her clothing she stepped under the water waiting for the wince that would come from the sunburn coming into contact with the water but it never came.

Ranaan had done a good job. Tilting her head back into the spray she liberated her hair from it's braid and let it fall, straight, around her. The weight of the water taking the curls right out. This water felt like heaven compared to the outside heat. She was ready for the cooler temperatures of the evening.

“I don't think your dad likes me. Think that'll be a problem?” she laughed, though honestly, it bothered her a little. Only because she didn't want to be the thing that came between Ranaan and his father. She didn't really give a shit what he thought about her, but she didn't want Ranaan to constantly have to go up to bat for her. He did that enough in their day to day life with the blind fuckers that couldn't see past her language and to the person inside.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #10 – October 30, 2018, 01:03:10 PM

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

"I did mention bringing long pants... but you got me on the curls." Ranaan shrugged and grinned. "I didn't know. But hey, all that quality time making sure you didn't bleed to death overnight, right?"

The expression on her face as she tilted it up towards him so he could see it better to run the regenerator over it brought another smile to his face. He could almost feel her facial muscles relax as her skin was eased of its burns, and the look of spreading relief was pretty close to her face when she slept. Cute, he thought. Not that telling her that tended to produce much more of a reaction than whatever soft object (and there were usually many in his quarters by now, to his chagrin) being thrown at him across the room.

"Why don't you carry that fucker around in your pocket?"

"I might just start..." he said, quite content to stand a foot away from her while she was out of most of her clothes. "You know. For the next time you spot the sun through a window." He took the smack on the arm that earned him with another shit-eating grin. For his own part, he was already turning a darker shade; no doubt he would have a terrible t-shirt tan before long.

Blue turned away towards his en-suite, with an invitation. As he heard the water start to run, he ditched his shirt and was already unbuttoning his pants. It would, after all, be rude to refuse the request of a guest in his own home. He had a minor hangup that his father was in the house, but it wasn't as if he would sense (telepathically, anyway) what was going on, and his mother wouldn't mind. The Betazoid brand of alloyed openness/discretion had its advantages.

Leaving his own clothes in a pile outside the bathroom door, he slipped in and closed it behind him.

"I don't think your dad likes me. Think that'll be a problem?"

For a mad instant, Ranaan nearly bothered replying. His father was a problem, but that was like saying the ocean was damp. You just worked around it. Instead, he reached out as he stepped into the cubicle with her, fingertips brushing against her bare skin. He kissed her urgently after she turned towards him, his hands holding her hips against his as her arms snaked around his neck. The water was warm, by Blue's standard, though he imagined neither of them would pay it much mind soon enough.

He reached down, and in one movement (and more than a little grateful for the highly-effective anti-slip coating on the base of the shower unit) he picked her off the floor, eliciting a giggle and a most un-Blue-like squeal as he planted his hands against the wall, her legs hooked over his arms as he leaned in to kiss her again.

One of the things Blue made sure to make full use of at most opportunities was an empathic lover.

Once they had taken the time to actually shower and had dried off with the shower's sonic setting, they dressed again in his room. Free from sunburn and rimed sweat. Ducote sat on the edge of his bed as Blue re-braided her hair, and avoided paying any attention to the fuzz-blanket left there by, no doubt, his traitorous mother. Smiling faintly, still riding the post-coital high, he pulled Blue into his lap.

"Leave Erich to Ma and me," he said, kissing her shoulder. "I know he bothers you. God knows, he bothers me," he said, with a mirthless huff of wry humour. "He's actually behaving pretty well, believe it or not."

He smirked a little, as he studied her face in close-up. Given how much of the time she spent either working on a project, on-duty, or otherwise engaged, he didn't get nearly as much of an opportunity to see her be close by, relaxed, and still as he might like. But he suspected that the Blue who would do more of those things would also be a different person, so he simply savoured the chances he did get. "I don't know about you, but I worked up a bit of an appetite just now. Shall we go back to scaring my dad with the wondrous world of macaroni cheese varieties?"

Ranaan stole another kiss. Just a quick one. Seemed a waste not to, with her face just there and all.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #11 – November 09, 2018, 08:38:01 PM

[LCdr Blue Tiran | Mac & Cheese is a Food Group | Noodle Gods | Brazilian Mac]
@Top Hat

The shower had been fucking amazing. There were many benefits to dating a Betazoid, of half as he liked to consistently remind her. Whatever his fraction was, she rather enjoyed all the perks that came with it. It wasn't even just the sex, which was mind blowing at the best of times, and earth shattering on the other days, it was the fact that he could read her mood as before she got in the room. He could tell how to handle her, learned her fears, and his insecurities before she could even say them out loud. Fuck she hadn't even told him she loved him out loud the first time. She had been working up to it. And then, he just, knew. And that was the best part for a woman that was shit at emotions. She did love him, he was her world, and she could occasionally work up the nerve to actually say such things to him without sounding like a complete fucking idiot.

After the shower, she sat on the edge of the bed in her jeans and a simple tank top. The skin on her body was healed now, she was feeling rather loving at the moment in her post-shower high, and her fingers glid through the still wet curls almost effortlessly to tame them into a braid. It would be temporary because her hair, like it's owner, had a mind of it's fucking own. It would never stay in the braid for long but she liked to try.

He pulled her into his lap as she finished tying the end of the braid. A smile played on her faces, and for the short time here with him she was completely open to him. Her eyes shimmered with her love for him, that reflected the emotions he surely felt within her. He leaned in and told her that she didn't need to worry about his father that he and Ratela would have him in line. “He hasn't, actually, and I do so enjoy fucking with him. There was nothing quite so satisfying as the moment he realized I was in uniform earlier.” she admitted with a dark grin, a bit of mischievousness that had always had a large and wide streak running within the Blue-haired engineer.

He pecked her lips after describing his hankering for her Mac & Cheese buffet. A wide smile played on her lips. She leaned in and kissed him again. Kissing him slow and long. Not enough to stir anything just to savor that moment before all the shields went up. They would, they both knew it, and they were used to it. So she, too, savored the moment of kissing him before she broke it carefully. A sigh escaped her lips.

“Next leave, we should go on a trip unrelated to family.” she whispered softly. Peru had nothing but amazing memories and she could not wait to see where they went next.

Finally, Blue closed her eyes and let out a long breath. Shields up, armor in place, ready to rock and fucking roll. Blue rose from his lap and pulled her arms up over her head. Hands clasped she tilted one way, then the other, resounding the loud crack of popping the joints in her shoulders before letting them drop back to her sides. The muscular arms still held definition even though they weren't being actively used. As much shit as she ate; twinkies, Mac & Cheese, and energy drinks, she was actually in remarkable shape due to her high metabolism and her frequent use of the gym to keep from punching fuckers in the face. Blue leaned over to the side of the bed and opened the bag she carried with her everywhere. She wasn't even sure she had told Ducote the importance of the bag, but he knew that it was something precious to her. Inside though, was another thing that was precious, Albert. His metallic visage came into view as she pulled him out and powered him on. Of course, he hadn't been left behind.

Chirp chirp, chirp.

“Welcome to Brazil, Albert.” she grinned and headed towards the door with Ran in tow.

They headed down the stairs. Their footfalls much softer on the stair treads now without the boots and shoes. Downstairs they found that the kitchen was empty and Ratela and Erich, it seemed had stepped out into the garden. There was a small shed out there, the doors open to the Brazilian evening light she could see there was an overhead light on and she could see the form of Erich bent over some kind work. From here she couldn't tell what it was but he seemed to be working on it very carefully.

“You think he needs help?” she wondered and looked over Ranaan. He gave her that one-eye brow stare that told her 'you have to ask'?

It was true, he would never let her help him with anything and that was fine. She knew he thought his son deserved better. He wasn't wrong. She thought he deserved a whole lot fucking better than her too. But, if he was going to slum it with the bitch of the Endeavour then that was fine with her because she had never felt this way with anyone in her life. He had reached into her soul and found the cracks in her armor, pulling out the damaged girl from inside and helped make her so much more solid. She could never thank him enough for seeing her, finding her, and helping to heal her. She was certain that never would the damage her parents had done be fully healed but he had made her into a much better person.

Blue turned to the replicator and put Albert next to it on a nearby table.

“Albert, I need you to find the recipes for Mac and Cheese, file.”

Chirp.

She waited for a minute. As Albert worked on accessing the files on the PADD that was back upstairs. Finally, there was a chime, and the recipes filed into the replicator adding them to the files that had already been saved. This way, later, they would not only have a BLUE WAS HERE tag, but they would also have the deliciousness of mac and cheese any way that they wanted to. She thumbed through the menu that was now downloaded she picked out six different kinds to get them to try out of the near thirty different ones that were available.

There was your standard Mac. A delicious concocotion of a single cheese, noodles, and some milk to make it creamy. There was the crusted mac, which was a three cheese medley sprinkled liberally with bread crumbs that 'baked' to a crispy crust on top. Additionally, there was another that was a creamy six cheese medley. She figured that protein might go over well so she picked one that had a bit of ham, mixed in with the noodles and cheese. There was a completely white mac and cheese made with only white cheese. Lastly, there was one that was actually made out of vegetables, zuchini noodles, instead of any actual noodles and blasted with enough cheese to clog arteries sufficiently.

The smell of cooked noodles, liquid cheese, and tasty flavors filled the kitchen. Blue found herself rather excited as she moved all the dishes to the main table where they could eat. “Get the plates, would you?” she told Ranaan as she set the six dishes down to get them all prepped for actual consumation. Once Ran had set the table she sent him out for his parents. Excited to see if they would like this kind of dinner as much as she did. Afterwards, he had promised to take her out on the city and she couldn't wait. Getting an actual date of a First Officer was like being the mistress in another city he only saw twice a year. There were busy evenings, and there were busier days, and most of the time it was dinner, cuddle, sleep. But, they were on leave and that meant they could live it up.

I might even drink! she thought excitedly.

~Slow your roll there, Trouble.~

Her blue eyes flashed up at him and she gave him that mischievous grin that told him he was likely in for it tonight if he was going to be playing damage control.

“Let's eat!” she sat down and waited for Erich to clean his hands and Ratela to take her place at the table.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #12 – November 16, 2018, 08:21:49 PM

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

One day, he hoped in a distant sort of way, her barriers might stay down. He wondered what it would take. And then he wondered selfishly if he didn't want to keep it all for himself, his own private glimpse into the closed-off world of Blue Tiran. But if the key to unlocking it was more kisses like that... well, he reckoned he could live without exclusivity in that regard. She broke it off too soon - perhaps soon enough - and pulled back a little.

"Next leave, we should go on a trip unrelated to family."

Ranaan nodded softly, sighing in turn. "We will. Wherever you want to go. But, as my mother loves to say, 'we must play the game'."

As her habitual mental shields came back up, he suppressed the sad sigh that wanted to escape him. At the moment, for the foreseeable future, those barriers were a part of Blue as much as her hands were; giving her the false impression that they hurt him somehow would only make them thicker.

It didn't stop him appreciating the view as she stretched, though.

Before he could get too distracted and float the possibility of a Round Two, he stood and followed her out of the door. She brought Albert along - because of course she did, not trusting a mere data transfer or that the existing replicator would have the proper patterns - and led the way downstairs. His parents were in the garden, Ratela making a rare trip to join Erich in his workshop. With an ever-so-slight flush at his collar, Ranaan had a good idea why that might be. In what was otherwise a nice ego boost, Blue was (mentally, anyway) Not Quiet.

"Get the plates, would you?"

He cleared his throat before answering, "Ah, sure. I'll go get the others, too.."

They returned to the smell of caramelised cheese and other ingredients, with Blue already laying the last serving dish on the table. "Let's eat!"

The Betazoids in the room matched her smile as they sat, infectious in the moment, with Ranaan's growing a little wider at the evident surprise on Erich's face once he returned from the sink unit.

"Well there's... certainly a lot here. Are they all-"

"You're missing one," Ranaan put in, glancing at Blue. "Your favourite, no less!"

"The fuck I am- oh wait."

"There's more," Erich asked, looking between Ranaan and Blue as if to check that they were serious. Ratela became very interested in her napkin for a moment, and Ranaan tried not to giggle as her amusement reached him.

Ranaan came back from the replicator with another dish, flecks of red, brown and green adrift in the pale yellow sea of macaroni cheese within. "Nacho mac. Spiced ground meat, some heat..." he chuckled, "Between this and the zucchini version, it's just about the only way I can trick her into eating a vegetable..." he winced theatrically at the kicked shin that earned him.

"Well," Ratela said, before more good-natured sniping could delay the proceedings any further, "this does all smell very good. Shall we?"

Making as good as her word, she started spooning a couple of versions of the stuff onto her plate. Everyone followed. Despite his overt misgivings, even Erich got into the swing of the ridiculous amount of comfort food on display and by the midpoint of the meal even seemed to be enjoying himself. Though he did seem to stick to the zucchini noodles as a favourite.

Conversation, good food, and a local wine to cut through the fat. The next hour went easy.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #13 – November 27, 2018, 07:46:48 PM

[Blue Tiran | Educating Brazilians on Fine Foods | Sharing the Wealth |
Quality Time | Aggravating Captains is a Full Time Job]
[@Top Hat]([Link](https://uss-theurgy.com/forum/index
.php?action=profile;u=88))

Forgetting her favorite was likely out of nerves. She had wanted to get as many different kinds on the table as she could. The nacho mac and cheese
had been one of Ranaan's creations and one of her favorite things he made for her. She was still very partial to the food he had given her in Peru
and those tended to be things she ate or replicated often for them. On the highly seldom times she remembered to actually have dinner ready when he
came home off shift she would replicate the food from Brazil every time. She knew that he could smell it down the hall and it probably meant
something to him since that day was one she had remembered. Those were very few and often she felt bad when he came home and she was hip deep in her
latest project and hadn't eaten all day. Sometimes she worried that he thought he was more her father figure than her boyfriend, fiance, what ever.
Because he had to take care of her sometimes and remind her how to live because she got so lost. Passion overcame necessity often for Blue Tiran.

But, those unplugged moments, were worth every second.

Her greatest memories with Ranaan was when she was unplugged. She knew that and tried to make efforts when he had an evening off at the same time she
did to watch a favorite movie, eat together, and cuddle together. To spend as many leaves as she could on adventures with him. He had mentioned Texas once in mistake and never mentioned it again. The three day silent storm of Blue Tiran's mind had been more than her slew of cursing and words. He knew of her pain, but that had been the day, years and years ago, that truly put it in perspective. That had never been mentioned again. He never asked about her family, she had a sister out there and assumed her fatherand mother were still alive. She had no need for her parents and old family. She was much more interested in the family she had slowly started to build of her own choosing. They said that you could not chose your family. Blue proved that old adage wrong.

Dinner was nice. Even Erich ended up eating well and enjoying the various kinds of mac and cheese and it seemed that Ratela was just happy to have
the night off of replicating and trying to figure out what to eat. It seemed to be tedious after so many years and Erich was the sort that had a day for a meal. In fact, turned out that Tuesdays were the day for some kind of pork that he liked and was not getting today because Blue had taken over. There were a few grumbles about that until Blue mentioned that pork was from a pig and so was ham, which was in Mac Number Three. Ratela couldn't quite hide the bark of laughter that came from that, and Blue didn't even try to hide the grin that came on her own face when Erich leveled his Captain gaze at her and seemed to find no sway.

When dinner was done, Blue rose and moved to collect the dishes, but Ratela put her hand out and grabbed her hand. "I will do it tonight, thank you for doing the food." she said, with a warm smile on her lips. "Why don't you and Ranaan go out on the town and see what there is. I believe there is a festival or something going on." Blue looked over at Ranaan and smiled. While crowds weren't normally her thing he did promise to take her out. She would be fine with the press of people it was just if they tried talking to her that it became a complicated mess. Blue let Ratela handle the dishes and she slid over towards where Ranaan was standing. She held her calloused hand out for him.

"Come on, lets go see the city."

She headed up the stairs to drop off Albert and get her shoes. Once they were ready they headed outside together, hand in hand and into the
Brazilian streets. The world was cooling off now that the sun was heading quickly towards the horizon. Already the smells of food and the sights of
lanterns and small strings of lights over various shops and stalls shimmered in the dying light. There were people in the stalls with various wares. Jewelry, trinkets, little mementos from Brazil. Lucky charms, or whatever they thought it needed to be.

"Pretty jewelry for pretty lady!" called one of the men holding up a necklace with some kind of carved charm on it.

"preaching to the wrong fucking lady." called Blue. Blue had one piece of jewelry only. It was on the ring finger of her left hand. She needed
nothing else, she wouldn't wear them anyway. She didn't have that kind of job and the ring was all she needed from Ranaan. It was perfect as if she
had picked it out herself. Blue was anything but girly. She would much prefer a scrap yard or a work shop to something romantic. Though there were
times that Ran surprised her and she was taken back by something amazing. Like Peru. Like the nights he pulled her off her work so that they could
watch their favorite movie, eat their favorite food, and fall asleep on the couch together. The mornings after those nights were heaven. Waking up full
of smiles, her shields down, just basking in the glow of having bonded more over the night.

"This way." Ran tugged on her hand.

Blue rose her brow as he lead her through the maze of stalls as though he still remembered them all from his childhood. Likely, he did. She followed along her pale skin taking on a yellow hue in the artificial light around them shimmering down from the stalls until they were pushed back out into the darkness. The lights faded behind them as he continued pulling her along and there was some sort of climb in the process of getting to their destination. She could feel the path steepen but she couldn't tell where they were going it was dark as night and the moon hadn't yet come up. The sun had just dipped below the horizon it would take a little bit before the moon was visible.

"Where the fuck are we going?"

"it's a surprise." he quipped.

"Obviously." she rolled her eyes and kept following until he stopped suddenly.

"Close your eyes."

"You're fucking kidding me right? We didn't even do this shit when proposals happened." she said staring up at him.

"Can't you make it easy just once?"

"No. Then I wouldn't be me."

"Fair enough, close your eyes anyway." He directed.

"Fucking... shit.. I swear to God Ranaan Ducote." Blue closed her eyes with

a sigh as he lead her more steps forward. She could feel the breeze brushing through her braid and causing tendrils to swirl around her like
ribbons as she followed him blindly. He was careful, pausing when he needed to move something out of the way for her and finally he stepped behind her. She could feel his heavy hands on her slender muscular shoulders.

"Open."

"If there is a fucking birthday cake in front of me and this is some kind of twisted ass backwards birthday party I swear I will punch you in the
fucking face for the next month every fucking day." she grumbled like a child.

"Just open, Blue."

Blue sighed and opened her blue eyes only to feel her shoulders relax under his touch. She could feel him close, his head hanging over her shoulder,
his breath brushing against her cheek. But, that wasn't what she could see.

What she saw was that they were on some kind of look out spot. Down below were all the lights of Brazil. The ones from the stalls they had passed,
the odd stacked housing units where his parents lived, everything was below them, and it was beautiful in the night. Like stars but on Earth. Little
stars, and constellations, on the ground making up their own kind of universe. She could feel him smile over her shoulder.

"Smug bastard." she hissed into the night air but leaned against him feeling his arms come around her waist. "You really do find the most beautiful
places in the world."

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #14 – December 01, 2018, 10:51:50 PM

[ Ranaan Ducote | Corcovado Mountain | Rio de Janeiro | Earth ] attn: @BZ

While Blue got herself sorted, Ranaan swapped from his travel clothes into a black shirt and slacks whose construction was soft but whose cut was sharp. A night on the town through his old stomping grounds demanded nothing less - and with someone like Blue it was easy to want to rise to the occasion. Stepping out and looking good; as if they were playing at being Starfleet's Power Couple for the evening. He had a private chuckle to himself at his own expense at the thought.

Ah well. He was in a good mood, he could allow himself some silliness.

The festival to which his mother had referred was one of several yearly parties in the city (which was usually happy for any excuse to throw one) based on whichever of several homegrown and alien traditions made the best basis for a good throwdown. The city was thronging with members of more than a dozen species, with intoxicants in free flow and music pouring from most doorways, mingling with examples of both provided on the streets themselves. Riotous holographic displays of colour streamed through the air above them, filling in for the sunlight as it dipped below the horizon.

Ranaan wandered-with-purpose through it all, holding Blue's smaller hand in his own, past the hawkers and revellers and folks passing out various vices. The gestalt was infectious; he found himself grinning along with the people he passed, and the temptation to find out what was in those little bottles and vials grew with every passing minute. Thankfully, he was still full and sated from dinner. And not a little grateful that he was getting the opportunity to walk off some of that mountain of macaroni cheese now.

They rose above the city, through the district that had crept up the slopes of one of the surrounding mountains, towards the crumbling remnants of a statue that had fallen to Earth's last planetary war. There was a landing/promontory partway up that offered superlative views and a cosy little family-owned boteco; his favourite. They made their caipirinhas by hand and poured their beers on draught still, rather than pulling them from a replicator pattern, and that charmingly quaint habit had endeared the place to him for a long time. There were perhaps half a dozen people sitting at tall tables outside the open three-walled bar, and a couple more having an animated chat with the barkeep.

Away from the pool of light offered by the drinking hole, Ranaan guided Blue to a low wall at the edge of the lookout, looking out over the bay and the city.

"If there is a fucking birthday cake in front of me and this is some kind of twisted ass backwards birthday party I swear I will punch you in the fucking face for the next month every fucking day."

There was a brief moment of panic - he couldn't have forgotten? But no; her birthday was a couple of months away still. And he still well-remembered his aborted attempt last year to get her to celebrate it with him. "What have I done wrong? You never give me twinkies out of the fuckin' blue." "No, no! And that's not all!"... He could still see with crystal clarity the look of utter mystification she had given him. "Can I... go back to work on Albert for a bit, then?"

"Just open, Blue."

As she complied, he let her almost-grudging appreciation for the view sink into him. He ate it up like a starving man, and relished the way her shoulders relaxed under his hands. He moved a little closer, slipping his arms around her midriff. The breeze drifted up the mountain towards them, the thermals on the mountain drawing the cooler air off the sea. Sprawling beneath them, the golden lights of the city made the humid mists sliding into the sea off the hills glow from below. Occasionally the wind would permit a strain of music to drift up to them.

"Smug bastard... You really do find the most beautiful places in the world."

Grinning over her shoulder, he kissed her cheek. "Someone's got to," he murmured, his voice rumbling in his chest against her shoulders. "And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let anyone else see the smiles they drag out of you before I do."

The little PADD in his pocket buzzed; evidently they'd made decent time getting up here despite the crowds below. The moon had yet to rise, but there were plenty of things in lower orbits to see.

One hand disentangled itself from her fingers to point across the bay to the north. "Give it a few seconds, but watch..."

A bright star slid over the horizon, seemingly fuzzy before one's eyes adjusted to the sight. It was surrounded by smaller moving lights, forming lanes moving towards the centre and away from it. The 'star' itself was anything but - it was bulbous at one end, looking almost like a double-ball of reflected light given the oblique angle from which they were observing it.

"Earth Spacedock," Ranaan said, despite her probably already having figured it out. "Makes a fine sight on a night like tonight, doesn't she?"

Behind them, the trio conversing over the bar laughed gaily at some joke, the sound babbling over towards them as some nocturnal bird or other called into the night as it woke. There was a danger of another unguarded moment from Blue here, he wagered. But even if he didn't get one, he was more than content with what he had.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #15 – December 12, 2018, 04:27:26 AM

[Blue Tiran | When it Rains it Pours | Softer Angles on Sharp Edges | The Blue that Could Have Been]
@Top Hat

The shimmering lights of the city below were dotted like stars. Creating their own constellations as they sat down below glowing. The sounds of music and revelry sounding melodious in her ears. She was much more hard rock and something with the kind of beat that when cranked to the max you could feel in your bones. However, there was something about the sheer soul inside the music that surrounded her that really resonated heavily. She didn't know the words. She knew Spanish, from living so close to the border for all of her young life. However, this was a different kind of language. Beautiful in it's own way and she had only ever heard Ran use it when he was pissed off or completely exasperated. She knew when he began to slip into his native tongue that if she wasn't in trouble yet, she was gonna be.

Strong arms slid around her slender waist and held her against his strong chest. In his arms, was her favorite place to be. Though she wasn't sure she had ever told him that out loud. She figured that he knew, what with his cheating brain and all. Able to feel her moods and how she settled quickly when she was in his arms. He knew how as soon as he put his arms around her, all the tension bled out of her shoulders. All the worries, fears, and thoughts of the eight million projects on her docket could wait. All he had to do was lure her with food, movies, and a night of cuddles.

At least, it seemed that way to her.

He mentioned that he would be damned before he let anyone see that smile of hers. Earn those hard to get smiles. She knew they were hard to come by, and she knew that to him, each one was likely precious. The answer to his comment was one of said smiles. Turning her head she brushed her lips against his cheek and brushed her nose against it once more for good measure. He was everything to her. He was air, water, food, life. He was the one that healed her he was the one that reminded her heart to beat and her lungs to fill with air. She could never thank him enough for all that he had done for her. For scooping up this heavily broken woman, for making her into someone that had a soft spot inside the iron clad core she had once held at her center.

“Someone has to witness greatness when it happens.” she shot him a shit eating grin but he could feel her emotions anyway so while her words were sarcastic her heart wasn't and she knew that he could feel all the sincerity and emotion raging in her.

Ran pointed at the sky and told her to wait for it. She relaxed more against him. Blue eyes searching the sky above them of the actual stars. There, the bulbous form of the space dock was easy for an Engineer's eyes to pick up. She shifted and followed the space dock with her eyes. He told her what it was, and she grinned. He was probably aware that she knew exactly what it was, but it didn't matter. She knew all the specs, how it ran, how fast it was, and a whole lot of other things about space dock. When she was in high school and learning about such things, stuff like the space dock had been one of her favorite things to research. She had memorized everything that she could about it. But she wouldn't bore Ran, at the moment, with all of the Engineering jargon.

For tonight, he would be spared.

“I used to look for satellites when I was younger. I'd sit on the roof of our house, when the stars were actually out. And I'd look. I'd compare the trajectory with an online database and figure out which satellite it was, who was it owned by, it's purpose, it's destination. It's path, it's security measures.” she told him softly. Not that any of it would surprise him, though what would surprise him is that her spiky shields had dropped again and the fact that while they were down she was giving him insights into her childhood. A heavily taboo topic. She didn't talk about her childhood. He had mentioned her father once, once and it was enough to shut her down completely for days. She hadn't said a word but she had a feeling that her emotional shut down had been answer enough. He knew some of the things that had happened in her past. The emotional abandonment. Raising herself. Getting into the Academy on her own, and leaving that fucking hot ass state behind. But there were things she never told him. Things that she was sure would only piss him off.

No parent in their right mind would have likely allowed their young child onto a roof so that they could watch for passing satellites, but then, her parents hadn't known nor cared what she had done. She had found ways to survive, to live, to thrive on her own. There were days where she wondered what they were doing if they were all right. She never cared enough to look, she could check. Her hacking skills were pretty top notch even by Starfleet standards. She could if she wanted to. But she was terrified that she might start to care. She had written them off so long ago and to her knowledge they had never once looked for her.

“When Arthur was still alive.” Her voice clouded with emotions. She hardly ever talked about Arthur, her brother. It was hard for her. She remembered him fondly. He was the reason she had joined Starfleet, he was the reason that she was as good as she was. He had encouraged her as a young girl, he had been there on the good days and bad. Then he had died in the line of duty and her world had been crushed. But, there were times, like now, when she felt safe wrapped up in Ranaan's arms and she felt that she could tell him things. “We would go out for meteor showers. He loved the stars. Angela never cared, she was always into other things but I'd tag along with him. We'd lay out on a huge blanket, and just wait. If I fell asleep he'd wake me up when it got good.”

Blue cleared her throat trying to shake the emotions that filled her as she remembered being that young. Just a dark headed, curly haired young girl. A girl that had been so enamored by her brother. With their thermos of instant hot chocolate, snacks, and a huge blanket. He'd take his kid sister out over the girls that should have taken up his time. Before Ranaan had come along, Arthur had been home. He had been the warmth, the comfort, the strength, and the support a young budding Blue Tiran had needed. When her family got frustrated with the mess of her pieces and projects and her blue prints everywhere. He was bringing her new things, asking her questions, pressing her mind further and further.

Now, Ran was home. Where he was, it was home. His arms, his voice, the sound of every single exasperated sigh.

“I love you, Ranaan.” she whispered softly her heart catching in her throat as the confession she had only made once before came out again. It was often, unnecessary to say it, he just knew it, but she liked hearing it from him and he wasn't very big on over use either.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #16 – December 16, 2018, 09:45:30 PM

[ Ranaan Ducote | Corcovado Mountain | Rio de Janeiro | Earth ] attn: @BZ

For a moment, he just held her, stooping a little to hold his larger form around hers. The breeze was cool, a godsend after the oppressive humidity of the day, but her shoulders were warm against him. The faint background buzz from the caipirinhas, the aftereffects of the party in the streets below, and Blue's smiles generated a hazy sort of comfortable happiness in him.

So when she started talking about home - her childhood - it took him a second to realise at all. He had slipped around her to perch on the low retaining wall, looking out over the glittering lights of the city, but as she spoke about her satellite tracking hobby... and when she'd been doing it... he looked back around to watch her face as she recounted the tale. His hand slipped down her arm and he hooked his fingers through hers, not wanting to interrupt while she allowed him a rare glimpse into her past. He just pulled her over gently to sit next to him while she spoke. His arm went around her again.

When she brought up her brother, he thought her mind was going to lock down again. But it didn't. This was the first time she'd let him feel her pain unfiltered... it pulled at him. A raw thing, after all this time, the scab picked at every time her home was mentioned. He swallowed, rubbing his thumb over the back of her knuckle. It wasn't something he knew how to address; he was a fixer, a solver, a problem-taker by nature, and this wasn't the sort of thing his preferred brand of support could help. Listening alone and simply being there all seemed like they were somehow too 'easy' to do for someone like Blue, when he would deliver the galaxy if he could.

But that was all she wanted from him. Even if it were possible to 'fix' her jealously-guarded wound, it would be a trespass to try.

"I love you, Ranaan."

Her saying that was a strong competitor for 'Blue's rarest behaviour' right alongside her bright smiles. His own empathy provided a useful crutch for her there, he figured, but he didn't mind. Ranaan grinned again, leaning over to kiss her shoulder, then the side of her face, and then just leaned his head gently against hers. "I love you too, Blue," he said, the quiet volume making his voice rumble like a rockslide in the breeze.

They settled in for a minute to watch Earth Space Dock climb higher in the sky, surrounded by its nimbus of flitting lights, huddled close against the slight chill of the breeze. Ranaan wasn't sure another Dominion invasion could spoil this evening. Even if it was technically a family visit... Bah. Ranaan considered suggesting going over to the boteco behind them (he was still full from macaroni cheese, but he'd find room for some of their coxinhas), but he didn't want to move. He had his fiancée in his arms, a view that could conservatively be called romantic, and no inclination to upset this particular apple cart at all.

Although.

A slow smile spread across his face. "You know... we didn't really do that festival justice on the way up here. Wanna grab a drink while we're here and go back to check it out? I don't have a cane this time; we could properly cut loose.." he said, his tone turning wry and self-deprecating at the end. Of the two of them, he was the dancer. But that was still a relative term.

But what was the point of a party wherein you cared how you looked when throwing yourself around a dancefloor? Or, street, in this case.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #17 – December 21, 2018, 07:17:13 PM

[Blue Tiran | Some Wounds Are Deep | Opening a Little | Wounded Souls | Sharp Exterior | Admittance Varies]
@Top Hat

He moved, from behind her.

The cool air of the evening rushed against her warm back giving her a slight chill without the heat of his body to keep it protected. It would only last momentarily as the heat from his body faded and her own temperature regulated. He was in front of her now, even though her eyes were looking up at the sky she was aware of him and in her peripheral vision she was watching him. Always, she watched him. The way that he was there for her, always when she needed him. She had to admit that him being half-Betazoid was likely the best case for someone like her. Someone used to repressing all emotions that were just flat anger and frustration. Those had always been unleashed but strategically so. It allowed her to keep the people around her super far away and not always willing to get to know her on a level that could be dangerous. Only Ducote, only her sweet Ranaan had pushed through the barriers she had carefully erected over the years since Arthur's death adding additional security measures over her life time. He had gone through all of them in a breath, in a single night, figuring out how to deal with the fragile creature that rested within.

Trust had been hard for her. But, over the months of distance, and then serving on the same ship the trust had solidified into the kind of foundation that had built a fortress. She trusted him implicitly and she had never shaken in that trust of him. He never asked anything of her, he never pushed her further than she could handle but he had guided her through emotional awareness she hadn't touched in a long time. He had never changed her or asked her to change outside of incorporating vegetables into her diet. He accepted her as she was and that, was precisely, the concrete that held the foundation together.

His fingers hooked with hers, and her eyes finally drifted down from the Space Dock to where his darker fingers and her pale ones intertwined. It was such a symbol of their life, the light and the dark, the bright and the shaded, the jaded and the .. well he wasn't an optimist... she supposed it was more less-jaded.

Even Ranaan though, knew there were parts of her that were just flat off limits. Parts of her pain that she had never shown him, things that were so deep and so painful she didn't even know how to touch it anymore. The raw pain was something that she had never dealt with and as a child, when her brother died, there was no one to help her through it either. Her parents had shut down and Blue had figured out how to survive on her own. Tonight, was his first peak of Arthur's pain, the pain that came with the memories .. especially the good ones. He had been so special in her life. He had been the one that understood her, the one that never let her down, she was never mad he died, .. not really.. but she had never mourned and the pain of his loss was still as fresh as the day.

His thumb slid back and forth across the back of her hand causing her blue eyes to shift up to see his own dark orbs. Her angel in disguise. She knew he could feel her love for him, the complete and total love that encompassed all of her. She didn't need to say it but sometimes she felt bad not saying it more often. There were others that threw the word around like halloween candy. Blue probably used it a couple times a year, at most.

But she knew he felt it, she knew he knew, but sometimes she felt it was better to say it. As she did now. He had pulled her so that she sat next to him. Leaning into him slightly for his warmth, for the sturdiness of his body, for the fact that he was always there for her. He had become the most important person in her world. She knew without a doubt that if it came down to him or her, she would forever choose him. He deserved all the good things in life and she hoped that he got every single one of them. She hoped he never had to experience the pain of his past again. That nothing like the Starbase incident happened again. He was the best person she knew.

He kissed her shoulder, a soft half smile warmed her lips but it was her eyes that spoke volumes. They shimmered brightly emotions pouring out of them, at the soft little peck there. His words, she hadn't expected any different but somehow every time he said them she melted a little more inside. She couldn't be an easy person to love. An easy person to stand beside or behind. She never asked him for a single favor because he was her superior officer. That's not why she was with him. She had found her person, the one person in the world that settled her soul.

People searched their entire lives to find that one person. Q had forced them together and she could not be more grateful for the asshole. Because of him, she had Ranaan. They likely never would have crossed paths otherwise. Why he had done so, she never had a chance to ask and knowing him he likely wouldn't have answered anyway. But, she would be grateful for the chance to say thank you.. maybe.. probably.

Blue was probably the least romantic woman she knew. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the moments when it popped up. Like Peru. Like right now. With his arms around her, looking at the stars, the sounds of the festival down below floating their way up to them on the tendrils of wind. There were times that stuck in her mind as romantic, though she was horrible during work about it. When they were on the ship there was nothing that could be done to pull her out of her work so that she could appreciate flowers or candies. Ran had long learned not to do it. He found other ways to surprise her, usually their weekly cuddle-couch-movie night.

His voice was gravel as he spoke and it did things to her insides, liquified them in the most pleasant of ways. She loved when it was deep, it was one of her bigger turn ons and she knew that occasionally he used it for evil. Right now though, it was just the moment, she thought, anyway that his husky voice had made a reoccurance. Still, she would enjoy the tingles running down her spine. He mentioned the festival and how they hadn't given it any proper attention on their way up to the outlook point. He plied her lack of socialness with booze causing a grin on her features.

“You know how to get me down there.” she chuckled softly and shook her head. Curls drifted around her by the wind whipping a bit like ribbons. She gave a nod. “Fine, when in Rome... or Rio.. I guess.” she said as she got up and brushed at the curls playing in her face. Quickly she turned, shields were weak but back up as she smirked at him.

“Come on drinks and parties I'm curious if you can actually dance without throwing out a hip you old bastard.”

A little taunt and a tease.

He rose beside her and slid his warm hand around her slender one. They headed for the small building that was filled with the sights and scents of a good time. Stepping in, many of the seats were taken by people that were currently getting drinks. They found a couple of bar stools that sat at an old wooden bar. Stained with the years of actual ale spilling and the hands of those that sat there enjoying a good time. Lights shimmered over head with old fashioned bulbs casting an almost yellow pallor over the building. Bright and colorful lamp shades accented those old bulbs giving a bright and cheerful demeanor to the low lighting. The crowd inside was packed and loud as they perched on the stools at the bar. Blue brushed some nut shells off the bar and onto the floor where they found company of similar make. Her eyes shifted around to the various drinks on display in colored and clear bottles behind the bar with various names some in English many in other languages that she couldn't read but she figured that Ducote could help her.

“You'll have to order for me, I can't read any of this shit.” she said leaning over to speak into his ear so that he could hear her.

The bartender was a rather robust woman. Pepper colored her dark hair which was a mass of curls that rivaled Blue's own with their mind. She wore a simple red dress with embroidery around the scooping neck line which revealed some of her cleavage but not enough to be anything promiscuous. An apron was barely tied around her robust waist and her eyes were ringed by the winkles that showed a happy and fun life full of laughter. She leaned on the bar, her meaty arm resting on her side of it, the wood worn with age and likely the touch of her and the robust man that was manning the other side of the small bar that stretched the back wall of the establishment.

When she saw Ranaan her smile widened and she greated him as though he were her long lost son. Blue had no idea what was exhanged between the two of them but she could tell it was familiarity. Whatever it was, she was glad that he had someone that he was so close to here. The woman turned to fuss over and speak to Blue who had no idea what was being said what so ever. She took in the blank look on Blue's face and likely understood Blue's lack of response. Ducote answered in the same jibber jabber and soon the woman turned and headed off to get them some drinks. Blue saw the bowl of peanuts to the side, but she didn't feel like eating any. Though it seemed almost like you were supposed to. She shoved them to the side over by Ran if he wanted some.

Cheers from the other side of the bar caught Blue's attention and her crystalline eyes shifted over to the merriment curious as to what was going on. Her brow quirked and she gave a bit of mischevious grin. She could tell when Ranaan figured it out because his back straightened a little bit.

“I'll be right back.” she grinned excitedly and jumped off her stool leaving Ranaan to watch and wait for their drinks as the seemingly small and frail woman walked over to the table where a nice round of arm wrestling was going on. Men with large muscles and small were currently cheering, the stench of beer was strong and there was some pooled on the table from various times glasses had been knocked over.

“Mind if I give it a go?” Blue asked curiously. Knowing exactly what she looked like.

“Sweetheart we'll break you in two.” One of the men said in a bit of broken Standard but managed well enough.

“I'll take my chances. Can't I just... try?” Oh she was playing the part and they were totally buying her shit.

“Let the lady sit.”

One of the large men got out of the way and she took his seat, seeming quite small against the chair and she put her arm up on the table. The tank top didn't show her muscles yet because they hadn't been put to work she looked like a slender frail woman except that she had some definition. They just didn't realize how much.

“Gonzo! You do it first!” one of the men a smaller one took the seat and she gave him a smile. “Go easy on her.” one of them laughed and slapped his shoulder before they met hands. A bit of surprise hit his face as he registered the callouses on her hands before she took him down to the wood without even trying. A cry erupted from the men around the table and she smiled.

“I won?” she said with wide eyes.

“Well here sweetheart let me give you a real test.” said one of the bigger guys.

“Call me sweetheart again and I'll liberate you of your balls.” she said with a grin as he sat down and they went after it again.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #18 – December 27, 2018, 09:28:42 PM

[ Ranaan Ducote | Corcovado Mountain | Rio de Janeiro | Earth ] attn: @BZ

"Come on; drinks and parties, I'm curious if you can actually dance without throwing out a hip, you old bastard."

Ranaan chuckled at the challenge, glad that Blue was having a good time. Most people only ever saw her buried in her projects, or chewing out a junior for their failure to meet her standards, or busy tearing apart a bulkhead to fix every single rivet therein for the crime of being somehow indescribably 'wrong'... so to see her metaphorically letting her hair down was a treat, and one that no one would believe happened if he told them anyway. She kept spoiling him with private treasures like this. He let her lead him back to the boteco.

Carina saw Blue first as she sat and leafed through the (paper!) drinks menu, but beamed at him from behind the bar when he stepped into the pool of light thrown out by the bar lights. "<Ranaan, my dear!>" she greeted in Portuguese, the burst of confusion from Blue reminding him that neither of them were wearing their UT's this evening. "<It has been years!>" Her friendly gaze turned to Blue, and she added, ""

"<Carina, please, you'll make me blush,>" he laughed, grinning back over the bar to her, before his face sobered into a too-sincere facade of regret. "<You know our love was never going to work...>"

"<Nonsense. I am allowed to flirt, doubly so when Túlio pays me so little attention!>" she said, slapping her bar towel against the worn surface with a melodramatic snap. The landlady's husband smiled indulgently and waved from the other end of the bar before returning to his in-depth discussion of his team's chances in the next Worlds' Cup with a couple of regulars. Ranaan nodded a hello his way, too, before shaking his head with another chuckle and ordering their drinks.

"<Half-litre of whatever's on draught today, please. And a caipirinha for Blue... better make it sweet. Some days I'm amazed she still has teeth.>"

"<Coming right up!>"

"<Thanks, and->" he pricked up. "Oh, no."

"I'll be right back."

"Careful, now!" he gently warned, knowing she wouldn't think he thought she was in any particular danger here.

"<Your beer. You care what it is, or-?>"

"" He sipped, and refreshingly cool, carbonated, bittersweet liquid slipped down his throat. "<As always,>" he said, tipping his glass in salute. He half-turned to watch the arm-wrestle but remain in conversation as Carina placed a wide board on the bar and began slicing a lime.

"<You said her name was Blue?>"

""

"<In the Fleet, like the others...>"

"<Oh come on.>"

"<'This is different, Carina!'>"

"<I- well, it is!>"

"Mhm." The lime, halved, and each half quartered, was gathered and dumped into a wide tumbler. A good slug of syrup followed it, followed by a little more at the 'extra sweet' request. The veteran barkeep's tough old forearms worked a muddling stick through the collection, producing a mush of lime pulp, sugar, and peel in the base of the glass. Still a little flesh in the segments, as was proper. "<You and 'blue' though, honestly. What was her name? shah.. sh'Tyrral?>"

Ranaan stopped munching the bar peanuts, swallowing hastily. "<Santa Maria, Carina, that must have been twenty years ago. sh'Tyrros.>"

"<Memory like a steel trap!>" she grinned, tapping one temple. "<Charming girl though, very tough. Imperial Guard, wasn't it? 'On tropical exercises'... and you only too happy to be the local guide.>"

""

"" A scoopful of crushed ice was dumped into the tumbler next. Ranaan shifted feet uncomfortably for a moment as he thought there was a significant (if less-than-even) chance of Blue doing exactly that with the right provocation. As if on cue, there was a small uproar from the wrestlers' table as she handily beat the first man opposite.

"<You know what warm weather does to Andorians... and I helped you repair those tables.>"

"Hmph." A hefty measure of sugarcane spirit was added over the ice and stirred through to mix everything together. "<You're lucky you're cute.>"

"<Ai, Carina, I'm right here!>" complained Túlio.

While the pair descended into a well-rehearsed mock argument, Ranaan carried Blue's drink over to her table, careful to put it down out of the line of fire. "Catches you out, right?" he asked of the crowd, grinning.

"If I was a suspicious man I might have thought she was going to fleece us."

"Nah. Saw her break an arm once though. Guy twisted too far in his seat."

"Ha! You heard the man, Lucio. <Keep that ass planted, yeah?>"

"<The fuck is she made of?!>" was the only, grunted reply.

Blue, with deliberate nonchalance, sipped her cocktail while continuing to lever the man's arm inexorably towards the table, centimetre by centimetre. The wiry muscles in her pale arm caught the oblique light from the bar, a couple of slender veins crossing the cabled fibres, visible in deep contrast thanks to the deep shadows. Shame I could never talk her into the gym... it's a good look on her. Almost her entire muscle mass had been built on the job, from lifting and shifting things she probably shouldn't, and eating little enough that there wasn't much subcutaneous fat to hide any of it.

Ranaan pulled up a chair and hooked one knee over the other, taking another gulp of his beer.

"<Two tickets to the next Earth-Mars game; she pounds him into the table.>"

"<Got a couple days booked in Suraya says my boy Lucio pulls it back!>"

"<Risa? Worth it man, come on. She's half your size!>"

Lucio redoubled his effort, and halted his hand's downward progress. Blue shot Ranaan a quizzical look. "Ah, just bets for and against. Soccer tickets, hotel rooms. I get the feeling this is usually a friendly event..."

"Yeah, but now we have good competition!" one of Lucio's friends put in. Ranaan raised his glass, before cocking a wry smirk at Blue.

"So, you gonna give 'em a show, or...?"

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #19 – January 04, 2019, 10:55:21 PM

[Blue Tiran | Brazilian Take Down | Kicking Assholes in the Pride | Fuckin' Underestimated Every time]
@Top Hat

They were speaking to one another comfortably. Blue picked out the name Ranaan and rose her brow at her fiance who had not mentioned anything about knowing the owner of the establishment. Blue could be jealous when she wanted to be, but she tried to remain calm when it came to Ran because he had never given her cause to doubt him. He was always there, and always backing her up, he was forever taking her side unless she had done something wrong. She knew that when he called her on her shit it was because she deserved it. And as much as it hurt to have to sometimes admit it out loud.

The woman turned to Blue and spouted some complete nonsense. Blue tilted her head to the side to the side she had no idea what the woman had said to her and Ran jumped in saying something else in stead. Her brow rose and she shook her head pushing the menu aside because she couldn't read that shit either.

It was then that she had chosen to leave for the greener pastures of being able to fuck over some beefy dudes and had taken down the first one with a roar of surprise and approval. Blue grinned and shrugged her shoulders. The muscles on her arm had been a surprise to most of the men at the table and she knew that they hadn't even seen them all. The kid had been strong but scrawny and hadn't even been a real challenge for her what so ever. She was actually rather enjoying herself at the moment. Ranaan came over and sat her drink down. She took the moment as he took a seat to take a bit of the drink and grinned.

“You're a good man.” she grinned over at him with a smirk on her face. It was just shy of pure sugar mixed with a moderate amount of booze. The kind of shit that was easy to get drunk on and the kind of shit where you couldn't even taste the alcohol it was so sweet. It was perfect.

He began to talk and admitted that he saw her break and arm once. She shrugged her shoulder as if to say 'what are you gonna do'. Taking another sip of her drink as they told Lucio to keep that in mind before slipping back into their native tongue so she had no idea of what was being said. She only grinned and looked over at Lucio who seemed all too excited to get a chance at her. He sat down and got eager. There was a whole lot of shit going on around her and without even missing a single beat she shifted her gaze over to Ranaan that clarified they were going after some soccer tickets.

“Well fuck, I have to win now.” she grinned.

Ran asked if she was going to put on a show and she sighed, holding Lucio without much effort at the spot he was now. He was trying to move her arm but his muscles were getting tired and she was letting him wear himself out little by little. Honestly, if you hadn't spent hours trying to loosen a nacelle bolt then you knew nothing about longevity and pushing your muscles to the max. So she was just fine with holding Lucio he had nothing on those mother fucking bolts that had to defy the vacuum of space and retain the ship.

“I mean... do you like Soccer.”

“Hotel for us. Soccer for them.” he retorted.

She sighed. “I guess it would give us something to do.... Do they have twinkies?”

“I'm sure we will manage.” He reminded calmly, they were talking simply as if there was no hurry and meanwhile Lucio was struggling but trying really hard. Blue didn't look like she was even fatigued.

“Fine.”

She shrugged and slammed the man's hand into the table and he looked up at her in surprise. Realizing she had been waiting all along to slam him down.

“You toyed with me chica.”

“No, I merely gave you ample opportunity to make your muscles move. I'd say sorry but I don't like to lie.” she grinned.

Blue sat back and Lucio's buddy put his hand on his shoulder. “Move outta the way boy, let a man go after this.”

Blue gave a grin and stretched her arms over her head popping her shoulder joints, the wrists and elbows to follow, before each and every finger joint was popped and her arms dropped again. Picking up her drink in her slender hand the massive man took a seat. The chair beneath him creaking with the weight of his mass settling into something that was old and actually made of wood. Her brow rose as he began to stretch his arms and she grinned.

“Don't they say, Ran, that mimicry is the best form of flattery?” she looked over at her fiance with a bit of a grin.

He gave a bit of a snort. The mountain of a man across the table slammed his elbow down on the table so hard that it jumped, she had just been about to set her drink down when the table thumped heavily. Her brow rose and she tilted her head to the side. “Your bravado would be cute to anyone except me muchacho.”

“You have a mouth on you, girl.”

“I bite.” she said simply.

The man snarled with a bit of a grin. “So do pirahanas, moça, but I am not afraid of them either.”

Blue smirked, she had no idea what the word in the middle meant, but she didn't give a shit either. “Are you going to put your money where your mouth is or all you all talk.”

The man grumbled and held his hand out for her. Blue's was so small compared to his but the angle of leverage was just right, and her arm was shorter so that would make it so that he would be at an odd angle himself. He was all beefy but Ranaan would see her Engineer's mind kick into high gear as she surveyed the angle that she had, the leverage needed, the payload she needed to move, and the distance upon which it would take to get it there. Then her eyes flickered up to the man.

“Do you need someone to count to three or is this all your muscles have?”

That was all it took. He gave her a look that would make most people cower but only made Blue's grin widen further as he began to fight against her. She held her own quite easily but it was much harder than Lucio. Their hands and arms fought back and forth and back and forth. Over the center to the left, then the right, the man would grin and spout probably curses or taunting in his native language. She didn't rise to the bait, she could be cool and collected when it was required of her. At least when it was fun.

The battle raged and she let her muscles have a slight break and let her arm inch closer and closer to the table. The man grinned a dark grin.

“You don't have it in you princess.”

“Ugh, Ran, he called me a mother fucking princess. Do I have pink on? Do my eyes fucking sparkle?” She kicked her muscles into over drive and floor the asshole's hand to the table holding it there despite his attempts to break his hold. “I win. Princess.” Blue smirked at the shocking red color that his face turned.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #20 – January 13, 2019, 03:28:16 PM

[ Ranaan Ducote | Corcovado Mountain | Rio de Janeiro | Earth ] attn: @BZ

"I win. Princess."

There was something between a cheer and a boo that went around the group, as well as Carina calling over from the bar, "<No fights!>"

Ranaan waved her off.

"Congratulations, Blue," he said, winking at the man opposite her shaking out his arm. "If you're done bullying the locals?" he grinned. "C'mon."

"Hey," one of the men called, with his heavily-accented Standard. "Good games, but it won't be so easy next time!"

Ranaan's grin widened.

He pulled her away to let them get back to their game (and bicker over who got tickets to what, given an 'outsider' had so roundly upset proceedings). However, true to his earlier reassurance to Carina, no fight seemed likely to break out. A calmer crowd tonight, it appeared. Well, that was probably for the best for several reasons, not least of which was that he wouldn't be around beyond tomorrow to help rebuild the furniture.

The night was cooling down - now no longer oppressively sticky, it had descended to pleasantly warm and breezy, at least halfway up this mountain. A slight buzz from the alcohol and Blue's superlative company and an old acquaintance met were leaving a faint smile on his face that was proving quite stubborn to remove. 'Don't smile everywhere you go,' his father's voice rang. 'People will think you simple.'

Ah, fuck off, Dad. He was having a good time; who cared. To prove it, he pulled Blue to him as they left the pool of light offered by the boteco, and drew her into a kiss. ~Glad you didn't pop a shoulder, Trouble..~

Whether hers or someone else's, he left up to debate.

"<Goodnight, Carina!>" he waved, rescuing Túlio from the long-practised lecture he was receving. For all their outward appearance of a bickering old marriage, they were clearly very comfortable with one another, in a way that required no empathic talents to see.

"<Come back in less than five years this time! And if you break her heart, Ranaan, so help me God you will be sorry!>"

""

"Ha! <You hear that, Túlio, you lump?>"

The man in question waved her off again, returning to his conversation about the local soccer teams. Ranaan gathered Blue's calloused hand in his own and the took the (easier) walk downhill back to the city. They chatted and walked, Ranaan pointing out the odd landmark or place of interest that Blue probably didn't care about. He wanted her to feel at home somewhere, though. Or at least know one. The humidity might play merry hell with her hair, and the heat could be oppressive, but he wanted there to be a place that she could always come to. And if she ever did, she'd need to know her way around, right?

When they got back to town, Ranaan had trouble discerning what the festival was actually for. There were Chinese New Year dragons down one street (despite it being nowhere near that occasion), a more traditional Rio carnival procession down another replete with a samba band that seemed to be a couple of hundred people strong, he could hear Bajoran wind instruments down another road... and amongst it all were representatives from a dozen species; Trill, Bajorans, Humans, Halanans (he didn't pick them out of the crowd per se, but he could tell their projecting brand of telepathy was present because of the particular kind of headache it produced in him), he spotted a couple of Vulcans... one side road smelled strongly of 'public swimming pool' before he double-checked and saw a party of Benzites, their breathing apparatus producing the chlorine he detected. Hawkers and peddlers and go-go's moved through the crowd, passing out drinks and recreationals from twenty different cultures and cuisines. It was a heady mix, for the empath.

Perhaps that was the theme. 'You have a festival? Throw 'em all at once!'

He loved this city.

"Come on!" he raised his voice over the joyous noise, diving into the crowds with Blue in tow while she laughed with him.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #21 – January 14, 2019, 09:30:12 PM

[Blue Tiran | There Are People Here | Socialization is a Rocky Road | Fried Twinkies | Booze to Loosen the Bones]
@Top Hat

The breeze was nice as they exited the building. Ranaan calling back to the woman in the bar, and telling her that he loved her. Earned him a sharp gaze. She didn't think he meant it but she still gave him the death glare anyway. She knew that he was for her and her alone he had never given her cause to actually doubt his feeling and his loyalty. She was glad that he was beside her and knew that the woman that was in the bar had no sway.

Outside, the air was even better and she felt as though her hair approved and likely calmed down even more. Though the breeze that was cooling down the night played havoc with the curls and it would be a bitch to actually get the tangles out later she didn't care. He pulled her into a kiss calling her Trouble again, likely the best nickname that anyone had ever given her. It was apt, but oddly, it had a sweet quality to it that she had always enjoyed. At first it had kind of been a bit of a tease knowing how much she got into trouble on her last ship, but over the years it had grown more and more endearing as time went on. She now preferred it and she loved that he never said it outloud it was always and only ever in her mind. Which made it even better. Nothing shared with the world at large, a special secret that only they could enjoy.

“I wouldn't call it bullying. I was just giving them a run for their money. I'm a legend. They'll talk about me forever.” she tossed her mound of curls over her shoulder. For during the arm wrestling they had come loose, the tie had popped off somewhere and bounced and rolled off to the point where she wasn't going after it. The curls that she had maintained in a braid had popped loose and slid all around her. The night was not overly humid and so the normal massive afro that tended to take over her head despite the length of her curled hair seemed much less subdued than normal. She almost couldn't wait to go back to an environment that was climate controlled just so she didn't feel like she was walking around with a fucking blanket on her neck.

They walked down the hill hand in hand. The brisk breeze caused a bit of a chill to the woman but she didn't mind it. It was a nice change from the overwhelming heat and oppressive humidity. As they walked he pointed out the various landmarks. Whether she would remember them later remained to be seen but she hadn't had enough to drink to make her tipsy or anything. Drunk Blue was something all together different. It could really go one of two ways. Either she got really fucking open about her life and emotions or she got really fucking angry and Hulk'd out on people. Neither of those were something that she really wanted to experience in public and she doubted that Ranaan's Starfleet Uniform was going to get them out of trouble with the locals if the latter took place.

The festival itself looked like someone took festivals from all over the fucking world and puked them into a puddle of shit in the center of Brazil. There were fucking dragons, and some people that had some kind of breathing shit on their faces, that or it was drugs. She wasn't entirely sure. She hadn't paid close attention when she was in Xenobiology class, the recommended one anyway. She got out of that shit as soon as she could. Give her engines, give her warp drives, give her highly explosive shit and she was good. As her to name an alien, and she couldn't give two shits. That one is blue the other one is pink, get over it, and on with your fucking lives. Still, there was an art of beauty to the odd mish mash of people. The fact that there were so many of them, and all of them seemed to be getting along despite their differences. There were people selling shit, people drinking shit, and people buying shit. It was a shit storm.

The crowds were oppressive and Blue struggled when the people touched her and brushed past her. Because she didn't like to be touched by people that she didn't know. She didn't like to be brushed against or .. yeah, it was creeping her out but she was here for Ducote. Taking one for the team. The team that had held together against so many other variables she was not about to let a fucking festival like this take her down.

I need more fucking booze. she thought.

He pulled her deeper into the crowd, closer to the music, there was the scent of food around them all over the place. She smelled home... home could only mean one thing. She clutched his hand for dear life so that she didn't get lost or separated from him. She couldn't have that because she didn't know the language and while he might be able to locate her through his empathy she would not be able to do the same. When they got to an open spot the music was louder, the kind of loud that you could feel in the gorund at your feet and vibrated it's way up her legs. She had just enough booze in her system that when he turned and pulled her into a dance, she went willingly.

Blue was many things. She was a genius, an AI specialist, she could make shit out of almost nothing, and duct tape was her mother fucking best friend. She had created an owl out of spare parts before she upgraded him with better ones. What she was not talented in doing was moving her body. She had absolutely no rhythm. She gyrated and bounced, and tried to work with the music. Luckily, there was no one to give a shit and Ranaan seemed to just enjoy the fact that she wasn't running away. So they danced, for a song or so. Blue much preferred the harder rock, and that was what she listened to quite loudly when she was in the middle of performing feats of awesomeness at her work station in the First Officer quarters. Still, this would do well enough even if it didn't have the head banging aspect she was used to. Or the fact that Ranaan couldn't be the classic old man and tell her to turn her shit down.

He spun her around and bounced along with her. “You move pretty good for an old man!” she called out to him against the loud noise of the people laughing. Blue was actually having fun, despite herself, she was enjoying herself. The dancing, the music, she didn't even mind the people because her eyes .. light and happy were concentrating on Ranaan and him alone. They had never seemed so open, except maybe a time or two when they had really soft and romantic moments. But here they were crystalline and happy, a smile on her face, and not a care in the world. It was a window into the world of what Blue could have been for just a moment in time. A moment so that you could see the fact that she could have been this person had not all the events happened.

The song finished, the crowed erupted in cheers and she looked over at Ranaan with a smile on her face. Pulling him close with their hands which were still merged from earlier she grabbed him for a long and heated kiss. Kissing him right there in the center of everyone, putting all that she had into it, and all her love and fuzzy feelings for it. Her mind and heart were open to him in the moment. Some of those rare seen moments, they happened a lot more frequently off of work than on though she had no idea how much he really enjoyed them. When the kiss broke she looked into his eyes their foreheads pressed together for just a moment of time before she pulled back. It was far too hard to have a conversation over all this noise, and suddenly, her eyes shifted and stared.

Stared off into something that he couldn't see because it was behind him.

“Blue? Wha-” he turned slightly to see what was catching her interest, and she could feel his shoulders sag with surrender.

“Come onnnnn” she pouted, her eyes big and her little lip quivered excitedly.

He looked at her, and she smiled brightly, she knew that she had won, again, she always did. She grabbed his hand and lead him through the beautiful carnival to the one place that she could really feel at home. They weren't just Twinkies, no they were fried twinkies. Her mental squeal was likely loud enough to hurt the mind of the man beside her. But she ordered four twinkies and paid them with Ranaan's Brazilian money because he was literally the Sugar Daddy at this point. She grinned up at him as the man handed her a cardboard container with four fried twinkies and a fork. Not that she needed the fork. Taking a bunch of napkins and she turned as they walked off to a spot where she could eat them without having to share. He wouldn't want any anyway, but this was her form of gluttony.

They found a low wall and sat down on it. Ran leaned back on his hands looking up at the stars obscured the smoke from the fire works. It was a beautiful night. She leaned against him and picked up the first Twinkie, the rest laying in her lap in their container. She bit into the end of one of them, the crisp of the outer crust was perfection and how it surrendered to the soft interior and the warm cream it was perfect. She sighed softly, it was the most perfect snack for tonight. Laying her head on his shoulder as she ate, little crumbs tumbling down his shirt while they gazed out at the massive amount of people. Fireworks started again, and she looked up at them while taking in her snack and amping her sugar ten fold while they sat for a few minutes enjoying their date.

“Where did you hang out when you were a kid here? There had to be shit that you did as a kid before you were Commander Ducote.” she said looking over at him still with her head on his shoulder rather enjoying their time. It was time that was hard to find, time that was hard to spend together, especially on the ships.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #22 – January 24, 2019, 10:16:22 PM

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

He could feel Blue's growing discomfort among the crowds as they got deeper in, though he couldn't mind her tightening grip on his hand even if he knew what was causing it. Childish, perhaps, but it wasn't often she made public displays of affection at all... certainly not in uniform, anyway. But she persevered, until he finally found what he could feel already.

A multispecies gathering with music to fit a latin ceilidh, with people dancing around to a competing Bajoran wind section and a samba band. The combination was nuts, but the drums made you move, and he could hardly help but turn and pull Blue towards him again. Surrounded by a riot of colour, and sound, and a waft of some powerful intoxicant or other drifting through the heavy breeze. He laughed as they threw each other around in various degrees of dyscoordination.

"You move pretty good for an old man!"

"And you're not bad for a two-legged Edosian, either!" he returned, chuckling.

The pulled apart and spun around and generally danced like idiots as the song grew to a crescendo, one or two of the Bajoran pipers looking a little purple in the face by now, and then the apparent actual faceoff between the two bands came to a natural (improvised) conclusion. The crowd cheered, some applauding the bands, and he didn't care about a single bit of it while Blue kissed him.

She noticed something behind him and immediately dragged him towards it. His suspicions were both vindicated and surpassed by the deep-fried twinkies she found. In Rio. In Rio.

Santa Maria, how does she do it?!

The vendor looked to him as Blue gestured he should pay. He couldn't wait for this one to show up on his accounts, as he pressed his thumb to the proffered reader. "Valeu," he said with that polite customer/server interaction smile one wore, waving as he followed Blue away to find a spot to wolf the disgusting things. Ranaan turned his attention back to the crowd as it thronged and pulsed down the street, thousands of people forming some strange hive-mind whose only objective for tonight was to party.

But they were separate from the crowd now, and that in combination with the war Blue was waging on her tortured pancreas meant that he got to enjoy her reflected contentment.

"Where did you hang out when you were a kid here? There had to be shit that you did as a kid before you were Commander Ducote."

He looked off down the street while he considered that, lit in alternating lurid chemical shades as the fireworks exploded overhead. He felt as if he probably spent as much time as any other kid playing around, except for the fact that most of his extra-curricular activities were still very much focused towards 'skill teaching' things rather than mere entertainment. And of course, whenever he spent time doing any of them with his father, Erich would ruin the whole endeavour by providing some 'learning moment' or comment on how it built character.

"Well, there was an arcade I used to love. They had this variable-gravity holographic laser-tag room; I'd spend hours in there on weekends jumping around a darkened room with schlocky B-movie sci-fi style 'armour' on to register hits. My greatest childhood friend at the time was a Denobulan boy called Ucam - or just Cam to us. He could climb every which way all over all the obstacles under standard grav, let alone when it was low or off... we won a lot of games that way," he chuckled. "I was always worried that my dad would stop me going on the weekends in the name of some other outdoor pursuit or more studying or something, but he was happy enough with it. Took me a few years to realise he counted it as good practise for joining the family business in Starfleet Security..."

Ranaan's tone had turned a little bitter by the end without his meaning to. As it probably did most of the time without him realising, when the subject turned to his father. He knew he shouldn't complain too harshly about the man - whatever else you could say of him, he did at least care, even if it came from an odd place. Blue had only known her parents for a short time at all, and the lasting impression had been one of total neglect. He wasn't about to whine about his childhood to her.

"Truth is, most of my life was a set up to joining the Fleet. My father's whole side of the family was in it, and ma's side was all fancy civic posts and diplomats who hadn't exactly shied away from being good upstanding Federation citizens either. It was made clear to me at a young age that not joining up would be... less than ideal." His arm squeezed her closer to his chest for a moment. "It hasn't been all bad, I guess..." he said with exaggerated despondency. But he did mean his implication; through Starfleet, he found Blue. And he was happy about that.

As she finished her twinkies, he kissed her crown. "Wanna see what other craziness is going on down here, or have you peopled enough?" For his own part, he was curious what else could be found in this mad festival, but he could well sympathise with the crowd and the sensory input being a bit... much.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #23 – January 30, 2019, 09:23:52 PM

[Blue Tiran | Lessons in Ducote | Tastes of Fried Brazil | Twinkie Invasion | Step Aside Mother Fucker the Future of Food is Here]
@Top Hat

The crunch, of the outer shell, was just right. Just crispy enough to offer enough resistance and the pleasurable crunch sound as your teeth pierced through the outer layer and into the warm, perfectly cooked interior. It wasn't melted, there was a fine art to not melting and yet still frying something like a twinkie. The cake helped protect the interior from the heat, but if it was heated for too long you would end up with white colored mess running down your front. The stall-man had perfected the Brazilian fried twinkie and she was quite pleased as she inhaled her first one endeavouring to savor the second. She hoped that she could control herself, though, self control was not necessarily her strong suit especially when it came to the best cake in the universe.

“I'm going to make a fucking recipe for these when we get back to the ship. I want to be able to have Brazilian Fried Twinkies any fucking time.” she admitted licking a small bit of crumbs courtesy of the crust off of her fingers before grabbing the second twinkie.

Still warm, fuck yeah.

He talked about an arcade that he used to visit. Blue had never taken him for a gamer, but she was intrigued to think about this side of Ran. He had always been a soldier to her. She knew that his past included a hefty run of Security and then he had been promoted before she had met him. Blue herself, had never known him as anything other than Commander Ducote, First Officer of the Endeavour. She wondered, sometimes, what he would have been like if she had met him as a Security Officer. She likely would have been his worst nightmare of an officer. Comfortable in the Brig, frequent customer, at this point they should have a blanket, pillow, and snack basket for her when she arrived.

The mere thought of him jumping around and fighting 'bad guys' in a holographic simulation was.. really fun to think about. He had such a cute childhood, such a normal thing. Running around with friends, going to holographic simulators, fighting bad guys. Running the streets of Brazil. She could imagine little brown-skinned Ranaan, with his dark eyes, and his easy smile. His unending patience and his connection to the world and culture all around him. She knew that he wasn't Brazilian by heritage but by location though it made little difference to her because the culture had become his as he was raised within it.

During his story, she nearly envied his past. The way he had two parents, no siblings, but two parents that while they might not have been what he would have chosen he had them. His dad was a capitol D, dick, and he pushed Ran way harder than was necessary. She knew there was a lot of resentment and she also knew that Daddy Ducote didn't care a shit about Blue Tiran. Nor about her joining the family. His eyes and body language made that abundantly clear, Blue didn't need empathic abilities to read the easy dislike for her on Erich's face. Still, she appreciated the fact that Ratela had always welcomed Blue, understood her pains but never spoke them out loud. She tried to 'mother' Blue in a way that was all too comfortable for a girl that had lost all that was precious to her when she was nine. To her, her parents were dead, they had died in the same accident that had taken Arthur even though they were separated by light years.

On that day, Blue lost the entirety of her family in one fell swoop.

He told her that to him it had been fun, but that later he realized his father had only allowed him to do it because it had prepped him for a job in Security much like he had. The taste of his words, and the way his mouth formed him, caused Blue to look up from the finger she was licking, the twinkie had disappeared and she was a bit heartbroken it was gone. The last one. She could buy more, but, she tried not to swell up like a balloon and the lectures from Ducote about vegetables and protein got tiresome after a while. So she made efforts to limit herself, especially in his presence. The history that Ranaan and his father had was painful for him. She didn't know what it was like to have a father push you to be something, or not be something. To make sure that everything fit in a vision that he had for you.

She only understood absolute neglect.

He moved on, before she could wallow in her own pains. She didn't want to go down that road, not today, she knew it could put her in a dark mood. It usually did. The mention of her parents always sent her into a spiral of self doubt and hardship. Mentions of her brother, … Ranaan was gifted in that he realized easily it was not a subject easily broached and thus he never asked. Only absorbed the small tidbits of her past with Arthur when she gave them out. They were rare, because each of those nine years, each of those memories, were as precious as gems to her. Each one coveted as though she was a dragon laying on a horde that was too small but all the more precious because of it's size. He had never accidentally mentioned it, likely because when she had first told him of her tale, her story, her past, the lance of pain from mentioning him.. his death.. his name.. had likely been warning enough.

Some pain, you just never got over.

“I can't imagine you being anything but, Starfleet, though, I think you're strong enough to have picked your own fucking path Ducote. He may have lead you there, but you aren't the type to have only made that choice for your father. You made it because it suited you too.” she said looking over at him with a slight shrug of her shoulders. She could be wrong, but that was the way she saw Ranaan. He made decisions, hard ones, all the time. People had lived and died by the choices he made as a First Officer and he lived with those every day.

He wasn't weak, his father may not be the warm and fuzzy type, but Ranaan could have walked at any point. At least, that was the way she felt.

He mentioned that it hadn't been all bad, and held her closer. Blue grinned putting her hands on his strong arms leaning into him as best as she could. This was perfect. Perfection. This was the life she had never thought she would have and sure as fuck would never admit that she wanted. She had a fiance, she had a job, she had a life, and creations, and inventions. She had so much going for her, there was not a single thing she wished she had. Counselors liked to ask if she should mend the gap with her parents, if she should write to them, comm with them, reach out.

Fuck them.

Her opinions wouldn't change. They had long since forsaken her, and never once had they found her. Though if they were searching for Emelia Tiran, they had a long slow ass search because Blue worked very hard to scrub that shit name from every record book she could. Blue Tiran had been born at nine years and four months, Emelia had died with the rest of her family.

“You're fucking right it hasn't been all bad, you met the best fucking Engineer in the fleet.” she grinned at him, not one for humility, Blue. She kissed his lips quickly, just a lingering peck before pulling back a bit of a chuckle and then she turned to the rest of the festival. The openness of her eyes almost flickered as the shields rose against her heart again. Talking of family, thinking of family, it was hard. An aching cancer at her center.

It was why she never wanted children. The mere thought of fucking them up the way that she had been scared the fuck out of her. Luckily, Ranaan had never seemed interested either though, she knew that Ratela would likely want some and as he was the last of the Ducote's there might be pressure. She wasn't sure what Ranaan wanted, they had never actually sat down to discuss it though, Ran was not a young man, she knew that she could theoretically have children. She had the biology for it, but not the drive. The mere thought that she could twist and completely fuck up an innocent.. scared the living shit out of her.

He asked her if she wanted to go back out into the fray of people. Or if she was ready to head back to Casa-Ducote and probably wake his parents up with their late night stumbling as they got ready for bed, used the bed, then pass out. Blue rose her hand to her mouth and nibbled on the side of her thumbnail. An old habit, a nasty one, considering most of the time her hands weren't clean. But, she didn't care either. She was about peopled out. Her threshold for crowds was fairly low, fuck, being in his house with his parents at the same time was a crowd. The only way she got through working on a busy deck was staying busy and the fact that everyone had a fucking job to do. Chatterboxes got redirected real fucking quickly and if the 'finger across the throat' method of communications didn't work well enough her frequent verbal rebukes quickly ran the over optimistic mother fuckers off in record time.

She was fairly certain there were actual charts somewhere about how long it took. Bets were made on PADDs when a newbie arrived to see how long they could stick out trying to get up her ass and make friends with her. Winner took a pool of credits or whatever the fuck it was they bet. Crystalline, guarded eyes, shifted across the mass of people. As they got more drunk, they were incapable of walking straight. Colliding into people, Blue could almost imagine them brushing up against her and touching her. Wanting to dance with them, trying to make her happy and carefree. A look over at Ranaan, fleeting, but it was enough to gather he would like a little more time.

Here among his people, in his land, one they may not be able to get back to soon. He promised another vacation next leave, one that didn't include his parents and the third degree. Captain Ducote didn't bother her in the slightest other than she wished he would like her just enough for Ran to feel easy about it. But perhaps, it was for the best that he didn't.

“Why don't we take the long way 'round.” she said finally. There was the short cut, back to Casa-Ducote, and then there was the way through the market, through the food, and the music, through the people. For him, for him and only for him, she would do this. Because, this was Ranaan and after all the things he had done for her, all the ways he had held her up, supported her, loved her. She could allow him a night of his own. A night to remember what it was like to be home. She might have been the blood hound for fried sugar but this was his world... his past, his present, his future. This was Ranaan Ducote.

Blue hopped down from her spot on the low wall, crushing the cardboard plate in her hand that had once held the fried delicacies. Taking a deep breath, she prepped herself for the maelstrom of people. She wasn't claustrophobic, no, she didn't mind the tight spaces, or the heat. She was an Engineer and from Texas to boot. It was just the sheer amount of people. Luckily, none of them knew her and that would help her move through the crowd. She slipped her hand in his.

“There's a market over there.” Blue pointed where large bright colored scarves, sashes, and banners were strung from pop up stall to stall. The vibrant colors were only accented by the multi-hued lights that were strung across as well creating a criss-cross pattern over the market. Inside each of the stalls were from one to three men and women selling and marketing their wares. Many were similar, but all were different, and each one had a spiel likely trying to top the stall before. There were large rugs and blankets on the ground as well, where those that could not afford an actual standing stall had laid out their wares on the blankets.

Together they made their way through the crowd. When ever she got bumped her hand tightened on Ranaan's and he helped guide her through the sheer mass of people. Finally, they broke through and she could feel the cooler night air in the tendrils of her hair. The braid of earlier had popped loose and her mass of curls had fallen around her fully again, the tie lost somewhere in the crowd likely trampled underneath many feet at this point. But, she could breathe again without the press of people. They headed for the long avenue that was filled with shops and the like. Things that were beautiful, and unique, and definitely Brazil.

A small dark skinned girl, likely the product of genetics and exposure to sunlight, played some sort of small guitar like thing. Blue didn't know instruments beyond the shit you learned in grade school, so, she didn't know what it might be called but it was unimportant. She played it well her fingers strumming over the device and allowing the notes to filter in. She stood next to an older, similar, woman. Likely her mother, as she played the woman noticed that they were caught up in the young girl and her clear talent. She began to press her wares.

“” she called out in Ranaan's home language.

“<Come here, child.>” an older woman called from a stall just close by. “”

Another cry from across the area a man this time. “<Mister! Mister! We have souvenirs for when you return home!>”

Blue had no idea what they were all saying but she also didn't care. She looked over at Ducote with a brow raised. “Are they selling shit or screaming at me for being vampire pale?” she teased looking up at him with a bit of a grin on her lips.

Re: [2380/Earth] Victuals and Visitations

Reply #24 – February 23, 2019, 10:20:36 PM

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

"Why don't we take the long way round," she said, obviously compromising with herself. For a second, he considered offering the direct route instead - he didn't mind, really - but he could also feel that she wanted to do it. For him or her, he wasn't sure. But he could guess. So he just smiled and nodded, standing with her and brushing her twinkie crumbs from his shirt... no danger of any white streaks of creme on the black fabric - Blue Tiran would not have allowed any to go to waste.

"There's a market over there," she continued.

Probably tourist tat, given the fact that no one on Earth really needed to purchase anything at all. There was a dedicated segment of the local population who clung to traditional crafts and the usual number of people who ascribed a romantic aspect to the handmade, of course, but that didn't mean that they weren't worth a look. Ranaan's own austere streak just meant that he was generally disinterested in picking any of it up.

Nevertheless, he took her hand and enjoyed their closeness (slightly enforced by the crowd as it was) and followed her through the gathered people, occasionally parting the revellers with an outstretched arm to avoid being swept up or pushed off-course while they crossed the main thoroughfare to get to the market street. He still jealously and secretly loved the way she held his hand tighter when the people pressed too close. It was a rare sign of vulnerability from someone to whom he just couldn't assign that descriptor if he tried, so he just found it weirdly cute.

In the market itself, at last, they had some room to breathe and hear the music. The girl played beautifully on her decorated cavaco, managing to play around the overpowering noise from the festival and make it a part of her song. "<You're going to be a famous cavaquista!>" he said, leaning down. "<Is this yours?>"

The girl nodded with a wide smile. "" Ranaan noticed that she didn't miss a note, picking away as she spoke.

"<It's beautiful,>" he said, straightening as the woman used that to launch into her pitch. He listened politely, simply smiling wryly as he let Blue pull him along. He waved goodbye to the girl as the crowd obscured her and her mother.

They continued on, other vendors trying to ply their wares. "<Mister! Mister! We have souvenirs for when you return home!>"

He had to laugh good-naturedly at that one. ""

"Are they selling shit or screaming at me for being vampire pale?"

"I mean, both, I guess," he deadpanned. "She's going to run for the garlic oil and he's saying something about heading to the nearest church for the holy water. No word yet on the wooden stakes." She punched him in the arm, and he laughed, before pulling her close. "I'm sure they aren't strong enough to take you down, though, Blue. Besides not being an actual vampire, I mean.."

An elbow in the ribs, for that one.

Feeling as if she'd indulged him enough, he steered them back to the direct route home, the streets gradually becoming quieter and more sparsely populated as they reached the old favelas and their interleaved apartments. They chatted as they walked, Ranaan still interested in giving Blue as much of a grounding in the area as she might want. As much as he rankled against his family, Rio was still his home, and he was firmly of the opinion that a home had to be one stationary place, rather than any ship or station.

They turned into the Ducotes' home street, and Ranaan relaxed into the over-familiar territory. The clear moonlit sky alternated with the soft-lit undersides of the overhanging apartment buildings as the pair leaned on each other up the hill. Ranaan thumbed them through the gate, and led the way up the stairs to his home's level. But rather than lead them into the house, he dragged a pair of deck chairs into the open space of the garden deck. The air was still quite warm, despite the clear sky and late hour.

"C'mon," he said, patting the chair next to his. "Tell me about the satellites you see."

They might be home, but he wasn't yet so tired that he wanted to bed. And if he could jimmy some more of her story out of her... he was just buzzed enough that it still felt like a good idea.