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Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #25 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark appreciated the discretion, even in jest, that Enyd was practicing.  She was pretty sure that once Doctor Hernandez had finished patching her up, he'd start pestering her to visit the counsellor's and have her head checked as well.   Since she'd worked out several of her own frustrations and didn't feel like making a habit of picking up bruises or worse, the medico felt it was under control.  Enyd seemed to feel the same way, so it was better to let sleeping dogs lie at this point the Andorian thought to herself as she went to the cabinets to grab all the accoutrements of a hearty stew lunch.  Setting the bowls, plates, and cutlery on the island, the medico opened a cabinet that housed a drinks fridge, and selected a dark lager as her drink of choice.  Waiting for the requisite bottle to materialize, she precariously balanced the lot and carried it over to the coffee table that Enyd was intent on using as a the venue of consumption.

Whatever the stew was, it smelled delicious and Zark took her time in laying out the bowls, plates, and cutlery out for the two lunching ladies.  Zark waited till Enyd sat down cross legged before joining her and popped the top on her bottle.  The bottle never left the table though when Enyd asked if Zark needed help with her bruised abdomen and the medicos hand automatically moved to the affected area as her eyes began to track the movement of the beautiful if dishevelled brunette.

The Zhen opened and closed her mouth as the emerald eyed woman sat down next to her and Zark had to make conscious effort to move her hand away from her belly.   There was the simple answer; she'd already taken care of most of the damage in the snow, and was in much better shape thank you very much.  And it was the answer that wouldn't come out as her antennae began to swirl as they pointed at human.  Slightly wide blue green eyes stared intently into emerald green searching for an answer to a question that plagued many living beings throughout life.  Questions of the heart were the worst in the medico's mind for they potentially invited so much joy, yet had the high probability of even more pain, and she now found herself at a fork in the road because of her heart wanted to know.  There was the road of passion, and a significant part of her being yearned to simply lean in and taste those burgundy lips that were so tantalizingly close, press her body in and embrace what could possibly be with the ethereal form next to her, damn whatever happened next. Then there was the path of the test, and Zark had been trained to draw on all her resources to determine if what was in front of her was what she thought it really was.

The security officer's instincts reluctantly trundled down the second path as she read the diplomat's facial expression, body language, and interaction; and her mind reached a reluctant conclusion.  It was always in the face, more specifically, the eyes.  They were bright with concern, yet that very indescribable yet known something, the smouldering, or the spark, seemed to be missing.  At the very least, it wasn't there at moment.  Mere seconds had passed when the Andorian took a deep breath and picked up her bottle before taking a healthy swig before smiling graciously once more and pulling the dermal regenerator out of her pocket and handing it over.  "Well Enyd, I think we can do more than the basics, though if you try to tickle me too much, my other hand attached to this here pillow may suffer an inexplicable collision with your head."  Chuckling a bit, Zark's smile became slightly more professional.  "Seriously though, there's more to a dermal regenerator than just waving it over the injured area.  First off..."  the medico continued as cobalt hands enclosed pale ones and guided the device in the act of healing.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #26 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd’s background knowledge of antennae interpretation was minimal, though she had fared better at reading the additional body signal whilst on Andoria for training than many of her peers. She recognized that Zark was deep in thought, even beyond the antennae movement, and deduced that the thought process had much to do with her, and potentially her offering to assist. There had been other instances in their brief acquaintance where something she’d said or done had caused the Andorian woman to grow still like this, seemingly both hyper aware and deep in thought, and it brought Enyd to wonder more than a few things. They had not yet brought up the topic of significant others, as really that hadn’t been part of anything they’d said or done so far, but IF Zark was inclined to be attracted to females as well as males, or just females, and she was unattached, then Enyd could understand how their present circumstances could be construed as potentially romantic.

Enyd blushed. She stalled for time as she tucked her hair behind her slightly pointed ears. It was only at that moment that she realized how difficult the situation would be for her right now if she’d been Drauc and Zark had been her. At least Andorians weren’t mind readers or empaths like Drauc was otherwise Enyd was certain Zark would possibly injure herself more in her efforts to beat a hasty retreat from Enyd’s present deductive assumptions. But…there was always the chance that it was entirely unrelated to her and to their sitting in a cozy cabin in a spectacular area, red-faced from exertion, sharing a delicious meal, both barely clothed by more uptight Federation standards.

She laughed at Zark’s threat once the woman responded, handing over the dermal regenerator, “Oh no! Not the pillow!”

Being a quick learner, and with some basic background in the use of the regenerator, Enyd was diligent and thorough as she passed the device over Zark’s injuries and working until it seemed Zark was at greater ease once more.

“Have you ever gotten drunk with a Romulan?” Enyd asked once her task was finished and she handed the device back. “Lieutenant Valyn Amarik, she’s transferred onboard the same day as me, same route too. We didn’t intend on getting drunk, and in reality, we were tipsy more than drunk. Ended up raiding the pantry, so to speak, on our first night aboard Theurgy.” Enyd gave Zark a playful grin as she grabbed her mead and held it aloft for a toast. “To many more adventures such as these with friends, old and new.”

Post-toast, Enyd dug into the first few bites of stew with gusto more befitting a bovine than a human but she was hungry and she had been cold and it was good, so all worthy excuses to do away with etiquette for at least a few first bites. The worst of the hunger abated, and after another healthy swallow of mead, Enyd leaned back to force a pause in her eating. Her eyes moved between the crackling fire and the view outdoors, forcing herself not to stare at Zark. Enyd knew she had a bad habit of staring at people, trying to figure out their thoughts and emotions and connect them to past and present actions while predicting what came next. Rude, is what her grandmother called it. And then there were other adjectives tossed at her other the years more colorful than that, but at least a few of her professors had appreciated it.

“It seems to me that we both have a habit of working through things through physicality.” Enyd broke her gaze with the fire long enough to nod towards Zark abdomen. “When I was on Vulcan post-Cardassia fiasco that got my fiance murdered in my arms, I was in a very dark place. Nearly got kicked out of Starfleet actually, for drunken disorderliness. It seems my colleague did like my Orion dance on his desk. He was such an uptight prat, no regrets. It wasn’t until Admiral Anderson manipulated me through some distant relatives that I got my act together.” Enyd took another deep sip of her mead, settling against the pillows at her back as she continued. “Granted, it was the positive kind of manipulation in the end. He knew me well enough, having worked with both my parents, to know that I needed to get my arse kicked physically in order to get my head space right. I ended up going on the traditional Vulcan pilgrimage through the Forge, as if I was going to perform the Kolinahr ritual, and while I made it to the platform on Mount Selaya, I passed out and woke up again at the hospital where Anderson explained what he’d done and why. That was the butt kick I needed to get my act together. Granted, I obviously still imbibe, but there’s no risk of my going off the deep end. At least not with drink. I still feel a pull towards needed to work out the mental kinks through painful physical experiences though. Not always fighting. Sometimes just hard treks in the mountains.” Enyd gave a half shrug as she leaned forward to put her glass back on the table, her eyes traveling over her friend’s form. “What about you?”

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #27 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark had done her level best to be as professional in her impromptu medical class with Enyd, and it had worked. Mostly.  The steady guidance of the pale hands in her blue ones acted much like a masseuse on her aches and pains, and there was a certain sensuality to the movements that couldn't be avoided.   If the movements were too quick, the regenerator field wouldn't properly take hold. Too slow and one was wasting energy.  The relief that the Andorian medico was feeling was very welcome and like any good massage, one felt easy and free afterwards.  Zark took a moment as Enyd got the hang of the operating the regenerator to appreciate the sheer good looks of the diplomat, and she caught herself before switching back to watching her guide the device in unknotting and repairing the bruises and contusions with skill that belied her experience.  The scantily clad Andorian was also quite aware of both their states of near undress and she blushed at the thought of someone walking in on them at this moment.  Truth be told, the merciless innuendo she'd use on the interloper would be totally worth it since the medico was sure Enyd would utilize her diplomatic repertoire to increase the witty carnage that would be inflicted on the unfortunate soul.

With the pain effectively gone and her abdomen mostly back to normal, Zark sighed in relief and gratefully took back the medical device as Enyd brought up a non-sequitur and the Security Officer had to plunge into the depths of memory to remember who she was, which was thoroughly interrupted causing a snigger of laughter at the idea of the diplomat and the intelligence 'analyst' stealing consumables after a bout of inebriation. Zark was about to ask how much they got away with and whether she should report their escapade when Enyd used her skills to preempt Zark with a salute, and ploughed into the stew and mead with a gusto.  The hungry Andorian saw no need to turn away the well wishes as she grabbed her bottle and clinked back before joining in inhaling the stew.  Zark generally not being concerned with niceties when she was hungry gave a most unlady like demonstration as she did her best to imitate a black hole and rapidly shovelled down the bowl's contents while her jaw moved at high speed and her cheeks became like those of a terran rodent known as a chipmunk. 

With half the bowl's contents gone, Zark was sufficiently satisfied that she could put the stew down and grabbed a napkin.  As Enyd spun her tale, Zark's cleanup took on completely opposite traits to the one's she used for eating.  Delicate and deliberate as her mind turned towards digesting the new information she was hearing.  It was an emotional story and the Andorian was taken on an emotional roller coaster as her head turned to watch the diplomat spin her tale of despair, struggle, and rebirth.  The description really was quite matter of fact as Enyd plumbed the depths of her experience while using the flame in the middle of the living room as a focus, but the Andorian's imagination supplied all the emotion that helped give life to the summary, and it took an act of sheer will to stop herself from jumping out of her seat to grab the forthright brunette in a comforting embrace.   When Enyd asked her question though, Zark had to give it some thought and her head tilted to one side before staring up at the ceiling to ponder her laundry list of various coping mechanisms.  A cobalt finger began lightly tapping on the medicos chin before she began. "Well, if a mountain trek is available, I'd definitely go on one of those, but since Security has to be around the ship quite a bit, I usually spend most of it on the holodeck.  There are the more peaceful pursuits of meditating, reading with a nice glass of wine, watching a movie, or playing music."  The blue green gaze came back down towards the diplomat and lips became pursed in thought before continuing.  "The thing is, what you saw earlier is probably the most intense of the options for working through whatever is bugging me.  It never really gets that bad since I get I'm working it out in the security centre's gym all the time."  The combat medic suddenly turned sullen as she brought her knees to her head and laid her head on top.  The beer was starting to take hold and it freed various thought paths for contemplation.  "It's just that with everything that makes up this crazy train, sometimes, I'm not sure what to make of it."

The Andorian's voice went distant as soulful blue green eyes turned to emerald ones.  "Do you know, I've almost been killed twice since the ship left Aldea?"  Zark pointed at a spot on her abdomen. "I got shot by something that went through my armour like it was paper the first time.  Turns out the Federation ambassador to Breen was an Infested and determined to blow up something to wipe out the capital."  Pursed blue lips blew out air. "Barely survived that one. Had to operate on myself to get all the fragments out and patch all the holes inside."  Waving a hand to forestall any questions. "Don't worry, the Savi put me back together.  Then there was Qo'nos.  Lor'Vela knows how many hours that was of straight up combat to rescue the crew of the Sabine...... Lost a lot of good people on that jaunt as well.  VanVinter pulled my butt out of that one after I got shot again, and that was after a Klingon flattened my original nose." Sighing more.  "You're right about the physicality of it all.  I was wondering if I lost the edge, but after that bout with the hologram, it doesn't seem like it."

After that admission of vulnerability, Zark wiped away a stray tear that was gathering in her eye.  Still it wasn't quite enough for Zark for she was very alone on the ship and she needed someone to turn to, and like a dam ready to burst its levees, she reached over to grab Enyd in a hug as she buried her head in the human's neck.  "Thank you for listening and being here with me." The Andorian quietly told her friend before eventually letting go and taking a breath.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #28 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd finished off her food as she listened to Zark’s reply. Despite the differences in their backgrounds and training, they seemet they had much in common in how they dealt with anxiety or stress. Granted, Enyd couldn’t remember the last time she’d meditated, but she enjoyed quiet moments spent mulling over thoughts while sipping at a warm drink. Perhaps that was a form of meditation. Enyd was finished with her food and back to sipping at her mead by the time Zark shifted to her own confessional. She refrained from reaching out to touch the Andorian woman just yet, but she knew already they would end this with an embrace. There was no way two women could share so much without tears shed and bodies embracing.

She hadn’t thought to ask Zark what sort of mischief she’d been up to during the initial mission on Qo’Nos, but she had her answer anyway. While Enyd had been tossed like confetti across the Great Hall, Zark had been slugging it to rescue their colleagues. The mentioning of Victor had Enyd’s lips upturning for a brief second. She was glad he’d been there as it seemed they’d helped each other out of that mess. Enyd leaned forward to set her glass down as Zark drew to a close. Just in time, it turned out, as Zark’s arms tugged her into a tight hug seconds later.

Enyd remembered how her grandmother would cradle the back of her head with one hand while smoothing the other up and down her back with the other and how calming that had been to Enyd during her crying fests. Mimicking the woman who raised her, Enyd held Zark until her friend’s breathing evened out, and Zark whispered her thanks against her neck. Zark’s lips tickled Enyd’s sensitive flesh, and she couldn’t help the rush of goosebumps that prickled her skin in response.

“Thank YOU for listening to me as well, Zark. It goes both ways.” Enyd kept her hand on Zark’s shoulder even once the Andorian pulled back to recover herself. “I am thankful you have made it this far, for I know already my life is better for knowing you.”

She shifted away long enough to grab the unused napkin on the table and passed it over. Zark’s pain was more recent, more raw, and her tears had not been planned; that much was obvious.

“Oh, fun fact, Van Vinter and I were once engaged.” Enyd grinned at Zark’s response but said nothing more as she stood and resumed the clean-up process.

Enyd continued to dance around the room, cleaning up after their meal, and ordering another glass of mead until finally, she took pity on Zark and explained further.

“We met on Vulcan a lifetime ago. I was a civilian, getting my Masters at the Metternich, and he was on leave. Our innocent first date nearly got us both killed.” Enyd laughed at the memory of facing down the sea monster, among other things. “But, with both of us hopeless romantics and suckers for chaos, we struck up a ridiculous correspondence. I say ridiculous only because we were ridiculous. We were both writing on real paper.” She shook her head at the memory as she sipped generously at the mead. “We met a few times over the years, got engaged, and were set to get married once things settled on Cardassia enough for me to meet him on Bajor. But…” Enyd smile fell to a resigned grimace, and she polished off the last of her mead in one rush, as if it were a shot. “Emotions are complicated; we who are still living are complicated. I didn’t mean to fall in love with Javec, but I did, and I certainly didn’t mean to get caught up in the subterfuge of the Directorate against the pro-Federation fledgling government. But my doing a favor for an old family friend got me caught, my fiance murdered, and my engagement to Victor ended, with our relationship severed for his own protection.”

Enyd realized she was sharing far more than was polite, but she had begun drinking on an empty stomach, and she’d forgotten the strength of mead. She’d also forgotten to ask Zark about the food settings, whether or not the beverages would be rated at expected levels or were altered for safety. It seemed, based on her loose tongue and Zark’s earlier tears, the safeties were little to none for their booze. Shaking herself, Enyd smiled, reaching out to squeeze Zark’s shoulder before the Andorian could potentially fret.

“Neither of us realized we were on the same ship until just after the fireworks died down on the planet. We’ve since reconciled are have plans to meet up again later this week to air out our proverbial closets. But, regardless, Victor is the finest of men, and I am glad he was there for you when you needed him.”

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #29 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Platinum tresses hung over her Zark's blue green eyes as she wiped away a few tears that formed from her embrace of Enyd with her thumb.  If pressed to admit it, the embrace had more comforting than she'd realized, especially when her back was being rubbed and she felt the comforting hand on her head. It was a feeling of warmth and care she hadn't felt in a very very long time long time.  Even her occasional lovers had not held her in such a fashion, and she wasn't sure what to make of it, just that it felt really nice.  Zark reset her hair around her antennae as Enyd thanked her for the company as well and smiled even as she worked to get a couple of sniffles out of the way before clearing her throat.  As she watched Enyd begin to clean up, the much relieved medico spied her beer bottle and tipped it to her lips to finish it off.

Which put her in the exact wrong position when Enyd dropped her little bomb shell about her engagement.  "Pfffbbbbb!" was the only answer the Andorian could give as her shock was total and a spray of beer went flying back into the bottle and out the rim.  The bottle was slammed down as Zark began choking and thumping her chest rapidly as she loudly coughed dark lager out of her airway.  "Hoooooo!!" Hack! "Ughhh!"  "By" Hack! "Lor'vela!" Sucking of air to refill lungs. "Give a girl some warning before you decide to tell someone that!  Ahhhhhhh."  Zark frantically began wiping herself and the surrounding down as Enyd grabbed another mead and the Andorian went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water before joining Enyd again on the couch and taking a healthy slug of water to clear her throat and mouth.  "Now, what's this about an engagement that you're clearly not in any more."  and cobalt hands made a gimme gesture as she leaned forward, eyes bright, to take in the details what could have been Mrs. VanVinter.

Zark really wanted to laugh a the story. The beginning matched her experience with the Warp Fighter Chief, and the mayhem Enyd seemed to attract from their short interaction made it a virtual guarantee that the two would experience something far out of proportion for 'simple' first date.  The truncated version of the romance though quickly took a horrible turn and the Security Officer was shocked at how the diplomat's posting had become romantic and awry so quickly.  That explained the bruises that the Andorian had spotted earlier, but had exercised her discretion in not mentioning them.

The medico felt the shoulder on her hand and smiled that the two would be on their way towards a reconciliation soon.  Still, it seemed that mayhem would exact it's price one way or another. It was many years too late, but Zark couldn't help herself as she hugged the diplomat one more time before leaning in to her ear. "I know it was a long time ago, but still, I'm sorry you had to go through all that pain and loss.  I couldn't be there, but I wish I could have been there for you."  The Andorian held on just a little bit longer, for after Enyd's reaction to her first hug, the Andorian figured at this point, she needed a friend more than anything, and kissing her on their first day of meeting would cause all sorts of problems she didn't want.  "Unfortunately, I wouldn't have been anywhere in the area to help you."  The Andorian started as she leaned back.  "After I graduated from Starfleet medical, I spent three years on the Spector helping to stabilize the border."   Deep sigh. "That was complicated with the holdouts, and various rogue factions trying to carve up little fiefdoms for themselves, or tearing up the ones they were in.  I wasn't on the senior staff, so I only really got called in when a hammer was called for, or on rescue mission."   With that summation, Zark realized she'd fallen down a bit of a potential rabbit hole of her own.  "I think I'm gonna tell you about those ones another time."

Feeling the energy in the room shift, Zark felt there were other problems she was more than happy to bring up instead and she would probably curse the aftermath, but she stood up, waving Enyd to stay seated while she made her way to the food replicator once more. "Just gimme a moment."  Damning the calories, fats, carbs, and everything else.  "Computer, one moose track mountain on warm brownies, two spoons, and a bottle of Michter 21 year old, ice, water, and two glasses."  Silently thanking the fact they were in dry dock once again, the soon to be stuffed Andorian brought the whole heaping pile of white ice cream with various shades of chocolatey brown, and booze to the table.  The fact it needed multiple trips was not lost on the platinum haired woman as she plopped herself down at the coffee table and poured a couple of very generous fingers for the two of them and placed a spoon in the diplomat's hand. "Enyd, the main thing with whiskey is that bourbon is the only one that really has the sweetness to stand up to all the flavours in this sundae.  We're also going to celebrate the sweet fact that we're alive, in my case courtesy of Victor, and friends now in with this ridiculous representation of the good stuff of life."


OOC: Moose Track Ice Cream is made up of vanilla ice cream with chocolate peanut butter cups swirled with Moose Tracks® fudge.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #30 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

“Now, what kind of a diplomat would I be if I walked around warning everyone whenever I intended to drop a strategic information bomb?” Enyd was kind enough to offer assistance in cleaning her Andorian friend, and the immediate vicinity caught in the crossfire of her spit-take of surprise.

Enyd was grateful for the long hug Zark offered and squeezed her arms around the woman’s svelte waist before letting go. When Zark shared some of her own past, it was Enyd’s turn to reach out and lightly brush her hand over her friend’s arm in comfort and encouragement. It seemed that no one came through the Dominion War and the time just after without a few scars of some kind of another.

“Will those stories require more or less alcohol?” Enyd held up her glass with a mischievous smirk.

Zark shifted from mere drinks to dessert and drinks. Enyd watched and listened with an appreciative smile as the Andorian ordered ice cream and bourbon and made multiple trips to place the extensively sweet and boozy spread in front of them. She was already sitting upright, leaning forward, eager, when Zark placed the spoon in her hand and gave a short speech on why they were justified in eating this many calories in one sitting.

Clinging her spoon against Zark’s, Enyd gave a conspiratory salute before digging into the gooey, melty, creamy goodness before her. She was only three bites and two lingering sips into the sundae when both the accumulated alcohol and the sugar hit her. Hard. Giggling like a five year old, Enyd shoveled more of the sundae into her mouth, not caring that a dollop of chocolate missed her mouth and left a trailing mark down the side of her mouth before plopping onto her collarbone.

“Okay, Zark, I’ve got a conundrum question for you. I’m curious how you would’ve handled it.” Enyd licked at her lips, smearing the top portion of the chocolate trail while completely ignoring the bit of chocolate on her clavicle. “Victor and I were never physically intimate.” Enyd paused, smirk in place, ready to dodge in case bourbon or ice cream came flying her direction. “We kissed, held hands, hugged, but we never consummated our relationship. Ours was a union of souls and minds, not bodies. And he made it clear to me that if I ever wanted to request such from him he’d comply because he loved me or if I wanted to pursue something physical with someone else, he’d respect that as well.” She paused long enough to finish her bourbon and hold out the glass for more, shameless in every way. “Javec and I started off clashing but eventually grew into a mutual respect and admiration for each other, which led to an unexpected physical relationship that was far more passionate and…distracting than what I had had with Victor.” Enyd sipped again at the bourbon, pausing in her ice cream shoveling competition for the time being. “Would you have still pursued Javec?”

Enyd realized she was revealing far more to Zark now than she had to her required counselor years ago when Javec first died. Perhaps it was the booze, the sugar, the fact that she’d been able to “bury the hatchet” a bit with Victor after so many years and had since survived a bout with an Infested…or a glorious combination of all of the above. Regardless, it felt freeing to speak so openly about this part of her life. She’d never been able to share with her grandmother, for the woman had been dead when Enyd was freed from the Directorate. Victor had also gone from her life. And it had surprised Enyd just how small her inner circle was when she’d gotten out of her own arse of grief long enough to look around and take note of her present reality. Sitting here with Zark, it occurred to Enyd that it had be literal years since she’d had a friend like this. To have been reunited with Victor and have met Valyn and Zark in such a short amount of time, on the same ship, made coming against the Infested seem worth it.

As she waited for Zark’s reply, Enyd resumed picking at the sundae, trying not to eat too much though she very much wanted to tip the bowl up and drop the entirety of the sundae directly into her belly. Enyd smiled. Oh yes, she was feeling the alcohol. Her appetite always increased when she was tipsy.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #31 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark turned a sly smile on Enyd when asked about stories after the war.  "A lot more before I'm even ready to think about telling anyone about it.  Some are funny, some aren't, but most aren't too bad."  A slender finger tapped the cobalt chin for a moment.  "The easy ones to remember are the nasty ones, and I don't wanna go there."

The clinking of the spoons was a welcome relief as she the two began digging out sweet sugary frozen cream and brownies.  In contrast to Enyd's inner child coming out, Zark leaned her back, closed her eyes, and sighed as the wondrous combination of vanilla and chocolate coated her senses.  Drinking some of the heady Kentucky buttered caramel, the liquid seemed to evaporate into her sinuses and a warmth suffused her throat and chest quickly.  Zark cracked an eye open, then the other very quickly and was startled as Enyd seemed to be picking up the pace of her consumption, even becoming a little sloppy as a bit of chocolate fell on the diplomat's collar.  Zark sat on her maternal instincts to clean the mess up.  Ah, so she's a hungry drunk, wait a minute!  That's my sundae too! "Hey! Leave some for me!." The medico indignantly laughed as she dug in to the gooey and fudgey concoction in an attempt to catch up.

The Andorian had to pause mid bite as Enyd raised her question and the pace at which she was eating slowed down dramatically as she had to think about what was being asked before tossing her drink back and filling both glasses with several generous fingers of amber inebriant.   The Zhen listened, then scooped more dessert into her mouth, before she began chewing, then sucking on the spoon, causing it to waggle side to side as she thought as to how best answer an obviously interesting conundrum.  After making a valiant attempt to draw water from metal,  Zark took the spoon out and covered her mouth as she let out a small burp. 

"Weeellllll" When the Andorian began to drawl, it was a good sign she was getting drunk for sure. "Heeere's the thing.  Uhmmmmm, ya seeee.  By Andorian standards, I'm a married woman."  Zark stuck her tongue out as she fumbled at a silver link chain on her collar for a second before pulling out pulled out a block of clear resin that held 4 locks of white hair arranged in a diamond from between her breasts. "This is ma Shapla!"  Zark held it between herself Enyd as her mind considered her bond mates.  "It's like a wedding ring for you.  Ya see, when the government on Andoria determined that I was gonna be setup with ma bond mates, we all got genetically tested to see how well I would eventually make babies, then we were all designated as each other's bond mates.  The main thing with that was to see how well we'd all get along to make a good family unit in the future."  Intensely salacious smile. "Good home environment in the future for all kiddies we're supposed to produce, which for me is when I turn 30." 

The block of resin continued to spin in the deft cobalt fingers before the index finger shot up to hold off any questions. While taking another sip of booze. "I'm getting to the point.  You seeeee, because there are four of us, we generally have to share anyway, so I don't see a problem with you, Victor, and Javec as long as you all agree to it."  The Andorian's Index fingered waggled back and forth to indicate don't say anything just yet before taking another sip.  "The thing is, what I consider acceptable, may not be for you, so it depends on how badly you wanted one or the other for the rest of your life.  I have to be able to handle at least two men in my life at once, and from their societal upbringing, they can't complain too much unless someone was really possessive, then we'd have problems." Bigger sip and another glass refill. 

Zark's smile turned very fond and soft as she stared at the locks of hair that were locked away and preserved essentially forever. She gave the block one last squeeze before letting it settle on her chest and turning her gaze back on Enyd. "Ya know. hic. When I joined Starfleet, my Zhavey and Shreva, or mom's in your case, made it clear that with me going off to Starfleet, I would be away for loooong periods of time.  Luckily, I'd been with my bond mates for years already and we all love each other.  But Zhavey and Shreva made it clear to Shrav, Ryn, and Ryzit that they had better not expect me to be celibate, since it was easier for them to get some at home, and I wouldn't."  Zark blushed a bit as the topic of conversation haphazardly wandered into the unexpected realm of different species mating practices and she was fast running out of innuendos to dance around the topic.  "Well, Ryn always did have a bit of stick up his ass, and he complained when I told him about then Cadet Wilkins.  I ended up using a bunch of stuff she taught me on him and the other two.  Didn't seem to think it was such a bad idea afterwards for me to explore more afterwards.  I think Ryzit enjoyed it more....... and I'm sinking fast into TMI territory here. Sorry."

Zark's head dropped in embarrassment at the realization that she'd opened the curtains of her own bedroom to Enyd without realizing it.  Quickly looking for something distracting to do, the Zhen grabbed a napkin and poured some water on it  before kneeling in front of Enyd and talking while gently cleaning chocolate stains off her.  "I guess the answer to your questions is if I had to choose one, then I'd pick the one I was willing to sacrifice everything for, and if the answer is the same for both, then it sucks to ask, but do you know here." and slender fingers moved to tap the human's heart "Would he do the same and make you feel alive about it?  The questions and permutations are endless, but in the end, this bit here is what will guide you, or I guess it did at any rate."  With a final wipe, Enyd was clean again, and Zark sat back down to take another sip of bourbon as she scooped up the fast melting sundae.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #32 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd eagerly nodded as she listened to Zark respond to her question, recalling conversations and experiences she’d had with her colleagues on Andoria. Determining to share those later, perhaps with another bit of liquor, Enyd maintained her focus on Zark as the Andorian shared her insight and personal life. Enyd’s slim fingers wrapped around the shapla and leaned closer to examine the jewelry. She had never exchanged engagement rings with Victor, and aside from public pledges, there had been no jewels traded between her and Javec either. The only thing tangible she had to reflect her relationship was her medal, and that was not something she intended to wear anytime soon. Letting go of the chain and straightening, Enyd smiled.

“I respect and appreciate your feedback, Zark. And I highly respect your ‘moms’ for their looking out for your physical needs like that. Consideration can manifest in many forms and it goes a long way in almost every culture.”

She knew of the population concerns the Andorian culture was facing. Enyd had been privy to quite a few conversations regarding this issue with Ethis and his quad group.

“My partner in my interspecies ethics class during my time on Andoria was an Andorian named Ethis. He introduced me to his quad group and let me tell you, being the “third wheel” to an Andorian quad group as a human diplomat is a dream come true for cultural exchange.” Enyd giggled, hiccuped, blushed, and giggled again.

Enyd couldn’t help the blush intensifying in fascination and interest when Zark veered into “TMI” territory. She’d only ever been intimate with Javec, sharing kisses and hugs with Victor, so the concept of being so openly intimate and actively gleaning sexual tactics to use on one’s partner was a foreign concept altogether. Not unpleasant. Just…different. Enyd couldn’t put a finger on if she would be as keen on doing the same thing if Javec was still alive, moving between him and Victor, applying physical insights from one on the other. Bajoran and Cardassian customs were so drastically different from Andorian, and even then, from human. And even among humans, it was dependent upon your place of origin. Her grandmother had been fairly conservative on such matters and Enyd knew her own outlook on such things were heavily influenced by the matron of the family.

“Zark, you don’t need to apologize for sharing things like that. If you are belligerent to me, intentionally hurt me, or open a door in my face, I can understand an apology. But something like this,” Enyd gave an exaggerated wave to the area around them, “It is wasted breath. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to know you more.” To help break the ice further, Enyd quipped, “I’ve slept with one man in all my life, and he was a Cardassian, so pointers from you could prove useful considering I am quite unattached and it looks like this posting will keep me isolated from other options outside the ship for a good while yet.” She gave a playful wink over her glass, finishing it off and setting the empty glass near the bottle, a subtle sign that she’d like yet another refill.
Enyd was momentarily startled when Zark leaned forward and began to clean her. It was only then that Enyd realized how messy she’d been while eating the sundae. Giving a snorting laugh, Enyd sat diligently like a child while Zark continued her ministrations until it satisfied the Andorian woman that Enyd was yet again presentable. Enyd gave her own response to Zark’s rhetorical as the Andorian tucked back into the sundae.

“Javec died for me. He killed for me too.” Enyd shook her head, the heartfelt sigh sinking her further against the pillows she’d propped herself against. “I believe Victor would have died for me, but I don’t think he would have killed for me. Not to say that means he loves, or loved, me any less. But he comes from a different background and culture and assuredly does not problem-solve like a Cardassian.” Enyd snorted at the last, for a second trying to picture Victor approaching life like Javec and failing to see something that far-fetched.

Choosing to steer the conversation back to lighter territory, Enyd leaned forward and pointed to various areas on her face as she spoke. “I had to have skin grafts here after a training exercise on Andoria. Can you tell?” Enyd waited for Zark to study her before she gave a light smile and added, “I had to have respiratory therapy too after I formed ice crystals in my sinuses and lungs. The storm my partner, a Vulcan, and I faced was off the charts even by Andorian standards. We were on our own for the exercise and Sonik startled a young makra. Got terribly clawed and with our comms down because of the storm, and no way of getting help given our locale, I used an old Earth trick. Didn’t think it would work, but thankfully it did. Sonik had weakened the makra enough that by the time he turned his sights on me, I was able to finish it off with the ushann-tor I’d been issued for the exercise. With Sonik in a meditative healing trance, I cut open the makra, cleaned out its guts, cut out its trachea, and then stripped down to my skivvies, Sonik too, and put our clothes in a dry bag that I tied to one of the makra’s legs. I pushed Sonik in first, then I crawled in, using the trachea as a breathing tube, and holding the seam shut as much as I could. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital getting skin grafts and my Andorian partner, Ethis, was congratulating me on finally becoming an Andorian adult. The cheeky bastard.”

Enyd shrugged, answering the question she assumed Zark would ask, “My officer training program was longer than some, given my lack of Starfleet training beforehand. It started on Psi Upsilon III, then I spent half a year on Tella, a full year on Andora, and then I finished on Earth. I really enjoyed Andoria and hope to go back again.”

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #33 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark smiled at the thought of Enyd observing how bond mates interacted with each other on a regular basis.  She knew that Andorians were regarded as a passionate species, and when disagreements erupted, they could be quite spectacular to watch to any outsider.  Anyone who mistook that passion for discord though, tended to regret it soon afterwards.  The bond mates were family and except in rare cases, inseparable.  At Enyd's declaration that she wouldn't really get a chance to find companionship on this ship, Zark lips twisted in doubt.  A beautiful, compassionate, intelligent, and funny woman was not something most people would pass by soon, and the Andorian figured it was only a matter of time before she caught someone's interest and reciprocated it.  She kept these thoughts to herself though as she nodded in acceptance that she didn't need to apologize for airing the more licentious aspects of her life.

Less than steady blue fingers poured more amber alcohol into Enyd's glass, spilling a few drops onto the table which unthinking blue fingers swiped and deposited in her mouth before sucking them clean as she listened to having to choose between Victor and Javec.  Even with the opinion she'd given the diplomat, Zark had to admit that under those circumstances, she also wasn't sure who she would have chosen.  There were just too many strings to take into account and she only knew Victor at the barest surface level.  She liked him, but not enough for a romantic relationship as well.  She knew nothing of Javec, but he must have been quite the man for him for the diplomat to bare herself that one time.  Too many permutations, big sigh. the Zhen thought to herself as she sipped more bourbon and listened as Enyd executed a less than delicate topic shift. 

Still, it was a very good change as seafoam eyes narrowed in close examination at the admission that the diplomat had gotten skin grafts due to her mildly termed cold weather training on Andoria. It must have been a long time ago and those surgeons had done a very good job since Zark leaned forward and her medically trained eyes couldn't locate the telltales of a skin graft operation.  The narrowed eyes widened and danced as she let out a whoop of delight at the sheer tritanium nerved response Enyd had in taking on a makra in the middle of one of the worst snow storms in living memory, and that was saying something for Andoria.  Bringing the storm up also brought up memories about how bad it was at the time of the storm.  Leaning forward, Zark pointed at Enyd and her bourbon sloshed inside the glass.  "Enyd, you were damn smart and verrrrrry, verrrrrry lucky.  I got letters from home about that snow storm and my thavan told me if I was out there, he wouldn't even know where to start to dig me out from a snow bank. I probably would have had to make a shelter under the snow and wait it out."  Zark snorted at the thought of that having to be dug out since there was one caveat. "Me and the siblings were a terror for the community, but I think I was the worst." Hic "Being the youngest, I had to show off the most get attention, so I used to run outside naked all the time.  The cold didn't bother me, but it scared the parents silly. Soon the brothers and sisters as well.  I think I only stopped after one time I got sick and everyone else got it to."   Zark smiled nostalgically at the memory of the whole family being miserable together for several days.  "Luckily, Shreva, egg producing mom, was isolated since she was on a ship in orbit nearby and managed to take care of all of us when she could come down.  When she found out how it started though, I'm pretty sure she wanted to throw me back into the snow bank!"

I've never had to kill a makra since I was too busy being off planet or doing something with snow.  A sudden peel of laughter rang out as the Andorian's glass threatened to slosh and spill before she slowed down and waved a blue hand in face to clear the air. "I was just remembering the closest I got to something like that was when I used to play hockey back home.  I'll say this for humans, the idea of pushing a rubber brick around with a stick on ice was brilliant!  Anyway, I used to play at home, and eventually made it to Under 20 Federation level competition.  It was a good thing that most of the teams that would play were nearby, but it was mainly humans and Andorians since we had lots of ice and liked the sport.  I only played a Tellaraite team once, but they got thrown out for arguing with the referees and taking up too much time."  Zark leaned back as she settled into story mode once more. "There were a few Klingon teams, and what was their name?" The Andorian's brows knotted for a moment before her free fingers snapped and eyebrows shot up. "Right!  The Gut Goring Targs.........It sounded better in Klingon I think.  Not the point, they were a pretty brutal team and my team faced them in an exhibition match."  Serious sea foam eyes were suddenly levelled on Enyd's jade ones.  "I think that team had anger issues.  It was supposed to be a friendly game, but it nearly touched off a diplomatic incident since they saw it more like a battlefield on ice.  A quarter of my team ended up with concussions and two more spent some time in the hospital with fractured bones."  A soft shudder. "I remember one Klingon, Okigho was his name I think.  He hit me so hard, I cartwheeled in mid air." Zark smiled at that one as she took another sip.  "That hit cost them the game since I think the referee's had enough and so did most of the spectators.  The Klingon ambassador and the provincial magistrate had to step in to cool tempers. I scored a penalty shot that broke the tie we were in and we barely held on for the win.  They claimed we hadn't won honourably afterwards.  The ambassador shut them up afterwards really loudly.  I think he used the term barbarians at one point.  Our teams haven't liked each other since that day and we've both sent each other's players to the hospital more than once."  Slender blue fingers tapped her chin for a moment.  "I don't know if Okigho had a hard on for me or something, but he promised I wouldn't enjoy the games between our teams that followed."

Zark shook her head in disbelief at how crazy her childhood actually was now that she thought about it.  "So yeah, no wild animals trying to eat me, but lots of ice and angry warrior wannabes."  The story did touch of a bit of curiosity as her smile remained plastered to her face.  "How about you?  Any over the top sports adventures?"

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #34 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd giggled at the mental image of a young naked Zark, smooth blue skin darting amongst the snowdrifts of Andoria. Sometimes, when friends shared stories from their youth, Endy had a difficult time piecing together the adult sharing the story and the child the story depicted in her mind’s eye. In this particular case, however, it was not at all difficult to see the images as Zark described them. The hockey matches especially, and the tenacious competitiveness the eked between Zark’s storytelling was still apparent in her behavior—the earlier snow machine incident a telling bit of evidence.

“As you share the story,” Enyd smirked, tipping her glass forward to receive more liquid from the bottle, “it sounds like Okigho was flirting with you. I am no Klingon cultural expert but from my own encounters and studies, it truly sounds like he was competing so fiercely with you in order to conquer you. To woo you, Klingon style.” She saluted Zark as she pictured the Klingon-Andorian wedding that could have resulted from such an encounter, had Okigho been successful in his wooing. “That is one of the areas of cultural competency most struggle in: expressions of romantic interest. So much about love, sex, and intimacy is culturally ingrained that we, within our own cultural framework, don’t take much notice of it. And so, we are not always aware of how our expressions of interest may be interpreted as offensive or confusing by others. When I was on Tellar, one of my Tellarite classmates told me that while I was acceptable in looks to a certain group of xenophiles on the planet, my mannerisms were off-putting and almost offensive. Come to find out, while my grandmother would’ve boxed my ears for some of the things I said and did to mimic their cultural standards of decorum, I was not nearly ‘mean’ enough to be considered seriously for dating.” Enyd shrugged. She didn’t find Tellarites very attractive in any regard, so did not feel sad for that fact. More amused than anything.

Rotating the glass in her hands, Enyd tipped her head to the side in thought, “Sports? I mean, gymnastics, ballet, hunting, fishing, and martial arts, they all have your run-of-the-mill adventures attached to them. And none of my ballet stories top cutting open a makra and shimmying inside with a naked Vulcan.” A sudden thought had Enyd grinning, like the cat that got the cream, her gaze moving to settle on her Andorian friend. “There are two activities that you are required to try when you visit Montana. Well, more than two, but these two are famous. One is snipe hunting, and the other is cow tipping.” Enyd could barely hold in her laughter at the imagined scenario of Zark marching around a field at night with a butterfly net and a flashlight for the snipes. “Have you ever heard of them? Tried them? Sadly, even if we created a holoprogram for the scenario it just wouldn’t be the same. You have to actually be THERE for it to be genuine.”

Enyd adjusted her gaze to the glass, and her eyes widened. They’d killed almost the whole bottle. No wonder she felt the combined effects of extreme relaxation, with her hunger slightly abated with the sundae, and an increasing desire to lay down and pool into a puddle of goo. It was delightful how this holoprogram time had turned out. Unexpected, but absolutely necessary for her health. Well, perhaps the ample calories and alcohol weren’t so good for her health, but the time spent with a new friend was indeed a blessing.

“Zark, I must say, this has been a most unexpected but absolutely wonderful encounter. Granted, I’m not trying to cut it short. Though,” she looked around needlessly, curious about how much time they had left before the next scheduled use, “in any case, I just wanted to be clear about how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and share this time with you. Same with romantic gestures missing the mark because of cultural differences, sometimes friendship gestures can as well, so I’ve learned both require courageous forthrightness of intention and reflection. I would like to continue meeting with you regularly, as our schedules allow, so we can continue to grow closer. Being with you today,” Enyd blushed, “it has felt like a breath of home in a way. A much-welcomed breath.”

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #35 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark was good and drunk and she knew it.  The main good point about being this sort of inebriated was that the replicator system had defaulted to synthehol, so the deleterious effects would be kept to a minimum.  Still, her head was starting to swim, not unpleasantly, but it added an almost dream like quality to the whole encounter, so she was wondering if she'd fallen asleep or something equally odd when her face transfigured into an incredulous goggle eyed stare at Enyd for suggesting Okigho had been trying to romance her.  That is ridiculous in the extreme! the Andorian's mind rebelled at the thought and her mouth hung open in protest till Enyd explained the confusions cultural expectations caused and how it had affected her interaction with the Tellarites, and her mood switched back to amused.  As long as one wasn't directly involved in an argument with a Tellarite, it was generally funny to watch others have the experience.  Zark did feel dealing with a Tellarite was a karmic issue since the universe could decide the witness could also use the experience and sent a Tellarite their way. "Hic.  I don't think you missed out too much on dating a Tellarite.  The only other people from other species that I found could date a Tellarite just looooved to argue."

The Andorian did find the idea of cow tipping and snipe hunting intriguing even though she had no idea what they were.  Zark's eyesbrows furrowed and became quite mobile as she tried to parse what the names meant.  She had no idea how one wrestled a bovine to the ground, and given they were quite heavy, the Andorian thought that maybe there was  large concentration of doctors living where Enyd was from since all the humans in the area must be crazy enough to try lifting something way beyond their muscle capacity.  Snipe hunting sounded much more manageable. No idea what the quarry would be, but if you could hit it with a scoped rifle, than that sounded like a good adventure and lots of fun.  It took a little longer than was usual, but the thought wormed it's way into Zark's head that maybe not knowing what Enyd was talking about needed clarification instead of just making assumptions.

Being inebriated made the Andorian slower off the mark on asking Enyd what cow tipping and snipe hunting were when Zark felt her cheeks start to heat up at the appreciation of the time shared.  Zark's hand came up on it's own accord and made a waving motion as if to minimize the impact the words were having on her, thought it was to no avail and the Andorian pushed herself off the back of the couch a little wobbily as she leaned towards Enyd and a lazy index finger pointed itself at her friend.   "Wellll.  I'm not sure how much time we have left before the next people, but goin to, what was it? Montana?  Thas a great idea."  A burp threatened to erupt, but the Andorian managed to swallow it down before a bright toothy smile split her blue face. "However! First off, I should be the one thanking you.  Ah got so caught up in the work that I haven't had a chance to really get to know anyone, and I'm very glad that I met you and have you in my life now.  I'm sure it's gonna be greaaaat fun!  Next, if you're on Andoria, you are required.  Required! Miss Madsen. To look up my bond mates or parents and stay at their place."  Zark leaned forward hard and planted her hands on the couch as her smile became just teensy bit hard. "If ya don't and they find out about it, I guarantee you, you'll have all the Andorian cultural experience of Ushaan one could wish for, and then some."  Blue green eyes held the jade ones for a second or two before the Zhen cracked up and started laughing at her own uproarious silliness before waving the air in front of her to stifle the laughing fit. "Nah, it won't be that bad, but they will drag you out of wherever you were thinking of staying instead of their place, though they might fight over who gets to host you."

Zark still had the smile  on her face and residual laughing fits shook her body as she wiped a joyous tear from each eye. "The only thing is if you stay with my bond mates, you're gonna have to be careful.  On second thought, maybe you should wait till I'm there with you. Actually, I don't think that'll matter either, I might make it worse."  The Andorian began to ramble at Enyd. "They're going to be so happy to see me that YOU'RE going to get a proposition that'll be shocking at the very least.  You'll really have to watch out for Ryzit, the over energetic minx.  She's too much fun to be a planetary peacekeeper and having to be serious all the time at work causes her to build up too much energy.  Last letter I got from her said she was handling Ryn and Shrav just fine, but she wouldn't mind having something different squishy to play with."  As soon as it fell out of her mouth, Zark's mouth snapped shut and her hands covered her face as her body began to burn synthehol at a furious rate from her face as it darkened to the colour of slate.

This one took longer for Zark to bring under control as the roiling hot lava of embarrassment coursed through her veins.  The Andorian cracked her fingers open and peaked at Enyd across the couch before dropping her hands "I like you a lot and you're a good friend." was all she could get out in the voice of small school girl and stuck her tongue out at her own silliness.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #36 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd laughed at Zark’s obvious inebriation only seconds before she hiccuped. Drawing a hand to her mouth, Enyd’s eyes widened. Perhaps Zark wasn’t the only one feeling the effects. Though it seemed they showcased their intoxication a bit differently. Enyd rolled her shoulders back and dropped her hand back to her lap, doing her best to track Zark’s enthusiastic invitation, no, demanding to stay with her bond mates or parents next she was on Andoria. While Enyd didn’t suppose they would be veering by the ice planet any time soon, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel excitement for the potential visit.

“No threats necessary, Zark.” Enyd smiled as she waved away Zark’s feigned threat. “I won’t make them battle with ushaans to see who wins the right of my presence.”

Enyd’s widened again when Zark’s conversation piece took another turn. Not so much out of prudish shock but more at the concept that only by her association with Zark alone would she be potentially propositioned should she stay with the bond mates.

“Would your bond mates assume we were intimate if I stayed with them?” Enyd couldn’t help but ask, her curiosity getting the best of her. “Is that why they’d proposition me? Or is it because of something else?” She pretended to fluff her hair in a self-preening gesture. “My amazing good looks, perchance?”

Enyd snorted her laughter in a very unladylike manner when Zark confessed to a “different squishy.” The Andorian punctuated her adorable factor by covering her hands and peeking at Enyd between her fingers. While Enyd did not consider herself bisexual, she was not threatened by admitting that Zark had a type of charm and attraction that was magnetic and warming. Acting on said magnetism, Enyd crawled forward once Zark dropped her hands and placed a quick kiss on the woman’s forehead, sitting back on her heels with a grin.

“What’s next? Pillow fight?” Enyd picked up a pillow but did not move to smack Zark with it, not yet at least.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #37 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

A couple of deep breaths had to follow as Zark tried to calm herself.  She'd dug herself into a bit a hole now, and didn't see a nice way of backing out.  On the other hand, a part of her confessed, she didn't want to back out.  She missed her family and talking about it did make that longing stronger, but it also made her feel closer to them at the same time.  It was all she had since all of her letters and videos from home had been lost with the Cayuga.  Zark's head wobbled out and affirmative when the diplomat asked her if there was an assumption that Enyd and Zark were sleeping together.  Mentally the Andorian sighed as it was her fault since Wilkins had stopped by those few days near the end of the summer break and well, that was a series of days everyone remembered. Dang loveable hedonists always pestering me for another 'participant.' Zark thought to herself.   Still, Enyd's self aggrandizing preening was enough to cause more problems as she was pretty sure if Enyd did that at home, Ryzit would make a move on her. Oh Lor'vela, Maybe I should have Enyd travel under an assumed alias, and maybe stay somewhere remote.  Maybe the weather station on the northern pole.  That should keep her 'safe' Zark thought to herself. 

The Zhen had just managed to bring her embarrassment under control and packed her tongue back in when the beautiful brunette leaned forward and her vision was suddenly filled with smooth pale skin and wonderous green material.  Seafoam eyes widened as she felt the soft brush and heard gentle sounding pop coming from her forehead.  If the Zhen had not made a choice earlier, she likely would have happily swooned right there.  The temptation to just that poked at her, and she inadvertently gave the diplomat a rather suggestive display as she lowered her head and white teeth bit down on her lower blue lip.

This ended abruplty when Enyd suggested they have a pillow fight.  The issue was that one did not drink half a bottle of hard liquor, even in synthehol format and not have consequences.  Zark never forgot that she intended to keep an eye on Enyd from space when she was going to head to the planet for the opera performance, but that meant she needed some actual rest before she began her night watch.  The look of utter mischief in those green eyes were hard to resist though and Zark decided she had enough for one last round of silliness.  But she would need to exercise a bit of tactical deception if she was going to get the first strike in and she shook her head in remorse and stretched.  "Nawww. I'm pretty beat as is.  I think I need a nap."  and as her arms fell behind her, the combat medic found her weapon and tensed her arm to take a swing at the diplomat and cover the cottage in a cloud in a cloud of stuffing.  Except a real, mouth stretching, lung emptying yawn poured forth from the Andorian's mouth and her free hand came up to cover her gaping maw.  Her eyes were wide in surprise and watered momentarily as she blinked several times before quickly rubbing them. "By Lor'vela, I think I actually do need a nap after all."

The Andorian felt sad in a way that this thoroughly enjoyable time was coming to an end, and with her internal battery depleting quickly, she had to make sure Enyd was looked after.  Dragging her blue body towards the human on the couch in manner that would have generated a respectable amount of carpet rash, Zark didn't bother to explain, but simply grabbed one the pale human's feet and jammed one of her own feet so their soles were touching.  The security officer looked over the feet quickly from several angles causing her platinum locks to swing in multiple directions quickly and almost giving herself vertigo before nodding in approval.  Getting up proved much harder than she thought as the blue woman's vision swam and she had to grab Enyd's shoulder to stabilize herself or risk face planting into the coffee table.  When Zark was somewhat sure she was stable, she gave the room a stony drunken once over.  Looking around she spotted her pile of clothing from her bagpipe performance that felt like a lifetime ago and stumbled her way towards it, using various bits of furniture to keep herself somewhat even keeled as her vision insisted on being out of alignment with her movement.  A marginally more steady set of hands wrapped themselves around her and propelled them to the pile of clothes before the two woman fell to their knees with a loud thud the collapsed onto the ground looking like a couple of puddles trying to do imitations of people. "Oooooooohhhhhhhhh." was all the Andorian could get out from their effort.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #38 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd readied herself for deviousness. She remembered Zark’s earlier display of duplicity and had no doubt that the Andorian would again seek to lull Enyd into a false sense of safety before launching her attack. But then, surprisingly, Zark’s movements grew more sluggish, and even her expression reflected the surprise that perhaps she was far more tired than expected. Now that the words had been said aloud, Enyd felt the slithering alcohol-induced fatigue working to squeeze off her motor capabilities.

“You’re not wrong,” Enyd lowered the pillow, half tempted to drop it on Zark’s stomach and plop herself on top, ready for a nap right there.

But Zark’s abrupt couch crawl jostled Enyd back, and she surveyed with mute fascination as the zhen compared their feet briefly before giving herself a nod of approval.

“Do I get to know the why for the foot touching?” Enyd asked, observing as Zark wrestled gravity to stand and barely won.

Feeling confident that since she’d had more water to drink, she was less drunk, Enyd jumped to her feet and snaked an arm around Zark’s waist just as the Andorian planted a wobbly hand on her shoulder. Enyd let Zark lead the way for their wibble wabble journey across the room to the pile of discarded clothing. For the time being, she indeed felt more capable of standing on her own two feet than Zark appeared to be, but Enyd knew her drunk self enough to recognize the signs. She was a ticking drunk bomb just waiting to go off. Enyd gave herself less than a minute before the debilitating spins hit her.

Enyd underestimated the amount she’d had to drink and overestimated her ability to tell time while inebriated. The pair of them were just shy of the clothing when they collectively collapsed to the ground. Letting go of Zark in order to plant both her hands on the ground, an effort to ground herself against the spins, Enyd gave a humorless laugh.

“Should we call for a med evac?” While she spoke in jest, a part of her, the very drunk part, was dead serious.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #39 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

"I am the medevac." the plastered Andorian groaned into the ground from her comfortable and uncomfortably hard position on the floor.  Zark turned her head towards the source of her friends voice and grimaced as the simple act of turning was not pleasant. "Besides, there's drunk and drunk and disorderly which we're both look at the moment."  The only nice thing about synthehol was that it didn't encourage one to throw up, just be really drunk Zark thought to herself as she managed with muscles that protested in unison to push herself into all fours and crawled her way over to Enyd.  Gently pushing several strands of brunette hair out of the way, the medic tried to take stock of how her friend was doing, and she seemed as fine as one could expect under the circumstances though a small part complained that any diagnoses was suspect since her faculties were quite impaired at this point.  As a deep resonant voice from a long dead actor known as Morgan Freeman told her she'd fucked up and if she was proud of herself, Zark snorted. "Shuddup Morgan Freeman." She told her internal monologue.

Yes, Zark was drunk. Yes, she was exhausted. And Yes, she knew she'd gone overboard. All those were factors to quit and just take the advice of the diplomat and have someone come get them, but that was not a graduate of the Combat Harsh Terrain Survival Course acted, also unofficially known as the Commando Course operated, especially when their Commando Comrade was in trouble.  Zark dug deep as she hadn't done in a long time and wobbily got on her knees as she wrapped her arms under Enyd's chest and groaned hard while pulling her back.  Landing on her butt was almost as bad as the two almost tipped over, and somehow a quick hand lanced and managed to keep the two up.  Zark's wobbily trip towards the pile of clothes translated itself to her rocking the brunette side to side pulling towards a wall which elicited more groans of struggle as she had to manoeuvre the diplomat onto the wall and make sure she was stable. "I hope you're not prone to puking.  I'll be back."

Being drunk fortified the dread armies that were battering away at her mental gates in an attempt to get her to call it quits.  It weakened her resolve in these situations and a part of her just wanted to lie down and agree with Enyd's suggestion.  Just let it go, and have someone beam you out to sleep it off.  THAT would have been embarrassing not only Zark, but also for Enyd, thus a major event that Zark was determined to not see occur.  So she started to crawl and a seductive soft gently voice in her head said that it would be so much easier to to just lie there and have a nice nap.  Sleep it off and let life take care of itself.  The Commando Course graduate's will ignored the voice as unworthy and crawled, and crawled till she made it to the replicator. The edge of the device looked like an insurmountable cliff from below, but she had her knees, and protesting, she forced them to to work till she could get at the control panel.  It took a moment for the Andorian to remember what she was looking for and she punched in the code, only to see an error message of 'no such item in database.'  The medico stared stupidly at the screen for a moment and felt irritation that she'd become fumble fingered, and punched in the code one more time.  By habit, she read the description of the item and hit the accept button, but then had to cover her eyes as the bright light of the replicator created a hypospray in its alcove.  Seafoam eyes stared at the hypospray like the saviour coming over the mountain, snatched it before injecting herself.  In her current state, she over injected somewhat, but it was close enough and the blue woman punched in one more code, this time, getting it right on the first try that delivered a pair of tablets.  Zark snagged one and chewed it before dry swallowing it, and began coughing as there hadn't been enough saliva to totally wash away all the particulate matter going down her throat.

With her world view stabilizing and energy level coming back up, Zark shakily got to her feet and grabbed a spare bottle of water and made her way back to where she'd propped up Enyd and collapsed again on her knees with a loud thud that did hurt.  Quickly sticking the hypo into the pale diplomat's neck, the medic had much better control, and injected more or less the required into the human's neck before opening the bottle of water and placing the tablet in her friend's hand.  "I just injected you with a combat stimulant and sleep neutralizer.  The tablet is an alcohol and synthehol scavenger and anti-intoxicant.  Drink." With her energy levels coming back up and innards starting to settle, Zark settled herself against the wall and leaned on Enyd while placing an arm around her should to keep her from falling over while she self medicated.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #40 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd laughed, hiccuped, then laughed again. Zark was the medevac. What a hoot. Especially since in her effort to dislodge hair from Enyd’s face, Zark’s fingers more than once nearly crept up her nostrils. The zhen’s efforts made Enyd giggle, especially when her friend started talking to someone named Morgan Freeman.

“What did Morgan do to you?” Enyd laughed again, reaching up with both hands and squishing Zark’s cheeks. “You were the one who ordered the bottle, thinking we would be mature about it.”

Zark didn’t say much else, at least not while she worked to drag both of their arses somewhere. At this point, Enyd couldn’t figure out where they were going. It would make more sense to just ask for the holoarch and be done with it. But Zark seemed dead set on…something. Enyd shrugged, more giggles bubbling from her throat when Zark nearly tossed Enyd into a wall, obviously out of concern for her safety.

“Is that a threat or a promise, dearie?” Enyd chortled at Zark’s departing back as the woman very nearly crawled away, deciding that staying put would probably save her more life-saving efforts from Zark that may result in more bodily harm.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I went drinking with my Tellarite roommate?” Enyd watched Zark’s efforts at the replicator, half-expecting the Andorian to order more booze as a way of solving their dilemma. And getting passed out drunk was indeed A WAY of handling this conundrum, though probably not the healthiest. “Between the two of us, we managed to kill off a few bottles of Vulcan brandy and were working on a vintage bottle of genuine Sakarin merlot when one of our instructors came into the bar.” Enyd paused as Zark injected a hypospray then began coughing after she chewed a tablet. “It just so happened my roommate had a crush on this particular instructor but was too shy to properly debate him so I attempted to wing-woman her into success.”

By the time Zark was on her feet and weaving her way back to Enyd, already looking more stable and with-it than Enyd had felt for quite some time. Tipping her head back Enyd smiled at Zark as she felt the hypo press against her neck.

“It was not a success.”

Blinking at the pill as she felt the effects of the injection work, Enyd frowned. That is until she noticed the water. Nodding her thanks, Enyd quickly chewed the tablet and then downed half the water in a long guzzle. Wiping the back of her hand over her mouth, Enyd handed the half-full bottle back to Zark.

“You are a far more successful medevac, even drunk, than I was at being a Tellarite’s wing-woman.” Sighing, Enyd dropped her head against the wall and closed her eyes, content to let the medication take stronger effect before attempting to move from her spot. “By the way, you smell nice.” Eyes closed, Enyd tapped the tip of her own nose as she quirked a half-smile. “I’ve always had a sensitive sense of smell and yeah. You have a pleasant natural scent. Not just drunk speech here.”

A few moments passed before Enyd pried her eyes open and noted their discarded clothing and the other signs of revelry they’d left strewn across the room. She chuckled.

“If this is just us being casual, can you imagine what it will be like if either one of us really put our minds to hosting a party?”

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #41 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Enyd's drunken rambling was something Zark was too tired to process, but she found the gist funny and smiled appreciatively.  Truth be told, getting passed all the alcohol induced haze had taken more out of her than the combat medic thought and it had taken all her concentration to keep going.  This was the reason why inebriants were not acceptable on the front line. She was definitely going to have to take a downer when she got back to her quarters for some rest, preferably on her nice soft bed.  At the moment though, as she leaned on Enyd, she found the soft warmth too inviting, but sleep would not form so all she could do was just lean.  As she filed away another escapade in the life story of the fascinating could have been girlfriend in another life.  Zark let her mind recall a familiar saying when it wanted to play what if.  Oh well, coulda, woulda, shoulda as the humans say and damn straight I do a good medevac. Got the idiot medals to prove it too.  Still, the woman can pack away a ridiculous amount of booze!  Two bottles of brandy and one of wine?  Maybe the diplomatic corp lined her stomach with tritanium.  The medic snorted at the thought of the work that would be needed for an operation like that.  At least Enyd would be immune to many poisons.

The Andorian was going to mirror Enyd and close her eyes against the wall as the medications kicked in when she heard a strange comment from Enyd and cracked an eye open to look over at the brunette leaning on the wall and smiled.  "Thank you Enyd.  That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while." Zark pulled the brunette in closer and planted a warm gentle kiss on her hair before leaning her platinum locks on the chocolate ones and revelled in the silky softness of their combined touch. The Zhen smiled to herself as she contemplated what it would be like to have telepathy or even ESP empathy at this point in sharing their emotions.  She didn't really need it though as she could feel the bond deepen between the two. 

A few blessed moments of companionable silence settled between the two women before Enyd made her next observation and Zark opened her eyes once more to look in the general direction that had elicited the comment and sighed.  "I'm not really sure what sort of party people would be thinking we had in here.  It looks like you had your way with me and I was powerless to resist.  You even took the time to remove almost every article of clothing I had on." Zark giggled once more at the thought of some poor soul walking in on the two of them in their current state.  "On the other hand, they could think I didn't even try to resist.  The grape vine would have the salacious rumour all over the ship by the end of the day.  No end of strange looks for us after that."  A goofy grin formed itself on the blue face at the fun she could have with that one tying people in knots of embarrassment if they tried to bring it up. 

Still, the question was a nice mental exercise and the medico pursed her lips in thought.  "Well, for a party, we could change the weather outside to something more mild.   Line the walls with garlands of flowers, maybe made of eth'la and challorn.  Personally I like hydrangeas and lily's too.  Maybe make the party a spring themed party so we could wear them in our hair."  Zark stretched as the medication took further hold and cleared out more of the intoxicants as she drank some water before reaching to take her friend's hand in her own.   "How about a bon fire outside?  We could have one after roasting an alneesh or maybe just a big ass bon fire? I think you'd win the booze guzzling contest for that one.  Always seem to have tons of it at a bon fire. Never know how it all turns up."  Zark giggled one more time before pausing to let Enyd have her turn at the imaginary planning session.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #42 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Melting into the embrace, a lover of affection in any form, Enyd smiled at Zark’s words spoken against her hair. Zark’s next comments, after a peace-filled silence shared, had Enyd laughing, knocking her head against the wall behind her as she reared back in amusement. Ths only doubled her amusement as she rubbed at the offended spot on her scalp.

“I had my way with you? Powerless to resist? You, who replicated a snowblower and buried me in a snowdrift, were powerless to fight back as I piece-by-piece removed your clothing?” Enyd reached out and poked Zark’s thigh, more muscular than Enyd’s, and poked again, this time Zark’s shoulder, also more defined than Enyd’s. “These muscles are clearly only for show then. And perhaps I’m in the wrong department. I should in fact be in Security or Intelligence because of my powers for diversion and disguise of my superior abilities.”

Enyd shook her head at Zark’s follow-up comment and shrugged, “I’ve had my share of salacious gossip and it no longer bothers me. In truth, at the time, I wasn’t acting very honorably or of ‘Starfleet’ caliber, but I also wasn’t doing quite all the things that were said about me.” Smirking, Enyd gave Zark a sideways glance before casually dropping, “I mean, talk about strange looks, have you ever mimicked an Orion slave girl dance on your most hated colleague’s desk?”

Her eyes tracking over the room as Zark explained the setting, Enyd smiled, accepting Zark’s hand and allowing herself to be drawn to stand by her friend’s side.

“Fire is always welcome at parties, a must-have in my Montanan opinion, in fact.” Chuckling at Zark’s commendation on Enyd’s drinking abilities, Enyd shook her head. “You think I can drink? You should’ve met my grandmother. Oh yes, she was all prim and proper and your stereotypical sassy grandmother, but she had an iron stomach and a titanium backbone, with the devious mind of a Romulan and the patient tenacity of a glacier.”

Running her hands over the top of her head, Enyd did a slow turn as she observed her surroundings with an eye for party decorations.

“It would be a completely different sort of party if it was hosted on a warm afternoon versus a wintry night. So that would influence much of how we’d decorate. What you’ve described could be a fall evening, at least in my opinion. If it was a mid-morning spring brunch, maybe pastel colors for napkins and table clothes and could move a long table outside on the deck to enjoy the cool air? With lots of fresh-cut flowers and pitchers of tea and lemonade and steaming coffee.” Enyd laughed, putting a hand over her mouth and glancing at Zark sheepishly. “I almost started down the menu hardcore. I like cooking well enough, and I’m good at it thanks to my grandmother, but I much prefer eating it than making it. What about you?"

As she spoke, Enyd began the process of casually retrieving her clothing and accessories, making their immediate surroundings look less like a mugging gone wrong.
Terribly sorry for how long it took me to reply!

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #43 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark had to smile as she held on to Enyd's hand after the two got up.  There was an implication that the brunette had over powered her to commit an act of gross indecency though seeing how physically speaking, it did look extremely unlikely.  Still there was one point to me made that was at least a fun way to point out that Madsen was indeed in the right department. "Before we begin hardcore party planning, powerless to resist means submitting willingly to your charms and everyone knows that diplomats are suave and charming spies with untouchable covers."  Zark tapped the human on the tip of her nose. "So, you have legitimate reason to go out and weave and tangled web to ensnare your prey and very few can do anything about it."  Zark let go of Enyd's hand as she reached for her kilt and began putting it back on. "Considering you know how to do an Orion slave girl dance gives credit to your wide and varied skill set Enyd.  Though if you do end up using that power of seduction and diversion it won't be under such ummmmmm spiteful circumstances next time."

With that, Zark snagged her shirt and began putting her arms through the sleeves and buttoning up, though she didn't bother tucking it into her kilt.  She had to smile during this process at the thought of granny Madsen drinking everyone under the table.  If she was even half as formidable as she was described, it was no wonder Enyd had managed to hold her liquor so well.  Even sloshed out drunk as she'd been, Zark had to admit that Enyd had held out somewhat better than she did.  On the other hand, she was also far more sensible in wanting to call it quits and have someone take care of them.  Zark had a reputation to uphold though and no mere act of drunkenness was going to stop her from protecting her friends.  Cobalt hands ran through platinum locks to loosen and straighten them out.

Zark's brain had been multi tasking giving the two a moment of peace and as the blue woman sat down to put on her stockings, the Celtic Andorian stopped for a moment and began nodding at what Enyd was proposing, even if it was just a fun mind exercise.   "Definitely have to consider the colours of the flowers.  Can't be too solid and intense with all that pastel.  Those would clash with the napkins and table cloths.  Hmmmmmmmm."  Hands continued pulling up the stocking, but stopped after the first one, giving her the impression of a school girl who'd lost a bunch of her uniform, especially with the loose shirt.  "I do prefer to cook myself. It's relaxing.  Never got the hang of baking though.  I can sort of make bread, but it usually comes out like a brick.  Food wise, on the one hand, I kinda feel like a braised alneesh on a mashed tuber bed with a light salad would be nice.  On the other hand, a poached salmon in hollandaise sauce with potatoes and sea asparagus sounds good too.  Maybe a good bottle of Bajoran Spring Wine or a nice Chablis would work with it as well.  Ooooooh. We could make pink lemonade!" The Andorian's head tilted side to side like a scale as she tried to decide which one would be better as pulled on her other stocking.

"Any of the options could be good really good Enyd, simple yet elegant.   What do you think?  And what would you choose for appetizers, and we can't forget dessert!"  The Andorian brightly effused as she fell into the rabbit hole of a planning session that her friend had just tried to apologize for.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #44 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

“I haven’t felt that much bitter ire in my gut since I went through the pilgrimage through the Forge on Vulcan.” Enyd confessed, thinking back on her dark days after losing Javec and nearly getting herself kicked out of Starfleet altogether because of her period of incompetence and drunkenness. “Having a strong constitution and a thick skull can lend itself to surviving crises, but when turned sideways, they also do a splendid job of screwing you over if you aren’t careful. I’m thankful Anderson knew me well enough to organize my little trip through Vulcan hell to help me get my head screwed on straight again.” She sighed, giving Zark a contented smile. “Some of us need more than a few kicks in the pants before we shape up.”

Enyd giggled at Zark’s brick comment, “I suppose if necessary, we can bake bricks to gift to our enemies.”

As Zark finished getting dressed and continuing down the line of hypothetical party-hosting, Enyd also returned her wearied body to its original outfit, though looking far more bedraggled than when she’d first arrived. Though ready for a nap, Enyd was happy.

“Appetizers, for something like this, should be light. Maybe lettuce wraps? Or tacos? I know most folks think tacos are an entrée but no, they are not. They are but a snack. And for dessert…hmm…something steaming and fragrant? Maybe a hot pudding or a liquor-infused cake?” Enyd called for the holoarch once they were both fully dressed. “Now am I escorting you to your quarters, or are you escorting me to mine?” Enyd giggled. “I know that injection helped, but I’m not certain which one of us is recovering fastest or if either of us still needs an escort.”

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #45 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Below Decks Lounge | Deck 28 | Vector 03 | Holosuite 01| USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark had to snort at the thought of giving her bread to their enemies.  "Don't know if we'd want that.  Hard it may be, but it's nutritionally dense.  They would be long lived enemies and we can't have that.  Unless their health improves so much they want to be our friends. Hah!"  A hearty sharp laugh was fired off at the absurdity of the premise, though it did generally underscore the premise of destroying your enemy by making them your friend.

Zark listened as Enyd offered her suggestions on the starter and dessert, and she nodded her head.  A good light starter, and a decadent, yet elegant dessert to finish things off.   Theoretically speaking, this had the makings of a very nice brunch party and the medico filed those bits away for another time.  "If we have the alneesh, maybe a liquor infused dessert.  The hot pudding with a custard would be nice with the salmon.  Heavy with heavy or topping with topping sounds delightful."  Blue hands reached for all her personal belongings as Enyd called for the holo arch.  "Computer, end program."  and the cottage disappeared leaving the two dishevelled looking woman and all their belongings.  Zark took a quick look around and found nothing missing from their piles before addressing the diplomats question.  "Well, I know that the injection is supposed to do, so I'll be ready for any side effects and can compensate.  So I'll escort you to your quarters." and Zark led her friend out the arch back into the ship.

Zark chatted about other topics of mutual interest, while several crewman gave the woman appreciative or curious glances along the way.  It certainly looked like the two had a ridiculous party, but it had ended well enough.  As the two arrived at the diplomat's quarters and they were about to say their farewells for the day.  Zark remembered what she'd been trying to do before inebriation had taken its toll and forced another curve on their collective adventure.  The security officer looked left and right before joining Enyd in her quarters.  Zark took a quick look around and was impressed by how well appointed and organized it was.  Each cultural artifact seemed to have a place of significance that she couldn't divine without more information.  Shaking her head, the security officer dumped all her belongings on the ground near the door and locked it.  "Computer, privacy mode, authorization zh’Ptrell Sierra-Marshall-Car-Six-Five-Two-Zero. Execute." The computer beeped obediently and the combat medic took a deep breath before guiding the human diplomat to a couch.  "Enyd, I don't like doing things this way, but what I'm about to give you is a secret.  You and I have been to Qo'nos and they're still recovering from this round of fighting.  I was in the thick of it, and I don't think this is totally over yet.  Now I'm not going to stop you from going to the opera tonight.  That area generally has an increased security presence, so hopefully, I'm just being paranoid."  The Andorian got up and removed a boot as she explained what was going on.  "There's an open secret amongst the Marines.  It's never admitted to, but every Marine has one.  There is always a weapon of last resort.  I get away with one of these since being Andorian means I'm expected to participate in Ushaan-Tor at any time and need a knife of some kind, and I've had mine ever since the Dominion War.  I don't know what you're going to run into on the planet surface or in any future case.  I know that diplomat's can carry around ceremonial blades, so this can fall under that category, but it's really a weapon of last resort.  Luckily, you and I are the same boot size, wonders of galactic genetics." 

Zark drew the green eyed attention to the boot in her hands and blue hands made a simple yet subtle manipulation ejecting a small bar out of the boot.  The Andorian removed the bar and turned it around, bringing it up between herself and Enyd.  Pressing a section where fingers naturally fell caused a blade to spring forth.  Grabbing it caused a whine to emit as the blade began to vibrate.  Zark spotted a coffee cup on the table that had been left behind and she ran the blade through the metal cup quickly.  Nothing seemed to happen to the cup, then a clean break appeared before the separated metal slid down and rattled on the table.  "Enyd, you're my closest and only friend on the ship and I don't want anything happening to you.  The galaxy has gotten a lot more dangerous than we thought. Please take these to look after yourself."  Zark released the pressure on the blade causing the whine to cease and she closed the blade before slipping the handle back into it's slot before holding the boot up for Enyd to take as serious seafoam eyes stared deep into green ones.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #46 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Below Decks Lounge | D. 28 | V. 3 | Holosuite 02 | USS Theurgy ] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd was happy to listen to Zark share her stories as they made their way back to her quarters. On occasion, Enyd would prompt another story by way of a clarifying question, ever delighted when Zark humored her curiosity with more stories. By the time they’d arrived at Enyd’s quarters, the diplomat felt she’d found yet another kindred spirit in the Andorian woman.

While Zark’s hasty entrance and the unceremonious dump of personal articles was surprising, Enyd’s surprise was quickly pushed aside to curiosity when Zark called for privacy mode. A single eyebrow rose as Enyd braced herself for whatever it was Zark was about to say or do. Not worried or alarmed, but curious and…ready for whatever it was the Andorian was about to dish out.

“A secret?” she couldn’t help but parrot back when Zark first began her justification for the clandestine methods. As her friend danced her way through the explanation, Enyd’s eyes went wide with a mixture of fascination and delight. “Wonder of wonders indeed.” Enyd demurred as she watched Zark maneuver open a secret compartment in her boot.

She moved as one with Zark as the security officer shifted to “attack” an innocent coffee mug Enyd had failed to put away earlier. Enyd gasped, hands flying to her mouth, as she watched the cup fall apart, and after very little effort from Zark with the blade. Hands still covering her mouth, her fingers itching to seize the blade from Zark’s fingers to have a go at it, Enyd shifted on her feet to listen to Zark’s final explanation for the unexpected gift.

Grabbing the boot as if it were a precious stone of highest value, Enyd beamed at her friend. “I’m honored, Zark. Thank you so much for this!” She held the boot to the side with one arm while she used her other arm to haul Zark in for a hug. Enyd pressed a warm kiss to Zark’s cheek before pulling back. “I don’t intentionally get myself into trouble, but I have to admit that trouble tends to mind me, so this will definitely come in handy!” A sudden thought had Enyd frowning, eyes darting between boot and friend, “But won’t you need boots for your duties? And what about another blade? I doubt your superior officer would take kindly to you showing up barefooted."

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #47 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Lieutenant Madsen's Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

"Oh!" the Andorian exclaimed as she was grabbed into a hug. A gentle and happy smile formed as her arms remained in the air.  Zark was a touchy feely intimate sort at the end of the day, and she revelled in the warmth though she comically held her hands in the air as the boot disappeared from her grip as she melted into the human's embrace. 

Time did seem to slow a bit as she revelled in the feel, even a complete mess, Enyd just felt wonderful. When her friend detached herself,  Zark didn't let the disappointment show. It wasn't that hard to hide it, but she did want to give the full doe eyed, lush bottom lip pout.  And that kiss on the cheek took a not small amount of willpower to not chase and make it lip to lip. Instead, the medic smiled as she took another look into those glorious emerald eyes that sparkled with delight at having discovered a new treasure that suited her for whatever reason. Most diplomats I've met aren't this delighted to receive something like this, even in private. They usually look like they're having their having an ID photo taken of them. I wonder what happens to her that makes her so, well happy about it? I guess I'll find out at some point.

Enyd's next question about running around on duty barefoot elicited a hefty snort. "A girl's gotta have her wardrobe, even if it's locked away in the replicator. I had my boot thoroughly scanned when we were at Aldea and uploaded into my personal footwear preferences, so I'll just hop over to personal replicators after my nap and get another set. Security will log the knife that goes with it, but that's pretty much SOP."  Zark shrugged with acceptance at the price necessary to keep the blade on her. "As for yours, I'll log it as a gift and answer any questions about it if they come up." the smile really turned toothy. "So, unless you become a raging psycho intent on cutting off heads and critical bits of the ship, you having the knife shouldn't be a problem. It's a request from me for a ceremonial blade to be used on diplomatic events. Can't offend those species who do go around with that sort of accessory after all." Zark's smile took on a conspiratorial bent as she quickly dropped a long platinum lash in a wink. 

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #48 –
[ Lt Enyd Isolde Madsen | Personal Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy] attn: @RyeTanker

Enyd’s eyes continued to rove over the boots, bouncing between them and Zark as she listened to her friend explain her next actions, or justifications, for wandering the halls without shoes.

“Questions for a diplomat to have a concealed weapon like this?” Enyd raised the boot with the hidden compartment, gaze playful as she returned it to Zark. “Never.” Turning, Enyd set the boots aside long enough to hold up a finger in the universal signal of “wait.” She disappeared into her sleeping area for a few moments before returning with the gifted tik’leth in hand. Holding it out for Zark’s inspection, Enyd’s impish grin grew. “I had this beauty strapped to my person when I beamed aboard and first met the captain. It was temporarily gifted to me by a friend on the Klingon ship that served as shuttle for me and a few other recent transfers. The engineer who lent it to me told me to give it back to her on Qo’Nos after I’d gotten in nice and bloody from my enemies.”

Enyd gave a dramatic shrug, accompanied by a girlish giggle.

“If I take this with me on the coming missions while wearing these delightful boots, I’ll be fairly dripping with bladed ceremonial respect.” She kept her comments light though any reference to coming missions held an element of uncertainty. There was so much going on in the shadows around them that there was little doubt that they knew far less than they should to prepare for what was coming next. “What about you? Do you go on missions in the kilted get-up, strapping a dirk to your belt, or do you go SOP? I must admit I rather like the image of you in the kilt, phaser in hand, shielding a wounded crewmate as you retreat to safety. Rather over-the-top romantic actually. And very fitting.” Enyd winked, playfully reaching out and lightly swatting Zark's shoulder.

Re: Day 04 [1157 hrs.] Living Out Loud

Reply #49 –
[Lt (JG) XamotZark zh’Ptrell (Lt. Zark) | Lieutenant Madsen's Quarters | Deck 10 | Vector 01 | USS Theurgy]   Attn: @Ellen Fitz‍

Zark was about to get up and gather her discarded items when Madsen told her to wait.  Ooooookay, what is she heading off to oooohhhhhh by Lor'Vela! Zark thought to herself as her eyes widened and her antennae stood up straight at the sight of long, sinuous, lethal form of the tik’leth came into view.  The Andorian nodded along as Enyd explained how the blade came into her procession and she raised a shapely eyebrow an a smirk at the condition for it's return to the owner.  Ahh, it's a loaner.  Zark took the proffered scabbard and unsheathed the lethal metal and listened to the alloy sing as it came out of hiding.  If Zark had been a Caitan instead of an Andorian, she was pretty sure her tail would have been lashing about in excitement as such, her antennae simply pointed at the blade and followed the owner's head as she examined the craftsmanship.  It was certainly finely wrought and hefty as she lifted the blade a bit further out.

And stopped as she turned to regard her friend in a speculative manner regarding her uncertainty before closing the blade with a clack and giving Enyd a baleful look that generations of teachers would recognize for receiving a much less than delightful answer that the student thought was witty.   Run around a combat zone in a kilt like it was a thousand years in the past?   The Andorian realized her friend was just having fun and blue eyes squinted hard before sticking her tongue out and assuming a haughty demeanour. "I will have you know Miss Madsen that I am a professional and as such, I make sure to be clad in the finest armour the fleet has to offer.  The protective potential of a Security Exosuit, or just a regular tactical vest, is far superior to the wonderfully coloured and airy kilt in a combat situation."  Zark turned her nose up at the diplomat before trying her Highland Burrs on the kilt smitten diplomat.  "Besides, if I'm going into a fight in a kilt, the situations gone daft and we're screwed anyway, so I'm going big and bringing a claymore and a rifle with me!  Not just the puny dirk and the pistol!"

Zark tried to hold the haughty pose, but it was too ridiculous and she began giggling before returning to her regular accent.  "Enyd, if you catch me fighting in a kilt, I'm either in the holodeck, massacring waves of photons, or we're on some sort of diplomatic mission that requires some sort of formal dress."  A thoughtful pose struck the Andorian as she laid the sword back on the coffee table as a delicate finger tapped the blue chin.  "Ya know, if you're going to spill the blood of your enemies on the sword, you're going to need practice and since you also seem to like the idea of fighting in a kilt," and the seafoam eyes lit up as the Andorian vaulted forward and planted both hands on Enyd's thighs as a wave of excitement took over "We need to get you fitted out for one!"


Burrs = Scottish Accent
 
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