Meeting Melody's Beau

Posted on Sunday 14 April 2019 @ 19:07 by Lieutenant Ricardo Draxx & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix

Mission: The New Collective
Location: USS Merlin - Deck 5 Science Lab Corridors
Timeline: 23950829 - 1000 hours - 4th day for repairs at research base
2209 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Sav scooted herself out from underneath control console 4 for Science Lab 3. She let out a breath of relief as the console came back to life and was finally talking to the main control console in the lab. This repair had been rather tricky as the commands had been routed to another lab, on another deck, in a replaced bioneural gel pack that was programmed on the Research base for the Merlin. Somebody had gotten lazy, and it took Sav's cyberapathy and ability to trace its route to get the associated command nodes to relinquish the console control back to lab 3 instead of Med Lab 12 on deck 15.

Her stomach growled. She had breakfast at 5:30 this morning as she didn't sleep that well last night. So, she figured it was time to grab some more grub. She closed up the console, then headed out the door wondering if she should go by and pick up Sansa to go to a meal with her... if the teena.. wait, young adult was up and about yet. Another thing to get used to trampled through her mind.

She exited the lab with these thoughts when her nose crinkled slightly. She picked up Melody's scent from up ahead. 'Perfect, a lunch partner,' she thought to herself. There was another scent as well, but as the ship was under repairs, that was to be expected. They could join or not. She didn't recognize it as one of the Merlin's officers, she had those memorized, so it must be a Research Station engineer.

Sav rounded the corner while saying, "Melody, it is perfect time..... to..... wait...." Before her was a rather good looking male wearing an Operations insignia and a Merlin Officer uniform. There was no sign of Melody. Sav opened her muzzle, closed it, then sniffed the air again. Yes, there was Melody's odor. She asked, "Excuse me, Lieutenant, umm, was Melody here a minute ago? I mean, Commander Jones. I'm a friend of hers."

"No I haven't seen her since first thing. She left me in her quarters to go do something. I'm Draxx. Ricardo Draxx," he held his hand out to the strange alien figuring if it was a friend of Red's he should make the effort. "Sansa's father. I just transferred in to be with my family."

Sav's ears flicked as her head shifted quizzically to the right. She now said, "You're Draxx? Melody did talk about you." Sav took in a breath, then let it out. She said, "Hi, I'm Save'ena Tillatix, also known as Sav. Has.... ummm, Melody mentioned me to you?" Sav waited the answer to this, as it would dictate how she proceeded in her interaction with Draxx from this point.

Draxx shook his head. There was something odd about the way the alien had just phrased that question. "Sorry. She has only ever mentioned her friend Caroline, who is our daughters god mother oh and the highly trained and terrifying ninja hedgehog of course." He didn't add that he hadn't met her either or made it to the christening strange as the situation was with his daughters accelerated growth.

Sav's entire body seemed to flinch, then flowed into a relaxed posture. Inside of her mind, she replayed the words Melody has told her about Draxx, her telling Draxx about her, and him looking forward to meeting her. It seemed that may now be lost to the time paradox that surrounded Melody, and now her. Sav had now lost Melody, fully, as Draxx was there to make a family with Melody and Sansa. A tune began in the back of her mind, 'If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all, Gloom... Despair... and Agony on meeeee..'

Sav reached out to shake Draxx's hand. She focused her ears on Draxx and said, "*giggle* Nibbles can be quite a handful, and I am glad you know about Caroline. So, hi, I'm Sav, a friend of Nibbles, Melody, and Sansa. Sansa loves me for my fur, and that I'm a friend of Melody's. I would think she would have many, but I gather that is not the case." She released his hand and now asked, "So, how should I call you off duty? Ricardo... Rick... Mr. Draxx, and, are you hungry? I could use something to eat, and its nicer to eat with someone than alone."

There was definitely something odd about this alien. She was making him uncomfortable. She was pushy suddenly wanting to eat something. They had only just met.

Sansa loved her for her fur. Maybe that was it. Perhaps this was some sort of protectiveness from suddenly being a parent. He didn't understand why he was feeling …. what was he feeling ….. threatened, almost hearing that his baby girl loved someone else when he barely knew her …….. something was definitely off.

"Rick is just fine," he stated. Clearly if she was a friend of Melody's he had to get to know her. Make an effort. It wouldn't do to make this huge move and then piss off Red by not trying to get on with her friends. Especially when things were going so well between them.

And he sure could use some breakfast. Melody had completely worn him out last night. He grinned though at the memories. "Well I am up for something to eat but I am new to the Merlin. I don't know where the mess is yet. If you wouldn't mind showing me the way …." he suggested.

Sav caught the hesitation, the emotional gambit across his face, and then the steadying of his voice and sternness of his expression. She took in a breath, then let it out. She now replied, "Rick, I don't mean to be pushy. I have known Melody for a long while, but not you. Sorry. So, I will take you to the officers mess.. and if you join me, or leave me for others, is up to you. You have no clue to who I am to Melody, as you shouldn't. I am Mephetian, not part of the Federation Races, but an L'Tandrey Protectorate race. We are not beholden for anything. This way, please, ifin yah want?"

"Thank you," Draxx said following her. It was odd, he was just thinking her pushy and she suddenly said she didn't mean to be. Maybe these Mephetian's had some telepathic ability he wondered.

Sav led the way to the turbolift, and upon entering uttered, "Officer's mess, please." She looked at Rick, then said, "I meant what I said. A meal enjoyed in company is better than a meal eaten alone."

"Ok lets go grab breakfast," he agreed. "Thank you for inviting me. Maybe we can swap stories on Reds antics," he joked. "Has she been behaving herself?"

Sav let out a giggle at that last sentence. Rick was interesting, going from stern to joking in the space of a few seconds. Maybe that was what attracted Melody to him. She replied, "Oh, probably not, I mean, she was XO of Merlin, then went off, found a guy she likes, got preggers, had a fast growing child ana is back on board as second officer... so, Nah, Melody is being Melody. Ana swap stories, sure thing, gotta tell te' tales of me fel...*pause* friend." Sav smiled to Rick even as she groaned in her mind. She almost let out 'fellow wife', but that was no longer the case here. Heck, Rick would probably hate that Melody and she had been very intimate, after all Melody was his wife now, and she was the cheat, even if it was before they met... well, during they met, after they met? Yeaurgh, time paradoxes were so annoying.

Yeah there was definitely something weird about this alien. She now seemed a tad skittish. "What do you fancy to eat?" Draxx asked as they entered the mess.

Rick's question focused Sav from the paradox and onto the basic need of nourishment. She churred out as a Petty Officer came over to lead them to a table, "Oh, I would love some roast with root vegetables, tubers and gourds." She smiled to the Petty Officer, "Please, lead the way." She looked over at Rick and said, "Department heads and Senior Officers get tables and waited on, if that's okay with you. So, what would you like for lunch?"

"Is there any hasperat on that menu?" He grinned at the petty officer. "So are you a department head and Senior officer?" he asked wondering what she did. He could tell by the uniform she was flight. Maybe she would be less skittish and weird if she talked about something important to her.

The Petty Officer replied, "I'll check for you, Sir." He went off to get Sav her normal Stew in sourdough bread and find out about what the other Officer asked for.

Sav sat down at the table and smiled to Rick. She said, "I am the Chief Flight Control Officer for the Merlin, thus a department head, and as a Commander rank am considered a Senior Officer, so both. Have you met your Department head yet? Lieutenant JG Marbim Rejal is an interesting fellow."

"Ahh now I understand why you and Red are friends. Shes a crazy pilot too. Bet you definitely have some stories. Ones that would make my stomach turn just hearing about the speed and G's," He chuckled. "Yes. I reported in to Chief Rejal. Interesting is the word. I was not expecting a Klingon Opera loving Cardassian as my new boss."

"Thank you," he smiled at the waiter who returned with some respectable looking and smelling Hasperat.

Petty Officer Hernandez placed the Hasperat before Rick, then placed the old style cottage pie in a sourdough bowl before Sav. Smiling to them, he said, "Enjoy, Sirs. If there is anything else, please let me know." He went off to get settled some engineering officers who came in.

Sav smelled of her stew, her whiskers twitching even as her mouth opened slightly to curl her tongue to waft the heavenly aura through her nasal passages. She focused back onto Rick with a Grin, saying, "Mine smells wonderful. I hope yours is just as good." She shifted and said, "So, yes, he enjoy's klingon opera. I am planning to go to an opera with him so he can point out the finer points. And, yes, I will bring some hearing protection. Back on Melody, yeah, we have some crazy stories about flying. We even changed bodies one time.. that was interesting, to say the least."

"How did that happen?" Draxx asked curiously. "She rescued me from a static warp bubble did you know? It was also a very odd experience. Especially since Sansa from the future who wasn't even born then - in fact we didn't even know Mel was pregnant at the point, she came back in time to help. Thank goodness or else I wouldn't be sitting here opposite you."

Sav churred as she shook her head, "That is Melody, all right. She seems to be in the right place at the right time." She sighed, then stated, "I am so glad she did so you can be in Sansa's and her life." She took a drink, then said, "On our body switch, we were out in new Fighters putting them through their paces, when we hit an unusual field that affected the fighters, and with the transporter rescuing us.. our auric spirits realigned to each other's bodies. Caroline, rather, Dr. Miller, figured out a way to get our resonances back to normal so we could return to normal. All in all, a very interesting time." Sav carefully left off when and where as Melody and Caroline were there/not there when this happened in the Perez Nebula.

She settled in to finish eating her stew. Now finished, she asked, "Umm, Rick? So, on visiting Mel... umm, would you let me know of a time you're all there? That way we can meet with you as a family unit, and then see where it goes from there?"

Draxx frowned not really understanding the question. "Who is we? Are you bringing a partner to visit? To be honest I have my own quarters for the moment. Hopefully that will change soon but I would check in with Mel. Shes the organized one," he smiled.

Sav looked surprised at Rick's words. She shook her head as she said, "I used to... used to.. but no, I am alone." Sav once more felt like she was tipping off of a cliff by the abyss. She tamped that down and continued, "By 'we' I meant Melody, Sansa, you and I. Some familial terms don't translate well between Mephetian and Terran, sorry." She did a quick shake of herself, then said, "Yes, we should check in with Melody. She is the organized one and has everything under control." Sav finished off her stew and drink, then said, "I need to get back to work. Please contact me when it is arranged, please?"

Draxx looked at her utterly confused. "Right," he stuttered. What a weird dinner.

OFF:

Commander Save'ena Tillatix
CFCO/Bridge Command Specialist
USS Merlin

Lieutenant JG Ricardo Draxx
Assistant operations officer
USS Merlin