Bourbon and bandages
Posted on Sun Jul 21st, 2019 @ 11:29am by Major Cornelius Tremble
Edited on on Sun Jul 21st, 2019 @ 2:13pm
3,347 words; about a 17 minute read
Mission:
Episode 7 - Home Again
Location: Officers Quarters, Deck 3
Timeline: MD007 2030 hrs
The pair didn't really talk as they moved through the ship. Talli was sore and slow. She was pretty sure that Neil felt the same but some part of her was sure that there was a chance he was just keep her pace. It was a comfortable silence. Soon enough they entered her quarters. "Ice or no ice?" she asked as she moved to her bar. Tapping a few commands she made sure that Merriam wouldn't pop in uninvited.
Neil looked around her quarters, out of habit looking for disorder then he glanced toward her. "For the bourbon or my ribs?"
He grinned as he'd caught her a bit off guard and said, "However you like it. Once I try it I'll fix it one way or another as needed."
Tallida with a smile and nodded as she retrieved two glasses and grabbed a bottle. She looked at the label as she moved over to the table in front of the couch. "A friend of mine distills this on the ship he serves on." Tallida grinned before she set it down. "Pour us some while I grab my kit." As she moved into her bed room she couldn't help but wonder where the bumbling idiot she normally would have been. Merriam would have a field day with this whole thing later.
Neil poured three fingers worth of bourbon into each of the glasses and then picked one up to take a whiff.
It smelled like alcohol alright.
"So, you have Hooch? Nice. I've run into a few stills over the years, some would peel hull metal." He found his eyes drawn to watching her walk away and he dragged them back to looking at the booze. "Has a decent smell and color. How's it drink?"
Tallida returned to the living room. She had removed her pony tail and brushed her hair out before returning with her med kit in her hand. "It is fairly smooth." she admitted. "They created some sort of time, something something to age it quicker." She came to a stop by the table standing closer to him that she realized. She set her kit, opened, on the table as she plucked up the glass and took a sip. She watched him over the glass.
Neil took a sip. Sucked in air and breathed out, "Yeah. Smooth...." he covered a cough by clearing his throat and gave her a sideways glance. "Temporal mechanics in a still. That's a new one. I think I tasted a dinosaurs toe in there somewhere."
He took another sip and nodded. "After the first one, the seconds not so bad," he half wheezed.
"Wuss." Tallida replied with a roll of her eyes as she took another sip. "They are still new at it, but it isn't that bad." She leaned down setting the glass on the table top as she picked up her medical tricorder. She hadn't bothered to change and was still wearing her sparring gear.
"Remind me to get you a bottle of the FMC's medicinal spirits. If you know the right quartermaster, they're still available," Neil said, settling back to watch her work. He had shadow memories of her sliding over him as they grappled and he pushed those thoughts back firmly.
"It used to be the Marines didn't have dedicated medics, but pulled them from Fleet medical personnel. That meant there weren't always enough to go around so, they gave us some booze to comfort the wounded. Though it also hearkens back to when ships of the royal navy on earth gave their people daily rum rations."
"Uh huh," She replied only half listening as she moved to sit next to him on the couch pulling the kit closer to them as she did. "Remove your shirt." She stated as she started her scan. His hesitation caused her to look up at him from the scanner. A smirk crossed her lips. "Please?"
Neil obediently peeled the shirt from his torso, half tempted to ask if her gear couldn't read through clothing. "I smell, Doctor," he warned her. "I've had a couple of recent arse kickings."
"Since I gave you the last one I am sure it will be fine." She teased looking up at him for a moment before looking back at the puzzle. She moved the Tricorder closer to his rib cage her hand gently touching the area. Her face twisted in a quizzical look before she spoke again. "I wasn't sure if it was something in your clothing." She stated looking back up at him figuring it explained why she had asked him to remove his shirt. "I don't have your medical file but I can imagine that your ribs have been broken more than once and based on your comment in the holodeck, you haven't always gotten them treated." She looked up a little more concern on her face that she would have liked. Later she would question if she was starting to like the Marine, but for now she retrieved her osteogenetic stimulator. "You can put your shirt back on if you like."
"I've been through the grinder a couple of times," he shrugged. "It's what we do. Some of it was in combat conditions so...treatment could take a while to get to." He took another drink of the bourbon, and welcomed the alcohol's bite.
Talli reached over, lifting up her glass and taking a drink. Setting it on the table that sat behind her couch. Her hand move so that it rested on his side just above the wound to define the boundary she set to work. "I can't fix the previous bad mends out side the sickbay." She stated never looking away from her work.
"You could always break a few more, if it helps," he grinned at her, distracting himself from her touch and closeness by taking another drink of bourbon.
"Maybe tomorrow." Tallida laughed. "My chest and arms hurt enough as it is." She stopped for a moment sitting back. Rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck. Setting the simulator in her lap she plucked up the tricorder and scanned the area again. Her hand that had been resting on him moved up his shoulder just a head of the scanner in a very clinical way. "Looks like you might have strained a muscle in your shoulder." she sat back looking at him. "I can help if you like, but the break is mended, how is the breathing?"
Neil took a deep breath and nodded. "Better, thanks. If you want to mess with the muscle, fine. But it can heal by itself too. Pain is a good reminder to move faster next time," he chuckled. "You should see to your own bumps and bruises. I'm guessing this bourbon will gloss things over until tomorrow anyway." He eyed the level of his drink, reminding himself to be cautious with it.
Hooch had a way of sneaking up on you.
Tallida shrugged as she put away the stimulator and made no move to take the dermal regenerator.. "I heal fast," She looked at her arms, extending them in front of her her. "I bet these bruises will be gone by the morning." She plucked up her glass and leaned against the arm rest behind her. With her free arm draped across her belly she took a sip watching him almost as if she was trying to discern if he were real.
"Strong and you heal quickly?" Neil asked, after tasting the bourbon again. "Seems like every time I turn around, you're surprising me Counselor." There was the threat of silence....and uneasy silence nudging at the atmosphere around them that he didn't understand.
Though it might be the booze.
"You can ask," Tallida offered as she took another sip off the glass. "That is a chance I will tell you the truth." She smiled. "Guessing might be too hard for a Marine." she teased.
"I don't think you're supposed to be overly clever in the Corp until you a least make Captain," Neil remarked, reclining back on the couch. "You're not human. But it seemed your reaction time coupled with the strength and recovery time you're talking about doesn't hit the norms for Angosians...except for the augmented soldiers they created," he said carefully. "From simulations I've run, you're not quite up to those specifications...."
"Ah, simulations of augmented Angosians," Talli said with a laugh. "I will take that as a compliment that you think that is a little possible." She took a sip of her drink to hide the fact that she was thinking about tell him. She had no idea what it was about him that made her, want to tell someone.
He nodded seriously then, "Sure, take a bow. Beings with factions make mistakes. One of those mistakes is to grab Federation hostages. When all else fails, or to make a point, the Federation sends in Marines to get them back. Our job then is to point out those mistakes to said beings in an overwhelming and rather permanent way," Neil shrugged. He was watching her intently now, his eyes not moving from Talli's.
She had kept his eye contact until that moment. "Mistakes," Talli said the single word with a nod. She looked down at her glass and drained the remainder of the bourbon. She uncurled her legs setting her feet on the floor and set to putting away the medical tools back into the kit.
"Grabbing Federation prisoners," Neil clarified, his eyes taking on a far away look. "We table topped that sort of ops plan. No matter how we washed it out, any Marine force sent in was looking at 85 percent casualties based on Federation guidelines. The Auguments weren't mistakes, and I didn't mean that you were, if you are Tallida. Don't read that into my statement." He said, his eyes coming back to the moment.
"You wouldn't be the first call me a mistake," She replied with a slightly forced laugh. She turned to look at him briefly. "If you had been that is." She smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She reached over and refilled her glass. "For the record, I am not quite as strong nor do I heal as quickly, but my vital signs do show up on the ships computer." She replied confirming his suspicion on what she was as she leaned back against the couch and looked at him. "You are the only one besides the Captain who knows."
Shifting in his seat, Neil poured himself another measure of the hooch and took a sip. "Right. If I had been, which I wasn't. So we're confirming my observations and acknowledging that like me, your vitals are on record with the computer. That the Captain is mostly aware of what happens on his ship, we both can acknowledge is a good thing."
He settled back then, rubbed the back of his neck and said "So that just makes us two more like minded beings serving the Federation in our own unique, and special ways." He shrugged, giving her a glimmer of a wink as he took yet another sip of the bourbon. "If you had told me a a secret, it wouldn't go any further. You can trust me in that, Tallida."
Then he said, half to himself, "And that would explain a few things..."
If you had tried to tell the Angosian that she would feel the level of relief at telling the Marine, of all people, her secret she would died of disbelief. Her lips curled into a smile at his attempt to put her at ease. It was cute and endearing. "Oh? Like what?"
"Like our first meeting," he stated, watching her with a half smile. "I don't think that turned out like either of us would have thought."
Taking a sip, Tallida gave him a quizzical look. "But, wait." She started as she turned towards him again. "It didn't you are right, but what about that has to do with, uh, my status?" she laughed.
"Things seemed a few degree's off bubble as we went along," he gave a somewhat sheepish shrug. "As it went along, I found it interesting that I could throw a counselor off her game...so I kept pushing," I was expecting you to shut me down a lot earlier."
Tallida almost choked on the sip of bourbon. Coughing as she tried to breathe as she still had the desire to laugh. "That has nothing to do with me being an augment or an angosian." She giggled. "I warned Captain Melbrooke that having a degree in clinical psychology is not the same as being a counselor." She cleared her throat before she took another sip. "I diagnosed you no problem, it was the, uh, talking part that was..." She shook her head.
"Yeah but that's part of the overall puzzle," he told her. "When something isn't quite right, like hiding something. Maybe being a bit unsure of yourself in a position like you just mentioned..." he held his glass up and tilted it, letting the mahogany colored liquor near the lip of the glass. "You tilt things far enough and somethings bound to spill out. Maybe I picked up on that and you picked up on me picking up on that..."
He chuckled then, "Mik swore up and down it was sexual tension," Which reminds me. Do you have any idea of what a cannelloni is?"
"It is an old earth meal made of pasta, meat and or cheese with a tomato based sauce that is baked." Tallida replied easily as she took a sip of her bourbon. She watched him for a moment. "I remember Mik bringing it up when he was talking about you and I sleeping together. Granted this was the same conversation where he used a holo image of you to display your sexual shortcomings which medically appeared fairly average, not that I got a good look." She took another sip oblivious to what she had said. "I could make it for you some time." she offered quickly without much thought.
Neil snorted at that. "Bates really writes some interesting programs, I'll hand him that." He said, turning the glass in his hand idly. Then he looked at her appraisingly, then asked with a half grin, "So you've seen me naked and still are offering to make dinner for me. Sounds something like a second date, Doc."
Tallida's eyes flashed brightly in amusement at his words. He was once again trying to knock her off balance with his comment but she was weirdly becoming accustomed to them. That was not to mean that her cheeks didn't redden slightly when she realized what she had said. "So, that would make this a first date." She smiled. "Merriam always told me to avoid being a rebound."
Neil sobered a bit at that and took a sip of his drink and said, "Well, we're resting here, sweaty and kinda exhausted and relaxed, drinking. It must have went fairly well. What do you think?" As he said that, he met her eyes.
Talli watched him from the minute she had stopped speaking and until she started again. "I have never really had one before. " She admitted looking down at the glass she held in her lap. She swirled the amber liquid, watching as it coated the glass.
His instincts hadn't often led him astray, and Neil decided to go with that. He reached out caught her chin with with two fingers turning her head and leaned in.
Then he kissed her.
Tallida was flushed with emotions when her lips met Neil's. Surprise, as she hadn't seen this turn of events coming, anxiety from previous experiences with males, and relief that he had finally kissed her. Granted, she hadn't realized until he did how much she had wanted him to. She was waiting for the panic to set in and send her running from the couch, but it never did and she relaxed into kissing him back.
Minutes later, Neil broke the kiss and looked at her, then gave her another gentle kiss and sat back. "Well, that came from nowhere and I'd definitely welcome more." He told her, "but after my confrontation with Cami and your run in with her. And her being your patient, I think perhaps we should wait with anything further until you call me back for the Cannelloni."
"Oh," Tallida said softly, once her brain came back to her. "I am sorry." She turn setting her glass on the table. "You are right, I shouldn't have done that." She continued. In her mind she was nothing compared to Ms. Petrovich and it was easy to believe that the attraction was just on her side. It hadn't even occurred to her that he was the one who had kissed her.
Neil sat his glass on the table, then stood. The free hand which had ended up on her knee, now took her hand and he pulled her up to face him. "I kissed you. You kissed me back. Marines lead the way, remember, Counselor." He looked at her and said, "I am glad you did, by the way. And believe me, there's a cave man part of me that want's to carry you off into that room over there that I suspect contains your bed."
He took a moment to control his breathing then, and continued. "But, your reputation as a counselor is important to the Pioneer and to me. So, I will let you decide when you will make me dinner."
Her stomach flipped at the want in his eyes. It should have made her terrified, at least it always had in the past. She reached up and gently touched him starting at his shoulder allowing her hand to glide over his chest. She watched her hand as it moved over his skin before she finally looked back up at him which it came to rest at his waist. "Tomorrow." She started before she went up on his tip toes and kissed him again. "Ask me again tomorrow. Only, if you still want to have dinner with me."
Neil had to let himself cycle through her words before answering.
He could have sworn, just for a moment she'd said ~*Tomorrow, if you want me*~ Then the rest of the words soaked through his thoughts and he shook his head slightly to clear the fog that was giving him tunnel vision. "Alright, Tallida. I'll do that", he said simply.
Then he resisted the urge to kiss her again and instead, lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. Then he retrieved his shirt and handed it to her. "It's only a day, but I wouldn't want you forgetting about me until then."
Tallida wanted nothing more than to stop him from leaving. To ask him to stay but she was fighting against her own want to not make a regret out of this whole situation. What if, in the light of day, he didn't want her? Would she end up like Ms. Petrovich? She laughed incredulously at the idea of forgetting him. He had been under her skin since they first met. "Wait," she finally said and moved to kiss him again. "So you don't forget me." She grinned before moving a step away from him as much for her sanity as for his.
Neil nearly went after her after the last kiss, but he let her go.
Barely.
He reined himself in then and shook his head, clearing the cobwebs some more and said. "Not likely, Petit oiseau" he said, inadvertently switching to French before smiling. "Until tomorrow."
Then he stepped through the door and headed in the general direction of his quarters.
A joint post by;
Lieutenant Tallida Ovaa
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
First Lieutenant Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
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