Joint Log | Capt Ivanova, LtCmdr Waterhouse - "Let It Go"

Posted on Fri Oct 17th, 2014 @ 1:00am by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Commander Amelia Waterhouse

1,716 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Are You Touched?

Shortly after Almar fixed the opened vent and left through the more conventional means provided by the ready room door, Rochelle set about cleaning up the mess her untimely visitor and its would be captor had left. Left over traces of chicken salad were carefully cleaned from the carpet and other fibers, conjuring images of a request for wood floors to be installed... And then her toweled hands reached the coffee stained carpet beneath her chair and she was instantly reminded as to why she would never send that chit. Too many memories, all of them nearly impossible to let go of as if some invisible string tugged her along and refused to let her walk any other path.

The sound of a snuffle brought her back to present reality, reminding her that she was still on her hands and knees behind her desk even though the mess was gone. Rochelle looked over her shoulder to see the blue creature watching her with its head tilted and over-sized ears pricked up and twitching like radar dishes as if that aforementioned string tugged them forward too. "You're a mess." She announced to the salad matted terrorist. Bathing it seemed like an impossibility given the sharp little teeth she'd watched tear through human bite-sized chunks of chicken without any real effort. "I wonder if I can convince Cecil to bathe you."

The animal got up and walked over, sniffing around Rochelle's hands and lifted its snout up towards her face to study it with saucer-sized eyes filled with intelligence and personality. "Just don't rough him up too bad. He's a delicate flower." she couldn't help but chuckle as she reached to stroke her new friend and got to her feet to change her soiled uniform.

When Almar had exited the ready room without having gone in across the bridge before hand that Amelia had seen, she raised an eyebrow at him... Though he apparently missed it, leaving the bridge without response. Amelia glanced around, looking to see who else noticed this oddity... Finding only Zheer and Sørensen looking to her in question. At least security and tactical were on their toes, she mused as she stood and handed over control of the bridge. She pressed the chime to the ready room.

"Come." Rochelle called, tugging down on her new tunic. The critter scattered to hide under the desk as the doors opened and the Captain walked to the replicator to recycle her chicken salad infested uniform. She knew it would only be a matter of time before questions were raised regarding Almar's sudden appearance on the bridge.

"If I were the judgmental sort, this is where I'd demand to check your blue spot," Amelia quipped as the door slid shut behind her. As was her trademark, she stopped just clear of the door sensors, and she crossed her arms. "But even if I don't think that you and he were having romantic rendezvous in here, it is unusual to see someone emerge from your ready room without first entering it by that same door."

The Captain's eyes rolled as she tugged up her right sleeve and bore her wrist for Amelia to see. The strange blue symbol, about the size of a pea, was glaringly obvious, bold and blue across the soft creamy porcelain of her inner wrist. "I have no interest in trysts in my ready room." She replied, tugging the sleeve back down and feeding towels into the replicator. The rumors, she was sure, would be on overdrive for the next few days and JAG was likely to come bursting in with questions as well.

"He was chasing the reason why our replicators have been malfunctioning and it seems Dani left a vent a far cry from secured back in place. Needless to say... Lunch was explosive." The explanation was marked with Rochelle's brand of amusement as she made her way back to her desk and stooped to peek under at the little animal that had made such a big mess of things. "For now I'm stuck with the little terrorist." a hand rose over the top of the big wooden desk, gesturing for the other woman to approach.

"I didn't think you were that sort, but thank you for giving me more to go on than just my gut next time I have to box a gossip about the ears," Amelia quipped, making a face as she approached the desk. "Terrorist?" Amelia's head quirked to the left as she braced herself on the desktop and leaned over to look down.

"You're welcome." The disembodied voice replied from behind the desk as Pond leaned across. Forty-two razor sharp teeth peered back at the new person, punctuated by giant eyes and two curled ram-like horns. The gigantic ears weren't even worthy of mention, pinned back and hidden in the blue fluff at the animal's scruff as they were. "She likes chicken salad but is a little touchy." Rochelle cautioned, looking between the creature that had settled near her feet and her first officer. "Oh... And wires, apparently."

"Where did she come from?" Amelia asked as she pulled herself forward to get a better look by laying across the top of the desk. She reached one hand down to offer the creature the ability to sniff.

"Judging by the time frame that our electrical systems started going on the fritz, everything points to her being from K3." Rochelle answered, watching the animal reach its little cobalt nose, and those needle sharp teeth, towards Amelia's hand. The ears slowly lifted from it's fluff to set in a more neutral position.

"I must admit, this is an area of the regs I can't quote for memory... but what is the policy about stow aways like her?" Amelia's hand darted forward to tap the little blue creature on the tip of her nose.

The sudden flurry of activity complete with gurgling snarls and strange barks barely left Rochelle a chance to grab for the animal before it could inflict any real damage to Amelia's hand. Retaliation for the tap was the name of the game afoot, and the creature's teeth snapped together loudly as they closed on nothing but themselves. "I think we can keep her in the name of science." The shorter redhead replied, tucking the tiny thing under one of her arms and holding it solid until the little rapscallion began to calm down. "Feisty, isn't she?"

"She's adorable!" Amelia insisted, after a bit of a pause as she processed that the creature had just snapped at her. She grinned, yanking herself upwards again to stand on the other side of the desk again. "Who's an adorable blue hellion?" she cooed at the creature, leaning forward again, braced against the desk.

The animal quickly started wiggling again, whining shrilly as she did so. It was all Rochelle could do to hold on and try not to hurt the little blue beast as it carried on until she felt its tail beating heavily against her side and back. "Apparently she agrees." She shrugged and set the creature down, raising an eyebrow as it quickly reared up on its hind legs and leaped up and down, yapping.

"Have you named her?" Amelia regarded it with a tilted head and a grin. "You'll probably have to put her through quarantine or something, though I haven't seen reports of anything too exotic coming up from the planet with Noah's crew."

The Captain's head shook, "No, I haven't." Naming the little terror hadn't quite dawned on Rochelle. The little animal seemed larger than life, or at least the mess she'd made had. "She needs a bath before I can think of too much more. I'll be sequestering her to my quarters after that."

"You think she'll take leash training?" The willowy redhead mused, tilting her head to the other side. "Anyhow, I should probably head back... Let me know if you want me to distract the bridge crew when you leave, to avoid questions. Not that anyone other than Zheer and Sørensen are on their toes out there." Amelia sighed.

"I'm not too concerned about it, just about everything can be convinced to be somewhat civilized." The shorter redhead grinned in response, plucking what looked like a small piece of celery from the animal's fluff. "I don't need to hide her, let them ask questions if they want to. I'm sure it'll only add to the wild yarns being spun about my non-existent sex life." She shrugged gently, the grin refusing to fade.

"Well hopefully she's a separate yarn, not connected to these hypothetical sexcapades," came the teasing reply as the XO turned to head back to the bridge.

"One would hope." Rochelle agreed with a heavy nod, not willing to entertain the alternatives with any amount of thought. Any other option would have had her laying on a couch in front of Logan and Tristan ready to claw her own eyes out. "Thanks for coming in to check on me."

"Entirely selfish of me, I assure you. I'm not ready to run this boat by myself yet," Amelia insisted with a laugh and a wink. She may tease, but she couldn't help looking out for those she considered family, like Rochelle. With a smile, she paused at the door. "Should I find Cecil and send him in to help clean her?"

The Captain chuckled lightly and nodded in understanding. She wasn't ready to turn the boat over just yet, so much was still to be done and she still so very young. "You know what? I haven't seen him today, go ahead and send him in. She needs to get used to him anyway."

A predatory grin spread across her face as the taller woman moved close enough to trigger the door, and she moved out towards the bridge again. She spotted the yeoman across the bridge collecting a report from Zheer at tactical. "Oh Cecil," she all but purred, and the yeoman looked up with wide eyes at her call as she moved quickly to close the space between them and the ready room's door slid shut again.

---

Captain Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E

&

Lt Commander Amelia Waterhouse
Executive Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E

 

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