Cats and Dogs

Posted on 29 Jul 2014 @ 11:01am by Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & M'Ressa

1,691 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, quarters 04-2624 JO
Timeline: MD04 - 1530hrs

[ON]

With his meetings with the XO and the Science Chief over, Oren was finally ready to call it a day and go to his assigned quarters. They were easy enough to find and, as he approached the door, Oren couldn't help but feel anxious over his first meeting with his roommate. He'd met several Caitians before, but he'd never actually lived with one and the prospect made him nervous. Not to mention the possibility that they may have habits he may not like, or even worse, that they might not like something he did.

But the one thing that made Oren nervous above all else was the Caitian's possible negative reaction to Landi. If the two didn't get along, he wasn't sure what he could do. Ask for new quarters? Over a dog? What if he just got put somewhere worse? With someone who snored, or chewed really loudly...

With this on his mind, Oren tapped in the code for his new home and finally stepped in. His green eyes darted around immediately, taking in his surroundings. The room was much smaller than he was used to. On his last assignment on J'naii, he'd gotten an apartment much bigger than this, and all to himself. This definitely would require some getting used to.

M'Ressa was just finishing up a sonic shower when she heard the door chime as it opened. Expecting a new roommate, she'd changed the door to chime while she was in the shower prepping for her shift. Wrapping a towel around her slender frame, M'Ressa stepped out of the room and into the common area.

Seeing the younger looking man standing around, she smiled warmly as she made her presence known. "You must be Oren." Offering her hand to him. "M'Ressa."

Looking away from what was apparently his sleeping arrangement for the unforeseeable future, Oren met M'Ressa's eyes and smiled back.

"Yes! Hi." Walking up to her, Oren took her hand gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you!" If he was bothered by her being half-naked, he didn't show it. Personally, he'd never understood why nudity was so alarming or uncomfortable to people. On Caitians at least, it was hardly intimidating.

"Well, I'm assuming that's my bed?" he asked, pointing to the bare part of the 'bedroom'. "I must admit, it might take some getting used to," he admitted.

M'Ressa glanced over at the free bunk. "It is a bit cozy." She admitted. "Not quite as spacious as my apartment of earth but it grows on you."

"Yeah, I suppose it will." Oren looked up at M'Ressa, his nervousness returning. "Hey, um...I have something to say that may be a bit awkward. Well not 'say', more show." He cleared his throat before setting his bag down. It began to stir and, as he opened it all the way, Landi finally seemed to wake and stuck her head out of the bag. The puppy was a dirty gray color with a yellow collar around her neck.

She blinked blearily up at the two people before yawning widely.

Oren looked over at M'Ressa. "Will this be a problem?" he asked nervously.

M'Ressa looked down at the young dog. That explained the strange smell she picked up on Oren when he first entered. "As long as he's housebroken, or being trained, and is cat friendly we should be okay. I get mistaken by some animals for a really large cat, which confuses them usually as cats are never my size."

"She is housebroken, so don't worry about that," Oren assured her. "As for being cat friendly, I'm not really sure," he admitted, looking down at the dog almost pleadingly. Landi seemed to come to completely and began to sniff around, walking on her tiny little legs. Her scent led her to M'Ressa almost immediately. Taking a sniff of the Caitian, she took a few steps back, her ears drooping as she began to make small, crying noises. As Oren tried to reach out to her, the puppy yelped and ran under his bunk, hiding.

"Well..." Oren said with an awkward-looking smile. "At least she doesn't hate you."

"True. But I'm not quite sure she entirely likes me either. Is she normally shy around new people?"

"Yeah, it just takes her a while to warm up to someone new," Oren explained with a nod as he continued to lie through his teeth. "I'm sure she'll be fine once she gets used to you." Well, he didn't consider it a complete lie. Who's to say Landi wouldn't warm up to M'Ressa after a while. And besides, a little white lie to spare someone any hurt feelings wasn't all bad.

M'Ressa nodded. "At that age it's usually just new surroundings and an unfamiliar face & smell. Making shy I think is the Terran term. Most species offspring tend to exhibit it to some extent." As she said that, M'Ressa couldn't help but be reminded of the little Caitian kits she'd met when she was still on Earth. Teth's sister's offspring were cute but a little too young for that yet.

"That is true, I suppose," he agreed with a nod before looking over at the bunk.

"Come on, Landi! Here, girl!" Oren called, bending over to look under the bed only to see Landi curled up, staring quietly, probably waiting for the 'danger' to pass. Making a couple of kissy noises, Oren finally gave up and stood to his full height again. "Well, she's under there for the time being," he said obviously before sitting down on the other bunk. "So, M'Ressa, tell me about yourself? I hear you're a biotechnologist. I'm afraid I don't know much about your field," he admitted sheepishly. "Are you currently working on anything?"

"I have a few on the go projects I brought with me from earth but right now the focus is this mine situation. Primary mission trumps secondary mission." M'Ressa paused. "I normally do work with bioengineering new drugs, especially ones related to my own species health."

"What are you doing for the mission?" Oren asked curiously. "To tell you the truth, I'm really wondering about what all the specialists on the ship do."

"The mission itself I'm focusing on some of the biological components of the data we found planetside this morning.Other's are focusing on geological elements, mineral compositions, pretty much anything that could help explain what's happening down there." M'Ressa shuddered involuntarily. Mention of the mines brought forward a memory of the dead miners they walked into planetside. M'Ressa had never seen death close up before and the sights haunted her.

Snapping back to the present, M'Ressa sighed. "Sorry. It wasn't the best of away missions I've been on."

"What happened?"

"Equipment malfunctions. One phaser overloaded, thankfully exploding harmlessly after it's owner tossed it away. We discovered mutilated bodies and one of the away team was found dead by the other away team across the mine after disappearing only minutes before. He'd have needed a transporter to move that fast and they were not available that deep in the mine."

M'Ressa paused, a pained expression crossing her face. "And nothing gained to make up for the loss."

Oren frowned, feeling a deep sadness for the dead crew member despite never knowing them. A loss of life was always sad. "I don't think anything could make up for it," he admitted. "What did the samples from the bodies show?" he asked.

"We'll know more in the morning. Lab is still running tests last I heard."

Oren nodded. "Good. Well, we'll get to the bottom of it soon enough. The Galileo has some amazing scientists."

M'Ressa perked up a little. "The team is good. It's why I asked for the transfer, well, that and the guy I'm dating is on the ship." She grinned at Oren.

Oren chuckled, kicking his feet gently. "Priorities, right?" he said, genuinely impressed with M'Ressa's determination to make her relationship last. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he'd be able to change his life for someone like that at a moment's notice. At least, he hadn't met someone he would do that for.

"My profession is really solitary," he said. "So I'm honestly not used to working together with a lot of people," Oren added. "Hopefully, it works out well."

"I suppose Archaeology is somewhat solitary. Medical research can be too but at least there's other's to talk with when tests are running." M'Ressa smiled. "Is it as exciting as some of the old holo's made it out to be, or is it more endless hours of digging and sifting?"

Oren chuckled. It wasn't the first time someone asked him something like that. "Well, it can be exciting and adventurous, but so far the closest I've come to death is from accidentally slipping down into the dig site," he admitted. "There is a lot of roughing it and getting used to not having certain things people are used to for extended periods of time, but it is rewarding work. Like solving a puzzle but with half the pieces missing."

M'Ressa nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "Any girlfriends I may find myself in a catfight with over our bunking arrangement?"

"I'm afraid not," Oren said, shaking his head. "I'm not really interested in dating at the moment. I'm enjoying being by myself. That said, if you do need some alone time with your boyfriend, just say so and I can make myself scarce."

"I appreciate that. He doesn't usually come over but you never know, right?" M'Ressa glanced at a clock she kept near her bed. "I'm due in the lab in 10min. If you ever want to hang out, I'm usually on Beta shift so free in the morning."

"Alright," Oren agreed, glad that his roommate and himself were on the same shift. It would give them an opportunity to get to know each other, he thought. He hadn't been looking forward to living with a complete stranger and, at least this way, she wouldn't stay a stranger for long.

[OFF]

Oren Idris Ph.D.
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

M'Ressa
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo

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