Three's Company

Posted on 24 Jul 2014 @ 4:27pm by Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Commander Luke Wyatt
Edited on on 26 Jul 2014 @ 2:21pm

1,938 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD7, 08:00 hours

[ON]

As the breakfast rush kicked into full swing, the mess hall rapidly began filling up, and soon there were very few seats left.

But so far, no one had worked up the courage to sit at the table for two with the strange woman with the funky hair and the wheelchair. Tuula was fine with that; she didn't mind eating alone. She had gotten used to it over the years. There was just something about her, whether it be her chair, her style, or her attitude, that made people tend to leave her alone.

With masterful use of chopsticks, she popped a piece of sushi in her mouth. With nothing appealing on the menu today, it was replicated sushi for breakast -- one of her favourite foods. As she washed it down with some green tea, she felt the presence of a shadow coming over her table. Looking up, she saw a man standing over her table, tray in hand.

Luke had waded through the busy mess hall and found himself standing above what seemed the only table with a decent amount of unoccupied chairs. Noticing the woman eating alone he smiled. "Are these occupied?" His hand motioned towards the three empty seats.

Oh great, I have company, thought Tuula. "No," she replied in a noticeably unenthusiastic tone. She was good at reading people, and judging by the haircut and the way he carried himself, this stranger was likely a security officer, or maybe tactical. Perhaps a reject from the Marine Corps, the kind of macho wannabe jarhead that Tuula was less than delighted to be sharing a table with. "And you are...?"

Placing his tray down he slid into his seat and settled down before reply "Luke Wyatt, and yourself? I haven't seen you around before. You weren't aboard the Venture too, were you?" he asked, trying to recall her face before everything went to shot with the Borg. But then again they'd been back to space dock and out again since then, so it was likely she was a new replacement.

"Tuula-- er, Doctor Tuula Voutilainen," she replied, a slight emphasis on the word 'doctor.' "I just came aboard the other day. I'm still getting settled in; I haven't even unpacked my bone saw yet."

Voutilainen "Have you got a sister that is also aboard?" he asked curiously before his brain realised what she said "Wait did you say bone saw!" Luke never got on well with the medical kind, like most marines.

"I see you've met Jaana," replied Tuula with a smirk. "She's my twin sister. I know, we're nothing alike. And yes, I collect antique medical equipment," she added, matter-of-factly, "Would you like to see my set of 19th century catheters sometime?"

Swallowing hard he raised his eye brows "To be honest I'm not the medical type. That's more for my daughter, but thanks for the offer" he replied with a smile. He had faced the Borg, the Klingons, the Dominion and even the Romulans but this single female struck more fear in him than any of them!

"Let me guess," Tuula looked him up and down. "You've got a marine haircut, but you're wearing a fleet uniform. You look like you're in shape, so I'm guessing your assignment is a little less cushy than sitting at a console all day. You're probably a security officer, but are you an ex-jarhead or just a wannabe?"

"Right, that's final, I'm changing my hairstyle! I served in the marines a fair few years and just recently transferred across when the ship I was on exploded due to a Borg attack" he said casually "You would have loved it," he joked.

"The Borg are fascinating, but I'm afraid exploding ships aren't my cup of tea," she replied, offering him a smile for the first time in this conversation as she picked up a piece of nigiri-sushi with her chopsticks. "So an actual ex-harhead and not just a wannabe; I don't know if that's better or worse." She held the morsel of rice and fish up to her face, allowing the smell of raw tuna to waft into her nostrils before popping the whole thing into her mouth.

"I would say considerably better! As for exploding ships, it isn't for everyone. I'd rather be on dry land hence why I had enlisted into the Marine Corps in the first place. And you?" he asked, taking some fries off his plate and putting them in his mouth.

As the mixture of rice and raw fish slid down her throat, Tuula caught a glimpse in a mirror of the last person on the ship she wanted to see. "I've always wanted to be a doctor, ever since--" Damn, he saw me thought Tuula. She leaned in. "Can I ask you a big favour?" she whispered quietly, motioning with her hand for him to come in closer.

Luke leaned in confused. "Sure, shoot, unless of course it actually requires me to shoot that guy that just walked in," he said. He didn't know who this man was to her but saw immediately that something wasn't right.

"Not quite," Tuula glanced again in the mirror; he was approaching fast. She didn't have time to explain. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Luke's neck, tilted her head, and passionately pressed her lips against his. Before Luke even knew what was happening, the strange woman had him in her grasp and was forcing herself upon him, her soft lips locking with his. They shared the awkward moment for a good five or six seconds, though it felt like five or six minutes to the confused security officer. Almost ignoring her companion, Tuula's eyes remained fixated on the mirror the whole time, It was, quite understandably given the circumstances, the most gawky kiss she had shared since high school.

"Tuula?" asked the Bolian, now standing beside her.

She broke off the kiss and pushed the stunned former marine away. "Ah, Zuwtt, it's a displeasure as always. Have you met my boyfriend Luke? We were just having quite the interesting conversation about his time in the Marine Corps."

Luke took a little longer to reply, perhaps to the disappointment to his newly appointed 'girlfriend'. Standing up he put out his hand and smiled, hoping the blush wasn't to noticeable "Name's Luke, urm, it's nice to meet you. And you are?"

"Ardon Zuwtt," he replied, shaking Luke's hand. "Is this seat taken?" he asked, sitting down next to Tuula before waiting for an answer. "Well, aren't you two a cute couple. How did a jarhead and a doctor meet up, anyways?" he asked, placing one hand on Tuula's shoulder.

"Zuwtt, if you don't remove your hand, I'll remove it for you," replied Tuula, her voice deadly serious. "And I do own a bone saw."

"My apologies," he said, raising his hand in the air. "I was merely trying to make conversation. After all, it's been what, five years, Tuula?"

"Six, and not long enough." Tuula rolled her eyes and looked back at Luke. His face still had a hint of confusion on it. Tuula offered him a nervous smile, her eyes pleading with him to do something -- anything -- that might convince Zuwtt to leave.

Luke bit his lip, thinking hard about how to deal with the situation. "Actually the story of how we met is quite funny. I had spent the month during the ass end of the Dominion War on the front lines. The fighting was most intense in those last few days and I remember at one point both sides had ran out of ammunition and for an entire day we fought tooth and nail, hand to hand until both sides were so completely exhausted they returned to their lines. I was injured and returned to Sol, where after being put into military rehab I was drinking in a bar with a few friends when I saw this young Bonney lass getting harassed by an ex boyfriend. Being slightly drunk, I went over and asked him to leave when the sucker threw a punch. Let's just say I wasn't put onto probation for just sending him on his way." He winked and smiled wickedly.

"And we've been together ever since, right honey?" she added, before leaning in again giving Luke a quick peck on the cheek. "It's so cute how he's so protective of me. Whenever we go to the bar, I always have to stop him from throwing punches if someone so much as looks at me the wrong way." Tuula looked back to Zuwtt. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I... er..." Zuwtt stammered, beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. "I was wondering if... um, if it's not too much trouble... if I could... borrow your salt shaker. Yeah." Zuwtt stood up. "I just wanted some salt for my..." Zuwtt looked down, realizing that he had nothing but a coffee mug in his hand. "for my, er, coffee."

"Here," replied Tuula, trying to restrain a giggle as she passed him the salt shaker. "Was that all?"

"Yes," replied Zuwtt as he took the lid off his coffee. With the ex-marine staring up at him, he shook the salt into his coffee. "Salt... goes really well with coffee. You should try it sometime." As he took a sip of the horrible concoction, he thanked his resilient Bolian taste buds. "It's nice to see you again, and may I say the two of you make a cute couple." With that, he turned and left.

Tuula bit her lip and looked back at Luke. It was all she could do to prevent herself from bursting out laughing. "Thank you so much," she said, as soon as Zuwtt was out of earshot.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief as he tilted his head back before throwing it back forward "Perhaps a little bit of warning next time," he smiled.

A mischievous smile appeared on Tuula's face. "Oh, so you'd like there to be a next time?"

"I'm clearly a great ex-boyfriend deterrent! But I'm not looking for that, well I am but there's someone else... Actually it's bloody complicated. I don't get you women very much" He laughed. "What is the story behind that guy anyway?"

"He's nobody." Tuula let out a sigh; she had so many bad memories of him that she didn't even care to think about it. "Just some jerk I dated during my pre-med." Of course, there was more to the story than that, but in the mess hall with a complete stranger wasn't the time to talk about it. "I can't believe they let that pig into Starfleet."

Luke shrugged "They let any old riff raff in nowadays. I mean I'm an ex-marine and I got in!" he joked eating the last of his fries.

"Clearly," replied Tuula, rolling her eyes. "You know, your acting was good, but there is one thing about your little story that doesn't quite sit right."

Luke looked at Tuula, puzzled once again. "And what would that be?"

"You realize that I was only 13 years old when the Dominion War ended, right?"

"Oh! I can see how that can be a bit of an issue!" He laughed. "I'm glad your friend didn't notice that error or we may have been in some hot water!"

"First, he's not my friend," replied Tuula. "Secondly, I never said he was that bright."

[OFF]

Lieutenant Junior Grade Luke Wyatt
Acting Chief of Security
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed

Comments (1)