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Posted on 09 Aug 2014 @ 6:10pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm

1,846 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Saalm's Quarters?
Timeline: MD 07 - 2345 hrs

[ON]

With Siren soon on her way home from work following the end of beta shift, Lirha had just finished cleaning up the kitchen but had made sure to save some leftover pasta and salad for her in case she was hungry after her duty shift ended. The cleaning process would normally have only taken a few minutes, but thanks to the recent influx of tribbles which had invaded their quarters within the past 24 hours, the task now involved retrieving and housing close to two-hundred different fluff balls all scattered across the apartment. The sonic shower, replicators, bedroom, closets, kitchen cabinets...all had now become home to the cooing menaces and no matter how many she picked up and stuffed in duffel bags, there seemed to be more and more in every nook and cranny of their quarters.

Lirha let out an exasperated sigh and tossed one of the large bags aside which squeaked when it hit the ground. She decided to resign herself to the couch for the rest of the evening, and went over to the sofa where she stripped off her uniform jacket and pants, then lazily plopped down on the cushions and closed her eyes to try and relax for a few minutes.

Aria Rice smiled as she walked down the corridor, jumping over the tribbles in her way, almost getting one with her high heels. "Sorry..." she grimaced and almost crashed into a crewman who gave her evils. She smiled sweetly and rang the chime. Civvie clothes. Hair styled, her usual quirky clothes...she wanted to see Lirha and Siren. And she wanted to see them how she was; as herself.

Opening one eye and sighing, Lirha listened to the sound of the chime and waited for a few moments before responding. "Enter," she eventually called out without much concern for her bare green legs at such a late hour in the evening.

Aria walked in and smiled, her eyes shining as she watched Lirha. She moved to her side and knelt. "Oh, my green queen..." she said and bowed low before grinning as she stood smoothly. "Miss me?"

"Aria?" Lirha tilted her head and opened both eyes to look at the short, familiar woman. Despite having been informed of her pending arrival several days ago, she was delighted to see her and surprised she'd stopped by so late in the night. The Orion happily smiled and rose from her seat to give her a hug with her arms outstretched. "Yes, indeed," she said. "When did you arrive? And how are you?"

"This morning, just had like...loads to do," she said and smiled, hugging her tightly. "You look really good, Lirha...sexy vixen you! Sorry about the hour, I sort of...well, I wanted to see you."

Lirha shook her head and looked at the young dark-haired officer with an affectionate grin. "You know you are always welcome to stop by whenever you like." She pulled back from the hug after giving Aria several good rubs across her back with her hands, then looked down at her own (lack of) dress. "Thanks. I am a bit sweaty from cleaning up all the tribbles," she motioned towards several cooing duffel bags laying about then offered her a seat on the couch. "Please sit. Are you hungry? I have some leftovers from dinner."

"I'm good, I ate...and then chased some tribbles. Who do we blame for this infestation?" she asked, smiling as she took a seat, looking around. "Siren still on duty, or is Markos letting her off now and then to spend some time with you? If Markos still runs that department, I am still getting updated on who is Chief of what now."

"Well...I suppose the tribbles would be Nesh's fault." Lirha couldn't help but shrug and resign herself to the fact that her little sister had 'misplaced' one of her tribbles which had since turned into a complete debacle aboard the ship. "Siren should be home in the next few minutes, she works beta shift. And yes, Lieutenant Markos is still around heading the Support department."

"If I see one more tribble, I'm going to replicate me a hunting rifle...." Siren grumbled as she let herself into the quarters. She was looking behind her at the ground as she moved forward and almost crashed into her two favourite girls. Two? "Aria!"

Aria grinned as she stood, her eyes warm. "Actually, I am just like...twenty tribbles on top of each other pretending to be Aria. It's this new plan they have for world domination..." she said before hugging Siren. "Looking so good, both of you!"

Lirha smiled happily at the reunion. She walked next to Siren and gave her a kiss on the cheek then hugged the three of them together for a mutual embrace.

Siren laughed warmly, hugging the two of them firmly. "Group hug! I didn't know about this....I must be the only Intelligence person who doesn't know anything that's going on around here!"

Aria smiled as she hugged them both. "It's okay, I sort of just came here by chance..." she leant to kiss their cheeks. "Love you both."

"By chance?" Lirha raised her eyebrows and gave Aria a knowing look. Though the commodore had already heard the reasons behind her transfer back to Galileo, she wasn't sure if Rice preferred to share them with Siren or keep them a secret for the moment. Perhaps it was a sensitive subject for the young security officer...Lirha wasn't sure, and so she left the question open to allow her to explain if she wanted or change the subject.

Aria chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, by chance I dropped here, I know it's like ridiculous o'clock. Being here, on ship, isn't a chance thing. Got a transfer back to the Galileo. I did miss you all, so..." she shrugged, smiling gently. "Worked out."

Siren smiled warmly to that, already moving with a quick stride to get them drinks. "Well that's good enough for me! Now I can steal things from your wardrobe again!" she teased, winking to her as she got hold of the....something brandy. It was purple, that had been the appeal, the name was lost on her. "Maybe Security will settle with you back? I heard whispers of a curse..."

"A curse? Nah, that is silly..." Aria smiled warmly, her eyes shining as she watched them both with awe. "But if there is, the curse is with the chair, not the department. Let the Chief worry, huh?"

"That's always my way of doing things..." Siren moved back with a tray of full glasses, kneeling down at the side of the table to set them out. "Or let the Commodore worry, that's my other motto..." she teased softly, but watched Lirha fondly.

"Speaking of chiefs, have you met yours yet?" the Orion asked Rice. "I did not tell him in advance that you were arriving but I think he will be pleased to see you back on board." She then paused to think more about Wyatt and suddenly remembered one of his first encounters with Aria had been during his brief brig stay several months ago. "Or maybe not," she shrugged with a mental chuckle.

Aria smiled warmly, looking over at them both before chuckling, shaking her head. "I haven't yet. But I will tomorrow. All I did was medical and counselling and that was sort of...all I had time for," she admitted. "Oh! And I saw Blake, so reported in as well a bit I suppose."

It was good to hear she'd managed to make most of the rounds on her first day back aboard the ship. The commodore now wondered if she'd made it to Ops yet. "Have you been assigned to quarters yet?"

Aria made a face before shrugging. "It's okay, I can do it tomorrow. I need to see my new department honcho then anyway. Oh! Bar still looks good. Might have gone there before coming here..."

"Might?" Siren gave a whistle, shaking her head. "Come on now, sweetheart, we all know there's no 'might' about it," she glanced to Lirha with a soft chuckle. "I guess she could take the sofa if she needs a place to crash before sorting her place out?"

Lirha didn't mind the idea at all. "Of course. As long as you do not object to dealing with the tribbles all night."

"Are you sure?" Aria asked them both, smiling gently. "I mean, I met some tribbles here and there...in the bar...wow, everyone needs a drink nowadays!"

With a light shrug and an openhanded gesture towards the comfortable sofa, Lirha indicated the sleeping area was hers if she wanted it.

Siren lifted her hands in a tempting way, motioning to the sofa. "It saves having to deal with Ops and finding a room until you've gotten yourself some rest....it's been one hell of a day."

Aria nodded as she smiled gently, moving to the sofa. "Well...it looks all Commodore-y and soft," she said teasingly, her eyes gentle.

"Yes, I highly recommend bagging yourself a high ranking officer," Siren said with a light but serious voice, however her eyes were shining with sheer humour as she looked across to Lirha. "The perks are amazing. Much better than shacking up with some crewman."

The Orion commodore gave a sideways smirk towards Siren. "I will never understand what Starfleet was thinking when they designed such small and inadequate enlisted quarters...they barely fit one person let alone two."

"Bunk beds..." Aria said and sat down, stretching her legs out before yawning. She let out a breath, closing her eyes sleepily.

Siren chuckled softly at the sight. She was like a child who fell asleep midsentence. She pushed herself up and moved through to the bedroom, searching for a few moments. "Here we go..." she tucked a pillow under Aria's head before throwing the blanket over her. She scratched her head for a moment before moving to the end of the sofa, undoing the magnificent boot on her right foot to try and tug it off. "Didn't take long to settle in..."

Aria moaned, trying to open her eyes as she sighed. "Mm...tribbles are really evil...spreading and spreading and spreading..."

"But they would keep you warm," Siren chuckled with a small smile, tugging the other boot off with a groan of effort. "There you go, little girl, sweetie dreams..." she teased, looking to Lirha with fondness.

"Welcome home. See you bright and early at 0600," said Lirha before giving the security officer a pat on her leg. She let out her own yawn and went into the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit before bed.

"Mm...kittens..." Aria murmured, fast asleep as she sighed softly, one leg pulling up so she could hug it.

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

PO2 Siren Hex
Intelligence
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

&

Ensign Aria Rice
Security
USS Galileo

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