Blue Drinks

Posted on 30 Apr 2019 @ 4:48pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Nesh Saalm

3,025 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Callisto Lounge
Timeline: MD -46, 2326 hrs

[ON]

Lirha Saalm had arrived at the ship's bar and lounge just a few moments ago and now slowly walked through the line of empty tables towards an empty bar stool. The lights were dimmed for the late hour and she counted only three other crew members present, all off in discreet corners of the room engaging in private time.

She was dressed in a casual uniform with only a grey and red Starfleet vest over her torso, and her toned green arms and shoulders were visible to all. Standard black pants and Starfleet boots completed her attire, and her dark hair now fell freely across her cheeks and neck to signify she was officially off duty.

Lirha had suggested the two of them meet for a late drink and Amaranai was all for it. Charlotte had been working on the Gamma shift, shadowing the Ops staff, so the elder Franklin sister was free. Not that Charlotte being home would have stopped Amaranai from seeing her girlfriend, it just would have been challenging. Charlotte was becoming more and more of a woman and Amaranai, though happy to have removed the girl from the dreadful home life she had been in, was realizing she still longed for the freedom of no parental intrusion.

All of this led to Amaranai wanting to spend more time with Lirha and now, with this invitation, Amaranai was happy to meet her in the bar. She was wearing casual pants and a top. Her hair was in a ponytail and she wasn't really wearing makeup.

Amaranai saw Lirha at the bar and approached. She placed a hand on the woman's bare arm and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Hello, love," she said.

The Orion felt the kiss then turned and smiled at her close friend. She gave Amaranai a kiss on the lips in return while noticing her casual off-duty attire which matched her own. "How was your day?" she asked, gesturing to the vacant bar stool next to her.

Amaranai felt Lirha's lips on he own and breathed heavily as she tasted the Orion. The security officer sat down in the offered stool and smiled.

"Same old same old," she said with a chuckle.

The job wasn't boring. There were things happening now. The Galileo-A was doing its job. And Amaranai had to do hers.

"Things progress at their own speed," she said and leaned over toward Lirha. "But I don't want to talk about work. I don't want to get into anything."

Lirha's eyes softened and she rested a discreet hand on the inside on Franklin's thigh. "We can get into some Romulan Ale if you want? I know Nesh keeps a bottle around here somewhere..."

"But you can't afford to get it," Nesh said, appearing as if summoned by her name. She wore her hair up and a black top and tight black trousers. It showed off some of her ink. "Takes a lot of bribery to get the Romulan Ale off me. What can I get you two?" she looked at her sister and then at Amaranai. Sizing them both up.

The captain regarded her sister when she came out from the stock room in back. It was good to see Nesh working and pulling her weight around the ship, and the younger Orion's taste in dress seemed sufficiently civilian. "Two glasses, please. Consider it a special occasion." She gave Nesh mock-Earth-baby-dog eyes.

Amaranai chuckled at the interaction between the sisters. Her relationship with Charlotte wasn't like this. She wished it could be better and in time, Amaranai knew it would be.

Looking at Lirha, she placed a hand on the green hand on her lap. Smiling at Nesh, she squeezed.

"Please, Nesh?" she said. "I might be willing to let you share a glass with us."

Nesh rolled her eyes before she smiled and got the two glasses and the bottle. "Just this once," she said softly. "Only this time will the special occasion work."

Lirha reached for the full glasses once they'd been poured then gave Nesh a mischievous look after appraising the bottle. "I can see there's already been a few other 'special occasions' since we launched," she replied, noting the blue liquid was now barely above the three-quarters line.

Nesh rolled her eyes again for dramatic effect before she put the a mark against where it was now. "Don't blame me. You are the only ones that get this one. The others get the fake green stuff," she said, looking serious before she suddenly cracked a smile to show she was kidding.

Amaranai took the glass and took a sip. It was a strong taste. Not that she had not had pure Romulan Ale, but it had been a while. Drinking was nothing foreign to Amaranai but pure versus replicated alcohol was different. She let the liquid coat her throat and then took another sip, this one emptying the glass.

That felt really good.

"Let her be," Amaranai said. "At least it's not all gone."

The security officer moved her glass toward Nesh in an effort to get it filled again.

The elder Orion was impressed with how easily Franklin downed the potent alcohol. She suppressed a chuckle and instead sipped her own glass more measuredly. The familiar burn and strong flavor was a welcome relief from a long day of work.

Looking to Amaranai with a content sigh, Lirha wondered how the rest of her private life was going. "How is your sister?" She glanced at the bar's chronometer. "Hopefully asleep by now?"

Amaranai smiled at the off-duty captain and shook her head.

"Not tonight, no," she said. "When she asked to shadow the OPS team, she assumed it would be during Alpha shift, but they asked her for Gamma. Tonight."

Amaranai smiled and giggled.

"She might be able to stay up all night still but she won't be used to doing actual work."

She took her glass and sipped this time, letting the alcohol do its wonders on the way down.

"Shouldn't we be asleep by now also?" she grinned and nudged Lirha. "Not saying I don't like a drink before bed . . ."

Lirha was about to retort but took a breath and put on a good face for her sister and partner. Nowadays, sleeping was dangerous enough with her constant nightmares. Any chance to avoid it and increase her waking hours was welcome, especially with a drink of real alcohol. "There will be plenty of time to sleep later," she teasingly answered while her fingernails stroked the inside of Franklin's leg. "Besides, it's not as if we are discovering new worlds and civilizations at present..."

Lirha's fingers on her inner thigh caused Amaranai to let out a sigh. Not that she was surprised, more like wanting. But Lirha's hesitation to sleep was understandable. Amaranai knew that Lirha's nightmares continued to haunt her and the brunette wished there was a way to help the Orion. Instead of pressing, though, Amaranai reached for her drink and mock toasted Lirha's words.

"We are a science vessel," Amaranai said. "It's kind of our job."

A smirk spread across the corner of the captain's lips then she took another sip of Romulan ale. "But Command school at the Academy made it sound so...fun and adventurous," she retorted with half-jest. "They left out the part about endlessly ferrying across the galaxy with no rest." She took another, longer drink and emptied her glass, then pushed it to her sister for a refill. "Would it kill us to stop at any of the ten Class M worlds we passed for a brief shore leave? Just a day or two outside of the ship would go a long way..." she muttered.

Amaranai chuckled.

"Everything the Academy taught you was fun and adventurous," she started. "You think they would tell you about the boring stuff and still convince you to sign up for a ship?" She paused. "I accepted the boring and was almost looking forward to it. Even once I decided to bring Charlotte with us, I knew the boring stuff would be there."

She moved her hand onto Lirha's lap and leaned closer.

"But you are the captain," she continued. "If you feel the need to take a day off, I'm not going to stop you." She squeezed Lirha's leg. "Technically, I can't stop you, not unless a lot of people are suddenly incapacitated."

Nesh smiled as she held up the bottle, watching them both. And she didn't interrupt, just refilled their glasses before she went to wipe down the counter.

Lirha gave Amaranai an honest look punctuated by a weak smile. "Captains do not get days off," she confessed. It was the constant burden all COs privately dealt with even during shore leave, that they were ultimately responsible for every person and function both small and large aboard their vessel. "But," she then added, "if you want to take Snuffles to the holodeck sometime for his daily hunting simulations..." she put out, letting her voice trail off.

Amaranai looked at Lirha. There was nothing against the pup but Amaranai did miss the Orion when they weren't together. And they were together most nights, but time was limited and though rest was sometimes necessary from their nighttime activities, sleep was not always in their favor.

The brunette rested her head on Lirha's shoulder.

"I'd rather take you to the holodeck," Amaranai started. "At least we'd still be on the ship if anything happened."

Lirha smiled to herself at the proposal and put an arm around Franklin's shoulders. "We can arrange that. Maybe a date at the Luna mines? Or the Martian dust fields?" She tried her best to keep a straight face but the creases along the corners of her eyes betrayed her jest.

Amaranai feigned anger but giggled too soon after her attempt.

"I'm sure you could find someplace much worse," she said and then leaned toward Lirha. "I mean, you've been to prison, after all."

It wasn't something that Amaranai had meant to say, but it had slipped out.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I know it's not something you want to talk about."

Lirha's mouth suddenly dried up at the comment and turned sour. No one could truly know what she had gone through during her brief incarceration. The confinement, degradation and personal humiliation she'd struggled with each day. There were times when she joked about her plight, but she was quickly realizing it was a just an instinctive coping mechanism to avoid facing her true feelings. "But you brought it up anyway..." she muttered.

Amaranai sat back and visibily moved away from Lirha. She was trying to make a joke but it seemed to have backfired. And yet, Amaranai wasn't quick to apologize, either. Looking down, she saw her drink had been refilled and immediately lifted it to her lips and downed the whole thing once again. She placed the cup upside down on the bar and stood up.

"Look," Amaranai said after a moment. "It's a part of your life now. If you can't joke about it, then all you're doing is remembering the bad times. And I don't think that's fair."

Lirha admired Amaranai's demeanor; the fire she held inside which made her such a passionate individual. Maybe she was right. Had she taken offense too quickly? Perhaps, and Lirha wasn't the best at self-reflection. But with most things in life, it was easier said than done.

"I'm sorry," she replied after a pause, not wanting to escalate the tension further in public. Privately however, she wanted to tell Amaranai the truth. That nothing in the universe is ever 'fair'. Not what the Borg, Kreanans or Federation had done to her. This was her greatest fear, the one she always held most private.

Amaranai put her hand on the green-skinned woman's cheek and offered a small smile.

"You don't have to be," she said. "And neither do I. Things have happened to both of us that are not that glamorous." She paused and stepped closer. "But without them, there wouldn't even be an us."

The security officer leaned her face up and gave Lirha a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, any more mushy talk and I am cutting you both off," Nesh rolled her eyes dramatically, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Or suggesting you head to some quarters..."

Her sister's interjection was a welcome relief and Lirha visibly sighed. She knew of Amaranai's history being both her commander and friend, and was well aware of her potential for passionate thoughts...for better and for worse.

"When you decide to take a mate one of these days, you'll have more sympathy," she teased to the younger Saalm.

Nesh chuckled at the words and shook her head. "I doubt that will happen anytime soon," she said, lightly. "Not a steady mate to love anyway. I mean...it's not...me." And Nesh had to work a lot on herself before she could subject a lover to her.

It was probably a small source of embarrassment for Nesh but Lirha was more than happy to reveal the nature of her comment. "Has Nesh told you? ...She 'came' to us recently because our mother arranged a marriage for her." She then looked to Nesh with raised eyebrows. "To the Visan family, yes?"

The comments about the two lovers needing a room from the younger Orion didn't catch Amaranai off guard. Lirha's rebuttal of her sister by stating she need a partner as well seemed a little harsh, but Nesh had a retort and it didn't stop there. Lirha seemed to qualify why Nesh was on board in the first place. It wasn't something that she had heard and shook her head in response to the question.

"I didn't know," she said. "But sadly," Amaranai paused. "I would rather run away then be stuck with a marriage I didn't want."

Lirha knew if she'd been Nesh's same age and their mother, Aila, had arranged such a deal for her, she too would most likely have rebelled. "Me too," she conceded with a soft smile to Nesh. "That's why you have your own quarters instead of a brig cell." A final parting jab to hopefully remind her sister that even though she was older and had responsibility to Starfleet, her loyalty would always be to her family.

Nesh held her eyes, a spark there before she gave a slow smile. "That and the fact I make really, really good cocktails," she said lightly and winked, turning away from them.

She did make a good drink, at least as far as the crew rumors were concerned. The brief thought prompted Lirha to ask Amaranai about other similar gossip. "So, have there been any more dating rumors?"

Amaranai put her drink down and looked at Lirha before shaking her head.

"Nothing new," she started. "I don't mind that the rumors have ebbed a little."

Amaranai was private about her love life and the fact that she was sleeping with the captain didn't make things easier. Of course her sister was always the wild card. If Charlotte were the vindictive type - which could happen any moment - she could let the rumor fly easily.

"Not that I'm ashamed. I love you but I know that some people have an issue."

Some people, Lirha wondered. There was a short pause. "They do?" She looked into Amaranai's eyes with an inquisitive gaze.

Amaranai sighed and placed a hand on Lirha's leg.

"They don't appreciate me sleeping with the captain," she said after a moment. "They know we're together and they think I'll get special treatment."

She paused.

"I know I don't. You treat me just like another crew member, but they don't see that."

Saalm listened and now understood Franklin's explanation. With a light shake of her head, she placed her own green hand atop Amaranai's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "They are half-right but also half-wrong. You do get special treatment," she admitted with a private smile, "of the personal kind. But, as you say, I cannot let my feelings for you get in the way of our duty. As the Vulcans would say, it is an 'acceptable arrangement'."

Lirha's hand was soft on top of hers. She moved her hand over so she could intertwine their fingers. Amaranai smiled at the Orion.

"I don't want to be on another ship," the security officer said. "But I don't want you to be placed in a position that could harm either of us, emotionally or physically."

Amaranai leaned forward and kissed Lirha lightly on the lips.

"I . . ." she whispered.

It would physically hurt Amaranai if she had to break up with Lirha and instead of saying anything, she kissed Lirha's lips again, this time much harder.

Pulling back after a long moment, Saalm placed her upright index finger against Franklin's mouth to quiet her thoughts. "I know, it's complicated." She then glanced at Nesh who was doing her subtle best to avoid watching their PDAs. "We can talk about it more in my quarters."

Amaranai didn't say anything but simply nodded. She looked at the bar and saw her glass had been miraculously filled. Taking it, she downed the drink quickly and shook her head from the immediate buzz. She smiled and her eyes held back the tears that wanted to flow.

"You're right," she said after a moment. "Let's talk about this in your quarters."

Lirha looked to her sister and gave her a lazy farewell gesture. "Thanks for the drinks. And don't forget you're taking Snuffles to the holodeck tomorrow. I have...plans."

Nesh rolled her eyes before she chuckled. "Yeah, yeah..." she said and saluted her sister lazily, unable to stop it. But she was happy for Lirha. She deserved a bit of happiness in her life.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief Security
USS Galileo-A

Nesh Saalm
Civilian/Bartender
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

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