Arrangements

Posted on 06 May 2019 @ 8:25pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Luke Wyatt & Commander Marisa Wyatt
Edited on on 11 May 2019 @ 3:42pm

2,172 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - XO's Quarters
Timeline: MD -09, 1011 hrs

[ON]

Now that they'd spoken to the captain, Luke and Marisa went in search of Commander Blake to arrange for new accommodations.

Blake had just finished putting Lily to bed, after the usual struggle of course. She'd been convinced by story number three to settle, and then no matter how hard Lily had tried, she hadn't been able to keep her eyes open. Scarlet had just started to clear up Lily's art things from the table when the chime went. She glanced up with a soft breath, brushing some dark hair out of her face and behind her ear. "Come in..."

Marisa squeezed Luke's hand as the door opened. "Hello, commander. Do you have a few minutes?" she asked.

Scarlet glanced between them as she straightened up. She let the pictures drop absently back onto the table, brushing her hands off. "I can find them, come in," she motioned with her head for them to come properly inside. She had clocked immediately that they were holding hands. It somehow set the tone of the conversation to be had.

"Sorry to bother you, commander," Marisa said. "We'd like to arrange for different quarters. I don't know what's currently available, or if we should use what we have."

"And you haven't simply requested different quarters from Operations because...?" Blake asked lightly as she let her hands rest on the back of her hips. Rumours made the 'because' pretty easy to guess, but with them showing up at her quarters outside of her shift hours whilst holding hands? She wasn't inclined to make it easy for them.

"Sca.. Urm Commander we considered the situation and decided personally requesting the change would be appropriate being as were both department heads" Luke said wanting anything more than to have just sent in the request, Gods were it hot in the room?

Marisa wondered why Luke was suddenly so nervous. "He wanted to make sure it was okay with Captain Saalm and she suggested we talk to you," she added helpfully.

"I see...." Scarlet said slowly, nodding seriously for a moment as she folded her arms thoughtfully. "And...just what situation are you referring to that would require you to want different quarters?" she asked lightly. Neither of them had actually come out and said what was going on.

"Actually, Commander, we want the same quarters it will just be me moving." Luke said pausing, not for dramatic effect but to gather his thoughts before saying, "Myself and Lieutenant Sandoval have been in a romantic relationship and we wish to move forward in our relationship. We believe sharing quarters, living together, is the next step"

Admitting that out loud to Scarlet wasn't easy for Luke, the truth was he still had feelings for her. They weren't going to go away overnight, after all, they had been growing for years but when Marisa came along everything changed and Luke had decided that clearly he and Scarlet were not meant to be. And it certainly wasn't him settling for second best. Marisa was everything Scarlet couldn't be and more, it was the right choice and over the last 6 months, he stopped feeling guilty, and loving Marisa felt right and good.

Marisa squeezed his hand in support, feeling some of his emotions through the touch.

Scarlet looked between them for a long moment before finally nodding, letting out a long breath as she sat down on the sofa, motioning for them to join her. "It probably wouldn't surprise you to hear that I'm wary about relationships between senior staff. It can effect the decisions and impartiality of the people involved. And it complicates the working relationship. Especially on a tour like this where it is already so claustrophobic...just us, for sometime, cooped up together." She paused to look between them, meeting first Marissa's eyes and then Luke's. "And then, if things go wrong, they have to continue to work closely together despite personal feelings and bias. It's not easy. Everyone always thinks it will be, but it rarely is..." she trailed off, wanting to hear their thoughts on it. Wanting to know if they had really thought and talked it through, realistically, with their positions and duty in mind, not just their personal interest.

Luke nodded in agreement, what Scarlet was saying was extremely valid points and he half expected them. "I understand your reservations Commander which is another reason why coming to speak to both you and the Captain shows that we are doing this in the most professional manner. We are from different departments and if the unfortunate should happen I know that we are both Mature and professional enough to put our Jobs and our commitment to Starfleet before our emotions."

"I know that there are no guarantees in a relationship. And I know it's not going to be easy, for either of us. But we aren't expecting this to be all sunshine and roses," Marisa began. "We've both been around the block, and we've both been hurt. We know how to deal with rejection. But we also know that we are going to work at this, that we're going to be there for each other, no matter what. When I'm with Luke, I am more." There really was no better way to express what she was trying to say. "I have this extra strength and support that helps me get through the tough times. With him, I'm a better person. He completes me in a way I never thought possible. We've had six months so far to work on the relationship and I know we're going to keep doing so. I honestly believe this is the beginning of something really good." She looked at Luke and smiled. "I love him more than I've ever loved anyone. But if this doesn't work out, I think we can agree to be friends and move on. It'll hurt like crazy for a while, but we'll get through it. But we're not expecting to fail. We're expecting to work through the rough patches, to talk, and to keep loving each other. We're building a life together, not just shacking up, if that makes sense."

Scarlet nodded slowly, letting the silence stretch for a long moment as she took the words in. Her features were as calm and cool as ever, not giving away her thoughts or feelings as she considered it all. Not giving away that this was never an easy part of ship life for a First Officer to have to balance...the line between personal and professional life and where it crossed over into ship business. Not giving away how awkward this was for her, considering her and Luke's complicated past relationship. Not giving away how it made her feel, to have heard the things Luke had said to her in the past, and then for him to walk into her quarters, hand in hand with another woman, as if it had never happened, and as if it were nothing.

Blake finally reached out, taking her now cool cup of coffee. She took her time in sitting back and crossing her legs, blowing across the dark surface, creating slight ripples before taking a sip. "We don't have another senior officer coming aboard to replace one of you. You could just not change anything and both keep your own quarters. And unofficially just choose to both stay in one set of quarters, and then you have the other set still available should one of you need some....space," she finally pointed out, interested to see how they'd react to the suggestion.

One side of Marisa's mouth quirked up in humor. The commander clearly had little faith in relationships. She turned to Luke. "Do you want to keep your quarters as a secondary office? As long as they stay out of the bedroom, I don't care of you let your people walk into ours." She really didn't see a need to keep both.

Luke thought about it. "I think it's a good idea," he replied thinking inwardly that coming here together wasn't a good idea and he felt guilty putting this on Scarlet. He assumed that she would have heard the rumours and put one and one together but as the conversation went on he realised she hadn't and now he wondered if she had feelings for him that for whatever insecurities never told him or reacted too.

"Keeping your old quarters for a second office, or keeping people out of the bedroom?" Marisa had to ask. "I guess that depends on how crowded security is."

Scarlet glanced between them, her features remaining neutral as she kept the mild surprise to herself. She hadn't expected that reaction from them. She remained quiet to let them come to an agreement, now even more curious where it would lead.

Not one to usually feel embarrassed but here with Marissa acting so... And Scarlet witnessing everything he felt like a rabbit between two wolfs. "Having my quarters as an office" Luke finally said quickly, "Well now that's settled I think we should get out of Scarl, I mean the commander's hair. " It was safe to say Luke felt horrible for being In this situation but worst for putting Scarlet through it. It also struck Luke that perhaps Marissa didn't even know what had gone on between he and scarlet, or we'll lack there off mostly and started feeling bad for her too. Love was too complicated when sober.

"Okay." Marisa had a lot of questions, but this was not the time or place to ask them. "Then we'll keep Luke's quarters in case anyone in security needs a place to hide, or he needs a spare office. Although there's every chance it won't get used at all." She really saw no need for keeping it, but it was Luke's decision.

"Okay..." Scarlet sat back with a slight, sharp breath. That hadn't gone the way she'd expected. She had thought they would decline her suggestion and want to actively make it official by committing to sharing just one set of quarters. It said a lot about a relationship after all. A small part of her, the ex-counsellor, would have been tempted to guide this into more of a session to explore the turn of events further, but it wasn't her job anymore. And frankly, this had already become awkward enough. "If that's decided then..." she stood to indicate they could leave if they were ready to.

"Thank you, Commander," Luke said with a genuine smile as he nodded in her direction before leading Marissa out of the room and into the corridor.

Scarlet watched the door close behind them, her jaw tight as she stared at it absently in silence for several long moments. "Marines," she finally whispered, shaking her head with a sigh and an arched eyebrow, moving to swap her cold coffee out with a colder glass of scotch.


[Back in the Corridor]

Marisa waited until she and Luke were alone and turned to face him. "Are you having second thoughts?" she asked quietly.

Luke didn't expect the question but it was no wonder why she asked. "No that's not it at all, I just.. I think I need a drink, do you mind if we meet up later?" It was a bad move but he really did need some time to himself especially after the awkward situation he felt himself in, even if he did put himself there.

She looked at him for a long moment. She trusted him. She loved him. But she knew something was going on that involved Commander Blake. Marisa wished he'd asked her to join him, but she just nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later." She needed to do something that would keep her from thinking too much about what was going on. Even though he said that wasn't it, she was still afraid he had to think about if he really wanted to be stuck with her. Before he saw how much she was hurting, she turned and walked away.

He watched her leave before turning to move in the opposite direction, the whole situation had exactly gone the way Luke hadn't wanted it to go in and to top it off he had clearly hurt Marissa and potentially Scarlet as well. Maybe someone should just lock him up and display a sign to warn woman away from him. Letting out a sigh he decided to dispel the whole situation out of his mind for a while at least until the cold burn had worn off.

Marisa got to the end of the corridor and stopped. This was clearly a misunderstanding. She had no interest in arguing, but they did need to talk this out tonight and not leave it for another day. So she turned around and followed Luke.

[OFF]

--

Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Commander Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

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