Pretty Little Liar

Posted on Sun Mar 17th, 2019 @ 9:40am by

Mission: Episode 1: Hell is a four letter word
Location: Elysium Gym
Timeline: MD 2 - 9h00
2990 words - 6 OF Standard Post Measure

The doors parted, and Doctor Merella Swii stepped into the generously sized gym on deck 15 of the Elysium. She felt the eyes of several of the crew on her as she made her way over to an available treadmill. Had her sister recently left this very room? Perhaps they were wondering why Liselle was back again so soon, not realizing that she was the Second Officer's twin.

Unconcerned with their confusion, she programmed a long run through a mountain trail. The treadmill began moving, and having already thrown her towel over one arm of the machine, she began her jog.

Anje walked into the gym a few minute after, but instead of jogging, her mind was on a swim. She approached the pool, but a problem arose: the place was packed and she didn't really relish the idea of taking her robe off in front of all these people, even if they were colleagues and most of them would never notice. Her eyes panned around the room, desperate for some cover, before finally falling on Cdr. Qwyyn on a treadmill only a few meters from the pool. She made her way over slowly, coming alongside the second officer and smiling, "Oh, Commander, hi."

Merella barely managed to stave off her desire to roll her eyes, and instead she settled for giving the woman a disapproving shake of her head. She turned her attention instead pointedly on the PADD she had tucked into the display console of the treadmill.

"Oh, okay, yeah." Anje nodded, apparently this one didn't like her, either. "I'll just leave you alone, but I'm going to stand behind you for a second so I can take this off..." She removed her robe and walked by, "Sorry to bother you."

Merella turned slightly to watch the woman. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving so I don't bother you anymore, Commander." Anje replied then realized, "Oh, yeah, sorry, I sort of used you for cover so I could take this off before I went into the pool... Not comfortable and all that. Sorry. Have a nice night!" ~Yep, I need to get off of this ship. I'm about as popular as Cardassian Herpes.~ With that, she turned her attention back to the pool, that swim sounded better and better; the faster she could get to the far other side, the better.

~Actually...~ Anje decided as she neared the pool, ~leaving entirely is probably the best idea. This assignment has, except for a few moments here and there, been a nightmare since I came aboard, my time would best be spent looking for another posting. A fresh start would be awesome.~ With that she put her robe back on and started towards the door, hoping nobody would stop her, she just wanted to go back to her quarters, lock the door, and read or something.

But Merella did exactly that, following Anje to the door and reaching out to touch her elbow. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, sir. Really." Anje lied, though she didn't think it was obvious; not that she'd know, terrible at it as she was, "Just don't want to bother anybody. Have a nice night."

"Please," she insisted. "There is no need to go. In fact, I would very much like to talk to you."

~Okay, this is weird. A few minutes ago she didn't want to...~ Anje thought, then shrugged her shoulders, she'd figure it out later, "Okay, sure, sounds like fun." She said, turning to follow Cdr. Qwyyn back to... wherever they were going.

"I appreciate it," Merella said. She brought them to a nearby set of chairs that sat alongside the pool. Gesturing for Anje to join her, Merella sat. "What...do you think of me?" she asked the Starfleet officer carefully.

"Well, we've not got to spend a lot of time together, Commander, but you seem super competent in your duties, I know the Captain thinks highly of you, so does the XO." Anje began, wondering why Cdr. Qwyyn would even care what she thought about her, "On a personal note, if it's not too bold of me to say, you're very attractive. I mean, I saw a lot of eyes on you when I came in." ~I wonder what that's like? So many people looking at you with desire in their eyes...~

Merella raised a brow at the last comment. "You're too kind, I'm sure," she demurred. Looking to either side of her, she leaned in to Anje. "Are there rumors about me aboard the ship? Mistakes that I have made, relationships that I have been in, that sort of thing?"

~This is getting surreal. Why would she be asking me about this stuff? I'm still pretty new....~ "Umm, I don't spend a lot of time listening to rumors." Anje answered, trying hard to hide her confusion, "But I've heard about you and the Chief Engineer. He seemed very sweet, and he was always super nice to Gallia and Kara. Though there was a time when I thought, mistakenly, that you and Cdr. Taylor might be an item. He's a great guy, and very handsome. It's the hair." Anje giggled a bit at that, "I'm sorry, I probably sound stupid right now."

Merella shook her head, a small encouraging smile on her lips. "Not at all. In fact, I find your forthright honesty to be quite refreshing. Normally, I find conversation to be...tiresome. You are easy to talk to. You probably don't appreciate what a rare quality that is." She gave Anje's shoulder a slight squeeze. "Do you like it here?"

"It's taken some getting used to, but yes." Anje replied honestly, "It's been a big change from working as my Aunt's aide at the Embassy, but I've made good friends here and the ship herself is amazing! Of course, look who I'm telling, you get to fly this bad girl. My blood's green because of the envy."

Merella found the woman's smile infectious, and she couldn't help but let in the heat of her genuine warmth. It was an effort for Merella to stay focused on her goal of learning all she could about Liselle. "Commander Taylor. He protects me on this ship, doesn't he? What I mean to say is, it's no secret that I'd be in a fair bit of trouble if I didn't have him to look out for me. Wouldn't you agree?"

~Why would someone ask this question about their self?~ Anje wondered, though she figured it was possible that Cdr. Qwyyn just wanted a fresh perspective, maybe some encouragement, "See, I've not noticed him protecting you any more than he does anyone else here." She replied, "And obviously the Captain thinks you're doing something right for her to make you Second Officer. Don't sell yourself short, you're a really good officer."

Again Merella found herself swayed by the gentle tone of this woman's voice. For a moment, she feared that if she would only allow herself to close her eyes, she could find herself completely absorbed into her delicate words. She opened her mouth to begin a new onslaught of questions, but stopped herself. Already she had learned a great deal, and she knew that she was pushing too hard. She decided instead to indulge herself in the aura of this woman, if only for a moment. "You're a good officer as well," the Trill woman said. Though she could not possibly know if it were true, Merella wanted to say something to bring light to this charming woman. "You have a hard time giving yourself the credit you are due, don't you?"

"I'm not really sure how to answer that." Anje replied, raw and open, "I mean, it's a thing where you wonder if you're getting your due, even from yourself, but you can't answer the question because you don't really know exactly what your due is." The Vulcan in her loved to have her intellect challenged with the hard questions, and that was hard on an existential level, this conversation was proving fruitful, "I suppose I do. I mean, you wouldn't ask if you hadn't noticed something because you've never struck me as the type of person who's a fan of meaningless conversation. I'm torn in some ways. Russians, we're a naturally bold and proud people. Vulcans, we shy away from vanity because it's simply not logical. But, yes, in the end I probably am my own worst critic. But, from the tone of our conversation, you might also be yours."

"You have a keen insight. Though there are times when I give myself permission to simply let go. Those times are rare. But they do happen." The Trill's smile was a mixture of genuine pleasure and self-realized astonishment. How long had it been since she had allowed herself to so easily enjoy a moment, a conversation, rather than exploit it for its most efficient benefit. "Are you comfortable telling me more about yourself? I am intrigued by your heritage. That must be very difficult for you, to wear the burden of such vastly different cultural expectations. In a way it is not unlike the joined Trill."

"Well, I'm not sure what you've heard already, so if I hit a point you already know let me know and I'll fast forward." Anje began with a smile, "Okay, so technically, if we're going from when I was conceived and supposed to be born, I'm over a hundred years old. My parents were on the USS Bozeman, under Capt. Bateson, when it got caught in the temporal loop. My father was Chief Engineer, my mother was CMO, and I was baby on board. My Aunt Anje, the Ambassador, she was supposed to be a helmsman on the Bozeman, but Capt. Bateson sent her back because of the Sullivans rule. So, we finally come through, my mom finds her little sister is an Admiral, over a hundred years old, and a great grandmother, so it's been a culture shock from day one."

"As for my heritage, I'm Half Russian, one quarter Vulcan, and one quarter French." Anje said, listing her ingredients as she called it, "My parents are both half Russian, on my mom's side we're descended directly from Marshall Zhukov himself. My raising has been almost entirely Russian, I mean, my mom and Aunt are hardly the most logical Vulcans out there, but I've studied my Grandmother's culture and I love it. I don't think logic is a replacement for passion though, it's more like a guide for passion. Guess that's the Russian in me, life without passion, without fire, it's not worth living. Aunt Anje says that all the time, kind of became a family motto."

As she listened, Merella sat with her elbow propped against her knee, her chin in her palm. And still she smiled all along. It occurred to her then that she didn't actually know this woman's name. She wanted to ask, but could find no way to draw it out of her without bluntly asking. "The way you speak, how you describe your place in your heritage, it's very poetic. Very beautiful," she said softly. Her lips pursed for a moment and she swallowed. "How often does logic win in the war against passion? Do you ever trust yourself to let passion take you completely over?"

"Of course." Anje smiled broadly, "Like my mom always told me, 'Anje, deep down you're just a Russian girl with pointy ears.' I follow my heart, sometimes it leads me the wrong way, but a good Russian doesn't fear the wrong path, only thing we fear is giving up."

"Following you heart sounds dangerous," Merella ventured carefully. "Perhaps this is a philosophy only recommended for 'good Russians'?"

"Luchshiye veshchi v zhizni opasny." Anje replied in her native tongue, then translated, "The best things in life are dangerous. That was my grandfather's philosophy, and I've found it to be true. I kind of think it would work for anyone. I mean, look at you, you joined yourself to another being, hundreds if not thousands of years old, you could've died, yet here you are thriving because you took the dangerous path."

Merella's smile dissolved away until it belied a sadness. Guilt. She had been all too eager to exploit this situation and learn everything she could about her own sister, free of the boasting lies her crew mates would certainly tell. But having spoken to this woman, to Anje, she knew her conscience would not allow her to press the lie any further. Reaching up with a hand, she placed her cold palm against the Vulcan woman's cheek. "I should go."

"Did I say something wrong?" Anje gasped, she hadn't meant to offend her at all, "I'm, I'm sorry... Please don't leave. We can talk about something else. I am so sorry..." The fact that Cdr. Qwyyn had touched her so affectionately wasn't lost on her, the fact she enjoyed it was alarming, ~Haven't felt like this since Cheline....~

Her lips parted, but again she could not will herself to speak another deception. What was happening to her? Since when had she ever put personal misgivings ahead of her professional duty? "I'm not myself," she said softly. Not exactly a lie from Anje's perspective, she rationalized, and it was enough for her to find her smile again, weaker now. "I am afraid that if I don't go now, I may very well end up 'following my heart,' and I know that it would be wrong. It wouldn't be fair to you."

Anje probably should've stopped and thought about what that could mean, but at that moment she didn't give a damn, "A good Russian can take care of herself." She said with a confident smile, she couldn't recall the last time she found herself able to force on one of those, "You won't hurt me. I'm made of Russian steel, forged in the fires of Vulcan." She looked deep into Qwyyn's eyes, "And the French part of me, it kinda feels like there's something here I want to surrender to."

Before she even knew what she was doing Merella found herself leaning forward. Her mind cried for her to stop, that she was making a colossal, irreversible mistake. Words like REPERCUSSIONS and CONSEQUENCES flashed behind her eyes. But she found herself unable to fight against the force that pulled her closer. Like gravity. Like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake, warmed by sunlight. She felt her lips brush against Anje's. The contact was a spark, wildly electric and burning with the smell of vanilla incense. Stars exploded in her mind, and her fingertips tingled. She closed her eyes. With herculean effort she managed to pull her lips back, though only just. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Without a word of warning, Anje leaned in an returned the kiss, ~I know I'm going to catch hell about this later, but right now I just don't care.~ "There, now neither of us should have." Anje smiled warmly, "And I don't regret a damn thing. And if you want, because I know I do, there's plenty of other things we probably shouldn't do that I won't regret, either." She braced herself for rejection, but felt somehow hopeful that this could be different. She didn't know what she'd tell Mattias if he were ever to find out, though she wasn't sure if they were together or not anymore, but she'd traverse that particular wormhole when she got there. Right now, she desperately wanted the woman across from her, and nothing else seemed to matter.

"Anje, I want to," she breathed. Merella placed her forehead gently against hers. A nervous laugh escaped her. "I really, really want to." She reached down to take the woman's hands, and felt herself conscious of the naturally cold flesh of the Trill. "Believe me when I tell you that normally I would, without a second thought. But there are things you don't know about me. And when you learn them you're going to wish that you hadn't done..." Interrupting herself, she allowed herself one more kiss. Her lips lingered on Anje's own, realizing this would likely be their very last. A taste of cinnamon in her mind. "...you're going to wish you hadn't done this."

"There's a lot of things I wish I hadn't done after." Anje giggled, stoking Liselle's hair, "But this won't be one of them. And if it is, I'll worry about it later. Right now though, I want this more than anything... Right now, I want you more than anything..." She hadn't said those words since Cheline, and she felt a little like she was betraying her erstwhile lover, but at that moment, all of it was true, "We've got the rest of our lives for regrets, you've got several lives left for regrets, but we might only have this night, I think we'd regret it more if we didn't...." Anje leaned in and kissed her again, "I know I will."

Merella knew she should stop, perhaps even some part of her still wanted to stop. But how could she? She was drowning already, falling deeper and deeper into Anje. The sweet vanilla scent of her hair.

The damage was already done. There were eyes on the both of them, gasps and whispers. The rumors were already spreading. Merella knew that no matter what happened next, there was no undoing what they had already done. What she had already done. How had she let this happened? This was so unlike her! When had her heart ever won this war.

Reluctantly breaking away, Merella spoke between heavy breaths. "I tried to warn you," she accused Anje. Reaching for her hand, she whispered. "Take me to your quarters."

OFF

Doctor Merella Swii
Appointed Representative
Trill Symbiosis Commission

Lt. Cdr. Anje Brett
COO USS Elysium
Thinks She's Going to Bed with Liselle