Moving in

Posted on Tue Mar 26th, 2024 @ 7:33pm by Miran Lalor [Lalor] HRH & Cadet Sophomore Grade Gérard Dirsye [Reece] & Raye Crosby-Triannth

Mission: Season 6: Episode 4: Memory Lane
3750 words - 7.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Miran did a twirl around the cabin, Sapphire had assigned her on deck 19. "What do you think?" She asked her best friend.

Raye looked around the cabin. "How did you score a three bedroom?"

"Oh I told Sapphire that you were looking to move in as well and i needed a room to paint in."

Raye stared at her. "My mother will flip Miran."

"Why? We are just down the corridor really."

"Hmmm I will talk with her."

"And its not like we will be partying every night Raye. We both have school. But lets be honest, we are nearly 18..."

Raye nodded. "Yeah but you do have a boyfriend..."

"This is nothing to do with him. Its to do with my sister using me as a babysitter. " Miran replied as she walked around the living area which only had standard furniture in it.

Suddenly, the door chime rang.

Raye raised an eyebrow. "You gonna get that?"

Miran grinned and walked to it. "I will be having my things beamed in shortly." She said as she opened the door. "Gérard!" She beamed.

Raye merely rolled her eyes. "And Que the boyfriend." Not that Raye had issues with Gérard, she liked him. But she was not 100% sure about him after everything with Triston and such. She gave him a wave and settled in on a couch.

Standing out in the corridor, Gérard was smiling back at Miran. "Well hello there. I had heard that there was a beautiful and talented painter living here. Would you happen to know who she is?" He winked playfully at her as he sent her an image of the two of them kissing.

"Hmm Raye did you take up painting?" Miran called back to her friend.

"Not likely, though the walls in here could use a coat." Raye replied.

Miran waved Gérard into the cabin. "Come on in."

Before he stepped inside, he picked up a large, rectangular, wrapped object, that he has placed against the bulkhead, before ringing the door chime. "First, this is for you. A housewarming gift for your first home away from your family." He placed the object on the nearby table carefully.

Miran smiled. "Thank you, but you didn't have to." she was honest about that. But she opened it with a smile and held up the painting. "Oh so beautiful."

"It's the country, as seen from my home on Betazed. I painted this before I left for the Academy."

Miran placed it gently on a chair and leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Thank you."

His cheeks warmed and he returned the kiss, conscious of their company. "So, what say we have a celebratory dinner? Raye?" He looked over at the other woman. "You could join us if you'd like?"

Raye shook her head. "No thanks. I have to go have a conversation with my own mother about moving in here."

Miran smiled. "Good luck Raye."

Raye stood and exited saying "Yeah my mother can be worse than your sister."

"Good luck, Raye," Gérard echoed Miran's sentiment. He liked her and was glad that she seemed to have Miran's back.

After she left, and they were alone, he looked over at Miran and asked, "So, are you going to give me a tour, or should I just stay in this spot?" The grin on his face showed that he was playfully teasing her.

Miran gave him a playful push and said, "This way to Raye's room, if she gets permission, and the spare room." She walked him to the left hand side of the cabin, "Both rooms have their own bathroom." She showed him the two rooms. "My room is on the other side of the cabin." she walked him over to the first bedroom and showed him inside. It looked to be a standard cabin bedroom, but the bed that was there was far from standard. It was a a wooden 4 poster. "I had my bed from my old cabin moved in." The wood was carved and ornate.

"Wow..." he said as he moved over to the bed, his artistic mind going to the carvings. "This is wonderfully done!" He then sat down on the bed. "Oh! Comfortable too."

"My Sister got it smuggled out of Erisia a few years ago. She got her own as well, but she left it on Earth. Its from my room at the family castle. Which means its authentic Erisian craftmanship." She replied as she sat down beside him.

When she sat down next him, Gérard suddenly became aware that this was the first time that they had ever been alone, truly alone. There wasn't anyone on the otherside of the door this time. His cheeks darkened a bit at the idea. "It's..um..it's really nice, Mir." He looked at her, and when their eyes met, the world seemed to freeze. She was the only thing in all of creation at that moment, as far as he was concerned.

She froze and then slowly she got up and headed back out to the main room after a moment. "I.. I am having the rest of my things beamed in shortly."

The spell broken, Gérard suddenly felt like a fool. Quickly getting up off of her bed, he shook his head. "That's...that's good! I'm very happy that you have this start for yourself." He quickly followed her back out into the common area. "May I...um...help you unpack? Or would you rather do it yourself?"

Miran gave him a shy smile. "You can help if you like."

Seeing her smile at him set Gérard beaming. "I'll gladly take any time with you that I'm lucky enough to get!"

Miran was about to speak when two large crates were beamed into the room. There was a shimmer in her bedroom which heralded the arrival of her clothes. "Right on time."

He chuckled softly. "Shall I have the computer play some soft music, and get some snacks from the replicator for us to nibble on as we go?"

"Sure" Miran smiled and opened the first crate. It held books and a number of what looked like bolts of fabric but when she lifted them out were various blankets and two Erisian wall hangings.

While Miran started to unpack, Gérard instructed the computer to start playing some soft, classical Betazoid music. Over the speakers, gently string and woodwind music started to play. He then moved to the replicator and ordered up a tray of finger foods and a pitcher of fruit juice. After placing the food and drink on the dining table, he looked over at Miran and asked, "How can I help?"

She had hung the two wall hangings on the wall on either side of her bedroom door. "Hmm if you like," she replied as she lifted out a painting she had done at 13. It was a painting of a beautiful palace on the edge of a lake in the mountains of Erisia. She knew Ryae loved it, the redhead having spent hours exclaiming over it. So she looked to hang it in the main lounge area.

He grinned and chuckled softly as he stood there. "Well..." he shrugged. "You need to tell me what needs doing..."a playful smirk crossed his face as he continued. "....or should I just look for a box that says underwear and figure out where they go?" His smirk turned into a warm grin, indicating that he was only teasing her.

Miran spun and stared before smiling, "Stay out of it. It's very much not fun." She replied. "There is however a box over there of books and painting supplies for the other room."

Nodding, Gérard moved over to the box in question. "Got it." Lifting the medium-sized box up, he paused to ask, "Do you want me to unpack it, or wait for you to direct me?"

"It doesn't matter, put the stuff out where you think is best." Miran replied as she climbed up on a small ladder to hang the painting.

"Alright," he replied, his eyes closing slightly. "But no telling me I did it wrong then." He smirked playfully, then carried the box inside the room. Once inside, he took a few moments to unpack the items, setting them in small piles first, before deciding on where everything should go.

Miran merely nodded as she hung the painting and then moved onto another box of nick knacks. She made sure to leave space for Raye to add her own things and she made sure there was room for Raye to practice her dancing if she needed to but making sure the furniture was arranged properly.

A short while later, Gérard stepped back into the common area, the empty box in his hands. "Alright, Mir. That's done. What next?"

"Hmm that's pretty much the common area stuff," she said as she gently placed a small statue in a small shrine.

"Who does that represent?" He asked as he stepped closer, putting his hands gently on her shoulders as he stood behind her. He made sure to leave a space in between them, so she wouldn't be uncomfortable.

"The Six and the Triadic Cult. They are deities of my people." Miran said softly. "My sister prays to the Triadic. I pray to both."

Gérard nodded as he listened. "I have a few icons of the Goddesses that I pray to in my cabin. Having faith in something is very important. Helps to keep us grounded, no matter what is happening around us."

She considered that. "Yes I guess. But when your religion states you should die because you have children out of wedlock, I think my sister gave up mainly on Religion,"

Gérard nodded silently. Then he moved closer and gently hugged Miran from behind. "I'm sorry, Mir."

Miran nodded and leaned back. "It is what it is. The Triadic is not worshiped openly. I didn't know my sister worshipped them until I came here. To do so on my home world means death."

"Will you teach me about the Triadic?" He asked softly. "I want to learn everything you are willing to teach me."

She looked over her shoulder at him. "I only know the basics. It is hard for me to change from the Six. I know them a lot better."

He grinned softly at her. "May I ask why you changed whom you choose to pray to?"

"I met a future version of myself." Miran said softly. "And she told me things."

A quizzical look crossed Gérard's face. Reaching up, he gently moved a strat lock of Miran's long, dark hair, of of hee face and behind her ear. "How did that happen?"

"We were in the Gamma Quadrant, on a charting mission. We found a warp in space and it formed a link to another timeline, but it was different. It basically pulled another version of our ship in, threw it back in time and crashed it on a planet. when history caught up, we came along and managed not to crash and met with the survivors of that crash."

Gérard was astonished by this. "So...are you saying that...you actually have descendents living now, back home?"

She laughed "No they were from an alternative timeline. And they should be back on Earth in their own time. But they had been trapped there for a long while, and aging had stopped when they arrived. Oh people still died, But due to accidents and such. My Sister.. her alternate died."

A look of sadness filled Gérard eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mir. While I know she wasn't your sister, she was still a Phoenix Lalor. I can't imagine how it makes you feel when you think about it."

Miran turned and walked to the couch and opened a box. She pulled out a large sketchbook. "Here" She said, and opened it. The first page was a sketch of a starship, crashed into a field... with broken trees around it. It was in bad shape, but it was clear it was the Elysium... or a version of it.

She turned the page, a Trill Female, looking to be in her late forties appeared on the next page. "Liselle Qwynn. One of my first friends here. The planet's anti aging almost killed this version of her. Thus why she looks older than she is." She turned the page. The next image was of .. a grave yard. The headstone in pride of place was that of one Captain Phoenix Lalor, It read "Beloved Sister, and Mother"

Then she turned the page and two young people were sketched. With their names "Liselle and Liam Lalor" "The Twins, alternative Selves." Miran explained. "Their names were Elizabeth Liselle Lalor-Waters, and William Kenneth Lalor-Waters"

"So," Gérard asked as he looked and listened. "In this alternate time, your sister never married Captain Richardson?"

Miran shook her head. "No. Ken is the father of her twins in both that universe and this one, well biologically." She flipped a page and two faces appeared. An older more mature version of Miran, and one of Triston. "I met my older self there, Phoenix doesn't know. I snuck down to see what was going on with some of the cadets and older students. Triston was new to the ship, having only arrived weeks before this so we didn't know each other well then. When I spoke with her, she told me about how things were with her. She was not married, and she helped raise her niece and nephew from the age of 9, when her sister died. She told me it was then she realised that she knew nothing of Phoenix's religious beliefs and she had learned about them since then. She encouraged me to learn more. She told me that my life would be very different to her's. She would never have the chance to do what I would and I would grow up safe on Elysium. She gave me copies of her journals and told me how she created paints out of natural ingredients."

Gérard could feel the mix of emotions welling inside of Miran as she spoke of her other self. "I suppose, the best that you can do then, is live the life that she was never able to do. Go to all the places that she will never see, experience what she can't."

Miran nodded. "We did send a SOS for them, we believe they got rescued. But it was interesting to speak with her. She had learned a lot. And she told me a lot about myself and others and how people reacted. She also told me that Ken Waters only stayed with my sister because of the twins. And he tried very hard to stamp their Erisian side from them, and she made sure that they kept it. After their Phoenix died, he refused to allow them to pray or anything."

Shaking his head sadly, Gérard replied. "That is so wrong. Was the Ken Waters of this time as controlling of your sister and the twins?"

"Of her? I guess so. I know he didn't like her being in danger all the time and they broke up about it. About the time we were on this mission. And he never knew the twins, he got transferred shortly before my Sister told people she was pregnant and she tried to tell him but he never replied and then he died." Idly she flipped to another page.

This image was in colour. It was a sketch of 8 teenagers. In the middle were two raven haired teens, a boy and a girl. Above them was the names Liam Lalor, and Liselle Lalor. To Liam's left was a redhead with ... a toilet seat at her feet. She was grinning almost wildly, while the rest had more calm expressions, her name was Cassandra Murphy. Beside her was a shorter boy with dark hair and the name of Daniel Salannis an Elysium. On the other side of Liselle, was a tall male with slightly pointed ears, his name was Augustus McKinley. Kneeling in the front of the group, were two more children, just a few years younger than the twins and Augustus and Cassandra. They had the same dark colouring as Augustus and the girls ears were very pointed. Their names were Kai Mckinley and Niamh McKinley. And standing beside Augustus was a bajoran teenager who looked very shy. She was drawn toying with her earing. Her name was Feyth Yaanalla.

"An Image of those who deserved a better life." Miran said.

Gérard nodded slowly as he listened. "Well, wherever they are now, I'm sure they are beginning to rebuild their lives as best as they can."

"Yes I hope so." She said softly and put the book on the coffee table. "I learned a lot about myself in that mission. And about what my life could be."

Feeling a sadness from Miran, Gérard reached out and gently took her hands into his. As he looked down into her eyes, he spoke softly. "I can feel sadness, and possibly some doubt from you when you talk about your life. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." she shook her head. "It's a life that will never happen. See my other self? She was ... well I am pretty sure, sleeping with the Alternative Triston. That said, I am pretty sure that it was just sex."

Gérard nodded slightly. "Well, as long as every version of you is happy, it's fine by me." He grinned warmly at Miran as he finished speaking.

She smiled back at him. "Well just so you know I am definitely not wanting to be with him."

Gérard's grim grew larger. "Well, for that, I am very glad. Not sure I'd be comfortable with another person mixed in with what we are currently building between us." He leaned in a kissed her lips gently, before straightening back up.

She let her lips pout slightly. "One kiss? is that all?"

Smiling a bit broader, Gérard leaned back in, kissing Miran with more heat than before, his fingers running up into her hair.

Leaning into him, Miran returned the kiss with the same level of heat as she slid her arms around his neck.

When Miran slid her arms around his neck, Gérard moved his around her back, holding her against him. As they started to make out, he began slowly opening his mind to hers. He didn't want to overwhelm her, so he started giving her images of each time she smiled at him and how it made him feel inside.

Miran, shifted against him, as his emotions seeped into her and matched her's. She knew she was playing with fire but really didn't care, she was enjoying making out with him. Somehow she ended up in his lap.

As they continued to kiss and hold each other, they gravitated to the couch. As Gérard sat down, he brought Miran down astride his lap. You are so beautiful, Mir... He transmitted the thought as they continued to. Kiss each other, their passion starting to grow.

Things were getting pretty heated between them when the door chimed and there was the sound of a transporter activating in one of the rooms.

With the sudden noise, Gérard broke the kiss. As he tried to catch his breath, he looked up into Miran's angelic face and grinned. "Always getting interrupted just when it's getting really good."

She smiled as she called out "Come in Raye!"

Raye entered with a couple of duffle's over her shoulders. "I swear my brother was too gleeful when I spoke to my mother. He has been wanting his own room for months... I think he had started packing his stuff before mother could say Yes that's fine Raye" She stepped past them to the room Miran had told her would be her's. "Sorry for the interruption. But don't you have a curfew in the academy?"

Sighing softly, Gérard nodded. "Yeah. I have to be back in my cabin by 2300 hours." Looking over at the chrono, he saw the time. "I've still got a little over two hours left."

Raye rolled her eyes. "hmm very well but no funky business, i dont need the Princess in trouble."

"HEY" Miran said with a start out of her daze.

"Well, I am just saying, you get in trouble, Mattias and Phoenix kill me," Raye vanished into her bedroom.

After Raye left them, Gérard let out a soft, nervous chuckle. "I think I'd be the one with a target on his chest, if something were to happen at the wrong time."

"Maybe" Miran shrugged. "I really should get things sorted, I still have school tomorrow."

He nodded in reply. "Then I should let you get to it, and not keep distracting you." He gave her a flirty wink and smirk as he finished speaking.

Miran smiled at that. "Hmm I shall see you tomorrow then?"

He smiled softly and nodded. "I'd like that...wait." his smile fell and he grimaced. "Damn. No, I can't. I've got a study hall tomorrow for my next set of exams. I won't be done till very late." His face changed as he asked, "Are you doing anything Friday night?"

Miran considered her calendar. "No, I am free that night."

A happy grin spread across the young man's face. "Then I'll come get you at 2000 hours, and we'll go out for diner. How's that sound?"

"Like a great idea" Miran said with warm smile. "and I look forward to it."

"Excellent!" He replied with a grin. "Then I shall say goodnight." He then chuckled softly. "Of course, that means that you will need to allow me to stand up." Mirth filled hisas as he gently placed his hands on Miran's hips, as she was still sitting stride his lap.

"Hmm okay if you insist" she teased and stood slowly. "So Friday night?"

Once Miran had stood up from his lap, Gérard rose as well and stood in front of her, gently holding her upper arms and leaning in to kiss her. Afterwards, he nodded. "I will be here, on time, my lady."

Miran walked him to the door and kissed him again before he left, with a smile.

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