Getting Re-acquanited

Posted on Thu Sep 12th, 2019 @ 2:30am by Lieutenant Commander S'hib & Lieutenant Commander Aurelia Taylor

Mission: Mission 3: Masquerade
Location: Deck 16 - Security Office
Timeline: Current
1238 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The slow clicking of S'hib's hooves filled the corridor as he approached the security office, his first few days back had been just as uneventful as he had hoped.

Daydreaming as he walked inside he barely noticed if anyone else was inside, continuing to stride along oblivious until he reached his locker in the next room. "Was it this week or the next the access codes change?" He mumbled to himself as he slowly typed on the small LCARS panel next to his name.

Lia watched as her overly sized crewman passed by, he seemed elsewhere as he made his way to the locker room. Standing up slowly she followed him into the locker room and watched as he stood looking confused, "It's next week Ensign, I've just checked".

"Oh, Commander." S'hib said with a small whine, slightly startled by Lia sneaking upon him. "I'm sorry I didn't see you when I came in, You must have been as quiet as a mouse." He added, turning and looking down to meet her eyes. "How was shore leave?" he said naively unaware of recent events.

A deep breath and a look at the floor, met S'hib's question. "Shore leave was..................Not what I expected. It could be said to have been busy, how was your shore leave?" She hoped the question would deflect any more inquiries towards her, S'hib tended to get stuck on one subject and Lia hoped he would now talk about himself.

S'hibs head cocked slightly to the side as he examined the humanoid before him. Body language was a very potent communication tool for his people, and he had become painfully aware of how people communicated without realising.

"You sound like you need a holiday from your holiday." S'hib said as he finally opened his locker and briefly looked inside. "Mine was pretty uneventful though, was just nice to be home and not have to worry about uniforms or clothes in general." He remarked as he tried placing a small duffel bag inside his already full locker.

"Yeah you could say that Ensign, and just what did you mean by no uniforms or clothes in general?" To Lia, it sounded as if S'hib went around naked, but then she didn't know that much about her giant crewman.

“Oh, just a little cultural quirk my people have...” S’hib said with a smile, Enjoying the opportunity to teach others about his people. “On Sequella we don’t wear any clothes say for decoration.” He added finally closing the locker door with his bag inside. “Apparently it took the first few Starfleet diplomats by surprise.” S’hib finished with a little laugh filled snort

S'hib's statement caught Lia by surprise, "But you wear clothes, right? I mean it's not like you walk around naked or anything?" Her shock was genuine, she had her problem but a whole civilization that walked around naked? Wouldn't happen, would it?

"I've almost left my quarters a few times without a uniform on." S'hib said with an awkward smile. "When your planet is warm, and you have fur... clothes just really aren't needed." He added, amused at his Commanders shock to his nudist lifestyle.

Not knowing quite where to look, Lia now took the bull by the horns. "Are your people that comfortable with nudity? I mean you have fur, so it's not like say a Human being naked. It's kinda different, isn't it?" She continued in a quieter voice, "I can't imagine even your people being that relaxed with say a naked Human, we don't have fur so everything is exposed".

"Well..." S'hib said before pausing, trying to find the appropriate words for a moment "It's difficult to explain since your kind view your body as extremely private, something you only share with those you want for example." He said unaware of the topic is was fumbling into. "Everyone on this ship could be naked and the only issue I would have would be distinguishing rank." S'hib finished with a slight laugh, walking back into the office to examine the notice board.

Her juniors reply made Lia wonder just how he felt about being naked among strangers, "So just for argument's sake, if you were given permission to say go on duty naked. Would you do it? Could you bring yourself to appear in public naked, especially among total strangers?" She followed him to hear his answer.

“I already get stared at quite a lot commander, but yes...” S’hib said examining his next shift rotations. “Would be a lot more comfortable, to be honest, I hate these clothes.” He added cheerfully.

The response stopped Lia in her tracks, "But what about a female? What would you do if your female went naked? Or your female saw you with another naked female? How would that work?" This was starting to sound all rather perverted, Lia knew she would have to back off. She didn't want to be in the situation where S'hib might use a trigger word, and this little talk seemed to be heading there.

S’hib simply laughed at the sudden list of questions, glancing back over to Lia. “Sequus arent Monogamous.” He said looking back at the notice board. “We raise each other's young as well as our own and it's extremely common for us to have multiple partners... I guess when you evolve from herds... things just pan out differently.”

The answers she was getting made her want to ask more direct questions, but for now she knew she couldn't. Between the councillors and Gary, Lia had to many balls in the air to start another argument. "Thank you for your candor Ensign, I'm glad I haven't offended you. Perhaps we can talk again, when things get more back to normal?" She turned for her desk, a multitude of questions swirling in her head. But circumstances at this time made it impossible to ask them, much as she wanted to.

"No thank you." S'hib snorted, turning around with a smile on his long face. "It makes me happy when people want to learn more about me and my people, but I agree we should talk more when not on duty if you'd like." He added, heading back for the locker room, the click of his hooves echoing in the small space.

Lia looked at the floor, "I just might do that, if I'm still around". She now sat back down behind her desk, letting S'hib's answers run through her mind. She had a crazy thought, but squashed it. No way would Gary go for it, things were strained right now everyone still raw from the prison.

"Right If you need me, Commander, I shall be on the upper deck's, reports of some thefts on the trading promenade... nothing serious." S'hib said as he walked back out the locker room and towards the exit. "Enjoy your afternoon Ma'am." He said with a polite nod, leaving the security office with a more focused mind than he had come in with.

Looking at S'hib, Lia responded. "Don't go getting into trouble up there, we're a bit short handed right now. Oh and Ensign, it's Commander. Ma'am makes me sound like a Madam, and right now that's the last thing I even want to think about."

"Aye, Commander." S'hib said sheepishly, nodding before hurrying off.

OFF:

Commander Lia Holmes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Elysium

Ensign S'hib
Security Officer
USS Elysium