Hello & Thank You

Posted on Thu Mar 30, 2017 @ 5:41pm by Major Kasia S'er'in'e & Lieutenant Colonel S'er'in'e

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: MCO's Office
Timeline: MD 4 || 1800 Hours

Following a meeting with the Captain whom reinstated his rank, affording the feline the chance to resume his career he found himself now the Marine Commanding Officer of this vessel. He was glad to be back in uniform again even if he woke up on the floor in the corner of the room instead of the large bed that was available. Six months and nothing but a floor to sleep on, it was going to be a difficult transition.

He knew he'd have to put in a request to Engineering that a new bed support be made, he learned from experience that standard beds do not easily support a weight such as his well. It took three showers to even come close to feeling clean, nearly two hours grooming to make himself his customary presentable self, sharpen his claws and fangs. A visit to the dentist too to repair any decay damage.

Standing in the office stood a proud, clean, immaculate Caitian and one he'd not seen in half a year. His golden ear sheaths were in place, his headband worn as and upsetting as it was that no doubt the original was sat in some collectors gathering of trinkets. His fur once again snow white laced with black stripes, whiskers were neatly trimmed to the proper length and it was good to be able to stand upright again. First thing he did when he walked into the office was research on his Exec. A one Major Petrova. Her file was an impressive read but a file could only say so much about a person. When he saw her file though he remembered her face and that reminded him of something that tradition demand be done.

He replicated copies of his private texts and they sat waiting on his desk. Knowing the Major would not be able to read them the second half of the book was in English and the first in true Caitian. On top of them was the badge she gave him on the surface. =^= Major Petrova, would you report to the MCO's Office please. =^=

Kasia stood the the Marine training facility overseeing drills. She was impressed with what she was witnessing thus far, but there was always room for improvement. "Porter... start again, and don't be afraid that you might break a nail," she called out in her Russian accent as the call from their new MCO came through. "Vorhees... you're in charge until I can get back here."

With that, the Major made her way out of the training facility and moved through Marine country as she made her way to S'er'in'e's office. Once she was standing outside the door, she reached out to press the chime and alert him of her presence. Kasia was almost certain he'd want to know more about her since she would be serving with him for the foreseeable future.

"Come." S'er'in'e called as she stood in front of and beside his desk. He knew who it was so there was no mystery to it. "Major." He bowed slightly as culture demanded. "Please, come in." She would no doubt have questions for him, also expecting from from him to her too. "I have not pulled you from anything vital have I?" Already it could be seen that his posture and tone was softer and subservient.

"No. I was overseeing training, but I can look that over later," Kasia replied, moving further into the office and coming to stand next to a chair. "What can I do for you, Colonel?"

"First, I'd like to offer you these." S'er'in'e indicated the volumes of Caitian text that sat on his desk. "To the Caitians of my Caste our customs and traditions are what define us, explaining everything may take time but sufficed to say that the females are the dominant gender in my Caste and as such you saw something that I should not have exposed you to." S'er'in'e paused as he observed her.

"My ways demand that honour be restored by presenting the offended a personal gift to make amends. These are yours."

She blinked once, then twice. This was certainly out of the ordinary for her. Kasia didn't quite know what to say, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. "I... I don't know what to say. Thank you for the gift. They are very appreciated, but you did not offend me. If I were in your position... being tortured on a regular basis daily for six months... I think I would have done the same thing."

"Be that as it may my customs are very strict on the conduct of a male in front of a female. Situation aside it was not appropriate. The badge you gave me on the surface." Rested upon the texts, he thought about keeping it, a gift from a female to himself but it wasn't a gift. It was a tool to effect his rescue.

Kasia reached for the combadge from the top of the books and took it into her hand, holding it while she spoke. "The combadge is yours to keep. You can wear it if you wish to, or just tuck it away inside a drawer if you want," she said, taking his large hand into her free one so she could press the badge into it. When that was done, she gently closed his hand around it.

S'er'in'e smiled but there was a problem now, she had touched him. Her scent even this close he could smell but now it was on his hand and would stay there until he replaced it with something else or washed it. He pulled off the badge he wore and replaced it with the one she gave him, it too now bore her scent but it had yet to strike him. He tapped it twice to activate it. "Thank you." He bowed slightly.

"You are quite welcome, Colonel," she said, offering him a smile as she leaned in to hug him. Kasia couldn't seem to help herself. He'd been trapped inside a cage with nothing but negative contact from his captives for six months. It was time to replace that with more positive feelings, and anyone that knew her knew she liked to help others when and where she could. "And thank you, too. For the books."

S'er'in'e for a moment panicked, his entire body stiffened like a board. Nobody had ever hugged him before. His Mother was the last to do so before he left the Homeworld, nobody invited him to the graduation dance, nobody seemed to take any interest in him at all. Now the Major was giving him his first hug. He'd not touched her though, he'd not been given permission to do so and so his hands stayed by his sides.

Kasia felt his stiffen and quickly pulled back. She'd crossed a line. "I'm... sorry. I... uh... I shouldn't have invaded your personal space that way," she said softly, her accent thickening a bit as she looked down at her hands.

"It's alright." S'er'in'e was quick to speak, the words not in line with his mouth movements. "Males are forbidden to touch a female without permission unless life is at risk and even so, apology must be made, like now with the texts."

That made sense to her, and it seemed as though she had quite a bit to learn about the new MCO and his customs. Kasia made a mental note to start studying up so she knew what to expect. "Do Caitians... males in particular... have to apologize for everything?" She found herself asking out loud.

"Yes, females are the dominant gender in my Caste, it is rare for a female to accept responsibility for an action that causes another offence. A male will go to great length to restore honour." S'er'in'e explained to the Major.

"I... see," she said, processing what he was telling her. "So, what you're saying, is if a female were to do something wrong, you would come in... like a White Knight?"

"On the Homeworld a male would make effort to save the face and honour of the female, it has been a difficult lesson to learn in Starfleet due to individual rights being respected for all species and the implications of imposing one over another but I do not know what you mean by 'White Knight'." S'er'in'e replied.

"It's an old Earth term. It loosely means a male will come to a females aid when she requires it," Kasia replied, hoping that would help. "How are you settling in so far? Are you finding your way around okay?"

S'er'in'e nodded now that he understood the meaning. "It is a large ship, I have had to use the aid of the computer directional lighting to get around." S'er'in'e replied clearly uneased by getting lost just getting to his office. Not the example or image that he hoped to project or be seen in now that he was back in uniform.

"Would you like me to show you around once our shifts are over?" Kasia offered.

"I would be honoured." Once again bowing his head. "May I return the gift with a meal, a drink?" S'er'in'e offered to repay her generosity.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "The Black Hole on deck ten has the best food on the ship, and they even serve real alcohol, too. If that's your kind of thing, of course. We can go there once I've shown you around."

"As you wish." He smiled. It seemed like he made a friend, regardless that she was his Exec she seemed keen to help him settle which was more than one of his own kind would do.

"Then we have that settled," Kasia stated, moving behind the desk. "I'll help you get things figured out here, then we can ask and answer questions for one another if you'd like. Your desk is holographic. This is how you turn it on." She touched the corner, and the desk's screen lit up to reveal everything he'd need. "I try to keep reports and the like as organized as possible so you won't have to dig for anything. You'll be able to find those here." She touched the area where all those files would be held, pausing as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"Duty schedules, training... it can all be found here as well. Of course, you can organize this any way you want to. You do that by holding your finger down on what you want moved, then placing it wherever you wish to," she said, looking up at him to see if he had any questions so far. "Of course, once you put your access code in, no one will be able to access the interface like I just did."

S'er'in'e observed what she was touch, where on the desk she was touch as the holographics activated and he watched them. He practiced moving things around watching how easy it was, calling up files as he'd seen. Facinating setup really and one he was sure he'd make use of. He turned to go to the other side of the chair when it happened. His tail danced across the backs of both of the Major's legs. He paused, half stunned half in shock. "I apologize for that." His tone soft taking on more feline inflections in doing so.

Kasia shook her head. "You don't need to apologize for that, Colonel," she assured him, watching as he moved things around. It seemed he was picking up on things quite well, and that was impressive. "Do you have any questions?"

"Only one." He spoke closing the holographic system. "A time suitable for yourself so that I may meet you tonight." A small smile formed but not enough to to reveal the tips of his fangs or the like.

"How does nineteen hundred sound?" The Major asked as she returned his smile. That would give them plenty of time to tour the ship, have dinner and make it back to their respective quarters to sleep so they could get back to it the following morning. "I'll meet you at your quarters so we can leave from there. This way, you won't have to try to find your way around anywhere."

"As you wish Major." S'er'in'e kept the smile. His current issue however was far more grave. She had hugged him and he had yet to bring a spare uniform to his office, which means he'd be stuck with her scent upon him and for him, now that could be dangerous as she didn't know what that meant.

"I'll see you a bit later, then," she said. "For now... you get settled in, and we can ask those questions a little later."

"Thank you Major." A parting bow of the head and his hawk like feline eyes watched you. A charming, helpful and insightful woman to be sure. He was confident he'd get on working well with her.