Nothing Like Polite Dinner Conversation

Posted on 07 Mar 2017 @ 6:55pm by Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Ensign Miraj Derani
Edited on on 10 Mar 2017 @ 4:57pm

2,681 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 14 - Statecraft
Location: IKS DuJa'Q - Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 02, 1900

[ON]

Amaranai had gotten off her shift and headed to the mess hall. She didn't expect there to be much that she would be willing to eat, but at this point, after Kreanus and practically starving, she would eat just about anything.

Entering the mess, she found went to the replicator and ordered a meal. Taking the slop that was processed, Amaranai moved to a table out of the way. There were other Klingons, but they weren't going to talk to her.

There were too many things on her mind and being on a Klingon vessel was not even the half of it. She was worried about the Starfleet crew and what would happen even if the mission was successful. Would the Klingons just let them despite knowing what they knew? And the admiral - the general - being alive? The brunette looked at her plate and turned her head away in time to see Miraj step into the mess. A smile crossed her face that faded almost immediately as Amaranai recalled Miraj not even speaking to her when they were reunited in the clinic on Kreanus.

Amaranai almost wanted to disappear but something stopped her from getting up. Instead, she caught Miraj's eye and motioned her to join her at the table.

Miraj was grateful to have someone to sit with, and ordered the only thing she recognised. Raktajino appeared and she took the squat cup over to the other woman. "Hi," she said, a bit sheepishly. She'd barely spoken to the other woman on Kreanus. She'd been too wrapped up in Luke's miraculous return from the dead and subseqent convalescence. "How are you?"

Amaranai looked at the girl. There was no reason to be mad at her. Amaranai could tell that Miraj had strong feelings for Commander Wyatt but it had still hurt her feelings that Miraj would pay more attention to someone that was wounded instead of talking to her friend.

"I'm alright," she said.

It seemed that this conversation might be like pulling teeth and though Amaranai was angry, she knew she should just get over it.

"I can't wrap my mind around what we're doing," Amaranai continued. "I just hope people smarter than me know what they are doing."

Miraj shrugged and sipped her drink. "I don't know. I'm not really told anything. I've been banned from the bridge as well." Miraj looked utterly dejected when she spoke.

The statement caught Amaranai off guard.

"Banned from the bridge?" she said. "How can they keep the pilot off the bridge?"

"The Admiral relieved me of Duty." Miraj glared at her Raktajino, as if the drink was cause of her misfortune

That didn't make sense. Was Amaranai dreaming? She wouldn't doubt it. The way her life had gone lately, she spent many waking hours thinking she was in a waking nightmare. But Miraj's demeanor. Her quietness.

"What did you do to get relieved of duty?"

Miraj looked flustered and went pink a bit. "Can I tell you as a person. Not as a security person?" she didn't want any more trouble.

Amaranai looked at the girl as she made her statement. It was an odd request but Amaranai nodded.

"You're my friend, Miraj," she started. "I might be a security person, but unless I see you murder someone in cold blood, I'm not going to turn you in."

"It's not what I did. It's what I didn't do."

"What do you mean what you didn't do?" Amaranai said. "Was it something the admiral wanted you to do?"

Miraj couldn't look at Amaranai, "I think. I think she likes me, and she wanted me to kiss her, and I kinda of freaked out, and when I told her there was someone else, she took me off duty."

Amaranai's own burgeoning thoughts of Miraj were pushed down further at the statement. Obviously, Miraj had feelings for Luke, so that was the situation. But for the admiral to like Miraj as well? What wasn't to like, though? And how she looked in tight leather was icing on the cake.

"You didn't say anything to the admiral? Or ask her if she wanted you to kiss her?"

Miraj shook her head, her hair whisking around her chin. "It was a total shock. We had sat down on her bed to toast the fallen, and then she kissed me. I was so surprised I cracked my head on the headboard and fell on the floor."

Amaranai was looking for something to say but unsure of just what to do. As someone that had feelings for unattainable people in the past, Amaranai would just try to listen as Miraj sorted through the problem.

"If Luke was out of the picture, hypothetically, would you want to kiss the admiral?"

Miraj looked confused. "I don't know. I've never really thought about it. I've never done anything like that. With anyone. It's kind of new to me. I could count the people I've kissed on one hand. And when I do do it, I want it to be special. With someone special."

Things were getting interesting, to say the least. Amaranai had not been aware that the admiral and Miraj had spent time alone already. And that the admiral already kissed Miraj. Inwardly, Amaranai was wondering if she just wasn't giving off enough signals to males or females and that was why she hadn't really hit it off with anyone on the ship yet. Perhaps.

"Well," Amaranai said. "I could count on both hands . . ." She paused to force a smile. "Honestly, though, I've been in your position. I liked someone that was in a relationship that hadn't been talked about, so I didn't know."

She paused again as she thought back to her past.

"But that person made her feelings known to me and though it hurt, I had to accept it."

Amaranai pushed the food around on her plate to distract her for a moment.

"I know the admiral might not want to talk about it, but you need to. You both need to talk about it honestly and let each other know how you feel. If you don't, you won't be flying anything for a long time."

Miraj sighed. "I know. But it was only when I told her that she took me off duty. I think she's upset with me." Then Amaranai's comment got through her brain. "You like girls?" she asked with surprise.

The comment about the admiral being upset with Miraj seemed obvious after Miraj had been relieved of duty.

"You two need to talk about it again," Amaranai said. "But it has to be as two people and not admiral and ensign." She paused for a moment. "And if you don't mind me talking in my security person voice . . ." Another pause. "Regardless of the ethics of being in a relationship with a superior officer, said officer should not relieve you of duty out of bitterness."

Amaranai looked around to make sure no one was listening. There was no need to let anyone else in on this conversation. When Miraj questioned Amaranai, she smiled.

"Yes," she said plainly. "But I like boys too," she added. "It just depends on my mood at the moment." She smiled. "Right now, I'm open to whomever comes along, boy or girl, I'm just looking for some fun."

Miraj thought about it. She'd had so little opportunity before the academy, and so little time during her studies that the whole area was something she'd only encountered in books, where the romantic subplot was as predictable as the rising of the sun. "Are girls different? To boys I mean? How do you decide?"

Amaranai took the questions in for a moment. How did she decide? Was there a formula? Was it looks? Personality? Attitude? She looked around the mess hall again, not really wanting a lot of the conversation to be heard by other Starfleet personnel.

"Those are some good questions," Amaranai said. "First off, of course there's a difference between boys and girls and I'm not just talking their bodies."

That was natural, of course, but for Amaranai and how she approached a potential significant other, there were plenty of other factors.

"Sometimes boys want to be the dominant force in a relationship, but I don't like that." She paused. "But I also don't like guys that are subservient, either. I would much rather a guy treated me as an equal instead of as a subordinate." Another pause. "And not in an official ranking sort of way. Does that make sense?"

Miraj nodded. "So far. What are women like in relationship"

"But then with women, they usually know what they want out of a relationship, like I just explained about guys. When that happens, and I find a girl with similar wants and needs as I have or that I can fulfill, then it becomes fun and I want to be a part of the relationship."

She looked at Miraj a moment.

"Boys think they know everything when it comes to relationships and some of them are good at it and some are worse than Ferengi, but every now and then I can find a good one."

Another look around.

"As for how I decide?" She sighed. "Sometimes there are people that I really am intrigued by and want to get to know with the possibility of turning it into a relationship"

She didn't mention the fact that Miraj was one of those types of people.

"And that can be for boys or girls. But sometimes, I just see a girl or guy that's gorgeous and I lust after them enough to try and go for it, even if it's only a fling."

"Maybe if I'd thrown myself at Luke that night in the cave, we would have got somewhere. Instead everything keeps getting in the way." Miraj said. "You've got more guts than I have in that regard."

"Well," Amaranai said. "I can't say anything about you and Luke,"

She stopped a moment, wondering about that whole back story, but she wasn't going to ask Miraj. When Miraj mentioned Amaranai having more guts, she chuckled.

"I wouldn't say that," the brunette started. "I fail a lot more than I succeed."

She laughed at herself again.

"I think the reason I keep trying is that I hope that eventually I'll find someone that's more permanent, instead of just temporary."

"Law of averages," Miraj suggested. "The more you try, the more likely you are to succeed." She slurped some more Raktajino "You're bound to find someone. You're confident, and pretty, and you kick arse, and you're not weird."

Amaranai looked at the girl as she offered the compliments. They felt genuine and the security officer was wishing that she had bothered to tell Miraj about her own feelings for the pilot. But with the admiral and Luke weighing her down, this was not the time. She wasn't even sure if there would be a time to tell her. Amaranai blushed when Miraj was finished.

"Thanks," she said. "Especially for the 'not weird' part." She chuckled and wished Miraj's statement could come true.

Someday.

"And I'm sure if you were to talk to the admiral you would be allowed back on the bridge." She paused. "And if you need some help, I can talk to her for you in a security person type of way."

"I should probably try on my own first," Miraj decided. "She might be unimpressed that I told anyone. And I need to be on her good side. But thank you for the offer."

Amaranai nodded.

"You've got a point," she said. "She might just kick you off the ship if she were really angry about it."

Miraj suddenly laughed. "Apparently marooning lovers is something my mother did. It would be quite ironic if it happened to me for not putting out."

Amaranai couldn't help but laugh at the statement and be confused by it at the same time.

"Your mom did that?" she asked. "Isn't that a little extreme?" She paused. "I mean, I get mad at my lovers some time but I'm not ready to jettison them out the airlock if they get unruly or don't put out."

"That's what I've been told." Miraj shrugged again. "Lets hope the admiral doesn't do things the same way. You never hear what happened to her old lovers do you?" she said, eyes bright with mischief.

Smiling, Amaranai looked at Miraj. For all that she was going through - not just with the admiral, but with the loss of Galileo and Kreanus and everything else, she still managed to feel positive about something.

"And here I thought it was just because she was a private person, not because she tossed them all out into space."

The young ensign laughed, "Well, if you see an alarm of an airlock cycling one night, you'll know what's happened."

Amaranai chuckled at the thought.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said.

Amaranai paused and was silent for a moment. After a few moments, she finally spoke up again.

"Despite how we got here," she started. "I'm glad that we found each other again."

The brunette was trying hard to speak evenly and keep her feelings honest, but more along the lines of friendship.

"Me too." Miraj smiled at her, then impulsively stood and reached over the narrow table to give Amaranai a hug, "I'm glad you survived. When we get out of here, we need to kill more vampires. Or you could come pirating with me."

Amaranai was thrown off by the hug, but she welcomed it anyway. The words were nice, as well, but Amaranai was too distracted by feeling Miraj against her. There was something about the girl that made Amaranai flutter. What she had told the pink haired pilot about that feeling about someone else that intrigued her was true and for now, Miraj was the one that was intriguing to Amaranai. She heard the invitation to be a pirate.

"I'll go pirating with you if you get to be my wench," she said with a smile. After a moment. "Unless you would rather I be the wench?"

Miraj laughed out loud and let Amaranai go. "I'm normally the cabin boy," she admitted, "You've seen I'm not a natural in a corset. But you can wench. I bet you'd look fabulous, and there's a really cool character in the books. She doesn't take any crap."

A chuckle from Amaranai and a smile crossed her face.

"Oh, I don't take much crap," she started. "And there's nothing wrong with a wench teaching the cabin boy something."

Miraj bobbed her head from side to side in a 'maybe' gesture, an impish msile on her face. "I'm not sure there's much Carmila can teach him after his time with the pirates. But if you're interested, I can show you what Roger keeps in his trousers." There was a look in Miraj's eye, an inside joke she was dying to pull.

She didn't say anything, but Amaranai thought it might be interesting to see exactly what she meant.

After a few more moments, Amaranai looked at Miraj.

"Thanks for stopping by," she started. "It's nice to talk to you again."

"And you." Miraj drained the dregs of her raktajino with a bit of a grimace. The ends were always grim. "I'm going to take this headache to bed. See if it goes away in the morning. And this time, I can't dodge you. I think I've got the cabin across the hall, so if you get bored, come find me."

Amaranai nodded.

"Deal," she said. "But I warn you, I can get bored pretty quickly."

She grabbed her plate and stood up to take it back to the replicator. She was happy to have talked with Miraj and despite what she learned, Amaranai still harbored deep feelings for the girl.

[OFF]

--

Lt jg Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief Tactical and Security Officer
IKS Du'JaQ

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
IKS Du'JaQ

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