Loose Lips (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 01 Jun 2017 @ 3:29pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Nesh Saalm

2,763 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - San Francisco, Various
Timeline: MD 05, 1211 hrs

[ON]

Nesh loved San Francisco. Even dominated as it was by Starfleet Command, it was an amazing place. No wonder so many people came out here to be artists and innovators over it's history. Even a nuclear war hadn't squashed its spirit. Instead it had ended up at the forefront of a brave new galaxy.

But today something entirely terrible had happened. Nesh was bored.

Most of the people she knew were either on assignment, on a ship, or off doing something fun without her. And now, free of Starfleet, she had all the spare time she wanted, and nothing to do with it. So she ended up where she always seem to end up. Ringing Lirha's doorbell.

"Lirha!" she shouted through the door to the small apartment her sister had been assigned in the visiting officers accommodations. "Lirha open up, its me!"

At first there was nothing but silence for over thirty seconds. In the bedroom of her temporary quarters, Lirha had been casually laying on her bed dressed in nothing. She'd spent the entire morning lazily lounging while watching the latest FNN feeds on her LCARS monitor in order to catch up on what she'd missed over the past several months.

When she'd heard a voice at the door, she let out a groan and reluctantly rolled out of the sheets and on to her feet. Donning a loose and revealing night robe, she eventually made her way to the door and spoke.

"...Yes? Who is it?"

"I told you. It's me." Nesh shouted back. "Open up and let me in." Nesh rolled her eyes. Lirha could be so dense. Who else was going to visit?

The audible sound of the door's locking mechanism engaging could be heard, after which the entrance slowly parted to allow the younger Orion to enter. "Nesh?" Lirha asked, somewhat dumbfounded that she'd shown up on her doorstep. "What are you doing here? You know this isn't allowed during the Starfleet inquiry process..."

Nesh rolled her eyes even harder. "I'm not in Starfleet anymore. They can't tell me what to do. They especially can't tell me I can't see my own sister." She pushed her way in, gave her sister's near naked form a frown, "Get dressed, I want steamed buns made with actual steam and you can't come with me while you're naked."

Yes, they can, and they just did, Lirha thought to herself with a mental sigh. No doubt she'd have to answer for this breach of protocol during her next interview, but she'd by lying to herself if she cared very much about it. "Steamed buns? From where, Jiilav's place on Market Street?" she wondered, switching to her native tongue.

"Anywhere that does it with real actual food. Replicated ones don't taste the same, they're always too dry. Market street will be full of tourists." Nesh considered that a plus, she could people watch and pass judgement on fashion choices, but Orion women could still get plenty of...looks.

Pondering whether or not it was worth it to get dressed and head out into the downtown area for a casual lunch, Lirha reached up and stretched her arms over her head while arching her back. Suddenly she craved some deep-fried wing slugs. "Fine. Give me ten minutes to get dressed," she agreed before disappearing back into her bedroom to don a more presentable outfit.

When she returned fully dressed, she grabbed a small PADD and her commbadge from the coffee table then slipped them both into her pocket. "After you," she motioned to Nesh indicating for her to lead the way.

Nesh looked her up and down "You keep dressing like that, I'm going to confuse you with Mom."

"Shut up," the older Orion rebuked. The mention of their mother caused Lirha to narrow her eyes at Nesh. "You didn't tell her you were back in San Francisco, did you?"

"Nope. I'm not dumb. I want to have fun." Nesh stuck a tongue out at Lirah, showing off the golden stud that had been pierced though it.

And so it began. The first of many piercings that most Orions eventually obtained. Lirha just hoped that none of them would progress to her cheeks and lips, as was common with most of her kind. "You need to tell her you've returned. Or else I will," she threatened. "I know you don't want to talk to her but she cares about us. Deal?"

"Fine." Nesh started out of the apartment, heading down for the transit stop. "Tomorrow. Today is for pork buns and eye candy."

After leaving the apartment, the two Orions strolled down several blocks until they arrived at the airtram station. From there, it was only a short two-minute hop to San Francisco's busy downtown center. The Market Street station was especially crowded a this time of day, being lunch hour for most of the working professionals within the city. In addition, tourists of all species crowded the station and produced a loud, vibrant buzz of chatter in the air.

Lirha and Nesh crossed the busy street then walked down a few more blocks until they arrived at the small Orion quarter of the city. Jiilav's Bar and Cafe was right on the first corner and looked exactly as Lirha'd remembered it over the years. The smell of gourmet Earth and Orion foods permeated the air and made her mouth wet.

The smell was very enticing, and Nesh's stomach rumbled. Ever since lirha had first dragged her to San Francisco, they'd come here, and it was a welcome sight. Plenty of people were stopping there for lunch, mostly humans and Orions, but other species as well, Andorians, a couple of Tellerites, assorted others.

"Now there's a smell worth getting out of bed for." Nesh sighed happily. She grabbed Lirha by the arm. "Let's get a seat on the street" She dragged her big sister over to a table set on the pavement just outside the huge open window and waved to the waiter. He was Orion, tall and densley muscled, his biceps tight against the white shirt he wore. She nudged Lirha as he approached with menus. "And the view is not bad at all."

The older Saalm couldn't help but grin with approval. "Yes...and he seems about your age," she mused while looking over the young man's frame with envy. "Do you want me to introduce you?" she offered.

Nesh grinned. She didn't need lirha to play wingman, but she wasn't going to say no. When the option presents, always gang up on your victim. "Oh, yes. Unless you want him. I know its been a dry spell for you."

A sideways smirk spread across Lirha's lips. "I've been just fine." She didn't mention Amaranai but suddenly thought of her and grinned to herself. "Hello," she greeted the large Orion with a warm smile.

"Hello, mistresses" He gave them a dazzling smile, handing the padds to them as he did so, "Are you here for the dim sum? Or something more substantial?"

Nesh raised an eyebrow. The waiter was definitely substantial, and she gave him a very direct look up and down. "I'm thinking something very substantial," she said to Lirha, using the human language, forgetting that the waiter probably had a Universal Translator on him, "I can go either way, as long as there's steam buns. What about you?"

"Yes, perhaps a plate of fried wing slugs for an appetizer. A large plate," Lirha clarified with a smile. "And with a side of xiqai" she added.

"And some Char sui," Nesh added, "and spring rolls too please."

"Thank you, mistress," The waiter took the padds back, gave a short bow to the both and departed.

"Shame he's not on the menu" Nesh watched his departing form, taut butt framed by the tight pants he was wearing, becoming mesmerised byt the lift and clench with each foot step away from them.

Looking over at her sister and noticing her undivided attention on the young man's backside, Lirha smirked and lightly shook her head with amusement. "I've heard if you stare long enough, you'll develop telepathic abilities and can seduce him without saying a single word."

Nesh gave Lirha a flat look, "At least I'll be getting some. Unlike some people sitting not to far away." She replied archly.

"...Just what makes you think I've become abstinent?" Lirha asked with a furrowed brow. Obviously her sex life was none of Nesh's business, but she also knew her sister was more familiar with her various partners over the years than most. At the same time, however, if she didn't know about Amaranai, then Lirha'd done her job well to keep it a secret.

Nesh started ticking the points off on her fingers."You were dead and unable to walk for at least 6 weeks. Then your options were klingons. ugh. Then we were all packed like sardines into that tiny Chaka. Maybe you got some on Airilith or whatever its name was, but they all seemed pretty straight laced and I doubt you'd do anything as unclassy as get it off in a holoprogram. Quite frankly, if it wasn't for the air filters, that ship would have been an orgy by day fourteen."

Lirha let out a soft laugh at that. It was true that neither of them had been administered their pheromone suppressants until they'd arrived on board Atlirith, and it'd probably taken a discrete toll on those around them. "It seems like you are the one who is craving it, with your one-targed thoughts," she countered before reminiscing of the days when she was Nesh's age. "I've felt the same as you, of course, don't forget. Needing a release many times each day and not finding any Humans who could keep up... Her verbal thoughts trailed off while she began to think about her past partners in Starfleet Academy when she was a mere cadet.

Nesh's eyes followed the waiter as he moved around inside the restaurant with hungry eyes. "I could take the Academy's entire Parises squares team, and still eat him for desert," she said. "I burnt out the batteries on my favourite toy too How are you not going insane?"

How was she not going insane? "Because I have a new partner," Lirha finally admitted. "After Siren was reassigned, it was hard for me to look at someone else in that same way. You were there at our wedding...you remember how much we loved each other." There was a short pause while she swallowed several painful memories away. "After I was injured during the battle in the nebula and I lost my unborns, I had a long time to think during my rehabilitation. And...I realized that life always moves forward, with or without us." She gave Nesh a small smile. "I've been through much and recently found someone else who shared my pain. We've...become very close in a short time."

Nesh looked shocked. She couldn't believe Lirha hadn't mentioned something that big. "No!" Then she gave her big sister a punch in the arm, but not hard. "That's for not telling me! Stars and Stones, Lirha. How could you not telling me you were getting some? Who is it? That shuttle pilot? WHat's his name? Darius? Or Dr Warraquim? Who? Tell me!"

The older Orion narrowed her eyes at her younger sister. "...Why are you so eager to know? So you can tell everyone and finally make sure I'm court-martialed?"

"Bitch!" Nesh said. "I wouldn't tell anyone. Let alone get you into trouble. You take that back!" How could Lirha say that? She didn't want to get her sister into real trouble. she could be such a cow at times.

Rolling her eyes, Lirha leaned back in her patio chair and sighed. Perhaps she'd been a bit too harsh on Nesh. But sometimes attitude needed to be met with attitude for the point to cross home, and she hoped it would remind her sister of her place in the family. "Fine. I take it back. But you would tell someone eventually," she replied, "...you're just too young to sometimes realize the harm that gossip does."

"Sorry? Have you been to the academy? That place runs off gossip." Nesh was more than old enough to know the gossip that ran round. Scuttlebutt was practically currency. "And who would I tell? I quit remember?"

The mention of Nesh's Academy withdrawal caused Lirha to grind her teeth. She'd lobbied so hard for her sister to enter the cadet program and had pulled several favors, and it still didn't sit well with her that Nesh had seemingly taken it for granted. "Yes, I remember. I approved it. And now, you don't have to answer to anyone which is how you like it. Without consequences, right? Don't try and snow me by acting like there's no one to tell. You'll tell everyone and not care."

"I wouldn't!" Nesh protested. Her sister could be so unfair. "I'll prove it. Tell me who you're bonking and I won't tell a soul! It will still be a secret in a years time, assuming you don't out yourselves first."

Before Lirah could reply one way or the other, The waiter returned with their food, as well as pots of fragrent tea. "Can I get such fair mistresses anthing else?"

The fresh plate of simmering wing slugs almost made Lirha drool with hungry anticipation. She was quite content to munch on them for the foreseeable future, and so she simply shook her head lightly to the side to decline the offer. "Nothing for me. But I think my sister may want something more from you...?" she replied, grinning with only her eyes at Nesh. "May we ask your name?"

Nesh glared daggers at her sister, but the waiter was focused on the older Saalm and didn't notice. "I'm Tammuz." He looked over at Nesh. "What's yours?"

Nesh's expression changed in a flash. "Nesh Saalm."

"Nice to meet you Nesh," he turned back to LIrha, "And your sister. What can I get for you, Nesh?"

Nesh gave him a charming smile, using every gram of willpower to not gush all over him like a child. "Right now, I'm good. But I may need to talk to you about..dessert." Yay me, totally smooth.

Tammuz gave her an appreciative once over. "Make sure you do. Until then, mistress." He turned away, and Nesh thoroughly enjoyed watching him leave.

When he was out of earshot, Nesh leaned into LIrha "Did you see me? I was so totally cool about it." She gushed, unable to believe her own suaveness.

"Yes...very totally cool...," Lirha replied with an eyeroll. Her attention was now diverted to the plate of food in front of her and it only took a fraction of a second before she'd snatched the largest wing slug from the tray and placed it on her plate. Per usual, she reached down and tore off one of the slug's four crispy wings then dipped it in the bowl of spice before plopping it into her mouth. The crunchy and battered delicacy was almost to die for, and she let out a soft hum of delight. "Have some," she mumbled to Nesh, knowing she enjoyed them almost more than she.

Nesh already had her mouth full of steamed pork bun, and looking like she was lose to sexual bliss from the experience. "In a minute" she said around her full mouth. She chewed for a moment, and when she had demolished the first bun, she reached for her first slug, stuck the whole thing in the dip in one go. "You still didn't tell me who you're doing."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer

Nesh Saalm
Civilian

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