Posted by Lieutenant Commander Richard Marsh (Person Who Keeps The CO In Line (XO)) in Surprise Attack at the Pet Emporium (Tag XO)

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Rick reacted just about instantaneously to Brenna getting pushed towards him by placing his hands on both of her sides stabilizing her like she weighed nothing to him. He made direct eye contact with her and had a witty grin come across his face, “Easy there grace. I did not realize that you missed me THAT much.” He winked at her clearly being humorous, immediately set his hands back at his sides, and took a half a step back. He did not want Brenna to feel uncomfortable in their reunion and preferred to keep everything professional, “I will be shaving this evening to avoid a lecture from my new Captain. I figured that you would call me out on it.” He then paused for a moment and thought about how he would approach his next question.

Her hands reached out to stead herself, and landed on sculpted pecks. Whoa....Richard had always been fit, but this was like Captain America compared to before his super soldier transformation. How could his grip still be so familiar after 8 long years. She met his gaze and then laughed. He had only ever called her ‘Grace’ when she did something spectacularly clumsy, and that wasn’t often. “So kind of you to catch me Sir MouseHeart.” Oh if he only knew how much she’d missed him, at first. Then how often she thought about him and wondered what might have been, and where is he now? She stepped back when he dropped his hands, quickly dropping her own hands. The captain, right, Zarcal. “Make sure you wait for him to let you in, the fluorine atmosphere could really hurt you.” Wow Brenna, that was good conversation. Why in the world are you so awkward, it’s Richard.

“Brenna, I would like to have dinner with you, catch up, and have a discussion about the Constellation. It has been eight years now, a new ship for me, and it is truly a breath of fresh air to see a familiar face here. How about I pick you up at 19:00 tomorrow night?” Rick wanted to give her time to process everything, since it clearly came as a surprise to her. “Would you be comfortable with that? We will be working together closely as first and second officer so we need to be on the same page in regards to command and operations.” A look of curiosity was now evident on his face. His intentions were genuine, but he masked his feelings from her. Being with her in the past helped him master concealing his thoughts and emotions from her in most situations. Just like in the game of poker, he did not want to give away his hand.

• Lieutenant Commander Marsh, XO

Dinner? Brenna turned her gaze to the reader, ‘He wants to have dinner. After 8 years and suggests we wait till tomorrow? I’m supposed to wait till tomorrow? Suuuuurrrrre....I can do that, right?’ She took a deep breath though and looked, disappointed.

See Fenris! He made her sad again. Though I don’t know why eating would make her sad. It’s a wonderful idea. I’m hungry too. Geri tossed out. That’s not sad, she’s NOT sad, humans have too many emotions but that one isn’t really sad. Fenris insisted. Fekri, Oh you two stop. Humans are so strange about picking a mate, ignore them and let me take a nap.

They were going to work together, he was her boss now, she was 2O. It was just work, that’s all it was, and she was supremely disappointed about that. “I’ll meet you there, 17 forward instead of 18. It will be easier to talk.” She was going to have to find a way to work with the officer and not be with the man. Of course if she could read him she’d know how wrong her assessment was, but he was very good at that. “I suppose you are here to pick out your pet?”
Lt Cmdr Atoded.

Rick green-lighted Brenna’s plan to meet at 17 forward tomorrow evening and made animated gestures with his hands as he spoke, “You know the ship better than I do, so I will defer to your exemplary judgement. Hopefully we do not have to listen to any Klingon opera throughout dinner. Did you know that the Klingon singers literally stab themselves in the heart and die after finishing the last vocal note? They are a fascinating race, but so barbaric.” He maintained a wide stance and faced Brenna with excellent posture highlighted by his broad shoulders. He was clearly comfortable talking to his ex-girlfriend despite the significant duration of time since their last known engagement.

Was he rambling? Yes he was, how interesting. Anyone else wouldn’t notice, but Brenna, well Brenna had spent more than just time with him. Intimacy when being Betazed (or any telepathic species) was quite different from how Humans viewed it. And they, Brenna and Richard, had been so much more. He was filling the seconds while his brain processed what he needed to do. Oh his posture and body language emanated total confidence and control. It showed off those broad shoulders and powerful muscles quite nicely too. But she knew him and he was rambling - about Klingon opera and that meant she knew exactly what he was trying NOT to think about. Them, and what they were together. Richard only rambled about Klingon opera when he was trying to stay focused and not be focused on her and himself. She took a step towards him, laughing softly. “Klingon opera, Richard?” His name coming off like a warm caress. “You’ve only been here two minutes, and already you’re resorting to Klingon Opera.”

He furrowed his brow in response to Brenna’s question as he pointed at himself with his thumb and a clenched fist, “A pet? Ha! For me? I have enough trouble keeping up with taking care of myself.” He smirked at Brenna. He made direct eye contact with Brenna and figuratively fell into her lovely Betazoid eyes, “I have never given it much thought either, so I do not have a clue what kind of pet I would ever even take home with me. I do admire the three huskies of yours though. I am sure they make fantastic furr children. You are one of the most caring women I have ever met in my entire life as it is, so they are quite fortunate to have you as a mother.” He pivoted of of his back right heel, turning to face the three dogs, “And don’t any of you forget it, ever! That is an order.” Rick reverted back to facing Brenna and it was evident that he looked forward to hearing what she had to say at this point.

• Lieutenant Commander Marsh, XO

She smiled, a slight blush at his compliment. He used to mean it, and she had no reason to think he didn’t know. At his words and attention, Fenris sat up, he didn’t move, he was too well trained, but he sat up, eyes focused on him, tail wagging furiously. He looked from Richard to Brenna and back and back again. Brenna could feel it, his desire to have more attention from Richard, to know him and the excitement. She sighed and made a slight hand gesture, “Go ahead Fenris.” Her voice was soft but the hand signal was all he needed and he was right on top of Richard in an instant, sniffing, pawing, tongue lolling in doggy excitement, he paused to sniff Brenna once and then sniff Richard again. TOLD YOU he put his scent on her when he caught her! Geri and Fekri gave doggy sighs and ignored him.

Richard took a knee and pet Fenris, “That is such a good boy.” He laughed due to the Fenris’ excitement and glanced upwards to meet Brenna’s gaze, “Your son Fenris loves me. It is to bad I can not take him home with me. I would not want to pry him from his mother.” He scratched behind Fenris ears and pet him profusely to show him that he is loved by all who come across his path. After a few moments of dog love, he returned to both feet and followed Brenna as she provided him with a tour of the pets along with potential options.

Fenris wiggled and writhed around, his tail wagging so hard his whole body moved with it. You are embarrassing yourself Fenris, stop. Fekri snorted and then put his head back on his paws. Fenris was oblivious to his litter brother’s criticism; he was on doggy cloud 9. Ear scratches were the best, oh yes they were and Fenris, head tipped almost to a 180, leaned hard into them. His whole 55 lbs weight pressed up against Rick’s leg. Yes, he is wonderful mommy, I love him. OH he wants to take me home? Please???????? When Rick stood up, Fenris had been pressing so hard into the attention he landed in an undignified heap on the floor. Brenna blinked at her dog and let out a little sigh. Geri and Fekri both snorted with doggie laughter. Unphased, Fenris was up and following along beside Richard, nosing his hand and if that didn’t work tugging slightly on his sleeve with his teeth.

“I have all kinds here. Dogs, cats,” she steps into a small screened enclosure and walks out with a tiny animal that looks like a cross of a squirrel and tea cup monkey, “to Sugar Gliders.” She holds him carefully letting Richard look at it, and then locked her gaze on his blue one. “You have to be careful with these, they bond for life, they die if you leave them behind.”
Lt Cmdr Atoded, CoP

Richard looked over the various animals, she definitely had plethora of different animals to choose from. This made sense for the size of the ship and the fact that it seemed like every member of the crew had an animal of some sort. It was definitely unusual for the amount of animals on the Constellation in compared to his other assignments in the past. He had high hopes for hearing minimal to no barking from his neighbors dogs. In regards to Brenna’s occasional hinting on where she stood with him led encouraged Richard to take initiative by providing her with a feedback option as a choice for her alone. He walked over to a couch nearby, sat down, and made himself comfortable. He patted the cushion gesturing for her to come sit with him, “Come sit with me Brenna. I know it has been an eternity, but I know you well enough to understand when you want to have a discussion with me. Do I have your permission to speak freely and express myself off the record? If you do no feel comfortable talking with me about the past, I will not hold it against you. No hard feelings of course, I am just your executive officer.” He chuckled to lighten the mood and attempted to be more inviting to her.

• Lieutenant Commander Marsh, XO

Brenna brought the sugar glider back to the enclosure. This one as an adult and had already bonded with its mate. The small female was sitting on a branch of the tree closes to the door waiting for the male to return. They were used to Brenna and so the small female wasn’t agitated yet, but she would wait there indefinitely until her mate returned. She set the sugar glider down next to the female and they sat there, clinging to each other for several long moments before scampering back to their nest. There were all the typical Earth animals that Richard would be familiar with, and then of course some from alien worlds that most members of the Federation knew, and then some that were far more exotic. Answering his unspoken question, out of habit because everyone wanted to know, and not because she was reading him, “Somewhere along the line some big wig up the chain of command got ahold of an old psychological Earth study about the benefits of pets to soldiers. So they decided to try it to see if deep space ships would benefit. Connie gets to be the lab rat, as it were. Starship construction already provides for incredible sound proofing, and extra has been added to all quarters. Connie underwent a refit for this.”

The couch he chose was near enough to her desk that she was leaning back against the half wall, arms crossed, contemplating him. Patting a seat cushion in here was a dangerous idea, and the next thing Richard new he was being ‘mauled’ by Fenris. Who upon seeing Richard pat the couch took it as an invitation to get up and the brown and grey husky was now draped across his lap, head resting on his chest, puppy eyes staring adoringly up at him. The wave of contentment, excitement, and attachment coming off the dog made it very clear. Brenna had lost Fenris to Richard. Oddly enough that didn’t make her sad, she knew Richard loved dogs and would take care of him. She wasn’t sure how Geri and Fekri were going to do with it though.

He wanted to speak freely, off the record. A small device appeared in her hand and the soft click of two buttons could be heard. One locked the doors, the other caused a subtle shift in the room. The air changed, cycling within itself rather than the ship, and a good portion of the electronic humming stopped, no more recordings, visual or audio. The device disappeared back into her pocket, her arms returned to her sides and she stood up straight and moved to the couch. Brenna didn’t waste movement or show off, and it was those qualities that seemed to show off her physical attributes the best, her coordination, flexibility, and the subtle ripple of tone muscle. She contemplated him quietly a moment as she sat, and then relaxing against the back of the couch she asked, “And what about me Cmdr? Do I get to speak freely as well? I’m on duty I don’t have the luxury of rank and position to let me do whatever I want.”
Lt Cmdr Atoded, CoP