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

(snip)

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.”

Richard smirked for a moment while he thought, ‘I have not seen this woman in eight years and she can still answer my questions before I think about asking them.’ He tilted his head slightly while observing Brenna’s appearance while she had her back turned. She was still as gorgeous as ever, he probably should have tried to keep her around eight years ago. He had just reached his thirties and had thought about settling down with a wife in the near future, she would make a fantastic one if she had not changed over the years in a negative way. After he finished listening to her lecture on Starfleet psychological experiments with animals he responded, “I think that is a promising idea. I assume you are the great shepard of the Constellation flock, yeah?” His Australian accent stood out like a sore thumb which usually led to others asking him where he was original from, “The position suits you and serves as an effective cover for what you do for your day job.” He grinned at her. He knew that she was involved in intelligence from the past and was quite witty himself.

Long years of learning to hide gut reactions meant Richard wouldn’t know Brenna had heard his thought, but she smiled to herself at his thoughts. Brenna laughed, and it had been awhile since she’d laughed like that, not 8 years, but awhile. He was absurd and funny and had a way of turning a phrase that was innocent enough but so much more at the same time. Her laughter flitted about, her eyes dancing and shook her head. Her blonde hair swaying in it’s high pony tail. “Hardly a shepherd, more like the crazy cat lady.” She loved his voice, his accent, the way the sound of the words flowed together like a warm blanket. She’d spent many a night falling asleep to the sound of it when they were at the academy. But on the practical side of things, “Yes my ‘day job’ only you and Zarcal know about that. I’m under strict orders to keep it that way. In fact the previous XO didn’t know and except for the fact that you, are you, you aren’t supposed to know either.”

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.

Richard glanced down looking over at Fenris, “That’s a good boy.” He rubbed behind Fenris’ ears and patted his side. The dog hair on his pants and lower shirt was evident, “Look at you shedding your coat. It looks like I am going to have to sweep three times a week if I take you with me to my quarters.” He pet Fenris’ head and then looked at Brenna as she began deactivating all of her intel devices and observed her approaching the couch, “Fenris it is time to get off the couch and make room for mum.”

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

Richard was impressed with how well Brenna took care of herself and admired her for that. He was attentive to her questions maintaining a quiet and respectful manner prior to answering, “Take the rest of today and tomorrow off Brenna. You have served well in the Captain’s absence and could use a well-earned break. Go get a pedicure, your hair done, or I don’t know, go do something that makes you feel good. I believe that we will make an outstanding team working together. I do recall our past history, which I treasure for the mostly. However, now we have to press forward progressing through the here and the now in an effort to create an even brighter future.” He tried his best to make her feel comfortable in what might be tough situation for her, “You are now welcome to speak freely. Do not hold back number two. I personally value your honesty.” A devilish grin spread across his face.

• Lieutenant Commander Marsh, XO

“I will admit it’s been a very long month, but long hours does not mean it’s been a bad month.” She contemplated him, listening to his words for a moment, “We were always an outstanding team, no matter what we did.” He valued her honesty, and so he would have it, in the most honest way should could tell him, mind to mind, where lies can’t form. ‘Richard, I loved you. I shared with you parts of myself that most humans can’t comprehend. But I don’t know where that leaves us. I know I told you not to wait for me, but you didn’t even try to…to change my mind. I don’t know what to do with that. I cried for months without you.’
Lt Cmdr Atoded, CoP