Hooch, Roses, and Chicken Stickers

Posted on Sat Nov 2nd, 2024 @ 5:09pm by Lieutenant JG Zai & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami

1,562 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: Chief Coms Officer Office | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Late Afternoon post launch

ON:

Zai found himself walking to the Communications office in the late afternoon post launch. The ship had just drifted far enough from the docking rings and the station to hit impulse. He had several questions and a thank you for Adrianna. The trip to her office didn't take long and he brought along some engineering hooch. As he stood by her door he smiled. In one hand was the bottle and in the other a pink rose. He grinned as he stared at it and the note that accompanied it.

He rang the chime waiting to be let in.

Adrianna looked up from her desk, her finger running around her collar. Why were Starfleet uniforms so uncomfortable. "Enter," she briefly looked back to her notes. She was going through some transmissions from prior cargo ships. When she looked back up, her eyes went to the hooch, the flower then Zai, "not sure what I am more curious about-- that grin or the request that comes before using the hooch or flower as a bargaining chip."

He laughed, something he did more freely now, "The hooch is a thank you for dinner, the flower comes with a note." He handed her the flower and then dramatically read the note. "Darling, please ensure this flower is delivered to Adrianna Baciami. Please tell her thank you for making my years and my next thousand years by punching Lee where it hurts with such gusto." He sighed. "You made Sabastian happy, and as for what Fang said he is correct about the ceremony, but we die only when we don't go through the metamorphosis by the time we hit a certain age and only if we truly meet our soulmate, it's why we all look for our soulmate. It's got nothing to do with being intimate with someone. The metamorphosis does but the dying is...well a bit of broken telephone." He sat down. "But thank you for sharing that with me. Our people are warned about the metamorphosis when we are quite young." He sighed.

Adrianna smiled and nodded, "I said your eyes only. To be fair, it was more because of the potential death though. Didn't want to upset Sab if it held truth." She relaxed back in her seat, "I am sorry for running out on your night though. I think Sab easily forgave me when he packed up leftovers though."

"He did and honestly no need to apologize I knew it had to be something important. As for my eyes only I saw it first and I showed it to him because of the story. It's a conversation we had after our counseling session with Alexander, I explained the full impacts of metamorphosis, soulmates, and if he is my soulmate. In truth if he is what my people refer to as the missing part of my soul my metamorphosis has already been triggered and I will know it well in not too long a time. He shrugged. Once it's triggered if not completed then yes, in a while I will fade but death has never scared me."

He shrugged. "But I'm not worried about that. Now then may I ask a favour?"

"Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all," she quoted what she had said to Fang, "I hope this is right for you. I don't want to lose you just yet." There was a darkness to her humour, but that was just her. Adrianna took a breath, "of course. What do you need?"

He smiled. "I'll try to stick around. As for the favour Sabastian will be calling me quite a bit. I was hoping that you could have the staff at your department patch him through no matter what...I mean if the ship is battle that's a call me back hun but other then that day or night I wish to hear from him. I really want this to work."

Adrianna thought about it for a moment, "I would normally agree, but I have recently upset the status quo. I need to keep my department in check so that I don't get any repercussions. I've got security on my back at the moment. Because of my role though--" she paused, "why not ask him to call me. The assumption is that anyone that calls is mission or intel related, so they get put straight through. I'll just patch him through. Of course-- if it gets too much, you both need help."

He laughed. "Well it will be once a day while we are in range. But we'll send video files and letters via regular channels but I will ask him to call you and he can use Engineering channels too since we did have upgrades to the ship and base did them so... makes sense in a way." He grinned. "I think we do need help. He's...amazing. Do you know what he did?"

Adrianna looked to the PaDDs on her desk. She only wished she could be this happy, but Vance still felt a little out of reach, even if her hopes were still up because of his random riddle. Her eyes went back to Zai, "he really seems good for you. What did you do?"

"He broke into my quarters replaced my wall with a floor to ceiling window during these repairs so that I could see the stars because he knows I love to look at them, he got the doctor to prescribe a tub for my anxiety so that I could soak my cares away, and he added a special holo screen so I could talk to him while looking at the stars." He sighed. "And he bartered and traded favours to get this done because it would make me happy. He didn't care that it would add more work to him."

She was silent a moment, "you understand: I know your rota, I now know you have a tub. I will be breaking in at some point."

He laughed. "My tub is yours when you want it and when you feel like looking at the stars I'll show you how to disengage the fake holo wall. He even put a holo wall up." Zai shook his head. "He's such a goof but a most wonderful one."

Adrianna smiled, "I'm glad to hear it. I have been so stressed lately. I could use just a mere hour to forget everything and take time to just--" she didn't know how to describe it, or even translate it so she let out a breath and sighed in relief.

"Listen I... ummm have something to tell you about Vance."

"If you are about to tell me bad news, can you not," she sighed, "between him not quite being him and Jason being-- never mind. I'm sorry. What is it?"

"I honestly don't know what it's about. You've been honest with me and if this is some nasty surprise I'd just rather know to brake him in half." He reached into his pocket. "He had me buy a hundred of these. He wanted me to make sure you find one each day. I don't know what it means but...he wanted me to write on the back keep searching for the chickens." He handed her a chicken sticker. I have 99 more of those in my quarters. What the hell is that about?"

Adrianna took the sticker from him and looked it over. Her hand went to her mouth and she felt her stomach knot and her heart began to race. A tear threatened to fall from her eye but she blinked it away and smiled, taking a deep breath and composing herself. "It means that you have a job to do," she simply replied, "it also means that I know why he chose Betazed for his vacation spot. Just leaves--." She paused and looked back to the sticker, "amore mio, vita mia, anima gemella, sei tornato."

"And that means?"

"It means that life is about to become a little less complicated," she paused, debating telling him, but knowing that it would defeat the point, "what we need to do, is follow his instructions and let him play this out."

"Okay then. Look out for chickens. I'm glad it's nothing bad." He grinned. He pushed the rose towards her. "Don't forget to put Sabastian's rose in water and come by tonight so I can show you all the features of tub and magic window." He laughed. "oh....and if you use it when I am not there I changed my code since Fang knew the old one." He wrote it on a slip of paper and gave it to her. "I think it's time I distance myself from Fang a little."

"I'll help where I can regarding you and Fang," she nodded, "as for the chickens, it's not a bad thing. Promise. It is an inside joke between us. He's evidently had a memory triggered. I won't complain." She pushed back in her chair and replicated a small cup with water to put the rose in, "did you say 100…?" She shook her head and chuckled, "I will see you tonight. Regardless of chickens, I still need to unwind. Gawd knows I need to settle myself after what happened." She muttered the last part as if only for her ears.

"See you tonight."

OFF

 

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