Spilling the Cocoa Beans II

Posted on Thu Nov 24th, 2022 @ 3:20am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Ensign Mika Petrova

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Cassiel's Quarters
Timeline: Mission Day 23 at 1645
2663 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

“I am. Andrei knows, we talked about it.” Lyra said and sat back to sip on her coconut water. “He said he was fine with it. If he isn’t really, then he should have said that instead and I would have adjusted accordingly, but I’m not going to play the game of saying one thing while meaning the opposite. It’s boring and beneath us.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Mika said, making a funny face. She shook her head, avoiding her private knowledge. “My brother has never really done the..possessive thing..”

Lyra almost laughed, but kept her composure. She did however notice Mika’s expression and tilted her head. “What’s that face? What is it?” She prompted, though gently to not scare Mika.

“Nothing, it’s just.” Mika responded, looking down at the tray before finding Lyra’s eyes again. “Normally he doesn’t care about women at all. I’ve seen him break enough of my friends' hearts to know that. But, don’t worry, it must be different with you.”

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Only he knows that unfortunately.” She shrugged slightly and picked up another piece of mango to nibble on. “We’ll see what happens. Some people say men change, but only for one woman. I don’t know if I believe that, it sounds like something people tell themselves to believe there’s a chance with someone, but maybe it is true. I wouldn’t really know.” She took a bite of the mango and thought while she chewed and swallowed again.

“At the moment though I’m going to enjoy what I can.”

Mika smiled awkwardly but didn’t say anything. Her inhibitions were lowered, but she found her mind surprisingly blank. She had been trained from a young age not to talk too much and that conditioning never really went away. She took a sip of the coconut water and then sighed.

“My dating life is a disaster.”

“Well… unfortunately with the family you have I could see most men being incredibly intimidated by the thought of dealing with that.” Lyra shook her head. It was unfortunate really. A woman like Mika should be spreading her proverbial wings in the world of romance, but the threat of Ivan and Andrei and what they could do to a man on this ship was a steep mountain for most to climb. “I’m sure you’ll find someone though, if you’d like to.”

“I’m not sure. Sometimes I think I’m not cut out for..that.” She said, frowning. “Most men seem to want to do stuff… you know…in bed.”

Lyra blinked slowly at that. Was this really about to happen? She took another drink of her coconut water and mentally willed it to be something stronger. When it wasn’t, she sighed internally then licked her lips. “Well… yes, they do. Some faster than others to be sure. Does that… bother you?”

“Well, to be honest…yes.” Mika said with a shy expression in a quiet voice. “Sometimes I see a man who’s attractive enough that I think doing that with him might not be…gross, but I just can’t imagine myself doing that. Especially before I knew it was for forever.”

Mika demurred even more then, clearly ashamed.

“Forget I said anything.” She said simply, and took several pieces of meat and cheese at once, starting to eat them nervously.

Yes, this was indeed happening. Lyra watched Mika for a moment, studying her even though it was blatantly obvious how the young woman was feeling about the particular subject. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to wait, Mika. There’s nothing wrong with not either. It is simply a matter of personal preference.” She smiled slightly. “I promise you though when you do find the right person, someone who is attentive to you, it is far from gross.”

“Then all I have to do is find a man who is attractive, patient, and willing to defend against several attempts on his life from my family.” Mika said, offering a drunken smile, though her mind was clearly defogging. “So, a unicorn.”

“Your family would eat a unicorn. You need a dragon.” Lyra finally chuckled and smiled. “I wouldn’t worry too much, Mika. I’m sure there is someone here for you, you just have to be patient and open to finding it.”

“Maybe.” She said, “For now, I’d settle for graduating. If I were back home, I would have been first in my class. But, for some infuriating reason, in the Delta Quadrant I’m still a cadet. Maybe I should find a man who can solve problems without extreme violence to see what that’s like to have around.”

“You should.” Lyra agreed quite suddenly and soberly, then gentled again. “Or more accurately one who can do both. Violence should rarely be the first option, though sometimes it is a necessary one.” She picked up some meat and cheese to put on a cracker and then mused for a moment. “I promise I will do my best with Brasken for you.”

“I know you will.” Mika said with a sad expression. “And I hope you succeed. Because, otherwise, Andrei will try his best. And I’ve seen him on the playground.”

And Lyra had seen him with a sword - and not the happy fun kind. “Well we’ll just have to hope for the best and if he wants to be stupid about it, that’s on him. Unfortunately for him, it’s not like when we were brought into this quadrant the entire medical staff was mysteriously killed off leaving him the only viable option as a medical doctor on board.”

“I Can think of a few other candidates.” Mika said and took a sip of the drink. Then she shook her head. “That was uncalled for. I’m drunk. I should stumble home and take a nap.”

“Maybe, though with Andrei being Andrei, I might be out of luck with a few of those candidates.” Lyra chuckled and finished off her coconut water. “You’ll always have my back though, right?”

“Are you asking if I’ll let Dr. Lamont kill you on an operating table?” Mika asked, a half smile on her face. “I would certainly put up some protest.” She said and then told from the seat, taking a moment to steady herself and get her bearings and then walked over to the table. She placed her tray and drink there and noticed a PADD sitting next to them. She glanced at it curiously, her eyes scanning over the information contained. If she hadn’t been drinking she never would have looked, but in her present state, her curiosity got the better of her.

“Lamont, or any of his nurse girlfriends.” Lyra chuckled, though truthfully it was a real concern she had hidden under the humor. It was also part of the reason she was going to dinner with Brasken; she needed someone on her side to make sure that didn’t happen. Had she not been committed to Andrei, she most definitely would have slept with the good doctor and likely Corvin to seal some deeper loyalty to her, but that wasn’t an option anymore. For now.

When Mika glanced at the PADD she would see the title “Burdens of Command” at the top and underneath it “Author: Vice Admiral Hector Ijos” both blatantly standing out from the text. From her time in the Academy, she might have remembered it was one of the books command branch cadets were required to read.

“Let me walk you back home. I promise I won’t assault anyone on the way, hm?”

“Uhhhm.” Mika said, peeling her eyes off of the PADD, clearly curious about its contents. She smiled at Lyra instead of asking, however. “I would appreciate that. The walk and the…not assault.”

Smirking, Lyra moved into her room to pull on some pants and slide into some sandals before walking out again. She had seen Mika look and seen the curiosity on her face. When she walked back out, she shrugged slightly. “We have moved so many of our command officers to other ships that I thought it might be prudent to at least look into the option and see if it suits my tastes. Being the fourth or fifth in line is much more serious when we keep acquiring new vessels.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Mika said, looking at Lyra uncomfortably. She didn’t seem particularly worried, but embarrassed, like she’d seen someone else’s secret.

Lyra simply smiled at Mika and made it reach her eyes. “Well, hopefully. It is probably the most boring book I’ve read.”

With a smirk, she placed her hand on Mika's back between her shoulders to guide her to the door. “Come on then, let’s get you back home.”

“I’ve proven a very stable drunk so far.” Mika said, smiling as she walked toward the door. As they exited into the hallway, she looked over her shoulder, half expecting another incident like the last time they’d walked together. When no one was there, she rolled her eyes and started walking. “Command seems so stressful. I don’t know why anyone would want it.”

"I think I'd find what you do to be much more stressful, honestly." Lyra shrugged and simply walked next to Mika at a leisurely pace. She didn't touch her, but did keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't stumble. Truthfully, they were both stressful in a similar vein, but for different reasons.

“Being a doctor?” Mika asked, raising her eyebrows and then smiling sweetly. “No, that’s the best job in the world. Not always fun and…a very hard one to get. But so rewarding.”

“Is it? What makes it so fun and rewarding for you?” It wasn’t often that Lyra engaged in this sort of questioning behavior herself, but with Mika she didn’t mind. She wanted the answers out of genuine curiosity, not necessarily to have information. Though that never hurt.

“It sounds stupid and naive but…” Mika hesitated, having learned the hard way to keep this to herself in the academy. But Lyra made her feel safe. “I just think that saving peoples lives… making them healthy again is really proff…” she paused, and decided she couldn’t say the word in a drunken state, “it’s really great.”

Lyra smiled just slightly when Mika struggled to say the word and opted for something easier. “That doesn’t sound stupid. It sounds honorable and obviously is a great necessity in life. I think it’s wonderful you are so passionate about it.” Almost as passionate as she herself was about ending the unworthy.

“Thank you.” Mika said, smiling at the compliment. It wasn’t expected. “My classmates at the Academy don’t agree with you, though. They were all achievement and power, and thought I was odd for actually wanting to do good.”

"It is entirely possible for all three of those goals to exist at once. You will do good, Mika, and with that you will also achieve great things and wield a considerable amount of power." Lyra glanced over to her as they stepped onto the lift to head down to deck five. "What is your long term plan? Well, I suppose more accurately what was it? What will you return to when we get home?"

“I was hoping to be Chief Medical Officer on a frontier station or planetary installation.” Mika answered, her mind moving to her plans of the past. “Then maybe I’d leave for civilian life, find someone to spend my life with, and maybe get a job with the Ministry of Agriculture and Health.”

She’d clearly given the question a lot of thought. Then, escaping her adolescent internal self pity for a moment, she looked at Lyra.

“What about you?” She asked with interest. “You have to have had some serious plans for the future, considering.”

“Considering what?” Lyra asked, smirking and quirking a brow though it was a genuine question. She wanted to know what Mika found to be worth saying something like that. Was it because of her blood or because she was seeing Andrei? Or perhaps something else entirely?

“Because, I imagine that, for the first time in your life, you’re allowed to make your own plans for yourself. And then you were dragged into the Delta Quadrant with the rest of us.” Mika answered as the turbolift doors opened. “You must have dreams of your own.”

As they stepped off the lift, Lyra considered how to answer the question. The truth was she hadn't really had plans for herself until she had finally broken away from her family's control and entered the service of the Imperial Fleet. It had finally removed the proverbial collar and chain her father Alexander had put around her neck and given her freedom to come to terms with what her life had become after her papai's passing, with what had been done to her. It had finally given time for what had simply been a desire for vengeance against the Ivers family to bloom into something much more terrible.

"Oh I don't know, really, Mika." She finally began, her tone conversational and upbeat as it had been since they had started talking. "I know what was expected of me, and I suppose over the years I just accepted that it would be how it would be. My family would take back their power and I'd immediately be sold off to the highest bidder, pop out children, and drift into obscurity. Out here I don't have to do that, but there also isn't exactly much opportunity to advance here either unless someone were to die and given the people who are ranking above me currently, I'd rather that not happen."

She flashed a wink to Mika as they walked. "In the end Mika, I suppose all I really want is to not do that very thing - drift into obscurity. I want to be remembered." One way or another.

Mika pondered that for a moment in silence. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard an answer like that before, though she didn’t resemble it much personally.

“I always knew my plans would be interrupted when my parents found the right man for me to marry. As long as I can practice medicine, I’d be okay with it.” She said, stopping then in front of her door and turning to the other woman. “Thank you for your help, Lyra. You’re very kind.”

"Sometimes." Lyra smirked and reached out to place a hand on Mika's shoulder. "I'll speak with Brasken at dinner. Now if you don't mind a bit of semi-sisterly advice? Take a shower, brush your hair, have some real people food, and try to do something fun for yourself. You'll feel at least a bit better."

"I will." Mika said with a smile, her eyes casting down in a brief display of shame at her current state before returning to Lyra. She leaned in then and gave Lyra a tight hug, holding her for a few moments and then releasing her again. She then turned and input her code. When the door opened, she gave a feminine wave with the twiddling of her fingers.

Lyra had returned the hug with warmth and strength herself but was careful to not squeeze Mika too hard as she feared bringing something unpleasant up from the young woman’s gut. When released, she squeezed both of Mika’s shoulders and stepped back. “Alright, Mika. Take care.”

With that, Lyra turned and walked away as Mika retreated into her quarters. The warmth faded from her expression, replaced by her typical unreadable, cool face.

END