The Roommates' Dilemma

Posted on Sat Aug 12th, 2023 @ 2:28am by Lottie & Lieutenant Commander Yana Petrova & Ren

Mission: In-Between (S1:E5-S1:E6)
Location: Command Slave Quarters
Timeline: Date 2371-08-24 at 2100
4214 words - 8.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Slave turnover on Vengeance had been quick in the past few months. No sooner had they been promoted than they were being promoted again. The command slaves, ranks 1 and 2, and the After 11 slaves, ranks 3 and 4 had seem complete turnover. First Eritrea got her freedom and then Tuli. Then, of course, Immy had been vaporized and her position hadn’t yet been filled.

Ren didn’t have much hope in his mind of getting the spot. He didn’t have the family connections that Eritrea did, nor was he partial to blowing his boss; he didn’t have the friendly connections Tuli had from her past. He was just Ren and, in all honesty, he wasn’t sure he wanted it anyway.

He’d come aboard Vengeance in the Alpha Quadrant as the middle-ranked science slave. He worked hard, as always, but it was because he liked his work more than any desire to advance or free himself. He was a slave all his life, the son of a Betazoid slave mother and some drunken Terran soldier, and he was okay with that. He thinks.

He moved up to the highest rank in science and then he was moved up again to After 11. The continual promotions were starting to stress him out, not because he minded doing different work than before, but rather because he was very nervous he too might find himself a free man. He didn’t know what he would do with freedom at all. Slavery at the top of the food chain was safe, and he wanted to stay there. Still, he knew he would have to adjust to life as it came.

“How do you like your job here in the bar?” came the sharp yet calming voice of the Slave Mistress. Yana Petrova sat across from him at the table, nursing a fruiting drink and smiling at him. He’d had many slave masters before, even kind ones, but none who would have come to him and insisted on having drinks together to discuss his work. “I know you liked it in science before.”

“I did like it in science, yes, but this place is a great opportunity.” he said, shrugging and smiling. There was something feminine about him. He was certainly pretty, but he was also gentle. Yana smiled and turned her head to one side.

“Be honest, Ren. You’re not going to offend me.” she said softly, ignoring the bartender and the other slave in the background who were preparing for business to open that evening.

“It’s just, you got me this job, ma’am. I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful. I am grateful.” he started, looking at her with his deep black eyes. For all his meekness and politeness, he was not afraid of eye contact and drank it up. Being half-Betazoid, he always knew what people felt inside. He could tell that Yana Petrova regarded him like a son on one level and was attracted to him on another. Though, with her, he was never sure what he was picking up was accurate.

“But…” she prompted him, sipping her pink drink.

“But..in science, I was never working with more than one or two other people. In here you get a rowdy crew, you get barked at and called over. The girls get hit on, but that happens to me a bit too, especially with drunk women and..men who like men. It’s all very different and I just need to take more time to adjust.”

Yana grinned, her expression communicating some secret knowledge or understanding.

“Women tend to rise to the top of Imperial Starships because men like to look at them, to work with them, to…other things.” she said, trailing off, her silvery eyes locked on his. “It’s only natural that it would happen with men as well, at times. Otherwise, it’s manual labor, and I don’t think you want that.”

It wasn’t a threat, he was sure. Was it? He offered a smile to match hers somewhat. He signaled the meekness that was expected of him.

“Yes, I know, mistress. It’s…very awkward. But no worries, I’ll come to terms with it.” he said, but raised a brow when she shook her head.

“No, you won’t, Ren.” she said with a kind tone. “With Immy’s death, we need a new number two to work in command. I think they could really use a change of pace up there, so I’m assigning you.”

His eyes went wide and he blinked quickly several times. It was hard for him to believe what he was hearing.

“But Lonell is next in line, Mistress.” he said. “She certainly wouldn’t be too much of a temptation either. Vulcans don’t make the best lovers, I hear.”

“Do you hear that?” Yana said, and smiled when she saw him blush. “No, they don’t. But still, I want you for the job. I could explain it, but I won’t.”

Yana took a drink from her glass again, draining much of the liquid. She leaned back in her chair and took a breath, displaying her toned legs beneath her uniform skirt. She was the image of fitness and looked almost fifteen years younger than she was. It was a point of pride for her, but she knew it would soon start to fade. She looked at Ren; so young and innocent, and she wondered for a moment. Just a moment. Then she put it out of her mind.

“Nat, I’m shipping Ren up to command. You’ll get a replacement in a day or two.” Yana said over her shoulder to the radiant caramel-skinned bartender who was loading glasses into their proper places.

“You serious, boss lady?” the woman asked with a sound of mild annoyance in her voice. She had a light Puerto Rica accent which came out in a near deadpan at this point despite her made-up and perfected appearance, she sounded like someone who barely cared. “I can’t run the show down here with just one waitress. People will be in here in an hour and they’ll be chewing my ass about the slow service.”

“I’ll send a temp, girl. Don’t worry about it.” Yana responded still over her shoulder, still looking at Ren. “Get down to the slave quarters and move your belongings. You start in the morning.”

Ren nodded, his brow furrowed. He wasn’t sure why this was happening to him, especially considering how little he wanted it. But a slave had to be obedient, despite what his own desires were telling him. He stood and, after offering a wave to Nat and Lonell, left the bar. He went down to the slave quarters as he had been ordered and gathered his few belongings from the large room he had shared with several other men. He stood at the only two-person room in the slave quarters, the one where Lottie had been staying alone. Uncertain, he pressed the chime.

Lottie was in bed lying slightly curled on her side. Her gorgeous blue eyes were watery, and her full lips were set in a permanent frown behind closed doors. This had been her most common position when she wasn’t working for over a week now. The trauma of Immy’s death still plagued her, but the loss of her only friend in the world had done more damage than that even. While she still performed her tasks through the day with her typical swift perfection, the seeming joy she had taken in her work was no longer present and though she tried not to be a gray cloud, she wasn’t succeeding very well.

It wasn’t like slaves got help with their trauma.

When the chime sounded, she winced slightly and got out of bed. Automatically she smoothed her uniform and her hair as she took the few steps to the door and when it opened, her eyes moved up to see what Master was here to collect her for a task.

When she saw Ren, she was very confused, and when she saw he was carrying a box, she actively frowned. “Umm… h-hello.”

“Hi, Lottie.” Ren said, his dark eyes meeting hers. He could feel the dark cloud of grief from his previous room, and had felt it night after night since Immy’s death. Absence and pain. He offered the thinnest smile, a sign of friendliness. “Commander Petrova reassigned me to Command. I’m your new roommate, apparently.”

“But you’re a boy.” Lottie pointed out in weak protest. “We don’t stay together.”

“Apparently she’s made an exception. I don’t know why.” he said with a frown. “I was fine in the men’s dormitory, but she wants me in here. But I promise to keep to myself and give you your privacy when you’d like it.”

“Okay.” She acquiesced and stepped back from the door. “I guess… you will take Immy’s old bed.” She gestured to the one across from her own. Everything of Immy’s had been removed and the bed was made with crisply cornered sheets. It was like she had never been there at all. “We have an extra hour before our lights have to be out, but I usually go to bed at the normal time anyways.”

Ren stepped into the room past her slowly, his eyes moving about the space with curiosity. He’d never been in there and, like many, he had wondered what it was like; how luxurious it must have been. The truth was, it wasn’t very special. Besides the private bathroom and the double occupancy, it was like all the others. But, for these things, many slaves would still or even kill.

His eyes fell on Immy’s lonely bed for a few seconds. He was silent, but his mind was working. He had nursed a small crush on the young woman when she was alive; nothing more than passing attraction. He liked the sound of her voice, the way she laughed, and the way he always felt special whenever she’d looked at him. He’d stolen glances at her body, something of which he was more than a bit ashamed. Then he placed his belongings along the corner of the room where an empty space was and went over to a small closet. He grabbed a blanket and a pillow and placed them neatly on the floor, tending silently to it until it was perfectly positioned. Then he sat down on the blanket and folded his legs under him.

Lottie watched him, standing to the side and giving him space out of respect for him, but also for herself. When he moved his things into the empty area she moved to sit on her bed and expected he would do the same, so when he began to settle on the floor, she was rather surprised, her brows lifting. For a long moment she just let him sit, and then she spoke.

“Mistress Petrova won’t like it if you are tired because you slept on the floor. Do you not want to sleep in her bed?”

“I just thought..” he began, looking from Lottiie to the bed, and then back again, his big black eyes like pools of night. “You miss your friend, I imagine. I didn’t want to take her spot. I thought that might be difficult for you, to see my laying there. I can just sleep on the floor. Believe me, I’ve had worse.”

“It’s okay…” Her assurance was halfhearted but still genuine. “I knew it would be coming sooner rather than later. I don’t want you to get into trouble because you’re tired.”

“I don’t mind.” he said, shaking his head. “You’ve been through so much. I can take a bit too.”

He looked at her silently for a moment, considering.

“Do you want to….talk about it?”

“No.” She shook her head slightly. That was the last thing she wanted to do; she wasn’t constantly seeing the image of her friend disintegrating in front of her eyes, and she didn’t want to conjure it up again through talk.

“Would you rather sleep in this bed?”

“Ugh…” he said, lowering his head and blushing slightly. “Um..”

“I’ll sleep in the other bed.” She clarified shyly and looked down, playing with her fingers.

“Oh..” he said, realizing she wasn’t proposing they sleep together. “No, Lottie. I want to sleep here.”

It wasn’t true, but it was his story, and he was sticking to it. He seemed to anchor himself on the floor, a sign that he didn’t intend to budge to either bed.

“Don’t worry about me. You’ve got enough on your plate.”

“O-okay.” Finally, she seemed like she was going to let it go, but Ren would get the sense that she was only doing that now because she was embarrassed. She pulled her legs up under her and reached into the small cubby next to her bed, pulling out a brush and playing with the bristles.

He watched her, feeling everything she felt. It was haunting really. He had lost someone close to him, and everything she left unsaid just reminded him of that person. He let her sit without a word from him, but he watched her shamelessly like a dog.

“That’s a beautiful brush. It looks expensive.”

“Hmm? Oh. Um…” She clutched the brush a bit harder. “Immy um…” There was a conflict within her like she wanted to lie but she knew better. “I… I’d like to think Immy would have wanted me to have it. I know I probably shouldn’t have taken it but she really liked this brush.”

He looked at her warmly, indicating little of what might be in his mind.

“I understand.” He said slowly. “You know, honestly, I’m surprised the two of you got on so well. You’re very different people.”

“I guess that is true but… she was nice to me. That’s all I can really ask of people.” Lottie had no idea that Immy - being Immy - really had no attachment to her and could have written her off without any qualms. Lottie simply saw kindness.

Who could be unkind to Lottie, the picture of innocence?

Ren smiled gently. Everything in him wanted to focus on her feelings, but he forced himself away from the topic.

“Well it suits you. You have pretty hair.”

“Not really.” She rebuffed the compliment with a slight smile. “Immy had really pretty hair though, mine is just plain.”

He looked again at her soft brown hair and shrugged a bit, feeling the awkwardness of the moment.

“Well I like it. Maybe that makes me weird, but I do.” he said quietly, smiling a meek smile. “It looks…brushed.”

“Um well… yes, I do brush my hair.” Lottie frowned a bit and looked away. “As a slave of this rank, we are expected to be clean and tidy at all times. We are a reflection of our Mistress and her care for us. It wouldn’t do to present ourselves as anything but pristine.”

“Sure.” he said, nodding at her. “Sorry, I’m embarrassed. I don’t know what to say to you right now. You’re..you’re having a hard time of it, Lottie. I can ignore that if you want, but I’m just not a very good liar.”

“I… I’m sorry.” The young woman frowned. “I can’t really help it. Is it better if I go to sleep?”

“Maybe.” he said, looking at her with sympathetic eyes. As he sat, his mind turning the question over, something came to him. He remembered a particular love of Lottie’s that he happened to have on him. “Wait!”

He stood up and walked over to his bundle with speed and quickly unrolled a piece of paper that was sitting in the middle of the pile. He picked it up and raced over to her bed, sitting down next to her. Unwrapping it, there sat two peanut-butter cookies. He looked at her and grinned.

“Bedtime snack?”

Lottie watched Ren with a confused frown on her pretty spotted face. When he practically jumped into her bed, her eyes went wide, but she settled again immediately as he unwrapped what was in his hand. For a moment, she just looked at the cookies, and then she suddenly smiled. He could feel at least a fleeting bit of warmth and happiness rising up from the sadness that clung to her.

“Really?” She asked sweetly.

“Nothing would make me happier than to watch you eat these cookies.” he said with a bright smile and the most genuine look in his eyes. After a while, he seemed to realize what a strange statement it was and demurred. “Well…wow, sorry.”

Lottie’s crystal blue eyes came up and for just a fleeting moment settled on his eyes, then she immediately looked down at the cookies again. She started reaching for one, hesitated, and then went ahead and took it. “I don’t like eating cookies alone though.”

“Then we can share, he said, shifting it toward her and giving her a chance to take one. When she did, he retrieved the other one and took a bite. Closing his eyes, he savored the flavor. For them, this was a delicacy; something so simple as to go unwanted for a free person.

She was pleased that he wanted to share. On a ship of Terrans who were so very hard to read - some even impossible - Lottie was an open book to him for better or worse. Taking a single bite of the cookie, she could tell they were Mistress Petrova’s cookies and she briefly wondered if the woman had given Ren the cookies to bring along with him.

“Very good.” She smiled warmly then took another bite.

“I found them on my bed when I got back from After 11.” He said, taking another small bite of his own. These things were best eaten slowly to make them last longer. “I’m surprised no one stole them, honestly. They smelled amazing.”

After Lottie was done slowly chewing and savoring her current bite, she offered an explanation to him while she brushed a bit of her soft brown hair behind her ear, revealing more of the spots along her face. “These are Mistress Petrova’s cookies; I’m not surprised nobody stole them because she would be upset if they did.”

Ren considered this for a few seconds. He didn’t know her at all, and their conversation in After 11 was only the second one they’d ever had. Others seemed to, but never talked about her.

“She seems pretty nice, actually. I doubt the punishment would have been too bad for them.” he said, considering it.

“She does.” Lottie agreed but frowned slightly. “But I’ve known Masters who seem kind and gentle until you do something wrong…”

“Have you?” He asked, his face turning suddenly to one of concern. He looked at her, his eyes intimate by their very nature. “I can’t imagine someone being cruel to you, somehow.”

She thought for a moment, but before answering the question she had one of her own. “Have you always been a Fleet slave?”

“Since I was around 10, yes.” He said. “I used to serve food then too. After that, it was operations for me; washing clothes, cleaning corridors. Why?”

Lottie nodded, more to herself than to him. If he had been a Fleet slave since that young he would be more used to the treatment than she had been. She played with the edge of the paper where the cookies had been. “I was a house slave for the same family until two years ago when I was sold to the Fleet. I could always anticipate the needs of my Masters and knew exactly how they wanted things… but for the Fleet it isn’t so easy. There are so many Masters and they all like things done differently and even if you do something how one of them likes, if another comes along and doesn’t like how you are doing it, they can become very upset.”

Ren listened, peeking as he often did into the inner-corners of her feelings. And, once he had done so, he felt he understood what she meant. To be so comfortable for so long as a slave and then to be dropped into a situation like theirs would be very frightening and frustrating.

“Were you their only slave?”

“No, I wasn’t, but I was their only First Class slave for a long while. I… um… well,” she reached up and began to nervously play with her hair, brushing her fingers through it and winding them around it. “My mother was… um, well she was assaulted by a young Terran noble and I was the result. My Master’s family was paid a settlement to keep it quiet which my Masters in turn used to educate me to be a house slave and meet their needs.”

That was the story of many slave mothers at this point. A drunken man forcing himself on her. Them having to bear his child. And sometimes, they loved it. And most of the time, they resented it. Ren was a child like that as well, and he had been made to do things of which he wasn’t particularly proud by women who found him attractive. But, what might be worse, he had been made to pretend to love them.

“It was very kind of them to spend the money on you and your education. Not many masters would do something like that.” he said, watching her quietly.

“No, they wouldn’t. They were very kind, but Master had a gambling problem. I do remember when I was around fourteen he was quite successful; he and Mistress bought two more first class slaves to work with me. Then not even six months later he lost it all again, had to sell most of his slaves including the two he had just purchased and then he…” She stopped abruptly then, the mere thoughts of it all painful.

“Money had to come from somewhere.”

Ren didn’t respond, verbally, but simply put his hand on her back and rubbed for a moment. Things hadn't been easy here, and the death of her friend seemed to isolate her even more than before. Ren had been quiet since he came and had few friends, but he had never really felt a need for the comfort of others. He was looking for something else. Perhaps it was safety, perhaps something much better. He wasn’t sure.

“Sorry.” Lottie smiled apologetically, though surprisingly she didn’t flinch from his touch. Despite being a man, something about him put her at ease; maybe it was the Betazoid in him. “We were trying to make me not sad.” She took another bite of her cookie, looking briefly into his eyes again and then down into her lap.

“Well, why don’t you tell me….when your happiest moment on Vengeance was.” he said, grinning at her. “And, relax, it doesn’t have to be very good.”

“Umm… Immy gave me something to drink once and put on music and we danced a bit. That was fun.” Lottie offered up meekly. “And I always like cookies when they are given to me for doing a good job.”

“That sounds like fun.” He said, his mind going to thoughts of Immy and what it must have been like to watch the two of them dance. As soon as the thought was in his mind, he pushed it out. “Lights out is in two minutes. We should probably get ready for it.”

“Oh. Yeah, we should.” Lottie agreed though given they were sitting in her bed, she was pretty much ready for it anyways. “Um… you really can sleep in the other bed you know. I don’t mind.” This time, she said it and meant it more than she had previously.

He moved off of the bed and gave her a polite smile before moving over to his belongings and selecting a slave nighttime garment.

“Maybe tomorrow.” He said quietly as he walked his clothes to a part of the room where her visibility would have been low and started to change. “I can sleep there for at least one night out of respect for your friend. I want to.”

“Okay.” Lottie agreed, having already turned off the light above her bed and turned over. Unlike most, she didn’t seem to even have a natural curious inclination to look at him. Like she hadn’t even clocked he was undressing near her. “Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight, Lottie” he said, finishing up and lowering himself onto the blanket on the floor. Uncomfortable nights weren’t strange to him, and on some level he felt this was a very good thing to do.

END