Captain, I’ve been a kissing bandit

Posted on Sun Jul 21st, 2024 @ 8:38pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Mercy Mourne

Mission: Remnant
Location: Captains Ready Room
Timeline: 405
2090 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Mercy sat frozen in front of the terminal in her quarters. Her gaze was fixed to the screen but her mind was racing through a number of emotions. Shock and embarrassment seemed to be the two at the moment fighting for the driving seat. Her face was pale but as she sat there, slowly she turned a remarkable shade of puce. The flush started in her cheeeks then it travelled to the tips of her ears and then down her neck where it lodged in the her chest. It ate at her confidence like a gnawing creature. "Oh hells what have I done!" She buried her face in her hands and just sat there for a moment, trying again to process what she had read.

'Vulcan finger-touching, sometimes referred to as the Vulcan Kiss, is a ritualistic gesture among Vulcans involving the index and middle fingers. It is used throughout their culture, including in public, as a greeting or to signify affection, intimacy, respect, or meditation.'

She had kissed Darru! SHE HAD KISSED DARRU! Her commanding officer, the man she wanted to earn the respect of more than anyone on board. The man who was just starting to open up to her about his life, who had trusted her and...

"Fuck me, he must think I'm a hussy!" The words came out strangled as if she was in physical pain. They landed in the empty room, becoming as real to her as the furniture. That must be why he practically snapped at her in the mess, had said she was undignified. It must be why he had been hiding in his quarters and working by himself. Of course he was, he was avoiding her, because she was a kissing bandit and she hadn't even had the pleasure of knowing-

She gasped, horrified by that thought. She was a monster, she had been stealing kisses from a man clearly still mourning his lost wife, and one of her first thoughts was how much nicer it would be on purpose? She was terrible, she had to make it right. She brought up Darru's comm signature, but then hesitated before connecting a call to him. What was she supposed to say to him? Sorry, I practically threw myself at you, my boss, the man who- no way, she couldn't face him. She switched to the Captain's signature and then sent a hail.

"Mercy to Captain Leroux." Her voice sounded a little wobbly, but she was able to at least get the words out. "Captain, apologies for the unexpected call, but do you have a moment? I have... I've done something and I need to speak to you. It's not urgent but I think I need to be court martialled."

Beth had been curled up sound asleep feeling the weight of the last couple of days on her when she heard the comms request coming into her room and blinked surprised that it was coming through but then remembered communication to her and the other seniors had been restored for emergency reasons. She blinked several times before she was able to roll from her side to look around better and hit the comms unit. "Ensign... I ... it... sure come to my quarters in ten minutes." She mumbled.

In ten minutes exactly Mercy stood outside the captain's quarters. With a slightly shaky hand she run the chime to announce her arrival. As she did she glanced nervously down the corridor from one side and then the next. This was where the senior officers quarters were and all she could do was pray she didn't run into Darru. Her face flushed again and a bubble of shame and anxiety welled up and threatened to bring tears to her eyes, so by the time the Captain opened the door, Mercy looked rather devastated.

Beth had only just managed to pull herself around enough so that she was wearing shorts and a vest and her hair was piled up in a ponytail. She looked barely awake but the space was tidy and bright now that she had turned on the light. “What’s going on ensign?” She demanded quietly as she opened the door.

"C-captain I am s-so sorry I disturbed you! I think you need to demote me! or fire me, I don't know what that means out here, but maybe it means locking me away or something because I..." Mercy could feel her face getting even hotter. "It was an accident, I swear it was, but I know that doesn't excuse me for making another member of the crew uncomfortable. And now he's hiding in his quarters and probably hates me."

Beth tried to keep track of what was going on and looked up at the woman confused by what she was saying for a moment before she held up her hand to stop the woman speaking anymore for a moment. "Slow down Ensign. Take a seat and then explain properly who he is, why he is hiding and what exactly has happened." Beth requested softly indicating the seat whilst she sat at her desk.

The Captian’s words gave Mercy the space she needed to calm down a little. Gathering her thoughts she took as seat as the Captian suggested and started from the beginning.

“It’s Lieutenant Darru ma’am. We have been working much longer shifts, pulling overtime when we can because of the fuel crisis. The other night he and I were in the lab, data mining for possible locations. It was… nice.” The guilt stabbed at her gut again. “We were talking as we worked. And then at the end I kissed him. Accidentally. I didn’t even know I did it, because Vulcans kiss different and I was just trying to make him feel more at home you know? I’d seen Vulcans do it at the space port before and I thought it’s how they say goodbye.” Mercy groaned and covered her face with her hands, wishing the ground would swallow her.

“He seemed surprised, but barely, so I thought, oh, he’s just shocked I knew the gesture. Only then he started working more from his quaters when I was on shift. At first I thought maybe it was the noise, with everyone working from one lab now, it’s a bit crowded. So I went to check on him, and to return a book he lent me. And then we had dinner, and it seemed like he was opening up a bit and… then I did it again. And tried to take his tray and he said I was undignified, but I didn’t understand so I thought it was just a cultural difference, but when I was researching it I found out about the kissing and now I have kissed my commanding officer twice and broken all kinds of regulations and he must think I’m…!” Mercy trailed off her explanation and looked at the Captain for help.

“So I called you, and whatever you think is the right punishment I am willing to accept it because Darru is a good man and the best officer and I must have made him feel terrible.”

Beth blinked. Okay, so that explained all of it suddenly, and Beth could not help but laugh a little. "I am sorry, Ensign, but this is daft, so no, I am not going to punish you," Beth said in a gentle voice. "You messed up by accident, with kindness. And Lieutenant Darru will know that. He is most likely allowing you time to work through all of this because of your feelings for him." Beth's voice softened even more, hinting that she knew what was going on. Beth continued, "Sometimes, our emotions get the best of us, but it's important to learn and grow from these experiences."

Mercy let out a choked noise of surprise. “M-my feelings? No! I don’t-! I mean, it would be inappropriate, he’s my commanding officer, and grieving, and so dignified and…” Mercy’s face turned so pink now, the blush had spread to her cheeks and down her neck. “Isn’t there another department that’s short staffed? Maybe I could learn to fly the ship? Or I could uhm… mop or something? Anything, please Captain I don’t think I can look him in the eye.”

"I am your commanding officer. He is your department head." Beth said still smiling as the woman finally confronted what she was feeling or the potential of what she was feeling. "I know what Darru went through I went through my widowhood and it does get better. He would have never come on board if he was still feeling strong emotions over his deceased spouse." It made her feel emotions around the fact Michael might never come back the further they got from Relea.

“Oh captain… Beth. I am so sorry. I didn’t think about how… here I am acting a fool and waking you up in a panic and…” Mercy’s face dropped even more and she gave Beth a look that seemed to say she didn’t know what to do. “I can’t seem to get anything right these last few days huh? I am sorry if this has brought painful memories to the fore for you.” She pinched her bridge of her nose as if that could somehow contain the emotions she was fighting with. “Do you… if you don’t think I’m a complete idiot, would you give me some advice? You always seem to know what the right thing to do is and I’m worried I’ve damaged the most important relationship on this ship for me. I don’t need Darru to like me back, but I’d hate for him to feel he needs to keep avoiding me, or that I’ve made him somehow uncomfortable in his department. He’s worked so hard to get us all working smoothly.”

Beth shook her head quickly. "Much like Darru my spouse passed away several years ago before I joined Earth Starfleet," Beth assured. "You are doing a lot right Mercy things like this happen when people live and work on top of each other. But I will let you in on a secret. Darru most likely needs some space. This is one of the first Earth vessels with as many women on board and they are very much a feature of the science department. Sometimes men just need a moment to themselves as much as we do," Beth was proud of the crew choices that she and Leah had made nearly 18 months ago now. "But he also is doing you a kindness so you are not worrying and acting in your words a fool towards him."

“Yeah….I can give him space. And I’ll… I won’t go kissing him again.” Mercy let out a small sigh and stood. “Thanks for the kind words Captain. I’ll maybe request to do my data mining from my room for a bit, give him space and all that. And when… well when I do manage to look him in the eye, I’ll figure out a way to apologise to him too. Thanks, Captain, sorry again I woke you up. I should let you go back to sleep.”

Beth wanted to suggest that maybe kissing him in the human way would go better but she stopped herself and just smiled. She shook her head at the apologises watching as several strands of long hair slipped out. "I would suggest with the power issues you do it from the lab. Less processing power. I will instruct Lieutenant Darru to do the same." Beth said thinking about the best way to force the subject to get them talking and for them to get back to working on the issues.

Mercy’s eyebrows knitted under her bangs and for a moment it seemed like she might argue. How could she give the man space if they were forced into such close quarters? But she had already made enough of an idiot of herself for one night, she wasn’t about to add insubordination to her list of things to feel guilty about. “Y-yes Captain.” She nodded.

"Tomorrow." The Captain promised with a smile. She was not trying to break the woman but she needed to balance everything. "It will be okay Ensign. I promise." She assured. She just needed to take a deep breath and relax a bit around it.