Cocktails and Gossip. What could go wrong?

Posted on Sat Jan 6th, 2018 @ 7:32pm by Major Hailey Weston & Lieutenant JG Siobahn Fallon

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Lounge

Siobahn finished setting the last bio bed to self clean mode and took a look around. She was the last one remaining in sickbay, at least for the moment. It was very nearly change of shift and she was just puttering around, waiting for the chrono to click over so she could leave.

She had plans tonight and she had found that she was quite looking forward to them. It had been 10 days since she had arrived on the ship, and she had plans to meet up with the others she had shared the transport with on the way. The trip had been largely uneventful, but it had been long and it wasn't exactly comfortable travelling, but they had kept spent plenty of time talking, and had all agreed to meet up 10 days after arriving to exchange stories.

She was excited, more so because despite all her fears, here she was... she had survived her first 10 days on the ship, and she couldn't be happier. She was truly enjoying being in sickbay, it was a great environment to work in and she had made some good friends with the other doctors and nurses. The blossoming relationship with Hailey was an unexpected, yet not unwelcomed surprise. She found the other woman now occupied a large part of her free thought, and a growing amount of her time, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Even one of the nurses had taken to randomly teasing her for the moments that she would pause and smile, just beacause the thought of Hailey had slipped into her mind. And despite it all, she was actually still finding time to get some work done on her studies.

Ensign Felicie Rivero sighed as she paused outside Engineering and took a moment to deliver a pep talk to herself. It had been 10 days on the ship... really? Had it only been 10 days? She grimaced. Engineering had always been something she had loved, yet she found she was struggling to fit in here. She just couldn't make it feel like home. Forcing a smile onto her face, she stepped through the doors into sickbay and looked around. "C'mon Fallon, you ready?" The sight of her friend made the smile a little more genuine. It definitely felt better to see a familiar face.

Siobahn grinned at the sound of Felicie's voice. "Absolutely!" she exclaimed, putting the med kit she had been checking back on the shelf. She checked the chrono once more and flicked her long red pony tail back behind her shoulder, practically dancing across sickbay and linking her arm through Felicie's. "Oh my God, I have so much to catch you up on! But we'll wait til we get to the others. I have been thinking about deliciously coloured cocktails with cherries ALL day!" She grinned as they walked out together.


=/\= Lounge =/\=

Felicie and Siobahn were both well into their second brightly coloured blue drink, complete with cherries and pretty little umbrella's when the others finally arrived.

Felicie laughed and nudged Siobahn as she watched the marines walking across the room to them. Already she was feeling much more relaxed and at ease. Another couple of these drinks, what ever they were, and who knows, maybe she would even start considering the evening fun.

Siobahn laughed and waved with one hand while picking up her drink with the other. She had already confided some of her happiness with Felicie while they waited, more because she just had to tell someone, and in return Felicie had confided some of her unhappiness, both had ultimately agreed that it was all just early days and things would probably change, they just had to give it time. Now, she was excited and couldn't wait to hear what the others had been up to.

The two marines walked over to them, the female trooper, Lance Corporal Lita Callen, gesturing in disgust at the male built like a tank, Private First Class Ferdinand Lokira. Lita waved at Siobahn and raised a finger to let them know they were on their way. The two marines stopped at the bar and picked up drinks, Lita grabbing a fruity drink of her own, Ferdinand, who preferred to be called Ferdie, picking up something quite a bit stronger. They finally squeezed their way through to where the two ensigns were sitting, "Well, it's been ten days." Lita remarked, "Seems both of you have survived 'em, Ferdie here tried to get his head handed to him by the Lieutenant, literally. Note to everyone else here, Lieutenant Valentine has wonderful reflexes and combat instincts, or else we might have found out what passes for brains in Ferdie." She slapped him on the shoulder as his bass voice laughed.

"Vanilla pudding." He rumbled, "With a strawberry or two for texture." He grinned, "So, what have you two been up to? Lita and I have been doing the same stuff, running our asses off."

Felicie grimaced. "Engineering is weird, the Chief kind of mothers everyone, and I don't know... It just isn't what I expected, none of my pracs on board were ever anything like this." She nudged Siobahn and grinned... "But she's the one that seems to be settling in with ease, she like fully hooked up and everything!"

"Oh really?" Lita took a drink of her first, "Do tell, and don't leave any of the details out!"

Siobahn laughed, a hint of colour flushing her cheeks. "Actually, I don't know if it's 'fully hooked up, but I'm not complainin'..." she grinned again. "But other than that, I'm actually enjoyin' it. Sickbay is amazin', I've learned so much already, and somehow I've managed to keep on top of the books!" She finished off her drink and set the empty glass back on the table. "What's it like in the Marines? Are you all being mothered down there as well?" She stood up from the table quickly. "I'm getting another, who wants?"

Felicie held up her empty glass and nodded as she chewed on the cherry, the stalk sticking out of her mouth.

Lita tossed the rest of hers down, nodding quickly while Ferdie just sat there with his, but she waited until Siobahn had come back before she started talking about the marines, "Mothered? Oh sweet Jesus no! I swear to GOD the Major is a machine, nothing else she can be. Oh, we get 'late' mornings that start around eight, but we have to be set and ready for a five kilometer run with her, followed by lots and lots of training. We're doing house clearing exercises almost daily, marksmanship tests from various ranges and weapons, hand to hand training, everything and she's right there with us. I don't think I've ever even seen her sweat!" She drank half the new drink in one go, "But at least she's merely human in a lot of things."

Ferdie grunted again, "The Lieutenant, well, she's wearing Sergeant stripes right now for some reason, she's an honest to gods force of nature in combat. She's beaten all of us in everything, only the Major comes close to her in shooting, though, the two just... Shit."

Felicie dropped the stalk of her cherry on the table and picked up the new drink. "Damn..." she muttered before taking a sip. "Maybe the mothering isn't all that bad..." She looked across at Siobahn and arched an eyebrow slightly, the corners of her mouth turning up every so slightly. "What do you think Fallon?"

With a shrug, Siobahn took a huge mouthful of her third drink. In all honesty, she was already starting to feel rather happy and tingly, but she certainly wasn't complaining. "I'm sure the Major is just doing her job," she finally replied. "Lots of new crew, trying to get everyone up to standard." She shrugged slightly and drank more of her drink. "The first few days in Sickbay were a bit tough, I think because we're the new 'kids' we can expect to find it a bit rough to start with, I'm sure things will get better..." She looked across at Lita, and tried to smile. "Surely the Major isn't all that bad. Isn't it a good thing having that kind of person to mentor you?"

"My cousin is in the Bureau of Personnel out here and she was telling me that the detachment here has sent her a ton of paperwork to prepare for transfer orders to be processed and executed. Major Weston is gutting what we have left and appears to be bringing some of her old buddies." Lita rolled her eyes, "My name is on the list, Ferdie too. We're going to be shipped out late next week, so whether or not she's a good mentor, we'll never find out. Hell, I don't know jack shit about her, but she's got lots of experience, you can see it in her eyes. And she's a doctor, too." She looked curious, "Has she shown up in sickbay? She does seem to not be around in the later part of the day, so we do get lots of R&R time, she's just not around, so maybe she's up there."

Colour flooded Siobahn's face as she drained her glass. "I think I need another drink..." she muttered quietly.

Felicie grabbed the glasses and stood up, a look of near glee on her face. "I'll grab them," she replied easily. "C'mon Ferdie, drink up! You're falling behind man!"

Siobahn glared at Felicie before looking back at the others. "I have seen her in sickbay a once or twice," she finally replied carefully, not meeting Lita's eyes.

It was Ferdie who noticed it first, "Oh." He said simply, "Well don't that beat all."

"What?" Lita demanded, looking at Ferdie, then Siobahn, then back and forth again, still not getting it, "So you've met her? What's she like when you see her, talk to her? You know, if I knew why she was doing this, it might not be so bad, I just don't want to be considered garbage to be thrown out in the can just because I'm new out here."

By the time Felicie returned with the drinks, Siobahn finished half her drink in one go. She sighed softly. "She seems fine when I've seen her, she seems nice. I helped her with some medical stuff a couple of times, she knows her stuff." She downed the second half of her drink before Felicie had even gotten comfortable again. "I think I'm goin' back to the bar, I might get some food too... anyone want any wings?" Without waiting for an answer Siobahn stood up and headed for the bar for yet another drink.

Lita got up, "I'm gonna go help Fallon, we are gonna need a lotta wings and ranch and blue cheese and celery and..." Her voice trailed off as she followed Siobahn.

Felicie broke into cascades of laughter. "Oh Gods, this is just so funny!" she looked across at Ferdie. "C'mon Ferdie, even you gotta admit this is as funny as hell!"

Ferdie looked over at Felicie, "She's got a thing going with the Major, eh?" He chuckled, "That must have been interesting to see, well, good for them. Still sorta sucks to have to leave you two here, though."

"Yeah," Felicie finally muttered, her smile fading. "You're right about that."

Returning to the table, Lita slid a tray onto the table with two huge serves of wings and a massive assortment of sides, followed almost immediately by Siobahn's tray which was filled with drinks, at least three quarters of which were the bright blue drinks with cherries she seemed to be favouring that night.

"So..." Siobahn challenged. "Are you all over your little issues? Can we move on with the conversation now?" She picked up a drink and downed near half of it before picking up a wing and carefully tearing the meat from the bone with her fingers. "Some one should really create boneless wings," she muttered darkly. "The bones are such an annoyance." She looked back up at the others at the table. "So what do you all think of this court martial stuff that's happenin'? Personally it makes me REALLY glad we arrived AFTER all that!"

"Ditto," Ferdie said, grabbing at the wings, "It's why the detachment is at half strength, apparently half of em were traitors and are being shipped back en pass?..." He expertly stripped the wing oF meat. "Together." He amended.

"Valentine rounded them up, rumor says." Lita reached for some of the other munchies, "And the CO had been a Cardy, too, but somehow she got away, probably wasn't under Marine guard." She shrugged, "She'll get caught, but I hope Lo'Mah gets strung up."

Siobahn sat for a long moment just listening to them talking about what had happened as she finished her drink, setting the empty glass back on the table and reaching for a carrot stick. "If half the marines were traitors and the CO was a Cardy, I can kind of understand why everyone is a bit antsy on the ship, especially in the marine detachment. I'd not be real happy either if half the department I worked with turned out to be traitors. I just hope that the CO we have now is goin' to be decent. Personally I'd really rather not end up in another situation like that."

"Like that'd happen to YOU!" Felicie retorted with a smirk as she reached for a wing, dunking it blue cheese sauce.

"Shut up Felicie," Siobahn shot back instantly, the tone of her voice making it clear that she was getting really frustrated with the way her friend was behaving.

"Well, if we'd been here two weeks ago, we would have be on our third Fleet CO and fourth Marine CO, so" Lita pointed out, "So we got lucky."

"Some of us are." Ferdie pointed out simply.

Siobahn picked up another drink and drank it, calmly, without bothering to respond. Finally, after maybe a minute at most, she stood up quietly, reached for the large bowl of blue cheese sauce and with equal calmness and grace she dumped it cooly on Felicie’s head.

Lita's eyes went wide in shock and confusion, having no idea what was going on. Ferdinand only grimaced and silently thanked god that Felicie had been the one to draw the final ire of the redhead.

“What the hell was that for?” Felicie demanded angrily. “I didn’t say anything!”

“No,” shot back Siobahn, “but you’re the rotten cow who started it! Grow up!” With that she turned in her heel and walked out of the lounge, her heart racing as she ignored the commotion behind her.

Ferdinand teached to the neareat table, thankfully empty, and grabbed the stack of napkins there, handing them to Felicie in sympathy.

"All right, what's going on?" Lita looked back and forth between the other two, "What did I miss?"

Trading glances with Felicie, Ferdie shrugged, "Well, you see Lita, Fallon is sleeping with da Boss. Our boss."

Eyes opened wide in shock, Lita watched the doors slide shut behind the retreating Siobahn, "Well shit."


=/\= Outside Hailey's Quarters =/\=

Siobahn paused for a moment, trying to wipe the blue cheese sauce off her fingers onto her uniform, oblivious to the smear of sauce across her cheek. She flicked her hair back, wavering slightly on her feet before steadying herself on the door frame and pressing the door chime, realising that she hadn't even bothered to check if Hailey was even there. When she hadn't answered in the first 10 seconds, Siobahn started to turn, deciding that this was probably a really bad idea anyway. What was she even going to say? Nothing else seemed to be going right that evening, it certainly wasn't the fun, laid back evening she had envisaged, the last thing she wanted now was for that to rub off on Hailey as well.

As soon as she'd taken the first couple steps awayx thedoor slid open behind her, "Siobahn?" Hailey asked, finishing wrapping the bathrobe around her and fumbling with the sash, "I thought you were catching up with your friends?"

Turning unsteadily on her feet, Siobahn shook her head slightly, something that just unsteadied her even more. She reached out, grabbing hold of Hailey to steady herself, realizing then that her skin was wet and she was in a bath robe. “Sorry,” she said quietly, “I didn’t realiet you were in the shower, I will leave you be...”

"No, it's all right." Hailey smiled quirky, "So I was taking a shower, doesn't matter." She took Siobahn's arm to steady her, "I was just about done anyways and you know you can always come over, hell, Siobahn, I'm going to need to give you entry codes. Come in." She guided the younger woman in, realizing she was drunk. Reaching up, Hailey used the robe to wipe a bit of blue cheese off her cheek, "There we go..."

"That would be blue cheese sauce," Siobahn said with a giggle, allowing Hailey to guide her inside. She held up her hands. "It's really quite messy. And it smells really, REALLY bad!"

"I've always preferred ranch myself." Hailey smiled and chuckled, "Let's go get your hands washed and you cleaned up, my dear, and you can tell me how your night went before you came over here wearing your dinner?"

"Ughhh... it's not my dinner, I can't stand it. I'm wearing it because I tipped it on Felicie's head." Siobahn sighed softly, washing her hands and removing her jacket, making a point of folding it, blue cheese inward, and putting it aside. She turned to face Hailey and shrugged slightly. "It wasn't very enjoyable. The drinks were, they were blue, with little cherries..."

"And I can see you've had a few." Hailey chuckled, leading her to the couch, then sat down, "So, tell me, how are your friends doing?"

Sinking down on the couch, Siobahn leaned into Hailey, just wanting to feel the closeness of her. "I don't think we're friends any more to be honest," she finally said quietly with a shrug. "I guess it was different when we were on our way here... but things are different now."

"Don't give up on friends, honey, they're all too rare. Please, tell me what's going on and we'll see if we can fix this, all right?" Hailey wrapped an arm around Siobahn and pulled her close.

"Felicie started giving me a hard time about you... then Ferdie joined in... and Lita is annoyed because after they've hauled themselves all the way out here, Lita was told that all the marines are being reassigned and they'll be gone with in two weeks." She sighed softly. "I don't know, it just felt like everyone was down on me because I'm happy and they aren't. So I got angry, I dumped a bowl of blue cheese sauce on Felicie's head, called her a rotten cow and left."

Hailey smiled and squeezed again, "They'll forgive you if you want it." She reassured Siobahn, "And they were probably teasing you because you're happy and they're happy for you to be happy. But, Lita and Ferdinand are annoyed? Let me guess, they think I'm getting rid of them because I think they suck?"

"General consensus seems to be that you're some kind of super marine who doesn't sweat..." she smiled wanly. "I think they're annoyed because they don't know why they're being reassigned, they just got here and now they're being sent away. I don't know.. Why are they all being sent away?" she asked, looking up at Hailey.

Hailey smiled fondly at Siobahn, "I've got seven of them pending transfer, yes, and two of them are just dead weight, but Lita and Ferdinand aren't either of them. But... As for the two of them, Lance Corporal Lita Callen was transferred in from the Fourth of the Second of the Fourth, where she was a rifleman. She has some good marksmanship and I think will make a pretty damned good sniper some day, but I'm not sure I can teach her properly, so I'm waiting to see if my request for her to attend sniper school at Parris Island, an old, old U-S Marine base is approved. It's the best one out there. And as for P-F-C Ferdinand Lotiri, who enjoys being known as Ferdie, he's a heavy weapons specialist, which makes him more a square peg in a round hole with what we've got here. I know someone in the First MarDiv who could bring him on rather quite well and who I trust."

"You don't need to explain anything to me," Siobahn said softly. "You will make the best decisions for everyone, I trust you and they should trust you too... it was just frustrating. I felt like I was doing something wrong because I was being happy, particularly because I am happy with you." She stopped speaking for a moment and rested her head back on Hailey's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be unloading all this on you."

"It's part of what I'm here for." Hailey kissed the crown of Siobahn's head, "And I'm happy being with you, too, very, very happy. So, tell me, do you want them to stay on the Wellington? Take out the whole 'you make the best decisions' stuff, just... Do you want them to stay?"

Siobahn sighed softly and pulled away a little. She bit down on her bottom lip, uncertainty clear on her face. "Would it make me a terrible person if I said no?" she asked quietly. "I don't think they will ever really be comfortable being friends with me as long as I'm with you, and I'm not willing to give you up to make them comfortable... besides, as you said, they have better possibilities elsewhere. It wouldn't be fair to make them stay."
, ust not better in a tactical situation.So
"You are not a terrible person, Siobahn Fallon, and if they stay, they don't have to be comfortable with you and I, they're marines. They'd deal with it."And it's only possibilities that they'd do better where I'm sending them, it's always a gamble." She hesitated, knowing her next words shouldn't be true, "But if you want them to stay, I'll do my best to make them into what I think they can do. I want you to be happy and will do whatever I can to make you that happy."

The weight of the words Hailey had just spoken literally took the breath from Siobahn's mouth. She shook her head quickly, reaching up and touching her fingers to Hailey's cheek gently. "I love you for the offer darlin'," she said softly. "But I would never ask and never expect... How you run the Marines won't make me happy... bein' here with you now, this is what makes me happy. This makes me happier than anything else... But, you know, if you wanted to keep Lita, she wasn't awful... and you could always send Felicie back to Earth, she doesn't like it here anyway." Siobahn grinned wickedly.

Hailey gave a snort of laughter, "I couldn't send Felicie back to Earth even if I wanted to. She's, what? Security? Science?" She shrugged, "Not my section and I haven't gotten down to that point in my perusal of personnel files yet. But, I'll keep Lita here, then, and I guess I get to learn more about sniping myself. Thankfully, Sergeant Valentine, Nyx that is, is arguably a better shot than I am, so maybe she can teach us." She looked at Siobahn with curious eyes, "What about you? Have you ever wanted to learn how to shoot? And hand to hand?"

Reaching out, Siobahn entwined her fingers with Hailey's and smiled. "This is about as much 'hand to hand' as I'm good at," she replied with a smile, looking up to meet Hailey's gaze. "This is the best kind isn't it? But I will learn if you want to teach me... it might be helpful one day."

"Yes, yes this is the best kind. But I would love it if you'd learn something about the other type." Hailey smiled at Siobahn, "It might be. And it might save your life, which is important, especially to me. But there's no rush on it and we aren't going to rush it." She leaned over for a brief kiss, "And if at any point you want to stop, we stop. I want you to be you, that's why I love you so."

Reaching up for another kiss, Siobahn sighed contentedly. "Can I stay here tonight?" she finally asked softly. "I don't want to be alone..."

"You can stay here whenever you want." Hailey nuzzled Siobahn's nose with her own, "I'm always here for you, I always will be."

Siobahn moved, pulling Hailey in close and kissing her hungrily. Finally, pulling away she whispered softly. "Tell me you love me again, then take me to bed. I don't want to think about anything else any more..." her voice trailed off as she pulled Hailey close once more.

OFF:

Ensign Siobahn Fallon
Medical Officer
USS Wellington

Ensign Felicie Rivero
Engineer
USS Wellington

Lance Corporal Lita Callen
Marine
USS Wellington

Private First Class Ferdinand Lotiri
Marine
USS Wellington

Major Hailey Weston
Marine CO
USS Wellington