Room Renovation with Renee

Posted on Sat Mar 2nd, 2019 @ 10:23pm by Lieutenant Commander Shaille Levine & Lieutenant Renee Salchin

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Main Engineering

Finally having more than 5 minutes to herself where she didn't feel compelled to be rushing off somewhere, Shaille set off for Engineering, specifically looking for the blonde haired pocket rocket also known as Renee. She had something she wanted to do, and rumor had it that Renee was going to be the best person to help her with her task.

"Renee," Shaille said brightly as she approached. "Just the exact precise person I need right now! And how incredibly convenient that you're in the exact precise location the computer told me you would be," she said with a grin.

Renee scowled at the ceiling, "Traitorous bastard!" She grumbled at the unseen computer, then winked at Shaille, "All righty, since the blasted thing decided that it wants to be reprogrammed to speak in Romulan and text in Klingon and gave me up? What can I do for you?" She couldn't help but giggle and swept a hand over her ear, tucking some stray strands behind it.

"So, rumor has it that you're the go to person for room renovations," Shaille said with a grin. "I need to do some remodeling in my quarters, nothing major, just some new furniture really..."

"Just new furniture?" Renee asked warily, "That doesn't sound like a job for the great and powerful Renee... Are you sure you're not looking for a personal holopad, or a tri-dee wall screen? Interactive subspace gaming system?"

"It's a little more than that... I want something kind of specific..." Shaille bit her bottom lip momentarily. "I also want discretion," she added quietly.

Renee looked around to make sure no one was near them, then stepped closer, "You want a sex dungeon built into your room?" Her whisper was serious and quiet, "I can do that, and I'll definitely keep it quiet for you."

Fighting back a laugh, Shaille somehow managed to keep a straight face as she replied. "Well, I don't know about a full blown sex dungeon, but I do most definitely need to add an extra nine inches," she said with a wink.

"Nine inches?" Renee asked, mind spinning in circles as she tried to decipher what that meant, "Nine inches added to what? I don't think I can put another nine inches total into the ceiling, the max I could do on that would be four, maybe five at most."

"Relax Renee, it was a joke," Shaille replied with a laugh. "But, in seriousness, I do want to do a few things... the first is that I need a new couch... something big and squishy and comfortable, perfect for snuggling up..."

"That's going to be easy, but let me throw in an adjustable seating pad, so it can adjust from really really squishy and snuggleable to firmer for getting out of the squishiness or even for some um... More energetic exercise if needed?" Renee waggled her eyebrows very suggestively.

Shaille tried to suppress a laugh, failing in the process. "You know, I'd settle for just being able to curl up in his arms without ending up with muscle aches... but sure, your plan works too!"

Renee reached out to the console she'd been working on and tapped the screen three times, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get this party started!" She grabbed Shaille's arm by the crook of her elbow, threading her own arm into it and beginning to tug her towards the door, "We can get it sketched out and I'll get started on it personally, since you really want it on the down-low. It might take me a day or so to get done, so if you wanted to crash in my quarters until I have a chance to finish it? Oh, and there HAS to be more you need me to do, right?"

Allowing herself to be led, albeit semi dragged, out of Engineering, Shaille raised an eyebrow slightly. "What else is there you could do?" she asked curiously. "I mean, enlighten me Yoda."

"It would take forever to go through what all I could do." Renee stopped and spun Shaille to look her in the eyes, "Trust me. For. Ever." She tugged the security officer along again, "When I say the sky's the limit, I do mean just that. Oh sure, there's some things even I can't do, but I can usually find some workaround. Hailey's got a hot-tub in her quarters, actually a full on jacuzzi with a few extras I put in that she might not have figure out yet. Cally's got a flight simulator in her quarters, but you didn't hear that from me. Correija has..." She shook her head and flushed slightly, "Never mind Correija. I'd probably say an extra-large shower? With a special setup for it... Trust me, I can't describe it, but I could show you the one in my quarters to see it if you want."

Shaille resisted the urge to pull away and run, as fast as she could, in the opposite direction. "I really don't need anything like that," she said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. "Really, I just want a more comfortable couch and a slight modification to my bed... But now I'm not sure I'll ever be able to look Correija in the eyes again..."

"Don't worry about Correija, he's not your type." Renee shook her head, "Really, REALLY not your type... But I can definitely take care of that stuff for you, you're just gonna wanna show me where you want them. I'll do the rest and add in a couple other doodads, don't worry, only good surprises, I promise!"

"Are you sure about that?" Shaille asked, almost hesitantly as they arrived at her quarters, the doors sliding open almost instantly as soon as stepped in front of the doors. Stepping inside, she glanced around the main living space. "I haven't really done much with it..." she said with a shrug.

"And that makes things a lot easier." Renee pointed out, suppressing a moue of disappointment at the virtually 'stock' officers quarters that Shaille lived in, then slowly turned in place, "All right. I can work with this easily enough."

Catching the look of what could almost be described as disdain on Renee's face as she took in their surroundings was almost amusing. "I've traveled light ever since I served on the Avadora. It was destroyed after a warp core malfunction and with it everything we all had on board." She shrugged slightly. "It was stuff, it was replaceable, I just never got around to replacing it. Until recently I only ever really came back to my quarters to shower or sleep."

"Then you really do need a full job done..." Renee mused and nodded, sidling over towards the main desk console in Shaille's quarters, then tapping a few buttons on the screen and frowned at it, then a few more. "All righty, I've reserved a spare set of quarters for you for a couple days, they're a bit further away than I'd like, but really the best I could do with this amount of notice."

"Spare quarters?" Shaille asked, clearly not sure. "Why can't I just stay here? I mean... all my stuff is here..." She glanced around, realizing how pointless that argument truly was. "And what do you mean full job? I just want the two things... I mean, I don't even really need them, I just want them!"

Renee grabbed Shaille by the elbow and was already guiding her towards the door, "It's going to be all right, I promise you." She reassured the security officer, "I'm from Engineering, I'm here to help you!"

"Can I at least grab my toothbrush and some personal things?" Shaille protested as she was propelled toward the door.

That thought had completely been lost from Renee and she stopped, "I guess... Sure, why not, let me come with you!" She finally agreed, determined not to let Shaille do something silly like lock herself to something and refuse to leave the quarters.

Taken aback at the fact that Renee was suddenly trailing her through her own quarters, she walked through the living area into the bathroom, grabbing her toothbrush. Heading into her bedroom, she opened an almost empty closet and grabbed a few personal items of clothing before realizing she had nothing to put them into. With a sigh she shoved the handful of clothing back into the nearly empty closet. "Forget it, I'll just replicate what I need."

"Don't worry, I won't go through your closet or do anything that should disrupt your person-al..." She trailed off and looked at the bed, then at Shaille, then at the bed and mentally gauged heights, "Nine inches?" She asked, using a hand to hover nine inches over Shaille's head.

"Yes, nine inches," Shaille replied calmly, moving across to the bed. "So basically, move this whole thing down at least nine inches, and add 'comfortable space' here." she explained, using her hands to indicate what she wanted done.

Renee shook her head, "Thirty-six hours. I can have it all done in thirty-six hours and he's gonna love it." She said with one hundred percent confidence, "It'll be quite a little snuggle-hutch." A sly smile.

Taken completely aback by her words, Shaille raised an eyebrow slightly, her lips pursing as she made an awkward sound. “Excuse me, Lieutenant?” She asked, some what quietly. “ I didn’t quiet catch what you were trying to say there...” she replied pointedly.

"Nine inches?" Renee asked rhetorically, raiding her own eyebrow, "You're already a pretty good height and not having seen you in the presence of a guy significantly taller than you, I'll have to do my research, for any significant amount of time? Add in the move to MAKE these changes to your personal quarters, which aren't done on a temporary one-day basis, and it brings into question who and why nine inches are required. Given that the average observed length of Ts'usugi ears is approximately ten inches and either you're trying to hide a Klingon in your bed, which wouldn't require the squishiness factor you're looking for, or you're looking at spending time with one of our resident Ts'usugi." She brightened after her explanation of her logic, "Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course."

Color flamed Shaille’s cheeks, yet she didn’t argue. “You have far too much time on your hands Lieutenant,” she said quietly, completely unused to anything resembling ‘girly talk’.

"Logic and deductive reasoning." Renee brushed it off, "And Renee, not Lieutenant, unless this is totally business talk and I don't think this is... Seriously, Shaille, there is NOTHING wrong with it and actually sounds kind of interesting, but don't worry, I won't pry!"

“I just want him to be comfortable when he’s here is all,” Shaille finally admitted quietly. “And, you know, if it doesn’t work out i’ll just fill in the extra space with a mini fridge and a candy filled pantry.”

"Who says you can't have both?" Renee questioned, "Easy enough to do as I remodel in here, even a freezing unit so you can store some ice cream within arms reach of the bed." Her eyes brightened visibly.

Shaille paused for a long moment before she finally laughed suddenly. "Okay, now that is an idea I can definitely approve of she said with a shake of her head. "Though a replicator unit might be more beneficial than a mini fridge or a freezing unit? Especially when it comes to removing plates and utensils."

"Barbarian!" Renee said in mock shock, one hand flying to her chest, "Certainly, it would be more beneficial, but there's nothing like opening a freezer door and pulling out a pint of ice cream and a spoon to reduce your tension and give you that cool fuzzy feeling when it's been a bad day!"

"What's wrong with a replicator?" Shaille asked, clearly surprised. "I ask for a bowl of ice cream, it gives me a bowl of ice cream. I ask for a warm wheat pack, it gives me a warm wheat pack? It gives me clothes and anything else I ask for..." her voice trailed off, Renee's argument clearly lost on her.

Renee's eyes widened and her mind spun, trying to find the words to explain, mouth opening, closing, then she took a deep breath, "You take it for granted." She stated, then shook her head, "No, that's not it... It's convenient. It's overly convenient and too utterly predictable!" Her eyes brightened and a slight smile crossed her face, then she grabbed Shaille's hand and started to literally drag her towards the door, "Come with me. We're going to my quarters, it's the best way!"

Being propelled along and almost stumbling on her own feet, Shaille suddenly found herself wondering exactly how sane this Renee woman was. Sure, they had met once or twice before, but she had never acted quite so deranged as this. “And why are we going to your quarters?” Shaille asked pointlessly as she was dragged along behind.

"Because." Was the one and only word that Renee said on the brief trip (it was only about a dozen doors down) to her quarters and the doors slid open to reveal what would almost be considered a luxury suite in a very expensive hotel.The normal computer station in the corner was made up to be more of a personal entertainment center, the center wall between the 'living room' and bedroom a crystal-clear screen that was obviously a viewscreen that could show movies, turn opaque or do any of a thousand things. In place of a standard sofa and chair set, a very, VERY cushy overstuffed recliner and sofa set were basically begging to be sat in, the lighting soft and muted in the living room, decorative lamps, posters of anime scenes adorning the walls. But Renee didn't stop there, instead dragging Shaille into her bedroom and releasing her in front of the bed that looked INSANELY comfortable, the room decorated lavishly as well. She slid the two (not standard one) closets open to reveal clothes, civilian clothes, gowns, dresses, as well as uniforms, hung neatly, but obviously almost overwhelming the closets. "Yes, you can replicate anything, BUT, what if you can't remember what it is you really want to wear, so you just have to settle for whatever you can come up with?!"

Shaille stood mutely in the middle of the room. She had already turned a full circle and now remained stationary, feeling rather out of her league. "I work, I occasionally spend time with Koh, and I sleep. I don't need enough clothes to dress a small nation," she replied quietly. "Seriously, you did all this? Like... seriously?" She shook her head slightly. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Lots of time accumulating." Renee flopped down rear-end first onto the bed and sank in, then patted the sheet next to her, "But that's why you have ME here. Sit."

Shaille sat, somewhat awkwardly, on the bed next to Renee. "And you literally lug all of this stuff with you every where you go?" she asked curiously. "Aren't you worried about it being lost? Or destroyed?"

"Lost? Never. I handle all of my initial cargo transports myself, I do let others lug it physically if I need to, but if it gets destroyed? Well, that would absolutely SUCK." She stuck her tongue out at that, "But I can just start collecting all over again. Yeah, it'll cost a lot of money, but that I have that in plenty. She wiggled her way back and reached out to a panel on the wall, "Chocolate chip? Cookie dough? Double chocolate?" She queried.

Shaille raised an eyebrow slightly before realizing she was talking about ice cream. "Vanilla caramel fudge," she finally replied with a smile. "It's always been my favorite. I don't know, I'm just not really a 'stuff' person. Even when I was on the Avadora I didn't have this much, it was just a few little, personal things. Koh mentioned that on the Ts'usugi ships they all have something from 'home' on their ships, to remind them what they are fighting for, that their ships were just an extension of their homeworld." She shrugged slightly. "I don't have that kind of loyalty or ties, at least, not to anything that isn't already on this ship."

"Iiiiii don't have vanilla caramel fudge." Renee frowned slightly, "Of course, I wasn't expecting company, so..." She grabbed the chocolate chip out from behind the panel and a spoon from the cubby behind it as well, then handed them to Shaille, "Sorry, the closest I really have at the moment, I'll make sure to put some of the caramel fudge in her for next time." She retrieved the double chocolate for herself and popped the lid, "Personal things make the ship more of a home than just a transient 'place'. I like how the Ts'usugi view their ships, and I really have made Wellington as home-like as I can, because it's where I spend my time."

"My time is spent at work, in my office, on the bridge, on the decks of the ship. I usually only go back to my quarters if I need to shower or sleep. Usually I don't even eat there, I just grab something at the replicator in my office while I'm working." Shaille shrugged slightly. "I've always been focused on my job, I had to be."

"I'm focused on my job too," Renee said between spoons of real, frozen ice cream still in the tub, then waved her spoon around, "Don't let all this fool you, I get out of engineering and I come back and tend to get right to work on one of the several projects I've got going on. Yeah, I take some time to go out and have fun, but there's no reason you can't do both, even at the same time."

"So when do you have time to enjoy all of this?" Shaille asked, motioning a hand around the room around her. "And if you don't, why have it?" She opened the ice cream, dragging her spoon through the tub before pulling out a spoon full and putting it in her mouth.

"I find the time here and there." Renee shrugged, "I'm always busy with work, or fun, or something, I guess it's the whole sleep thing that suffers in the end, but there are ways around the lack of actual time sleeping. But the trick is having fun while getting some work done and I do have a couple bits of cheat codes I can work with, with the ocular implants and virtual workstation."

"Well, not everyone has that luxury," Shaille replied with a laugh. "Besides, I'm starting to believe that my time off can by MUCH better spent!"

"And so something all cushy and comfy like this bed?" Renee raised an eyebrow, "And you still want the replicator rather than the freezer I've got behind here? I won't go too overboard, most likely."

"Just... keep it me, okay?" Shaille finally conceded with a laugh. "It needs to be somewhat believable that it's still MY quarters!"

Renee shoved another overloaded spoon into her mouth, "Fo, tell me whaff if you?" She tried to speak around the ice cream.

"Simple and comfortable. I'm not all elegant and frou frou and fancy. I've never worn a ball gown or heels in my life and likely never will. I just want simple comfort," Shaille said quietly.

"I could get you into some that are remarkably comfortable." Renee smiled devillishly, "But I can manage simple but sinfully comfortable at the same time."

"So long as the emphasis is on comfortable and not sinful! I don't want to scare him away..." Shaille said with a laugh. "Okay?"

Renee reached out with her tub of ice cream in agreement as if it were a wine glass, "Okay, I'll do that for you. But can I still do the wall screen? It's customizable any which way you want and makes for a great movie night thing."

"Sure, I guess that will be okay. Can it show a fireplace as well?" Shaille asked with a grin, returning the gesture with her own ice cream container.

"It can show anything." Renee pointed out, "From crystal clear to complete black and opaque, whatever your heart desires."

"Well, I guess I'll just trust you and leave it up to you then," Shaille said, still somewhat skeptical. "So when can I have my quarters back?"

"With my full, undivided attention? Give me thirty-six hours and it's a gimme, but I'll probably have it done within twenty-four." Renee sighed, "I'll settle for a bed-side replicator, but I'm going to make stuff cushy and adjustable."

"Alright, alright, worst case scenario I'll just set it on fire with a phaser if I don't like it," Shaille countered with a grin. "So where am I staying in the interim?"

Renee chewed her lip for a moment, "Well, I DID reserve a set of quarters, but they're a deck and a quarter ship away from here... If you really wanted, you could crash here? There isn't anything here that'll kill you, even if you poke at it wrong, and well, some things you wouldn't understand in the slightest, too!" She waved that away, "Engineering mysteries and all."

"It's okay, what is it they say, a change is as good as a holiday? I'll think of this as a holiday." Shaille replied with a laugh. "May well be the only one I get!"

"If I do this right, you'll have a holiday as soon as you get back to your quarters each day." Renee grinned, "So, here or a random set of quarters? If you wanna stay here, feel free to look through my closet, if there's anything you like that'll fit you? Try it!"

Shaille laughed and shook her head. "Thanks, but it's fine. I'll spend tonight in my own quarters, hopefully tomorrow we'll be at New Earth and I'll organise some accommodation on the starbase or maybe even on the planet for a few days, that is, if you aren't going to be too busy to get it done?"

"Nope!" Renee said, shaking her own head, "Your quarters are officially off-limits as of right now. I'm getting started on it tonight and there isn't any ifs ands or buts about it!"

"Well I guess I'll be staying elsewhere then, won't I?" Shaille countered with an easy laugh. "It's all good. I don't mind. It's a very worthy cause."

"Oh yes." Renee's grin was infectious, "You have NO idea! Good night!"

Just before she walked out the door, Shaille stopped and looked back, casting a grateful glance at the engineer. "Renee, thank you," she said genuinely. "I really appreciate it."


=/\=

Lieutenant Shaille Levine
Chief Security Officer
USS Wellington

Lieutenant Renee Salchin
Engineering Officer
USS Wellington