Star Trek: Starbase 777 - senior-staff-corridor

It was almost silent in the corridor here aside from the ambient thrum of the station’s power systems… And a side from a pair of light footsteps; soft, soft, almost sneaking. A certain Trill all but crept down the corridor while holding a medium-sized box in his arms, carefully scrutinising the way ahead lest he run into exactly the person that he was looking to surprise. Supposedly the quarters aboard the station were soundproofed – and not like he made a racket when walking anyway - but he’d rather not test that theory when on what he had deemed a mission of utmost importance. What was that mission, you ask? It was quite simple: deliver a very important gift to the station’s COO, and ideally, make it a surprise. The closer he got to the COO’s quarters the more the silence in the hallway seemed to give way to something louder: the sound of his own heartbeat echoing in his ears, faster with each step. He almost felt loopy with giddiness at the thought of seeing Dagis again – or maybe he was just finally losing it in general, but he was pretty sure it was just at the thought of them being reunited. Giles had been quite certain that the goodbye they had shared when he had left the station was going to be their last – or their last proper one, at least, instead of one over a comms call. Fate had spoken otherwise (as it so often seemed to for him) however and so here he was, on a mission… Only stopping to think ‘well that’s new’ at the sight of a door plaque denoting the quarters for the station commander and the ACEO; ‘new’ being both them sharing quarters and Lieutenant Allen reportedly now being an assistant department head. He would have to send his congratulations. x_divider

23:02

By the time he came to a halt outside of Dagis’s door he probably looked a little deranged, the way he was grinning to himself… And it probably wasn’t helped by the fact that he kept whispering a quiet ‘ssshh’ to what appeared to be an empty box. It was a medium size, the interior lined with soft blankets, and the exterior being a very particular shade of holographic gold… Yes it was the exact colour that Operations used in their colour scheme, and yes that had been selected on purpose. Very very gently he set the box down… And once it was on the floor a set of ears peeked up over the top of the edge, and then a set of eyes; just tall enough to look out over the edge but not climb out. Giles gave the puppy a soft scratch behind an ear before he straightened up, reached out… And rang the door chime. With his heart racing he swiftly paced back around the curve of the corridor (not particularly fast, given him,) and all but flattened himself against the wall. Here he was able to see Dagis's door, but would hopefully remain out of sight.

Today, so far, had been a completely normal day off for the Chief Operations Officer of Starbase 777. Sometimes on her days off she perused the promenade, or she visited the environmental ring, but today she was instead sat comfortably on her sofa in her quarters, reading a book, and a paper one at that. What was it about? Well, she really hadn’t figured that out yet. It was recommended to her by a colleague, but it having not occurred to her to ask about the genre, the woman was yet to determine if it was a murder mystery or romantic-comedy. Was there such a thing as a romantic murder mystery comedy? It was while taking a sip from her somehow still warm tea, it having sat untouched for a good half hour as she tried to wrap her head around who was jealous of and/or in love with and/or trying to kill who, that her door suddenly chimed. Eyes looking up towards it before the rest of her head, the Ferengi put down her cup and book, located and inserted a bookmark, and then stood up to head over to the door. x_divider

00:20

Upon opening the door the Lieutenant’s expression turned from passive friendliness to pure confusion as she looked around for a brief moment, unable to see anyone in the corridor at all. Was someone trying to prank her? Because if they were, she personally didn’t consider interrupting her me time very funny. It was as she turned to head back inside, though, that a quiet noise suddenly caught her attention. Stopping, she looked down, her blue eyes immediately widening as she saw a small dog in an Operations gold box that… looked like a shrunk down version of Turing? The woman almost immediately crouched down to kneel in front of it, her brain trying to process just what was going on as she once again looked left and right down the corridor to see if she could see or hear anyone. Was it a gift? Looking back at the puppy, she gently and somewhat cautiously held a hand out for it to smell. "Hello puppy." She greeted softly as she reached out, to which it responded by simply looking at her hand, and then back up at her face. That wasn’t a negative response, right? Moving both of her hands slowly enough so as to not scare the animal, Dagis reached into the box and scooped the fluffball up into her arms to hold it gently, a small smile slowly crossing her face as she did. “Well, I think you're a puppy, anyway. And one that looks awfully similar to a dog I know, too. But what you're doing here, I don't know." x_divider

00:20

Looking back down at the holographic Operations gold box once more, and then back up at the fluffy old-time Scotch Collie pup in her arms, the Ferengi hummed ever so slightly as she turned to head back into her quarters, only to stop in her tracks once more as a thought popped into her head. Who had left this puppy here? "Computer, who was in the vicinity of my quarters within the last three minutes?" She enquired, to which the Computer responded with one single name: Lieutenant Jadriel Ruhko. It being completely unbenounced to her that Jadriel was even back on the starbase, the woman's eyes widened as she heard the name, a shuttleful of emotions immediately flooding her mind as she looked back down as the fluffy bundle in her arms. Turning back around, she spoke once again, albeit with a tiny ounce of nervous anticipation. "…And where is Lieutenant Ruhko currently?" Without delay the Computer answered that enquiry as well, and subsequently gave away the Trill's hiding spot. A half-playful, half-loving smile slowly spread across the woman's face as she immediately began walking in the direction in which the Computer had indicated him to be, and after only a moment she came across a familiar individual squished up against the corridor wall. "Hello you." Dagis greeted softly in a familiar endearing and caring tone, after only a brief moment of silently looking at her partner, her blue eyes settling on his own as her smile grew.

From his place around the corner (not really a corner because the wall was curved, so from his place around the curve of the wall?) Giles watched the doors to the quarters open. He watched as she stood there looking around the corridor to try to spot whoever had rang the bell, and he slinked back against the wall even further in fear of being spotted. The only thing that almost made him leave his hiding space was the way that Dagis started to turn to go back into her quarters without having even noticed the box on the floor and the teensy dog within, but finally she looked down… And although it was hard to see from this distance and angle, Giles was pretty sure that the expression the Ferengi had on her face was one of visible confusion. Who wouldn’t be confused at coming out to inspect whoever was at your door, only to find nobody aside from a singular dog there? x_divider

14:08

He watched as Dagis picked the dog up – and he had to stop himself from laughing at the way that she turned to re-enter her quarters without stopping to investigate further. But then she did stop, and then it turned out that she had a far easier method of investigating on her mind. What had he expected from the Chief Operations Officer who knew the station’s systems inside and out, and knew exactly what sort of information that she could get from the computer? Just typical that it decided to clipe on him. Before Dagis had even rounded the not-corner he grumbled to the computer and gave a theatrical sigh. “That’s just cheating,” he commented as Dagis approached, relinquishing the position from where he was leaning against the wall; stepping out to meet her instead. “You’re meant to go ‘there’s no one here, I’ll go back inside’ and then exactly thirty seconds later I’m meant to ring the door chime again, and then you’ll see me.” The tone was joking – he couldn’t have looked serious if he tried, grinning at Dagis stood there with the dog in her arms. With the fear of being caught in his self-designated very important mission fading, it was with a fondness that he looked upon the Ferengi instead. “…Hello, Lieutenant Dagis.”

Looking upon her partner Dagis couldn’t help but continue to feel a flurry of emotions: Happiness, joy even, love, fondness, surprise, appreciation, and just a smidge of confusion. As the small dog in her arms licked her hand just a tad, - a strangely damp and warm sensation, - she slowly stepped forward towards the Trill to close the gap to that of a more sociable one, as a chuckle escaped her at his comment about her use of the computer being cheating. “I know this is a very obvious statement, but I didn’t expect to see you here.” The woman said fondly. Admittedly, she had hoped she would see Jadriel again at some point other than on one of their many video calls, and she had always remained hopeful for that to be possible, but even the most hopeful of individuals would know just how potentially unlikely it would be that they would actually be back together in the same place again. And yet they were, and right now it felt as if they hadn’t even been apart for as long as they had, even though she knew very well how long it had actually been. x_divider

03:31

“Actually, as a matter of fact, not only didn’t I expect to see you here, but I didn't expect to have a small box containing an even smaller dog sitting outside my door either, nor to now be holding said small dog who apparently likes the taste of my hand.” The Chief Operations Officer added with a slight chuckle, looking down as the fluffball with an almost as equally fond smile as that which she gave the man stood in front of her. “Am I right to presume all of this is your doing? I know I had said how nice it was to have a pet around the place, but I never expected this.” She said light-heartedly. As she spoke the woman began idly and entirely subconsciously bouncing up and down as she held the collie pup, akin to a parent and a baby. The dog, of course, seemed entirely unfazed by whatever was going on right now, glancing around with general curiosity. Looking up at her partner once more she continued. “Not that I'm ungrateful or anything of course, because I am, I just don’t know what to say. I’m admittedly still processing the sheer concept of all of this, as well as trying to figure out what I did to deserve this. But, thank you, really.” She said softly and appreciatively, an equally appreciative smile on her face as she looked into her partner's eyes. x_divider

03:31

A momentary look of silent appreciation and gratitude followed, only interrupted by the sound of a puppy breathing and the hum of the starbase, until Dagis spoke once more. "I’d ask how you’ve been, but we only called two days ago so it’s not exactly like I don’t know. But, just for the sake of…” There was a brief pause as the Ferengi glanced down the corridor both ways, before moving in closer. She gently kissed her partner on the lips, having to practically stand on tiptoes to achieve her goal all while simultaneously avoiding squishing the puppy between the two of them. Once flat on her feet again she continued with a smile. “How have you been? Would you like to come in for some tea while you’re here, or have you got places to be? I still have some of that tea you like, which is to say I still have tea.” The Trill being in uniform meant he was onboard for official purposes and not just for a surprise visit, and as much as he had just joked about chiming the door thirty seconds after she was meant to re-enter her quarters, that didn’t necessarily mean he had time for a long visit. She would happily take any opportunity she got to spend time with him though, long or short.

”Of course all of this is my doing,” Giles mused in return, although he had a feeling the question was rhetorical. For one, Dagis had already asked the Computer for the names of anyone who had been in the vicinity. For two, who else would randomly donate her a puppy? “I don’t tend to go sneaking around and hiding up against walls for nothing – it’s not exactly comfortable. And I’m glad that you didn’t expect to see me here – or expect to suddenly acquire a puppy – because if you did, then it wouldn’t have been a surprise. I treated this as a mission of utmost importance. Imagine the shame that I would bring upon Starfleet Intelligence if I failed it.” In their quiet moment in between, he spent it in silence as he regarded both Dagis and the dog. He couldn’t hold back the smile (not that he had been very good at that already, what with being giddy about seeing Dagis,) but at the sight of her practically cradling the puppy it became unavoidable. The dog was silent as it flopped back in her arms, looking up at the Ferengi with those big eyes. It seemed that it was already quite content, not making a fuss at all despite being in the arms of strangers. Giles liked to hope that it was a good sign – that this puppy in particular had been a good choice. When Dagis stretched up on her tiptoes for a kiss, he leaned down to meet her (and ignored the audible click of his spine as he did so.) When they broke apart, he turned so they could head back in the direction of her quarters. Not that he had made it very far before Dagis had gotten to the door – she was obviously faster than he was. “I’d never turn down tea, and no, I have nowhere else I need to be. I’m not going to show up and then suddenly bail – that would be cruel.” He offered a grin to Dagis at that and then stopped in the doorway to her quarters, holding a foot against the door so it would stay open and she could enter first.

Upon returning to the station Giles had felt like being in this corridor was trespassing, but he had soon gotten over that. He had stayed here with Dagis for months after all, and since his return to the station he had been here multiple times to visit her… But today he was making a slight deviation from his path during his walk down the senior staff’s corridor. Instead of continuing down the hallway to reach Lieutenant Dagis’s quarters he stopped outside of one that had a rather intimidating title on it: the station commander. That wasn’t to say that the station commander himself was intimidating, but standing outside his door was. The Trill was looking for the second name that was written upon the door plaque, one belonging to the station’s ACEO. That was new, and Allan sharing quarters with the station commander was new… And as Giles came to a halt outside of the door, lingering for a moment, he noticed something else that was new. He could have sworn that the last time he had taken a proper look at the door plaque it had stated ‘Lieutenant Junior Grade,’ but now it said ‘Lieutenant.’ Either Allan had been promoted recently or Giles’s brain was officially turning to mush and he was going senile. He hoped it was the former. Instead of going ahead and chiming the door, Giles found himself hesitating instead. He had told himself that it was fine to stop by and visit Allan, but he hadn’t stopped to consider that him showing up uninvited could potentially interrupt the station commander. Given that he was practically loitering on the station (and now in this corridor too,) he didn’t want to get into anyone’s bad books… He did the only other thing that he could think of: taking out his PADD to message Allan instead of getting on with it and knocking at the door. It seemed his proclivity for rambling wasn’t restricted to verbal conversations: it showed up in his messages, too.