Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Quarters - Dagen and Reia

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Reia Shandy (C Intelligence -Comm Officer) in Quarters - Dagen and Reia

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Quarters - Dagen and Reia
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The comms blinked then bleeped then trilled, the last indicator saying a transmission was in queue for retrieval. It was also some 03:36 ship time. It wasn’t flagged for any urgency so did little more than cause the Trill to open one eye, see the blinking light, then slip back to sleep until the morning … Later, after breakfast Dagen was moving about the bedroom, toothbrush at work while looking for a stray sock and wondering why, in this day and age, there were not such things as ‘smart socks’ that could be more easily located. It was then that he saw the offending sock at the base of the console. Picking it up, his head rose over the console, toothbrush freezing in place as he noticed the transmission light. Muttering around the toothbrush he tapped it with the hand that held the sock.

=^= Hello Dagen dear and Reia, sweetheart. =^= The toothbrush froze. It was his mother. =^= Mother here. =^= There was some crackling on the transmission. His father could be heard saying ‘I’m sure he knows who it is, followed by a ‘hush, it’s the polite thing to say’. His father mentioned, ‘you may want to tape that, there, yes because’ .. ‘there is no reason to’ .. she continued as the crackling grew more intense. Dagen shook his head. His mother would be the foil to the Borg if they ever assimilated her. Their civilization would fall in days. She was a menace to all things that had a technological level greater than a stick. =^= Dagen dear. We’re on .. way to ....... sa to visit Aunt .... and will stop .... you after. Toodles. Oh and your father says … =^= The conversation ended in a hiss of static.

He played it again with the computer attempting to enhance the speech. Alas it was the same with the problem at the source. He cast a glance at Reia with a look of ‘well that was clear’ etched on his face.
Dagen

Reia rolled her eyes. This morning had started off quite annoying. Dagen was doing the one thing that she absolutely couldn’t stand. She loved him deeply but, could the toothbrush please stay in the bathroom she wondered. That could be a discussion to have at another time for, perhaps, the fourth time. Rubbing her eyes, she shook her head.

“Oh love, there’s not enough coffee for this. Give me a minute.”

Somewhat oblivious Dagen took this opportunity to slip back to the lav and deposit the toothbrush there. It seemed an odd thing to do to him to use the toothbrush and then have coffee later; even 24th century coffee was not minty fresh with the breath. And it wasn’t that the quarters were that big on a ship and between the two of them it was cozy in either room, the main room or the bedroom - not that he was bothered by the latter.

Standing, she threw off the blanket she had been sitting under, went to the replicator, and came back with a fresh cup.

“Let me see if I can clean that message up just a bit. I know the problem’s at the source but, I am a pretty good comms officer if I do say so myself.”

Dagen wanted to say ‘better people than you have tried’ .. but then he wasn’t sure that there were any better that had tried. Most had given up with a shake to their head and a wonder and amazement that someone could be such a curse to technology. It was no wonder that Dagen had moved into engineering what with much of his youth spent in ‘fixing’ things that his mother had inadvertently touched.

She snuggled back in close with Dagen and began to see if she could unravel the message.

• Reia

Not wanting to deter her, Dagen let her soft warmth press against him and used that as a kind of quiet moral support. However, however much his dear wife worked it the issue was not in the transmission but at the source. To his surprise she did negotiate a little improvement … =^= Dagen dear. We’re on our way to the delightful and wa .. ....... sa to visit Aunt .... and will stop over at Cael’s University Li ...... you after. Toodles. Oh and your father says … =^=

His fingertips lightly brushed at Reia’s soft hair .. she had done better but it was not a great deal clearer. “We have an Aunt Clara in the more equatorial province of Talsa, but another Aunt, Veri who winters on Risa. Cael’s University .. the Library and Museum there dad has wanted to see for years. That’s off world at Alpha Centauri. A fair jaunt. But there are cruises that go to both places. And Dad likely said ‘good luck’ regarding this message.” He leaned in to kiss her shoulder. “Good work though. That is better than most could do. My guess is they will be calling us after that.”
- Dagen

Reia frowned and yawned.

“I really wish they had included a trip itinerary because, after that is a big beautiful nothing phrase my love.” she said leaning forward to give him a long coffee laced kiss.

“Do you think you could get a hold of whomever that was they mentioned in their message and get some more intel? I know, that’s usually my field but this is your family and they don’t know me yet.” she asked snuggling back into him.

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Dagen was not happy about the thought of calling either of his aunts. Sure, Aunt Veri he had only met once but had endured many a holo-call with family during holidays. “I’ll try Aunt Clara,” he said with a grudging tone. It was the more likely of the two, and the one he knew best, though she was a person unto herself. Not eccentric, but, to Dagen, odd.

Moving to the console he tapped in the subspace link to civilian bands. It was not quite as easy as some would think. Voice commands were well and good for Starfleet ship to ship but rather broke down with the more granular civilian areas. Planetary channels. Provincial codes. Then, once that was linked - as it was a subspace transmission after all across a pretty good distance - he finally got the connection confirmation. And he waited and tried to think of what the time difference was … when the link activated.

Reia rolled her eyes in silence. it wouldn’t do to voice the fact that she could have done that in half the time or, at least 75% of the time.

OOC: It’s that old school home phone thing. Be happy there aren’t party lines in subspace :)

=^= Dags? Is .. what on Trill are you calling me at this deathly hour for? Heavens I am not long up and a good thing too to undertake my meditations and feed my little darlings. You remember Tulsa? And Texas? =^= The scene was her, rail thin busting out of a tight green spotted leotard, a middle aged woman with flowing pink hair and prominent lips, dark Trill spots that could even be seen through the fabric, as she held up a black cat with a single spot over one eye. =^= There you are Texas, say hello to your friend Dags. Remember how you and he were inseparable? =^= She held that up to the monitor so close the cat, not really happy about the scene, filled the screen with his squirming self. Released, it disappeared and Aunt Clara reached for a glass of something even brighter green than her leotard and took a sip.

=^= Aunt Clara we were wondering … =^=

That was all he got when Aunt Clara sputtered out, =^= Dagz, who IS that absolute goddess behind you? Are we to call you devil Dagz for enchanting such a creature? =^=

=^= Uhhhh .. =^= Dagen got out, looking imploringly at Reia over his shoulder ..
- Dagen

Reia flipped off the blanket, stood up, and walked over to the console. She was actually dressed in something reasonably appropriate for a post bed call. The only modest bathrobe she owned went to her knees and was a cloudy blue in color with a light cherry blossom pattern and a ruffled neckline that extended to a plunging V.

=^=Good… Morning? I think… Ma’am. My name is Reia and Dagen is my husband. He was just aobut to explain why he called so early.=^= she said politely.

• Reia

=^= Ohwoooooo!!! =^= Aunt Clara said with eyes and mouth widening to a O shape. =^= Your mother had mentioned something about you but she was being coy. We all here are pleased to meet you. No spots on you but I’m sure that Dagz has found other things to count. =^= She winked in Reia’s direction as Dagen blushed. With one arm he reached over and slipped his arm around Reia’s waist. The bathrobe seemed quite thin and at this angle did not have an easy time finding purchase and his hand kept sliding. He hoped that this was not noticed as Clara had two other cats padding by the console and he could hear her say ‘shoo shoo’ to them with a hand waving in that gesture, aptly ignored by the cats.

Dagen cleared his throat. =^= Mom sent a message over but it was a little choppy. You know mom and gagets. She said she was visiting a couple of aunts but it wasn’t clear who. Your name kinda matched one so we thought we’d check. =^=

Clara eventually leaned in flashing no less cleavage than Reia to snatch up a Siamese like long hair from before the screen and cradle it. =^= They’ve not been by here. She did call last month to say they were going on a cruise. Your father was announcing his retirement and they were doing a celebratory trip. Personally I think he is in one of those mid-life’s and wants a good excuse for nookiee. =^= She shrugged as though that was perfectly legitimate. =^= I’ll try to find the dates on this. I think she told me. =^= She leaned in again and was rummaging on another screen …
- Dagen

Reia watched as Clara moved about on the screen and wondered if she should feel sorry for the cats.

=^= Come now Dallas. And you too Lincoln. Go play with Isis and Artemis. Now, did I jot that down? =^=

When Clara leaned in and was rummaging off screen Reia cuddled up to Dagen and whispered in his ear.

Dagen muted the transmission on their end. “Aunt Clara as you can see has a thing for cats. But they have a thing for her too so I guess that is okay. They … complement each other. If we ever visit her just fair warning, she is very earthy. Everything out of the garden and beware of any .. latest health fad she will be into big time. She tends to make her own rather than replicate it and if it grows she juices.” His arm around her helped to keep Reia snuggled closer, his eyes on Aunt Clara but his hands lightly roaming.

“Oh Dags! Can we have a kitty too?” she asked coyly with a little laugh at the end.

• Reia

Dagen gave her a squeeze as he looked at the screen and the multitude of cats roaming. One was sniffing at the unattended green drink next to Clara looking like a paw might be next. Before he was able to answer Clara came back on. =^= I have it. They set off now, what was it, eleven days ago. I don’t have any more detail. So I’m guessing to expect a call sometime. Cruises tend to have pretty tight schedules for travel. I’ve been on a few myself. Food is dreadful. They just don’t cater to some sensibilities and they would only allow me to take three of my cats. I mean, how do I choose? They’re all darlings. =^=

Inwardly Dagen shrugged. That made sense. Well, not the three cat part, but the call part. The immediate-ness was over. =^= Well thank you Aunt Clara. We’ll let you get back to your meditations. =^= He had no idea how she could do that with all those cats around. But at the moment he was becoming more distracted by Reia and her closeness. By her laugh he was pretty sure she was only joking about a cat. He thought that anyway. He glanced to Reia in case she had anything more to say.
- Dagen

Reia had a feeling Dagen would be happy to end this call. Clara seemed harmless yet eccentric and one could only take so much of eccentric relatives.

=^=Well it was a pleasure meeting you and thank you so much for the information. We’ll let you and your furry family get back to your morning. Thank you and goodbye.=^= she said politely.

• Reia

=^= Now don’t you run off you two just yet =^= Clara said looking like she was tapping furiously, her face a mask of concentration even as she, at this angle looked like she might fall out of her suit which too was dangerously close to the screen. Dagen sent a ‘well this is awkward’ glance to his wife. A colorful calico with huge whiskers came up and, for a moment dominated the screen with its furry muzzle before moving off revealing a more satisfied face on Clara.

=^= There. Propriety is handled. I’m transmitting a much overdue wedding gift to you both that most decent replicators can handle. Enjoy it dears and don’t forget to stop by when you are in the neighborhood. You like winter Dagz. I’ve got just the thing you would like out back. A wonderful sauna just nicely built for two. And I don’t mean you and Thor either. Keep in touch now. Farwell. =^= She winked and closed the channel.

“Now you can see maybe where my mom gets it as they are sisters. Though .. Aunt Clara was always more, well, just more. It was always fun to visit her though,” he said, musing as he drew Reia around to be on his lap. “She would always have these wild things. All the pets, the sauna, a meditation circle in the yard, a sacred grove, always some craft that she was working on be it painting or candle making and if it was new and shiny she may have it. Very much the .. to use an old Terran term, hippy of the family.”
- Dagen

Reia laughed as Dagen described his aunt. She allowed herself to be maneuvered onto his lap faking a bit of resistance and giggling all the while. Once she had comfortably straddled him she freed her hands and slipped off the robe to reveal nothing but the lacy panties that matched it.

Dressed for ‘work’ she wasn’t. Dagen effectively was less his footwear. So between the two of them they may have made a uniform. He was considering saying that Reia had something in common with his aunt when faced with Reia’s ample, ah, blessings. His hands settled on her hips and he glanced around her to make sure that the channel had actually closed. In the reflection of the now dark console he could see the muted mirrored image of Reia’s flowing hair and the lines of her back.

“No love, your aunt sounds and acts quite adorable. So she’s a bit eccentric. Every family has a few of those I suppose.”

“I think one of Aunt Clara is more than sufficient.” He smiled. “Grandfather, um, dad’s father, had often said that he wondered if some of the nuts got shaken off the tree with the two sisters. Aunt Clara, not losing a beat, always replied back that the nuts only added taste.”

Reia’s smile faded a bit as she thought.

“My grandparents described my mother as a hippie a few times but I really don’t remember so, I guess I’ll have to take their word for it.”

“I wonder if the definitions would be the same,” Dagen mused, too close to her and to the side to see her expression change. Her tone went more whimsical to him and her body held a slight tension under his fingers. About to ask about that he felt her leaning in meaning more of his wife pressing near to him.

Reia could tell she was heading for one of her moods and desperately wanted to change the subject. Leaning in she laid her head on Dagen’s shoulder for a few seconds before beginning to playfully kiss his neck and ear.

Automatically one of Dagen’s hands slid up to her nape, caressing under her ample hair. A moment later he was tingling from her play and, to him becoming more relaxed, something he fully intended to enjoy.

“Hey, don’t we have a present to open?” she whispered.

• Reia

“Sorry, what?” he asked, senses trying to synch with her words. “I thought you just opened it,” he said, following that up with a soft kiss to a bare, if partially clothed by her hair, shoulder. He had compartmentalized Aunt Clara’s ‘gift’ to be something to get at another time. In part he was concerned about Aunt Clara’s .. imagination .. curious but wondering if it would turn out to be .. as odd or as flirty as she was. “Do we dare?” Dagen asked which was only partially a cover to ‘what now?!’
- Dagen

Reia laughed softly and snuggled more into her husband. This morning was going to become a mess if she didn’t keep the mood light.

“Well, she is your family so I’m going to have to let you make that final decision I suppose. The way I see it, I love presents and I love you and, I guess, now we’re family. The thought of your Aunt Clara meeting my grandmother and grandfather fills me with horror and makes me want to burst out with laughter. So… Present or not present?”

• Reia