Why is Paperwork Everything So Stressful? (backpost)
Posted on Mon May 4th, 2026 @ 7:44am by Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Lieutenant Rala
Mission:
Die Hard: Chimera Edition
Location: Deck 3, Personal Quarters
Timeline: A few days after "Girls' Night", before "A Friendly Race"
Rala closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, tossing the PADD onto the desk before rubbing at her face with all four hands. Yep, she thought, that’s it. It’s time to stop being stubborn and send up the flare for help...
Another thought cut across the path of the first one, and she paused to chase it. “Computer, time?”
”Nineteen fifty-two hours.”
“Ugh...” she groaned aloud as she returned to her previous thought, ...But not until tomorrow. Right now I need to stop thinking about this, if I can.
It was a similar kind of frustration to what she’d felt when first trying to parse the distress call from the Eureka Maru, but piled up on itself five or six times over.
That thought brought to mind the ‘nudge’ Commander Espersen had given her that day on the bridge, giving her something relatively simple and unrelated to work on to get her mind off the message. It had worked, briefly, but as soon as she’d finished it, her mind had drifted back to her previous work.
I’ll see if he can help me with this tomorrow, she thought, dropping her hands to her lap and staring at the ceiling, or maybe Katie can.
The thought of one Kellerman sister inevitably prompted a thought of the other—in particular, when she’d stopped by sickbay after that first tennis session, and how Kally had relieved the sore muscles in her neck and tail. She shifted her gaze to the computer terminal on her desk, but made no other move for several seconds. On one hand, the idea of another, less rushed and hopefully more thorough massage was quite appealing. On the second hand, it would mean being in private with someone she had a crush on, which she wasn’t ready to admit yet, and whose invitation to join said crush and her...partners?...she’d very awkwardly declined.
And on the third hand, she thought, tapping a claw on her armrest, I think I could really use that massage, and I should probably apologize for how I acted when she made that invitation, and explain why...if I can put words to it in the first place.
She stared at the computer terminal for another second or two before finally tapping in a message, addressing it to Kally, pausing briefly and smiling as she added a few words before telling the computer to send it to both Kally’s office in Sickbay and her quarters.
Kally had just gotten back to her quarters, showered, and was debating who to drop in on that evening, when her terminal lit up.
Kally, could I please trouble you for a massage? I think I’ve been overworking myself. I’m just leaving the Ops office now and heading for my quarters—deck three, section one.
-- Rala
P.S.: I’ve got a surprise to show you, if you show up.
Kally's eyebrows went up with curiosity as she read the message. Never being one to turn down a good surprise, she quickly packed a bag with essentials and skipped out of her quarters, heading for Rala's.
She rang the chime and stood patiently.
“Come in,” came the response after a second or so, and the door opened, revealing quarters that were somewhat smaller than Kally’s own, with only a partial divider between the living and sleeping spaces, but with a pair of actual windows over the bed and sofa.
Rala was standing near the bed with her uniform mostly unzipped, having just started working her arms out of the sleeves. She paused to gesture Kally in and stepped over to give her an unusually stiff hug. “Thanks for coming,” she said. “And good timing; I just got in, myself.”
Kally hugged her back, feeling how tense Rala was. "Not a problem. Always happy to help, and it feels like you need it." She eyed Rala's unzipped uniform appreciatively, then noticed the glint from Rala's collar. "You got promoted too?" she said, excitedly. "Congratulations!" She hugged her friend again, careful not to squeeze hard enough to hurt her.
“Katie told me you’d been promoted too,” Rala said, returning the new hug with a slight chuckle and already feeling a bit of her mental stress melt away. “I’ve been meaning to congratulate you, but it’s been a busy couple of weeks. So, congratulations to you, too; I’d say you deserve it more than I do.”
"Oh, like hell," Kally said, laughing and gave Rala a hug. "We both earned it. You've done amazing here, don't downplay it."
“So everyone keeps telling me,” Rala said, squeezing Kally again. “Give me another month or two and it might sink in.
“But yeah,” she said, stepping back and reaching up to fiddle with the new gold pip again, “I actually got mine a couple of days after we left Tial, at the same time as I found out I was officially replacing T’Pinga as Chief Operations Officer—so it was actually before that party you threw, but I’ve been amusing myself by waiting for people to notice the new pip, I wasn’t wearing my uniform during the party, and we haven’t interacted in person much lately...all of which, come to think of it, kind of relates in one way or another to why I asked you here.”
She resumed working her arms out of the sleeves of the uniform, leaving her torso bare save for her simple black bra. “I’d gone to the Captain’s Ready Room to pitch an idea for a project, and no sooner had she approved it than she dropped the promotion on me—quite unexpectedly, really, and...I kind of panicked a bit, got fairly emotional...almost turned it down, didn’t think I was ready, but she talked me around to it.” A snort of wry laughter came from her snout. “Still working on feeling ready for it. And by the Makers there’s so much paperwork,” she continued, rubbing her face briefly. “But!” she held up a finger, smiling slightly, “I can now share the first fruits of that project.”
Kally raised an eyebrow, completely curious now. She knew when Katie got hyper-focused on something, she could construct odd, elaborate, extremely fun objects. Kally had no idea what Rala would tinker with, but she was eager to find out.
Rala beckoned Kally toward her quarters’ small head, now fully reassembled from her previous work, and with a transparent door covering the slightly smaller space within. “You know how a lot of the quarters on this ship have these, but most of them don’t work?” she asked as Kally looked inside. Rala tapped the now exposed and functional control panel on the wall, and water began flowing from the holes in the ceiling. She glanced back at Kally, her smile looking slightly more tired, but still clearly pleased with her work. “I’m getting them working again.”
Kally's eyes went wide. "Oh....excellent!" she said. She was ready to strip down and jump in then and there. Jadizon's shower was the one nice part of his quarters, and she always hated she didn't have one. "You're installing or repairing them in all quarters?" she said, grinning. "So um...are you going deck by deck, or starting with senior officers, or is this massage earning me front-of-the-line privileges?"
“Aside from a handful that are working—a couple of the VIP guest quarters, the Captain’s, and maybe Espersen’s—the officers’ quarters and a couple of the senior NCOs’ quarters should all have them, but almost none of them have worked since this ship’s previous life,” Rala said, leading Kally back out into the main room and sitting down on the edge of the bed. “The plan is to get them all working again, as well as turn one of the less-used interior cargo bays into a communal shower for the rest of the crew. I just hope the rest aren’t as bad as mine was.”
She sighed. “As for order...I hadn’t really gotten that far. Mine was the first, for a few reasons, but I didn’t want to make specific plans beyond that until I knew whether it was possible at all. So...” she smirked, “yeah, I think I can arrange to put you at the top of the list. It helps to know the project manager...since, you know, I am the project manager.”
"Hot damn," Kally said, grinning at her.
Rala looked distantly thoughtful for a second, as if mentally debating with herself, then said, “Based on your reaction when I showed it to you, it seemed like you wouldn’t mind a shower yourself.” She tried not to look or sound as shy as she felt, given who she was talking to. “Communal bathing is fairly common among Draakri, and I haven’t washed with a friend in ages. And I’ve been too busy—or at least felt too busy—to actually use it since I got it all put back together. Would you like to help me, uh...what’s the phrase? ...’Break it in’?”
Kally turned slowly to look at Rala. "You little tease," she said. "Playing shy all this time and then you threaten me with a good time? Hell yes, I'll jump in there. Nothing we haven't seen already, right?" she said, teasingly tugging the strap on Rala's bra. "I think we both know I have no modesty, so if you're good with it, I am too."
Rala nodded, ears flicking with mixed emotions. “So then, I guess the next question is, shower first, or massage first? You’d probably know best here.”
"Shower first, massage second, shower third," Kally said, not even finished with the sentence before she started pulling off her uniform. "You always want a massage on clean skin and clean sheets, then another shower to wash the oil off." She tossed her clothes into a neat pile on the edge of the sink as she moved, and kicked her boots into a corner of the room.
“Shower first it is,” Rala as she stood up and finished stripping down, flinging her own clothes into a loose pile near her dresser. She took a deep breath. Being naked around several other people in a a public setting where that was explicitly acceptable was one thing; and having a friend help you get clean and returning the favor, as she’d told Kally, was a perfectly normal thing for Draakri...but somehow the fact that it was Kally, and they were in private, was making her heart beat just a bit faster. She told herself there was nothing more to it than getting some much needed help from a friend, and would be nothing more to it than that, at least not tonight.
It helped a little.
She stepped into the bathroom again and turned the water back on, setting it to use the full set of ‘rainfall’ holes in the ceiling and selecting a temperature that should be hot but not unbearably so for either of them. She held the shower door open and gestured for Kally to go ahead. “Guests first.”
Kally stepped in and felt the water pouring down and sighed. "Now that is heavenly," she said, stepping to the side and closing her eyes, enjoying the sensation. "Yeah, you'd better do my quarters next, or I'm going to need to borrow your shower more often."
A short laugh escaped Rala’s throat before some tiny part of her mind briefly considered delaying the work on Kally’s shower. She kicked that thought into a pit and covered it as she followed Kally into the shower and closed the door.
The hot, heavy ‘rain’ washed over her, and she closed her eyes, one hand loosely on the shower door’s handle; and for a few seconds, she forgot about everything else. Kally, Katie, Calypso, the rest of the crew, the ship itself, the rest of the universe, all vanished from Rala’s mind, leaving only the sensation of blissfully warm water cascading over her body.
Then it passed, and reality reasserted itself as she let her hand fall to her side and tilted her head upward, letting the shower splash across her face, then finally looked back down and opened her eyes, blinking. “By the Makers, I’ve needed this.”
"You and me, both," Kally said. "All right, hand me the soap and let's get you cleaned up."
Rala obligingly gave Kally a dollop of soap, and took a bit for herself so she could start on her front. “Mind the horns,” she said.
Kally moved behind Rala, being mindful of her tail, and washed her methodically, giving her shoulders a rub as she went.
Rala let out a soft hum of enjoyment, her own scrubbing motions faltering briefly, then resuming. Crush very much aside, it was just as she’d told Kally: having a friend help you wash was nice, and she’d missed it.
“Any time I finished a performance, this was the best part of my night,” Kally said. “I'd take a good long shower, work out every sore muscle, then cuddle up with Katie and relax.”
Rala smiled. “That sounds very nice,” she said, reminded of a few experiences back on Draakrona and, more recently, the few times she and Calypso had snuggled up and relaxed after swimming or playing tennis, and the night she’d needed Michelle’s company in order to sleep.
"It was," Kally said, working her way down Rala's body. "Dancing is a great way to burn off energy, probably my second favorite way, but feeling everything loosen up in a hot shower or hot bath afterwards..." she sighed. "Heaven." She gave Rala a playful smack on the rear.
Rala had finished washing what she could easily reach of her own front side, and leaned her elbows against the wall and let her head droop between her arms while Kally kept working on the rest, just in time to get smacked on the rump. She’d relaxed into the washing so much that it actually startled her, making her jump and causing her tail to thrash once, thumping her friend in the leg. She glanced over her shoulder, preparing a look of playful mock annoyance that faded as, for an instant, she caught her friend’s gaze. The fact that this wasn’t just any friend who was washing her—and...teasing her?—leapt off the sidelines of her mind and came charging in, and Rala turned away, returning to her previous posture, hoping Kally didn’t catch the slight darkening of her cheeks and snout.
“I was never much of a dancer—at least, not anything organized or practiced—so I’ll have to take your word on that part,” she said. There was a thoughtful pause before she continued, “Might be worth learning, though.” She shook her head slightly, then returned to her previous thought. “I meant the last part,” she said, carefully controlling her tone. “Cuddling up with someone special and relaxing for practically as long as you like.”
"Has its perks," Kally said. "In or out of a shower." She let Rala rinse off and took a bit more soap for herself. "All right, my turn," she said.
Rala put dollops of soap in two of her own hands, then turned to Kally. She hesitated for an instant, having to shove that stubborn thought aside again, then gestured for Kally to turn around and started washing her back...perhaps just a touch more slowly than she otherwise would have.
Kally turned around, quickly washing her front as Rala did her back. "You know," she said, "I used to think the best part of getting a massage was the rush of endorphins once the muscles relaxed, but now I'm reconsidering the prep may be better." She rinsed her front off and felt Rala's hands quickly rub along her rear and down to her legs. "Seriously, my quarters need to be next," she sighed.
“The prep is indeed rather nice,” Rala said, a bit stiffly. I should have washed her first, Rala thought. The hot water had combined with the simple joy of being washed by a friend had actually done quite a bit to relax her...while she’d been able to keep that one particular thought at bay, helped by having her back to her companion. Now she was specifically focusing on Kally, that thought was harder to ignore, and it brought with it a reminder of the third reason she’d asked Kally here, and her uncertainty over exactly how to handle that; and some of that tension was returning. She blinked and shook her head slightly as Kally mentioned her quarters. “Uh, yeah, of course,” Rala said as her brain caught up. “As far as I know, the only people who might have preempted you already have working water showers.”
Kally gave her a playful grin and reached up to wring her hair out, rinsing herself off. "Okay, I think we're ready. Let's get to bed." She grinned again and stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel.
Rala took a breath, turning her face up to the warm water again and letting it course over her for a few seconds more, using her honest reluctance to leave the shower to hide the pang caused by Kally’s last four words. Then she turned the water off and reached out to grab a towel of her own.
A moment later, they stepped out of the bathroom; Rala moving to the bed to rearrange some of her pillows, of which there were several, into a small pile that would keep her from needing to hang off the foot of the bed like she had in Sickbay, while Kally wrapped her hair up in a towel to keep it out of the way and not drip onto Rala. She retrieved her bag of supplies and started rummaging through it.
Kally laid out her supplies and then grabbed her underwear, slipping them back on quickly. She walked over and put a hand on Rala's shoulder. "Good to go?"
Rala had sat down on the edge of the bed, managing not to watch too intently as Kally put her underwear back on. Now her eyes slipped away from Kally’s face and her first left hand briefly gripped her second left wrist in her usual nervous tic. “Before that,” she said, glancing back to Kally’s face, but as usual her gaze wound up wandering as she spoke, “um...about...the other night, after the party...the offer you made, and my reaction...”
'The other night' feels like a lifetime ago, Kally thought. She'd been wondering how long Rala would keep herself stewing. Truth be told, she'd felt bad that she'd let herself get that far gone that she'd just openly invite Rala like that, knowing the other woman had reservations about things. Still, she'd thought they'd moved past it. She sat back and folded her hands in her lap. "About it...?"
Rala chewed on her next words for a second, then continued, “I didn’t...handle that very well. And I wanted to clear the air and make sure you knew that it wasn’t unwelcome. Quite the opposite, in fact; I’m honored.” She could feel the beginnings of a blush coming on, and tried to decide just how much she was willing to share. “It just...I wasn’t expecting it, and I really hadn’t expected everyone else to leave while I was taking Tessa to Henry’s so that had thrown me off and I was just focusing on gathering up my things, and...” the words came tumbling out in a rush before she paused, shaking her head, “...and I’ve never, uhm...gotten that intimate with non-Draakri before, and I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.” Truth be told, she hadn’t gotten that intimate with any Draakri, either, but telling herself that was a lesser concern in this case wasn’t stretching the truth very much. “Besides, among other...differences...I have a lot more sharp bits than you do;” she held up a hand, indicating her fairly short, sharp claws. “I wouldn’t want to hurt someone by accident.”
"Okay," Kally said, nodding.
Rala blinked. “Just...’okay’? That’s it?”
Kally shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah. Just okay. You're not obligated to fool around with anyone here. You don't owe me or anyone an apology or an explanation about that. You didn't handle anything badly, and you have no air to clear." She gave Rala a smile. "Wasted a perfectly good apology on me."
“No, it’s—” Rala growled and stood up, frustratedly pacing a few steps away before turning back. “I needed to say it. Not because of what either of us said, but just...losing my composure like that has been bothering me ever since, thinking about how that must have come across.” She sighed, plopping back down on the edge of the bed where she’d been before, rubbing her face with all four hands briefly before continuing, “If I could go back and do it again, I...I think I would still decline, but I’d be a lot less...well, panicky about it; and, well, I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t gotten the wrong idea.”
"All right," Kally said, scooting next to her, "since you went to all that trouble, allow me to address a few points. First, as I said, you did nothing wrong. If anything, I did. I knew you weren't really into sex, and I offered anyway. I was a bit worked up between the booze and the...well, others. So for putting that pressure on you, I'm sorry.”
An expression of gentle concern came over Rala’s face, her ears briefly pinning back in distress “Kally, no,” Rala said, a touch of sadness in her voice. One of her hands coming up of its own accord and moving to cup Kally’s cheek. She interrupted the motion and redirected the hand to Kally’s shoulder. “You have nothing to apologize for. When I said the offer wasn’t unwelcome, and that I was honored to be invited, I wasn’t kidding. I understand this is considered somewhat trite to say, but it’s not you, it’s me.”
Kally nodded. “All right. Second, as for feeling honored, well, I'm honored you're honored." She smiled at her again. "And third, as for never having gotten with another species, I've had a dozen, and some have pointy bits and more, and I made it through just fine. Again, that's not meant to pressure or entice, it's just a fact." She patted Rala's claws.
Rala blinked again, gaze wandering as she processed Kally’s words, her blush returning as she did. “Well...that’s, um...that’s reassuring, I guess.” But what about anyone else? she thought, then shook her head slightly, refocusing. Not something to worry about right now.
"Now," Kally said, her voice getting a bit more stern, "let's clear some new air and address an elephant in the room. You have been carrying this around for a while now. No wonder your back is in knots. You've also had more than ample opportunity to come to my quarters or Sickbay and talk it out. Whatever excuses you made, whatever negative things you told yourself about speaking up in order to convince yourself to keep this to yourself, shame on you. It shouldn't have to take us naked in the shower for you to finally talk to me about me. I will always be here to talk and listen, and if it's something concerning me or our friendship, you better bet your zhopa I want you to talk to me about it. All right? From now on, no more 'sparing my-slash-our feelings' or 'waiting for the right time' or whatever else. You have something to talk to me about, ask me about, ask me to help with, you come talk to me, day or night. Deal?" She put her hand on Rala's and gave it a supportive squeeze.
As Kally spoke, Rala leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and cradling her face in her hands, ears once again pinned back in distress. After Kally had finished, Rala sighed, turning her head out of her hands enough to look back at Kally with one eye. “Either I’m not as subtle as I think or you’re more perceptive; or, some combination of the two,” she said, audibly frustrated at herself for getting into this situation and at Kally for pushing her into it, but keeping the frustration in check because Kally was at least mostly right.
"Well, obviously, I'm brilliant," Kally said with false bravado. "But, I'm also pretty good at picking up cues, and the people who try to hide stuff tend to broadcast it the most, because deep down they want to broadcast it."
Rala was silent for a few seconds, mulling over how to respond. Then she took a deep breath, let her hands fall away from her face, and said, “Okay, yeah, I’ve got some feelings I haven’t really talked about much, some of which involve you. I say ‘much’ because some of it did come up in a chat I had with Michelle a few days before we got to Tial. I haven’t talked to anyone else about it partly because I’ve been so Makers-damned busy lately, and partly because I’m still trying to figure it out myself, and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time has burned me before. Badly.”
Kally shrugged. "Fair enough. But I think you've gotten to know me well enough to know that I don't mince words, and I'm not going to suddenly poof out of existence if you say something awkward, so if you feel the need to talk, just talk."
She turned, facing Kally more directly. “Kally, I enjoy spending time with you. A lot. Take that however you like, because I’m not entirely sure what it means either,” she said, shrugging. “I just know that when I want company, there’s only one or two other people who I think of as often as you.”
Kally gave her a half smile and patted Rala's shoulder. She looked around dramatically, including under Rala's tail and then back at her. "And there it is. The ship didn't explode, and I didn't go poof." She smirked. "And, truth be told, it's not the first time a friend has said something like that to me, so these are familiar waters for me. And you know I adore you, as does Katie, and I'm proud to be one of the few people you want to spend time with, whether that be platonically or otherwise."
Rala giggled and rolled her eyes at Kally’s antics, but gave a genuine smile at her words. “As for the topic that started this whole conversation,” she said, then paused, thinking again, before continuing, “I might get over that...hang-up...at some point. I don’t know when. But if so, when I do,” she found Kally’s hand with one of her own and looked the other woman in the eyes, a faint, soft smile on her face, “after this conversation? I’m fairly sure you’ll be the first to know.”
Kally grinned. "Sounds like a plan," Kally said. "In the mean time, if you don't mind some physical proximity, shall we get started?"
“Kally,” Rala said, leaning over to give her friend a fairly strong hug, “sex be damned, physical proximity to someone I like and trust is something I’ve been gradually realizing I don’t have nearly enough of in my life.”
"Well then, until you get my shower up and running, we'll just have to make this a regular thing," Kally said, grinning. "Now, lie down and get comfy."
Rala released Kally and flopped back onto the pile of pillows she’d made, staring out the curved window over her bed with a wry smile on her face. “It’s...actually why I wound up having that conversation with Michelle. I couldn’t sleep and wandered into the lounge just as she was tidying up for the night.” She sat back up and turned over, readjusting the pile of pillows where she’d disturbed them by flopping down, still talking as she did. “Eventually I realized that my insomnia was just because I was tired of sleeping alone. She kept me company that night, and it was just what I needed. I haven’t asked her again; partly because just knowing there’s someone willing, as long as she’s not otherwise engaged, has helped some; and partly because, well...” She glanced over her shoulder at Kally as she settled face-down on the pile, “she’s wonderful, but she’s a few places down the list of people I’d prefer to have keeping me company at night.”
Kally warmed up her hands and moved up over Rala's legs, sitting on her right side. "Well, my bed time is usually scheduled ahead of time, but insomnia is a medical issue, so, if you need my help, you go ahead and ask." She leaned over and began kneading Rala's shoulders. "Unless you snore, in which case, we're going to have to fix that first."
“Mmmmmno,” Rala said, the soft moan caused by Kally finally starting to work the tension out of her shoulders blending into the word, “no snoring, as far as I know,” she mumbled into her mattress. “I'll ask Michelle the next time I see her.”
She lay there, enjoying Kally's ministrations for maybe fifteen or twenty seconds, then mumbled sarcastically, “You know, ‘threatening’ to make this a regular thing may not be the best way to stay at the front of the line on the shower project.
Kally snorted a laugh. "I meant showering would be a regular thing. You want this every week, you're going to need to do more than scrub my back." She dug into a particularly tight cluster of muscle on Rala's left side and worked it out carefully, putting some warming oil on her to help ease the feeling.
Rala let out her own amused snort. “Fair. Disap—ngh,” Rala winced as Kally dug into the knot on her back, then continued, “Disappointing, but fair. Still...massage or no, shower or no, consider yourself welcome here basically any time.” She paused for a second. “In fact...” She lifted her head off the mattress so she could speak more clearly. “Computer, add Kally Kellerman to the general access list for my quarters.” The computer chirped obediently, and Rala lowered her head back down. “There. Unless it’s set to privacy mode, you can come and go as you please.”
"You can do that?" Kally said, her voice teasing. "I just been leaving my quarters unlocked." She moved down another couple inches. "Thank you, I'm touched," she said, pressing into Rala's spine.
“Mm-hm,” Rala mumbled, groaning as she shifted her arms into a more comfortable, relaxed position and closed her eyes. “And for the record, I know you’ve practically got a whole list of people you can go to if you ever need company, but...add me to it. I told Katie something similar about a week and a half ago; I’m no Counselor, but I like helping when and how I can.”
"Thank you," Kally said, working along each of Rala's arms. "Given I am Acting Ship's Counselor, I can say it's a rough job. Of course, your counseling methods and mine differ greatly." She smirked and moved to Rala's lower back after she finished her arms. "Katie's more the talker, I'm more a girl of action," she said. "That's why I handle the massages. Or whatever else brings a smile to one's face." She gave both sides of Rala's rear end a playful squeeze as she passed.
Rala twitched, opening one eye and looking back at Kally, three or four subtle expressions playing rapidly over her face as she processed the action, what it meant, and how she felt about it. Then the eye narrowed and a twitch of her tail sent its tip into a lazy arc that ended with a soft thwack against Kally’s lower back. “If you’re going to tease me too, expect consequences,” she said.
Kally let out a squeal of shock and stuck her tongue at Rala. "Okay, okay," she said, gripping Rala's tail at the base, working the muscles gently. She eventually moved down and began working on Rala's thighs.
Rala lifted her head enough to return the gesture, the tip of her tongue reaching nearly ten centimeters past the end of her snout, then laid her head back down and started purring as Kally resumed the massage.
Kally moved to Rala's other leg, keeping her hands in a respectful position as she worked Rala's upper thigh, not wanting to face the wrath of the tail again. "So who else has been goosing your rear?" she said, a teasing smile on her face.
“Hm?” The purr faltered as Rala processed the question. “Oh, uh...nobody...technically.”
"'Technically'? So, somebody sorta kinda?" Kally said, giving Rala a look.
Rala let out a breath that wasn’t quite a sigh, and said, “I don’t know if she’s told you, but the Ca—Calypso,” she corrected herself in the opposite direction as usual, “uh...made a move...once, that first time she saw the Tikkana tree program, and I told her I wasn’t ready for anything like that; but we settled on friends. She and I are in...about the same kind of relationship you and I are, now, I suppose. I enjoy her company, she seems to enjoy mine, and, as you and I established earlier, physical proximity is both acceptable and encouraged.
“That day in in her Ready Room when she promoted me, after I had my little spat of self-doubt and she talked me back up? She kissed me. On the cheek, to be clear, but I made some sarcastic comment about you and Katie not being the only ones to watch out for with teasing—based on what you’ve done to poor Commander Espersen—and she goes ‘Who says I’m only teasing?’ or something along those lines. Took me a second to remind her of our conversation in the Tikkana pool, which ended in me acknowledging that she probably wouldn’t ever completely stop teasing me.” She glanced over her shoulder at Kally again. “She’s one of those few other people I think of when I want company,” she finished, then laid her head back down and resumed purring.
Kally grinned. "Yeah, teasing is a universal constant with us," she said. "But it's a term of affection, so take it as such." She moved down to finish with Rala's calves. "When she and I first got together, we kind of did a line-by-line comparison of the ship's roster. Learned a few things about each other. You were one of the few in the 'they said no thank you' pile."
Rala’s eyes, behind their closed lids, rolled at the ‘comparison’ remark. Of course you did, she thought, but kept it to herself. She hmmm’d lazily as Kally finished speaking, the purring briefly interrupted as Rala mumbled back to her, “Maybe I won’t stay there forever, hmm?”
"Maybe," Kally said. She reached the end of Rala's legs and shook out her arms a bit. A massage was relaxing for her friends, but a workout for her. She slipped back around Rala and laid down next to her, stretching out and yawning. "So...you purr," she said, grinning and looking over at her friend.
As Kally lay down on her left, Rala shifted her head to that side, although her eyes remained closed. “Mm-hm,” she said, interrupting the rumbling again. “Always could, just...been a while since I was comfortable enough to, in general. Calypso knows. Jenna might; I tried using it deliberately to help her, since I read somewhere that cats purring can help relieve stress in humans, but she was sobbing into my shirt at the time, so I’m not sure if she noticed.” She paused briefly and added, “I’m glad she’s doing better,” before the purring resumed.
"Yeah," Kally said, giving a quiet agreement. She wasn't going to discuss a patient's situation, but was glad others were looking out for her; Jenna needed the support.
“And now, you,” Rala mumbled, abandoning her pile of pillows to properly face Kally and pull her into another hug.
Kally hugged her back, feeling the gentle rumbling between them and smiled.
“Thank you for this;” Rala mumbled sleepily, a faint smile on her face, “the massage and the talk. They both helped a lot.”
"Always here to help," Kally said.
Rala made no response save to continue purring, the associated breathing getting slower and deeper, and the arms she’d reached over Kally to hug her going limp...but the smile remained.
Awareness gradually returned, Rala slowly realizing that she’d stopped purring, and that her arms were folded closer to her torso, no longer draped over...Kally. She lifted her head, opening her eyes and glancing around blearily.
Kally looked up from the padd she'd been reading, but the sound of the bed creaking tipped her off that Rala was awake from her nap. She was sitting in a chair, feet up on another chair, still not dressed and sipping a drink while she read. She smiled a Rala, waving. "Hiya," she said. "Feel refreshed?"
Rala blinked several times as her brain started working again and she shifted to face Kally more directly. “You’re still here,” she said, her expression blank, but her ears perking up slightly in joy. Some part of her brain managed to wonder if Kally would recognize the subconscious gesture before she closed her eyes and shook her head, kicking the rest of her brain into gear. She looked back at Kally, genuine happiness now evident on her face. “Not complaining, at all; just mildly surprised. Um...how long did I sleep?”
Kally checked her chronometer. "Hour-and-a-half-ish," she said, sipping her water again. "And I've learned some people consider it rude to just go leave, so I figured I'd hang around a bit until you woke up. Not to mention, you seemed like you needed some genuine rest, so I figured I'd monitor. How are you feeling?" She stood up and came over, sitting on the bed and putting a hand to one of Rala's pulse points, counting in her head.
Rala sat up, remaining still and steady as Kally did her doctor thing. “Better,” she said. “‘Refreshed’, like you said earlier.” Once Kally was done taking her pulse, Rala stretched every which way, ending with gently curling her tail around Kally’s waist and pulling her in for a two-armed side-hug, leaning her head against Kally’s. “Thanks again,” she said. “I was right, I definitely needed that.”
"Most people could benefit from a good nap," Kally said, hugging her back. "Now, I would suggest strip your sheets for recycling, and we should grab a shower."
Rala released Kally and stood up, stretching again, then started removing covers from pillows. She hesitated as a thought passed through her mind. She almost refrained from voicing it, then almost forced herself to say, “So eager to get your hands on me again?” She blushed slightly as she spoke, and wasn’t quite able to hold the false nonchalance she tried to project in her voice. She glanced at Kally, a faint smile on her face. “If I’m going to be facing teasing from both you and Calypso, I figure I’d better get in some practice of my own.”
Kally grinned ear-to-ear. "Atta girl! That's the spirit!" She nudged Rala with a hip bump and winked. "We'll have you sassing Espersen in no time!" She helped strip down the rest of the sheets and bundle them up for the recycler. "All right, let's get cleaned up."
Rala’s smile grew slightly and she flung the ball of pillow covers in the general direction of Kally’s face. “I’ll go get the shower started,” she said, turning toward the bathroom with a bit more sway in her hips than usual.
The second shower went somewhat faster, between the hot water being less novel and therefore less enthralling, and Rala being less hesitant about touching and being touched by Kally. They used the—now decidedly secondary—sonic shower to speed up the process of drying off, then returned to the main room, whereupon Rala stepped over to the replicator, making a manual selection and retrieving a set of sheets and pillow covers of fine, shimmering sky-blue silk.
“So,” Rala said, setting the rest of the set aside and unfolding the bottom sheet, and gesturing for Kally to take the other end and help her put it over the mattress, “now that you’ve confirmed that your handiwork was, indeed, quite effective, how long are you planning to stick around tonight?”
"Why? What've you got in mind?" Kally said, smirking and bobbing her eyebrows as they fit the bottom sheet onto the mattress. She grabbed the top sheet, ready to use her extensive medical training to finish it with hospital corners.
“Nothing in particular,” Rala replied honestly, despite the slight smirk on her own face, as she helped Kally spread out the top sheet, then started to put covers back on pillows, “that’s kind of why I asked. I, uh...” She hesitated, then let out a bemused snort and shook her head, mumbling ”So easy to backslide,” under her breath before looking back up to Kally. “...I think I’d like some company tonight, if you’re up for it.”
"You betcha," Kally said, flipping onto the now made bed and stretching. She hadn't bothered to dress, but Rala had seen her like that already on shore leave, so she wasn't worried about modesty. "What're you in the mood for? Katie and I like to replicate popcorn and make fun of old Flotter videos. I'm pretty good at it," she said, giggling.
“Ooh...even as a ridicule target, Flotter isn’t the vibe I want for tonight, but I think you’re on the right tack,” Rala said, tossing the last pillow toward Kally and stepping toward the replicator. “Some of my Academy dorm-mates would host, um...’movie nights’, I think was the term?” Her gaze wandered toward the ceiling as she thought back. “Of course, half the time nobody paid much attention to what was playing, just dissolving into unrelated chatter. I haven’t had popcorn since then.” She returned her attention to the replicator and said, “Let’s pick something we don’t mind talking over and just...relax. And you know what?” She tossed a faintly wicked smile over her shoulder at Kally as the replicator hummed. “There’s still a little rrathka in that keg.”
"Oh hot damn," Kally said, excitedly. "Yeah, they did those when I was at the academy. I was usually too busy to pay attention to them too." She put the pillow behind her and got comfy.
Rala handed Kally the large bowl of warm, extra-buttery popcorn she’d replicated, along with an empty glass for each of them.
Kally looked at the bowl, then back up to Rala and innocently asked, "where's yours?"
“That is mine,” Rala shot back, “I just need you to hold it for a second. Go get your own.” Rala waited a half-second, snagged a piece of popcorn from the bowl, and gave Kally a wink as she tossed it into her mouth and turned away to retrieve the keg from her closet, setting it on her nightstand rather than bothering with the deployable legs. “Computer, night mode,” She called as soon as Kally had picked out something to watch. She poured a reasonable measure of rrathka into both glasses, and settled down next to her friend. “So,” she asked, snagging a handful of popcorn, “Why is it that you and Katie enjoy teasing Commander Espersen so much?”
Kally sighed. "A time-honored human tradition of students torturing their educators," she said. "It goes back to the academy."
Thus began the chitchat, with occasional pauses when the movie actually caught their attention, and lasted until all too late into the night, until the two dozed off, leaning gently against each other.
