Just Perrrfect

Posted on Thursday October 1st, 2020 @ 08:55 hours by M'erah & Kala Marika

Mission: Safe Passage
Location: Engineering
Timeline: MD07 - early afternoon
1237 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

M'erah softly purred to himself as he made his way over to the main engineering bay, he liked coming there, something about the hum and heat of the warp core really pleased him. He stepped inside and looked around to try and find the Engineer, "Kala?" he asked, his heavy baritone voice echoing off the walls.

She was halfway embedded in a tight crawlspace running a diagnostic when she heard that unmistakeable voice echo in the engine room. Even though the soft hum of the old engine seemed to pervade everywhere, the heavy baritone purr and voice of the ship's resident Cait carried even better. She backed out, tricorder and hyper-spanner in hand. Dressed in a jumpsuit she'd replicated (by now covered in the usual grime of even the cleanest engine room), her hair held back in a pony tail, a few stray hairs floating around, she looked the part. Standing she smiled over at M'erah, "To what do I owe the pleasure M'erah?" she asked, placing her tools down on a nearby surface.

Taking in a breath M'erah tried to steel himself to ask his question, then at the last moment he chickened out, "the left replicator in the mess, when it runs its reclamation cycle, there's some really high frequency noise," he realised that annoying sound probably wasn't top priority for the engineer, "I think it's close to failing."

Kala brushed a few stray hairs from around her face, looking up at the tall Cait. "Could take a look. High frequency so assuming it's inaudible to most others?" She personally had never heard it, but then again Bajorans, most humanoids for that matter, didn't have the range of hearing of Caits (or the visual acuity, or the reflexes). She also wondered what else he might want, after all one didn't need to personally request a routine recalibration of a replicator in person to the ship's engineer, a simple repair req was all that was needed.

"I can sort that for you M'erah." she replied, "Was there anything else? Or you just wanted to pop down and say hello, enjoy the peace & quiet of the engine room?" She was fishing a little, she had to admit, he probably had just come down to ask about the repair.

M'erah shrugged a bit, she was definitely on to him, this was stupid, "It's just a nice place to be." He gave a bit of a toothy grin, "I like the engines and stuff." He ran a hand over the outer casing of the Warp 5 engine that was crammed in the room, "I neverrr underrrstood any of it, but I like it."

"It's a change from working the deck. Not that I mind working deck, just this was what I did in Starfleet, before I went into civilian life. Feels nice to be back in front of a warp core, the soft thrum of the core, you can both feel and hear it." She smiled, "Friend told me once the core reminded them of a Cait's purr, soft and soothing."

With a small chortle, M'erah shook his head a bit, "nothing can comparrre to a Cait's purrr" he purposefully stretched out his purr at the end of the sentence and then gave a toothy grin, "Maybe I should come with you to the replicator, so I can tell you if you've fixed the noise."

Kala grinned, "Nothing quite compares M'erah. Not even a warp core." She nodded her agreement, "I think you should. My hearing is not quite as acute as yours, and a tricorder sometimes misses those tones a good pair of ears can catch."

M'erah's tail sweeped left and right subconsciously as he quickly stepped out of the room, he started to wonder if there was some sort of mutual thing between them, "It's probably an easy fix for someone with your skills." he tried to keep the conversation going as he headed in the direction of the turbolift.

Kala noticed the tail sweep, she'd learned to read Cait body language while dating one in the academy. One's tail often betrayed one's emotions and M'erah's gentle if somewhat nervous sweep was a sign he was a little nervous about something, but why? Asking about a replicator repair wasn't, so what? "You flatter me M'erah, but yeah, replicators are not the most complicated thing on a ship. Hardest to keep tuned and working well, but not the most complicated."

Once they were in the turbolift, it wasn't much of a lift, not on a ship this size, she glanced up at M'erah, turning to face him a little, trying to keep her body language calm and not appear confrontational. "Was there something else as well M'erah? You didn't need to come all this way just to ask about a replicator, a simple req would've sufficed. What's going through that fuzzy head of yours?" she asked, smiling a little.

M'erah shook his head a bit, "No, nothing else. The warrrp core and this rrrequest was it." He then nodded as if to try and convince himself that this was it, "I was afrrraid you wouldn't do it if I just sent in a rrreq. Since I'm the only one that's botherrred by it." He fidgeted with his hands a bit, hoping the lift would get them to their destination quickly.

"Firstly, aside from maintenance and keeping an eye on systems, there's suprisingly little to do, a replicator issues would be a welcome diversion." She smiled, "Secondly, your a lousy liar M'erah. I lived with a Cait in the Academy, your species has it's tells, the tail is a giveaway, and I'd not expect a senior deckhand to be fidgety around me."

She paused the lift, "Whatever it is M'erah, you can ask or mention. I'm a tough girl, I can handle it. And what's the worst I can say? No?"

"Well, sometimes no is verrry bad indeed," M'erah cursed his lack of control over some of his more base emotions, he knew anyone with a Caitian friend knew the tells immediately. It was one of the many reasons he was terrible at poker, the other being that he barely knew the rules, "I was thinking that, you know, maybe, once the rrreplicatorrr, is fixed, and you know, you don't have any otherrr tasks we could trrry it out." He shrugged, "just the two of us."

"It can be, but I'm not about to turn you down M'erah." She looked up into his eyes, taking his paw in her hand. She was unsure if he actually meant the replicator, if he was asking her on a date of sorts, or hinting at something more, intimate. "I would love to M'erah. My shifts are, well, I don't really have them anymore. The ship demands attention any time of day or night, so I'm always on duty as it were." She smiled, "How about you pick when?"

M'erah looked down at her hand in his, a toothy smile started to appear on his features. It was nice to feel the warmth of someone else in his touch, "Dinnerrr then? In engineerrring? I'll arrrange the food."

"Say 1800? Day shift should be over by then. You supply the food, I'll supply the ambiance." Giving his hand a squeeze, she stood up on her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Sounds wonderful M'erah," Kala said, "Looking forward to it."

"Sounds just perfect."