[US Charon, Captain's Quarters]
Sakarra carefully lowered the giggling girl into the tub and programmed a temperature a few degrees above the standard setting before giving the small assortment of bottles a quizzical look.
A blue, thick liquid emanated an interesting scent that was most definitely not only appropriate for children, but mild enough for the young ones and she concluded that logically, this had to be the correct one.
What she had not expected was that it would be so … bubbly.
"Ah. I might have misjudged the required amount."
"Yeah but that's half the fun, the combination of those two things," Brent replied as he began to remove the soiled clothing from Nnoil and putting it down on the floor. He was beginning to open his eyes after feeling the water soaking him across the face and his front. "I really should have expected that," he said before he raised an eyebrow at the apparent tide of bubbles rising up quickly out of the tube.
"Uh yeah you might have. I'd suggest no more of that," he commented as he helped Nnoil clean himself up. Brent gave him a washcloth and had him scrub himself up as best he could before Brent did the touch ups. "You know I think after this day I might need some of those alcoholic beverages," he mused out loud.
Apparently Nnoil knew enough about what they were talking about to add to the conversation. "Rhennish!" the boy proclaimed loudly. "Exactly," Brent replied before blowing a few bubbles at the boys face. "Well I think this one is done," Brent said before he looked over at the soaked Sakarra and snickered a little bit. "Looks like she got you pretty good too hm," he said amused at the circumstances. Nnoil tried to sneak in a yawn when Brent wasn't looking but he managed to catch the tail end of it. "Looks like they might actually need a nap after this. Miracle of miracles..."
Sakarra nodded solemnly at the comment regarding an alcoholic beverage and picked an enthusiastically thrown washcloth out of the air before it could impact her ear.
Unfortunately, Ael made her approval of the dark eyed woman's fast reflexes known by splashing around in the tub, creating a minor tsunami. Since Sakarra had at that very moment been reaching for what appeared to be the children's shampoo, the fragrant water caught her in mid-retreat, making for a nicely soaked Vulcan.
"Indeed I believe we should both have expected this." She cast a mildly amused look at her dripping uniform jacket and favored Ael with an eloquently raised brow. The girl beamed at her, part delighted, part mischievous and part apologetic and obviously decided to make up for the little mishap by holding still when Sakarra went about washing mud and other interesting things out of her hair. Halfway through that enterprise, the young woman decided it was rather pointless to be dripping water from several layers of clothing and discarded the heavy uniform jacket and vest before rolling up the sleeves of the red shirt underneath.
The warmth emanating from the water had a soothing effect not only on the young Vulcan, but obviously the children as well. As soon as Sakarra had located four suitable towels and handed two of them to Brent, Ael's eyes began to blink sleepily. Hoisting the little one out of the bath, Sakarra wrapped the soft cloth around the yawning Ael, using the second one to cover the wet strands of hair.
"I have been told those happen on occasion." Sakarra observed good naturedly in answer to the young Marine's miracle comment, and found herself yet again with a little one placing a trusting head against her shoulder.
Astonishing.
"Would you know where the children's clothes are kept?"
"Yeah out in the front room there," Brent said as he steadied the small boy as he dried him off with the one towel before wrapping him up in the other that he was given. The boy began to drift in and out of sleep and yawned as he seemed to curl up inside the towel and Brent nodded to Sakarra. "This way," he said quietly as he moved into the adjacent room, opening up the drawers there. He rummaged around for a moment before he found what he thought was several pairs of pajamas for the children.
Brent idly wondered to himself if all races used these footy pajamas for their children. He helped the incredibly sleepy Nnoil into them before he lay the boy down on his bed and pulled the covers over him.
He looked down at his soaking wet tshirt and sighed. He decided to go the route that Sakarra had and removed his soaking wet overcoat, before folding it up. Brent noticed that Sakarra was just putting Ael down and he snuck back into the bathroom and retrieved her heavy and wet jacket. After folding it up he returned to the main room before offering Sakarra her jacket back.
The dark eyed Vulcan had hummed a soft tune while adjusting the covers over Ael and was hardly surprised when the little one dozed off the second her head was lowered onto the pillow.
Turning around she was about to access a wall panel to dim the lights when she saw Brent in the doorway, holding out the dripping uniform jacket. Both elegantly slanted brows climbed by a few centimeters and she looked down at the shirt that was … well, clinging to her upper body like fabric tended to do after having encountered a good amount of water.
And the young Marine had not fared much better, although Sakarra had to silently admit it was an aesthetically pleasing sight, the patch of foam still clinging to his hair notwithstanding.
"This might present a minor problem." She stated in a voice low enough not to wake the little ones, but there was the echo of a smile in it. More wide eyed looks in the corridor, that was merely a small nuisance. However, those corridors also tended to be decidedly colder than her own quarters, or even the CO's.
"Do you believe the Captain would be terribly offended if I made use of her sonics to dry these?"
"I sincerely doubt it Sakarra. You have been such a big help to me and I'm sure that the Captain would be relieved to hear that you helped out today. I don't think she'd mind at all," Brent said and peered around the corner before pointing the direction towards the sonics.
Brent would have had to been blind to notice the current state of moisture on her shirt, and he did notice it. He hoped that the ever so brief look he gave it was short enough to not attract too much attention, but he figured that the Vulcan eye for detail was too quick. Human nature won out over common sense though in his part.
"I hope I don't make you late for your next shift or what you had to go to. If I do I'm sorry and can talk to whomever you were going to meet if it would help smooth things over," he said just in case it was with a superior officer and she did not have to simply go speak with one of her subordinates.
"The offer is appreciated, however unnecessary." Sakarra inclined her head politely, rather touched by the fact he obviously tried not to offend by showing overt interest in the current state of her clothing.
Considering she had already taken the liberty of appreciating the pleasant sight he presented, the young Vulcan was once again left with the question whether this was a cultural phenomenon or simply another misconception about her race. Perhaps it was both.
"Not only am I not expected at Mr Dicari's office for another 14.7 minutes, but it is likely he will not be unsettled if my arrival should be slightly delayed." Sakarra suspected quite the opposite, considering the piles of work on the young Betazoid's desk.
Wiping another drop of water from her temple, the young Vulcan realized he was not going to move and stepped up to the Marine, tilting her head upwards to look into friendly blue eyes.
"I shall need this." She said with barely contained humor as she placed her hands on the uniform jacket he was still holding on to.
"Ah yes of course," Brent let the jacket go as soon as she reached for it, letting her take it away. Before she was able to withdraw from him though he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. When he withdrew he smiled at her. "Thank you very much for your help with the kids. That made my time with them a heck of a lot easier." Not wanting to intrude into her time or personal space anymore than he already had Brent stepped back and sat down in a chair, setting his own wet jacket down near the chair. He didn't have anything else to do after Sakarra left, chances are he'd probably start working on his paperwork until the kids woke up again or the Captain returned.
That had been … unexpected.
For precisely 1.1 seconds, Sakarra stood perfectly still, letting the brief but not unpleasant shock disperse. "You are … welcome."
Of course she knew this was a way among humans to express gratitude, but she had not quite thought one would be so bold …
fascinating.
She resisted both the urge to blink and to ponder the sensation of cool human skin brushing across her cheek and gave a small nod before striding off to get her clothes dried. The sight of foam still clinging to the bathroom ceiling and walls reminded her it might be wise to instruct the computer to perform a cleaning routine before she left and she briefly tilted her head at her reflection in the mirror. An interesting day for certain.
[End Log]
Brevet 1st Lieutenant Brent Warren
Marine Commander
Lt Cmdr Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm Officer
USS-Charon
