Bottom of a Bottle

Posted on Mon May 20th, 2024 @ 9:03pm by Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sofia Cipriani
Edited on on Mon May 20th, 2024 @ 9:14pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: After 11 - Deck 11 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD007 2130 hours

Recent days had taken its toll on Sofia. Tyler had been truly awful to her and for someone she respected and saw as a father figure since how her own had passed.

The crew as a whole had been going through a strange time and scuttlebutt was rife as to where senior officers were and the odd behaviour of both Tyler and Rowena.

After 11 felt busy but in truth it wasn't too badly packed. Sofia had been steadily been drinking for the past couple of hours, not wanting to go back to quarters and speak to her roommate. Her mood had been so low that she felt she needed a pick me up and she'd maybe had a few more than she'd planned for.

Gaagii had received a message from Chloe that Sofia may be going a little overboard at the bar. Their relationship had just started and he hoped that this was the exception to and not the rule. He walked into After 11 and saw her seated at the bar. Gaagii took the seat next to her and smiled. "I believe the saying goes fancy meeting you here."

The hairs on the back of Sofia's neck shot up as he spoke to her. She'd gotten lost in the stars as much as the bottom of her glass. Sofia looked up at him and leapt up throwing her arms around his neck in a somewhat gushy show of emotion and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Looking at him she sensed, and saw, some discomfort and she stood back from him and gave him a salute. "Sorry Sergeant." she said before sitting back down away from the stoic Gunnery Sergeant.

Gaagii wondered where that came from, they had never been on such serious terms before. "Public signs of affection are not only warranted they are expected. So, do you want to tell me what is going on or should I go on a spirit quest to find out." He smirked at the end of his comment so she would realize he attempted to be funny.

Sofia smiled, "Can you do that on demand? I wonder what my spirit animal would be..." she looked away lost in thought for a moment. "And why do you think something is going on?" Sofia shook her head to bring her back to the present a little.

"It would be my honor to guide you on a quest to find your spirit. I think something is going on because you have never been this far into a bottle." Gaagii replied he was only half joking. The truth was he hoped his little bit of humor would get her to open up.

Sitting down Sofia looked at the bottle and sighed. "It's nothing, just something the captain said to me." she said as she subconsciously placed her hands over her heart.

"I can't imagine that Commodore Malbrooke would be malicious toward you in any way. What did he say? Perhaps it is a misunderstanding" Gaagii had no idea what had been going on with Tyler and Rowena. He had heard rumors about the missing crew members but that was it.

"He called me useless, he said he was going to write me up, and..." a small catch in her throat evident as to what would come next. "he said if I'd stayed home my dad would still be alive and its my fault he's dead. I shouldn't have left..." she trailed off as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Gaagii was not sure what to make of all of that. Indeed those were some pretty untoward remarks to make. However, he knew the Commodore would not have said those things. There is something alien going on here. he thought. For the moment he knew the right response and so he embraced Sofia and held her there. "You and I both know that is not the case. You keep this ship running and Malbrooke would be lost without you. Something tells me that the Commodore is not his normal self."

"He's not in his right mind Gaagii." Sofia sniffled as she felt his powerful arms envelop her. She felt safe, she felt warm and most importantly she began to calm down. "The way he looked at my neck when he spoke to me. His eyes... there was was real evil in them." she whispered a small prayer in Italian under her breath.

"Have you informed..." Gaagii was about to say Neil's name and then realized that he was missing. "...Commander McGowen or Dr Spencer?" With everyone gone options were dwindling and Gaagii knew it. He would make sure to speak with Lachlan at the very least about these new developments.

"No, I've heard Commander McGowen has been acting pretty strange as well. I don't know who to trust, or to talk too." Sofia sighed. "Apart from you." she placed a hand on each peck of his chest. The feeling of his muscles made her feel safe, that nothing could happen to her whilst she was with him. "I thought about going to Sergeant Major Barr because he's kinda my other boss, but I don't know him well enough and I'm not sure he'd listen to me."

"The Sergeant Major listens to all who wish him to listen. I know that he takes the job of Chief of the Boat pretty seriously. As such it his job to speak for the enlisted, so I say go talk to him. Especially if the Captain is acting strange, the XO is missing, and the Second Officer is acting strange. If you want I will go with you." It was a tad uncharacteristic of him to be this forthcoming but as the saying went desperate times called for desperate measures. Gaagii embraced her tightly and whispered in her ear. "The most important thing you should know is that the Commodore is not himself. It was not your fault."

"I guess." Sofia did nothing but enjoy the embrace again. "I did spill coffee on him though." she chuckled a bit. It may have been wrong but given how he'd been with her, on his own volition or not, to get some unintended payback felt like a small form of justice.

"Well then revenge is a dish best served hot it would seem. I would not think anything else of it. However, you should keep this in the back of your mind. If the Commodore is not himself, then when he is brought back to himself you are going to have to try to forgive. This way you can continue your duties and we all can move on past this." Gaagii thought that there was no way Malbrooke would have acted that way without being under an outside influence.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it!" Sofia exclaimed. She didn't want him thinking she was bad at her job but she got the feeling he was kidding. "I can try, but the comment about my father hit me right in here." she placed a hand over her heart. "Whether he meant it or not."

"I can understand that... It is a weight you are going to have to live with. The loss of a loved one whether it is your fault or not is always a heavy burden to bear." Gaagii paused and thought for a moment. He realized that he preached something he had a bad habit of doing, and something that Sofia probably did not need right now. "A burden that I would be more than willing to help you bear, if you would have me."

"You always know the right things to say." Sofia sniffed as the sadness faded a little. "I would have you." she said simply.

Gaagii embraced Sofia tightly and for an extended period of time. He chose not to break the embrace until she did. When the embrace did break he smiled. "Come let me get you back to your quarters. You can rest and perhaps tomorrow this nightmare will be over."

Sofia simply nodded and let Gaagi take her by the hand. Let him take her home.

A Joint Post By

Petty Officer Second Class Sofia Cipriani
Yeoman, USS Pioneer

Gunnery Sergeant Gaagii
RECONN, Team 2, The Cure
USS Pioneer

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