Popcorn Pillow Talk
Posted on Wed Mar 19th, 2025 @ 6:36am by Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Staff Warrant Officer Rommie
Edited on on Wed Mar 19th, 2025 @ 9:41pm
2,574 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Quarters of Cornelius Tremble - Deck 2 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD007 0300 hrs.
With the shadowy nightmares from the Silence, Jayna had not been sleeping well. She couldn't remember what she dreamed, but the lingering fear stayed with her. The only time she felt real peace was when she was with Neil--and he was often busy with two shifts, the Brigade, and his responsibilities on the Pioneer. So, she'd taken to slipping into his quarters at odd hours to nap, or to go over PADDs as she could concentrate better when she felt him around her. Sometimes she chatted with Rommie, but other times, like now, she simply changed into one of Neil's t-shirts and climbed into bed.
Rommie slowly took shape within the Colonel's quarters, reacting to Jayna's entry. Taking stock, she said tentatively, "I don't wish to bother you Lieutenant, but can I be helpful in any way? Do you wish me to set a timer. Add some sort of music or sounds? Or..." She processed for a moment, her charcoal uniform skant's piping changing from marine green, to scarlet, then to medical blue. Then her entire form morphed into, of all things. a basset hound. Levering itself up onto the bed, the basset woofed and snorted, nesting near Jayna until it was satisfied and slumped heavily alongside her. "Perhaps," Rommie's familiar voice sounded, "You would just like a buddy to nap with."
Jayna chuckled. "You know, I've never had a dog. I hear they can be comforting." It wasn't the same as snuggling up to Neil, but she did find the dog soothing. "Thank you, Rommie." She settled more comfortably. "A 20-minute nap should do. I still have a lot to do." Then she'd straighten the bed and go back to work--somewhere. She wasn't sure where at the moment.
Huffing, Rommie-Hound snuggled closer and propped her chin on Jayna's chest, clubbing her twice on the calf wither the tail for good measure. As Jayna began drifting off, Rommie-Hound accessed preset files and prepared the accompanying amount of drool.
Twenty minutes later, the alarm setting kicked in and Rommie-Hound dutifully woofed somewhat stale breath into Jayna's. Then began licking her from chin to crown.
Jayna held the Rommie-Hound back. "I'm awake. Thank you." She wiped the drool with her t-shirt and sat up. "The nap helped." But she still didn't want to leave. Not just yet. So, she busied herself with making the bed and straightening up the room.
Rommie-Hound wagged the tail again, then shifted and was back in her normal, humanoid form, on her stomach, feet up as she had a look of concentration on her face, before pushing herself up and stood, helping to re-make the bed. "That's an odd form," she commented. "The drool is one thing. But the fact that the hounds are known as Fredo-feets, because their paws secrete a chemical that can make them smell like a snack food made out of corn. Alternatively, the smell can be less strong and resemble popcorn. Since that snack is better well known from humanity, I chose that. Then the research indicates buttered popcorn is more desirable yet."
Smiling she told Jayna, "I thought you and the Colonel might not appreciate buttery paw prints tracking through the quarters and all over the bed clothes though. I am glad you rested Lieutenant. Are the Silences continued dream sendings bothering you?"
"I'm not sleeping well, but other than vague shadows, I don't remember much." She shrugged. "I don't know if I'd consider that a bother or just an annoyance. I do sleep better here, though." She fluffed a pillow and set it back on the bed. "I did not know that about basset hounds. But then, I've rarely been around dogs. They do not do well in covert operations." And then, because her thoughts were bouncing from one subject to another, she added, "Buttered and salted popcorn is best. But as you said, that would not go well with--or on--a dog."
Rommie's new stretch sub-routine kicked in for a few seconds. She hoped it would help others feel more comfortable around her. "The other option was to join you as this," she gestured toward her humanoid form. "Suitably attired of course. The Colonel didn't approve that option for himself but if it is something you would like to consider for such moments, please let me know."
It was not something she would consider, but Jayna appreciated that Rommie wanted to help. "No, thank you. All I need is Neil, and he's got a lot on his plate right now. I'll be fine once we get back to a more normal routine." If anything could really be normal on the Pioneer.
"May I ask," Lieutenant, "If you could describe how the...attention of the Silence is different than what must be the normal hum of persons? I note from your personal preferences lean toward more quiet and seclusion, which seems at odd at someone who specializes in intelligence."
"When it's quiet, it's easier to hear someone coming, or if something sounds off. It's easier to hide when there's ambient noise." It was also easier to hide something that made noise when it could blend in. "As for the Silence...I've only seen them one time but they seem to radiate fear and mistrust. It's...disconcerting. I'm a touch telepath. I'm not used to just feeling someone else's emotions."
Rommie frowned, the trim on her uniform switching from green to gold, to red and back to green again as she processed information. "Perhaps they are untrained in dealing with others, since they are xenophobes. They're pushy telepaths or empaths the colonel might say. They feel no need to reign in their gift since they only deal with their own species. Likewise, they are used to having the upper hand until now when another species has them at disadvantage." Her uniform trim wavered between green and gold then as she processed further. Either way, we need more information on both species and the colonel is correct to be suspect of anything the Silence feeds us." Her trim went black and the symbol of the FMC appeared on her left cheek then. "Anyway you cut it, my programming says it's probably going to be spicy."
"I think it's more that they can only communicate telepathically. At least, that's what I've heard. That, plus being xenophobic, means they aren't used to dealing with other species and definitely not verbally." Jayna shrugged. "We'll definitely learn more as we go along. I'm looking at this situation from an intel perspective and Neil is looking at it from a military one, so our opinions are going to be different. It's possible we're both wrong. But we'll find out shortly."
Processing that, Rommie nodded. "True. Outlooks do drive how sentient species tackle problems." Her uniform trim flickered back and forth between medical blue and science green, though the FMC symbol continued to glow on her cheek. "I wonder if there is some sort of thing that the new species doesn't like. Finding that could aid us in future dealings with them. There will be others now that they've found their way to our space. There almost always is."
"True. I'm sure we'll learn a great deal once we get there and actually see what's going on." At least that was her hope. There were so few pieces to the puzzle that no interpretation could be 100% accurate.
Neil yawned as his feet automatically carried him toward his quarters. It had been a long day, which wasn't unusual. Abruptly cancelling shore leave. Making sure all supply deficiencies were taken care of prior to Pioneer warping out had been fairly easy. Most of that had been a matter of routine. They were short a handful of people that couldn't return in time. That meant arrangements had to be made so they wouldn't be considered as having missed movement. His contact automatically keyed the hatch to his quarters and he was pulling his tie off, pulling the tail out of his trousers before they cycled closed behind him. He didn't bother to unbutton the black, long sleeved shirt in favor of pulling it over his head.
His contact picked up bio readings and Neil paused in the doorway between the living and sleeping areas. Seeing Jayna and Rommie seated on the bed, he asked "Am I interrupting?"
Jayna smiled as soon as she saw him. "No. We're just talking about the Silence." She stood and went over to hug him. "Actually, I came here for a short nap." There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she added, "Need any help?"
"Well actually," he murmured against her ear, his hands resting on her hips. "I did want to talk to you about something."
Rommie disappeared shortly after Neil entered the bedroom, which Jayna appreciated. There were some things she did not want the AI watching. She smiled as she ran a finger along one of his scars. "Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?"
Grinning, Neil teased her with a touch of his own and said, "I thought we just did...well. Communicate." He lay there, looking up at the deckhead and then broached what had been on his mind of late. Or rather, a question. Clearing his throat slightly he continued, "I was also wondering. Well, we've been seeing one another for a time. It's great. I love you. But I want to see what you want in what's next."
She lay back on the bed and let out a long, slow breath. "I love you, too. And I love being with you." She turned her head to grin at him. "And not just like this." Then she sobered. She needed to be honest with him, and that terrified her. "Ever since you disappeared into the pocket universe, I've been coming here to just...be here. Your quarters have become a sort of safe place for me because I can feel like I'm near you." She was probably sounding like a stalker. She turned to face him so she could read the expression on his face, even though she was half afraid to do so. "I actually came here to take a power nap because with everything going on, I only feel like I can sleep when I'm with you--or here." She watched his face carefully, like a fawn ready to bolt. "I love being assigned to The Cure and to Red Team because I like working with you. But it's more than that. I want more than that." She tentatively put a hand on his chest and took a deep breath. "I guess what I'm saying is that...I don't want to just spend time together when we can find the time. And I don't want to have to wait until someone thinks to tell me if something happens to you." Again, she hesitated, not sure what he wanted to hear or if he'd like what she had to say. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want something more...permanent?" Then she lay back on the bed so she couldn't see his face because she was half afraid to see his reaction.
"We do tend to spend most of our off time together and a lot of duty days as well," Neil mused. "Something more permanent sounds good, though for appearances sake we probably should maintain separate quarters. But, if you want to move some things in here or me to your quarters and we go back and forth. That sounds good." He paused then and said, "Out of curiosity, how much more permanent are you thinking about? The full smash? Go down the Malbrooke route to fill in the ranks?"
She let out a slow breath. "To be honest, it would be nice to have something official at some point--although if you disappear again, I'll probably just move in here anyway." She turned to look at him again. "But I don't want to rush you. I like what we have and I'm willing to wait for more." He was so busy that he needed his space to just come back to his quarters and sleep. She didn't want him to feel he had to cater to her needs, too.
Chuckling, he pointedly traced a finger over her side and said. "Ok. You're waffling around. You can't be afraid to tell me and though it comes naturally to an infiltration specialist, you can just say things. We're far enough into this that I'm not going to do an immediate beam out. I can be direct. How many kids?"
"Two. And they'll probably be twins." He was right. She shouldn't be waffling at this point. She loved him and trusted him completely. "I'm not saying I want kids soon, but I do want them eventually. Right now, I want to share my life with you, but I also don't want to push you into anything you're not ready for."
"Sounds more to me," Neil said, taking her hand and kissing the palm, "That you feel like you're walking on thin ice. And I'm not quite sure it’s because of me. We marines aren't really known for, to use my own words, waffling." Then he snickered, "Or has Captain Merrick been giving us a bad reputation?"
Jayna chuckled at the comment about Edmund. He could definitely benefit from being blunt. And so could she.
She sat up and faced Neil. "As you said, I tend to talk around a subject rather than attack it directly--mostly because of how I grew up. But I do appreciate directness, so I'll be direct. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I'd also like us to have kids someday--although I didn't think it was even a possibility a year ago. If I sound hesitant it's because I don't want you to think you need to go faster than you're ready to because of me. I'm not going anywhere."
Then she paused. "The thought of losing you scares me at times. I've lost almost everyone in my life. I haven't even spoken to my sister in six months. But that doesn't mean I don't want this. The truth is there's nothing I want more." Even though she knew he was right, it still scared her to be so blunt. But it was also too important for her to dance around it and make him think she was hesitant about moving forward.
Neil could see flickers of fight or flight (more flight) in her brown eyes and he leaned against her, "After this play date with the Silence, we'll revisit and look at where we're at. For right now," he kissed her warmly and teased her spine with his fingertips. "Why do I smell popcorn?"
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
Staff Warrant Officer Rommie;
Artificial Intelligence, The Cure;
USS Pioneer;
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