JL | Lt Evan 'Weirdo' Merlin, CPO Marjorie 'Marj' Sherbert | "Meow Mix"

Posted on Fri Apr 13th, 2018 @ 8:35pm by Chief Petty Officer Marjorie Sherbert & Commander Evan Merlin

Mission: Lacuna
Location: Cold Station Theta
Timeline: SD 241804.13

=/\= Begin Joint Log =/\=


"Well... There certainly is not anything cold about this place! Why would they ever call it Cold Station?" Marjorie Sherbert practically shouted this as she gleefully made a stride across the deck. She tugged ever so gently on three leashes that were securely attached to the loves of her life - three large maine coon cats, all brothers. The animals had been with her for the past eight years and each had their own distinct personalities.

Fluffy was stubborn and slightly antisocial.

Sparkle was determined, mischievous but very cuddly.

And then there was Marshmallow. He was very regal in his approach to life.

It would have been a sight for the crew members and civilians Marj was passing on her was through station customs. She was wearing her favourite dress - quite frilly in appearance and full of character. Pink, blue and white with some lacing as accent. She would have looked like a colouful blob to the unfocused periphery, as she continued her stride towards one of the station's security personnel.

The young security officer stood in her standard security officer pose: legs slightly spread, hands clasped at her back, eyes fixed onto a point somewhere in the distance, a position she could maintain for hours. However, the spectacle in frills with three furry animals in tow made even her blink. And the apparition came straight at her. Why at her, Anastacia wondered with a secret sigh.

"Why hello there young man!" She looked the young customs officer up and down, before digging around in her large and over sized purse. It had a large, tacky sunflower in the middle front of it and of course was quite colourful. "Just one moment I know it's here somewhere." It took a while longer before she pulled out a medium sized PADD, which had some sort of pink crust on the bottom half of it. "Oh my. Looks like my lipstick cover came off again. Gets over everything ya know!" She passed the device to the young man - beyond the dirty screen and crusted lipstick, he would be able to tell is was a set of transfer orders.

Young man, even? Alright, so her hair was cut short, but young man? She carefully took the PADD from the other woman's hand and suppressed the urge to use the woman's skirt to wipe the gunk off. "I'm sure it will be fine," she said curtly and thrust the grimy thing back in the woman's hands. One of the first rules for junior officers: kick things up to higher-ups.

"Now tell me there handsome. What's the quickest way to the Operations Center from here? Ya see. I want to get the formalities out of the way. Never been one for enjoying those formal check ins." Sparkle attempted to take off, having seen something shiny he wanted to play with. This caused Marj to lightly tug on his leash, "Don't you start that behaviour now Sparkle-kins. You've been such a good boy up until now!" She shook her head and chuckled.

"I'm, ah, not sure I can let you up without a proper uniform, or with those creatures…" Anastacia looked around, desperate for anyone in her department with more pips on their collar than she had. And, oh yes, blessed be, there was one: the newly minted Acting First. "Lieutenant, do you have a moment?" she called.

The Lieutenant, a man with dark, curly hair which was tightly bound in the nape of his neck, twinkling, sea-coloured eyes and a vivid face, changed course and strolled over. "Sure, what's up?"

"Um…" Anastacia tried to make a surrepticious gesture into the direction of the woman, who was very much hard to miss.

Marjorie looked over at the man who was approaching. She was oblivious to the fact that the young secuirty officer was trying to pass her off to someone else, and well, the fact that she was actually speaking to a woman too. The CPO took in the sight of the Lieutenant, seemingly to eye him up and down in a rather obvious way.

"Perfect. Thank you very much for your help young man." She gave the security officer a respectful curtsy and then quickly closed the gap between Merlin and herself. "I'm wondering if you can help me out Lieutenant. See. I want to find the nearest way to the Ops Center. I need to get some formalities out of the way. I also want to show my babies, here, the brain center of this operation." There was a gestured nod down to the three cats, one whom made its way over to Merlin and rubbed up against his leg."By george. Fluffy has taken a liking to you there Lieutenant." She pointed down at the sight, not quite believing it herself. "That's quite a feat you know. He doesn't do that to nobody! What a good boy Fluffy-kins!" Her attention seemed to waver from the Lieutenant now, and refocus on praising her beloved 'creature'.

The Lieutenant squatted down to be more at cat-level. "Hi there!" he said cheerfully from there. "No, I'm very sorry, we don't have any Caitians serving in Ops. No other feline species either, I'm afraid."

Marshmallow and Sparkle walked over as well, carefully sniffing the odd stranger. The Lieutenant continued to talk… to the cats, by all appearances. And, really, did one of them meow back?

The Lieutenant frowned, thinking. "Umm… I believe there's one Caitian who works in the cargo docks, but it's been awhile since I've seen him around. You could try the lower levels of the station, but I'd be careful. I'm not sure we've seen the last of the voles yet." He grinned. "But anyway, I don't recommend dashing off down there just yet. It's a really big station. You guys might want to try the arboretum, though, if you promise to keep your hunting to a minimum."

Then he stood up again and looked at Marjorie. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Marjorie was speechless. A feat in itself and not something that she was accustomed too. "I... Well... I'll be damned." She couldn't help but smile widely, inside her mind she was dancing across the deck plating ever so resembling a graceful ballerina. It was such a rarity to see someone treat her loves with such compassion and warmth. "I was just saying how wonderful it is to be here." And it was - surely this was a good sign? To have such a reception for her fur babies must have been a message of welcome from the universe.

"I'm Marjorie Sherbert my young man." She held out her hand now. "Chief Petty Officer of this wonderful Starfleet and the station's new Yeoman." Her smile was just as wide, if not somehow wider. "But please. Just call me Marj. I'm not one for formalities ya see."

"Pleasure to meet you, Marj," the Lieutenant said, shaking her hand earnestly. "I'm Lieutenant Evan Merlin, and as to what I'm called, that kinda varies. I've heard 'Talks With Turbolifts' thus far, and and 'Clark Kent', for some reason, and 'That Weirdo'." He tucked an errant lock of hair behind one ear, where it stayed for a few moments before sliding back. "Chief Strat Ops on this station and Acting First, so I hang out in Central Ops and surrounding areas quite a lot. If you have your transfer orders with you, we can clear the administrative stuff straight away and you can settle in."

Marj returned the handshake with much enthusiasm. The man seemed most genuine and kind, it made her so happy inside to have encountered him. "The acting first you say?" She seemed to bounce on the spot, even happier now. "What are the chances I would run straight into the person I needed to see? That's another sign universe!" It had to be?

"Oh, I don't know about that," the Lieutenant said. "Coincidences crop up way more often than you'd think."

"Weirdo you say? Well.. Handsome.. Everybody has a little weird inside of them." It was after that comment she started rummaging through her large purse once more. "Yes. Those transfer orders. I just put them back in here before you came along." In between continuing her search, she tossed a couple small brown kibbles onto the deck. The three felines immediately converged on the treats.

"There it is." She smiled widely as she passed on lip-stick stained PADD to the Lieutenant.

With a flourish, the man produced a bright pink silk-looking handkerchief seemingly out of thin air, used it to wipe the stains off, then threw the cloth back in the air, where it seemed to vanish. "Ah, good. Now I can read this," he said. "Hmm… yes… Appears to be in order, perfect." He added some details to the PADD and handed it back. "There you go. Officially accepted, I'll log your arrival in the system in a bit. I have assigned you quarters, you can find it on the PADD. Take the rest of the day to settle in, explore the station a bit. There's also the usual mandatory physical, but I'm sure you know that. Other than that…" he grinned. "The Captain will appreciate when you wear an uniform when you report to her. And I'm not sure she'd like you to bring the cats along. But I guess you'll find out once you report in with her. Anyway, welcome to Cold Station Theta, it's lovely to have you here!" He bent down to cat-level again. "And that, of course, goes for you as well."

The happy-go-lucky smile on Marjorie's face, for a moment, slightly wavered in reflection of the man's words. She thought back to a previous encounter with one of her CO's, when she introduced herself out of uniform - one of her shorter assignments. The man had tore a strip larger than the Mississippi river off her. Not one of the best decisions she had made, mind you. Although that man had just been cruel to begin with she thought.

"You're probably right there Lieutenant Merlin. Not the best place for my babies." Her brightness returned - and that memory turned into an afterthought. "It's a good suggestion though. I will explore and settle in some first. By gosh. It was such a pleasure meeting you, thank you for the warm welcome." And she meant it. There was something about the Lieutenant that just rubbed Marjorie the right way, she just knew that he was a good guy somehow. Tugging ever so lightly on the cat's leashes, she headed towards the location of her quarters.



=/\= End Joint Log =/\=



Lieutenant Evan 'Weirdo' Merlin
AXO / Chief Strategic Operations Officer
Cold Station Theta

&

Chief Petty Officer Marjorie Sherbert
Yeoman
Cold Station Theta