The Talk

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 3:21am by Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Cailus Griffin & Eva Griffin
Edited on on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 5:45am

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Wicklow, Ireland, Earth
Timeline: After "The Piggyback Lieutenant" (Cailus and Shae shoreleave backpost)

The Brennan household could be described, Cailus thought to himself, with a single word: vibrant. Perhaps it was just the exhilaration of Shae's long-lost return, but the house was full of energy. Thus, after Sean had settled in and satisfied his mother's inevitable curiosity, there was only one thing to do on a hot summer's day in Ireland: go outside and play rugby in a nearby field.

What followed was an hour of running, wild antics and even wilder schenanigans. The rules varied wildly from the "official" set, from Shae being prohibited from jumping over her opponents (on account of this making it impossible to catch her when they also considered how fast she was) to Sean not being permitted to dive tackle, as well as Cailus eventually being banned from using his cybernetic hand to hold the ball. There were bruises and cuts galore, but they were well earned. Nobody had any pressing duties to tend to, no important assignments to rush to, no red alerts to watch for: the four of them simply cut loose.

Finally, as Dylan scored a somewhat lazy try, they decided to call it a day. All four of them were exhausted and sweating profusely but nevertheless all in good spirits as they trudged back to the house.

"Holy hell, I can't remember the last time I had such a good workout," Sean said as he flopped onto the grass under the shade of a tree near the house. "I don't think the Academy works the Cadets this hard!"

"We certainly put the local team to shame," Dylan chimed in with a chuckle, giving Sean a playful nudge with his boot. "Get up, you lazy bum!"

"No, dun wanna," Sean replied, staying put out of spite now. Dylan continued to prod at Sean, so Sean swept his legs out from under him and got him in a leg lock.

"Boys will be boys," Shae said with a giggle. "I'll have mum bring out something to drink, so try to behave you two! And I call dibs on the shower!" she continued, then hastily darted for the house so that no one could claim the shower first.

"Oh good, she's gone," Dylan said, tapping out so Sean would release him, which he did. Then Dylan rolled to his feet and put his arm around Cailus' shoulders. "Alright, boyo, it's time we had a little chat..." he said, and the accompanying grin that Sean had on his face did not bode well for what they had planned.

There was a gleam in their eyes that made Cailus eye them suspiciously. "Okay..." he said cautiously.

Sean sat up cross-legged on the grass while Dylan led Cailus to the shade of the tree where they could talk. "See, here's the thing, we've been catching you and Shae making eyes at each other; you look at her when you think she's not looking, then she looks at you when she thinks you're not looking... It's adorable, but we gotta ask-" Dylan said, then Sean cut him off at the end,

"What are your intentions towards our sister?"

Glancing between the two brothers, Cailus winced. "My intentions are purely honourable, guys," he answered, his tone vaguely embarrassed.

"Well that's boring," Sean said bluntly with a roll of his eyes. Dylan leaned down to give him a good whack to the back of the head to keep him on track. Sean didn't even flinch. "Right, so, honorable or not, that's our sister and we don't ever want to find out that you've done anything to hurt her; make her cry and you've got three brothers who'll come after you."

Adopting a faux serious look, Cailus had to rein in his amusement. "You know, that's the second time I've had two brothers say that to me. That was before four years at the Academy, ten years in uniform and...well, everything else. Nothing will harm Shae while I'm anywhere near her. Absolutely nothing." That faint embarrassment returned. "Assuming she...well. She probably won't. Shae is special in ways that I'm...not."

"She won't what? Go out with you? Hate to break it to you, mate, but she can't say yes or no to you unless you ask," Sean pointed out.

"And sure, she's special, but does that mean we should hold her on a pedestal so high that she becomes lonely?" Dylan countered. "Life is inherently messy, and it was bad enough for her that we can see it in her eyes that it still haunts her; special or not, doesn't she deserve to find some semblance of happiness in all this mess?"

Cailus looked between the pair of them for a moment, considering, then nodded in approval. "You two aren't half bad at giving advice. I'll bet you spent years doing the same with Shae."

"Actually no, it's the other way around," Dylan replied, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "She was the one always giving us good advice, so we decided it was time to return the favor."

"Yeah, we're both pretty brainless when it comes to relationships, but working together we figured we could come up with something halfway decent to say," Sean added with a chuckle. About that time, they could see Anna approach with a tray of lemonade.

"What are you three still doing out here? Better not be up to no good," Anna said, casting a suspicious glance at Sean as she set the tray on the grass.

"What?! It wasn't me, I swear!" Sean said defensively.

"Of course it's you, it's always you that gets into trouble," Dylan retorted with a shake of his head. "We're just having a little chat and don't want Shae to overhear us," Dylan explained to his mother.

"Yeah, because her ears are freakin' magic!" Sean added as he poured a glass of lemonade for himself then took a long drink.

"Ah, I see. I hope you're lighting a fire under that boy's backside," Anna replied with a rosy smile. "Such a sweet man, I do so love the way he makes our Shae smile... But you be sure to put the fear of God in him too!" she continued in a cheery tone like Cailus wasn't even there, but then turned around and acknowledged him with a gentle pat on the cheek. "And you boys better not track dirt inside when you come back to the house or there'll be hell to pay," she said quite seriously to all three of them, then headed back to the house.

"Forget God, I'm scared of her," Sean mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that!" Anna called back without breaking her stride, and that was the one thing that could make Sean flinch; of course she heard that...

"Hell hath no fury..." Cailus commented quietly with a good natured smile, sipping his lemonade. The fresh, cool sensation was wondrous, and he shamelessly pressed the glass against his filthy and sweat-stained white shirt. He briefly wondered when Shae would surrender the shower, then swiftly changed mental course. Those were definitely not thoughts to be had when her brothers were within punching range, telepaths or not. "While Shae is in the shower, if you've got anything else to ask, now is the time. I know you both must have questions, even if I can't answer all of them."

"Can you tell us what happened to our sister?" Dylan asked shamelessly. Now is was Sean's turn to put his brother in his place.

"Dylan, you know Shae would never forgive us if we went snooping behind her back," Sean said with a frown, then looked to Cailus. "Don't get me wrong, I want to know what happened to her as much as Dylan, but I also respect that Shae may not want us to know. So if you start talking, I'm not exactly going to plug my ears. Although... I've seen that harrowed look in her eyes, and I'm not sure I want to know what put that look there," he added in a rare moment of seriousness. "How about instead I tell you what it's like to date a fox-girl!" he offered instead, popping right back to his usual mischievous demeanor.

Cailus, catching on quickly, quirked his head to the side and peered at Sean sarcastically. "If this is the part where you describe all of Shae's romantic partners in excruciating detail, I'll pass. In any case, I dated a Tellarite zookeeper once. Weirdest damned experience of my life. Even Shae would have to go some distance to top that."

"What romantic partners?" Dylan replied quizzically. "Think about how old Shae is and how young she looks... Because of how slowly she aged, she only ever dated casually, and to our knowledge she never got romantically involved with anyone before she disappeared," Dylan informed Cailus.

"And Caden used what influence he had to keep tabs on her once she came back and returned to duty; she never socialized, never tried to make any friends so I doubt she had any lovers," Sean added with genuine concern for his sister. "I just meant that dating her won't be like dating a human, but since you've already crossed the species barrier, then maybe you don't need the primer on interspecies relationships. Though I would love to hear more about this Tellarite zookeeper."

That revelation caught Cailus by surprise. He looked back at the house, piecing it all together. No wonder her brothers were so protective. Shae was so beautiful that it had simply never occurred to him that her graceful aging might also be a curse. Despite being in her mid forties, Shae might only just be starting to explore romance. Even Aoife was likely a product of something other than nature, hinting at some truly awful things in her past. It all once again made Cailus feel somewhat unworthy, just like with Harriet in the beginning.

"I know there's a lot about Shae I'll discover as we go on," he said in an uncertain tone. The memory of how she'd so seamlessly mimicked him back on the Tornado was a hard one to dismiss. "Honestly, though...I look forward to it. From everything I've seen, she's worth it. Even since she was assigned to the Tornado, she's gotten better. Much better." Glancing at Sean, Cailus raised his eyebrows and smiled ever so slightly. "And guys, as far as Tellarites go for...that...wow. Just...wow. It's been a hundred years and I'll still never forget that night with him in the aquarium..."

"Just don't be surprised if she's slow to realize her own feelings," Dylan cautioned. "I know you want to learn about her on your own, and I respect that, but Shae is... she is something... unique. There's a duality to her, one side that's this innocent girl trying desperately to find her place in life, and another side that's something else, a bit like a Caitian, primal and instinctive," Dylan tried his best to explain. Sean nodded in agreement.

"She's always struggled with this other side of herself," Sean chimed in. "She's a person with the same wants and desires as anyone else, but then she's not a person, instead this primal creature, a predator even, who doesn't understand those desires. That display you saw when I arrived, I'm the only one allowed to treat her like that; she won't let anyone else rub her ears like that because she doesn't want to be seen acting like that, like an animal, and she doesn't want to be treated like one either. Why I'm the exception I haven't figured out yet, and she tries hard to push that side of herself down because it's not 'human' enough, and yet she hates pretending to be human, which we know you've had the chance to see for yourself. She can't express her feelings very well because half the time she can't understand what she feels with these instincts of hers getting in the way; in all the years she's been a part of our family, we've never heard her say that she loves us."

"Aye, I heard her call Aoife her 'little love' and I just about died of shock because that's more than she's ever said to us," Dylan added. "We've never had cause to doubt her feelings for us; we know she adores us and she shows it in her own way, but if you ever get far enough into the relationship to get to the L-word, don't be surprised or take it personally if she reserves those words for Aoife alone."

"And as for that 'hundred years' bollocks; it don't count if you were asleep for 90 years," Sean said as an afterthought, though he was seriously considering finding a Tellarite to see what all the fuss was about.

"Try explaining that to a bureaucrat," Cailus said dryly. Chugging the lemonade, he nodded to himself. "Thanks, guys. Seriously."

"Shae deserves to be happy," Sean said with a grin. "And you seem like an alright kind of guy, so I guess you'll do."

Suddenly, they heard a shrill whistle from the large Brennan manor house; Anna stood at the side door and waved at them to come inside. Dylan picked up the tray of lemonade and used glasses.

"Handle with care, mate, because there's Bennans all throughout Starfleet, so there's nowhere you can hide from us if you break her heart," Dylan added as he started walking back to the house.

When they got back to the house, they would find Shae and Anna in the kitchen trying to clean up Aoife who was covered head to toe in flour. From the remnants of cooking utensils and the smell of something in the oven, it looked like Anna was trying to do some baking, but there was flour everywhere! Shae's hair and tail were still wrapped in towels, indicating she had just come from the shower to help clean up the mess, giggling at the sight of her daughter.

Stopping to simply witness the entire scene, Cailus put his glass down on the table and crossed his arms. "How is that even possible?" he asked with concealed amusement. "Do you stock flour grenades or something?"

"Oh, no dear," Anna said with a laugh as Aoife was deposited into the sink for an impromptu bath. "I thought she might like some fresh cookies so I had her sitting on the counter where she could watch me work, innocent as could be until she tipped over my canister of flour to see what was in it, then of course she had to play with it, the little imp. But no harm done, she had some fun and we still got cookies out of this mess."

"Cookies?" Cailus said innocently. He peered at Aoife, a spark of mischievousness in his eyes. "Real, baked cookies? Cookies that are available for eating?"

"Of course, I make everything fresh in this house" Anna replied with a proud smile. She moved a large ceramic jar over to a clean area of the counter top and removed the lid. "Help yourself," she invited, then went back to sweeping up flour.

"This house has a replicator, but I don't think we've ever used it," Shae said as she gave Aoife a good scrub in the sink while Aoife tried to grab bubbles floating around in the water. Shae looked over at Cailus with a grin. "You know, you'd better go get a shower before Sean or Dylan take it over," she teased. "Maybe by the time you get out the cookies baking now will be done, and they are the best when they are fresh from the oven!"

"Yes ma'am," Cailus replied with a light-hearted put-down look. He turned to head upstairs before stopping in his tracks. Neither brother was anywhere to be seen, but the faint sound of arguing from afar was fairly obvious. "Your brothers are more sneaky than I expected," he said ruefully. Glancing at Aoife, he smiled again as he walked up to pluck a cookie from the jar. Maybe it was instinct, or maybe just wishful thinking, but he could sometimes swear that she understood much more than anyone suspected.

Aoife saw the cookie and reached out for Cailus with little grabby hands. "No no, little one, you get cookies once you're clean and dry," Shae said when she saw what Aoife was reaching for. Shae gave her daughter a good rinse and checked that her hair was flour free, then bundled Aoife up in a towel waiting off on the side and took her to the den to get her dried and dressed.

Cailus shook his head in silent amusement as he stepped into the hall, his bare feet silent on the carpet. As he picked up his boots from the doormat and placed them in the garment reprocessor, it beeped briefly at his presence. At a touch, the house computer displayed a brief message on a wall panel that he stared at for a moment before sighing. "Damn it," he swore softly under his breath. "Three blasted months, and now they want to do this?"

"Something the matter?" Shae asked from the den, having heard his muttering.

"Nothing serious," Cailus called back. He moved to join her in the den, standing in the doorway with his now-clean boots in one hand and a cookie in the other. "Seems that someone heard that I'm on Earth and wants me for a briefing in Beijing. It shouldn't take me more than a few hours."

"Oh, okay," Shae replied with a nod as she continued to towel off Aoife in her lap. Apparently Aoife didn't like how vigorous Shae was for a moment and started growling. Shae stopped and gave Aoife a light tap of a knuckle to the end of her nose. "We'll have none of that, little one," she said firmly. Aoife replied by blinking in confusion, having never been scolded by her mother before, but then again she had never growled at her mother before; well, at least this scolding didn't hurt like the mean people who had her before. Aoife scrunched up her nose with a huff and let Shae continue to dry her off; the faster she was dried and dressed, the sooner she could get cookies! "So, uh, will you be back in time for dinner?" Shae asked, looking up at Cailus.

"That's what they say," Cailus said doubtfully. "I can't imagine it'll take too long, but you never know with SI. I'll try to get out of there quickly, but don't wait up for me. Just enjoy yourselves."

"Alright, stay safe, and if you're late we'll keep some leftovers warm for you," Shae replied with her trademark warm smile.

"Assuming Aoife doesn't eat everything in sight," Cailus remarked, smiling in response. Seeing Shae like this on a regular basis was something he could get used to. He approached and bent down in front of Aoife, still smiling, but also being careful to keep a reasonable distance. "Don't let mommy stop you eating what you want," he whispered conspiratorially, winking. "The food here is amazing."

Shae giggled. "I'm not stopping her, she'll get her cookies soon enough. Although, she's going to be a rolly little thing if she keeps this up," she said, picking up a little dress and worked it over Aoife's head. This was apparently dressed enough for Aoife, so she took advantage of Cailus's closeness and reached for the cookie still in his hand. "You little troublemaker!" Shae said with a laugh, but made no attempt to scold her again.

Cailus made a show of pretending to struggle for the cookie before yielding it. Standing up, he glanced at Shae to say goodbye, then stopped. It was just one moment of many, but the sight of her laughing was downright heart-stopping in that instant, and without thinking, he placed his hand on her shoulder and kissed her fully.

Shae's heart stopped; she was caught so off guard by the feel of his lips on hers that for a while she forgot to breathe. But then time came crashing back down on her and the reality of the moment set in, and she breathed in his scent and melted into the kiss with the softest of sighs. When he finally pulled away, her eyes had this wonderful hazy gaze, and she blush with a shy smile. "What was that for?" she asked ever so softly, barely able to find her voice after he had so effectively stolen the very breath from her.

"Just for...being you," Cailus said quietly, gazing into her eyes with affection. He was still somewhat dumbstruck himself; that had been one hell of a kiss. "I'll hurry back, I promise," he added as a goodbye, leaving the room. He didn't entirely trust himself to go if he stayed even one more moment.