The Tale of the Wounded Table

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 3:23am by Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Cailus Griffin
Edited on on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 5:47am

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Wicklow, Ireland, Earth
Timeline: After "The 91 Year Old Pain In The Ass" (Cailus and Shae shoreleave backpost)

After eight hours of hectic, time-sensitive combat sims, Cailus was exhausted and more than a little depressed. He'd done his duty, of course, working with the SI operatives to refine their tactics against Tholian troops on the holodeck, but the long hours (and, more painfully, the memories) had taken their toll. Besides taking five minutes to send a brief message to Shae ("Got held up, go ahead and get some sleep"), Cailus had been going non-stop. It had taken him only half an hour of observation before deciding to join the operatives directly; their combat skills comfortably outperformed his, but they also hadn't been on Menelax. Experience proved to be a necessary teacher.

The walk from the Wicklow transport terminal to the Brennan household was at least therapeutic. The night sky was wondrously clear, while the town itself was utterly silent. The pubs had long since closed, the town's residents blissfully asleep. In the darkness, Cailus mused that the town could be from 2388 or 1888 and nobody, from either century, could tell the difference. It was oddly relaxing, a necessary salve after a day that started so perfectly and ended so...less than perfect.

Indeed, Cailus was so deep inside his own thoughts that he was completely spaced out as he quietly opened the front door, his mind too full of memories to consider the present.

Shae had been lounging in a lounge chair just off the veranda where she had a wonderful view of the stars. As the hour grew later and later, the sweet scent of wisteria and the sound of a gentle breeze slowly lulled her to sleep as she waited for Cailus to return, though the sound of his footsteps coming up towards the house snapped her back to alertness. By the time he entered the door, she had gone back inside and heated up a plate of leftovers from dinner and was setting it out on the table.

"Hey, everything alright?" she asked when he finally came into sight. She could tell that something was weighing on his mind, and understandably so since he'd just spent the better part of the evening with Starfleet Intelligence.

"Hm?" Cailus actually had to focus a little to realise who it was. "I thought you'd be in bed...it's what, 0200?"

"No, almost 3," Shae answered with her warm smile. The house was all dark and quiet, everyone blissfully asleep, and since Shae had chosen to wait up for Cailus, Aoife was cuddling up to her grandmother tonight. "I was out watching the stars, saying hello to some old familiar friends, and then somewhere along the line I dozed off. I'm fine," she assured him. "Are you hungry? We saved a plate for you, but I can put it away if you don't want it," she offered.

"Food?" Cailus peeked over Shae's shoulder, smiled in appreciation, then strode swiftly over to the plate and began digging in without a moment's hesitation. The cottage pie was downright wondrous. "This is fantastic," he got out between bites. "I just didn't have time to eat back in at HQ..."

Shae chuckled softly and walked over to the coldbox to get a couple of beers, popping the top off and pouring them into glasses before setting one before Cailus, then she took a seat at the table and sipped at her tumbler of the dark foamy stout. "So they kept you busy over there?" she asked. She wasn't trying to pry, just giving him an opening to talk if he had anything to say.

"Very," Cailus replied simply. He took his own beer and chugged it, sighing deeply in contentment before looking back at Shae. "Sorry for all this. I thought it'd just be a debriefing, but they had me in combat sims for hours." He rolled his shoulders, sighing again. "I haven't had a workout like that since the JTI. Serves me right for taking SI at their word."

"I know how SI can be," Shae replied with an understanding nod; she'd had enough debriefings with Starfleet Intelligence to last several lifetimes... "And there's no need to apologize; I'm an Officer too, and I know that sometimes duty comes calling at the most inconvenient of times. Just try to relax, if you can; your duty is done for now, leave it in the shuttle," she reminded him with a smile.

Shae's quote teased a reluctant smile out of Cailus, and he forced himself to relax, sitting stiffly down at the table despite his protesting knees. The simple sight of Shae was enough to calm him, to drive out that frenetic feeling of restlessness, and he took a few breaths. "Did I miss anything this evening?" he finally asked.

"Not much; it was pretty quiet, so we just talked a bit, then I went for a walk, wandered through mum's garden and the greenhouse a bit," Shae replied, then smiled with a soft huff of amusement. "I used to keep orchids in my dorm at the Daystrom Institute, and after I disappeared and my belongings were cleared out and return to my family, mum kept my orchids and they're still alive, growing strong in the greenhouse. They're much too big now to take back to the ship, but I plan to take cuttings and start new plants," she recounted fondly. "Oh, and you missed out on fresh cookies and pie! Mum plans to bake some more tomorrow so you can try it fresh from the oven; she's even going to let you pick what she makes since you missed out today," she added cheerfully.

"That sounds wonderful," Cailus replied sincerely. He took another swig of the beer, relishing the unique taste of the Irish lager. "I never knew you dabbled in botany."

"Well, it was impossible to tell from observation alone as I didn't keep any plants in my quarters on the Tornado," Shae said with a sly grin. Point of fact, she didn't keep any personal belongings in her quarters save the wooden box in her desk and Aoife's toys. "But before getting my doctorate, I was required, as all Science Cadets are required, to be at least familiar if not proficient with several fields of study to make us more useful. I grew up helping mum in her garden, it only seemed a natural choice for me, and then I continued on with the Horticulture Club in college. Among the other things you probably don't know about me, I dance, I bow hunt, I sing and I can play the harp and an assortment of wind instruments... All of these are things I haven't done in ages, so I might be a little rusty." There was a hint of sadness in her tone, resentment for time lost, but she was trying to remain positive and make peace with those feelings.

"Singing, playing the harp, hunting, horticulture...you're definitely Irish," Cailus said with lopsided smile. "Where on Earth did you learn to hunt with a bow, anyway?"

"My grandfather taught me," she replied with a soft laugh. "Dad can shoot too, but he was gone more often than not, and when he was home he wanted to spend that time teaching me about the stars with my telescope; so when he was gone, his father would teach me and Caden to shoot. He tried to teach Sean and Dylan too; they did alright with the tracking part, but they just didn't have any interest in archery. When we go back on duty, I plan to bring a bow back with me so I can start practising again."

"I've heard of stranger personal cargo," Cailus remarked. He closed his eyes briefly. "It's strange. That silence out there..."

Shae smiled. "Silent for you, maybe," she said softly, closing her own eyes as her ears stood up. "I can hear your heartbeat, I can hear the others upstairs; I hear the wind through the trellis and moles digging around in mum's garden... I hear the house shifting, almost like it's breathing..." She smiled. "It's never quiet for me, but I like it... It helps me feel connected."

Considering her for a moment, Cailus raised an eyebrow. "So when a person's heart starts beating faster..."

Shae smiled again and kept her eyes closed as she listened to his heartbeat beating faster. "Excitement, usually accompanied by adrenaline, which if it's strong enough I can smell," she said, tilting her head slightly. "The excitement could be shock or fear, even panic, but that's usually accompanied by erratic respiration; it could be something happy, elation even, or maybe anticipation... And then there's arousal; that can also have erratic respiration..." Her own heart started to pick up in pace when she said that, her cheek flushing slightly.

"That really is quite unfair," he said with an almost theatrical high pitch, standing up. Cailus' fatigue had vanished, the tension replacing by a pleasant buzz. "I have to rely on my own two eyes for that kind of thing. Voice inflection, hand movement, stance...tail gyration..." With that, he held out his hand with an easy smile.and a strange light in his eyes.

Shae squeaked in surprise and her playfully swishing tail suddenly grew still. Her ears followed him as he stepped closer. "You sound excited," she said softly. She could smell adrenaline and something else, she could taste it in the air... She nibbled on her lip, then opened her eyes and there he was with his hand out, and that look in his eyes made her heart skip a beat. "Cailus?" she said in a whisper soft tone. He had kissed her before and now... She knew what her senses were telling her, but no, it couldn't be true...

"Only if you're ready," Cailus whispered, keeping perfectly still, his hand still out. He was acting purely on instinct, his mind serene in contrast to the rising flame within his body. This felt right. Shae had to take this extra step on her own; he wouldn't be the one to push her. "You never have to do anything that you don't want to with me. Ever."

Shae found her mouth going dry so she hastily took a swig of her beer. She hadn't drank much of it, but she wasn't a heavy drinker so it wasn't taking much to have her feeling a little tipsy, or maybe that feeling was simply her heart trying to beat out of her chest?- "B-but I don't- I mean, I-I-I've never... and-and I'm not-" she stammered, wringing her hands in her lap. She looked away from him, her ears drooping low in shame, then she took a breath to speak more clearly. "I'm broken inside Cailus, you don't want me."

"And I'm a rosy picture of psychological stability," Cailus said with gentle sarcasm, his smile widening slightly. He bent down to meet Shae eye to eye. "I really wish you could see yourself as others do, Shae. You're brilliant and loving, beautiful and driven. You've also got problems. I know that I might never understand them all." Pausing significantly, he tilted his head slightly to side. "All of the pain, the heartache, all of it...it doesn't lessen you. It ennobles you. I care for you, flaws and all."

"I care for you too," she said shyly, sounding very small at the moment, but she did eventually reach out to take his hand. "But I'm afraid..." she admitted, and he could feel it in the slight tremble in her hand.

"Only if you want to," Cailus repeated softly. His heart was beating like a jackhammer but his body was perfectly still, his voice utterly calm. Cailus very gently squeezed her hand. He yearned desperately to simply kiss her, to wile the night away with her, but he refused to get this wrong. "You're safe here. Always. No matter what you choose."

No, she was safe with him; she thought back to the night in her quarters when he was on her couch, or at Sophia's house when they shared a bed, and those were the best night's sleep she had received in a long time. His scent was so calming to her, and the sound of his heart, as hectic as it was, was helping her keep control of her rapidly unraveling wits. "You make me feel safe," she admitted as she leaned in, not to kiss him but rather to rest her cheek against his, breathing in his scent with a gentle sigh. He could still feel that she was trembling like a leaf, but with each measured breath she slowly grew calmer. "Scent is very important to me," Shae whispered into his ear. "It may sound strange but I rely on my sense of smell more than my eyes to identify what's safe and what is not; you smell like home," she tried to explain as she worked up the nerve to do more than simply press her cheek to his. "Not like you smell like the house, I mean you do, but that's not what I meant," she added with a little stammer and a blush of embarrassment. "It's more abstract than a physical place, like no matter where we go, I am Aoife's home... And to me, you smell like the safety of home." She didn't think she was doing a very good job of explaining what she meant and it was only serving to tighten her stomach into knots.

Cailus actually considered her words for a moment. To him, Shae smelled wonderful and unique, but it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as she was describing. "I don't entirely understand," he answered, the words barely audible even to him. "But...I want to."

"I'm not sure I fully understand either," Shae confessed as she slowly pulled away from him to gaze into his eyes. "I've never known this with anyone who wasn't close family," she added, reaching up to brush her long nimble fingers over his eyes to prompt them to close. She leaned again like she was going to kiss him but stopped, lingering there so close that breath was momentarily shared. "It's like you walk in the door, cold and tired, and then it just hits you, this warmth, so comforting and soft, yet strong and unyielding... It catches you and it's all around you and you know you are safe..." she whispered, her words dancing across his lips.

Then Cailus understood. He breathed out ever so slightly. "When everything is right with the world..." he murmured, his eyes still closed. Shae's fresh, earthy scent was everywhere, her warm breath atop his lips, her slender fingers atop his, the sound of her every breath and movement in his ears. "I understand," he whispered in wonder. "I understand..."

It was only then that Shae found the courage to take the proverbial leap and close the distance, her lips brushing timidly against his, and even this minimal contact was enough to send chills through her. Her heart was beating a staccato tempo as she finally dared to press her lips to his fully.

The touch of Shae's lips was like igniting a fuse. Cailus simply kissed her softly, placing his left hand on her cheek, relishing the taste and the sensation and...everything. There was no past, no future, simply Shae forever. After that eternal moment he kissed her deeper, succumbing to an urge deeper than mere thought. The two of them simply stayed that way, exploring in that single dimension, before Cailus finally did something unexpected. He clasped his hands around Shae's ribs and with a quick, fluid motion, he lifted her up to sit on the table, their lips in contact the entire time.

The shock of that movement shook him to his senses, and he pulled away momentarily, looking at her with unspoken concern.

Shae looked at him, her eyes unfocused and heavy lidded and her face flushed from the intoxicating rush of their kiss, and she was confused; why had he stopped? Had she done something wrong? Stars above, had she accidentally bitten him? Well if she had, she didn't draw blood or she'd smell that... The more he looked at her, the more self conscious she became. "Did... did I do something wrong?" she asked timidly, her ears drooping again. She was seemingly unfazed by the sudden change in where her perky posterior was parked.

"Absolutely not," Cailus replied, grinning at her response. He silenced any further words with another quick kiss, and then another-and then things developed. It was a night of loving aggression, of merry but tender lovemaking, and as long as either of them would live, one thing was quite certain: neither Shae nor Cailus would ever look at a kitchen table the same way again.


*************
THE NEXT MORNING...
*************
"Holy hell, are there claw marks in the table?" Sean asked. He had just sat down for breakfast and rested his arm on the edge when his sweater got caught on something, and after investigating splinter just under the edge of the table he found the marks.

"Hush now, don't make a scene," Anna said as she laid out food onto the table. She had seen the marks, as well as the fact that Cailus and Shae's clothing were in the garment reprocessor mixed up together, and when she nosily peeked into the guest room to check on Cailus, she found the room empty, as she suspected it might be.

"But there's claw marks!" Sean's brain hadn't yet gone down naughty avenues to piece everything together, so for the moment he was blissfully ignorant.

"And it's just a table, we can fix it," Anna assured him with a grin as she helped Aoife through her breakfast while they waited for Shae and Cailus to finally wake.

Cailus was the first to emerge. Despite having gotten so little sleep and having had such a memorable night before, he looked absolutely normal.His shirt was clean and pressed, his beard was neatly trimmed and Cailus had clearly just come from the shower. Nobody looking at him could guess just how much effort it was taking to stay stoic.

“Morning,” he greeted everyone with artificial neutrality. “I apologise for coming in late last night. It couldn’t be helped.”

"It's alright dear, we've grown used to the boys having to leave at a moment's notice when duty calls," Anna replied as she tried to get Aoife to use a spoon to feed herself, but the eager child simply used her hands instead. "Just tuck in, there's plenty to eat." She was acting completely normal, and Sean and Dylan had yet to figure anything out, so it all seemed okay.

“Thanks.” Taking a seat, Cailus quietly began attacking his porridge. He very nearly choked on it upon seeing the claw marks, which were much more obvious than he had expected, but nevertheless managed to keep his composure. Four years of training with P’ie’sor well spent, he thought with hidden amusement.

A while later, Shae came down; like Cailus, she had clearly come from a shower, her hair and tail still damp. She sat down next to Aoife, giving her daughter a little nuzzle. "Good morning," she said to everyone else, trying her hardest not to blush when she noticed Sean studying the claw marks she had left in the table. To make it worse, Aoife leaned over to start sniffing at Shae, then started looking between Cailus and Shae with confusion.

"Seriously, does no one care how these got here?" Sean asked. He yelped when Dylan kicked him under the table. Dylan noticed the hint of Shae's embarrassment as well as Aoife's reaction, so it took him a little longer to piece it together but now he just didn't want Sean to ruin this for Shae; if Sean embarrassed Shae to the point that she chickened out from whatever was developing between her and Cailus, then they were suddenly going to be short one brother. Sean blessedly had caught on a moment later and shrugged. "Uh, I mean... what claw marks, I don't see anything," Sean finally said with false nonchalance. Such an epic fail, it actually made Dylan facepalm.

"I'm sorry," Shae said in embarrassment, getting up from the table to walk away, disappearing out the sunroom door to walk through the garden.

"Nice, way to go," Dylan said sarcastically to Sean, giving him a well deserved slap to the back of the head.

With a sigh, Cailus stood. “It’s okay,” he reassured Sean. “It’s my fault. I should’ve expected it, really. Although you definitely shouldn’t be applying to Starfleet Security any time soon.” Glancing up at Anna, he winced. Before he could even begin to form the words (as if he knew what to say), the house’s usually discreet computer system came to his rescue. It only took a moment to step over and read the message on the wall console, which displayed Shae’s new orders and a request for him to report to San Francisco the next day, but Cailus knew it would be a cop-out to simply leave.

Turning from the wall to face them all, he hesitated. “I’m sorry if...I...heck, I don’t know how to say it. I just...really care about Shae. More than I thought possible after...well. I just wanted you all to know it’s not something we entered...into...lightly.” The composure was cracking, and Cailus unconsciously placed his hands behind his back for comfort.

“Cailus dear, you really don’t need to explain anything to us,” Anna replied with a knowing smile. “Just go check on Shae, I’m sure she would be happy to have your company.”

Nodding his sincere thanks, Cailus grabbed a small PaDD from the table and slipped outside. Seeing Shae sitting on a stone bench in the garden, he quietly walked up and sat down beside her wordlessly.

Shae was deep in thought and didn't move or acknowledge his presence for a while, simply gazing out over the garden. "The garden is lovely this year," she finally said to break the silence. She sighed, then looked at him. "I'm sorry for walking out. I don't want you to think I'm in any way... unhappy about last night, I just don't know how to handle certain situations," she admitted softly.

“I understand,” Cailus replied. Glancing at the garden, he grew reflective. “With this, you’re absolutely normal. Everybody feels this way at one time or another, I think. I’ll be damned if I know why.” Looking at Shae directly, he met her eyes. “Don’t worry about your family. Sean is definitely an engineer to have so little tact, but they all understand too. They were even kind to me, which is a lot better than I expected.”

"Why wouldn't they be kind to you? You've certainly done nothing wrong," Shae replied curiously. "I know I should have expected some kind of reaction, but I wasn't really thinking; my head was still elsewhere..." She blushed slightly at the though of the shower they shared this morning.

“Understandably,” Cailus said meaningfully, catching Shae’s meaning. “As for why...I don’t know. Call it part of our human barbarian past: always hate the guy who gets involved with your daughter or little sister. Just on principle. Which your family has evolved beyond, apparently, while I’m still stuck in the past.”

Shae rolled her eyes; if only he knew about all the trouble her brothers had gotten into protecting her during primary school and after...

That awkward comment, full of more meaning than he’d expected, made him wince. “Ah...anyway. Your new orders came in,” he said, changing the subject as he held out the PaDD. “I haven’t read them.”

Shae frowned with a sigh as she took the PaDD. "Ah, Starfleet, thy timing is punctual..." she said with a heavy exhale as she opened the orders and read them. "USS Pandora, Luna class, and not much time until I've got to report for duty... Stars above, and now I've got to have a talk with SI; probably to make sure I'm behaving..." Shae looked at Cailus with a weary expression. "I know what I did was wrong, but how long are these people going to keep punishing me for something that was out of my control?"

“Not for a while, I suspect,” Cailus said grimly. “I know how they think. SI have turned paranoia into an art form. They used to be reasonable back in my day, but now...I suppose we just have to endure.” Pausing, he thought for a moment and asked the important question. “What kind of ship is the Pandora?”

"Ah, Luna class," Shae read from the PaDD. "Why?"

Raising his eyebrows patiently, Cailus asked “I mean...is it an explorer? A deep space explorer, maybe? I haven’t read up on all of Starfleet’s ship classes yet.”

"Oh sorry, I forget," Shae replied sheepishly. "The class is, uh, officially categorized as a reconnaissance explorer, essentially deep space missions. If you've seen an Intrepid class, the Luna class is just a bit larger, and they have these interchangeable pods attached to the hull containing extra equipment, a feature that was introduced with the Nebula class, and a lot of ships are getting refit with them," she explained. "But that was more than you wanted to know... Sorry, ah, Pandora's mission is deep space exploration, more specifically, the Inconnu Expanse."

“So Sophia came through,” Cailus pointed out. It was a rather substantial relief to hear Shae explain that, but he hid that particular reaction. “I’m sure that’s why SI is checking on you. They know you’ll be out of contact for a while.”

"That was precisely my thinking as well," Shae replied to his comment about SI. "Uh, speaking of which, I don't want to take Aoife with me when I go to see them, and-and-and... well, will you help mum look after Aoife? I'm pretty sure she can handle things herself or ask Sean for help, he seems smitten with Aoife, but it would mean a lot to me if you could watch over her too."

“Of course,” Cailus replied automatically. After a moment, to his own surprise, he smiled. “That sounds like a fun day, actually, as strange as that may seem. Aoife will be fine with us. Take care of yourself with SI.”

Shae smiled with relief. "I just wanted to be sure you were okay with this. I know when we first met, you were really distant towards her, and I know why, and after Watney... I don't want you to feel like you have to do this if you're still grieving." Shae had assumed that when Cailus got involved with her that he knew she and Aoife were a package deal, but she certainly didn't want to push a connection between them before he was ready.

Cailus was already shaking his head before Shae had finished speaking. “Shae, it’s okay. I know I didn’t react well at first to seeing Aoife, but I’m getting better. Slowly, I’ll grant you, but it is improvement. Being with Aoife is actually therapeutic, if that makes sense. I might still see Vic...Victoire...in her, but it’s not like it was.”

"Okay," Shae replied softly, leaning in to give him a tender kiss goodbye. She didn't want to go visit SI now, but she didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but at least she knew Aoife was in good hands.