The Raffles Manuevre
Posted on Mon Sep 25th, 2023 @ 4:23pm by Captain Aloysius Grayson & Lieutenant Marie LaFramboise
2,155 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
The Kriresian Gambit
Location: USS Roosevelt: Officer's Lounge
Captain Aloysius Grayson normally didn't socialize with the crew after hours. He had found himself a corner booth in the officer's lounge with a highball glass of whisky on the rocks with a paper book bound in hardcover material in hand. He had gotten his love for literature from his mother Molly. He brought it to his nose and smelled the paper. He didn't know how many hands this novel had come in contact with and who had read it. It was from the mid-twentieth first century.
He took a sip from his glass and set it down on the table to flip to the next page. He wore the same leather jacket, blue jeans, and a collared light blue shirt with a skinny black tie.
The doors of the lounge swished open and Marie walked in. She smiled as she noticed the Captain. "Good evening Capitaine," she greeted.
The Captain looked over to the Frenchwoman. He had pretty limited encounters with her on a professional scale since their first contact on Chantier IV. He closed his book, "Lieutenant." He eyed down at his book and then his glass of whisky, then back to her.
Marie crossed the room and ordered a simple cup of tea from the replicator. She hovered over his table for a brief second. "Mind if I join you Capitaine?" she asked.
"Tea at this hour? Didn't realize you were pulling a double tonight, Lieutenant." The Captain gestured to the seat across from him, "Certainly."
"Tea is relaxing at this hour," Marie replied. "Plus, its not every day we see someone on a ship with a physical book." she smiled at him.
"I got my love for physical books from my parents, mostly my mother," Aloysius commented then asked, "do you read?"
Marie chuckled. "Sometimes, not as often as I would like." She paused for a brief moment. "So what brings you to the lounge at this hour?"
"Crew morale," Aloysius replied with a smirk across his face while he set the book down on the table and held the glass of scotch with both of his hands, "I thought it'd be good to be seen in the lounge and then hidden away behind closed doors such as my quarters or in my ready room."
The science officer raised an eyebrow. "You like hiding away from your feelings dont you Capitaine?"
The Captain gave the lieutenant a look before taking a long sip from his whisky, "How're you adjusting to the Roosevelt?"
"Its different than what I'm used to." Marie smiled. "More of a modern spin on a classic design." she told him.
"Indeed," the captain replied.
Marie smirked and leant forward a little closer to the Captain. "Hey. Whats up. You're not as talkative as usual..." she asked.
"Have you ever known me to be talkative?" The Captain slightly moved further back into his seat with a slight concern in his voice.
Still smirking Marie looked him dead in the eyes. "Have you ever known me to be serious?" she asked as she loosened her collar slightly. "Come on, something is bothering you. When was the last time you did something... or someone... fun?"
The Captain looked at the Lieutenant rather quizically and wasn't too sure about the phrasing of her question. His cheeks turned a bright pinkish rosey color, "I was having fun before you arrived..."
Marie stuck out her tongue. "By yourself? I wasn't having fun..." she said giving him endearing eyes.
The Captain downed the rest of the contents of his glass. The bartender spotted that his glass was empty and had the server bring over another. The server placed it down in front of the Captain off the tray and turned to look over to the Lieutenant, "Can I get you anything, Lieutenant?"
Marie glanced up briefly at the bartender. "Leave the bottle. And a glass for me too!" she said simply giving the captain a cheeky smile.
The Captain turned to the server, "No. That's not necessary. Please don't bring the bottle over. This is my last glass before turning in for the night."
Marie booed. She stood up and smiled. "Well, I've got a few experiments to run in the science lab. I only came here to waste some time. Feel free to drop by if you want," she said to him with a wink.
"You're dismissed then Lieutenant," he replied plainly as her captain.
Marie turned back and smirked at him again. "Oh are we on the clock now? I thought this was 'after hours'?" she said using her fingers to emphasise 'after hours'.
The Captain lifted up an eyebrow quizically without providing her a verbal answer.
With a flick of her blonde hair, Marie left the room and proceeded down the corridor toward the nearest turbolift.
Aloysius finished his second glass once he had watched his chief science officer leave the officer's lounge. He decided now was a good time to return to his quarters and have quality time with Raffles and Whiskers.
He stepped out of the lounge and approached the turbolift. He pressed the call button.
[ Science Lab ]
Meanwhile Marie had made her way down to one of the ships science labs. She had several experiments on the go that needed monitoring around the clock. One of which was the study of some bacteria that had been brought onboard by an expedition team. However to ensure there was no contamination special clothing was required. The science lab had several special suits that she could use to protect herself and stop cross-contamination. Usually she would change in one of the changing rooms, however since no one was around she stripped down to her underwear in the middle of the lab to change.
Gently she folded her uniform and placed it on one of the adjacent benches and then pulled one of the protective suits from one of the wall lockers.
Aloysius had returned to his quarters and decided to acquaint Raffles with her new surroundings. Whiskers was nowhere to be seen. He more than likely was hiding out underneath a piece of furniture. Aloysius stepped off the Turbolift with Raffles on the lead. She was pulling him down the hall, sniffing every corner. Then she got hold of a familiar scent. She began to pull harder, managing to break away from the Captain's hold of the leash. She began to run down.
"Touch!" Aloysius ordered with placing his hand into a ball fist for her recall. She didn't pay him any attention while she chose to investigate the sniff. She ran down the corridor grabbing the leash into her mouth.
Aloysius lost track of her.
Raffles on the other hand was quite pleased with herself that she had broken away from her master. She had found where the scent was. It was behind this door. She sniffed each corner and along the bottom of the door. It was THE LADY that she had met somewhere. With the pond!
MAYBE THE POND? was in this room. With the lady. She barked excitedly.
The doors sensor of the science lab picked up Raffles and swished open. Marie had forgotton to lock the door. She was caught a little off guard at the door opening and having a dog come bounding through at her.
"Woah!" she called out. "Raffles, what are you doing here?"
Raffles jumped up onto the woman without a care that she was standing there only in her underwear. She leaned as her tongue licked all over her face.
Marie laughed as Raffles licked her face. "Hey! Hey!" she laughed as she tried to push the dog off of her. "Yes, I love you too. No need for all these kisses!"
Raffles looked at her oddly then she barked and continued to lick her. Then she moved down her claws scratching against the bra's shoulder support.
Marie didn't notice as she was still trying to stop the dog from being ontop of her. "Come on now, calm down!" she laughed as the dog continued to lick her face.
She barked loudly. She got off and started to jump into the air excitedly. Then she jumped back up licking her face.
The Captain heard the commotion down the corridor. He started with a quick walk which turned into a run. He heard Raffles barking behind the door marked 'SCIENCE LAB', "Oh for fuck sake."
The door opened for him automatically. He saw Raffles standing up with her paws up on someone. He didn't see who it was. He grabbed her leash, "I am so sorry. Raffles, down."
Raffles jumped down revealing his Chief Science Officer barechested. His bottom jaw dropped. He was flabbergasted and his body paused unable to respond to his brain's messaging to revert his eyes and turn around.
Panting Marie sat up and looked at the Captain. "Oh, Hi Capitaine." she greeted with a smile. "Sorry, I was just changing into the protective gear..." she then spotted Raffles had something in her mouth.
"Wait is that my..." she stopped suddenly after realizing what Raffles had torn away from her. She quickly covered her chest. "Hey! Don't look!" she snapped at him turning bright red in the face.
The Captain wasn't able to revert his eyes until his brain chimed in that she asked him to look away. There was a slight delay, he reverted his eyes by looking down at Raffles with the woman's bra in her mouth, "Raffles. Drop it."
Raffles dropped it at her feet.
"I'm sorry about that and this," the Captain's cheeks had turned a matching red.
"Oh, it's not your fault. I should have been more careful..." Marie said as she still remained bright red in the face. A mischievous smile then spread across her face. "So, what did you think?"
The Captain's eyes had returned. Her arm was covering her breasts. Her inquiry had caught him off guard, "I... we better get... going." He was unable to move, "if Raffles has damaged your bra... let me know... I can replace it..."
Marie stepped forward and held out a hand to take the bra off of Raffles. Once she had it in her hand she turned away and put it back on. She then turned back to face the Captain. "Honestly, how dense are you?" she asked.
The Captain didn't like her question or her implication that he was stupid. He dropped Raffles' leash, took a few steps, wrapping one arm around her waist pulling her up against him and a hand behind her head. He kissed her deeply, his tongue slipped into her mouth. He thought he was going to come back to reality from his daydream but he was actually kissing her. He then pulled away, his face turning a brighter red.
It would be safe to assume that Marie didn't see that coming at all. She was expecting all of her moves to be blown off by him once again. She looked up into his eyes. "I see you finally decided to make a move then..." she whispered to him. "Its about time. I was wondering if you even considered me. Or if you even saw me."
She dropped her gaze slightly before looking back at him. "I'm sorry if I came across as a bit too strong from the start. I was taught that if I wanted something I had to go and get it," she explained to him softly.
"I'm not good at expressing myself," Aloysius replied and his arms fell back to his side, "being a ship's captain can be quite lonely, and its hard to circumnavigate relationships with my subordinates."
He took a step back. He was still shocked that he had done that. He didn't know how to respond to her reaction either, "I better let you get back to work. Raffles here needs to piddle and poo."
Marie's face remained bright red as she looked up at him once again. "There's no need to hide your true feelings. When off duty don't see me as your Science Officer. See me for the woman you need in your life." she averted her gaze looking at one of the consoles as she spoke. "There's no need for either of us to be lonely..." she stated.
The captain frowned, "Except you're on duty now and technically that means so am I."
He turned around and picked up Raffles leash heading to the door to exit the science lab. Without looking over his shoulder, "if when you're done with your experiments, maybe call me up for a nightcap? Maybe your quarters?"
"Once I'm finished here, it's a date!" Marie said a hint of excitement in her voice.
A small smile across the Captain's face appeared.
OFF:
A Joint Post By:
Captain Aloysius Grayson
Commanding Officer, USS Roosevelt NCC-47180
&
Lieutenant Marie LaFramboise
Chief Science Officer, USS Haida NCC-42063
RSS Feed