LT Aine Sherlock and Shevon Sherlock - How Do We Begin?

[Alcyone Brennan]

 

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((Apartment 302, Kowloon Block, Hong Kong Subdistrict, StarBase 118))
 

Three-zero-two. Home. It felt like permanency. And yet, there was anxiety. Aine had seen how much, from her credit account, had been used by Shevon. And she had no clue exactly what that meant. After all, Shevon had just the one room in the apartment. Could she have spent so much on so little and what was it that she bought that was so expensive? Aine stood for a moment, looking at the faux wooden door to the apartment. She hesitated as she reached to touch the small display on the wall to open the door. But there was no preventing the inevitable.
 

As the door slowly swung open for her and she looked down the short hall that led to the common room, she could see it...furniture. But not her furniture. It was ghastly. Like something someone's grandmother might have in their old house. An odd built in bookshelf against the left wall looked dramatically out of place. The back of a chair upholstered in a mustard color with dark gold brocade was also visible.
 

She took a few small steps into the room and there was Shevon, lounging on a couch, which was just as ugly as the chair except a dark green with bright gold brocade.
 

S. Sherlock: Hey, you're back.
 

A. Sherlock: ::in shock:: What happened to my furniture?
 

S. Sherlock: Your furniture? You mean that tiny table with two really uncomfortable chairs that looked like Starfleet issue?
 

A. Sherlock: Yeah, that furniture.
 

Shevon gestured to the wooden table with matching chairs in the dining area that Aine hadn't even noticed despite standing next to them because of the sheer shock she was feeling.
 

S. Sherlock: I got better things.
 

A. Sherlock: I said buy what you need...
 

S. Sherlock: Trust me, you needed this.
 

A. Sherlock: Did I?
 

S. Sherlock: Yes, trust me.

 

Aine slowly panned her view around the room. Did she need this? This specifically? She wasn't sure. But she wasn't really feeling it. It wasn't her taste. But, to be fair, her tastes were, as Shevon alluded, Starfleet issue. Once she'd left for the Academy, Starfleet provided anything she needed. She didn't have to think about it. And she preferred that. As she looked around, taking in the mismatched furniture, she noticed something was missing.
 

A. Sherlock: The plant! Where's my plant...the flowers!?!
 

S. Sherlock: Calm down, they're in your room.
 

A. Sherlock: Thank goodness.
 

S. Sherlock: I put it on your nightstand.
 

Aine's eyes narrowed as she glared at Shevon and in turn, Shevon's head reeled back a bit and her eyes shifted around as if guilty of stealing a cookie.
 

A. Sherlock: Nightstand?
 

S. Sherlock: I got you nightstands. ::beat:: And a new bed.
 

A. Sherlock: What?
 

S. Sherlock: That bed was small and looked...
 

A. Sherlock: Starfleet issue, I got it.

 

S. Sherlock: You needed a better and bigger bed, trust me.
 

Aine's jaw hung open slightly. She couldn't believe this was happening. It was chaos. What did she do? Her...their...apartment looked like a circus to her. She was at a loss for words and began the slow shuffle towards her room but was suddenly stopped when Shevon spoke again. She worried what other bad news her sister had.
 

S. Sherlock: You got a couple things.
 

A. Sherlock: What things?
 

S. Sherlock: One got dropped off a little before you got home, kinda big, I put it in your room.
 

A. Sherlock: ::feeling exasperated:: Oh, that's my painting I won on Bajor.
 

S. Sherlock: How'd you win it?
 

A. Sherlock: Almost choking to death...nevermind. What else was there?
 

S. Sherlock: This. ::picking up a letter from the grotesque coffee table and rubbing it between her thumb and finger:: It feels weird, I'm not sure what it is. And it says 'oh-live' on it.
 

Aine took the letter from her sister and examined it but didn't open it to read it, opting to leave it folded for later.
 

A. Sherlock: It's paper. Humans used to use it for writing messages. ::looking at what was written on the outside and assuming Shevon had never seen that word before:: And it says 'Olive.' It's a fruit from Earth...and my middle name.
 

She knew the letter was from Mel. He was the only one who called her by her middle name. And for good reason, she hated her middle name and never understood why her parents gave it to her. It had been a curse since childhood.
 

S. Sherlock: The guy who dropped it off is the reason you needed a better bed.
 

A. Sherlock: What!?
 

S. Sherlock: Your boyfriend. He is your boyfriend, isn't he?
 

A. Sherlock: Absolutely not.
 

S. Sherlock: He likes you though. And he's really handsome.
 

A. Sherlock: It's a long story. But he's not my boyfriend.
 

And now, frustration was creeping in. The furniture thing, it was done and couldn't be undone. But at least she could close the door to her room and ignore it for a while. If before, she didn't want people over, she definitely didn't now. What would anyone, who took one look around, think of her? She again started towards her room, but this time, she interrupted her own departure.
 

A. Sherlock: Oh, ::turning back to Shevon:: I spoke to Commodore Taybrim. Talked to him about you and possibly joining the crew. He said you could enlist and during your enlistment, you can also attend courses at the Academy campus here on the station. I spoke to one of the recruiters and he knows about it.
 

Aine pulled out the pocket sized PADD she had on her and handed it to Shevon to peruse.
 

A. Sherlock: Everything you need to know and study is cataloged there. That's all if you want to. You don't need to. The choice is yours.
 

S. Sherlock: Yeah, ok, I'll give it a look.
 

A. Sherlock: Um... ::waving the letter in between them:: thanks for this...and for the furniture.
 

A little white lie, but she wanted Shevon to feel good about doing what she thought was right. Shevon's lips slowly turned into a smile, it was the first time Aine had seen one on the Human/Orion hybrid. She in turn smiled slightly then gestured, letter in hand, down the hall towards her room.
 

A. Sherlock: I'm...going to go lay down...in my new bed.
 

S. Sherlock: And I'm going to read up... ::waving the PADD:: on this.
 

They went their separate ways to their respective rooms. Aine closed her door behind her and looked around. There in the far corner was the African violet that Alora had given her, seemingly well taken care of, sitting on a wooden nightstand, two of which flanked a heavy looking wood framed bed blanketed in purple...with more brocade. She wondered to herself if Shevon thought things like that were fancy or extravagant. She approached the bed cautiously and slowly got on top of it. It was actually quite comfortable. Laying down slowly on her side, letter now laying next to her, she rested her head on the pillows, which were much more comfortable than anything Starfleet had ever issued her.
 

A. Sherlock: Maybe this isn't so bad.
 

When Shevon entered her room and closed the door behind her, she almost hopped onto the chaise longue that she'd gotten herself as a bed. She sat cross legged in the center of it, staring down at the PADD. She didn't want to show that she was that excited in front of her sister. Yes, she was thankful, but she also didn't want to give the impression she was helpless and actually needed this. It was an opportunity to move on, to move forward, from the Delight. From a life that was all she'd known. And this was so much bigger, at that. Who wanted to spend their entire life living aboard a freighter? The first thing on the PADD was a message from a recruiter that Aine apparently spoke to. She opened the message and tried her best to read it.
 

S. Sherlock: Shevon, oOThat was easy enough...Oo my...nuh...name...is leeoo...leeoo..ten...ant... oOThis is going to take a while...Oo
 

Aine stared at the folded paper for a moment. Mel and her seemed to resolve things with his last visit. At the very least, a friendship rekindled. So why was she so nervous to look at the letter? She picked it up and rolled onto her back, holding it over her. Slowly she unfolded it and began reading it silently. Olive, sorry, I know you hate that. Thank you for coming to me. I don't know what that means for us in the long run. But I'm happy you felt you could trust me, and you can. Now and always. Knowing what I know now, having the experiences I've had since then, I regret many things that happened between us, but most, I regret losing you as a friend. And I hope we can keep that. I know that you needed it when you contacted me, but I did too.

Though it had taken her a few minutes, Shevon got through the message from the recruiter. A simple letter that outlined what she'd need to do and that she should contact him as soon as possible. She looked at the list of documents Aine had provided on the PADD. Some of them seemed almost out of reach. She hadn't told anyone she could barely read. There hadn't been much need for it. Numbers, graphs, readouts in the engineering bay of the Delight, she'd always understood those, she grew up with them. But words, even common ones, were difficult.

 

S. Sherlock: Computer, do I have to read at Starfleet Academy?
 

Computer: Please specify a request.
 

S. Sherlock: Do I have to be able to read fluently?
 

Computer: Comprehension of spoken and written Federation Standard is required at Starfleet Academy.
 

S. Sherlock: ::aloud to herslef:: I'm going to need some help.
 

Computer: Please specify a request.
 

S. Sherlock: Not you, shut up.
 

...but I did too. I guess I just want you to know that I'm here for you, if you ever need me. We both have our whole lives ahead of us. We may never be what we once were, but it doesn't mean we can't still be there for each other. I just want you to be happy. Anyways, I should keep this short. Can you believe, Captain Monroe wants me helping the next cleanup of the Jefferies Tubes because of...well...you know? I love you, and I'll talk to you soon. Mel. Aine couldn't help but grin. Of course he'd bring that up. But at least she didn't have to clean the Jefferies Tubes. She felt both closure on their past, but also a hopefulness. Who knew what the future would hold for either of them. But at the very least, the animosity was seemingly gone. The old feelings suddenly felt like they weren't hanging over her. She looked around her room, again at the new furniture. She shook her head but let out a slight laugh. It wasn't so bad, things could be worse. Looking over at the dresser Shevon had gotten for her, she noticed something sitting atop it. Sitting up, she could see the ribbons she'd earned, laid out in perfect order. She assumed that Shevon had put her clothes in the dresser and took the ribbons off so as not to damage them or have them damage any clothing. The top left of the nine ribbons was her Purple Heart. Her eyes scanned across the top row, then the second. When she came to the end of the third row, there was her Academy Graduation ribbon. Considered by many a "give me." But it took a lot more work for the "lowest ranked" of all the ribbons to get than any of the others. She looked up towards her door and thought about Shevon. Would she one day receive that same ribbon?

 

Lieutenant Aine Sherlock

Tactical Officer

StarBase 118 Ops

R239712AS0