A Little Discovery

Posted on Tue Dec 20th, 2011 @ 7:04pm by Tora Sulan & Lieutenant Commander Kit'rin'e

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Kit'rin'e's Quarters

* * * Kit'rin'e's Quarters * * *

Sulan had crawled out of bed early, while Kit'rin'e was still on shift. She had some shopping to do on the Promenade and time had gotten away from her. It was not until Alpha shift was over and she exited the turbolift that she saw Kit'rin'e moving down the corridor. Hurrying to catch up, she slipped her arm through his.

"How was your day? And the explosion investigation?"

"Long and trying." Kit'rin'e replied, initially shocked slightly at his arm being taken until he saw it was his Mate. "May I carry those for you?" He offered. The day was indeed challenging, things were a mess and there was much to do and investigations were still going on. Debris had to be checked, interviews, sensor readings, collection of sensor logs from nearby ships in case they picked something up. The whole ordeal was just that....an ordeal.

"Thanks." She handed over two bags as they continued to walk. "I know you can't give details, but I hope it wraps up soon. My guess is, though, that whoever is responsible is likely long gone by now."

"As do I." He replied, the same remark applied to much of what she said. "What did you purchase, anything nice?" He asked, wondering if what she purchased would shed more light as to his Mate's tastes.

"Nothing much, just a few odds and ends, a few new stories to read - we have a writer living here on 900 you know." She smiled up at him.

"I didn't know you liked to read." He answered as they neared home. "Later if you would like, I can obtain translated Caitian literature if you like, though you may need to look up information about my customs and ways if it's to make any sense." He offered, there was no pressure on her, but wanted to offer the chance to see more about what made up the person she was mated to.

"Certainly. In the meantime, I'll dig into these, Kh'ali wrote them, under another name. So the secret's to be kept." She stopped as they reached the doors, waiting for Kit'rin'e to open the doors.

The doors opened, the sensors detecting them thus opening for them. He let her enter first. He placed the bags on the table. "I'm going to change, get out of this restrictive uniform." He said, it would be good to get out of it. An air of freedom would be most welcome.

"And I'm going to sit down and relax a bit before I have to get dressed for work." She settled on the sofa, shed her shoes and propped her bare feet on the coffee table. "I may be late tonight, I'm meeting Eli's parents after work."

"As you wish." Kit'rin'e replied. He went into the other room and changed out of his uniform into something more comfortable. It was there that something was amiss, not right. It lingered in the air, unnatural, doesn't belong. At first he thought it was some perfume that his Mate had but she'd not worn it since they became Mates because of the headaches it caused him.

"Kit'rin'e," she called out, does it bother you that I work so late?"

Kit'rin'e walked out of the room. "No, of course not, I understand you have responsibilities, duties that need your attention." He answered, then came the more dominant point. "Did you put any perfume on today?" He asked, wanting to double check first.

"Not when I got up, no." She turned slightly on the sofa to look in his direction. "Why?"

"Someone has been here." He said. "I can smell it, in our bedroom."

She sat up straighter, dropping her feet to the floor. "What does it smell like?"

As strange as it looked Kit'rin'e dropped into the more feline posture on his hands and feet, he smelt near the entrance, the scent took him to his personal table which he could smell the person on the draws. Kitchen, bathroom and bedroom all had the scent within them. "Male, not Human." He could tell since having spent so much time with them the scent was easy to tell, it was other races that proved harder to tell. He said as he stood upright again. It angered him that someone would violate the sanctuary that was his home, this was made evident by a low growl that could be heard.

Sulan got to her feet and began to move from room to room, examining them, checking to see if anything was missing. Surprisingly, everything was in its proper place. "Nothing missing that I can see." She paused to address the computer. "Computer, who has accessed these quarters in the last three hours?"

There was an answering beep, then the computer responded.

=^= Tora Sulan departed 3.1 hours ago. Two hours, thirty minutes ago unknown person entered, species Briori. Male. Departed fifteen minutes later. Lt. Commander Kit'rin'e, Tora Sulan, entered five minutes ago =^=

As the computer fell silent, Tora turned to face Kit'rin'e. "Well then."

"It would seem we need to go to security." Kit'rin'e said. "We best not touch anything else, they will no doubt want to sweep the area with scanners." Kit'rin'e was not happy to have his home turned inside out because of the illegal acts of one male, especially since just recently, what he felt was his sanctuary was violated in its entirety.

"That man who grabbed my bag on the Promenade was Briori. A random snatching I can see but if it's the same man, why come here?" She moved over to the corned desk and terminal to put through a message to Security.

"You have had your bag since that moment, where is it now?" The whole ordeal started with the bag, it was a key factor in what was going on, something might be inside it.

"There on the table with the shopping bags." She frowned a moment, thinking. "I've not noticed anything strange about it, but then again, I wasn't really looking either. Most women's bags are little black holes you know."

"Empty it on the table carefully." Kit'rin'e said, clearly what ever the person was looking for they tried very hard to leave no trace of them being there but what they were looking for was not even in the quarters.

She lifted the bag, tilted it over and gave it a gentle shake. The contents sifted out to the table, the usual assortment of the mysteries that women carried in purses.

Kit'rin'e was somewhat amazed at the contents of such a small bag holding so many items. Everything to him seemed normal however he knew very little about such things. While his Mate sifted through the contents that now lay on the table, Kit'rin'e inspected the bag itself.

"Looks like everything is here." She looked up at Kit'rin'e examined the bag. "Does it smell funny? Something hidden in it?"

He could smell something was amiss. "I can smell something, possibly from when that male grabbed it." He stuck his hand inside, everything seemed okay but there was something stiff down one edge. Kit'rin'e thought at first it was the support to give the bag its shape, however there was nothing there to indicate support in that area. He used his claws and fished out what it was. A strange device. "What it this?"

Sulan reached out to take the small object from him. She turned it back and forth as she examined it. "A chip of some sort. But why is it in my bag?" She considered it a moment, thinking back over the incident on the Promenade. "Do you think that maybe he wasn't trying to steal my purse but to hide this from someone?"

"I don't know, we should however hand it into Security." Then he thought. "Actually it might be wise to have them come here, they can collect it and run checks here." He didn't want to risk exposing his Mate to danger, considering they had already did what they had to her and also the rooms.

"I am not too wild about having them come back here just yet. I can imagine the reaction if a call came in from these quarters. I'll drop it off on the way to work." She turned to look at Kit'rin'e once more. "I'll let them know about the search but nothing was taken. If anyone comes back, then they can come do whatever scans they like."

"Would you like me to escort you to work and pick you up?" He offered.

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his chest. "No need, you've had a long day. I promise to be careful."

He held her gently, wrapping her within his warmth both loving and caring. "As you wish." He replied. His eyes close as he enjoyed the moment, it was little moments like these he'd seen others do and for so long wish he had someone to share such a moment with.

"Set the computer to monitor if you go to sleep, and I'll wake you when I get in." She hugged him tight then stepped back. "I need to get ready for work."

Kit'rin'e almost did to what could have been a pout, he didn't want her to go for many reasons. He let her go, A smile as he looked around wondering what to eat when shes gone.

"And don't forget," she called from the bedroom. "Tonight is Eli's parents. "I'll have him see me home if you wish."

"I do." He answered, still uneasy about her going especially after what happened earlier and the invasion of home. That tang of hurt and sadness springing up again with her spending time with another.

"Alright." Her voice was momentarily muffled. "This is sort of a mission of mercy. His parents are still having a hard time with his relationship with another male. And since I am one of those who watch out for him here, they wanted to meet me. I suspect they might be hoping I'll change his mind."

"I see." Didn't help but he could tell her no. "When you get home then." It was obvious that Kit'rin'e was uneasy about it, she no doubt knew why from the previous time when she danced with Jackson.

Sulan emerged from the bedroom, dressed in a formal dress of deep green velvet. "And I'm hoping to put their minds at ease. Do I look alright?"

"Splendid." He tried to hide how he was feeling, especially at a time that was important to him.

"Thank you." She smiled as she reached him. "Let's hope I can get his mother to settle down a little. I'll call when I take a break."

He forced another smile, for once glad for the fur that covered him. "I'll wait for it." He replied as she neared him.

"Me too." She hugged him tight for a moment. "I'm glad I'm not still young enough to be seen as a kid by my parents. I don't think I'd take too well to them giving me a hard time over who I am attached to. Enjoy your night." And with a kiss, she was out the door, a faint whiff of her perfume left behind.

He felt sad, she was gone, even though she said she would call him it still left him alone and empty. He asked the computer to cycle the air to remove the perfume as he knew it would cause him a headache later on. He sat on the sofa leaning forward using his elbows to prop himself up. Pondering how he would get through moments like these. He wondered how to tell her about how things such as these effected him, but she was the female, free to do as she wished, regardless of the consequences.

Out in the turbolift, Sulan pulled the chip from her purse, looking it over once more. She had said nothing, but she recognized it. And didn't like it. With a sigh, she dropped it down into the neckline of her dress, in case anyone else decided to take her small purse to get it back. It was time to talk to Jackson.

*********

Lt.Cmdr Kit'rin'e
Suffering.....in silence.

Tora Sulan
Silently Concerned