The Bunny is out of the bag

Posted on Thu May 1st, 2025 @ 10:06pm by Warrant Officer Koh Ottasu & Warrant Officer Callisi Veera & Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine

Mission: Let The Games Begin
Location: Crew Lounge

Shaille leaned in, brushing a soft kiss across Koh's cheek before dropping into her chair. The lounge was starting to quiet down, most of the shift change rush was over, but shift change for the security team had taken a surprisingly long time. The blonde haired human groaned and picked up the drink that was waiting for her. "Today was brutal," she groaned, taking a sip and sighing. "We were running drills in preparation for event. Lieutenant Ellis isn't letting up... sheesh... at this rate Wataba will be lucky if he can breathe without a security detail checking his oxygen to make sure it hasn't been polluted!"

To any eye but those who knew, Koh was pleased and relaxed. Content with the woman he loved, and casual in her presence. To Shaille, though, she knew the signs. A smile that was a little too wide, a twitch in the ear that was a little too prominent. Koh was ecstatic!

"Well yeah, I can understand the concern and focus, it's Wataba and the Nebulae." he started, "I mean, they were the Emperor's Chosen four times. Four." he was such a kid at the moment. "They practically have their own parking space at the Jade Throne." his embellishment was cut short, however, at the arrival of one of the other children of Ts'usu... the cyclopean officer Callisi. "May I join you both?" she asked first, seeing that they were in fact a couple.

"I overheard some chatter, and do you know how hard it is to be one of maybe four people who knows Kinetic?" she offered with a soft smile.

Shaille laughed softly. "What ever you've heard, there's probably an ounce of truth mixed in with a ton of fiction," she replied, her fingertips lightly caressing over the back of Koh's hand as she watched him, almost giddy with excitement as he spoke. "The rumour mill has most definitely taken this one and run with it."

"I heard Wataba is trying to sway the Captain over to his colors to mess with Neela. He even met with her in the lounge." Callisi offered. "I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I saw them."

Koh gave a snicker, "That's a rotten trick for the Emperor's Chosen." and Callisi put a finger up, "He dropped the title to get the match here. Of COURSE he's going to sway the audience. Blues and Golds all in the stands. What about you, Shaille? Heard anything big?"

"Sadly the Emperor won't be joining us for this match..." she said with a laugh. "But this match is going to be the biggest event the Astraea has ever seen, and then some. Security is crazy with preparation." The blonde shrugged slightly. "And between us, I'm not sure how well Wataba... that was his name right? I'm not sure how much chance he has... I heard that the other one... what's her name? The one with the flame red? She offered the Captain personal lessons!"

"Captain Neela, of the Zanark Flames... is giving the captain personal lessons..." Callisi almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Okay, that's crazy. She's so anti-authority that the notion of that hurts my ears." and Koh gave a nod, "It's gotta be a cheat. She's the most villainous player in the league."

Shaille almost choked on her drink, eyes wide as she looked at Callisi, her glance moving to Koh before back to Callisi again. "I take it you're not a fan?"

"I'm not a fan of her's. She and her team are underhanded. I'm all for free expression, but she mixes it with ... it's hard to explain, but the Flames have always been a problem team and when she became Captain they've embraced it. They live for the ire of the crowd. I just reached the matches on archival relay where the feud with Wataba really picked up, and you can tell she's loving it. Something about her always just put me on edge." Callisi explained.

Koh gave a nod, "I can respect that, and no I don't have an issue with her and her team. I mean hey, my home team never had trouble with the Flames. Dengyo Supernovas.." and he did a double fist pump in tune with his next words, "Boom, Boom, Banzai." he chuckled, such a goofball.

Shaille grinned, her hand covering his affectionately as she watched him clown around. After a moment she turned her attention back to Callisi, her expression becoming more serious. "Do you think there is the potential for anything to go wrong?" she asked quietly. "We've ran every situation we can think of, but at the end of the day, we still know very little about the Ts'usugi, is there anything you think we should be prepared for?"

Callisi shook her head, "No. Three reasons. One, Starfleet security is beyond competent and beyond ready. I have no doubt in their capacity to control rambunctious athletes. Two, Kinetic is one of the most widely watched and heavily regulated programs on broadcast. The Kinetic foundation would swoop down like an angry hawk at any team that goes off script with this much goodwill on the line, and Three, respect. Say what you will about the Nebulae or the Flames... but at the end of the day they're Ts'usugi. They'll bicker on broadcast, they'll generally antagonize and posture, but when the vidcams stop, they're still raised right. Even if they're not allowed to break face, there's still a person inside that costume."

"Even Neela?" Koh asked, half inquisitive and half sarcastic. Callisi rolled her eye, "Yes, even Neela. Believe it or not, and I don't, but if it came down to stealing a lollipop or upholding the dignity of the Zanark prefecture, I'd feel confident saying that kid is *keeping* his candy."

Shaille pondered on that thought for a moment, a subtle nuance of Ts'usugi society that, even though she had encountered it, she had not really truly considered it before. Societal niceties within the Ts'usugi were certainly deeply ingrained. So much so that sometimes she felt as though Koh would sooner throw himself on a proverbial sword than to upset her, and not just because of their relationship.

"Well," she murmured absently. "Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and security has nothing to do."

Casting a glance at Koh, she grinned, tucking blonde curls back behind her ear before covering his hand with hers. "I'd hate for our wedding to become a highlights match or a blame game!"

A soft smirk across Callisi's features. "A wedding, you say? Oh that's fantastic news." she sat down. "Are you doing something traditional, or more of a collaborative between peoples?" she asked. All the signs of an excited Ts'usugi were there. The ears perked, the eyes...

Eye.

A little wider. Maybe it was too direct to check her tail but still, her attention was here and now. "Tell me everything."