Horta to Marriage & Everything Inbetween

Posted on 10/18/2020 @ 7:15pm by Lieutenant Commander Kiernan Gallagher VII & Lieutenant Oskar Ruseka MD
Edited on on 03/02/2021 @ 6:30pm

Mission: Sum of our Experiences
Location: Deck 9 | Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: Day 41 at 1240

Otis laid on the chair, the muscles of his brow alternating between lifting and dropping. This was in sync with his human tapping fingers against the surface of the office desk. When the tapping stopped, the pug lifted his head from his crossed paws, did his infamous head tilt, yawned, tooted, and then laid his head back down. The office was still safe and secure, so Otis closed his eyes and within moments he was snoring.

Kiernan Gallagher was lost in thought.

Or as some had dubbed from previous assignments: ‘research mode.’ Research mode entailed the science officer shutting out the world around him, barely taking in sustenance and only moving from his workstation to take bathroom breaks. He barely registered the snorting or smell that had permeated the office. He had been used to it at this point, so Otis’ biological functions had long become background noise in his daily life.

On the workstation monitor in front of him, sat blocks of text on the left side of the screen and on the right side of the screen was two pictures of a Prime Mother Horta. The top picture was a full color photograph, the second one was a cut away, naming the various parts of the biological organism. Kiernan had read all the text that the Starfleet database had offered – which in hindsight, was not much. He had also brought up the Vulcan database of xenobiology and found even less about the unique, biological, sentient being. He found it interesting that there had been an addendum to the fact the Borg had not attempted to assimilate the Horta.

Lucky buggers, Kiernan mused.

Once he had done another database search, he lifted his arms above his head to stretch out his back. A small moan escaped him as vertebrae popped. He dropped his arms to the arms of the desk chair and swung to look at Otis. The pug was sound asleep, his brow muscles twitching – which was an indication that the small pug was dreaming. A small smile tugged at the corner of Kiernan’s lips as he kept his gaze on the sleeping pug. He loved Otis so much and could not imagine his life without the little rascal.

They had only been on board a few days, but everyone seemed to be settling in. Otis had already made his mark in the arboretum, and once in the corridor of deck three. Kiernan attributed the incident on deck three to Otis just trying to get used to new surroundings. The small pug had a similar reaction when the pair were first on board the Nightingale as well. He knew animals, especially dogs and cats, took a bit to acclimate to starship life. Once they acclimated, it was fine but on the flipside of that, the animal would have to reacclimate to a planet – where nothing was artificial.

Another new situation that would have to be gotten used to was the living situation. For the longest time, it was just he and Otis. Kiernan and Oskar would arrange to spend nights with each other, so it was not enough to disrupt the pug in anyway. However, Otis loved Oskar and no doubt would be happy with two people giving him all the attention a lazy pug could want.

At the thought of Oskar, Kiernan’s small smile broadened. He was still amazed that he had gotten so lucky to find someone like Oskar Ruseka. The man was a bit older, yes, but the age difference was a non-issue. It helped that Kiernan, despite being in his early thirties, had always been mature for his age. But something with Oskar had just clicked and Kiernan’s saw his life become richer because of it.

What he had not counted on was Oskar willing to follow him to pursue this opportunity. He recalled the discussion that happened after the posting presented itself. The conversation did not escalate into a full-blown argument, but it teetered. For Kiernan, he did not feel he was worth transferring or taking a different position for. Oskar had thought otherwise, in fact he thought Kiernan was well worth following. Then it was decided that when they transferred, they would try living together. This was a big step for Kiernan, he had never lived with anyone that was not family, or a colleague.

The whole thing left him anxious but excited. He loved Oskar with all his being, he could not imagine giving his heart to anyone else at this point. He also knew that if Oskar were to want to get married, he would say yes immediately. The thought of this caused a bit of nervous energy to flow through him, and he rose to his feet. He suddenly felt like he had to expunge this nervous energy. His stomach also gurgled for food. He moved to the replicator and ordered up his favorite comfort food, a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich on classic white bread. He always ordered it with a side of potato chips and large glass of milk. This was his go to when he would have a bad day or felt sad or lonely, it started as a kid and continued into adulthood.

Except, he was not sad or lonely.

His stomach fluttered with the idea of being married, to be bonded to someone in such a way. It seemed so… permanent. Of course, it was. You married the person you knew was the one, the one you wanted to be with for the rest of your days.

“Oskar is the one, I can feel it,” Kiernan said quietly as his food appeared. He picked up the tray from the replicator slot, turned, and placed it on his desk. When the tray came in contact with the surface of the desk, Otis’ eyes opened, and his head lifted. He turned to look at his human, dark eyes pleading for food as well.

“Never fails,” Kiernan mused.

He had yet to put anything in his new office. In his old one he had a dog bed, a couple of toys and a food and water dish. Those items were in one of the two crates that sat against the bulkhead waiting to be unpacked. He had yet to program Otis’ foods into his office replicator, which was something he had planned to do in the coming days.

Kiernan turned back to the replicator and replicated a plate of cubed soft cheese – colby jack was Otis’ favorite and shredded rotisserie chicken. The replicated made its familiar sound and the plate of cheese and chicken materialized. He lifted it from the slot and brought it over to where Otis sat, and placed the dish on his desk. Otis attacked it like it was his last meal.

The science officer chuckled and moved back around his desk to sit. He dragged the tray toward him and picked up his sandwich, lifted it and said, ‘bon appetite’ to the already eating pug. He took a bite of his sandwich and sighed happily as the flavors of the peanut butter and strawberry jam mixed on his tastebuds. He chewed thoughtfully, relishing in the small reprieve from his research. He let his mind wander to a place in the future where he and Oskar were together… forever.

**

Lieutenant Kiernan M. Gallagher, VII PhD
Chief Science Office
USS Crazy Horse

&

Otis the Pug