Commander's Rounds

Gaiden Entry 59.5: Safe Passage

Melissa Cartwright sat on the couch, holding her cup of coffee, occasionally looking to the side at one of the people sitting with her. Helena-Meta was on all fours on the couch, looking at Melissa from not more than a foot away. Even though the cruiser was wearing a smile, it was a bit unusual. Well, not unusual for Helena-Meta, but just unusual behavior for a person in general.

Helena blushed a little. "Ah... Well, don't mind her, she's just curious, really."

Helena-Meta kept her smile. "Mm... I just want to know everything about you."

St. Louis giggled as she came to join the others. "Well, my alternate sister, she'll tell you more when she's ready. But it's still good that Melissa thinks of us when she has enough free time to come visit the base."

This wasn't the first time by a long shot that she had visited St. Louis and her sisters, and the Brooklyn-class ships had their own little enclave in the Eagle Union Dorm, much like the Fletchers. They had somehow interconnected their own set of suites and basically created a home within the building itself, with each girl having their own room (with the exception of Helena, who shared her room with Lena, a little version of herself- Melissa still wasn't quite sure how that worked). This was understandable, because she knew how each of the girls tended to value their privacy for their own reasons. She could probably even make an exact list, if she meant to do so.

But, St. Louis was pretty open about things, and was always her point of contact with the rest of the sisters. She was the one who invited her to visit the base in the first place that time she came into her shop with Helena.

St. Louis continued. "So, is there anything else you'd like while you're here?"

"Huh...?" Melissa began, realizing she was completely lost in thought. "Well, I'm going to be staying for a while, so I can't think of what I'd want besides what you've already decided to give me."

"Just company, then?" St. Louis giggled. "All right~ That's not something most of us mind sharing, at least. And I guess even if it seems modest to us it might be more meaningful to you, hm?"

Melissa nodded. "Yeah. The fact is, it was pretty hard to find friends after I moved here, until you invited me to come and visit the base." She scratched the back of her head. "Even though there are all kinds of contractors, like mom and dad, or businesspeople, or other kinds of people that work at town or the base, it's not easy to find people who are both like me and want to hang out."

St. Louis found a seat of her own, crossing one thigh over the other. "And I can see how coming here can offer something different."

"The first couple of times coming here were pretty intense, yeah." She thought about it, and then decided to just put her thoughts into words. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Helena-Meta's radar wiggle a bit whenever she spoke, as though she was trying to wring every last drop of information out of Melissa's words. "These ships being really, really interested in who I am and what I do, offering to be my big sis whenever I show up, and... A whole lot of things, really..."

Helena looked at Melissa. "Well... Hm. It can be overwhelming for some of us, too, so I can only imagine how it might seem to a human."

Melissa nodded in agreement with Helena. "But once you... All right, I won't say "get used to it", because that's a pretty strong phrase for where I am right now, but once you know what's going to be here, it's just a good place to be."

St. Louis smiled at that, and right as she was about to say something, Phoenix came right in the door, and had a stretch. "Woo... Commander's exercises put us through the wringer today- Just the way I like it!" She then noticed Melissa sitting on the couch. "Oh, hey, Melissa came over again! Hey there~"