How to Win a Man

Posted on Tue Nov 26th, 2019 @ 7:51am by Lieutenant Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova & Lieutenant Michael Harris

Mission: Side Stories
Location: Gym

Millie lay on the gym mat, starring up at the ceiling as she stretched...and stretch she probably should. As brutal as Banks was in training sessions, Edruj had a similar tendency to not hold back against the counselor. She chuckled to herself, pondering if it was their way of silently protesting the required counseling sessions, or how she always prodded into personal affairs of the crew members. She slowly stretched an ankle up towards her head, enjoying the deep stretch.

Edruj walked into the gym wearing her usual linen gi. She tossed her bag off to the side. The Klingon woman never understood the need that others had for stretching before a workout. This was not the Klingon way. If the workout strained a muscle you were simply put too weak. She smiled in the direction of her friend. "Now Millie are we ready for the next lesson?"

Millie looked 'up', which technically placed Edruj upside-down in her vision. "I am." She smiled, but caught that wrinkle in Edruj's nose that she did when she was displeased with something. "Is there something on your mind?"

"In a word dominance..." Edruj tossed her gym bag off to the side. "...If you are to land a mate as well as succeeed in battle you need to show that you can be dominant. This is a trait that I have found that a lot of people in your profession lack. I do not mean any disrespect, just a statement of fact. So tell me how would you establish your dominance over me?"

Millie blinked, standing. "Dominance? I--I'm not entirely sure." She paused. "Have you been talking to Banks?"

"I do not believe Ms Banks and I have had a conversation about this topic. However, I do believe you have sidestepped the question. How would you establish dominance over me?" Edruj asked again as she stepped onto the mat.

Millie took a deep breath. "I'm...I'm actually not sure. Aside from you showing me how to take down the dancer on the holodeck, I--I'm not normally the dominant type."

Edruj chuckled. "Now you see one of the reasons that Humans and Klingons get along. You see with out my kind, your kind would become the doormats of the galaxy..." Edruj did not really mean what she said. She was trying to get the good Counselor riled up. Anger is a quick and easy way to show someone how to be dominant. "...You may not normally be the dominant type, however, there are times when it is called for. Males will not admit this, but they truly prefer a female who can take care of herself."

Millie smirked. If anything, she appreciated the bluntness of her friend. So many on the crew tried to keep things hidden from the counselor, but Edruj always spoke her mind. "Human literature is full of men rescuing 'damsels in distress'. We may have to differ on that opinion." She set herself in front of the Klingon. "So...how does one show dominance?"

"Ahhhhh yes literature. Your literature is full of men rescuing women. But you see that is done so men can establish dominion over women. They want you to believe that you need them. In Klingon literature male and female fight side by side, seeking glory and honor. For that is the way of the warrior." Edruj paused for a moment, she had been pacing as she spoke like a caged animal. "Establishing dominion is easy. The first thing you must do is act like you have authority. No meek shoulders, stand up straight. Look at the Captain or the XO for example you never see them walking around without an air authority."

At the mention of the Captain, Millie's stance shifted and her brow furrowed.

"I see I have touched a nerve with the mention of our good Captain. I am all ears..." Edruj spoke deliberately as she stepped toward Millie. "...You also cannot allow your body language to betray what you are thinking."

Millie shook her head. "It's nothing. We're just...at an impasse on something."

"If you do not wish me to pry, I shall not. However, you should know this clearly it is not nothing as it is bothering you. If you keep allowing it to bother you it will get worse and it will begin to control you." Edruj spoke as she turned around to head back toward where she left her belongings. She did not wish to pry into her friend's life.

The counselor sighed. "I don't think the Captain treats me like a member of this crew."

"In order for you to feel that way you must have a reason. So why do you suppose that is? In what way does he make you feel this way?" Edruj was the absolute wrong person to ask about emotions. However, if it helped her friend get to the heart of an issue the Klingon was willing.

Millie gave another sigh of frustration. "He talks to me like I am a child. If I can actually get him to commit to a session, he cuts it short or walks out in the middle of our conversation. He makes excuses for not showing up, dodges me if I come to find him--" She looked her Klingon friend in the eyes. "If he weren't so much bigger than me, I'd just grab him by the collar and drag him kicking and screaming down to my office."

Edruj smiled and even chuckled for the moment. "And there you would be wrong. He is acting like any other Captain. Also it is my understanding that you cannot force someone to get help. But what you can do is give him help when he does not expect it. That is honorable too..."

Millie's frustration ebbed slightly. "I know. I just feel that sometimes I feel like I'm not able to do my job, especially when he dodges me." She shrugged. "And you're right...I'm not exactly a dominant person."

"It is his prerogative to dodge you. There are procedures that you can follow should he begin to show signs of endangering this ship or himself. As to your dominance you need to simply not allow yourself to be a doormat." Edruj replied in a deadpan.

The counselor couldn't help but grin. She knew that Klingons were honest to a fault, but she was one that appreciated that fact. "So, I'm a doormat, am I?"

"Yes I would say you are." Edruj replied. Klingons knew how to do many things exceptionally well. Goading was what they did best, and Edruj was not above that.

Millie looked her friend in the face. "I don't want to be a doormat. Not anymore."

"Then prove that you are more than someone that others step on. Take control and be the person that you want to be." The Klingon replied flatly.

Millie took a deep breath, taking a step closer to the Klingon. "I refuse to be a doormat anymore," she said with more determination.

"Yes confidence that is the way to win a mate. You want him, you take him." Edruj smiled she was proud of her friend. "Now make me believe it."

Millie nodded, closing the gap between them. "I refuse to be a doormat anymore," she said with more strength in her voice.

"Again, for if you do not believe it how can anyone else." Edruj replied. The Klingon knew that it was one thing to say these words however, it was another to act upon them.

Another step put the counselor almost nose-to-nose with the Klingon woman. "I will not be pushed around. Not anymore."

"Very well. Now go show those who need to see." Edruj said with a smile. One must crawl before one walks. She thought and knew that her friend would need more help if she was truly going to stop being stepped on.

Millie grinned at Edruj's smile. "I will." She took a step back. "Shall we get started?"

"Very well..." Edruj spoke as she fell into the attack stance of the Mok Bara. "Defend Yourself!" The Klingon took two steps in to Millie and grabbed her wrist. Edruj employed her strength and hip tossed the small counselor down to the mat.


Lieutenant Edruj
Chief Science Officer, USS Mercutio



Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova
Chief Counselor, USS Mercutio