The morning dawned bright and clear and Scarlett stretched happily. It was Monday, two days after her wedding, and she had to go to work, but nothing could break through the wall of happiness surrounding her. Duke was already up, but there was a rose on the bed next to her. She stepped out of bed and found him in the bathroom shaving. She slipped her arms around his waist and kissed up his back and neck as he playfully swatted at her.
"You're going to make me cut the hell out of myself," He chuckled, not really complaining.
She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and kissed him once more then jumped in the shower to let him finish. She was done almost as soon as she started, because for all her playfulness, she was running late and she wanted to stop by Jaye's before reporting for duty.
She stopped to kiss Duke more thoroughly though before getting dressed and he growled hungrily, "Not fair to do this before we have duty."
She winked, "I promise, we'll pick it back up later tonight. I love you." One last kiss, then she went to go get dressed. Frustrated with her clothing options, she finally picked out a loose dress. She was changing enough that her old clothes weren't fitting quite right, but maternity clothes looked silly on her.
She said goodbye to Duke with another kiss and then jogged to Jaye's suite. She knocked and then peeked her head in. "Is the engaged Lady here?" She giggled as she scanned the room.
Jaye stepped out of the bathroom, shining with happiness. She came over and hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you for helping Flint plan all that."
"Hey now, he did all the planning, I just said the lines." She smiled and hugged Jaye back.
"Either way, thank you. How's married life treating you so far?"
"Fabulously. I don't know how to explain it, but it is definitely better now."
"Well, you looked beautiful." Jaye smiled, fixing the last few things in her room, preparing to leave for duty. Her eyes darkened when she saw the light on the answering machine flashing, "I swear, if that is that damn fax machine again, I will rip out the spine of whoever keeps calling." She punched the play button angrily.
Electronic buzzing emitted and Jaye glared at the machine, muttering under her breath what she was planning to do for revenge. Meanwhile, Scarlett went pale as she heard it, the sounds resounding in her ears for far longer after the machine had been cut off. Jaye frowned and moved over to steady her with concern, helping Scarlett to a chair.
"That's not a fax." Jaye looked are her quizzically and she continued. "It's T T Y." She let that sink in as Jaye sat down next to her.
"That's the thing so deaf can use the phone, right?" Slowly the reason for her friend's upset was becoming clear.
"Yes. And the mute." She stared at the phone, finally Jaye shook her shoulder lightly.
"Come on, this has to be someone's sick idea of a joke. I'll find out who is doing it and kick some ass for you, ok?" Jaye was now fairly worried, not about the calls, but just about Scarlett's state of mind. She swore inwardly that she was going to kill whoever had set this up. Of all the poor tasting jokes in the world. "Why don't you go back to quarters and pull yourself together, I'll let the guys know you weren't feeling well, OK? And I'll get on Dial-Tone and Mainframe to try and figure out who is trying to mess with you."
Scarlett nodded mutely then let herself be escorted back to her new home. She sat down on the couch breathing slowly, concentrating, as Jaye cast a worried look back at her and then left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Jaye walked along the corridor, she got more and more angry, this was completely out of line and she was searching her head for a way to make this a court martial offense. She stormed into the Mess Hall, glaring at everyone there, her voice loud and her anget showing. "If any of you here are behind this trick on Scarlett, I will personally rip you from limb to limb."
Surprise and confusion greeted her, Flint immediately getting up to move over to her, speaking quietly, trying to calm her down a little, "Hon, what's wrong? What trick?"
She scoured the crowd and only saw true surprise in their eyes and the looked at Flint. "Later. I need to find Mainframe and Dial-Tone." She paused, considering for a moment whether it would be better or worse to involve Duke at this point. She figured he'd find out anyway, better sooner than later. "And Duke. Someone is messing with Scarlett."
Flint arched a brow, then ushered her out of the Mess, leaving behind a wake of highly confused Joes. When they got out to the hall, he looked around then spoke quietly, "What's going on?"
"That fax machine that's been pranking my room? No fax machine. It's a device for the deaf to make phone calls." Realization dawned and he glared.
"You're right. That crosses the line. Go find Dial-Tone, I'll talk to Duke." She nodded and they went their separate ways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Jaye had left the suite, Scarlett got up and went to the bedroom and pulled something out of her still unpacked boxed. It looked like an old fashioned modem. She tucked it under her arm and quickly went back to the suite she used to share with Jaye.
She still had her passkey and stepped inside, hooking the TTY machine up to the phone line. Luck, for fair or foul, was with her and not long after she sat down to stare at the box, the phone rang.
Scarlett picked up the handset, hearing the electric squeal on the other end, hooked it to the machine. She gasped as letters came onto the display, reading the phrase, then running to the bathroom to be sick.
The phrase on the TTY, staring up at her unpitously was: "You didn't look under the mask, did you."
"You're going to make me cut the hell out of myself," He chuckled, not really complaining.
She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and kissed him once more then jumped in the shower to let him finish. She was done almost as soon as she started, because for all her playfulness, she was running late and she wanted to stop by Jaye's before reporting for duty.
She stopped to kiss Duke more thoroughly though before getting dressed and he growled hungrily, "Not fair to do this before we have duty."
She winked, "I promise, we'll pick it back up later tonight. I love you." One last kiss, then she went to go get dressed. Frustrated with her clothing options, she finally picked out a loose dress. She was changing enough that her old clothes weren't fitting quite right, but maternity clothes looked silly on her.
She said goodbye to Duke with another kiss and then jogged to Jaye's suite. She knocked and then peeked her head in. "Is the engaged Lady here?" She giggled as she scanned the room.
Jaye stepped out of the bathroom, shining with happiness. She came over and hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you for helping Flint plan all that."
"Hey now, he did all the planning, I just said the lines." She smiled and hugged Jaye back.
"Either way, thank you. How's married life treating you so far?"
"Fabulously. I don't know how to explain it, but it is definitely better now."
"Well, you looked beautiful." Jaye smiled, fixing the last few things in her room, preparing to leave for duty. Her eyes darkened when she saw the light on the answering machine flashing, "I swear, if that is that damn fax machine again, I will rip out the spine of whoever keeps calling." She punched the play button angrily.
Electronic buzzing emitted and Jaye glared at the machine, muttering under her breath what she was planning to do for revenge. Meanwhile, Scarlett went pale as she heard it, the sounds resounding in her ears for far longer after the machine had been cut off. Jaye frowned and moved over to steady her with concern, helping Scarlett to a chair.
"That's not a fax." Jaye looked are her quizzically and she continued. "It's T T Y." She let that sink in as Jaye sat down next to her.
"That's the thing so deaf can use the phone, right?" Slowly the reason for her friend's upset was becoming clear.
"Yes. And the mute." She stared at the phone, finally Jaye shook her shoulder lightly.
"Come on, this has to be someone's sick idea of a joke. I'll find out who is doing it and kick some ass for you, ok?" Jaye was now fairly worried, not about the calls, but just about Scarlett's state of mind. She swore inwardly that she was going to kill whoever had set this up. Of all the poor tasting jokes in the world. "Why don't you go back to quarters and pull yourself together, I'll let the guys know you weren't feeling well, OK? And I'll get on Dial-Tone and Mainframe to try and figure out who is trying to mess with you."
Scarlett nodded mutely then let herself be escorted back to her new home. She sat down on the couch breathing slowly, concentrating, as Jaye cast a worried look back at her and then left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Jaye walked along the corridor, she got more and more angry, this was completely out of line and she was searching her head for a way to make this a court martial offense. She stormed into the Mess Hall, glaring at everyone there, her voice loud and her anget showing. "If any of you here are behind this trick on Scarlett, I will personally rip you from limb to limb."
Surprise and confusion greeted her, Flint immediately getting up to move over to her, speaking quietly, trying to calm her down a little, "Hon, what's wrong? What trick?"
She scoured the crowd and only saw true surprise in their eyes and the looked at Flint. "Later. I need to find Mainframe and Dial-Tone." She paused, considering for a moment whether it would be better or worse to involve Duke at this point. She figured he'd find out anyway, better sooner than later. "And Duke. Someone is messing with Scarlett."
Flint arched a brow, then ushered her out of the Mess, leaving behind a wake of highly confused Joes. When they got out to the hall, he looked around then spoke quietly, "What's going on?"
"That fax machine that's been pranking my room? No fax machine. It's a device for the deaf to make phone calls." Realization dawned and he glared.
"You're right. That crosses the line. Go find Dial-Tone, I'll talk to Duke." She nodded and they went their separate ways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Jaye had left the suite, Scarlett got up and went to the bedroom and pulled something out of her still unpacked boxed. It looked like an old fashioned modem. She tucked it under her arm and quickly went back to the suite she used to share with Jaye.
She still had her passkey and stepped inside, hooking the TTY machine up to the phone line. Luck, for fair or foul, was with her and not long after she sat down to stare at the box, the phone rang.
Scarlett picked up the handset, hearing the electric squeal on the other end, hooked it to the machine. She gasped as letters came onto the display, reading the phrase, then running to the bathroom to be sick.
The phrase on the TTY, staring up at her unpitously was: "You didn't look under the mask, did you."