Star Trek: Starbase 777 - carpe-doughnut

The liberated Borg Caitian strode to a table just outside of the doughnut store, and as she sat down she let out a sigh in content. This was gonna be fun. Not just seeing Maran - but havign doughnuts WHILE seeing Maran. That shit was going to be wack. She anticipated how much Maran was either going to be just like her or exactly the opposite of her, and even then she didn't really know. But what she did know, even if it was just through a hunch of some sort, that their in-person union would be legendary. In her bag of doughnuts, where she had gotten two for herself, there was a sour cream doughnut and a vanilla creme doughnut. Astrid was a sucker for creme filling inside doughnuts or anything sweet, so she took the opportunity to snatch those while the store had them, which of course it wasn't like they weren't ever going to make those specific kinds of doughnuts anymore. But Astrid seized this opportunity, and looked inside her bag. Her mouth already began to water as she peered in to see the glorious doughnuts that lay inside the bag. She anticipated Maran getting here - and hopefully she had his favorite doughnuts correct, which she already brought out for him in his own bag.

Honestly, Maran'agar had expected a person named Astrid to be an ordinary human woman, maybe a little more upbeat and laid-back than he was used to but nothing else unusual. Simple, right? What he had not expected was to see a Caitian standing exactly where he'd promised to meet this Astrid over PADD, holding what appeared to be a bag of donuts. He didn't have a sense of smell much better than a human's, but even he could smell the faint scent of peach wafting from the contents. She had to be the correct person, right? Right??? "Um. Hello." He waved awkwardly at her. "I'm looking for... Astrid."

Laying back Gen-Z style in the chair, Astrid looked around before she heard the voice of the Jem'Hadar address her. Astrid right away sat up but not at attention or anything, just in a fueled energetic response. "Yoooooo! You must be Maran!" Astrid replied, as she hopped up from the chair to a standing position and approached Maran. "What's good mothafuckaaaa!" Astrid said, offering a bro-handshake to Maran. Yyyyyup. This was how it started off. Hooooo boy.

Oh. Oh, god. Okay. So this Caitian's name was Astrid. Maybe she'd been raised on Earth. Or maybe she'd just taken the name for herself, judging by the extra metallic bits he could see on her face. Frankly, the former would explain why she talked (purred?) like a human teenager, he thought to himself. "Yes, that's me..." He replied, shaking the offered paw. "It is nice to meet you at last..."

Astrid completed the bro-handshake with Maran, and with an excited facial expression was eager to talk with him. "Ayyyeee, nice to meet you too! I'm fuckin' hyped bro, I've been waiting for this, this is super dope!" Astrid replied, before she scurried back to her seat and sat down. "I originally made sure to try and find as close to a peach doughnut as I could," Astrid warranted. "Bro, I got lucky. Peach frosting AND peach filling with an entire slice of peach ON TOP of it. And then I got another one in there for ya, I think it's something different."

Maran'agar made a valiant attempt to seem impassive as he sat down across from her - but there was definitely still something about his body language that suggested how excited he was. "It sounds delicious." He managed at last. "What did you get for yourself?"

With a teenager Gen-Z laugh, Astrid sat back in her chair, before she grabbed her bag and opened it up. "Yo, you gotta see what they got in there, it's like a fuckin' Gucci for doughnuts, it's high-key giving influencer-level extra for doughnuts," Astrid remarked. "Bro wanted to start a fuckin' museum for doughnuts or some shit," she continued before that fact alone made her burst out into peals of laughter. Astrid's eyes clamped shut, as her body jerked with each laugh. Yeaahhhhh... Astrid was certainly happy right now. "Bro, I got the fuckin' sour cream doughnut," Astrid continued after she pulled that doughnut out and set it on a napkin. "And then, I got the shit right here bro. Vanilla fuckin' creme. This is the fuckin' shit, bro," Astrid said before she took a big ol' honkin' bite of that very doughnut. Soon, the vanilla creme filling covered the sides of her lips and part of her Caitian nose.

Maran had to try not to look disgusted as she pulled out the offending donut and put it on a napkin. Sour cream? In a sweet confectionery? The idea of it frankly disgusted him - never mind the taste of it. But then again he'd never had sour cream, so who knows? Even if she'd said something else, the way in which she delivered it was a head-scratcher. Either Astrid thought everything ever was funny, which was why she seemed to be laughing at everything, or... or... Maran found himself struggling to come up with a nice answer to that, actually. "I'm sure it is." He remarked before biting into the peach donut she'd bought him. Once more his face remained quite stony, though his eyes lit up with joy - as much as he may have wanted to hide it.

Astrid practically hogged the rest of the doughnut she was eating, downing the rest of it in a single bite, with some of the vanilla creme giving her a funny looking sugar moustache that she licked off her lip. Then she popped the sour cream doughnut into her mouth, or at least, she took a bite of it, invested in the sugary flavor. "Hooooo bruh, this is fuckin' mint," Astrid said in between bites. "Gimme a whole ass box of these mothafuckas and they finna be gone in minutes I swear. Whoever made these understood the assignment," she said before she let out another peal of giddy giggles. (edited)

Maran'agar honestly struggled to unerstand what she was saying. Like, really, all the slang was starting to throw him off. It took him some thinking about the context to figure out what she actually meant. "I'm sure they did." He said at last. "The peach donut you bought me is good as well. I think I'll get another, actually." He squinted at the display case behind them. "Or two..."

The reactions Maran gave Astrid only made her start laughing more, she clenched her eyes shut as she practically guffawed before she returned to sitting upright! "Bruh, you're funny as fuck, man," Astrid remarked. It wasn't long before she was already halfway through the second doughnut, given she had practically inhaled the vanilla creme doughnut beforehand, this sour cream doughnut was much easier to ingest. "Yo, they must have like, fuckin' put G-fuel into this bitch, I'm fuckin' crunk man, getting turnt in this bitch," Astrid slanged up a storm. The sugar in the doughnuts wasn't helping much, she had no sense of any discernable language given how much slang she was using.

"We should get you to a doctor, then, seeing as you seem to be getting 'high' on donuts of all things. Which is concerning." Maran replied, deadpan. Whether he was being serious about taking her to sickbay or not was, honestly, quite up in the air at the moment. "I would hate to have to drag you there when you collapse from... I don't know. A sugar overdose..."

An even louder and even more unhinged guffaw escaped from Astrid, as she heard what Maran suggested as an explanation to her behavior. "Nah nah nah bro," Astrid said. "These doughnuts aren't how I do it. LOL nah, pure baking sugar ain't it. I'm just fuckin' crunk. I ain't cappin' bro, these doughnuts are the hard S-tier," before she practically devoured the last of the sour cream doughnut in her hand. "Let's fuckin' gooooooo!"

"So you like them." Maran replied. God, was his head starting to hurt, figuring out what exactly Astrid was saying as she said it. "I take it you've had them before - which was why you invited me to eat here in the first place."

With a snicker, Astrid responded with a mouthful of both sour cream doughnut and blatant sarcasm before she was serious once more. "Nah, these are F-tier, they're fucking revolting, whaddya think?? Of course I like 'em! S-tier shit bro!" As she finally scarfed down the last bit of doughnut, Astrid let out a content sigh. She sat back in her chair, and crossed her legs with her hands behind her head. "This is the fuckin' life bro. Doughnuts and chaos."

"So you like them. Or do you not?" Maran seemed much, much more confused now, moreso than he had a few minutes ago at any rate. So much about what she'd just said was contracdictory to him.

She snickered again, seeing how literal Maran was taking this, and finding it quite amusing, as she couldn't help but let her laughter trickle out like a broken dam. "Oh, Maran, I love you, you're dope bro," Astrid chuckled. "You are a fuckin' gem. This is too entertaining, holy shit. I was right to keep talking to ya back in the chatroom, you're the fuckin best." Astrid really sounded like a 21st-century teenager by the way she laughed and talked, despite being 40 years old.

"...in what ways? My ignorance?" Maran blinked. "Or that I barely understood what you were saying?" He sat back in his seat with his arms folded and sighed. "Am I like an amusing pet to you? Is that what this is. Since you seem to derive great entertainment from the way I talk, or think, or don't understand what you mean?"

It was at this point when Astrid realized she fucked up. But not to worry - Astrid looked at Maran with a genuine smile. "Nah, I just didn't know a ton of people here yet, you're really one who just... Doesn't judge me for who I am," Astrid said. "And it's not that you don't understand what I'm saying. I like to talk in slang just because it... Makes me feel like I have more life left to live than I really do. I can tone it down on the slang if you want! So you can better understand me. Plus I do value you as a friend. I really do. You're not an amusing pet, you have my word."

Maran was silent for a good one or two seconds, save for drumming his (clean!) fingers on the tabletop. At least he didn't seem to want to kill her, or tear her apart from paw to tail, which was certainly good. "How old are you, Astrid?" He asked. "If you do not mind the enquiry.:

Sitting back in her chair, Astrid set her legs up on a ledge outside of the doughnut shop, making a sort of impromptu hammock with her chair and the ledge. "I'm at the ripe old age of 40," Astrid replied to Maran. "But let's be clear: I'm not a boomer. I'm much more fun than a boomer. Lol."

"Forty. You look barely... thirty." Ramat deadpanned. He didn't know exactly how quickly Caitians physically aged, but he could certainly have mistaken Astrid for someone somewhat younger than she claimed to be - ignoring all the slang, of course. "Forty is hardly old. Certain Vulcans are over a century old, and so on..."

Hearing that she barely looked like she was thirty years old when she indeed was forty, Astrid fixed her hair in a fabulous fell swoop. "Why thank you!" Astrid replied with a bit of an arrogant swagger in her voice. "Just goes to show how fuckin fabulous and badass I can be at the same fuckin time bro! Nothing better than living life where nothin matters. Just take it in strides, man. Day by day." Before she put her legs up on the outside ledge of the doughnut shop once more and put her hand behind her head in a proto-hammock fashion.

It was at this moment that Maran began to have an inkling of just how Astrid might've felt inside. If she were trying this hard to feel like she belonged (her time in the Collective notwithstanding) then she must've really felt separated from her colleagues, huh? "I try." He responded. "Poorly, perhaps, but I like to believe that I make the attempt. I am still learning how."

Astrid kept on lounging back before she looked back at Maran. "Heh, you chill bro. You're super chill," Astrid remarked. "We all be learning shit every day. If we don't be learning shit then we don't be ascending shit. LOL we need to be on our A game at all times! Except when we crunk bro. Hahahahah!"

"Except when we die." Maran deduced. Someday he'd really, really have to look up a guide on human slang and figure out what the hell Astrid was actually saying - that was for one hundred percent certain. "Though I'm not sure we actually ascend when we learn new things..." Or maybe that too was a slang. Help.

She took her legs off of the ledge and leaned back forward to rest her elbows on the table as she looked at Maran. "Heh, you got that right bro, except when we die," Astrid went along with his statement. "It's just another slang thing, ascending. I say a lot of stupid shit a lot of the time. It's fun." Before she looked back in her doughnut bag to see if there were any crumbs left. "Augh. Dammit. I'll have to just get more doughnuts another time."

"You know we have all evening, yes? I'm sure you can just buy more now if you so wished." Maran replied. Thank goodness she'd gotten a tad bit more comprehensible - her spouting slang and colloquialisms he didn't quite understand per se was honestly a teensy bit tiring. He'd finished his doughnut by now, though, and he wiped his fingers on a napkin. "Unless you have elsewhere to be."

With a cackle, Astrid hopped up from her chair to stretch. "Heh, yes, I know y'all have evenings, I do too," Astrid remarked back. "I got nowhere to be, no duty shifts, nothin. Just you and me hanging out and eating doughnuts, bro. We're keeping it low stress. Pretty relaxed. Nothin Fancy, you know what I mean?"

The sense of relief that washed over Maran'agar like a tidal wave at that very moment was immeasurable. Thank goodness she'd finally decided to not be quite so incomprehensible. "Yes. I do." He replied. "Go on and get more donuts if you'd like. I won't be going anywhere."

With a mischievous smile, Astrid obliged. "Coming right up bro!" As she headed inside, and within only a few minutes, Astrid was back out to the table, with another bag of doughnuts for her, and one for Maran. This time, she made sure to grab the peach doughnuts with an entire half of a peach on them, as well as candied peach jelly on the inside of them. "I hooked you up bro."

"I was not aware that the phrase 'hooking up' had a double meaning like that." Maran's eyes lit up when he saw the peach donuts placed in front of him. He reached out and took a big bite - maybe he was a little more comfortable with Astrid now, who knows. "As far as I am aware it usually means to find someone else for the purposes of short-term sexual gratification - though I don't know why people do it. Not that it's important, I suppose."

A snicker escaped Astrid's nose, before she turned back to him. "Nah nah nah, if I hooked you up with something it means I made sure you got all you need in a situation, like these doughnuts with the biggest peach slices on em, heh," Astrid said. "I am not a sexpert or a relationship expert. Ain't my thing." Before she dove into the chocolate frosted vanilla creme doughnut in her bag.

"I see." Maran chewed thoughtfully on his donut for a few seconds before quipping, hesitantly, "I've been considering getting a pet. A cat might be best. I hear they are quite independent and don't need much attention. I've heard many things about pet ownership and why it's good for you..." He shrugged then. "I am admittedly unsure if owning a pet is the best way to help me understand."

A curious raised eyebrow accompanied a smile on Astrid's face. "A cat?" Astrid asked. "Yeah! I'm thinking a cat could suit you! They don't need much attention, they're really solitary animals. Kinda like the opposite of me. But I agree, I've known friends who have cats, they've become completely changed people for the better. Maybe you should try it out! Get a cat or a dog or something. See if it works!"

"Changed... how?" Maran seemed a teensy bit more cautious now. "Will I be forced to remain in my quarters for fear of leaving it alone henceforth? I hope not. That would be a disaster." He'd known one human doctor from the Khitomer who brought his pet orange-coated cat with him to sickbay daily - now that was weird. Hopefully he wouldn't want to start doing the same.

Seeing how she failed to explain correctly, Astrid doubled back. "Ohhh no nonononono, you won't change for the worse! Having a pet makes you more active, not less! Despite cats being lonesome, you still have to feed them, get them on walks, have them play with toys, change their litterbox, all that stuff! So it actually makes you happier!"

"Does it. Well. I suppose I shall have to try it for myself and see. Maybe a holographic one on the holodeck would be a good start." Maran decided. It made sense, after all - better to try things out with a holographic one first than get a real one and hurt it, right? "I hear that fur color is also a great deciding factor on the behavior of the cat?"

Astrid considered that for a second - considered it, then looked to Maran. "Yeah! A practice cat would be a good way to learn how to take care of one in real life! Sometimes cats don't need any attention, sometimes they need ALL of your attention, so having one in the holodeck would absolutely be the best call to start out." Before she heard Maran mention fur color. "Oh! Yeah, fur color is a great deciding factor! Some people like simple colors, others like tabbies! It's all to the owner to decide!"

Maran hummed to himself, almost contemplatively. "Orange. Or... what is it humans call the formal wear, tuxedo? I believe that might be what I go for. I hear orange cats are among the most affectionate of all breeds - at least, that was what my colleagues aboard the Khitomer told me once. Though I suppose that does call into question if they need more attention than other breeds..."

With a bite of the next doughnut, Astrid gave a nod to Maran. "Yeah, orange, tuxedo. If you're looking for an affectionate type, orange is the way to go, I'd think, but yeah, do some more research on more attention for different breeds, that should help you make an informed choice." Before all of a sudden her PADD went off, with a notification. "Oh shit! I have a duty shift starting in 15 minutes! This wasn't on my schedule, they must need something quick. I gotta go... but we gotta do this again sometime, yeah?" Astrid said, picking up her bag of doughnuts.

"Yes. We do." Maran replied with a firm nod. "Just let me know when. I'll make the time." And he meant it. Astrid had been pleasant to talk to and be around, if a bit head-scratching at times. Somehow, a part of him wanted to see more of her. "Until next time. Don't be late, of course."

"I gotchu bro! Deuces!" Astrid said with a wave before she made her way towards where she was assigned for her unexpected duty shift!

The Bajoran sat quietly in one corner of the donut shop, cuddled up in a little orange hoodie, and their headphones on to neutralise the ambient background noise, they were nibbling away at a small chocolate donut, or well, a small pile of them. If there was one thing Alaya had in abundance, it was a sweet tooth, and they were fulfilling that desire quite well right now.

Solar was looking to try some of the trendy new foods on the base. They were still trying to adjust to the change in schedule as they were no longer a student, but an officer. The shift patterns in the Federation were different than what they were used to in the Republic. The working hours were essentially the same per week, it was just when those shifts happened that was throwing them off. Solar was dressed in full Citidel Var'Theldun, as they typically wore. A long black dress with a halter top with black belt-like straps around the shoulders and waist. They accessorised the fit with gold jewellery and large hoop earrings. They had pretty black heels with more gold accents, yes they really did look like a million bars of latinum. They ordered a.. muffin doughnut as it was intriguing and looked around to find a place to sit. After a few seconds they saw an open seat near a Bajoran who looked very comfy in their orange hoodie. "Hello, may I sit here?" Solar approached them to ask, their voice was soft and high pitched, which was a common trait for endosex Rigelians. With such confidence in their posture and mannerisms people often expected them to have a more strong or commanding voice, but no, they were always soft spoken.

The voice cut through their noise-cancelling headphones, having recognised that the sound was directed towards them, it let the sound through, but softly, switching into conversation mode, as Alaya looked up with a slightly startled smile, as they shoved the remaining half of their donut into their cheek. "Oh! Uh, sure! Nobody else is sitting here, I'm uhm- alone. Just me and my little pile of donuts." They said with a gentle chuckle, as they put a hand to their chest. "Feel free to join me, I'm Alaya." The said, desperately trying to finish the last of their donut they had shoved in the corner of their mouth. "Sorry, I didn't realise it was so going to be so busy here, I would have sat at a smaller table. I don't wanna have to make people feel uncomfortable with sharing a table with a total stranger! Not that you're bad or anything, I do like getting to know new people! It's just..." They brought a hand up and rubbed the back of their head sheepishly. "...I know I would die of anxiety trying to approach somebody and ask for a seat at their table..."

Solar smiled back and sat down right across from Alaya. They only had their muffin on a little plate and a fork. Looking at what Alaya had ordered, they were regretting not getting more. "Nice to meet you, Alaya, I'm Solar," They introduced themself as they pushed some of their hair over their shoulder so they could scoop up a bit of the 'doughnut muffin' onto their fork and eat it without getting their hair in it. Solar chewed slowly so they could get all the flavours. It was sweet with a slight nutty flavour. Not bad at all, but it was a bit strange to be tasting it in a muffin shape. Maybe they should've gotten the doughnut. "It's alright and I understand," Solar glanced around at the rest of the room. "Well I'm glad you let me sit here," They chuckled. "I just arrived so honestly, I was kinda looking for someone to chat with. If that's alright with you. I'm a Romulan Republic officer so you can imagine all of this is very new to me."

Alaya smiled and looked over the food that Solar had ordered and then glanced up at them across from their side of the table. "Well, it's nice to meet you Solar. You're an interesting looking fellow, let me guess... Romulan and Rigellian?" Alaya said with an inquisitive glance across the table. "The purple gives it away for the Rigellian half, and I'm gonna guess by the forehead ridges and because you're a republic officer that it's Romulan you're mixed with." They said with a gentle chuckle. "Love your outfit too by the way, very cute." "And as for the station, I'm sure I can be a decent enough guide to Starfleet..." They said with a smile, as they threw another mini-donut into their mouth. "What brings you to Starfleet? Are you here as an exchange officer? Stopping in by on your way to vacation? Either way, you picked a lovely place to stop. A bit large, but it is lovely." Alaya was kind of used to the station now, but the larger size of some of the places on the promenade still sent their nerves twitching. Usually wearing their headphones helped with the noise, and avoiding crowds seemed to do a good job with their anxiety.

Solar looked at Alaya with surprise as they perfectly nailed down their species. It wasn't that it was hard to guess, but there were so many species in the galaxy, also Rigelians had a variety of skin tones, some purple, some a pale yellow, some have also been known to have brown skin tone like many humanoids. "That is perfectly correct," they laughed and pushed their fringe to the side. "I never thought I looked very Romulan, to be honest. The ears and the ridges for sure were give aways, but Rigelians also had face ridges which Solar also sported.* "And thank you. Since the Republic has a uniform, the only time I get to dress up is during my off hours," They said, holding their arm out to show off the pretty bracelets. "Exchange. I'm a cryptozoologist and I was interested in working on a long term project on a base or planet. 777 was one of the places i would be able to do that so here I am," They explained. "And you, Alaya? You're an... officer here and you are.." Solar paused as they tried to think of the word. "Bah'jorha? Right?" Solar said in hopes the UT would do its work. Solar's Rihannsu accent and dialect wasn't fully mapped so a few words couldn't be translated by the UT perfectly.

The Bajoran smiled as Solar showed off a little more of their outfit, before speaking up when they finished talking. "Ooh, a cryptozoologist. That sounds fancy, I'm not entirely sure what one of those is, but I presume it's something to do with animals? Or uh, dead animals? Crypt, zoo..." They said, with a curious look, they weren't exactly very versed on all the different sciences or what they specialised in, but there were at least capable of recognising that 'zoologist' usual meant animals. "And you're right! I'm a Bajoran, I'm an operations officer, specialised as a repairs technician, I go around and assign jobs to engineering and operations mainly, and help out where I can. I uh, don't get very hands on these days to be honest. But I do get to go around and inspect a lot of stuff, go evaluate repairs that need done and assign job priority. It's quite relaxing, I just get to wander around with my headphones on, look at all the broken things that need fixing."

@Ranka 💥

"Very close," Solar said with a little smile. "Cryptids. Which are typically monsters or creatures from folklore and urban legends. Some common ones include very dangerous animals that kill livestock or terrorise people," Solar explained a little about what their work entailed. "A lot of people see cryptozoologists as pseudoscientists, but we're not just out here trying to chase monsters to prove conspiracy theories. Ironically, our job usually involves disproving such tales and explaining such phenomenon with modern science," They added, knowing that there were certainly the conspiracy fanatics out there that wanted to prove the existance of dragons or strange monsters. More often than not, a lot of the 'monsters' from folklore were just normal animals or even sentient beings who just happened to spook the wrong person or people. "Oh a repairs tech, that sounds very useful. I can imagine you'd be pretty busy," Solar said, thinking about how many things must break on the starbase full of thousands of people. They ate a little bit more of their 'muffin doughnut'. They were honestly not very impressed with the flavour, doughnuts were best left being doughnuts, they thought. "What inspired you to do repairs? It seems pretty broad, you must have a lot of different skills," Solar asked. It wasn't like science where a person typically had one or two specialties, ops and engineering personnel seemed to all be pretty talented in a lot of fields.

"Yo... You study cryptids? That sounds cool, have you ever found any?" They said their eyes kind of lighting up a little at the idea. "I'd love to see somebody find a real monster, or like, find what it was that actually inspired said idea in peoples heads. Like when I have too many energy drinks and I start seeing the hat man." They pivoted away from that without much explanation before moving back to the repairs question. "Well, I've always loved fixing things from a young age, both my parents were engineers or operations throughout their careers, and I've always loved them showing me how things work. And even now, I love wandering around and seeing how all the amazing Starfleet technology works. Sometimes it's beyond me though and we do have to assign a specialist to repair something, but nine times out of ten, it's usually done by generic repair technicians! The operations staff know how to fix things, but we also do a lot of the admin work, signing off on repair logs, inspecting finished work to check it meets regulations and so on."

"Yes, I have in fact," Solar responded with a chuckle. "Often times cryptids are just misunderstood animals. There was one lake on Mol'Rihan," They began to explain, putting their fork down and looking up for a moment. "Ah, in the paeohhs district, that was said to be haunted. When we investigated it turned out to just be a bunch of invasive eel snakes that were nipping the toes of anyone who stepped into the lake. No ghostly activity, but it was concerning as the eel snakes were harming the local ecosystem," They recalled one of their past cases they helped with, shaking their head a little. It was frustrating telling people who had brought their pets from Romulus that they couldn't just let them run wild on Mol'Rihan. "That is a good point, operations encompasses... a lot of fields. I admire your passion for fixing things. So your parents were in Starfleet too? Or were they just tech people? Carrying on family legacy is nice, my sister and I are the only two in the Navy," Solar asked, curious more about Alaya's background. They hadn't spoken to many Starfleet officers, but in the Republic they found a lot of their colleagues were the first generation to join any iteration of the Romulan Navy.

They watched solar as they spoke, Alaya's eyes lighting up slightly as they spoke about their fun cryptid projects. "Ooh, that sounds interesting... Well, not the toe nipping, but like, uncovering a mystery! You're like a detective but for mythology." They said with a gentle chuckle. "As for myself? Yeah, both of my parents were Starfleet officers, my father was chief engineer and my other was chief of operations aboard the starship that I was born, so you can imagine the quarters were littered with engineering manuals and stuff for us kids to read. Not that I understood most of them, but it got me into the mood for fixing things! My brother Ayo went into science, not keeping up the family tradition, but my Sister Jei joined operations too, so she was also on team yellow." They said with a smile, as they finished another one of their mini donuts. "Our family has been entwined with Starfleet my whole life, grew up on a starship, went to Starfleet academy briefly and then straight back out into the stars again. I've never been on a planet for longer than a few years, I hate the places, they're too big, too much open space."

"Yes, similar to that," Solar said with a smile, happy that they were able to explain what their job was. Cryptozoology was considered a pseudoscience to some, but those people often did not consider that cryptozoologists weren't trying to prove monsters existed, but moreso prove that there was a better and more scientific explanation to monsters in general. Solar listened to Alaya speak about their upbringing and ate their 'doughnut muffin' slowly. Both parents senior staff? That sounded pretty cool, but also they wondered if that meant they got perks as a kid. Maybe people being extra nice to them or someything? "Team yellow -- ah the colour of engineering and ops," Solar should have known the division colours of the Federation, but it was a small detail they only briefly studied. "That sounds really nice keeping with the family legacy. All serving in Starfleet, we don't really have such things within the Republic, or well.. if we do, most people are not proud of it," Solar said, referring to those who had parents who served in the Navy. In many cases that 'Navy' was the Star Empire's own, which understandably was not something people would proudly proclaim in the Republic. Solar was lucky to have none of their immediate family serving the government or Navy in any capacity. Perhaps distant relatives, but no one they were close to. "Do you ever get lonely? I mean, being in space that long. I would imagine it would be hard to make a lot of long term friends?" Solar asked, wondering about how Alaya and their siblings made friends. Solar had only moved once in their childhood and even then, they were a teenager so they did have a good 13 years on their colony before the move.

"Wow asking the difficult questions there, Solar... Lonely?" They said, their voice quieting down slightly as they spoke. "Yeah, sometimes. I've always struggled to make friends anyway, so I'm used to being on my own. I don't like to move postings a lot because it takes a lot of energy and effort to readjust to a new job or location without sending my anxiety through the roof. But yeah, I do have a lot of friends move away, and I miss all of them so much." "I've tried making some new friends onboard here too, I met this really cute engineer and we're getting on good together, so here's hoping she hangs around for a while. I could use a proper friend to talk to, usually I just hide away or make polite conversation with strangers to keep my conversation skills up."

"Is it?" Solar spent most of their adult life as an influencer and as one could have guessed, news outlets never held back on the deeper questions. "Mmhm, I notice that whenever I leave a place, I slowly fade from the memories of those I leave behind. Perhaps that is a little deep, but it's true," Solar chuckled softly, their green lips curling into a small smile. "Oh? Have you?" Solar took one more bite out of their muffin and leaned forward. "Tell me about her. I am looking for more friends too and as you know scientists work with a lot of people but I'd call those relationships mostly business," They mentioned, narrow yellow eyes widening in curiosity about who this engineer was. How on brand for them, getting in on the hot gos' as soon as they arrive at the station.

They kinda did an awkward chuckle at the whole 'when I leave people tend to forget me'... "I was always scared that I would fade out of the memories of the people who were on the same posting as me. I don't exactly leave a very good impression on people, and I don't tend to talk unless people make conversation first. So usually I'm just the one sitting quietly in the corner or working away in the background. I like being unseen, means I don't have to force myself to make conversation." "As for my friend? Well, her name is Maya! I bumped into her trying to do inventory in the shuttle bay, I just wanted to check to see if she was using any of the parts I was checking, but she kinda... Never shut up. And we ended up working on a whole shuttle together, so she practically adopted me as her best friend. Not that I'm complaining! She's gorge- uh, adorable. And I love hanging out with her.* "They said, with a sheepish chuckle. Blushing a little at the awkward slip up.*

Solar had always been very outgoing so hearing Alaya's struggles as an introvert was new to them. They were always trying to be popular as a kid, 'clout chasing' one would call it. Obviously they were less concerned about that now that they were a Republic officer. It was nice to be in an environment where popularity didn't matter. "I can understand why you would have such experiences," They sympathised with Alaya and nodded. They continued to listen to them talk about the engineer they had been chatting up and it brought a smile to Solar's face. They were now single, but it wasn't too long ago that they had a conspirator of their own. "That is great to hear! I wish you luck with her. I can't say I have much advice to offer. I found my one and only conspirator through my previous influencer job," Solar explained with a little chuckle before popping the rest of the weird doughnut muffin into their mouth. "Buuut if you want date ideas, I have a few," Solar offered, wiggling their fingers a little.

Alaya blushed rather brightly at the mention of anything romantic between them and Maya, whilst they were definitely thinking about that at times, it wasn't somethig they would ever admit outright. They coughed a little, choking slightly on the last little piece of their donut. "D-Date Ideas? Uh, I mean... I wouldn't say we were dating we've only hung out personally like, four times or something. We built a little ship together, I watched her doing a whole racing event. But, I mean... I wouldn't say no to hearing your suggestions. You seem a lot more outgoing than I do."

Solar looked at Alaya with an amused expression when they seemed embarrased at the idea of going on date with Maya. "Oh, maybe I misunderstood?" Was Alaya not thinking about going on a date with Maya sometime in the future? They placed their fork on their plate and looked away for a moment to think of some ideas. "The environmental ring has lots of gardens like ponds and rivers. If you want a more active date idea, the holo arcade or holodeck has a lot of games. For the holodeck, I heard there's a ping pong programme. Ping pong is incredibly popular in the Rigel system, not sure if that's true here," Solar replied, remembering that one time they made an appearance at the Rigelian Table Tennis Cup! It was fun and very competitive. "Thanks for chatting Alaya, I hope to see you around. Off-duty that is, I would hope I wouldn't need your help on-duty, I do my best to take care of my equipment in the lab," Solar told them with a little wink. "Jolan tru~" and with that they headed off to return their plate.