Star Trek: Starbase 777 - coo′s-office

She took a deep breath. “Hm, home sweet home. Smells like dishwasher in here.” There was nobody here to hear her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be cynical. She regarded her desk and immediately some interior design idea came to her. She’d have to set up some pictures in here and preferably a plant. Later. She sat down at the desk and powered up the computer. Quickly, she checked out which data she had access to. It was good to know, after all. She spent a moment skimming through the files of the few officers which worked directly under her. Then, she shut off the computer again and left. Time to check out the starbase where presumably most of the crew was gallivanting at the time being.

[D] After running through several items on his checklist he finally arrived at the Eventide COO'S office. He was slightly intimidated by the fact that all it said for the assignment was to come here. He stiffened up his back and rolled his neck then he simply pressed the doorbell. In his head he tried to use Rainier to put himself in the headspace of the COO, attempting to anticipate what was to come.

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He had been eating his wife's wonderful pumpernickel bread with rihan berry jam when the doorbell rang. He looked to the door and waited a few seconds purposefully, straightening his uniform. "Come in," He said in a flat tone, professional as always.

He quickly straightened up his uniform then the Trill stepped into the office and stood infront of Satok's desk. He gave the man a simple nod. "I am Ensign Tacoma Del, reporting for duty sir." He offered the Romulan a small confident smile, similar to the of Dessault.

"Jolan'tru, Ensign Tacoma Del. Please, have a seat," He replied in a typical implied order fashion. He noted the smile but remained rather emotionless himself, a small crack of a smile the only thing visible. "I hope you are well?"

He nodded. "I have been... adjusting to my first assignment. It has been an interesting process to say the least." He shrugged. "In due time I believe should be able to contribute highly as a member of this crew."

"Confidence is an invaluable trait, Mister Del. I agree that the overall process is interesting for sure, first postings always break us in well. Just to make sure, you are assigned to the ship, yes? Some get confused on the way and come to me due to... simple error." He made it clear that he hadn't looked at the ensign's file quite yet, opting to have the man tell him and go strictly by the honor system.

He shook his head. "No sir, I'm assigned to the station. As far as I know no one other then you from operations is assigned to the ship. I'm only here temporarily for some maintenance." He narrowed his eyes towards the other officer unsure of what more to say.

"That's fine, always good to check in with the one running the ship's operations. Were you given a duty list or is this why you're coming to me?" He questioned. He wanted to know what Del wished for. He also looked rather tired, secretly pushing his seventh day without sleep. He had an hour left in his shift then a crash in the great warmth of the covers...

He pulled out his PADD and revealed his list of station assignments to the romulan. "I have a list of some assignments on the station but I've been making good progress. However, I wanted to check in with you." He smiled at the romulan across from him, hoping to gain favor with the man.

He held his hand out for the list, a smidge of a purple substance. Rihan berry jam from his treats that were sitting on the table... but unlike a human, he neglected to offer a treat to the ensign. They were simply too good to share, on another note. "Good progress? How good. I like this. Mmm..." He grinned softly and looked back at the ensign, taking his hand back. "You are free to go about whatever business you wish to go about. If you require assistance, comm me. If you would like to remain, I can offer a cinnamon roll my wife so graciously baked... sugar free, of course."

He smiled at the Romulan officer. "I'm prepared to start wherever you need me, you would be the one who knows the ship best after all." He then linked at cinnamon rolls and smiled. "Its crazy how similar desserts are between species. They look just like my... Rainiers grandma's cinnamon rolls." He reached for one. "I don't mind if I do."

"Perhaps it is because they are cinnamon rolls with Earth ingredients. Humans always have a way of making especially good food... these are gooey on the inside a bit and certainly not dry," he held them out, the scent very appealing. If only Del knew they were a product of Satok teaching his wife how to cook them...

He smiled across the table as he took his first bite. "Quite good If I do say so myself. In a past life I used to use cooking as a way to relax, so I certainly appreciate good cooking when I see it." He then greedily took a few more bites into the treat.

"Hopefully... this has been a good first interaction between us and I look forward to a good professional relationship going forward if and when you work on the ship. Take another treat with you, I have things to do... moreso sleep," He replied with a small grin.

He greedily took a second cinnamon roll and held it carefully in his hand. He smiled widely at the Lieutenant. "Wow thank you sir, I really appreciate it! I'll be happy to work on the Eventide whenever I'm here." He gave the romulan one last smile before standing up.

"I will endeavor to assist you whenever you need the assistance. Also... if you ever want a treat don't hesitate to stop by... jolan'tru," the romulan said, standing as well and extending his hand across.

He nodded and attempted a simple. "jolan'tru" though his pronunciation wasn't quite on point. "I will see you around Lieutenant." He exited the office.

[PADD]

To: Lieutenant Satok Aylek, Chief of Operations Eventide From: Lieutenant Junior Grade Renakir Solait Torre'vnau Satok, we meet again, it seems. I suppose I should be shadowing you today, may I come over now?

[PADD]

To: Lt. JG. Renakir Torre'vnau. Feel free to come over whenever, now is fine as well. Lieutenant Satok Aylek.

And just before his shift was to begin, he showed up at Satok's door and chimed the bell. He signed up for this mentor programme to learn more things, but he did not expect to be paired with that Romulan. Oh Tenakruvek, why was it always Romulans? He literally joined Starfleet to get away from Romulans. It didn't matter where they came from or if they were friendly, they had green blood, forehead ridges, pointy ears, they were all Romulan. He took a deep breath and straighted his sunglasses on his face, preparing himself for another wild ride. And not the cool cowboy kind.

"Hmm? Oh, come!" He said, sliding his sugar-free brownies aside as he looked to the door. He knew who it was, or had a pretty good idea, and wished to meet the romulan-reman man again! It was so nice to meet kind others...

Renakir stepped into the room, hands clasped behind his back holding his PADD. His eyes first went to Satok, who looked the same as the man always looked. Cheerful, friendly, eating that dreaded earth snack. After the whole cowboy incident he was not looking forward to this shadowing, but the assignments were given. "Hello Lieutenant," He greeted, Surak'ing away all his feelings in an instant. He did not comment on the food or anything else in the room, his eyes stayed focused on the other Romulan. Expression neutral and his best attempt at the Vulcan monotone (however Rihannsu was an emotional language by nature).

"Hey, how's it going?" He asked, a smile on his face as he leaned on his desk. He was very friendly, as always, though he didn't offer Renakir a snack this time. He remembered that he probably didn't want any and... if he wanted one, he could simply take it. Satok looked like he had the stubble and starts of a goatee around his mouth- he was definitely opting for a change of appearance. He certainly was interested in this man and wanted to talk to him, eyes locked on the sunglasses? if Renakir was wearing them. The vulcan monotone was seen as somewhat foolish in his mind but also worrying. Why would a non-vulcan look to hide or suppress their emotions? Hmm, he really wanted to know.

"Fine," Was Renakir's only reply to that. It was definitely jarring to hear the terran-style greeting out of a Romulan's mouth. He kept telling himself that Satok was not a Romulan-raised Romulan, but an earth-raised one, but the Romulan faux pas was something else. Was this how French people felt whenever they talked to him? That's an idea. What if he just acted French? It worked during his four years at the academy, he actually enjoyed his French persona. His eyes studied the other man's face, thankfully they were hidden behind his opaque sunglasses. The bit of stubble on his face was intriguing, facial hair? Not a very Romulan thing, but sure. "I am ready to start, I will just be assisting you with your daily tasks today," It was his way of saying 'let's get this over with quickly'.

"I will be going over every little facet and bit of my job that I do on the Eventide every day. There are many, many parts of the ship... much like one would maintain a building or check pool chemistry to make sure people don't get sick or burned. Hmm? So, I figure I'll take you over to the station to do an actual manual check of the pool's chemistry," he said, pulling a box (a small one) and placing it on his desk. "Do you know how to do it, first and foremost?"

Renakir stood and listened to what Satok was saying. The bit about the pool was confusing to say the least. He often used the phrase 'I'm an alien, explain it' whilst on earth but never in his life would he consider using it with another Romulan. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, all the Vulcan meditation he had been doing kept any emotion from showing on his face. His eyes looked to the box on Satok's desk and then up at the other man. "I am a turbolift and transporter operator, I am not familiar with this. Please explain," He said, tone stable, not a single bit of confusion or worry showed on his face. If anything his resting bitch face was even stronger now than it usually was.

"You'll watch and you'll do it, Lieutenant. We'll get you certified in no time and you'll expand your horizons. Besides, I need someone else doing it because I don't always the time to do it every day. We test PH, chlorine levels, and water hardness in this particular pool. I certainly... will handle the weekly ones but I want you to know the daily ones," he said, holding out a calculator too. "You'll need this as well. Calculate how far off the totals are..." He said with a yawn. "Anyway, lead the way to the pool. I'll be right behind you, I just need to shoot out another PaDD to some nurse in medical that the minor conduit will be tended to at 1500 by enlisted personnel," he said with a chuckle.

Was this a trap? Renakir was here to shadow a senior officer, but it was certainly no mere coincidence he was shadowing a Romulan officer. Not only that, but Satok. And what's more it was the pool. Maybe Satok didn't know as a former human-turned Romulan, but pools were one of the best places to commit murder. He somehow kept all this Romulan paranoia hidden under a very neat emotionless Vulcan persona. "Alright, understood," Renakir picked up the box and the calculator before heading out of the office to go to the station.

He watched the other go and sent no such PaDD message, simply not wanting to endure the awkward walk down to the pool. He looked at his watch timing a minute and a half for when the other would be gone down the lift, rising and exiting unceremoniously.

[COMM] “Ensign Daniels to Lt. Cdr. Dzharok, CPO. Agrippina, and Lieutenant Aylek. Start organizing teams for repairs, we have systems shutting down all over the station,”

@Satok┊Tulas

[D] As part of work, Renakir was about done with his shift before he rememberd he needed to come by to ask about taking a double shift. He could talk to Dagis, surely that would be most logical, but he wanted to get the approval of Satok first. He chimed the bell and waited. For his attire today it was his standard uniform but today he had his contacts in, no sunglasses. It was because today he was mainly working in the tubes which was a lot easier with contacts than glasses.

"Come in," he said, working a bit overtime himself to get some files squared away. Nothing special, just normal Satok at his desk filing some things.

Renakir stepped into the office when he hear the voice. He did not sit down or anything, just stood at the doorway when the doors closed like . "Jolan tru," He gave his typical greeting, not noticing anything strange at all. In fact the only strange thing was probably the fact that Satok wasn't offering him food. Thank Tenakruvek, maybe the man finally got the damn hint. Not a loss to him. "I have come to ask about my shifts. I am requsting double shift on August 4th, I have a personal event on the 5th so I'd like to request that off," He said in his typical low Vulcan-like monotone. In fact, he was lying completely, he had no plans on the 5th, but he knew saying that would be the only way to possibly justify a double shift. Plus, he could work all the 4th then go into hiding on the 5th, perfect plan.

"Denied," he replied, looking up at Renakir coldly. He looked somewhat tired and irritable... and he knew when Renakir's birthday was. He half didn't care but another half of him knew that he wanted to work on his birthday for some reason... "You must give a week's notice about these things because I need to work it into the schedule. Who will be covering your duties? A ghost? I frankly don't care. August the sixth is when you can take your double shift, not the fourth. Why are you trying to have a double shift on your birthday, hmm?" Nothing much amiss other than Satok being much, much more procedural.

Satok's reaction was surprising. A normal person would just assume he was having a bad day, but Renakir, a man of paranoia, his first thought was 'a ghost possessed him'. It was the 7th lunar month on earth, the Hungry Ghost Month as celebrated in Chinese culture. This was the month where the gates of hell opened up and all of the demons would crawl out to cause havoc. And then Satok brought up Renakir's birthday. Dammit, he knew. "I really need the fourth," Renakir said, expertly showing no emotion or even frustration in his voice. "This has nothing to do with my birthday. My betrothed is coming to visit, that is all," Not a false statement, Kianarix was visiting the station, but the date had yet to be decided but the silly little Romulan-Reman boy did mention wanting to visit that week.

"Lieutenant, you'll just have to hear me out," he said, shrugging. His usual carefree nature seemed to be absent, caring nature weirdly gone. Normal Satok would've granted Renakir 2 days off but not this one with the mental-state altered. He narrowed his eyes at Renakir. "Do you know why there are no candies on this desk or treats for people who come? It's because nobody gives a fuck about them," he said out of the blue. He pointed a single finger at Renakir's face, not even looking him in the eye. "You disrespected me in front of my son. You disrespect my offerings. You disrespect my kindness. I feel no more compulsion to be kind, I will be simply professional. No pleasantries, no friendship. Just strict evaluations of your work. Do you understand me or do I have to repeat myself? I won't have you coming to me last minute because you wish to be off..." He went silent for a few seconds. "You will give me notice. But this time you'll get my blessing on your little double-shift on the fourth, with me. Cleaning out the Jeffries' tubes on the lower level. I need a hand, why not a fellow? Sixteen hours in the tubes," he said, a toothy grin on his face. It was a job that usually the crewmen did but Satok didn't want to stick them with a job he'd do... in this mental mindset to boost his ego.

Renakir blinked and stared at Satok when the other suddenly addressed him by rank. For a split second he forgot he wasn't wearing his sunglasses, meaning the other would definitely see the look of shock on his face. And then Satok mentioned about the lack of snacks and candy, that was.... Alright he was definitely possessed by an evil spirit. They were a long way from China, but who says spirits couldn't travel light years? And maybe the whole galaxy celebrated Hungry Ghost Festival? Who knew. He kept his expression vacant, allowing the other speak before giving his response. Despite being now very confident that Satok was possessed, Renakir still felt a bit of hurt when the other mentioned him being disrespectful. Was refusing his food really that big of a deal? Satok was clearly speaking with a demon's tongue, but perhaps he was also letting out some pent up steam. He sighed and clasped his hands behind his back, staying professional and emotionless. "If that is what you say, I will do it," Renakir said, hiding his true intentions skillfully. No, the first thing he was going to do was tell someone about this and warn them to follow the superstitions of Hungry Ghost Month!

"And back to the food. I offer it to you, I am nice to you, and you blatantly spit in my face when you deny me every time. Oh, Satok used to be a human woman. Don't take him seriously. Ah, yes. Satok will poison me. A fellow Starfleet officer and you carry poison strips to put over some French toast I made for you because you think I want you dead after I so graciously do a good thing. If my food is terrible, say it. Don't dance around the topic," he said, filter practically removed. Another reversal of one of Satok's traits: being calm, cool, and kind and keeping grievances to himself. "What fucking reason do I have to poison you? Because I have pointy ears and a funny forehead? Do you not like my food because of what I was? Spit it out now," he said, tone low and calm the whole time.

Oh Tenakruvek, be a fence, Renakir closed his eyes for a moment, again forgetting he was not wearing his sunglasses so Satok totally saw what he was doing. He thought about Surak's teachings, which helped calm his mind and keep him from reacting emotionally. When he opend his eyes he realised he was seeing everything in full colour. Ah, no sunglasses. "Lieutenant, I mean no disrespect, but perhaps we can talk about this when we are not on duty and when we are in a better frame of mind," More like when Satok was not being possessed by a Chinese fire demon! "If the shifts on August 4th are settled then I would like to ask to be dismissedl," Renakir was quite proud of himself, handling this like a Vulcan. He'd have to thank Eshen for this help with the meditation later.

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"Get out of my face," he said, leaning back in his chair. After his monologue, he looked absolutely miserable. He facepalmed, basic rules of conduct entering his mind like a robotic code. "I'm sorry, just go. I'm not myself, something's wrong. Something is direly wrong. I've never said this to you before. Lashed out... something's wrong with me. Do not... 'get out of my face'... have a nice night and..." A low growl came from him... "Call a psychiatrist or someone," he said. "Renakir," he finished off.

'Get out of my face' was really something Renakir did not expect to hear from the friendly and outgoing Satok. Still, he managed to keep his composure. To his surprise the next words out of the isekai'd Romulan's mouth was not another insult or more admonishment, it was... An apology? He furrowed his brows ever so slightly as he took another breath. "Alright, jolan tru," Renakir said as he bowed his head and calmly walked out of the room.

Once Renakir left, he got up and took a picture off of his desk. His human father. How did that get there? He took the picture and hurled it at the wall, it shattering into a million pieces before Satok left.

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