Star Trek: Starbase 777 - section-i-mess-hall

Quiet. Good. He liked quiet. Most Alliance vessels tended to be uncomfortably noisy sometimes. He replicated a plate of Japanese curried rice and found an empty corner seat on which to situate himself and observe the rest of the room. It was his duty after all.

She walked into the mess hall and walked over to the replicators. She ordered herself some Sem'hal stew, she hadn't been very partial to Cardassian dishes in the past but, she always liked trying something new. She took a seat at a random table and began eating her stew. It was alright, though it needed some salt or some juice from the tuper root that would be good. She thought to herself as she took a second bite of her stew.

He glanced up at her and waved awkwardly; he still wasn't good with people and likely wouldn't be for a while. At least, not without some help. Andorians weren't uncommon; he'd seen plenty in his career. Good thing she was seated at practically the next table over.

Zeza not paying attention took her a few seconds to realize that someone was waving at her. She quietly waved back to him and motioned for the Jem'hadar to join her at her table. She then took another bite out of her stew. It was growing on her.

Come over? He did not mind - though she was admittedly one of very, very few who'd tried. He moved over, sitting across from her. Brown eyes seemed to study her closely, taking in her features.

"Hello, I saw you waving at me. I don't believe we have been acquainted. I am the Chief Engineer. Lieutenant Commander Zeza Zh'ashrellil. Zeza said reaching out her hand to him for him to shake. "Who are you? I was wondering if there was anything you wanted to talk about since you waved at me?"

"Ughaz'udan, head of tactical." The hand was firmly shaken. "Is greeting a fellow crew member not only polite? There is nothing in particular I wish to discuss, unless you happen to have ideas."

"I am not sure I didn't expect to talk to anyone while eating my lunch." Zeza thought for a moment before asking. "I guess how did you become the Chief Tactical Officer?" She asked as she took a few more bites out of her stew.

"The role was assigned to me by Starfleet. I am an exchange officer from the Allied Fleet Service. Perhaps Starfleet Command did so as a show of trust." He mused. That and maybe the Founders had asked for it, but it was not his place to question his fortune.

"Well congratulations, I am sure the founders were very impressed with you to have you represent the Dominion here. Have you met any of the rest of the crew yet? Also are you part of the Starbase crew or Eventide crew?" She said as she finished her stew.

"I serve aboard the starbase. How about you?" It could've been either or for her - and, well, most of the department heads he'd meet in the coming days, he reckoned. Where one served was irrelevant, though - they were part of his new company and that was that.

"I do as well. Been here for a while. It is an interesting place with many lovely people, I am sure you like many of them. Hope that you meet all of them." Zeza said as she smiled at him. "So what do Jem'hadar like to do for fun always been curious?"

To say that he liked anyone on the station so far was a bit of a stretch to say the least; he'd barely gotten to know anybody so far having arrived only days prior, he thought to himself. "I train on the holodeck twice daily. I do not have 'fun'."

"Well, I am sure someone will show you around. Have you met the station commander or any of the other staff on the Station?" Zeza asked as she put her bowl back in the replicator and recycled it. "I could spare with you sometime in the holodeck. You need to find activities that you enjoy it will make you more relatable to your officers in Tactical."

"Then I suppose I shall be seeing you very much more often." Clearly Ughaz'udan didn't catch any other meanings that quip might have had. He followed her to the replicator, tossing his empty plate into the replicator after her. "I would welcome you as an opponent. As to the other staff - I shall meet them in time."

"I look forward to our matches then. You might want to meet them, Lieutenant. They are pretty amazing people. They are good people to ask for help should you ever need it." Zeza said as she smiled at him.

"Tonight. 1900 hours on the holodeck." He offered. The sooner the better after all. "If you have the time. As to the others - we shall see." Again, he hated asking for help; but then again he'd have to depend on these people soon enough and that was the simple truth.

"Sounds good see you there." Zeza said as she made her way to the door. She was gonna be late for her shift in Engineering. "I mean you have to meet the Commanding Officer at some point if you want to keep your post." Zeza said as she chuckled to herself and left.

Ah, yes. That. He'd have to look slightly less dead if he wanted to do that, however, and so he walked out after her to find somewhere to nap. Preferrably his quarters where he wouldn't be disturbed.

Styre entered the messhall and replicated a fruit salad, something that could fill his stomach without being overly caloric. He took the bowl and a cup of water before setting off towards a vacant table.

He didn't understand the need for three meals a day, blah blah blah. Sleep he could begrudgingly accept but this was a little odd to him. Nonetheless it was not his place to question this way of life and so he would have to follow it. He replicated a bowl of some kind of cereal with milk and found an empty table, two or three seats away fron the commander.

Styre heard the doors whisp open. His head lifted up as he eyed the Lieutenant enter the messhall. He ate a piece of fruit from the bowl and kept quiet, though his eyes traced the movements of Ughaz'udan.

Why the hell was this cereal so bland? Maybe he'd ordered the wrong kind from the replicator. Either way he did have ideas to make it better - which consisted of replicating a small plate of sliced canned peaches and adding them to his meal. Much better. Unusual, at any rate. One wonders where he picked up the habit.

Styre had finished another piece of fruit before he stood up to recycle his bowl. He then moved over to the table that Ughaz'udan sat and looked down at the Lieutenant. "Lieutenant."

Ughaz'udan inclined his head, looking up at the Vulcan while he placed his spoon and fork neatly besides the bowl before him. "Commander."

He looked down towards the Jem'Hedar member and raised his hand in a Vulcan Salute.

So the commander had moved over, loomed over him and looked down at him like he was examining a particularly interesting specimen just to say hello - a few unnecessary steps in his opinion but he wasn't one to judge. He awkwardly returned the gesture in kind, which hurt a little.

"Is this seat occupied?" Styre inquired. pointing to the seat across from the Lietuenant.

...all that just to ask for a seat. What was wrong with simply coming up to him and asking? "No, sir. Go ahead."

Styre pulled the seat out and sat down across from the Lieutenant. He let out a sigh as he sipped from his cup. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I do not find myself particularly great at these... social interactions.*

"Neither am I." If Styre was bad Ughaz was likely worse still. He'd only had six months with the Allied Fleet Service to learn to acceptably person, and even then he hadn't exactly done amazingly at it. "But I am still learning and practising."

"I do not see the point in making social interactions an often occurrence." he stated stoically. "Lieutenant. What department are you in?"

"I am the head of the tactical department on this research station." He answered curtly.

"Oh, you're stationed aboard the Station." he nodded slightly. "Do you enjoy being stationed aboard the station?"

"With respect, sir. Whether I enjoy being stationed here is irrelevant. I have been given an assignment and I shall carry it out to the best of my ability." He said, deadpan. It was only a soldier's duty after all. "But even if I were to attempt to quantify it - I have only been here for a number of days. It is far too soon to gauge."

He nodded. "Understood. I much prefer my times aboard Starbases and Stations, although, I do find contentness aboard Starships as well." he took a sip of water. "I am sure you will do well, Lieutenant."

Ughaz'udan's answer was stereotypically Jem'hadar. Which is likely unsurprising. "Victory is life. I will perform my best and give of myself to my duties till I have given all that I have when I must. I will succeed as a department head or die trying. In a metaphorical sense."

Styre nodded his head slightly, his ears twitching just before he spoke. "As one should and is logical. How long have you served in Starfleet?"

"I am an exchange from the Allied Fleet Service, barely a few days." He replied. "My superiors at Khitomer and in the Dominion expect good things from me."

"As does Starfleet. You're the CTO aboard the Station, I presume?" his ears twitched "What was the reason for the exchange?"

"I do not know. Perhaps the Founders and Alliance Command feel that I need... a change of environment." He answered smoothly.

Styre gave a quick nod, his face remaining unchanged. "Understood, Lieutenant."

"Shall I expect to see you more often, sir?" Which would make sense considering how closely the Eventide and starbase were linked.

"I do believe so. This is our home station, we shall be docked here quite often."

"Of course. Rather more often, then." He decided. It made sense at any rate. "I look forward to working with you, sir."

"As do I with you, Lieutenant. You seem perfectly capable of your position."

"Thank you. I shall not disappoint." He promised, standing with his empty bowl and plate. "Until next time?"

Styre nodded towards the Lieutenant. "Understood, Lieutenant."

He wasted no further time standing anf recycling his plate before heading out the door.

After receiving word that the ships CSO would be arriving soon, Styre stood up and recycled his cup before leaving the messhall.

Styre walked into the messhall, eyeing the tables and the replicators.

Zoe looked around. “Honestly, this is very similar to the mess on the Fortitude. Neat.”

"Most Starfleet messhalls are pretty similar." he commented. "There have been no major variations in most messhalls in my time here."

”True, I kind of thought a mess on a station, but it would make sense not I guess.” She shrugged.

"I find myself more content upon a station, but I do not believe I would ever prefer commanding aboard one."

”I was on a small station once before, never liked it as much as a ship though.” She shrugged. “We‘ll see how here compares.”

”I’ve served more than 16 years aboard a Starbase and stations prior to serving aboard vessels. Research facilities, support staff, and networking are all far superior. But practical experience and field-research is what drew me towards ships.”

"Wow, sixteen years on a station, I don't know if I could have done that." She blew a hair from her eye.

“I enjoyed my time. Conducting research and advancing my field in science.” He nodded

“That sounds nice! I found a new early industrial era civilization, a tribal civilization, and a few ruins. Sorry, I didn’t mean to brag.” She blushed, embarrassing by her accidental brag.

00:12

”What I meant to say was I was part of the team that discovered them.”

”And I maintained an entire species of silicone based life. Your accomplishments are yours, be proud of them.”

"Well that sounds very challenging! I'm sure it was a grand accomplishment." She smoothed out her uniform, a little ritual to center herself.

"It has been the pique of my career thus far; though I've yet to stay in my position as XO for long, so we shall see how that goes."

”Very interesting! I look forward to working under you!”

“Indeed.” Styre pulled out and looked at his PADD “Although I do believe I’ve got further business to attend to. It was an honor to meet you, Lieutenant. I shall see you aboard the Eventide.” Styre then stood up and walked towards the exit.

After casting a look around at who else was here, Ava went to the replicators. She got herself some porridge with fruit and hot chocolate. She was definitely starting her time on Starbase 777 off right! The replicators were better than those on the ship she’d been on. Cup and bowl in hand, she was on the lookout for a place to sit.

Lilain waves over the the other science officer from her table. "Hey, wanna come sit here?"

Ava perked up as she heard the officer’s voice. She smiled at the other person in science uniform who wore two pips, identifying her as a Lieutenant. “I’ll gladly, thanks.” She smiled and put down her bowl and cup on the table. As she sat down, she pulled back her hair into a bun to reveal her pointy ears and the Bajoran earring.

"It's good to meet you! I'm the CSO of the Eventide, Lieutenant Lilian So." She has a bright smile as she offers her hand to shake.

Ava looked down at the hand. “Sorry, no hand shakes for me,” she said politely, “They overwhelm the Vulcan part of my nervous system.” Nevertheless, Ava returned the bright smile. “Still, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lt. JG. Ava Lopez, Biologist and Chemist. I suppose I’ll be working under you.”

20:49

She tilted her head interestedly and looked at her. “Are you having anything to eat, Lieutenant?”

She shook her head. "I was going to go grab something when I saw you, thought it would be polite to wave you over." She blew a hair out of her face. "I'm an archaeologist and anthropologist, and yes, I should believe you will be working under me."

“Thank you for the invite. Please, Lieutenant, go ahead and grab some food, I’ll wait here.” Ava smiled and sipped on her hot chocolate.

Lilian nodded greatfully and went to get herself some mac and cheese and mashed potatoes before returning to the table. “It’s very good to meet you and get to know the people under my command.” She said before taking a big forkful of the mac and cheese.

“It is!” Ava started eating as well. Then, she asked, “I read through the crew list. You’re half Betazoid, right, Lieutenant?”

"I am indeed, I am glad you are doing you due diligence lieutenant." She smiled with approval.

“I try my best,” responded Ava dutifully with a smile and eyed her superior officer. “Betazoids posses telepathic abilities if I’m not mistaken. You’ll excuse my scientific curiosity if I ask, Lieutenant — Can you read minds?”

22:25

She wasn’t able to hide her excitement and interest surrounding the topic. She wasn’t exactly trying to hide it either.

"Yes, we do have telepathic tendencies, but as a hybrid mine are not as strong. I can't read minds, but I am a talented empath so, that's something." She took another bite of her food.

“So, you could tell if I were lying, or… if I were trying to hide that I’m upset?”

"Just the second one. Unless it was really worrying you I wouldn't be able to tell that you were lying."

“Good to know,” Ava smiled reassuringly, “Though I do not intend to lie to you. Is the food good?”

"Nothing wrong with it at least, I rather like it."

She nodded agreeably and continued eating. “You said you work in archeology and anthropology? It looks like we are both scientists, but in the most different fields. I imagine it will be interesting working together.” She sipped on her hot chocolate again. For a moment, she closed her eyes, savored the flavor. “Hmm. I gotta say, this replicator is way better than what I’m used to!”

"Yeah, stations and larger ships tend to have better replicated food." She took another bite

Ava felt that her conversation partner, though quite friendly, wasn’t very inquisitive and if she wanted to keep the conversation up and running, she’d have to be the one to ask the questions. And so, she asked. “Have you met any of the other crew members yet? Other science officers?”

"I have met our first officer, but no one else. I do rather need to, to you think you could introduce me to some of them?" Smiled warmly.

”Ah, I’m afraid I can’t help, you’re the first person I’m meeting here, aside from a Cadet who passed by me in a flash while chasing down a robot,” she chuckled. “I’m in the same position as you are.” Ava then tiled her head with interest, knowing full well who the first officer aboard the Eventide was. “So you’ve met Styre— excuse me, um, Commander Styre.” In her head, she just always addressed him as Styre. “What do you think of him?”

"I didn't get a great sense of him but he seems a capable officer at worst. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share?"

Ava couldn’t help a smile from slipping onto her lips. “I’ve served with him on the Tyrga for two years before we both got transferred here. It’s pretty ironic that I got transferred, too, seeing as I bet he wishes I hadn’t been! Then again, I’m not quite sure whether he ‘wishes’ anything.” She shook her head as if to sort her thoughts.

James entered the messhall, Smile and all. His cheery mood was mimicked in his mannerisms. He skipped slightly rather than a plain walk, his eyes squinted and his hair laid flat on his head. He was in-unfiorm, for what reason? He just wished to not stand out, he would rather be apart of the community than to try and differentiate himself on the first day. He walked over to the replicators and replicated a beef sandwich with a salad on the side. He turned around and looked around the tables, trying to find an empty one but they were all full.

Just then, Ava looked up and saw the newcomer who was apparently of the same rank as herself and seemed quite happy, but uncertain where to sit down. Ava assumed that So wouldn’t mind if he sat down with them, seeing as she’d mentioned wanting to meet the other crew members. So, Ava waved and said: “Hey! You wanna sit with us?”

James eyes went immediately to the waving officer that was sitting just a few tables beyond his current position. He gave a nod as he heard her invitation for him to sit with them. He quickly moved over there and found a seat next to Lieutenant So and looked towards Ava. He sat down his tray on the table and gave a very gracious nod. "Thank you! All the tables were full and I do not know anybody here. This is my first time really on a Station that wasn't ESD, I've got no clue what I'm doing."

”Don’t worry too much about it, I haven’t been on stations much before either.” She smiled and finished off her mashed potatoes.

Ava smiled at the newcomer. “Yes, no worries, new situations take getting used to. It’s my first assignment on a space station as well, actually. And I gotta say, the replicators are a pleasant surprise! I’m Lt. JG. Ava Lopez, by the way, this is Chief Science Officer Lieutenant So. And your name?”

James looked over to the Lieutenant and then to Ava. He was gracious to be introduced to two officers, but he had failed to realize whether or not they served aboard the ship or the station. Nonetheless, the friendship that could be provided would be invaluable. Friends are always great to have! "I am Lieutenant Junior Grade James Nejahk, but you can just call me James" he let out a soft chuckle as he gave a quick, friendly nod. "I'm the communications officer aboard the Eventide."

“Nice to meet you.” Ava nodded and finished her porridge. While she did so, she inspected James for a moment. He was human if she recalled his entry in the crew list correctly. And he seemed nice. A definite win! Friends were always good. “Excited to be here?”, she asked friendly.

James gave an excited nod in response to Ava's question. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Lieutenants!" he gave a chuckle and looked around slightly. "I am very excited to be here. I will be directing my own career, albeit from the position as a communications officer. Are you two excited to be here as well?"

Ava grinned. Finally someone who seemed to share her enthusiasm. “Oh, yes! The starbase is luxurious, like a stationary lab, but the Eventide is able to explore and investigate — being stationed here is the best of both worlds, I believe. Of course, it’s always important who you work with, but so far, my experiences have been pleasant.” She smiled at the two. “I really want to see the ship, but I need to get a physical first. I also totally need to check out the holodecks and… ugh, so many other rooms!” Excitement must have been radiating off of her at this point. It didn’t fit to her Vulcan appearance at all.

James nodded and continued to smile. The excitement radiating off of Ava bounced right off of him. "Oh yes! My thoughts exactly!! I am just glad to be here and finally experiences the joys of being paired with a station." his grin widened. "So, where are you guys from? Earth? Luna?"

"I was born on Earth, yes."

“Same with me. Half-human only, but earth is home.” She smiled. “You’re fully human, right? I’ve read the crew list.”

James gave a nod. "Fully human, yep!" he gave a curious tilt of his head towards Ava. "Half human? Your other half... if you do not mind me asking?"

Ava gestures at her pointy ears and eyebrows. “Vulcan,” she simply said and it had a slightly bitter taste. She wanted to change the topic. “Say, James, would you want to check out the other rings and the holodecks when you’re done with your food? My shift doesn’t start until later.”

He gave a nod. "Vulcan, that's fun! You don't seem very... Vulcan to me." he commented slightly before moving on. "Holodecks! Ah yes, I absolutely love holodecks. It's where I spend my time training and running communication training simulations."

Ava smiled and nodded with a smile. She decided not to comment on her Vulcan ancestry any more. Her feelings connected to the topic were not exactly of the pleasant type and she’d rather not get into it. “Well, let’s check out the holodecks here on the 777 later. We have three if I’m not mistaken!” She assumed that Lilian So would speak up if she wanted to join as well. For now, she’d wait until James was done with his food.

"I don't think I have anything that particularly requires me at present, and I could use something to relax after the long shuttle trip."

James had taken the final bite out of his sandwich before forking some of the salad up. It didn't have any dressing, it was just lettuce and carrots with some raisins dispersed into it. He ate about half before eyeing Ava. "A three-way trip to the holodeck! Horrah" he smiled and stood up, grabbing his tray and waiting idly by waiting for the other two to lead the way.

Ava stood up cheerfully. “Great, let’s go!” She picked up her tray as well and went to put it away, before she finally headed for the exit.

James followed Ava and recycled his tray with the remaining food on it. "Horrah!"

*She dropped her tray into the recycler too and followed the others out of the room.U

She walked in and looked around to see if she could find Ughaz'udan. He wouldn't be that hard to spot after all.

He trudged through the door a second or two after her. Maybe he didn't know about the human tradition of the man arriving ahead of the lady at meals. "I trust you have kept well." He grunted.

"I have, as far as I know." She smiled at him. "So, what did you have in mind for dinner? It's your initiative after all."

Poor Ughaz'udan truthfully wasn't good at picking meals. Whatever he could try he tried and had little preference otherwise. Somehow, though, he managed to pick two plates of steak, carrots and mashed potato for dinner, which was likely a miracle. "M

She smiled and took the plate, chuckling a little. "Plain and simple, I like it." She gestured to a nearby table. "Shall we?"

"Yes." He settled down at said table with a soft grunt and rubbed his temples, like one might when they had a headache.

She sat down opposite of him and raised her eyebrow slightly. "You ok, lieutenant?" Seeing him rub his head would ring an alarm to anyone paying attention.

"I was told this behavior brings relief." He grumbled. "Or comfort. I do not feel any more relaxed than I currently am."

"Well, just calm down, have a bite, chat. Relaxation can't be forced, it'll just come to you after a while." She smiled warmly and started to take a bite from her food.

"My people do not normally relax. Relaxing breeds complacency." His hands nonetheless removed from his temples, though, and picked up his fork and knife. "I do not like to be complacent - but I suppose after our last battle I have earned the right by Starfleet logic."

"Rest is important of you want to preform admirably in the next battle, lieutenant. Don't forget that." She grinned and took another bite.

"Where I come from my people do not rest." He mumbled before taking in a bite of steak. Mmm. Perfectly juicy. "Though for us sleep and food have become very recent... additions." The way he said 'additions', though, suggested that he thought them more nuisances than necessities.

"Additions that help you preform better, no? If I go to battle with enough rest and food, I'll be more efficient opposed to not getting at all." She shrugged and smiled, looking at Ughaz'udan. She never really understood the obsession that the Jem'hadar had with battle, but it was always surprising to see what they had to say about it.

"We used to need neither food nor sleep. All we would do was go into battle and prepare for battle." He replied tersely. "The loss of dependency on ketracel in recent months forced the need for both upon us. Thus far I have seen and felt no difference in my performance since."

"Try not sleeping for 3 days on end, then we'll speak again." She chuckled a little and shook her head lightly. She knew all too well how it was spending days without sleep. All she had was food and coffee.

"I have." Clearly he was missing the point she was trying to convey. "I did it daily with no issues until after the battle for Empursa."

"Try it now. Try to go three days without sleep now. Then you'll realise how important it really is." She took another bite of her food. "Though don't do it when on-duty. Do it during shore leave or something."

Ah, yes. Shore leave. The one thing he hated more (well, okay, maybe about the same as) than junior officers who thought they could get away with calling him silly nicknames. He'd never had any idea how to clear his shore leave and had always spent it working non-stop aboard the Temer, not that anyone judged him for it. "Perhaps I shall." He muttered after a mouthful of lettuce.

"It'll be fun to see how you'll act after 3 days of being awake. Some friends of mine told me I was basically a walking zombie at that point." She laughed a little, shaking her head slightly as she took another bite.

"What is a zombie?" He asked. Humans and their casual terms - he didn't understand most of it. Was a zombie something he could fight?

"The dead brought back alive." She explained simply. "Never seen any horror films?" She raised an eyebrow slightly.

"No." Ughaz'udan seemed puzzled. Humans drew pleasure from being scared? To his understanding human films were mostly pleasant and in many cases sickeningly sweet, but this was new to him. All the lengths they'd go to keep themselves entertained...

"A shame, really-- What do you do in your free time anyways?" She looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

"Train. Prepare for the next battle ahead. As I always have." He replied. "Find my meals. Sleep. That is usually all."

"So you spend all your free time on training? You don't go out? Socialize?" She was quite surprised by all this. She knew Jem'hadar didn't really like anything non-combative, but this was an extreme.

A brief pause. Maybe a pause stemming from embarrassment on his end. When he finally answered his tone had softened, maybe also out of embarrassment. "My people do not normally socialize. The idea of doing so is very new to me."

"Try it! What could possibly go wrong?" She shrugged and ate some more. She wasn't going to force him to socialize, but boy was she going to suggest it.

"Where would I go? What would I do?" He muttered. "I do not know. I hate not knowing what to do-"

"That, my friend, is for yourself to figure out." She smiled and gave a quick wink before going back to her food.

"...what? Can't I have a straight answer?" Ughaz'udan growled his frustration. "Or is socialization one of those concepts that simply has no concrete defining paremeters?"

"It doesn't have that, no. You just go around and find out." She chuckled a bit.

Marvellous. Simply marvellous. Poor Ughaz'udan sighed an obviously very displeased sigh and shook his head. Find out himself, eh? Well, fine. He'd try and do just that somehow or other, he hadn't been above that as a Second and he still wasn't.

She on the other hand had an amused smile on her face as she ate. She really liked to mess with people here and there, but this result was more than she could've asked for. Nevertheless, she just kept on eating.

"You enjoy this, don't you." He grunted.

"I might be, yeah. That isn't the end of the world, is it?" *She chuckled a little *

"Admittedly, no. It is not." He puffed. "I have faced worse and lived. So I shall survive whatever this is."

"I'm sure you'll be able to manage, Lieutenant. Nothing like s good chat with the crew, no?" She smiled softly at him.

"I... I ah. I..." The poor Jem'hadar looked so befuddled, the poor scaly lug. Maybe he'd never ever had a proper conversation with his crew. "...I truthfully do not know."

"Then you should get out there and try it!" She chuckled and shook her head slightly. "It's simple, really."

"Just go up to someone and talk." He muttered. "Is that it.v

"In a polite, non-ordering voice and tone, yes. Just be casual, be yourself. I bet some people would enjoy talking to you!"

The poor lizard looked so confused afterwards, the poor thing. Polite and non-ordering were all the things he was not - which conflicted with the idea of being himself. Being himself meant being both those things and to be otherwise was nearly unthinkable to him. Urgh, why couldn't this be easy? He was left to sip from his drink in silence in lieu of an actual coherent reply.

Samantha on the other hand stayed quiet. She was just enjoying her meal and had duties to come back to after all this. Though for now, she'd relax for the time being.

After some time he sighed and looked up from his steak. "Who do you suggest I talk to first?"

"People of equal or lower rank, try to connect to your officers and crew. I do that on every posting I'm on to make sure there's a bond of trust and respect. Both bottom-up and top-down the chain of command.

1

Which would not be easy for him. His people did not bother with building bonds among men. You listened to your First and your Vorta or died at the hands of either for not doing so and that was the be all and end all of it. He'd apologized to his crew aboard the Temer of course, for being such a crappy department head (following much forcing himself on his part) and promised to do better and they had in return given their time to help him acclimatize. Oh, well. Maybe the same thing would happen here, he reckoned. "Fine." He grunted. "I will start when I hold my first department wide meeting."

"The sooner you start, the better, lieutenant. Trust takes time to create. The earlier you start, the earlier you'll gain that trust. So why wait until your meeting that's who-knows-when and not start tomorrow when you come across someone?" She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled a little.

"The meeting is at 1500 hours. Later. When I have taken care of what paperwork remains." He replied. "But fine. I will start tomorrow."

"Good to hear. I'm certain a lot of people would be interested in who you are as a person, and chatting would be great practice for you." She grinned and ate some more of her food.

Practice. It was all about practice and repetition wasn't it. Like battle, day in and day out under the Founders' wing. Well, fine. He would just have to endure this new kind of battle - battle to get better at person things that is. "One of my crewmen already dislikes me." He muttered. "One middle aged member of enlisted personnel. I suppose one of my brothers took something from him."

"With all due respect, but the Jem'hadar are a ruthless race. They kill anything that stands in their way, so I wouldn't be surprised if people were holding feelings against you. Your people killed a lot of our people, that's a fact some people have trouble living with."

"I am acutely aware of both facts." He stated. "Even on the Temer I encountered problems - but they were few. Thankfully."

"Then we can only hope this place will have even less issues." She grinned at him and finished her food.

"In this age? Yes. We shall. Because there must be." He murmured seeming slightly out of it. Maybe his mind was on other things - or he just sucked at communication.

She nodded a bit before getting up. "Now, as lovely as this all was. I have some duties to get back to. This was nice, lieutenant. I'll see you around." She grinned, gave a quick wave and walked off.

He left soon after.

James entered the mess hall with a bright, charming smile plastered on his face. He nodded towards the individuals in the mess hall as he went to the replicator and got chicken with ranch and pizza. Ah, a classic in his books. He walked with a pop in his step towards a table near the center of the room. It was vacant but that didn’t matter, there would be plenty of people to meet.

Not long after, Akira made her way in and went straight to the replicators, getting herself a surprising amount of food for such a tiny person. A whole plate of waffles, two cups of passionfruit juice, a tray of sushi as big as her head, you name it? She got it. Though she didn't think it would be so difficult to carry everything around.

22:06

So here we have someone who made poor decisions because of her hunger, about to fall over. "NyetnyetnyetNYETNYE—"

James had just placed a bit of chicken in his mouth as he noticed a person over by the replicators having a bit of a problem. He jumped out of his seat and walked over, helping to stabilize the person. “Whoa! You hungry, eh?” he questioned lightly with a soft chuckle.

She peeked her head through all the plates and sighed in relief, smiling. "Oh, zank you for helping me out! And yeah, i haven't eaten anyzhing since i got here-"

He nodded with a bright smile that quickly faded as she finished her sentence. “That is not good! Glad you’re here to eat. Do you need help with your food?” he had offered out his hands to help.

"Please, i hope you don't mind!" She smiled bashfully, blushing deeply out of embarrassment.

He shook his head with a lighthearted chuckle as he grabbed two of the plates from Akira. “No it’s no problem at all!” he put another smile on his face. “Where to?”

"Maybe zat table in the middle? It's awfully quiet in here." She looked around the nearly empty mess hall. "By ze way, my name is Akira- Though you can call me Kira!"

James noted the table that was next to his. He gave a smile and moved towards the table, setting down the plates before turning to face Kira. “A pleasure to meet you, Kira! Im James!”

"Nice to meet you, James!" She happily replied before sitting down onto the table, placing the other plates down.

James gave a quick nod towards Kira. He moved his plate over to the table that Akira sat at and sat down across from her. "How long have you been with Starfleet?"

She enters with @Niatha┊Rinne and replicates a Bajoran Hasperat and a cup of water before sitting down at a table.

He replicated what looked like... was that a peach smoothie!? Clearly this tough, scaly man had a much softer core than he tried to let on. He joined her at the table sipping awkwardly from the cup in silence. (edited)

"So, why'd you join Starfleet anyway?" She asked curiously before biting into her Hasperat and gulping down a bit of water.

"I was assigned here by Alliance Command. Or rather its newest arm the Allied Fleet Service." He grunted. "To... experience life. Whatever that means."

Hmm." *She said thoughtfully, her mouth full of Hasperat. She swallows before talking again. "Experiencing life huh? That's a good reason, for me I just wanted to do what my parents do without having their shadow of success stress me out."

"Parents." He mused. "My people do not have parents. In a sense I did not grow up like you did."

"That's interesting, who were you close to then? Any brothers or sisters? Friends?" She asks curiously. "There had to be someone."

"No one.' He said plainly. "Jem'hadar do not have families. As a matter of fact we do not even have a concept resembling friends - or female members of our species for that matter."

"Huh, I see. Wait, weren't the Jem'hadar involved in the Dominion war or something?" She asked thoughtfully, thinking back to her history class.

"Yes." He murmured, deadpan. "Thank the Founder named Odo for our induction into the Khitomer Alliance."

"Ah, it was hard then? Being in Dominion? Wasn't there something like...what was it, ketracel white that was used to control you or something?"

"Which we no longer rely upon." He stated, "Yes. There was."

She nods. "That's horrible. Can't imagine being raised like that, let alone living like that."

"I was not raised, ensign. I was never a child in the sense that you know." He deadpanned, eyeing her over the rim of his now half empty cup. "How old do you suppose I am?"

She thinks for a moment. "I'd say about late twenties or early thirties, possibly older. Why?"

"Try a fraction of that number." Ughaz'udan deadpanned. "One fifteenth of your estimate." He found it surprising, though. Did Starfleet officers not learn anything at all about his species save their actions in the Dominion war? Odd.

"A fifteenth? That would make you...like 4 or something?" She said in surprise. "So you really didn't have a childhood. Were you born with a fully developed mind or did you just develop quickly?"

"I have looked the way I do since eighty-four hours of age." He deadpanned once more. "I'm afraid I cannot answer the second part of your question. Even I do not know exactly how it worked."

"Wow, I see what they meant by experiencing life now. I assume you were made for the sole purpose of battle? I can try to help if you'd like. Just ask." She takes another bite of her food.

"How do you intend to help, exactly?" He raised a scaly eyebrow at her. "I am genuinely curious."

"I don't know, answer any questions you have about society? I bet it's different coming from an all military like background to here. I kind of relate to that in a way. Most of my family are in the Bajoran Militia, the other half is in Intelligence so my family is run on strict military rules."

"Do you." Interesting, this one's background was, he reckoned. He'd admittedly never met any others like her up till this point. Somehow. "I have... very many questions. Most would be trivial to you in fact. You might bore of hearing them."

"Try me, I have younger siblings. I can handle it." She reassures him. "So, what's the first question?" She asked him curiously.

"What is it like exactly to... be a child?" He asked. Yes, a loaded question right at the start.

"Well, it's a curious thing actually. Being young, your mind can't process things like we can currently. So your always in a kind of ignorant innocence. No one really listens to you because you don't know what your talking about but you can hang out and just simply have fun. You have no responsibilities or work so your just kind of free."

"To do anything you'd like?" He sounded incredulous, and possibly for good reason. Living as a Jem'hadar there was no freedom, well, not in the sense she was used to in any case. Fight, train, fight, train, more recently eat and rest, fight, train, repeat. That was the usual daily routine. "What do children end up doing since they are 'free', then."

"Playing games, with their friends and family or by themselves. I used to play in a field near my house with my siblings. I also used to listen to my grandparents tell stories about their resistance cell and the occupation."

Ughaz'udan found himself simply nodding along to what she said. He had no concept of any of those things (in this context, at least) - except stories, perhaps, and even then not much of those either.

"Maybe I can try to show you on the holodeck. Or maybe we could play Kadis Kot or something. Something kids like to do. Maybe go to the pool and play around with a beach ball? Something like that."

"Simple things." He summarized. "Perhaps we shall see. One day." Him, a six foot five tall scaly giant playing with a beach ball? The image was almost comical, probably.

She nodded and finished up her food, wiping her hands with a napkin before getting up. "Anyway, I think I'll head back to my quarters now. See you later, Lieutenant."

"The same to you. I shall not keep you." He responded.

After which he departed for the hallway.

Ava picked up a bowl of porridge with fruit and honey and some orange juice. With a smile, she settled at one of the tables. While she ate, she checked the messages on her PADD. Styre had written to her about the Vulcan lessons and she wanted to reply. She also had someone else she wanted to write to…

Ava was tempted to send a message to Austin as well. Just to say good morning and ask how he’s doing… But she ended up not doing it. She didn’t want to seem like she was trying too hard. Besides, she’d specifically asked him to take it slow, so spamming him now would be quite hypocritical. Ava finished her breakfast, cleaned away the table, and headed out the door.

“So, what are you eating?” Ava asked the Jem’Hadar as she went towards the replicator.

"I will decide when I've browsed the replicator menu. I find that other species have... ever intriguing... ways of food preparation." He deadpanned. Well, that was the best way to put it, really, without being too offensive. After flicking through the menu he tapped on a random option, which materialized a bowl of ramen topped with sliced meat.

“Hm, interesting choice. What do you Jem’Hadar usually eat?” Ava took a few slices of bread with different toppings such as guacamole and paprika cream. She also took some water and then walked towards a table for two.

"We did not." He murmured. Had she not taken basic Federation history back at Starfleet Academy? Surely even she should've known about his people's history. "Until last year. Take it as us now needing to... explore."

“Oh, yeah, right, I remember!” As she sat down, she shook her head at herself. “Sorry, sometimes history facts slip from my mind. How are you liking food so far? Have any preferences yet?” She bit into a bread as she waited for a reply.

[PADD] Ava Lopez @Deleted User

What is this feeling brewing in my Heart? Why do I feel so big yet so small? I feel I could make the sea part. All she would need to do is call. A smile that can light up a room. A mind that begs for me to stay a while. A laugh that can conquer all gloom. A look that can give me the widest smile As we discuss the deep ocean blue. I take a look into your eyes so bright. I can assure you my intentions are true. For you there is no one I wouldn't fight. Will you come to the ball with me, Austin Whidbey

Ava heard her PADD ping. She decided she would look at it in a second, not wanting to be disrespectful.

"Anything containing peaches." He ignored the ping from her PADD for now; that wasn't his concern. He sat down with her at a window seat and dug in with a satisfied grunt. "Especially... peach cobbler? Is that what humans call them?"

“Oh, that’s good, yes!” Ava agreed, then she pulled out her PADD. “You don’t mind, do you? I need to send some messages before my shift starts. I don’t want to be disrespectful, though.”

"No. I do not." He replied. "Will you be attending the weekend dance?"

“Um, I don’t know yet,” said Ava truthfully. Then, she took some time to look at her PADD. She’d just been meaning to pen an authorisation request and send it to Starfleet Command, but then she saw Austin’s message. As her eyes hurried over the lines, her heart nearly stopped. Austin had written a sonnet! For her!!! Being a poetry lover and emotional as she was, she felt water welling up in her eyes. She covered her mouth with one hand, utterly speechless. She read the words a second time and a third time. She wanted to memorise them all. And then the last line… “Oh, my God,” she muttered and a tear of joy ran down her cheek. Shit, she was actually crying over a PADD message! To be fair, it wasn’t the first time she’d done that. She laughed in disbelief.

Ughaz'udan raised an eyebrow - and then he deadpanned, "You are reading your latest message from lieutenant Whidbey, the contents of which are most likely about his affections for you or otherwise in that same vein - and which you like very much." He barely gave her a chance to reply before clarifying, "The look in your eyes and the manner in which he looked at you in the turbolift made that much clear to me. I have learned that it is a human courtship practice to send the targer of their affections messages intended for the purpose."

Ava blinked and stared at Ughaz’udan for a second. “I… You…” She cleared her throat and wiped her tears away. The smile on her lips however, she couldn’t wipe away. Then, she said, “You’re right. It… it looks like I will be going to the ball. To answer your previous question.” She bit her lip in excitement and grinned. Her heart rate was still accelerated and she felt giddy.

With that same flat face he continued, though perhaps with a hint of amusement now, "I served aboard an Allied Fleet Service vessel for six months. Many of the women on board reacted similarly in such circumstances." Not that he'd know much about courtship rites and so on, of course.

Ava blushed a little. “I can imagine,” she said. She typed back a reply to Austin before looking back up at the Jem’Hadar. “Um, so, what about you? Are you going to the ball with anyone?”

"Nurse Swift from sickbay will be going with me." He replied, seemingly having completely missed any implications that may have had. "But I will not dance."

Ava chuckled a little. She was still blown away by Austin’s poem. “Are you and Swift dating?” she asked. It was logical to assume.

"No." He deadpanned, possibly shattering the adorable little image of this scaly, muscled lug dating the pink-haired human three quarters his size. "I was told that your companion for the dance does not need to be one you are attracted to. I agreed when he extended me the invitation as I was told it is tradition to come with company."

Ava nodded. “Oh, yeah, sure. You don’t have to be dating your ball date. Oftentimes, people are accompanied by friends.” She smiled and ate her bread again. She’d forgotten about the authorisation request. “I haven’t met Nurse Swift. What are they like?”

"I am not sufficiently familiar with him to deliver such an asseesment." He replied, "Though we will be meeting later on the holodeck..." Once again utterly missing any insinuations that admission carried with it.

Nova entered and around before locating the replicator. She walked over and ordered a cup of coffee. She found a table in the corner and sat down drinking her coffee in silence.

“Huh,” said Ava to Ughaz’udan and sipped her water. “So you’re just now befriending him? That’s fun. It’s good to know your crew mates!” Ava smiled.

"Yes - and yes, that is... correct." He admitted, though he couldn't help but admit that he and the human were different as night and day. Maybe they'd be too much for each other. "I still have not thought of a suitable activity for us to do."

“Do you know of any things that he likes doing?” While Ava said this, she remembered that she still wanted to write to Starfleet Command. Quickly, she started typing while simultaneously eating and talking to Ughaz’udan. She was a multitasking talent indeed.

"Not at the moment. Though I am sure I will inevitably learn." He remarked sagely. "Is that not the same for all relationships?"

Ava nodded. “Yes, yes it is,” she confirmed in-between bites. “Maybe you’ll have to just try out some of the things that can be done on the holodeck! Like, cooking, playing a game, skiing.” She smiled at the last one, remembering her time with Austin.

"Or I may find an outfit for the ball." He suggested - well, mostly to himself. "It would benefit us both."

“Huh, that’s a good idea!” She took a moment to read over her message then she gave a satisfied nod and sent it.

To: @Gamemaster  From: Lt. JG. Ava Lopez  Regarding: Authorisation of civilian scientist on starbase 777 [two attachments] Starfleet Command, This is Ava Lopez, scientist assigned to starbase 777 and the U.S.S. Eventide. My coworker Lieutenant Georgia Hill’s daughter, Jasmine Hill, has come to visit us on the starbase. She was authorised by CSO Lieutenant Lilian So to visit the laboratory under my supervision. As I spent time with her and showed her my work, I quickly found her to be a highly intelligent and helpful assistant with a high work ethic. She is extraordinarily smart for her age. She has since then expressed her wish to remain aboard the starbase for a longer period of time, both to receive training and help me with my work. Her mother is supportive of her decision to stay. I hereby request authorisation to take Jasmine Hill as my official assistant for the duration of her stay on the starbase. Despite her young age, she is in my eyes fit to be given the responsibilities, rights, and duties of a civilian scientist. I am aware you might be concerned to give a teenager such a position, but I am positive that under my supervision she will perform admirably at worst. I believe that her young age is beneficial, as it gives her a sharp, uninfluenced mind full of new ideas. In the attachment you will find Jasmine Hill’s file as well as references of previous experience. I know that having her as my assistant would help me greatly in my continuous studies and I am sure you will find her to be fit for authorisation. Lt. JG. Ava Lopez chemist and biologist on starbase 777 extraneous officer to the U.S.S. Eventide

15:33

Ava then put away her PADD and looked at her conversation partner again. “I guess I should find something to wear to the ball as well, now that you mention it.”

Finishing her coffee she left.

[D]After talking to Ughaz’udan for a little while and finishing her food, Ava headed to work.

She staggered into the mess hall before replicating herself some alderinian stew and falling asleep in her seat.

Georgia had made her way into the mess hall after some time, getting herself some food before sitting down at a table. As she ate, she was reading a pair of documents on her PADD.

Maggie was sitting at a nearby table when the Lieutenant sat down. She lightly waved before returning to her sandwich.

She gave a wave back and smiled warmly at the ensign. "Afternoon, Ensign! How are you?" She asked as she put her PADD down for a moment.

Maggie smiled as she turned to look at the Lieutenant. “Afternoon sir! How are you today?” She said with a cheery tilt of her head.

She gave a slight chuckle at her reaction, smiling. "I'm doing well, thank you." She said with a grateful nod. "I'm Georgia Hill, pleased to meet you."

Maggie blinked. “Oh! I think I met your daughter in the physics lab. She’s very bright if I do say so myself.” She said with a large grin.

"You met Jasmine? That's quite interesting." She said with a soft chuckle. "I heard a few words about you when she got back, she seemed quite excited about you! Maggie, was it?" She said with a grin of her own, raising her eyebrow slightly.

Maggie smiled with a light winkle in her eyes. “Oh? What did she say? And yes! I’m Maggie. Lovely to meet you?”

"Oh, quite a lot of positive things, really! How you were willing to help her, how polite you were and how you were a joy to talk to!" She said with a warm grin.

Maggie smiled as she looked towards the woman. “Well your daughter is such a lovely young woman! She’s super bright, and she’s a joy to talk to!”

"I'm glad to hear you think so! She does try to put on he rest behaviour when in public." She said with a chuckle. "But do tell me, what did you two talk about? She's never really tells the finer details of things."

*Oh not much! We just spoke about her studies and her arm! I offered to tutor her on physics if she needed it! That’s my area of study.”

"Oh, thank goodness you're willing to help. She's been having quite a lot of trouble with that subject lately." She said with a chuckle. "Apart from astrophysics, she knows that pretty well."

Maggie nodded as she ate her meal with a grin. “Oh she’s very bright! I’m sure she would get it down in no time, i’ll just accelerate the process!”

"I'm sure of it, Maggie. You seem like a very sweet person, I bet you and Jasmine will get along perfectly fine." She said with a grin of her own before returning to her food.

She gave a large smile in return. “Yeah! I can’t believe she built her arm? It’s super cool!” She said with a chuckle. “She spoke very highly of you as well!”

"You don't have to remind me of that. Her room is filled with cybernetic components, tools and whatnot. it's a mess!" She said with a laugh before looking back at Maggie. "Did she? Goodness, she never stops doing that."

“Oh yes! She said you were very sweet! Which is very clearly true.” She said with a grin.

"I'm going to have a talk with that girl so that she stops doing these things. I'm scared that I'll have a million people on my doorstep asking for dinner or something if she continues." She said with a laugh.

Maggie laughed as she looked towards the woman. “I said I’d come over to lunch and help her if it was okay with you! I don’t want to crowd the quarters.”

"Oh! She said so, yes! About that, just shoot me a message the day before and then you'll be able to drop by around noon!" She said with a wide grin. Seemed she didn't mind the asking.

The Bajoran security ensign entered the mess hall quietly before replicating herself a Hasperat and sinking into one of the chairs. She was putting the finishing touches on her report and was double checking to see if everything was right. She didn't want to be half the security officer she was supposed to be.

4

The awkward lanky human made his way in, leaning his head a bit to the side when he entered because he actually did hit his head with everything the last time he went to the mess hall without paying attention. Going to the replicators, he ordered nothing more than a plate of waffles with condensed milk, one of his favorite little things to eat when he wasn't particularly hungry, just yearning for food. He soon noticed the Bajoran ensign and waved a bit at her, smiling awkwardly. "Oh! 'Ello there!"

She looked up and hastily threw a smile on her face. "Hello! Your... Pendleton right? We met at the pool? How have things been going for you with..." Her expression faltered a moment before lifting back up. "With everything?" She asked curiously before placing her PADD down with a clunk. Having finished her report, putting in all the details and everything that could possibly be of importance inside, she was free for conversation. Something that could take her mind off of the Lieutenant's words perhaps.

"Ye—....." Oh... Oh he just remembered. His face immediately began burning up at the memory of how he just- Froze, right in front of Emin and a Lieutenant. When he finally snapped back into reality, he just sputtered out words to form a single coherent sentence. "W-with me? I- Er- I-i'm certainly trying, with... Erm- Everything that happened. Yes, the... Uh, tremors. Explosion." He smiled a little, even though he was so nervous his shoulders were as tense as a wooden board.

She smiled friendly. "Yeah, it was pretty chaotic wasn't it? I was in the utility hallway when it happened, had to go to the promenade and help everyone out. Then one of the Ferengi started looting and then took hostages...it was a whole mess but it was resolved eventually." She took another bite of her Hasperat, she refrained from telling him about the Reman's capture. "Where were you when it happened?" She asked curiously.

He tried to come up with something heroic, but just sighed and mumbled out as he cut a piece of his waffle, "I got stuck in my quarters right before the PACT... My doors jammed and i tried everything to get out, but nothing worked. So i stayed there."

"Ah, well at least you kept safe." She pointed out. "Didn't see the chaos raging out and about in the promenade. It was much worse than it would have been if PACT Galactica hadn't been going on but I think that was the point of the bomb in the first place." She said thoughtfully.

Wheatley gulped nervously, fiddling around with his fingers. "I-i see. Well! In this case, er- Great news, whoever did it was detained!.... Right?- Not that i doubt our security officers, but-" And he rambled on and on and on....

"Well...kinda, the Reman who did it had no idea what she was doing. Or the outcome for that matter, she was instructed to do so by someone else without the knowledge that what she had with her was an explosive." She explained. "But yes, they are detained and we're trying to figure out who was responsible."

"Ah..." He mumbled, looking down at the ground. "....how many casualties were there? Just... Just to know, anyway. So I can help with whatever the other engineers hadn't done. It.... It sounds even worse than i thought."

She grimaced. "Well there were the causalities from the explosion of course but many were injured on the way out to evacuate." She said before taking another bite of her food. "Was pretty much chaos in the promenade when I first arrived."

"I see...." He sighed sadly, taking a bite out of the waffle with a decent amount of condensed milk. "I hope the wounded will be on tip top shape soon."

She nodded. "I do too." She finished up her food. "Well anyway, I've got to go. I'll see you around Pendleton." She nodded before leaving.

He was about to wave to her, but she left mid-wave and he sighed, putting his hand down.

It didn't take long for Wheatley to finish eating, but he had no rush so he just sat there and began watching something on his PADD.

19:23

"Huh, would you look at that..."

Bubble bubble does and goes. Ken walked in and ordered some food, then he took a seat somewhere at the table in the corner of the mess hall, slowly eating away.

He noticed Ken walking in and quirked an eyebrow before giving him a wave, smiling a little.

He didn't take note of the lieutenant, simply continuing eating his food. It seemed he wasn't looking for any interaction.

Meanwhile Wheatley just shrugged to himself and lowered his hand, continuing with watching his things on the PADD.

".....You know what." He got up and stuffed his PADD back into his satchel before making his way to Ken's table, waving a little. "Hello! Mind if I sit next to you, mate?"

"Yes." He stated as he looked up at the Lieutenant for a moment looking back at his food and continuing to eat. What a fun roommate this was going to be.

"....ah. Well- In this case, maybe later." He coughed awkwardly and skittered away.

He grunted slightly and rubbed his head. "Wait-" He called out as Wheatley scurried away. "I apologize. That was rude. Take a seat."

He was about to sit down when Ken called out, immediately perking up. His eyes visibly lightened up and he went over, going to take a seat in front of him. "Thank you for changing your mind, mate! You must be.... Lt. JG. Richards, am i correct?"

"Doctor Richards, yes." He gave a nod of approval. "And you are?" He raised his eyebrow slightly, taking a sip from his tea. He wasn't surprised his name was known seeing his earlier encounter with Ensign Ellanor.

"I'm Pendleton, Wheatley Pendleton. Nice to meet you." He smiled, pushing up his glasses.

He gave a nod towards him and then a bite of his food. "A pleasure." He stated calmly, but there was a slight sense of sarcasm to it.

She entered the mess hall and made her way to the replicator before replicating herself Andorian krill beast steak and jumja tea and sitting down at the closest table. Taking out her padd, she began looking through a book she was reading.

Anastasia didn’t have any food with her, although she did have a couple drinks before her fellow Ensign walked in. Often times she came in here for no reason at all, and if she did have anything to eat, it was often at night when less people were around in here. The woman acknowledged Emin, looking at her for a second as she walked in and taking her eyes off of here once she had sat down.

She nodded and gave the Ensign a smile and put down her padd. "Hello, how are things?" She asked in polite curiosity. "I'm Ensi-Junior Lieutenant Emin, by the way."

“Oh um.. hi!” Anastasia looked up and spoke softly. Sometimes she got a bit nervous talking to new people, but she did enjoy making friends despite it sometimes not seeming that way. “Ensign Chekova, but I don’t care about formalities. call me Nasti.”

"Well then Nasti, nice to meet you." She grinned, in an extremely good mood. "So how have things been, actually...have you been here long? I don't think I've seen you around before, then again I only came here myself about two months ago."

She seemed friendly and easy to talk to, although Anastasia was still somewhat guarded. She did relax a little though. “I only just got here. I finished advanced tactical training recently and got reassigned. That reassignment was here.” Anastasia was a fairly young officer, her only previous assignment being on a ship right before she returned to the academy to complete this course. While she didn’t expect to be transferred, the reason why they did so did make her excited.

"That's cool, tactical is great!" She paused. "Yes, tactical is great. Just don't go around doing security things!" She half-joked. "So where are you from?" She asked curiously to make conversation.

Anastasia laughed a little. She was an extremely proficient fighter and could definitely do such things, but found herself to be more interested in the tactical side of things, hence why she picked it. “You’re asking a question even I can’t answer” She playfully responded, although this was the truth. She didn’t claim any home planet as she didn’t have enough of a connection with any specific one. “I’m human, Russian. But I grew up on a federation ship so I don’t really consider Earth my home planet.”

"Makes sense." She nodded. "I'm from Hathon on Bajor, came to Starfleet to kind of escape my family's legacy in a way. Make my own." She took a bite of her food. "I like to think I'm succeeding with how everything is going right now. Wait, by just now did you mean today?" She asked curiously.

Anastasia nodded in response. It seemed that their stories were almost entirely opposite. Emin joined Starfleet to do something different from what her family had done, and Anastasia joined because it was all she had ever known and all she could ever imagine herself doing. “Wouldn’t know what that’s like, A couple people in my family have served. Shit, I’m the third one.”

"I'm the first, and while I'm technically doing the same thing as my family nobody is here to keep bringing up their accomplishments." She chuckled. "Their all in the Bajoran Militia or Bajoran Intelligence."

She had always found it interesting to hear the origins of other people, as the backgrounds of the many Starfleet officers out there all varied so much from each other. Although she definitely found it much cooler to hear about races that differ from her own’s stories. “Kinda like my family, almost. My great great grandpa served, skipped a few generations and then came me and my dad.”

"That's pretty cool." She said in an upbeat tone. "So what got you into tactical? Was it your dad or was he something else?" She asked curiously. "I was very close into going into that, though I suppose I can always switch over since I have the training."

“Oh, no. My dad was with engineering.” She confirmed. How she got into it was a bit difficult for her to talk about, at least fully. “Let’s just say I… had a lot of free time as a kid and got really interested in reading everything my dad’s ship had in their logs about their weaponry.” she was a little hesitant to speak, which was why she didn’t specify why she had as much free time as she did.

"My grandparents taught me everything I know, my brother has taught me alot too. My parents haven't been around as much as I'd like but they've taught me a few helpful things." She smiled warmly. "I think I'm going to padd them later. Anyway, yeah. Weaponry is pretty interesting, Ferengi energy whips are absolutely great. I got one recently when I went on my first mission although I'm probably not going to use it during field missions. I'm a great shot with phasers though, and knives are great. Do you have a favorite fighting technique?" She asked curiously.

“I started muay thai years ago, and got a lot better at jiu jitsu while taking advanced tactical training. Mixing them both tends to work best for me. Jiu jitsu can get opponents on the ground in seconds, and muay thai is a pretty versatile form of kickboxing.” She explained. She spent a lot of her teenage years practicing martial arts, and was able to get extremely good at it. Fighting was probably her strongest point, as she could easily take down people twice her size should she need to. “You know what’s really cool though? Reman and Klingon blades.”

"Oh they most definitely are, the mek'leths are one of my favorite blades out there." She agreed. "I've learned Kormerek, Mok'bara, and Krav maga from when I was on Earth but before that I learned some other things from my family." She explained. "I'm probably the best at armed combat but my marksmanship is pretty good."

“Maybe we can spar someday?” She asked, definitely excited about the possibility. She mostly wanted to test her own abilities, but thought it’d be cool to see what Emin was capable of as well.

"That would be great." She nodded with an eager smile. "From what you've said your pretty good, I'm excited to see what you can do."

Anastasia smiled back, only finding herself more excited now that Emin had agreed. She loved doing this with others on the ship she was assigned to before transferring, and was more than ready to start doing it again with her new crewmates

"Well I've got to go." She got up from her seat. "I'll see you later Nasti!" She nodded her head and gave a two fingered wave before she exiting the mess.

After Emin had left and Nasti had finished doing whatever she was doing in here, she got up and exited the room

He entered and walked to the replicators. He was short, around five foot three, and weighed maybe one hundred and thirty eight pounds, his face and the way he walked betrayed he was in his mid-thirty's. He replicated a steak and a container of steak fries before moving to a seat by the door and began to eat

George walked inside the mess hall to have coffee; he grabs an empty cup from the table and pours coffee from the coffee machine into the cup. then he saw a familiar person sitting alone, he walk towards his direction holding a cup of coffee, as he approached he asked "Hi, do you want to have a coffee?"

He looked up from his food "Uh... I'm good..." He said with a quiet and rough voice, he did motion for him to have a seat "You can have a seat I guess..."

George sat down infront of him in the vacant chair while still holding a cup of coffee. "Thank you. Btw, I'm George " He smiled and extended his hand to handshake with him.

He slowly nodded and shook the man's hand firmly before releasing it and taking a bite of his steak "Ensign Weber..." He said in the same rough and quiet tone, he didn't offer his first name to the man, instead, he just ate a fry and hoped that this man didn't try to force a friendship on him

"How long have you been on this ship?" He asked him a friendly question and then took a sip from his cup of coffee

"How long I've been on the ship...? Oh, you mean the station. I've been here for only three, three and a half days." He said flippantly "First posting..." He added after taking a few bites of his steak

"Sorry about my words. I'm just a new, I'm not familiar too much" He smiles awkwardly

"As am I..." He shrugged "This is my first posting..." He repeated in a slightly, just slightly annoyed tone. He ate a few steak fries

He finished his coffee and stood up from his chair "Thank you, Weber for little chitchat. I hope, we'll get along" George smiled

"I... hope so to..." He said bluntly, he was lying, that was the last thing he wanted to happen, but the ensign in front of him didn't need to know that... He took another bite of his steak before nodding the him

George smiled and went outside the mess hall

He finished his meal and a few minutes later he left as well

A few hours after the meeting with the Lieutenant he was still slightly stung from the talk with him, the Lieutenant basically called him out for sticking with what he had been trained to do, once more reinforcing the fact that he felt everyone hated him for the past no one knew about. He walked to the replicator and replicated a whiskey, he knew it was synthahol, but he needed something to trick his mind into thinking it was getting something to help with the mental pain he was feeling but wouldn't actually mess with him

Hop came into the room wearing baggy, fluffy pajamas and carrying Brody under one arm. She looked extremely tired, probably because she was. Though it was self-inflicted. She had stayed up three hours past her normal bedtime working on the blueprint design for her Someday Ship's warp coils. The drafting stylus was still behind one of her ears, nearly lost under the wild mop of blonde hair. She got herself a plate of nachos with extra hot sauce that she knew she would regret in the morning, but couldn't care less about right now. She wanted nachos. She turned her tired eyes to the room to look for somewhere to sit. There was a guy standing next to her with the distinct look of someone who'd just gotten yelled at. "Rough day, huh?" She asked as she rolled her wheelchair towards a table.

He looked to the ensign beside him and shrugged, she started to conversation, no reason to be rude... he replicated another container of fries as a snack and followed her to the table "Yeah... I... think that Lieutenant Whidbey is going to hate me pretty soon." He said ruefully, he quickly began cursing himself for talking to this ensign about stuff she probably didn't know about or needed to know about, but he couldn't seem to stop that part from forcing it's way out of him.

"What'd you get in trouble for?" She asked as she scooted herself in and started munching, licking cheese sauce and refried beans off her fingers as she dug in. The last time Hop had gotten chewed out it was for dropping one of her robots off the top of the bell tower on campus to see how it handled high velocity dives. It had smashed into the pavement right beside her physics professor. She had gotten herself extra community service hours for the next month, as well as being banned from the tops of all campus buildings. But she guessed this person had not nearly murdered their Lt. with a robot from a high place.

"I haven't gotten in trouble yet... I just believe that our personalities don't match..." He said roughly and quietly as he sat and drank a good portion of the synthahol in a single swig. "I was trained in all of the ways he seems to hate..." He added with a rueful chuckle. This was worse than basic training in the sense of having people on you at all times... Whidbey hated the very thing he strived for, the regimentally of Starfleet, the structure, the rigidity. The very reason he didn't stay with the counselors on earth... and Whidbey wanted to get rid of it...

"Sometimes it do be like that." She replied, "All you can do is your best. If it isn't good enough, then..." She shrugged, "We do our best." "There was a guy in my class back at the Academy: brilliant dude, way smarter than the rest of us. He coulda built every one of our battlebots by himself, and probably woulda done it better than the robotics club. But he didn't wanna join us cuz he felt like none of us liked him. Really not sure why he thought that. None of us had ever had a bad interaction with him, per say. He was just awkward and hard to talk to... I always wondered if we woulda beat the Romulan Engineering Corps if he'd just given it a try."

"Never got much into robotics... then again... I typically stayed by myself at the academy..." He said roughly, his voice and talk made it very easy to recognize that he was much older than most ensigns, he was probably in his mid thirties despite the rank. In his mind he was really betraying to much but for some reason he just felt the urge to talk, he needed to talk to someone, someone who wasn't a counselor... He tried to keep his voice even as he spoke but there was a slight shakiness to it

Though she was groggy, and hungry, the wavering in his voice didn't escape Hop's notice. This guy'd really had a bad day. "Not a party guy, huh? I can respect that. Though most of my security friends are hardcore partiers. Guess you feel kinda alone?" She asked as she strategically stuffed a loaded chip that was rather too large in her mouth. It would be a moment before she could talk again.

"I... most of my friends are long since gone..." He said grimly after a long, thoughtful second, his tone still rough and hard "No reason to waste time that can be put to work..." He added with clear finality. He had made zero, absolutely zero friends since the program ended, he spend five years doing nothing but work, following the counselors orders to talk to him, doing everything he was told to do, Except for talking to others, he refused to do it, it was already painful enough losing Erin and his other friends when the program ended... he couldn't let it happen again, he barely recovered from the last time...

After swallowing, she gave a little smile and said: "Guess I'd have a bad feeling about a new department and everything too, if I didn't wanna do anything but work." She nodded understandingly. It had been a few years since she'd felt that sort of need to retreat, but she definitely knew what he was talking about. "People are scary sometimes."

He just nodded grimly, reliving that moment where his life was turned off suddenly and a new one switched on. He had been talking to Erin... he had been giving her a quick hug before her shift at work began... and she was there one second, gone the next... He took a deep breath... and a second one that was ragged "She was the only one that I could trust always..." He muttered softly, he didn't mean for the ensign to hear that, but it was said aloud as he spoke in a much rougher voice, he downed the rest of the synthahol and mad as he if was going to stand but didn't. he just stayed there, his hands planted on the table as if about to push him up

"She sounds like she was a good friend." Hop said, also in a low voice, and she gave one of his hands a gentle pat. It was a simple gesture, one that had gotten her into a little trouble recently, but she felt like he needed it. Whoever 'she' was, she had clearly been very important, and from the tone of his voice and the state this guy was in right now, Hop guessed that 'she' was no longer with him.

He stayed still for a minute, then nodded slowly "She..." He paused, swallowing and then taking a deep breath before trying to speak again "She really was...: He said with another deep swallow and a shaky breath... it had been five years... five... insufferable years... he could still see her face clearly, it was as if he was able to request leave and once it got approved go see her at any time, he even had her picture in his quarters, sitting next to the bed, just as if she was gone for a few days... "Sorry..." He said suddenly, forcing the majority of the emotion out of his voice "I don't need to dump this on you..." He said with a slight shakiness, get it under control... 'stuff like this is what pisses the counselor off because it messes with your mental state...' He thought to himself, the counselor was never mad with him in reality, but he read the counselors occasional exasperated sigh as hatred and so that's how it was labeled

1

She chose to ignore his apology for the moment. He probably felt pretty weird opening up to a kid who technically never made it out of the Academy. "She'd probably be happy to know that you miss her so much." Hop smiled up at him compassionately, focusing in on the really important thing he'd said. "And sad that you have to."

He nodded again and finally moved out of that about to stand position, one hand coming up to his face and wiping away the beginning glint of a tear "She probably would be..." He said with a ragged nod and tone 'if she ever was real...' he added to himself. That, the 'if they were real part' was what always frustrated the counselor, they'd make progress, only to have Weber regress by saying those five words. He was bitter about it, he had become attached to a machine representation of someone who had died almost two hundred years before he was created... but he still felt the love for her... "It..." He started raggedly before stopping, he swallowed and took a deep breath, he looked down and saw the smile, he tried to return it as if nothing was wrong, but it just betrayed a grim sadness

With a respectful quiet, Hop twisted around in her chair and dug a handkerchief out of her bag. She slid it across the table to him. Sometimes people just needed to cry. There was no shame in it. It felt good to get the frustration, anger, and sadness out: no words necessary. And sometimes, it helped to have someone to cry with. That was okay too. When you're by yourself, oftentimes you don't let yourself cry. You tell yourself you're better than that; stronger than that. Sometimes you just need another person to help loosen up those emotions so they came out. Hop was pretty sure that was what had been going on with this guy. He kept stopping himself before he said something important. He was getting in his own way.

He gave her another grim smile and took a deep, shaking, and ragged breath as he managed to not start sobbing, but a few tears forced their way out as he wiped them away with a sharp exhale, he put a hand up to his forehead and cupped his hand around his eyes as he looked down, his body shaking softly as he cried into his hand. He didn't say anything, his mind running through everything that had happened to him, the program ending, the year of pure questions and counselor appointments, feeling everyone was always going to stab him in the back if they found out about his past... this was his first time Ever lowering his shield around people in general, much less a person he had just met

She continued to just be kinda quiet. The guy was crying now, even if he was still trying to hold it in. It was better than nothing. She got out a water bottle from her bag and also slid it across the table to him. He'd want it in a few minutes. This poor guy must have gone through something horrific. Who knew how many years of pent-up emotions he had tearing through his mind! They had talked about trauma at the Academy, a little. But this was the first time Hop had seen it for real. Her own eyes were beginning to water as she watched the guy. She wanted very badly to give him a hug, but she didn't want to disturb him. He needed to get this out.

He continued to cry softly, he really didn't want to, he wanted nothing to be that hard, confident guy that he always betrayed but he couldn't seem to stop, after a minute two of purging those pent up emotions he seemed to have stop crying but he kept his hand over his eye

"You're gonna be okay." She finally said, gently pushing the handkerchief closer to him. He was probably feeling ashamed right now. Hop knew that she probably would. She too, was guilty of hiding emotions sometimes.

He wiped his face with his hands before swallowing and taking a ragged breath "No... not for a... long time..." He said haltingly, his voice hard and rough, he hated that he had shown so much emotion to a person he didn't even know the name of,He hated that he dumped his problem's on someone else that probably had more problems than he did

"But someday, you will be. You don't have to be now." She reassured, "It's okay to be broken." She gave his hand some more gentle pats. "And it's okay to cry about it, too."

"I... can't be broken and be useful..." He said firmly, his voice still hard and ragged. He took a shuddering breath and wiped his face again, trying to get rid of the signs he had been crying

"That so?" Hop asked, putting her arms on the arm rests of her wheelchair and drumming her fingers. While she didn't view herself a broken, she was undoubtedly less capable of some things than others. It wasn't something she viewed as needing changing, but others often did. Perhaps the allegory would help. "You know there are a lot of ways someone can be useful, right? Just because you can't do some things, doesn't make you incapable of all things."

"Yes..." He said after a second "But I can not afford for this to happen during my shift..." He added, it wasn't fine that this happened now, and he was beating himself up for it, He swallowed, but at least it didn't happen during the talk with the Lieutenant or even on duty... he'd never forgive himself for that one...

“That’s fair. There’s a time and a place for everything.” She nodded, “And having a breakdown in the middle of tackling a bad guy would be a little inconvenient.” She smiled a little, hoping to bring some levity to the situation.

He nodded, taking a much more easy breath as he got himself under relative control, she hit his fear right on the head... he took a hand away from his face shakily snatched a fry from his container and ate it, he took another breath "So... sorry..." He said after a second

She gave a small shrug: “It’s late, man. We all do weird stuff when we’re tired. Like, last time I pulled an all-nighter for an exam, I had to take laps around my dorm building while doing flash cards so I wouldn’t fall asleep.”

"Yeah... I remember doing something like that both timed I took the entrance exams... passed both thankfully..." He said casually, but he immediately regretted it, both times... the time he had to do it to MACO, and when he joined Starfleet...

“You didn’t get in the first time?” She asked, assuming that he meant he’d had to try twice to get into the Academy.

"I did..." He said before realizing the mistake, his mind had wandered and he had forgotten that he had basically said that he had taken two. "...N't." He added, it was a clear fact that he had purposely added that "n't" as an afterthought

She raised an eyebrow, but was too tired to pry. She leaned back in her chair and began munching on her nachos again. "Well fine, then. Keep your secrets." She laughed a little. "I'm just glad I don't gotta pass any more exams. They're so stressful!"

"They... are... I prefer getting shot at to taking them..." He said with a rueful chuckle, he was clearly doing better now, it had been just the stress and then the Lieutenant seeming to go after his training, and then just talking about... her... had seemed to break him

"Well, I don't know about that. The only time's I've ever been shot at, it was in a drill, and the phasers were on stun. Not the most pleasant experience" She chuckled, scratching the back of her head. The stylus that had been lost in her hair dropped to the floor. She turned and stared at it tiredly for a moment. "So that's where you went." She said after a moment of processing.

'"Where I went?" He asked with confusion, his voice still rough but not half as shakily "What do you mean?" He added with the same confused tone

"Huh?" Hop asked, looking up at him and blinking owlishly, "No, no! The pen!" She said quickly, stretching her arm out and grabbing it to show to him, "It disappeared earlier, and I didn't know where it went!" She laughed, "I'm so tired!"

"Ah..." He said, he laughed a genuine laugh at that, the sadness was till there, but not as bad as it was when he had been crying "I... thank you for allowing me to... release it... without judging me..." He added in a rough and awkward tone

"You're welcome!" She just smiled as she stuck the stylus back in her hair. She was glad he was feeling better. "We all need a good cry sometimes. My last time was when I wrecked my robots with a faulty wire. Had to redo months of electronics."

He nodded again and reached for another fry, his hand still shaking softly as he put it in his mouth and began to chew slowly "I know how to take apart a phase pistol in under three minutes and put it back together, but know next to nothing when it comes to electronics outside of that" If she know anything about weapons she'd know that Phase pistols had long since been discontinued as starfleet sidearms, they were used back in the 2100's... not the 2400's

Though she knew very little about sidearms, Hop did know about all the models currently in use, how to maintain and even build them from scratch. It was one of those basic things expected of engineers. She'd never heard of a phase pistol. "Is that... a Romulan gun?" She asked. It sounded vaguely Romulan.

"Phase pistols are Starfleet, well, they started out as MACO." He said with a shrug, in his mind that was still a thing everyone knew about, not just a few people did, the fact he had even mentioned MACO didn't cause him to pause

"I... MACO still exists?" She asked with slight confusion, "I thought they got absorbed into Starfleet. Like, a really long time ago..."

:OH, yeah, they did..." He said, putting an accidental emphasis on that 'oh', almost as if he was suddenly reminded of something, he was indeed reminded of that thought, his face darkened some when she said absorbed into Starfleet, especially that 'long time ago' part.

"So you're a history buff?" She asked, smiling brightly. "And you like old guns?"

"Yeah... something like that." He confirmed flippantly, eating another fry with a casualness he didn't feel, he fucked up big time...

"What's your favourite thing in history?" She asked. It was a vague question, but she was too tired to reformulate it.

"Old earth wars.: He said with a shrug "You know you don't have to stay here..." He said in a much more normal rough tone

"Well maybe I will go to bed, since you're clamming up on me." She said with a grin, pulling her sleeves up over her hands and crossing her arms.

"Clamming up on you?" He asked, a few seconds later he caught it "Ah... I didn't think I was..." He admitted

"Well... you're being awfully cryptic for someone who's supposedly excited about history." She raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

"I've... had some rough expiriences in it..." He said casually, "I lived it for all but five years of my life...' he thought ruefully, he gave her a rough smile in return

“Gotcha…” Hop nodded. She did not, in fact, get it. But it seemed like something he wasn’t going to talk about. “So… you like guns?” She asked, going back to the previous subject.

"Some guns, yeah... like old ones from the nineteen forties..." He said with a small smile "I... really like the old pistols and submachine guns, they are really interesting."

“What makes ‘em so interesting?” She asked, scooping the last of the sour cream and cheese sauce out of the bowl with a chip crumble.

"Mainly the differences between nations, it was also a lot changes in designs and advancements during those ages." He said with a nod, taking the last fry from the container "You know, you don't have to stay, you.... have done more than you needed to..."

“Ya can’t get rid of me that easily! Do the designs differ a lot from country to country? I never really paid attention to that stuff.” She asked.

"I was merely saying that because you are acting sort of tired... but yeah, designs differed a lot in some ways, in others they were super close." He said with a nod

"Oh, there's no way I'm sleeping for another five hours after this." Hop laughed, "Do you like cowboy holoprograms, then? Or more spy ones?"

"I don't actually do holoprograms much anymore... someone made one for me and I ended up almost... dying.." He said in an awkward and somewhat embarrassed tone

"Wow, geeze! I probably wouldn't play them anymore if I'd almost died! Yikes!" She looked a little horrified, "So... just look at pictures in books and museums, then?"

"Yeah... it wasn't fun... I... got shot twice, so yeah..." That honestly wasn't the reason he avoided holodecks, it was that finality of the program ending, just like the one he lived in for the beginning of his life suddenly ending, that was what made him snap originally, that's what he feared...

"So... do you like to read at all?" She asked, recognizing that this was not a particularly good subject for him.

"Oh sure, I really like that a lot of military fiction and some mysteries, you?" He asked, he was actually much more... human like, talking about books than compared to his past

"I like mysteries! Especially the Scooby-Doo sort!" Hop replied enthusiastically. She was glad he seemed much more open about this subject.

"I've read a few of those, I've always preferred more along the lines of treasure hunting ones, sort of like the Sam and Remi Fargo or NUMA files books written by Cussler." He said with a nod, that was probably his favorite author, every book was different even if it followed the same story line... every character really in depth...

"I kinda prefer the Holmes mysteries. I like a little dash of impossibility to my mysteries." She replied, making a sprinkling motion with her hand, as though she was spreading spices over a dinner plate.

"I read a few of those ones. Long time ago though." He said with a nod "They were... alright, not my favorites though." He said, his face remained mostly impassive, not really changing from a hard, almost 'done with everything' look

“Aww! But they’re so dramatic! Do you like historical fiction?” She asked, smiling happily.

"Yes! I really love the old war ones, like 'The Eagle has Landed' and the like." He said happily, this was the first time in a long time be had felt semi-normal, and it felt... awkward, but good.

She gave a slight shudder: “You know, weirdly enough, I can’t read super violent war books. They make me feel sorta sick. But I can handle most horrors just fine!” She chuckled, “I think it’s the knowledge that actual, real people had to go through that shizz… the last one I tried to read was a memoir of the Hutet labor camp on Cardassia IV. That one actually made me toss up. I… haven’t read a whole lot since.”

"Ah... some of them get really dark, I generally try to avoid the super dark ones." He said, noting the slight shudder, he decided to change the subject "What other books do you read...?" He left the sentence hanging as if he was trying to remember her name, he never got it and he knew that, but it was a good way to make someone give you their name in his experience

“Hop!” She supplied, realizing that neither of them had yet introduced themselves, “And like I said, not much, lately. Though I do enjoy a good cosmic horror when I’m not feeling sick at the idea of picking up a book,” She smiled, “I really liked Edge of Nightmares by that Klingon Author… hummmm… I don’t remember their name. But the book was about a run-down repair station near the Great Barrier. An anthology of sorts. Good stuff!”

"Weber." He said, supplying his bane as well. "I've got sone interesting stories about Klingons, first time a lot of people met some..." He said with a nod. "I've never actually read any Klingon books."

“Oh, they write great! Sometimes the love poetry gets a little spicy, but their epics are fantastic!” Hop said happily. “I’ve met a few before. They’re a great bunch! They really know how to have a good time!”

"The ones I met were... very warlike... barbaric..." Those were his views of Klingons from when Earth first met them, that was something he could never shake, his experiences with species that were two hundred years old

“Well… yeah I guess they can be a little aggressive sometimes, but that’s not their only personality trait. One of the ones I knew was actually really sweet! He gave the best hugs! You know, the sort that kinda just envelop you.” She smiled fondly, “And he was always right there if you needed help. Saved my skin several times!”

"I see..." He said after a moment. He really still had that prejudice towards quite a few species, unable to force away the false meetings and such, it wasn't xenophobia or anything, he could care less what species you were, but it was just how he expected them to act, thankfully he never ran into a lot of first contact, just the Klingons and pointy ea... Vulcans and Romulans...

She looked at him curiously, “How can you have been in Starfleet this long and not met at least one Klingon you liked? I mean, they’re kind of everywhere!” She asked with some incredulity.

"This is my first posting..." He said with a shrug, 'first posting in starfleet' he added mentally "I just had a lot of bad impressions with everyone I ran into. So I stayed in my quarters..."

“Wait, so you didn’t go to the academy when you were a kid?” She asked. Technically he’d never said he had, but the way he’d spoken about exams made it seem like it was a very long time ago. “Even still, there are plenty of Klingons running around on earth. They like to visit…”

"I went twice, to two different ones." He allowed himself to say, it could have just as easily been two academies to two different paths, and it was, one was more basic training than academy but they were basically the same thing "And as I said, I stayed mostly to myself..."

“Huh… we’ll, I guess that makes sense.” She shrugged, “I like meeting all the people, so I guess I wouldn’t really know!” “Do you have a favorite food?” She asked after a moment of thought.

"I uh... never really thought about it, I just ate what I was given." He said with a shrug. The original could physically only eat the MRE's meant for field missions, he had a stack in his locker even... that was one of the few things that Oskar was glad that the damn scientist changed

“Well ya like bar food!” Hop chuckled, eyeing the empty plate of fries and his whiskey glass, “So there’s a start!”

"That's true... I usually eat a steak and thats just because I know I will eat it..." He said with a chuckle as well

“Mmmmm, cow.” Hop said with an exaggerated patting of her tummy, “I like it with horseradish and fried mushrooms!”

"You know... I've never had the real thing but I had the MRE version of it..." He said with a small laugh

A big grin spread across her face when she heard the faint chuckle from him. "Well then you've gotta try the replicated version! What? Have you been living on a low-power outpost for the last twenty years??" She asked with her own laugh.

"I mean, I just eat what I get." He said with a shrug "I may try it one day, I just try to stick with what I know I will eat." He added with a half embarrassed shrug

“Doesn’t that get boring after a while?” She asked, “Wasn’t there anything you wanted to try?”

"Boring is good... especially when you don't want it..." He said with another shrug "Because as soon as your not bored your going to want it back..." He said, quoting a saying his old CO had told him when he first joined MACO in the holodeck program.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting more. It’s why we’re out here!” Hop spread her arms in a broad gesture at the station, “Curiosity is the heart of Starfleet!”

"I mean, for a lot if people that's probably true... for me, I'm here for the rigidity and structure..." He said flippantly.

“Huh… well I guess that makes sense.” She shrugged, and then tried to hide a big yawn. “With you being in… security… and all…”

"I guess so... you should probably go to sleep Hop..." He said with a soft edge of concern pushing through his tone as he picked up on the yawn

“Maybe…” She huffed, blinking, “Well, it was nice meeting ya, Mister I-don’t-like-fun Weber. Someday imma make sure you eat a real steak with real horseradish and real whiskey!” She picked up her dishes, gave him a little salute, and waved goodbye. “Until then, stay outta trouble! Goodnight!”

He chuckled and nodded to her "Alright Hop, sleep well." He said, giving her a soft smile

“See ya!” She called as she rolled away.

"See you." He said as he continued to sit there. A few minutes later he left as well

[D] A few days later he returned to the mess, replicating the same meal as before, a steak and steak fries, but this time instead of a whiskey, he got a cup of water and took a seat at a table quite a good bit away from the door before starting to eat

Maggie was also nearby one of the doors. Letting out a small wave ad she saw the security officer walking over to a table she sat at. “Oh! Hello there!”

He nodded to her "Hello..." He said in a rough and quiet tone before taking a bite of his food, he wasn't going to enjoy this one...

Maggie smiled as she returned to her meal of a salad and a tea. Before speaking up again. “I’m uh, Maggie. Who are you?”

"Ensign Weber.." He said, not bothering to give her his first name, he looked to be in his middle thirties, but still an ensign...

Maggie blinked slightly. “I see…so you are a security officer? That’s cool, what’s that like?”

"It's... interesting... you work a lot of the time. I monitor the security systems and cameras." He said in the same rough tone as he ate a fry, he looked at her as he ate, trying to not be rude

^Maggie nodded, something about him giving her a slight twinge of unease. It was fun! She could work past it.^ “Neat! I’m working in Science, lots of numbers.”

He mentally shuddered, scientists... "Oh..." He started haltingly "What are you researching?"

“I mainly research physics. It’s a wonderful pathway for me and I like doing it. It’s really good work if you ask me..”

"Huh... uh..." He partially stammered after a second, he didn't know how to respond the that one so he might as well let her continue explaining

Maggie nodded slightly as she looked at him, this was an awkward conversation if she’d ever seen one. “So….what’s the best thing you do for work? Like the thing you enjoy the most.”

"I... like the seclusion. I get to be alone most of the time..." He said with a nod before taking a bite of his steak

Maggie nodded as she looked at him. “Well that’s nice. Being alone can be fun.”

"Yeah... it makes life easy a lot of the times." He said with his own nod. He seemed to almost shrink a little when she looked at him, but it wasn't a lit if any

Maggie smiled as she looked at Oskar. “It does, I like being alone sometimes with the numbers.”

He returned the smile awkwardly "It just helps me focus, being alone I mean..." He said in the same manner

Maggie nodded as she looked at Oskar. “Yeah I get that. I enjoy being alone as well just to work.” She said with a laugh. “It’s…fun!”

"It is, especially when you don't have to worry about offending people." He agreed awkwardly before taking a bite of his steak

Maggie nodded. “Yeah! I agree. Sometimes I worry I ramble a lot so I like being alone as to not annoy people.”

"Yeah... I generally don't talk a lot..." He said with a shrug, he shrank back a little more into himself as he talked, the fact that she was a scientist and watching him was working on his nerves

“Oh please don’t worry about that. I get what you mean, sorry for taking so much I’m kinda…a lot! Sorry!”

"I don't mind others talking..." He said with an awkward chuckle

“Oh sorry I just don’t wanna annoy folks.” She said with a meek little squeak. “What do you uhm…do for fun.”

"Fun...? Mostly read, I do write occasionally..." He said with an awkward shrug

“Oh I write too! What do you write?” She said with a curious gaze. “If you don’t mind saying of course. I don’t want to pressure you!”

"I... write some poems occasionally, war stuff..." He said with a self conscious tone

Maggie nodded as she looked at him. “Oh nice! That’s really cool. I mainly write fantasy.”

He nodded again awkwardly and self consciously "Like what?" He asked after a second of composing himself again, he really didn't like scientists...

“Oh you know, sword and sorcery type stories. It’s fun over you get the hang of it.” She said. “Sorry am I uhm, doing something wrong?”

"Uh... no..." He said after a moment "... My brain decided to dig up some old memories..." He lied casually as he forced a smile "Please, continue."

Maggie nodded. “Right right. I love classic sword and sorcery type story’s. They are a lot of war to write. What do you like about war stories?”

"I like... how they impart a sense of comradeship..." He said after a second of thoughtfulness

They continued to talk and later parted ways to the thanks of Weber

Sauk walked to the replicator and asked for a bowl of Plomeek soup, then sat down at a table alone.

Jack walked in and headed to the replicator. "Could I please get... how about I stick to the classics. Two slices of Brooklyn Style pizza... Margherita please." After receiving his food he looked around for a place to sit, it was generally empty put he chose to sit across from the Cadet he had never seen before. "Excuse me? May I sit across from you?"

"Oh! Sure! I'm...Sauk or Tral. Either one. What's your name?" He asked, smiling.

"Its very nice to meet you Sawk." Something about his name made Jack Brooklyn accent flare up, even as he tried to surpress it. "What are you having." He asked as he placed his food down and slid into his seat.

"This is just plomeek soup," He answered, deciding not to get pissed off at the mispronunciation of his name. This person clearly had an accent. And also ignored his question. Oh well.

"Oh and excuse my manners, I'm Jack or Ensign McLellan. You can call me either, I'm not particularly picky." He joked.

"Oh! Okay, hi Jack!" He grinned. "I gave you both because I'm Vulcan and Bajoran," He explained.

He raised an eyebrow. "Not to pry but, that's quite an interesting pairing. If I may ask do you follow the teaching of Surak at all?"

"Well...only when I'm stressed," He joked. "I'm mostly devoted to the Prophets," He added.

He had an intrigued look on his face. "Ah a follower of the prophets. I've always found it quite interesting to learn the philosophies of other cultures which is why I asked."

"I get it! I don't know much about religion, but I know how it affects language, since I work in communications," He nodded.

He was intrigued by hybrid. Though he thought he may be acting a bit strange by prying so much he was just thoroughly interested. "Very cool, I'm the helmsman for the Eventide. Though communications is an interesting profession, what made you pick that job."

"I don't know, language is cool to me. Plus, I spoke three growing up! Bajoran, Vulcan, and Standard," He shrugged.

"Three languages!" He let out a short whistle. "That's quite impressive, it's really great meeting you! I just recently graduated from the academy myself." He began to dig into his first slice.

"Still waiting to graduate," He laughed. "That's why I'm here: experience,"

He chuckled. "Well I'm sure you'll get a lot of experience here, it's quite a busy place. Though the people are absolutely lovely... though I may be a little biased."

"It's cool, it's cool," He nodded. "I've never been somewhere so diverse...I think I say a Jem'hadar!" he said, asking for confirmation silently.

He nodded. "Oh yes, I grew up in New York which was always a diverse place but here I've met so many extraordinary people and I've learned so much from all of them!"

"I was surprised, honestly, when I first got to earth...I'd only ever seen Vulcans," He shared, taking a bite of soup.

He joked. "I hope us humans have been treating you well. No offense but, I couldn't imagine growing up exclusively around Vulcans, the lack of emotion just seems well... boring."

"Yeah, it was...tough," He said, his smile faltering as he realized how disappointed his father must be in him.

Jack turned his head slightly at the dip in demeanor from him. "Oh, did I say something? I don't mean to be rude at all, I'm so sorry if I said something that was rude."

"No! No, it's nothing! I always knew I would disappoint at least one of my parents," He deflected.

He gave him a slightly concerned look. "My dad's always been quite dissapointed in me... if you want to talk about it I'm here for you, I've always found its best to let these kinds of things out." He hadn't really followed his own advice and pent stuff up, but he wanted to help out this cadet just incase he could help prevent the feeling of lonesomeness he had always felt.

"Oh, I couldn't just dump that on you," He shook his head. That would probably scare Jack off, and he liked Sauk! So far. Maybe that would change. But he wanted to keep his friend for as long as possible.

"Look I promise, it wouldn't be any trouble for me. I struggled for a long time with how my parents felt, so I just Want to help if I can." He gave him a small smile, as to say everything would be okay.

"My dad just thinks I'm too emotional. That's all," He shrugged like it was nothing. Not like it contributed to his entire family relocating to Earth.

"I see... that must be hard for you, being split between a bajoran and vulcan lifestyle." He continued to give Suak a reassuring smile hoping he could somehow make him feel better. "If it helps at all you seem like a pretty cool guy to me."

Sauk blushed. "Th-thanks! You're cool, too!" He grinned, doing finger guns at the Human, then regretting every life choice he'd made.

He chuckled, grinning back. "Well thank you." He was a bit unsure of himself as he chose his next words. "Any chance you'd want to be friends..."

"Umm...heck yeah?" He said like it was obvious. "I need a few friends," he chuckled., then realized that was pretty dumb to say.

"Great!" He smiled excitedly and then added. "Hey and I understand the feeling. When I first came onto the station I didn't know anyone. Plus I'm always happy to make a new friend."

"Well, I am too!" He beamed. "Thanks for coming to talk to me!"

He nodded. "Well I'm just a bit of a talkative person I suppose, Plus it seems things worked out pretty well." He grinned at his new friends.

"They definitely did," He nodded. "So...pizza, huh?" He asked, pointing to his plate.

He picked up the slice and held it in his hand. "It reminds me of home... though I can't say it is nearly as good as at home. It's still better then what they have in Chicago though." He joked.

"Makes sense...my mom joked that I have my dad's taste buds...I mostly agree with her," He said, gesturing to his meal.

He chuckled and offered him the other slice. "Any chance you'd like to try some? I promise even if it's replicated it's still great food."

"Uh...sure!" He shrugged, taking it from Jack and taking a bite. "Not bad," He said, swallowing.

He leaned his neck to take a closer look at Sauk's meal. "I've never had Vulcan food before, what's it like?"

"Bland," He admitted with a straight face, before snickering a bit.

He raised an eyebrow. "Whats so funny? I must admit I really don't know much about Vulcans."

"I made myself laugh," He explained, somewhat embarrassed. "I could teach you a bit, if you like..."

He nodded eagerly. "That would be amazing! Learning about other cultures is probably my favorite part about being in starfleet."

"It's pretty fun!" He said, accidentally in Bajoran.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Hey did your universal translater switch in for a second. I could've sworn I heard it going."

"Oh! Shit, I said that in Bajoran, didn't I," He realized. "Sorry, I said 'it's pretty fun'," he told Jack.

He chuckled. "It must be hard balancing all 3 languages you know. Weird question but, which language do you think in?"

"Um..." He had to cognitively think about this. "A hybrid language of Bajoran and Vulcan," He answered.

"Woah that's pretty cool! It's kinda like you have your own language them." He was clearly intrigued by everything about Suak.

"I guess so! I think I used to speak like that too...mom thought it was cute, but my dad fixed that real quick," He shrugged.

He frowned slightly. "It kinda seems like your dad doesn't really appreciate you then. Really it is a 'cute' trait to have."

At this, Sauk blushed bright yellow-green. "O-oh, thanks? I guess he really doesn't, no,"

He smiled at the off colored blush. "Mine never did either, no matter what I could never impress him. Some things in life are just like that I guess."

"Dads, huh?" He said, shrugging, trying to play off his embarrassment.

"Oh yeah... any chance you'd want to hit the holodecks?" He chose to change the subject, he also unconciously wanted to hang out either Suak for longer.

"Sure!" Sauk grinned, finishing his soup.

He stood up and recycled his food. "I've got some pretty good programs, unless you have some of your own you want to use?"

"I don't spend much time on the holodeck. You can pick," He said, recycling his food as well.

He nodded as he exited to the corridor. "How about a mobster simulation?"

"Oh! S...ure?" He said, uncertain.

It was late, or well he felt like it was, so Cecil decided to head down to the mess hall and grab a snack. So far he was not impressed with the 777 menu options, they couldn't make Cardassian food like Deep Space Nine. He sat at one of the tables and just stared at his very sad looking Larish Pie.

Sauk wondered in, starved and ready to eat. Snack? No, he hadn't eaten all day. He decided to try something new, and grabbed a salad from the replicator. He noticed the Bajoran- Cardassian from before and waved to him. "Hey, Cecil!"

Cecil noticed Sauk and immediately waved back. He was glad they were able to meet earlier and it was definitely nice to see a familiar face. He gestured to the other to sit with him. Maybe they could have an exciting chat or debate like he had with that other Bajoran woman, he thought.

Sauk sat down, smiling. "How've you been adjusting to 777, my fine Cardassian friend?" They asked, grinning at Cecil.

Cecil gave Sauk a warm smile and looked at what his friend was eating. Just a salad? Seemed a bit bland, he thought. But maybe Sauk was trying to stay healthy. "I'm doing fine, a bit sleepy but it's just some space lag," Cecil shook his head and took a bite of his Larish Pie. It was pretty awful, but he hid his reaction well. "How is mini Sauk doing?"

"He is safe on my shelf, making sure I don't procrastinate while I do my academy work," Sauk informed Cecil, taking a bite of his salad. So this was what rabbits felt like. Hmm. Enlightening. "Is your pie any good?" He asked curiously.

"No, actually," Cecil chuckled as he used his fork to poke at the pie. "It was better on Deep Space Nine. It's something about Federation Replicators. They just can't get Cardassian food right," Cecil said honestly. "What about your salad?"

"I now know what life as a rabbit is like," He responded in a deep, philosophical tone. "Rabbit life is not for me," He added, sighing. Why had he chosen a salad after an entire day without food?

"At least rabbits are cute. You could be a vole," Cecil could only laugh seeing the two of them both be underwhelmed by their food choices. "Mind if I try some? You can try my Larish Pie."

"Uh- sure!" He nodded, deciding not to be offended by being called a vole. Maybe Cecil though voles were cute. He took a bite with his fork, chewing and just absorbing the flavors. "That's...definitely food," He said finally.

"Yeah, worst collection of re-sequenced proteins,“ Cecil took a bite out of Sauk's salad and nodded. ”Mmm.. Yep and that's definitely salad," He was never a fan of just eating straight up vegetables. "Well, what brings you here so late? It is late, right? I still haven't adjusted to the time difference, can you believe we only have a 24 hour day, here, 24 hours," Cecil said, somehow managing to speak without taking a breath. Although, that was the Cardassian language, long sentences, no a single breath.

"I uh...forgot to eat today," He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I wanted something light before I passed out,"

"Oh, that makes sense, it's never good to eat a heavy meal on an empty stomach," Cecil looked at the boy, slightly concerned for him. "You should really eat, you need to take care of yourself, you're still a young cadet," Cecil remembered when he was in Sauk's position not too long ago. He also thought he was invincible and could go days without food or sleep. He still thought he was.

"I forgot," He insisted, when in reality, he had just been too lazy to eat. He didn't want to get all the way up and find the nearest replicator, not when there was translations work to be done. He was a 'young cadet', he had to show initiative!

"I know that feeling," Cecil said with a smile. "How long have you been here? I would have thought they would have stationed you on Deep Space Nine or something before sending you here."

"Um...I don't know," He shrugged. "Starfleet Command's ways are mysterious."

"There's a Bajoran temple there you know, have you ever visited?"

"I've never been to DS9." He said. Cecil seemed awfully fond of Deep Space Nine...it was rather odd, to be frank.

"It's beautiful, really. It's a wonder what Starfleet has done with Terok Nor," Even though the official name had changed, it was still Terok Nor to him. A display of genius Cardassian design. "You said you moved to Vulcan when you were 4, were you born on Bajor?"

"Moved from Vulcan, actually. My parents were living there, but then their illogical son was born, and the decision was made to move," He corrected, shrugging. "We moved to San Francisco, and when I was nine, I was pulled out of a fire by Lieutenant Austin Whidbey, and the rest is history,"

Cecil definitely sensed a bit of identity crisis in Sauk, he felt bad for him. It must have been difficult being unable to adapt despite his young age. "Lieutenant Whidbey?" Cecil remembered seeing his personnel file when he was doing research. What a happy coincidence the two of them were stationed on 777 together, he thought. "Oh I lived in San Francisco too. What did you think of it? I thought it was extremely hot, all my life I thought earth was a cold planet."

"Earth was...different. In my half-Vulcan opinion, it was way to cold," He shrugged. "Vulcan is a desert planet, you know,"

"Ahh... Yeah, that's right," Cecil suddenly realised complaining about the heat was very un-Cardassian of him. Well, it was obvious he didn't share the same physiology as most Cardassians. "There are a lot of Bajorans on earth too, I honestly couldn't stand most of them. They kept pestering me to visit their temple."

Sauk frowned. Okay then. "Maybe you shouldn't wear an earring, then?" He suggested.

"No no, I didn't mean it like that. Hey, I have an earring too, it's not a crime to wear jewelry, for fashion or faith," Cecil said, turning his head to show Sauk. "I take it you walk with the Prophets? I'm not judging, I just didn't like people assuming just because I looked like them that I was interested in joining their ceremonies."

"I do," Sauk nodded, taking another bite of his food.

"Do you still practice your faith here? I understand there is no temple here and we're.. Quite far from the wormhole."

"I have my own temple, I set it up in the holodeck," He informed Cecil.

Cecil raised an eyebrow, now this was something he was curious about. A Bajoran temple in a holodeck? He had no interest in the wormhole aliens, but a holodeck temple he had to see. "Now I'm interested. I hope no one ever underestimates the lengths Bajorans will go to for their gods. I would love to see this temple."

"I...suppose I could allow you to come to one of my services," He said, somewhat reluctantly. It was a bit odd, in his mind. He was hesitant to let this 'Cardassian' see his sacred rituals.

"I would be very interested. It's been.. hmm maybe 18 years since I last saw the inside of a Bajoran temple," Cecil said recalling the last time he attended service. It was with his school back on Bajor, it was right before he moved. "Does anyone else attend? There are a few other Bajorans on the station."

"Not currently," He admitted. "I have a hologram perform the ceremony,"

"Oh, a hologram, interesting," Wow Sauk really put a lot of effort into this programme. Maybe Sauk's holograms would treat him better than the real religious leaders on Bajor. "I am sure your Prophets would be pleased to see you being so devote even lightyears away from the umm," Ceciil could not for the life of him think of the Cardassian term so he opted to switch to Bajoran. "The Celestial Temple."

"Yeah, I hope so," Sauk said, smiling fondly, remembering the first time his mother had taken him to a ceremony.

"Your... mother? She's the Bajoran, right? My mother is Bajoran too, a Renjen," Cecil told Sauk, hoping that he could get Sauk to tell him more about his experiences as a mixed Bajoran.

"Oh? Interesting," Sauk said, lost in thought somewhat. He had been so small. So pure. So untouched by his father's disappointment. He would gladly go back to the simpler times.

"Hmm, what are you thinking about? Something about your mother?" Cecil noticed the change in Sauk's expression and wanted to see if he could get more out of the young sock hater.

"Oh! Yeah, I am. By the Prophets, I feel like I'm being interrogated!" He laughed.

Cecil laughed and shook his head. "Not interrogation, don't worry I'm not with the Obsidian Order or anything," True, he was not. In fact, the Obsidian Order didn't even exist. Although his father was part of the new Intelligence Bureau, which was like the Order reborn. "It's just how Cardassians like to enjoy our meals. Debate and exchanging information is a sign of respect and.. Can be a sign of romantic interest."

"Oh- uh- I'm taken," Sauk said quickly. He was taken and happy, thank you very much, end of debate.

"That wasn't what I was implying at all," Cecil shook his head. "I was serious about wanting to see your programme. I am considering taking a trip to Bajor once I can take leave and I think it would be a good idea for me to study up on Bajoran customs."

"Oh, interesting," Sauk said, thinking about that. Was Cecil...having an identity crisis? Was he okay? Therapy? Probably needed.

"Well, I guess I should head back to my quarters, thanks for sitting with me, Sauk," Cecil stood up and grabbed his tray. ”And," He paused for a moment as he tried to think of the correct phrase to use. "May the Prophets give you many blessings" He said in Bajoran.

Sauk blinked, rather surprised. This boy was just getting stranger and stranger. Hm. "You as well," He replied in Bajoran.

Cecil waved to him before walking off to return his tray and exit the mess hall. Sauk reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger, before he moved. He remembered hating debate when he was younger. It was very difficult to go from a house where you ate in silence to a house where if you weren't shouting across the table haflway through the meal you were doing it wrong.

Sauk simply finished eating, then later left. He had homework.

She entered the mess hall with Melul at her side. Her hand rested gently on their back, guiding them forward. They tended to get jumpy in new places.

”I do not wish to be here, Sister,” Melul hissed under their breath, using literally all of their control to not bolt from the room.

Eshen was chatting with a friend in the mess hall. He almost put a hand on their arm, but catching sight of two Vulcans in the corner of his eye, he reflexively dropped it, as well as his smile. He maintained a line of vision, and saw the young Vulcan looked agitated. His friend bid him farewell, and, seeing the only empty table in the busy mess hall was his, he gave them a small wave to indicate they could join him if they wanted to.

She sent Melul off to sit down at the least occupied table and went to get food, not paying much attention to the people around her.

They sat down, noticing the Klingon-Vulcan already sitting at the table, but saying nothing. They were freaked out and uncomfortable, and wished they were in their room, drawing or reading or literally anything else.

Eshen still didn't smile, but some warmth crept into his voice. "Hello. I'm Ensign Eshen K'Tann. Is there an issue you need help with?"

”I do not wish to be here,” They said bitterly. “But my sister insisted we eat here. I do not like loud or crowded spaces,”

"Did she provide a reason for her insistence?"

”She simply says that she does not wish to be known as a ‘hermit’,” They frowned. “It is highly illogical. Privacy is available, yet she chooses a public location to eat.”

At this point, T’Lenar had returned. “Greetings,” She said to Eshen, sitting beside her sibling and handing them a plate.

Eshen nodded. "Your sibling tells me you wish not to be known as a 'hermit'. So... Do you get out often?"

”I do not. There is no point in socializing with the people you work with,” She said as if it were obvious. It wasn’t obvious, but her reasoning was that no one typically wanted to socialize with the seemingly cold, uncaring Vulcan ensign from engineering.

"Is there not? It increases rapport. You learn their behavioural patterns, tells, other details. It makes it easier to work with them. Learn their strengths, predict their behaviours... and mistakes." Eshen sipped his spice tea (he got his own food earlier). "It relaxes the mind. The mind is like a muscle - it cannot always be tensed."

T’Lenar thought over this. “Your logic is sound. Perhaps…perhaps I will venture to socialize more. I do hope that Melul was not bothering you,” She nodded.

Eshen shook his head. "Not at all. But they are right in that it is loud in here. I hear there are sound dampening devices for just these occasions." (edited)

They perked up. “There are? Can you- I mean, would you mind showing me what they might look like?”

"I do not have one on me. But have you ever seen a hearing aid? It's kind of like that, but with an opposed purpose. I wore one for a time, when I was younger and had trouble adjusting to the noise of the city."

”I see.” They nodded. They would have to remember that. They would also remember that this person, whatever his name was, was safe.

Eshen looked at T'lenar. "Are you amenable my helping you acquire such a device?"

”I am. I believe it would be beneficial to have such a device for Melul’s use,” She said, nodding her approval.

"Alright. I can transfer you instructions on your PADD. You can just replicate one, but they need repairs sometimes. Are you in Engineering?"

”I am.” She gave Eshen her PADD code. “Thank you for your assistance…?” She paused, realizing she didn’t know his name.

"Ah, good, so you'll be able to repair it. Ensign Eshen K'Tann." He shot her a Vulcan salute. "But you may address me as Eshen, if you wish, and he and him."

”I am T’Lenar, she/her and they/them. My charge is Melul, they and them,” She replied.

"I see." Eshen turned to Melul. "May I ask: are they your sole custodian?"

”Affirmative, we live alone,” She nodded. “May I ask: why do you wish to know?” She countered, an almost imperceptible smile on her face.

Eshen reflected her imperceptible smile. "It is a difficult task to shoulder alone. I would offer assistance if it was wanted. I would also offer my company, to further extol the virtues of social interaction."

”I would be amenable to that,” She nodded. “It is a difficult task, but Melul has no one else.*

”I’m right here…”

"I'm sorry, my dear, I did try to address you earlier. Are you also amenable to this?"

”I do not mind. I simply do not wish to be referred to as if I am not in the room, sitting right beside you,” They frowned.

"Sometimes, dividing attention between two people can be difficult for adults. People, in general. We did not intend disrespect."

”I understand now. Thank you,” Melul nodded. Eshen was definitely a safe person.

”You seem to be very good with children, Eshen,” T’Lenar noted.

"I am?" Eshen said, as he finished off his food. It was more of a human and Klingon assortment of things than Vulcan. "I mean, yes, I do my best." He had no good point of reference and with the way he often is, he always thought he'd be a terrible influence. But this hadn't gone terribly so far. Don't count your eggs before they hatch, though. In fact, time for Rule 4 already?

T'Lenar nodded. "Correct me if I am wrong, Melul," She told her charge. "But I believe they are rather comfortable in your presence, which is rare,"

They noded in confirmation.

"Ah, well, I have been told I'm... Calming to be around. Like a capybara. Earth animal. Look them up, they're adorable." Eshen cleared his throat and stood. "Anyway, I think I'll be going now - you have my PADD, so message me if you need me, alright?"

"Thank you, Eshen," T'Lenar nodded. This strange Klingon-Vulcan's personality was baffling. Almost like they were using a different one for T'Lenar specifically.

The Andorian entered the messhall after the talk with Commander Styre. She walked to the replicator and replicated herself Andorian redbat soup and a glass of water before walking to a free table and sitting down. Her shoulder length very light blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way

Niatha had to admit, she'd never really seen any Andorian with that hair color. Most she'd met tended to have hair the color of bleached snow, white as could be, smooth and flowing - or at least the Andorian shen and zhen looked that way. Unusual, but not the reason the Cardassian approached the woman after ordering her dinner; she simply liked to socialize, that was all. "Evening! Is company welcome?" She asked with her usual crocodile Cardassian grin.

She shrugged and gave the Cardassian a small grin, her antenna were constantly moving around, studying her surroundings "Please, go ahead." She said casually as she motioned to one of the free seats

Niatha was only too glad to accept the invitation to sit. She settled down and stretched once, rolling her shoulder in its socket before saying, "Niatha Chet. Say, I don't see very many Andorians round the station..."

"Avryshial Sh'vaqon." She said, introducing herself as Chet did, her voice was casual and even as she spoke, her antenna moved forward slightly with interest as she studied the Cadassian "I just got transferred here today." She added

"Avryshial- Can I call you Avry? Andorian names can be incredibly long, my apologies..." Niatha chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Transferred today, I see! I hope the station has been to your liking?"

"Shial is what most of my friends call me." She said with an understanding nod "But if you wish "Avry" will be fine." She added with a casual tone, she honestly didn't really care, Andorian names were long indeed. "I've liked the stations so far. I've met with Lieutenant Ughaz'udan and Commander Styre." She said with a slightly interested tone, she struggled slightly in pronouncing her Jem'hadar bosses name, and she herself slightly looked down in her own sense of embarrassment

"Relax. I haven't figured out how to say his name either, despite having seen it a few times." The Cardassian laughed. "But I'm glad you like it here. So! Shial. Whaddaya do for fun?"

She nodded and gave Niatha a small smile "I like sparring and doing stuff like that. Some old earth books are really... interesting, I like them though." She said with interest showing through her face. Her antenna continued to stay forward as she studied the Cardassian "What about you Niatha?"

"I read. I've considered taking up dancing..." Niatha hummed thoughtfully. "Oh! I've also wanted to try my hand at bakery..."

"What kind of things do you want to learn to bake?" She asked in a friendly tone, eating some of her soup as she looked up and gave Niatha a small grin.

"Muffins, pies... that kind of thing. I love sweets." Niatha leaned forward a little in her seat, interest seemingly piqued. "Are you able to teach me?"

"Regrettably I can not. I never was able to get the feeling I should try baking. I did cook some old earth and Andorian meals once or twice on the Johnston, my last assignment, though." She said with a verbal smile, her face had a small grin on it but it was meant to be a bigger one than her poor facial expression control could muster

"Oh?" Niatha's smile brightened a bit. "What's Andorian food like? I've never tried it."

"It's usually pretty good, especially when its made by hand and not the replicated stuff." She said with a bob of her head, she took a quick sip of her water

"Do you have any recommendations?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It really depends on whether it's replicated or hand made, and who made it if its the latter." She said with a shrug "But I'd suggest Redbat soup, or hari bread."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time. They both sound good." She remarked with a light smile. "So! What brings you here?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to get something to eat before I went to get some rest." She explained, a small grin returning Niatha's

"I mean Starfleet. Red looks good on you, by the way."

"Oh!" She said, she blushed lightly at the compliment, her blue cheeks turning a little purple, she didn't really get compliments often, she just did her job, "I wanted to do something new, so I requested a transfer from the Johnston." She explained, quickly loosing the very light blush

"To Starfleet itself." She clarified further with a laugh.

"Ah..." She said with her own embarrassed chuckle "Sorry, I talked about it with my parents, my Shreya, Zhen, and Thavan were all in the fleet, my Chavan left me more so to my own devices while my Shreya and Thavan encouraged me to join myself." She explained as her antenna began to wander around on her head, studying her surroundings once more

"Interesting." She tilted her head studying her antennae in relative silence for a while before quipping, "I never really understood how those work... your antennae I mean..."

"They are just extra sensory organs in the most basic sense. They help detect small changes in air density and stuff like that, you'd need to talk to a doctor for a more detailed explanation though." She explained "I wasn't really paying attention when they went over that..." She added in a self conscious tone

"Nothing to be ashamed of. I think they're cute." She said with a light smile.

She blushed again very lightly, once more turning a little purple in the cheeks. Why did compliments have to always be so weird...? "I uh... thank you." She said, returning the light smile with her own awkward one

"Let me guess. Not very many compliments." She guessed.

"Yeah, it's not something I am used to." She admitted self consciously as she ate a spoonful of soup to try and hide that. She quickly lost that light blush.

"What a shame." She smiled back at her. "I think you deserve a few more than you receive. Everyone deserves some, you know?"

"I don't really care, It's just an awkward thing to me, especially because I am unbonded." She admitted in a even more self-conscious tone. Most Andorians were bonded by the time they were twenty and she was already twenty seven, but she also was genetically incompatible which was a major reason behind that.

"So?" She raised an eyebrow. "How does that make you any less deserving of compliments? Nothing wrong with not having a mating quartet in my eyes."

"As I said, it's just something I am not used to." She said in the same self conscious tone.

"Well, get used to it - just a little more. I'm sure others will like you too if they get to know you."

"I guess... alright..." She said awkwardly as she ate another spoonful of soup. She was always so awkward about this stuff... for the love of... "I really do not need them..." She added self consciously

"You don't need them, yes, but they're still nice to have!" She said with a bright smile.

"I mean... they are on occasion." She admitted awkwardly, she didn't expect the conversation to go this way at all

"Yes, of course they are." Niatha smiled and stood with her empty tray. "See you around? Gotta get back to duties now..."

"Sure. It was nice to meet you Niatha." She said with a smile, she had been taking her time eating so she still had quite a bit of soup left

She then trotted away with her empty plate, dumping it in the recycling bin and leavinf the mess hall.

She continued to eat for the next few minutes before she disposed of her own food and left

Maggie sat at one of the tables in the mess hall. Lightly tapping her fingers along it, while she ate her meal. She looked out at the stars with a small sigh leaving her lips. She looked into the dark universe and just…sigh.

[D]She entered with her very, very light blonde hair still pulled up in a pony tail with a few strands hang besides her blue forehead. She replicated some Hari bread and a bowl of red bat soup and walked over to the ensign "Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked in a friendly tone

Maggie smiled as she turned towards the ensign.* “Oh! Yes of course! Please take a seat.” She said with a grin to the blue skinned girl. “Maggie Roode! What’s your name hun?”

She gave the ensign a small grin and sat, setting her tray in front of her "Thank you. I'm Avryshial Sh'vaqon." She said in a friendly tone, adding her name in a slightly self conscious tone

Maggie nodded as she looked towards the girl and placed her elbows on the table. “Nice to meet you! What do you do on the station? I’m in science.” She said with a smile.

"I'm tactical. I am a tactician." She explained with a small nod, her antenna were moving around and studying her surroundings as she took a bite of her hari bread

Maggie nodded with a small smile. “Oh nice! My family has a few members in tactical across the Federation! It’s a very nice department! How long have you been here?”

"Here on the station?" She asked with a slightly confused tone

“Hm? Oh yes! I mean on the station, sorry.” She said with a light giggle.

"Oh, don't worry, I've been here about two days." She said with a soft smile, she gave Maggie a nod as her antenna moved forward with interest "What are you eating?" She asked casually

“Oh I’m just having some salad! It’s pretty good, and I’ve been here for a few months myself. Have you settled in all right?”

"Yes, I have, I don't actually have a roommate yet so it's just me in my quarters." She said casually

“Oh don’t worry. I’ve been here for a good few months and have yet to meet mine. So I think we’re going good.” She said with a giggle.

"Oh alright." She said in a friendly tone. She ate some more of her food as she nodded

Maggie ate some of her meal with a small smile. Letting out a small hum as she did so. “What are your thoughts on that station?”

"It's nice, much more chaotic and much, much larger than the Johnston." She said as she looked around

Maggie nodded with a small smile. “Oh for sure! My old posting was Earth! It was…boring yet nice! What was the Johnston like?”

"A good ship, friendly crew, I was one of the few Andorians aboard so it wasn't as... lonely, as I expected it to be." She said with a shrug. She had expected at least a few more Andorians here on the station but so far she hadn't seen any

Maggie nodded as she looked towards the other woman. “Your the first Andorian I’ve seen on station, I’m sorry about that. If you want, we could be friends.”

She nodded and gave the human a small smile "That would be nice." She said kindly as she finished her food "I'm sorry but I should probably go..."

“No problem! Have a lovely day and hopefully we can interact later on?” She said with a smile as she finished up herself.

"Oh yeah! I would like that." She said as she stood. She recycled her trash and left with a small smile to Maggie

[D]Weber appeared in the messhall a few minutes after his talk with the civilian on the forest trails. He walked to the replicator and replicated an old fashioned MRE, he just wanted something that felt normal... and nothing was more normal to him than a standard issue MRE. He replicated a glass of water and moved to a table to eat. He had a far off look and his uniform was crumpled

Eshen looked around the mess hall. Few seats free. And one of them opposite... Weber. Looking sad as usual. Eshen would make a joke to himself about the urge to help another stoic man, but Weber wasn't what he would call stoic. Stiff and expressionless much of the time, yes, but he had such strong drowned cat vibes it cancelled it out. Still, if anyone could use a friend, it was this guy. He had to sit somewhere, right? Might as well make one attempt. After scanning the mess hall for surprise bears, he sat down opposite the man, who was eating... The blandest kind of food known to man. And voluntarily? Why would you do that to yourself? This should be classified as self harm. "You know, I think they ate that stuff on Apollo 11."

"I... don't think so. They didn't have grav plating then." He said in an almost absent tone as he ate a forkful of whatever the MRE contained, the label was facing towards him. "They ate them a lot during Vietnam, some other times... away missions die during the 2150's had them..." He trailed off, listing some areas they had been used

"Sounds like you really know your history," Eshen said, and having no knowledge of Weber's backstory, the irony of that statement was lost on him. "Are you some kind of military buff, then? I don't know many people who just... Eat MREs for fun." A topic Eshen could not possibly be less interested in despite being in the space military - Klingon war history was simply much, much better recorded and told - but it was somewhere to start, at least.

"I guess you can say that... I honestly like MRE's more than some of the slop I have been given before..." He said in a little less of a far off tone. He shrugged and shoveled another fork full of food into his mouth and chewed for a second before swallowing "You going to get something to eat?" He asked, half heartedly trying to change the subject away from him. He had fucked up enough as it is...

MREs... Better than regular food? That might just be one of the worst things Eshen has ever heard in his life. Worse than his father's cool, yet emotionally devastating, ever-constant critique. Okay, maybe not. "More than... Restaurant food? Or home-cooked stuff? Surely your mother must have cooked you something nice when you were younger, or a friend taken you out to a nice place." Eshen puts a boxed lunch on the counter he'd definitely been holding the whole time. "Oh, and don't worry, I brought my own food."

"Sometimes some stuff would be better, but you can always expect an MRE to be the same as last time if you get the same meal. My uh... yeah. My mom... used to make some awesome potato soup. That's some I uh... miss..." He said, at first he was speaking casually but then when he got to his mom he started to speak awkwardly and haltingly, he never actually had a 'mom' in the sense that most people did. He had a hologram...

Damn. Maybe his mum died or something. "Ah, so it's the reliability you like? I can understand that. It's comforting. I had a phase when I was younger where I wanted to eat microwave mac and cheese for every meal." Thankfully, he's redeemed himself since then. He opened the box and pushed it towards Weber. "Do you want to try some of my lunch? It's not exactly potato soup, but there's Aligot with garlic, tome fraiche and young Laguile cheese - fancy mash, basically." There was also some sausages and roasted vegetables.

He shook his head "I uh... I'm good, no thanks..." He said awkwardly with a shrug"I'd prefer to just eat my... uh-" He paused and read the label, he hadn't actually told the replicator which kind, just to give him an MRE, presumably it had given him one of the better ones... "-Beef stroganoff..." He finished after he read the label. 'So that's what this one was... though it was the lasagna one...' he thought to himself with a shrug

Eshen shrugged and started eating his food. There's no accounting for bad taste, which everyone on this station seemed to have. "Do you have any other... Tastes? Hobbies? I see you around a lot, you know, but you never seem to be, er, doing anything." He couldn't possibly have as few hobbies as Heinrich did. If so, they should be friends. They could get together after work hours and do a thrilling spot of nothing.

"I just started doing some minor wood working... I uh... write occasionally and uh...." He trailed off some. He wasn't going to mention his patches. Especially not when he just met this guy. He shrugged "No much else though. I'm here to work, not have fun." He added between bites of his food

Eshen perked up a little, as did his pointy ears. Creative hobbies! He can work with that! "I write sometimes, too. No wood working, though. Do you have anything you've made on your person? I'd love to see it!" (edited)

"No... well... yeah..." He said as he set down his fork and put a hand into a pocket "At least I think I do... it's small..." He said as he pulled out a small round cylinder piece of wood. It had several intricate curves that formed into a sort of stars scape that arced around the cylinder "Here..." He said as he held it out

Eshen took the cylinder and peered at it with an analytical eye, rotating it a few times before handing it back to Weber. "What detailed patterning! It's beautiful. And you did this by yourself? Were you self-taught?"

He took it and put it back in his pocket before he answered "An old friend taught me the basics. After that I took it upon myself to teach me more." He said with a casual shrug as he shoveled a fork full of beef stroganoff into his mouth

"They sound like a good friend. Have you shown it to any others?" Eshen asked.

"No. I typically just keep to myself. That includes my works." He said casually, this wasn't the first one he did, wasn't the latest either. This one was actually a few years old, it was small enough that it had to be cared for if you didn't want it to break

"Then I feel privileged to have seen it." Eshen popped a forkful of sausages and vegetables into his mouth, having finished most of his Aligot. "Hey, if you make any more, feel free to show me if you see me around. I'm hard to miss."

"Understood." He said with a firm nod. He still had that sort of downcast feeling. He was still pushing away memories and emotions. It'd be a feat to be able to get to sleep tonight... he nodded again and stared into his meal

Well, the drowned cat vibe was still there, but Eshen wasn't expecting a miracle. He finished off his food and stood up. "That goes for your writing, too. Thanks for speaking with me." And not pushing me away.

"No problem..." He said with a shrug as he continued to stare into his food. He stopped staring to take a bite of his food

Eshen left with the thought 'well, that didn't go horribly.'

He continued to eat slowly for a while before he left himself

18:47

He got up and left after recycling the MRE's last few contents

After working two shifts back to back (his idea), Cecil was ready for some food. He grabbed some replicated Larish Pie with a taspar egg and took a seat. He was so exhausted, but he was so close to synthesising the chemical needed for his latest project.

[D]Remun had worked on some reports and inventory lists; now, he was taking a break to eat something. He went to the replicator and got some pok tar, before he turned and let his eyes sway over the scene, on the outlook for a free seat. His posture was straight and orderly; only a slightly lofty glint in his light brown eyes betrayed the possibility of an emotional being underneath the stone-faced facade. Remun found a seat next to an Ensign in blue and sat down without a word of introduction. For the time being, he found it unnecessary; he merely took a look at the stranger. There was something slightly judgemental about the way he eyed him.

Oh a new person? Cecil's attention immediately was drawn to the Orion boy who just took a seat beside him. He was downing a taspar just when the other sat down. Cecil swallowed the live taspar whole and chugged some Raktajino before initiating conversation. "Mmm, new here?" He asked, trying to be friendly. Orions were perceptive, perhaps that meant he would be a good conversational partner. They could argue about something, that would be great, he thought.

Remun gave him a look as he wolfed down the food. A look that was neutral, expect for the slightest trace of distaste in his eyes. “I arrived on the station approximately 18 hours and 15 minutes ago,” he said stoically. His posture and expression was unchanged as he inspected the stranger for a short moment.

Woah this dude was next level, Cecil thought. Maybe that's why he was in yellow and Cecil was in blue. He could tell the other was judging him, but Cecil was judging him right back. "Ohhkkayyyy," Cecil said as he inhaled another taspar egg. "And what's your name?"

Remun raised an eyebrow at the way the Ensign ate. He himself was eating his pok tar with care, every move precise, every chewing motion considered. He swallowed and replied tonelessly, “Lieutenant Junior Grade Remun T’Lauk. May I get yours?” He wasn’t interested in conversation, but as he was already here, it wouldn’t hurt to remember the name of the person who ate like a wild animal.

"Cecil-- Umm Ensign Ratana Nalas on the roster," Cecil said with a smile. He was starving, let him eat like a Cardassian for once. He knew some races could go without food, but he couldn't. "You're in OPS? What do you do?" Cecil said, trying to make conversation. Now that he had food in his belly he was ready to gather some intel on this green guy.

“My position includes many duties,” he replied vaguely, before asking, “You use a different name than the one given to you?” Even just saying that short sentence, he somehow managed to sound not curious, but cocky. Which was I impressive, considering that his face and voice lacked any expression.

"Okay but I asked what you do, like, day to day," Cecil shot back with a similar tone. He was looking forward to this conversation, this guy clearly had some fight. "And yeah, it's a nickname, you can just call me Cecil when off duty."

Remun raised an eyebrow. He was really good at that. “I see.” He would not call the Ensign Cecil. He saw no point in addressing people by anything but their title, off duty or not. He looked down, taking some more of his food onto his fork before answering, “I supervise iterations in our computer systems as well as the station’s exports and imports. At the moment, I am busy getting acquainted with the workings of the starbase as well as its inventory.” He had a real talent for saying things without any emotion and still coming off as someone who thought they were better than you.

"Sounds exciting," Cecil honestly didn't get this guy. He seemed full of himself, yet he was not taking any jabs at him. Orions were an enigma, or maybe he was just generalising. Cecil didn't like this guy, but that's why this conversation was so interesting. "I'm a science officer, I look at algae and amoebas all day," He said in a friendlier tone, trying to show the other he is not here to actually fight him. "Where are you from? If you're comfortable saying that is."

“I grew up and have spent the largest portion of my life on Vulcan,” he replied stoically, not answering to the Ensign’s comment about algae and amoebas. He had no interest in algae and amoebas unless he had to know about them for his work. He ate another bite, silently.

"Vulcaannnn, deserts," Cecil was trying his best to keep the conversation going but this dude really didn't wanna talk. well, at least he was answering his questions. "I've never been to Vulcan, anything interesting you would recommend to a future tourist?"

Remun’s expressing was like made of marble. Green marble. Emerald maybe. “The Vulcan library is one of the best equipped libraries in the galaxy.” He didn’t seem to get ‘sight seeing’, but he’d spent a lot of time in that library, so naturally it came to mind. “It would be recommendable to someone who is interested in complex literature.” He didn’t exactly say it as though he doubted the Ensign’s suitability in this scenario, but it was present in the way he didn’t look at Cecil.

"Ohh the library. I love reading," Cecil said with enthusiasm. "Do you have any favourite books? I don't mind if it's technical manuals or something, I read anything. I know I may not look like it but I am pretty literate," This is the boy who literally read The Never Ending Sacrifice and The Enigma Tales for fun, he could handle some fancy Vulcan literature.

“Favoritism is illogical,” replied Remun simply and said no more.

"Woooo.... Yeah, Vulcans man," Cecil sipped his Raktajino slowly and tapped his fingers on the table, just trying to think of what else to say to this grumpy green man. "Your name is Vulcan, isn't it? Are you mixed? No judgement at all by the way."

He did not comment on the Ensign’s highly illogical exclamation. “I was adopted and took the last name of my adoptive Vulcan family,” he explained, “My first, given name is of Orion origin.” For a moment, he looked over again. His expression was as ever unreadable. He asked, “For how long have you been on the station, Ensign?”

"Ohhh interesting, adopted to a Vulcan family, that's why you're so logical," Cecil nodded his head and sipped some more Raktajino. "Mmm only a few weeks now. I transferred from Deep Space Nine, hence the reason why I'm still awake, space lag is hard to beat," Cecil said with a laugh. "Where are you coming from? A ship or another station?"

“Another station,” replied Remun shortly, “Have you witnessed the incident at PACT Galactica?”

"No, I haven't, I was reassigned after that incident," Cecil said. "What did you think about it? Honestly that was one reason I did not want to transfer."

“I have not yet formed an opinion on the matter,” he said, then added, “Though I have spoken to the investigations officer on the station. Apparently, the incident is being investigated and there are theories already.” He started eating again. He did not voice an opinion on anything, nor let his thoughts bleed through. There was nothing in his expression or tone that could have revealed his feelings on being transferred.

"Yes that's---" Cecil began to say before an alarm sounded throughout the station. "We need to go,"He said before dropping everything and bolting out of the room.

Beep boop, he's here and about to shove a whole stack of pancakes into his mouth-

4

Adill replicated himself some Gagh — live and still moving, as it was supposed to be. It was a classic, he wasn’t feeling fancy. Since he was off-shift, he allowed himself to grab a cup of bloodwine as well. He saw a free spot near a Lieutenant and approached. “May I sit?”, he rumbled with his deep voice, standing at 2m height directly in front of the table, Gagh in one hand and bloodwine in the other.

He turned to look at Adill and smiled, nodding as he moved his newly acquired stack of pancakes closer to himself. "Oh, go ahead! Company's always nice."

“As long as it is good company,” said the Klingon in agreement and sat down. “My name is Doctor Adill Rik’Mut,” he introduced himself with a nod and then took a forkful of Gagh and stuffed the wiggling worms into his mouth. Yummy!

"Wheatley Pendleton, nice to meet you." He nodded in respect and began eating a piece of his pancake, not even minding seeing the worms wriggling around because he was desensitized since childhood to worms. Don't ask.

4

After swallowing down his gagh, Adill asked, “Were you on the Eventide, just now? During the Borg encounter?”

"Yeah, i was down in Engineering helping out. Let me tell you, it's almost surreal to be the high ranking officer in a whole department! Truly wild ride." He replied, chuckling loudly. "And you, were on the Eventide too?"

Adill shook his head in response. “No. When most of the medical staff left, I decided we couldn’t completely abandon the patients here. Especially since we still have a diplomat in a coma.” After taking another sip of wine, he asked with raised brows, “You were the highest ranking officer? Excuse my confusion, but aren’t you the same rank as I am? You couldn’t possibly be the chief engineer!”

"True, true. That's a smart thing to do. And i know right?! There were only Petty officers, i was terrified of doing somethin' wrong in there!" He replied, lightly adjusting his Starfleet t-shirt he made.

“Hm, to your success, then!” He raised his glass.

He chuckled and rose his cup of passion fruit juice.

He clinked their glasses together, oddly carefully for a Klingon. Then, he drank it all in one gulp. Not so unusual for a Klingon. “Are the pancakes to your taste? I have gathered replicated food is never quite as enjoyable as freshly made meals.” It was true. For the gagh, too; at least in his opinion.

Wheatley downed his own glass in one single gulp and sighed heavily, placing his cup down. "Well, they're not exactly hearty to eat, but hey at least it isn't horrible! I'm a baker, so i take these things seriously." He noted, shrugging a little.

“A baker? Engineering food, too, not only machines,” Adill joked. He had a feeling that this man was indeed good company.

Wheatley laughed a little, nodding. "Guess so!"

“I am assuming you are human and bake human goods?” He finished his gagh and leant back a little; displaying no intention to leave this conversation right away.

"Yes, I'm fully human... Or well, as far as I know. And well, i bake a little bit of everything! You're Klingon, am i right?" He questioned, still eating his pancakes.

“Yes, as far as I know,” he mirrored. This guy had his kind of humor. “I would not be opposed to trying some Terran baked goods. I have learned to appreciate human cuisine during my time at the Academy.” He gave an appreciative nod.

"Then you'll have a blast with a chocolate croissant! Those are my specialty, but I've never baked to anyone in here before." He smiled proudly, his hair puffing up as he moved.

“I would be honored,” answered Adill and a small smile appeared on his lips. “A… croissant,” his pronunciation was a bit off, “really does sound quite intriguing.”

"It does, doesn't it? It's a French pastry, and has been around since the 19th century." He eagerly replied, his almost electric blue eyes lighting up.

“You seem quite passionate about baking,” noted Adill. He was really relaxing now; with the yellow alert left in the past and his stomach full, he could concentrate on his mental health a little bit and let go of the stress of his life. “Maybe you should start your own bakery on the utility ring.” His tone was just vague enough to leave room for speculation — whether he meant it or was just joking.

"I might as well! Baking was my first passion, mostly because of my father. So when i retire, I'll open up a bakery and spend my days doing what i love." Wheatley sighed dreamily, his glasses sliding down again.

“That sounds rather enjoyable,” he said. Not something you’d expect from a Klingon — you’d expect a Klingon to look down on any plan for the future that wasn’t ‘dying honorably in battle’, but then again it wasn’t uncommon for Klingons in StarFleet to be a little unconventional.

"And you, what do you plan to do when - or if,- you retire? Because i know for sure there are some people who don't want to retire, so that's why I'm asking-" He cut a whole piece of the pancake and shoved it into his mouth.

“I…” Adill hesitated. For a second, he thought of A’Ruk’s contact information still lying around in his quarters. “I don’t plan on retiring anytime soon. Hence, I have not made any plans for the occasion.” That was all he said, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes, almost dreamy.

He noticed the look, but kept quiet. "I see. Well, in whatever you'll do next, wish ya luck!"

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” He got up. “I’ll have to be going now. It’s been pleasant making your acquaintance.”

He left.

Wheatley nodded and waved goodbye.

....and proceeded to shove a whole pancake into his mouth. Dammit, Wheatley.

4

3

Man's satisfied and ready to roam around on the meantime, however... He wanted to try out the tubes again. So against all his morals, he recycled his stuff and walked out of the mess hall.

1

Remun ordered gespar — a traditional Vulcan breakfast. And then the Orion took his bowl and a glass of water and sat down at one of the empty tables. He looked peaceful, though he sat like someone had drilled him to never ever bend his back ever in any circumstances.

T’Lenar entered the mess hall, ordering simple toast with butter and sitting down a reasonable distance away from a certain heat loving annoying roommate. She debated whether or not it would be rude to strike up a conversation.

Remun acknowledged the presence of the other person by briefly looking up. The brown eyes in his freckled face didn’t convey any emotion. He went back to his gespar. If someone wanted to talk to him, they would talk to him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t speak up until he found it pertinent.

T’Lenar was really struggling, man. Picture that meme of the lady with all the algebra. Yeah. This guy technically outranked her… “You do not mind if I occupy this seat, correct?” She attempted.

“I do not,” he said coolly and looked up again. The Ensign was a Vulcan, by the looks of it. “You have not given me any reason to mind it yet, Ensign.” His face was expressionless, as was his tone and posture, but somehow he still managed to come off slightly rude. Maybe it was just him.

“I…see,” Had she done something wrong? T’Lenar was not * as prepared to handle social situations as she’d thought. She was tempted to shoot a message off to Eshen.* “My apologies if I have done something to offend you…”

“You have not.” Remun decided that this was where he could either leave or start a conversation. Since Renakir hadn’t pissed him off yet today and he was therefore in a fairly good mood — for Remun — he decided to ask, “Are you Vulcan, Ensign?” His own tone of voice and stance certainly was Vulcan, though he looked Orion. Now, this Ensign looked Vulcan.

“Affirmative,” T’Lenar gave a small nod, then took a bite of her toast. She seemed to have done at least one thing right.

Remun nodded. “I see. Did you grow up on Vulcan?”

“Until I was fifteen, I did,” She replied. No need to tell him that until was because of her dead folks.

Again, he gave a nod, ate some of his food and then went on to say, “I too, grew up on Vulcan.” It was logical to legitimize his question.

“I see. You have Vulcan blood?” She inquired.

“I do not.” It was impossible to know whether Remun was surprised, flattered or offended by the Ensign’s assumption. “I was adopted as a baby.” Noticing now that the Ensign hadn’t introduced themselves, he asked, “What is your name, Ensign?”

"I am T'Lenar," She stated. Now she was a bit embarrassed.

“Remun T’Lauk,” replied Remun. “Is this your first posting?” The questions he asked were almost clinical, like he was making a file in his head for this Ensign. Which was exactly what he was doing, of course.

"It is not. Previously I was stationed aboard the USS Trailblazer," T'Lenar stated, taking another bite of scrumptious buttered toast. Mm, her favorite breakfast.

Remun ate some more of his gespar. He ate carefully and orderly. It was hard to say whether he enjoyed the taste. “Which Division are you in?” He could only guess by the uniform — either operations, like himself, or maybe engineering. A Vulcan in Security would surprise him, but stranger things have happened.

"I am in engineering," T'Lenar answered. "And you?" That was polite, right? Return the question?

“Operations.” He wasted no time on telling more about himself and instead asked, “How long have you been on the station?”

"Around a month," She said. Wait- that wasn't what a Good Vulcan would say. A good Vulcan would be exact. Crap.

Remun was slightly confused by the inaccurate answer. However, he’d grown used to it after years at Starfleet and he didn’t get too hung up on it. “I trust you did not witness the incident at PACT Galactica. Were you on the Eventide during our previous mission involving the Borg?”

"I was not. I was....preoccupied." Making sure Melul didn't have a meltdown. T'Lenar had been in their room, sitting with them, distracting them.

“That is unfortunate,” replied Remun. “The Eventide’s engineering team was understaffed, if I am not mistaken.” Oops, looked like T’Lenar had just lost some Remun Respect™️. There was nothing more illogical than being preoccupied and missing out on efficiency.

4

"I was making sure that my twelve year old sibling was alright," T'Lenar said bitterly, sensing that she was being judged.

What T’Lenar said did nothing to restore his respect. Remun noticed the bitterness in her voice and if he raised his brow ever so slightly, well, it was only appropriate. Bitterness in a Vulcan’s voice… “Is your sibling Vulcan as well?”, he asked. He didn’t say that he found a twelve year old could take care of themselves. Well, maybe if the twelve year old was emotional and weak; maybe then T’Lenar’s missing from the ship would be legitimate.

“They are. But they are also autistic,” T’Lenar really, really disliked this guy. It reminded her of conversations back on Vulcan…she was very close to just…standing up and leaving.

1

“I see.” It was all he said; he didn’t show any sympathy, but at least he also didn’t make any crude comment. He finished his breakfast. “Is there anything else, Ensign?”, he asked, as if this was some kind of professional discussion and not just a chat.

“No, there is not.” She crammed the toast into her mouth (in a rather unVulcan manor, stood up, and left the mess hall in a huff.

Remun gave the Ensign his Vulcan Eyebrow of Judgment™️ as he watched her scurry out of the hall. He finished his glass of water and stood up as well, smoothing out the fabric of his uniform before leaving the mess hall in a rather orderly manner.

2

[D]The Andorian entered the messhall in her usual tactical uniform. Her mind running through the events on the forest trail. Her PADD that she had set on the table besides her red bat soup and Hari bread was long since forgotten as she thoughtfully ate the regretfully replicated food.

[D]Now free of work Niatha yawned as she walked into the mess hall; ever since T'Zan had abruptly gone and left she'd been working hard and right now she needed a break. So she replicated a huge bowl of noodles and carried it in search of a table, which she found next to the Andorian officer in tactical uniform...

She gave the Cardassian a small, friendly smile. "Hello Niatha, how are you?" She asked in a friendly tone, she had managed to remember the Cardassian's name... nice... she flipped her PADD over so that it wouldn't distract her.

"Avrys. Hey." Niatha smiled her usual Cardassian crocodile smile through a forkful of noodles. Not really the right way to eat those perhaps but she'd never mastered chopsticks. "I am simply wonderful. And yourself? Radiant blue as ever I see..."

She smiled and dipped her head some. "I've been doing alright. A lot of stuff happening in a short amount of time." She said casually as she took a bit of her Hari bread. "I am glad to hear you are doing alright."

"Aww. Thank you." Nia raised an eyebrow and leaned closer. "A lot of stuff, you say? What kind of stuff, exactly?"

"I was on the Eventide during the borg thing, managed to bash my head against a console..." She started with a slightly self conscious chuckle.

"Happens to tbe best of us." The Cardassian smiled and gently patted her on the forearm. Some part of her sensed that perhaps, just perhaps, that her Andorian friend didn't like to admit that even she made mistakes or had unfortunate encounters. "Anything else exciting happen?"

"I uh... started dating a guy." She said with a small, self conscious smile on her face, her antenna moved backwards some, not with annoyance or anger but with embarrassment.

Now the Cardassian positively grinned, the other eyebrow rising to join its counterpart. "Ooh. And who's the lucky guy?"

"Do... Haydon. He's a security ensign but he's more intelligence than security." She expained awkwardly. She almost called him 'Dots' but switched before she finished, that was her nickname for him. That was a personal thing...

"The half Trill guy, yeah? Met him once. He's cute." Niatha remarked. "He's a lucky man..."

She turned the slightest shade towards purple in a blush. "I think I am the lucky one... but he's really nice." She said with a small smile.

"Both of you are lucky. Let's leave it at, that shall we. Mutually lucky." Niatha giggled. "I'm slightly jealous in fact..."

"Why is that?" She asked with an awkward chuckle as she lost that very sight blush. She took a bite of Hari bread in an attempt to hide the fact she had been blushing.

"Haven't quite found someone like that yet... but I suppose I have my options." She remarked. "I suppose I'll just keep looking..."

"I'm sure that you will find someone eventually." She said with a confident tone.

"All in good time!" The Cardassian remarked before leaning in close to the Andorian. "I'd try you if you weren't already dating someone in fact..."

This time the color change was quite obvious, she turned purple around her cheeks with a blush. "I uh... hm..." She stammered, she really hadn't expected that.

"You wha?" Nia teased.

"I uh... thank you? I guess...?" She said awkwardly.

"You're welcome." Smiling thr Cardassian pulled away returning to her own seat. "That's a compliment..."

"I... thank you..." She said, successfully losing the awkward tone and managing to lose some of the purpleness in her face. "So... uh... how have you been?" She asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"I've been wonderful. Met a new colleague who seems pretty nice." She remarked with a slight smile. "Half Vulcan half Romulan woman - she wanted to see my research notes on plants."

"Well that's interesting. What do you think about her?" She asked with a casual and friendly tone.

"She's nice, and cute too, but mostly nice. A lot more emotional than you'd expect." She chuckled.

"Well, she is Romulan, that could explain it." She said thoughtfully l, ignoring the part about the woman being cute.

"Half. Says she can't go back to Vulcan." She shrugged.

"I see... that is interesting. What else have you been up to Niatha?" She asked as she ate a spoonful of soup.

"Mostly work. Studying this particularly interesting seed. It's almost like an Earth bullet, long, almost metallic, hardy. It's from some desert planet!" She said, expression lighting up at the opportunity to talk about her work.

"That sounds really interesting. Haydon and I used a holodeck program where I fired a rifle that used those. They are interesting. Have you had any success figuring it out?"

"Computer's scanning it right now. So far we've worked out that it does that to stay in the sandy ground. How exactly it grows, I don't know yet."

"Huh. I wonder how it would react on a planet like Andoria..."

"Might never grow. Weird thing it is." She shrugged.

"Yeah. It probably wouldn't. Have you ever seen a grown one of them?" She asked as she finished off her Hari bread. She leaned back in her chair some and smiled softly at Naitha.

"Nope. We just got the samples." She replied. "I'll let you know when it grows."

"Alright, that would be interesting to see what it would look like. Maybe it would be metallic as well?"

"It is. Its outer shell may as well be." She quipped. "Hard, smooth, metallic. It's even cool to the touch."

"I was referring to what the plant may be like when it grows." She said in a self conscious tone. "Sorry I didn't make that clear."

"It's apparently a huge tree of sorts that grows up to thirty feet tall." She shrugged.

"Huh. That sounds boring compared to the seed..." She admitted before finishing her soup. "I should be going... It was nice catching up Niatha." She said with a kind tone.

"Nice catching up too. Seeya." Smiling the young Cardassian waved and returned to dinner.

She nodded, stood and disposed of her trash, and left.

[D] Wheatley was in the mess hall, eating a whole bucket of chicken nuggets during his break from his shift. Man was hungry because he had devoured another bucket and was now on his second one.

3

This man is unstoppable, because he just went for a whole cup of passion fruit juice after finishing the Nugget Bucket II™.

5

He's probably dying by now because he fell asleep on the table.

2

You know who was not dying by now? Maggie! She was sitting at a table by the window and merely eating a small breakfast, some yogurt, cereal of a honey nut variety and some water. What a great day, no dying here.

1

Our visibly annoyed MACO clone, whose face was carved from stone with a permanent frown it seemed, replicated a plate of bacon and eggs before walking over to the... science... ensign. She was the only person here he knew so that was the only reason. "Do you uh... mind if I sit here ensign?"

Maggie looked up towards the clone that she didn’t know was a clone. “Sure ensign, take a seat.” She said with a slight sigh.

"Thank you." He said in a completely polite and professional tone that betrayed nothing if the permanent scowl on his face as he sat and set his food down.

Maggie just sorta ate her food in quietness, not letting out a sound for a small minute. “Sooooo, how have you been since last we met?”

"Busy. Until I was placed on medical leave." He said in the same tone before taking a bite of his eggs.

Maggie blinked as she looked at her fellow officer. “Oh? Why would that happen?”

"Mental stuff. Lieutenant Whidbey doesn't believe I an fit for duty and the counselor wants me to come more before he will sign off on me." He said with a slight hint of bitterness breaking through his professional and neutral tone.

Maggie looked towards him with a bit of a hum. “I take it you don’t agree with his prognosis?”

"For the most part I don't agree, but I can see why they would be concerned." He said, once more using the same tone and the frown still on his face. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

Maggie nodded as she took a sip of her water. “Well I can’t comment on what he’s talking about. In terms of how I’m doing? Better.” She said, happy about being open with Aella about getting her parents body.

He nodded politely and finished chewing and then swallowing a bite of food. "Glad to hear it." He said respectfully.

Maggie nodded softly as she ate her meal. “Yeah, other then being made to take off work how have you been?”

"Alright. A friend came to visit." He said bluntly, stabbing his fork into his eggs and eating the forkful.

Maggie looked towards him. “Oh? And how did that go for you?”

"Went good... he's doing alright." He said with a small hint of the frown disappearing.

Maggie smiled as she looked towards Oskar. “I’m glad your feeling good about that!” She said with a smile.

"Yeah..." He said with a small nod as he finished his eggs.

Maggie nodded as she took a bite of her meal. “Mhm! Well that is nice then! I might have my aunt visit the stations.”

"Maybe you should... seeing friends and family is good..." He said with a slow nod.

Maggie nodded as she looked to him. “Mhm, I think I tend to agree. I might just bring her over in the next few weeks, beside I have something to tell her.”

"I hope it all goes well." He said in the same tone as before, he didn't like scientists, and having a conversation with one in his current mood wasn't improving it.

Maggie nodded and lightly stood to her feet. “Well okay! I’ll see you around then, it was nice chatting to you.” She said before leaving.

He nodded. "It was nice to talk to you as well."

00:06

He continued to eat for a few minutes before leaving, the table he was at stained with a sense of annoyance.

[D] It was Cecil's first day at work after his name change went through and honestly it was actually a good day. Most people just called him 'Ensign', but it did bring him joy to see his name on the duty sheet as Ensign Za'ari. Anyway, it was time for lunch and he headed to the mess hall to replicate some food. "Two live taspar eggs, halant stew, milk tea with extra tapioka pearls," Cecil said as he waited for the replicator to make his food. He said he was done with taspar eggs, but they were a great source of protein and after two very unpleasant visits to sickbay the kind Caitian cat doctor had convinced him to watch his diet. He walked over to an empty table and sat down to enjot his food.

2

[D] Walking into the mess hall, Sauk tried to clear his distracted mind. It was Food Time, not Identity Crisis Time. He could think about that later. “Umm…just a ham sandwich, please,” He told the replicator, then turned to look for an empty seat. Then, he spotted his…friend? Cecil. “Mind if I sit?”

Cecil was honestly starving and had the metabolism of a Cardassian vole living inside an engineering console. He was slurping up his taspar eggs when the cadet approached him, almost choking on the still very much alive taspar inside. "S-Sauk! Gah-- yeah sure sure," Cecil grabbed his bubble tea and inhale it to try and keep himself from choking on the damn taspar. When he finally calmed himself he was able to look at Sauk and noticed the boy only had a single ham sandwich. A little sad for a lunch, meanwhile Cecil was here with a whole feast. "Sorry, hey- what's up? I haven't seen you around lately, is your Marnah still here?" He asked, immediately switching to Bajoran when his mind became less fight or flight mode, damn that taspar really fucked him up.

“No, she left a couple days ago,” Sauk replied, sitting and taking a small bite and looking at the science officer. “And I’m alright, I’ve just been…thinking,” Having an identity crisis would be more accurate. He’d always struggled, being a child of two worlds, but it had never been this bad. He didn’t feel like himself. Who was ‘Sauk Tral’?

All of that Cardassian mental training he was doing may have actually paid off. He could see all the signs, the change in the other's voice, the meager lunch-- well maybe he was looking too deeply into that. Most officers did stick to basic nutritional supplements, it was just Cecil who was the fiend who inhaled taspar eggs like fucking Kirby. "Thinking about what? Maybe I can help?" Bold to assume Cecil ever thought about anything, but he would help a friend just like Sauk helped him multiple times. His identity crisis era was over so he was doing pretty well mentally.

2

“Umm…well…I don’t…really know what to call it. My name doesn’t really…feel like mine,” Sauk admitted. “I mean…’Sauk Tral’? Who is he? Because I couldn’t tell you,” He continued anxiously. The words were spiraling out of him now…

"Name?" What a coincidence the Cadet was thinking about taking a new name just when Cecil changed his name. "Yeah, actually after Marnah left I decided to change my name-- We're in different departments so you wouldn't have seen it, but I'm Nalas Za'ari now, pretty cool," Cecil said with a big grin on his face before he went back to slurping up his soup. It also did not dawn on him that he never told Sauk that the woman he had introduced him to a week ago was in fact his mother.

“Oh. Neat,” Sauk said, taking another rabbit bite of his depressing sandwich lunch. “That’s a Cardassian name, isn’t it?” He asked, the language obsessed part of his brain scanning the structure of the name. Cardassian was the language he needed the most work on, but Za’ari sure wasn’t Bajoran.

"Yeah, my father's name. I never knew my biological father so it was pretty awkward walking around with some random dude's name. Plus, it's nice to reflect both my cultures in my name instead of just one," Cecil said before taking another slurp of soup. The whole time he was talking he noticed Sauk eating his sandwich very slowly. He was worried about his friend, especially since Sauk was nearly 6 years his junior, he almost felt like as bicultural Bajorans they needed to watch out for each other. "Your name is just two first names, isn't it? One Vulcan and one Bajoran?"

“Yeah. My parents had a really big disagreement when I was born over what to name me. For once, I agree with my dad in that they should have given me a Vulcan name with a Bajoran surname, but my mother was stubborn. So, I’m Sauk Tral, the biological oddity,” Sauk said with a sarcastic flourish, sighing. “It makes no logical sense that my father gave in, but when you meet my Marnah it makes sense,” He shrugged. Sauk Tral. Sauk Tral. Who was Sauk Tral?

"Interesting," Cecil was glad his parents didn't have that sort of dilemma during his birth. His mother named him Nalas and he took his father's name. Then on Cardassia well both him and his mother got proper Cardassian names no questions asked. Proper? Ah, Bajoran names always felt lower class whilst Cardassian names had a more professional air to them, at least in Cecil's mildly spacist eyes. "Then why not choose a Vulcan first name with your Marnah's surname? You wear her earring, it makes sense to have her name. If you want me to call you something else I can certainly do that too."

1

“I’m thinking about that. But also…the spelling. I don’t know. I’m just…not very proud of my Vulcan heritage,” He admitted. “I…kinda want to forget,” He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe Sanel Sauk is fine and I’m overreacting,”

"You can be a Bajoran boy who has Vulcan experiences, you don't have to be equal 50/50. Just like I am a Cardassian boy with some Bajoran experiences, I'd say I'm 80/20," Cecil said, hoping that saying that would reassure the cadet that he didn't need to be in love with both cultures equally. In fact Cecil was okay with the fact that he probably would never truly see Bajoran culture as equal to Cardassian culture, but appreciated both for being a big part of his life. "Sanel Tral is fine-- and why not middle names? People use middle names, you can be Sanel Saul Tral? I know on earth double names are a thing like Thomas-James or Mary-Elizabeth, right?"

2

“Maybe…” That was actually…pretty smart. Maybe his spacist friend new how to use his braincells every once and a while. “But I’m still figuring out who Tral is,” He added, his tiny sandwich forgotten at this point. He wasn’t very hungry anyway (a terrible mindset for such a dainty, noodle-limbed boy).

2

"Maybe you don't have to have it figured out now to change your name. When I joined Starfleet I was suddenly Nalas-- I had no idea who Nalas was, actually I hated that guy," Cecil said as he sipped his milk tea. "A Cardassian boy named after a Bajoran resistance fighter, that was odd. But after all that has happened, meeting you, Jessil, having Marnah come visit me for my birthday, I finally discovered who Nalas was and I'm not afraid of him anymore. Maybe that's what Sanel Sauk Tral needs to do as well."

“Maybe…” Sauk, quite frankly, was shocked that Cecil was being so wise. “I don’t know. I probably need to think on it more, maybe talk to some other people about it. Too bad Lieutenant Ferrufino got arrested, I could probably use some form of therapy,” He admitted. Stupid Shelf, ruined his chances of counseling.

"Yeah maybe--- Lieutenant Ferrufino got arrested?!" Cecil had not heard this news! For the love of Cardassia what was going on on this station? He nearly spit out his milk tea when he heard it. "What is-- You know what, I'm not going to pry in business that isn't mine," If the lieutenant was being court marshalled it would be best he not know, he didn't want to accidentally spread false rumors or be caught up in a crazy game of telephone with this info. "I think Sanel Sauk Tral would be good. Anyway, all you need to do is submit a request to the Federation registrar. Since your mother is your legal guardian I don't think there will be any issues, similar to my situation."

“Yeah. I might work on that. But I should probably get back to work now, I have a lot of schoolwork for tonight,” He…sort of lied? He just didn’t want to be in the Eat Room when he wasn’t feeling like eating. Not because he didn’t want to talk to his friend, he just…didn’t want food, whatever, no big deal.

"Hey, no problem man," Cecil said, actually being a cool bro for once. "Let me know if you have any questions. We gotta support each other-- from mixed Bajoran to anohter, right?" Cecil said before inhaling the rest of his milk tea.

“Yeah,” Sauk nodded, standing up and leaving. Mixed Bajoran. He hated that. He wished he was fully Bajoran, wished he’d never grown up on Vulcan, wished he didn’t have this stupid Vulcansona living inside of him taking the wheel when Sauk freaked out. Sanel Sauk Tral…time to get to know him.

2

For once Cecil finally realised what the people around him must have been going through during his identity crisis arc. Thankfully that was all behind him now and he could focus on eating some good ass replicator food. He finished up his food and returned his tray so he could head back to work.

Back at the mess hall, Cecil replicated himself some earth waffles and two boiled taspar eggs. He was going to eat them cooked this time, like a civilised person. Only halfway through his meal Cecil was approached by another Cardassian ensign. The two had communicated via private COMMs since the Cardassian arrived a few days ago and this was their first meeting. Oh to see the look on the boy's face when he realised Nalas Za'ari was fully Bajoran. As per usual, the two began to engage in some friendly debate, this time the topic was the Occupation, one of Cecil's favourite things to talk about. "Bajorans had it coming, they were infeior to Cardassians in every way, their lifestyle, their faith, the Occupation was their fault, Cardassians were just following orders. Gul Dukat was one of the few who actually wanted to make things better for his workers," Cecil was speaking very passionately, moving his hands around, he loved debate. The universal translator allowed others to hear Cecil's words, although what it didn't pick up was the sarcasm in his voice. Cecil was indeed arguing against the occupation and just repeating propeganda, but any non-Cardassian speaker would definiktely hear otherwise.

3

Sauk walked in, spotting Cecil, but as he neared the boy, heard his words, his blood ran cold. That...that...That fucking denai, that absolute kasvak! Sauk had trusted him! And now, this bullshit? At 0800 in the morning, when only one of his braincells actually worked? What the pahna? What the actual pahna? Sauk wasted no time, storming right up to the ensign. "Nalas," He hissed, his voice like ice. His eyes burned into the the 'Cardassian', full of fire, anger, and hatred as he glared at the scientist.

4

As soon as Sauk approached them, Cecil's new friend grabbed his tray and scurried off. He was not going to get in the middle of whatever was going on. Cecil looked at Sauk, wide eyed with shock and horror when the Bajoran boy stood in front of him. "Sauk! What-- What are you doing? I--- You completely misunderstood," Cecil was very confused until he realised what Sauk must have heard. Oh this was what he feared. "Listen, it is not what you think it is, you are misunderstanding Cardassian culture!"

"Oh, suuuuuure. 'the Occupation was our fault,' I guess I misunderstood your intention." Sauk's words were like venom as he took another step toward Cecil. He looked upwards at his much taller adversary, not really caring at this point if he died, got his ass hauled out of Starfleet, or something worse. Those were his people, his people who had suffered, his family that had been massacred... "Why don't you go ahead and explain, hmm?" He said, anger rising every second. This boy was a disgrace to his culture.

4

If this had been anyone else, Cecil would have been able to keep his cool, he would have been able to calmly explain things... But Sauk. The Bajoran boy with messy hair and a kind heart. Cecil stood up and bent down so he could stare Sauk in the eyes. "If you had listened to the conversation you would have realised I was arguing for your people," With a hard emphasis on your. "I was repeating Cardassian propeganda, if you were truly my friend you would realise that I no longer hold those views anymore, but you are just jumping to conclusions--- In fact that's all you Bajorans ever do. You see Cardassians and immediately assume the worst. All Cardassians are butchers, all Cardassians were for the Occupation. No, Sauk Tral, I am beyond that, I have told you again and again, I am against the Occupation and the oppression of the Bajoran people," Cecil was beyond mad now. He used to be spacist, that is true, but he is no longer like that! And to be misunderstood by someone he considered his friend really grinded his gears. Despite Cecil's words, he continued to say Bajorans like they were some alien race and not his own.

Something snapped inside him. He held his ground. He refused to be accused of these things. "When you are the target of the oppression and the constant reminder that an entire race of people once believed yours to be inferior, then you can talk to me, kasvak. I thought we were friends. I heard no sarcasm in your voice. Goodbye, Nalas," And with that, Sauk left, storming out through the door angrily.

Sauk completely misunderstood and before Cecil could say anything else to him, the boy was already gone. The whole mess hall was staring now. Without another word Cecil grabbed his PADD and zoomed out of there, threshold speed. Not a salamander yet though. He had to sort this out... Somehow. Cecil didn't know how though. Not when Sauk was so angry. Maybe Cardassians and Bajorans couldn't get along after all.

3

Renakir arrived in the mess hall, a Reman with a purpose. There were not many people there at that time, but that didn't mean he was going to let his guard down, he was only here for some food and then he'd take it back with him and leave. Hopefully he didn't run into any familiar faces, he was not looking to have a chat tonight.

[D] Unfortunately for Renakir, here was The Boy, sitting alone enjoying a small meal of chicken nuggets. Yes, chicken nuggets, leave him alone and let him live his life. “Renakir!” He called, waving at his friend.

The half Reman boy breathed in a deep sigh when he saw the young Cadet sitting along at a table. Guess he would have to stay and chat after all. "Computer, one baguette, toasted. Sparkling mineral water," He commanded and waited a couple minutes for his food and drink to be replicated. Once that was done he headed to Sauk's table and took the seat across from him. "Hello Tral," He waved to the boy as he placed his tray on the table in front of him. He poured himself a glass of his sparkling mineral water and cracked a small smile, mouth closed though. "Good evening, it's a bit late isn't it? Or are you on night shift today?"

“I couldn’t sleep. Comfort food,” Sauk shrugged gesturing to his food. “What about you?” He asked. “I could ask you the same question,” He pointed out, popping a nugget in his mouth.

Renakir looked at the boy's plate to see a splattering of... It looked like fuzzy brown bits of meat. Odd, he didn't recognise the food. It must have been from somewhere outside of France and China. "My replicator is broken, I have submitted a maintenance request but in the mean time I still need to eat," Renakir explained, his eyes shifted from the nuggets to Sauk, trying to discern just what this 'comfort food' was. "And what is your comfort food, cadet? I have never seen it before."

2

“It’s an American food, I think, they’re called ‘chicken nuggets’” Sauk explained. “They’re pretty unhealthy, but…” He shrugged. “They taste good,”

"I am familiar with chicken, but I have never heard of 'nuggets'," Renakir was actually a fan of the fat earth bird, but he did not see a point in cutting it up into such small pieces and making it fuzzy. Maybe it was just breaded too heavily, too many carbs and not enough protein, that's what it looked like (as if he was one to talk, Mr. Giant Baguette Man). And it looked like they were deep fried. Not Renakir's choice, but Sauk did say it was comfort food. The Romulan-Reman boy was trying not to look judgemental, but it was evident in his tone he was definitely having thoughts about the nuggets. "Perhaps I will try them one day," Renakir said as he looked towards his glass of sparkling water and then at his baguette. Both things he had no plans on consuming in public. "My comfort food is the Romulan jumbo mollusk. It is full of protein and considered a delicacy amongst my people. However aliens find it very pungent, have you ever tried it?"

“I haven’t, and if most people dislike it I doubt I will, sorry. I’ve got very particular tastes when it comes to food,” Sauk said, not at all affected by Renakir’s tone, seeing as he didn’t register it. “How have you been?” He asked, swinging his legs under the table, glancing briefly at the room before looking back to his Romulan-Reman friend.

Renakir nodded, finding the boy's response acceptable. The gears in his head were already turning, he was going to teach Sauk the 4th Romulan dialect even if it took the next hundred years. After all, to Renakir he considered it a survival skill. "Alright. Did you know there are two other Romulans on this station? Seems suspicious, doesn't it?" Renakir raised and eyebrow, wondering what Sauk's response would be. This was not a quiz, although he was curious about if Sauk ever had opinions about the goings-on of the station. Renakir might as well have been a jpeg, the man never moved, never fidgetted. He just kept his focus on Sauk or their food (he knew not to stare, well, he wouldn't stare unless the other person was also Romulan).

“Oh, yeah, one of them is my boss,” Sauk nodded, taking another bite of his food. “How is that suspicious?” He asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Is he now?" Renakir raised his tone at the end of the sentence, showing his intrigue. He picked up his glass of water and swirled it around, reviving the bubbles and watching them fizz before he responded. "Romulans are not Federation citizens. To enter Starfleet we need a recommendation from a Starfleet officer. It's not as easy to get as it sounds," He began to explain, swirling his glass again. "Romulans that did not reunify I mean," He clarified. "Since I arrived, two non-Federation Romulans have come aboard. Well, one is.... A special case, but nonetheless when dealing with Romulans you should always assume there is a plan," He put his glass down and leaned forward, closer to Suak. "Or maybe there isn't. You know, the had that borg incident not too long ago, and after that two Liberated borg came onboard the station. Did that not raise red flags for you?"

Shit, Renakir was right. Sauk shrank back in his chair, a little intimidated, the seed of paranoia planted in his mind. “Well- I mean- I don’t- tend to think much about…race?” He said awkwardly, his face colored with nervousness.

Renakir quickly backed off when he noticed the Cadet sinking down in his seat. Perhaps he was coming on too strong. It was very difficult dealing with non-Romulans after spending literally the whole day speaking to only Romulans. He had to keep reminding himself he was here to help Sauk improve his perception and understand of Romulan culture, not scare him away from it. "It's not just race, but more circumstance. Coincidences happen every day, but I do not trust coincidences, especially not when it comes to the borg or Romulans," Renakir spoke slowly, making sure to enunciate each syllable. Even in Standard, he was well spoken. Truly the son of a Romulan Senator. "But. You are doing fine, Sauk. Your perception will improve."

“Umm. I notice…other things? Like, how certain people tend to seek the company of other people? Like…the cliques on the station?” Sauk offered, hoping that would at least show Renakir that he wasn’t totally incompetent.

Renakir nodded, agreeing with the other's observation. "That is indeed a good thing to observe," Already there were a number of cliques and friend groups Renakir could think of. Before he spoke he heard his stomach grumble. But he was in public. He say back in his chair and sighed. "Be careful with who you trust. Especially who you share your personal space with," Renakir gave an ominious warning. He grabbed his baguette and stood up from the table. He was starving but he was not about to risk eating here. "We are children of mixed descent, in many ways we can be someone's greatest asset or," He paused before finishing his setnence. "Greaatest foe."

1

Shared personal space with…was Renakir telling Sauk to be wary…of Jack? That…what….? “I…I see,” Sauk frowned, furrowing his brows in confusion. Something in the back of his brain was reawakening, in a way. Oh, hello again, trust issues!

"And here, a gift," Renakir dug around in his pocket and handed Sauk a small rectangular plastic case, it almost looked like a pack of gum. "You can use them to test your food for poison. Green for poison, no change and it's fine," He instructed, he wanted to show his good will towards the Cadet, he was only looking out for him especially when they were on the boarder between Romulan and Klingon spaces. "And I am sure your friends are fine, please do not worry about them. Just be wary of newcomers," Renakir said before walking away. He left his sparkling water without ever had a single sip, but he was only thinking of his baguette at the moment.

Passing the Trills and Andorian on their way in (scary), Comet entered the mess hall, walking past the Vulcjoran still looking rather shook, to the replicator. “Hmm…I’ll have a chicken salad, please,” They told the machine, and soon, their meal appeared. They picked up the tray, moved to a relatively central table (empty) and sat. Time to dig in!

He's here, hangry and not giving a shit to the others around. Now he needed sustenance. Immediately heading for the replicator, he cleared his throat and asked out, "I'll have some uuuuuhhhh. A plate of pasta with quail eggs and Bolognese sauce along with some caffeinated mate peach tea. Grazie."

21:48

When he got his fúd, he let out a happy tired squeal and made his way over to the table where poor Comet was sitting at. "Yello! Mind if I sit here with ya?-"

The redheaded engineer looked up to see...a redheaded scientist. "Not at all!" Comet smiled, green eyes bright with the excitement of possibly making a new friend. "I'm Comet, Eco Comet, Engineering," They told the Chaos Man, sitting up and adjusting their posture to one of 'listening and friendly'.

"Jack Bright, Sciences." He proudly announced and made a mock bow before sitting down in front of them and placing his plate down. "Another redhead, eh?- Our numbers are rising! Good for the redhead army." And he proceeded to take a forkful of pasta and shove it into his mouth like a starved sewer rat.

"We have an army?" Comet said, tilting their head and raising their eyebrow slightly. "Funny, never been told about it before. You'd think I'd know if I'd been recruited for some sort of military organization..." They were joking, of course, they knew that was just a thing Jack said, but they were playing into it for some unknown reason. Maybe they wanted to pretend to be dumb? Well, not dumb. More just...very literal. "Kidding." They added with a wink and a finger gun for no goddamn reason other than...finger gun.

Jack let out a loud chuckle and nodded, swallowing before replying out, "And I'd know if i was recruiting redheads for our cause!" He snort-laughed and gave them both fingerguns back.

Oh! A man of culture! He knows the ritual! But is he...ya know...well, there were ways to find out. Comet simply had to observe his mannerisms. "So, you're pretty new to the station, huh?" They inquired, taking a bite of salad and shifting the food with their fork.

"Yup, arrived today morning and spent my whole first day in the geology labs. What else's better than that?" He took another forkful of his pasta and ate it, humming softly in happiness.

"Spending all day in shuttlebay," Comet countered, gesturing at him with their fork. "The babies in there are beauties," They whistled, remembering the days they'd speant running diagnostics and maintenance so far.

"Meanwhile i was nearly having a stroke with all the types of gems and soil samples I've both seen and never seen before." Jack noted, pushing up his glasses and giving them his signature crooked grin.

"Rocks and gems are pretty cool...but can they fly through space?" Comet asked, giving him a challenging smile. "I'm kidding, our interests can coexist. Please, go ahead, tell me about the gems and soil samples, if you so desire," They nodded.

"Depends on where you look." He stared at them with a determined, challenging look in his eyes before laughing loudly. "Kidding! That'd be best indeed. And oh, I've got so much to tell about the gems! There was this labradorite sample and my GOD, was it unnatural. It was all stripey but to the wrong sides and I've never seen that before!"

Comet wasn't quite sure what the hell labradorite was, but weird stripeys were very cool. "Interesting," They replied. "Did you determine the reason for the weird stripeys, or...?" They pressed, smiling at what they assumed was a new friend. Hoped.

"Not yet! I was tempted to bring it with me, but if i did I'd probably steal the rest." He snorted and giggled like the gremlin he is.

"If only I could bring a shuttle back to my quarters," Comet said, half joking, half serious. "I'd probably sleep holding it," They were funky and a little bit autistic, could you really blame them? They went into shuttlecraft engineering because it was their passion. So sue them. Actually, don't, they didn't need The Shark on their tail.

"Ha! If i could do that with my dogs and my rocks, i would have done so already." Jack replied, not judging them at all for being passionate about shuttlecrafts.

"Have you ever seen that old earth humor thing, the 'ah, yes, me, my boyfriend, and ___'?" Comet asked. Obscure earth references were their strong suit thanks to their younger brother. "That's me with shuttlecrafts, basically,"

"Oh, I know those well. Me, my boyfriend, and the bigass 600lbs geode i stole from a Romulan." He joked, but didn't make it clear if he was fully joking or not.

"Power move," Comet replied automatically. Sometimes they joked that they were born in the wrong century- but there was no way for them to have been born in the twenty-first century, being half Bajoran, half human.

"Hell yeah." He nodded in approval. Comet had scored another point in Bright's little mental test.

Bright, however, was passing their with flying colors. Hopefully- I mean, Comet was pretty sure they were friends now. They thought so. Why was it so important that they got his approval specifically? It had never been this important before...weird.

Meanwhile he already wanted to be their friend, having enough confidence to knock someone over if he wanted. And that's all from an Ensign during his first day!

They took another bite, then looked back up. "So, who are you rooming with? I'm stuck with that Steiger girl," Comet shared.

"Oh, judging by your voice tone I'd say she's not exactly the best roommate. I don't know my roomie yet, but I'm hoping to meet 'em soon before i go back to work." Bright replied, eating the rest of the pasta before sighing heavily in satisfaction.

"Good thing I don't spend much time in my quarters. I'd sleep in the shuttlebay if I could," Comet shrugged. "Hopefully your roommate is a lot better than mine, all mine does is drink hot chocolate and talk to her boyfriend,"

Drinking his peach tea, he listened to Comet and almost spat it out by laughing so hard. He put a hand in front of his mouth and swallowed before coughing out violently and laughing. "Oh, forgive me! Th-that was rich, caught me by surprise back there-"

"Well, it's true. I met her and she was just...sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate. I'd much rather someone interesting, like you, as my roommate," Comet sighed. "But what can I do?"

"Well, maybe you could ask your superiors to switch quarters? That happened often in my ship, because most of the ensigns were insufferable." He sighed. "And trust me, my previous roommate wanted nothing to do with me after that-"

"Hmm...I don't know many people, though," Comet sighed. "These german ensigns keep ambushing me and stealing my time," they explained. "I haven't really met anyone worth knowing,"

"Well you're a Lieutenant junior grade, aren't you? Can't you just send 'em off their merry way?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"I try to be polite, gather information on them. But I suppose you're right..." There was an idea. Next time someone below them bothered them...just tell them to buzz off. Why not? "I just wish I'd had meaningful interactions. This, and one with Ensigns K'Tann, are the only good ones I've had so far," They sighed.

"Fair enough. My first interaction was in the tubes, with this strange Bajoran (?) officer who got on my tail for being in the tubes, when he was also in the tubes." Bright shrugged a little. "But at least it didn't end in anything catching fire."

1

"Fire...." Their green eyes glinted slightly. "Bajoran '(?)', huh? Are you talking about Ensign Za'ari? I met him, he's actually Cardassian," Comet told Jack, shrugging their shoulders. "Who am I to judge?"

"Yeah, i didn't see them very properly because it was pretty dark in the tubes... And y'know." He pointed to his glasses. "And i guess so? Also, huh. Well my vision must be getting worse." He took off his glasses and looked down at them with his blurry ass vision.

"You ever thought about Lasic?" Comet asked him, tilting their head. "I heard it might help," They said, taking a couple bites of their salad. "Not sure, though. My brother got it, he said it was good,"

"Ooooohohoho no thank you. Nothin' near my eyes." He shuddered, uneasy by the mere thought of it.

"That was my reaction, too, but my brother actually thought it was cool! I tell you, that Kaloi is a wild one," Comet laughed, using their brother's Bajoran name, as was natural. Even though Kaloi looked a lot more human than Comet did.

Jack put his glasses back on and hummed softly, "I don't know about that..."

"No, I'd like to keep lazers away from my eyes, thank you," Comet said in agreement. "Kaloi is insane, I assure you. He's always been that way," They laughed.

"Not worse than my two siblings, i assure you." He chortled, remembering all the times they set something on fire.

"Oh? Tell me about them," Comet smiled, listening intently. Jack was someone they wanted to get to know, unlike those two Germans and their roommate. "I'd love to hear about them,"

"For starters, i have two brothers. Their names are Mikell and Scott, and they're both asses but they're my brothers either way." Bright answered, sighing softly. "My partners in crime, and the ones who managed to save me from going insane with my parents."

"Oh, are your parents not that great?" Comet asked, frowning. "My friend Ekra's dad was like that, he's very...well, he's very spacist." Ekra was Cardassian, daughter of a very important politician with some rather conservative views. She was his only daughter...so she was essentially a Cardassian princess who ran off to become a doctor in Starfleet. Luckily, however, Rejen Eco, Comet's father, had been more than happy to 'adopt' her.

2

"My parents didn't mean to be bad to me, but... I don't know, they just didn't know how to raise me. They had completely fucked up with my brothers and apparently i was the worst one to pop out! As you can see right here-" He tapped onto his own head and chuckled sadly.

"Hey, don't call my new friend stupid!" Comet protested lightheartedly, though they meant the gist of the message. "He knows plenty about rocks, minerals, and gemstones, and enough to graduate from Starfleet Academy," They added. "He's a great guy,"

Bright blushed profusely, to the point even his ears were a little reddened.

"I mean it, Jack. You're cool," Comet smiled. "I'd love to get to know you more, you seem worth knowing," They had moved him to the Second Highest Interaction Tier in their head, which was just below their ride or die friends from the Ohio. "You seem very nice, too,"

"Well, uh... That ain't something i hear every day..." He chuckled awkwardly, trying to mask off his blush as something else and still failing miserably.

“That’s a shame, you deserve it,” Comet said with a genuine smile. “I’m glad we met, Jack. You go by Jack, right?”

"I go either by my name, or Bright. Normally Bright because most forget about me! So no point in introducing, right?" He shrugged sadly.

“That’s…really not great,” Comet frowned. “I’m not going to forget about you,” They promised. “We’re friends,”

Jack chuckled softly and nodded. "Thank you."

“No problem. You aren’t getting rid of me any time soon,” They assured him.

"And you ain't getting rid of me any time soon either!" He grinned, finally showing off his gremlinness again.

“Sounds like a plan, pal,” Comet beamed, brushing a few wild red strands of hair out of the way of their emerald colored eyes.

He tried brushing his hair away from his eyes, but it didn't work. "Awww."

Comet laughed. “Are you trying to mimic me? I think your hair is just a bit too short,”

"Guess so." He chuckled softly and tried pinning the hair strands behind his ears.

At this point, Comet took a hair tie off their wrist and made a small pony tail with the fluffy hair on their head. “Tada,” They said with a flourish.

"Aww, no fair!" He whimpered and tried tying his hair up like they did.

Comet laughed. “Is long hair just that cool to you?” They asked, tilting their head.

"I try to grow out my hair, but then it's really hard to take proper care of it." He sighed, tilting his head too.

“Just takes dedication, I guess. Plus, longer showers relax me, so that’s an added benefit,” They explained.

"I can't force myself to take long showers, because... Well, they take too long! Work's gotta be done, y'know." He noted.

“I mean, sure, but you gotta take care of yourself,” Comet said. “You can’t do any work if you’re sick, passed out, or dead,”

"Hey, look at the Bright side!-.....pfftt—" He snorted and covered his face, laughing silently.

Comet registered the unintentional pun and nearly doubled over by how hard they were laughing. “Oh, man,” They gasped. “That is gold,”

And their laughter made poor Jack also double over from cackling his head out.

“Wow,” They said when they finally caught their breath and stopped laughing long enough to speak. “I think ‘Bright’ is my new favorite surname,”

"If that's the case, then we're a.... Bright bunch!-" WHEEZE.

“Pfft- who let your last name be so pun-able?” They asked. Their cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

"Who knows! But I've got a good one- All my life, I tried to look on Bright side of everything... Now with my cornea damaged, I'm legally blind!-" He jokingly pointed at his glasses.

Comet laughed once again, wiping a tear from the corner of their eyes. “Well- look on the Bright side of that- you look cool with glasses!”

"Trust me, i break mine a lot either by accident or whenever i flop down onto my table after a long day of work." Bright chuckled and took another sip out of his peach tea.

“Flop down…on your…table?” Comet gave an almost-Vulcan eyebrow raise. “Why…why your table?”

"Going to bed is for losers." He jokingly replied and drank the rest of his peach tea, sighing heavily in happiness. "But most of the time i sleep at my workstation, i don't have the energy to go back to my quarters most of the time."

“Then maybe you’re working too hard, that’s definitely unhealthy,” Comet observed. “Plus, the beds here are like, crazy soft. Definitely a step up from bunk beds in the hallway, like they had on the Ohio,”

"Maybe, maybe." He made a tiny motion with his hands to imitate a shrug without shoulders. "And i know! But laziness sometimes is stronger."

“Then maybe I’ll come up from engineering and carry you to your quarters. Don’t try me, I’ll do it,” Comet said with a threatening point of a fork.

He chuckled and rose his hands, "Oh noooo, the engineer gonna kidnap me!"

“I think that would be reverse kidnapping if I take you from somewhere and bring you to your quarters,” Comet said. “Right?”

"That iiiisss a very good question." He replied.

“I will reverse kidnap you if you don’t develop healthy sleeping habits,” Comet rephrased.

"Nooooo! My sleeping habits shan't be changed!" He exclaimed out jokingly.

“Too bad. Reverse kidnapping,” They replied, their tone serious but their face clearly portraying to anyone who could process social cues that they were joking. “I’ve done it with people before, I’ll do it again,”

Fear because Jack can't properly read facial expressions.

“I’m kidding, by the way,” They added. They were used to clarifying, as their friend Sul was autistic and pretty much completely face blind.

His own features softened in relief. "Oh, okay! Sorry, i can't exactly read facial expressions..."

“You’re fine, it’s not problem to clarify,” Comet smiled.

"It's seriously a pain." Bright sighed heavily.

“I bet. Misunderstanding waiting to happen,” They said sympathetically.

"Mmmhm, don't even mention it..." He groaned.

“That bad? Maybe you should hire a translator or something,” Comet mused.

1

She arrived in the mess hall and immediately went to the replicator and started rattling off a list of food as she scrolled through her PADD. Wow that Cardassian kid really gave her a lot of things to try.

[D] Meanwhile, Sauk and Shoe, the epic duo, had just entered the mess hall. He made his was over to a replicator, got lunch for himself and his companion, and scanned the room for a vacant table.

With her tray of food, she looked around for an open table and quickly rushed to the first open spot not realising that a certain Bajoran-Vulcan boy had his eye on the same spot. She plopped down and took out her little camera to take pictures of her food like she was some food blog influencer or something.

Sauk noticed Aella beside him and looked up. After a quick thirty or so seconds of debate, he decided to say hi. “Hey, Aella,” He said, lifting Shoe into his lap in case Aella was in a Prophet-bashing mood.

Aella noticed Sauk had a new companion. A cat? She wanted to reach out and pet it, but this wasn't the time for that. She put her camera down and waved back at Sauk. "Hey Sauk, how are you doing on this fine afternoon?"

“I’m fine,” Sauk replied. “You must be hungry, I guess,” He mused. “That’s a lot of food you have,” Had Aella reached out to pet Shoe, she would’ve probably scratched her. She was on duty, but no one touched her without the bonk of approval.

"Umm.. Kinda, that Cardassian kid told me to eat this," Aella said as she picked up a slice of pineapple pizza and licked the crust. "And it looks like you have a new friend? A pet? What do you solids call the smell creatrures again?" She pointed to Shoe and then looked at Sauk for a few seconds before resuming her pizza licking.

“Yeah, kinda a pet. Shoe is my emotional support animal,” Sauk said, gesturing to the red vest she wore, “SERVICE ANIMAL: DO NOT DISTRACT” written in bold letters across the sides.

Well the word's meant nothing to Aella because she couldn't read. She simply smiled and nibbled her pizza. And 'Shoe' was an interesting name. She could tell that Sauk was happy about keeping this animal around for what was it, emotional support? "Emotional support animal. And what sort of emotional is being supported? I am unaware of you solids' emotional needs."

“I have a couple mental disorders that make it tough for me to stay in the right mind. I dissociate a lot, and sometimes I get overstimulated. Shoe helps,” Sauk explained, stroking the cat’s ash-colored fur.

She nodded and drank some orange juice, enjoying all the flavours she could finally taste. "Ah, I see, well it's very good that you can keep an emotional support animal on this station," She actually sounded very understanding, no condescending tone or rude attitude. Not today. "I... actually am kinda nervous myself. Im gonna have my performance review soon..."

“Hmm.” Sauk thought for a moment about how to help her, before an idea came to mind. “Do you want to see if Shoe will let you pet her? It’s very calming,” He offered, giving her what he hoped was a comforting smile.

Her eyes widened and she looked quizzically at Sauk as if he had just offered her a million bars of latinum. "Oh, Sauk, that's very nice but... terran animals, I'm not so sure," She said hesitantly, wondering if it would really be alright to touch her. Aella's gaze darted from Sauk to Shoe, at a crossroads. The Bajoran-Vulcan was giving her such a sweet smile, but for some reason she was still nervous. Would it really be alright? "I'm a Vorta... we're very different creatures from cats."

"I'm Vulcan and Bajoran. I'm nothing like a cat. Really, Catians are the only sentient species even somewhat like cats, emphasis on sentient. Catians aren't cats," Sauk shrugged. "Plus Shoe's really nice! I'm sure she'll like you, she's a really sweet girl. Isn't that right, baby? Huh?" He said, picking the cat up and baby-talking it. Shoe meowed her agreement.

She stared a Sauk again and then at the cat. Well, maybe it wouldn't hurt. "Alright... I'll try," Aella said as she slowly reached her hand forward so Shoe could sniff her. A Vorta trying to pet a cat, now that was something new.

Sauk set Shoe down in his lap again, watching as the cat crept forward, sniffed her hand.... And after much deliberation, gave Aella the bonk of approval, purring softly and nudging Aella's hand with her head. "She likes you!" Sauk grinned. "Good girl," He whispered to Shoe.

A clear look of shock crossed her face when the cat bonked her hand and she quickly pulled her hand away. "W-What? Oh that was good?" She stretched her hand out again to gently pat Shoe's head. Her face went from shock, to confusion, to content, all in the matter of a few seconds. Truly this was a novel experience. ".... My emotions do not feel supported. Am I doing something wrong?"

"It's not really noticeable. And maybe it doesn't help Vorta? But most humanoids experience an increase in dopamine when they're petting an animal," Sauk shrugged. Shoe, meanwhile, was very pleased to be getting attention. She blinked each time Aella pat her, but it was worth it for the closeness. She loved her Friend, but he spent just a bit to much time working and not enough time petting her. But she of course prefered him to this strange new woman who seemed like she'd never pet a cat before.

"Dopamine... hmm the vorta do not have a system like that. We only get pleasure from serving the Founders," Aella explained as she continued to pet Shoe. Her touch was soft as she was scared of messing up. After a few more seconds of petting time she took her hand away and grabbed her PADD once more. "Well, i do feel... 'relaxed'? Is that the word? I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Sauk asked, glad Aella felt relaxed. That was the whole point of an emotional support animal. Maybe Aella should look into one. He was. however, a bit concerned about whatever she had to ask him. Random questions that started with something like 'Can I ask you something?' always freaked him out.

"My performance review is coming up and... well I wanted to know what you thought about me. Honestly. My progress on this station and integration with you solids," Aella put her PADD down face up on the table to show she was fully focused on what Sauk was about to say. She had a neutral expression on her face, she didn't look at Sauk as she didn't want to put too much pressure on him.

"Well...I mean...you've gotten...better," He began carefully. "You aren't as spacist as you were, for one thing. You actually tolerate other beliefs. You've gotten better at being more sensitive about certain topics, and you've been a pretty good friend to certain people on the station. I think we have the potential of being friends," He assessed, stroking Shoe gently as he spoke.

Hearing Sauk's honest words made Aella smile brighter than a million suns! She clasped her hands together and nodded. "Sauk!! That's.. one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you... i hope the Founders think so too. In many ways this performance review is like a-- a test to your parents."

“I’m just being honest..” He trailed off, seeing how happy Aella was. “I’m sure you’ll do great. You’ve really come a long way since I met you,” He told her, smiling.

"That means a lot to me," Aella gave Sauk a soft smile as she picked her PADD up again. "I... Need to get to the Founders. Thank you again, Sauk and-- thanks to your emotional support... What was the animal? CAT! Yes, thank you!"

He giggled as Aella scrambled for the words. “Cat, yeah,” He confirmed. “Good luck!” He added.

"Yes! Thank you so much!" She said as she stood up and zoomed out of the mess hall, leaving all her food behind. Guess she forgot she was supposed to be trying foods.

Risren entered the mess hall, looking for a bite to eat. The mess hall was a lot larger than it had been on his last posting, which was promising. He paused at the replicator. What would he have to eat? Hmmmm.

He made a bee line for the replicator. This little Bajoran boy was hangry and he was going to stop at nothing for some sweet zabo steak with yamok sauce. He completely missed the Orion that he cut in front of. "Zabo steak, extra yamok sauce. Citrus tea," He commanded and the replicator began to do its thing. Little Nalas was dressed in his uniform today, he had work that day. Thankfully everyone else was on that science mission so it would most likely be slow and quiet.

Risren blinked, stepping back. “Umm…okay then,” He shrugged, sighing. Clearly this Science Officer was hungry. He could wait. He sighed, putting his hands on his hips and waiting for the order to appear.

Nalas grabbed his tray when it materalised and then turned to see the Orion standing behind him with his hands on his hips. He gave the other a polite nod before making his way over to what looked like the only open table and sat down. The mess hall was pretty crowded that day, but as long as he could enjoy his zabo steak in peace he was fine.

Well. Apparently he wasn’t going to be getting an apology. He sighed and stepped forward to claim his prize: “Waffles and syrup, please,” He took his gray and looked for somewhere to eat. That’s right, ya boi was eating Breakfast for Lunch/Dinner.

He was munching his steak when he noticed the Orion boy was looking for a place to sit. Well, seeing how Nalas had taken the only open table he decided to move his tray over so the other could sit down if he wished. Nalas was a hungy boi, enjoying his Cardassian cuisine like a king.

Risren sat down beside the Scientist reluctantly. So far his only impression of the boy had been that he was rude an inconsiderate, though people changed. He was probably just hungry. He cut into his waffle, rubbing his eyes. Fuck, he had forgotten to do his makeup.

Nalas looked over at the other boy's food before going back to slurping his citrus tea. He was less hangry than before and now he was ready to try and actually make friends. "Ú̶͛h̸̒͂h̵̜͂.̸̓̎.̶͖͒.̸̛̛ ̷̡̊s̷̨͗ȍ̶̈́r̷̓̄r̴̭͠y̸̑͌ ̴͑͒a̵͆͘b̴͐̄o̶̗̍u̷̫͂t̸͑̀ ̵̳͆b̴͕̏e̷̺͠f̴̣͋o̴̿̕ŕ̶̀e̷͒͊-̵̃͒-̵̬̆ ̶̙̋î̸͆ ̸̹͋d̸̏̒i̵͝͝d̸̛́n̸̪̋'̷̏̃t̵͚̅ ̴͑̕s̵͘̕ë̸͗e̶̛͝ ̴͎̽y̸̑̋ò̶̳u̷͍̿," Nalas spoke in what would be assumed to be Standard as he had his mouth full of Zabo steak.

1

Risren ran that sentence through his mind at least five times before it finally made sense. Wow, okay. This kid clearly didn’t speak fluent standard. “It’s fine,” He shrugged, letting the UT take care of that. “Name’s Risren, by the way,”

Nalas swallowed his food and chased the overwhelming taste of yamok sauce with his citrus tea. Now he could speak clearly, but this time he wasn't going to try and speak Standard. "Ahh, yea Nalas Za'ari, exobiologist. And you?" He smiled as he went back to speaking Cardassian, the translators were good they'd help him out.

"Risren Detta, warp core engineer," He replied, dipping some waffle in syrup and taking a bite. "Pronouns he and it. Either or," He flashed this 'Nalas' fella a grin. Za'ari was a Cardassian name, wasn't it? Hmm. Interesting.

"Ahh oh yeah, he/him sorry," Nalas said before taking another bite of Zabo steak and smiling. This Orion was different from the last one he met, he liked him a lot better. Risren wasn't gonna judge him for enjoying his food that's for sure. "It's nice to meet you Rislen," He said happily, new friend yeah! "Where are ya from?"

"Earth. Parents moved there before I was born. Wanted a 'positive environment for their son' or whatever," He shrugged. "My last posting, if that's what you meant, was Starbase 21. Man, that place was boring. Talk about a buzzkill. My friend, Yuso, says that someone could sneeze and it would be the most interesting thing happening in medical," He laughed. "And she doesn't even work in medical! She's a diplomatic attache,"

"Oh earth, only lived there for the academy," Wow there were sure a lot of people from earth. Well, it was the capital of the Federation and home of Starfleet HQ. He munched his steak a bit as he listened to the Orion's story. "Sounds boring beyond belief," He laughed when Risren spoke about Starbase 21. He was at least thankful he got to see some action on DS9. "I came from a starbase too, Terok Nor, it was exciting but kinda felt like I never left home on Cardassia Prime. I guess that means both of us are far from our home planets, how do you like the station so far?"

"Well, I just got here. The quarters are nice, but I haven't met my roommate yet. I was with this Catian girl on 21...P'Nelar, I think was her name? She worked in security," Risren replied. "The mess hall is a lot bigger than the one on 21, too. That place was old and tiny. Just...not a great first posting," He said, completely missing the part where Nalas called DS9 'Terok Nor'.

"Who is your roommate? Maybe I know a thing or two about 'em," Nalas offered up his intel. He wasn't exactly the most popular guy on the station, but he did pride himself on having memorised the whole crew roster and constantly kept up to date with the transfers each day. It was one of the few Obsidian Order skills that was drilled into his head that was still useful in his Starfleet life. "Catian girl, sounds nice. ehh we got tons of humans here but you know life do be like that," He shrugged, used to his status as an alien wherever he went. Although the one thing he did miss was not being an alien on DS9 as his people technically owned that station. "This place is more exciting. We got some cool people-- uhh some weirdos, but you know, only the weirdos go to space."

"Hah! I like that. I think so far, the people I've met confirm that. My roommate is some French guy...Avig...Avignon," He said, struggling over the man's name. "Something like that. A medical ensign. Human, of course. What can you do about it? They seem to be everywhere," He shrugged. "Nothing against them, of course, they can just have some...interesting views."

"Avignon, yeah," Nalas said the name, finally a name he could say correctly. He thought for a moment, trying to think of all the information he had on him. "Yeah, human, that's all I know about him sadly," He stated, realising he had never actually met Avignon. He definitely wanted to, but perhaps that would have to wait until after the away mission (that he was still a little bitter about not going). "Interesting views? Yeah, like what? From alien to alien, tell me."

"Well, I did have a drunk human call me an Orion slut once while I was studying at the academy. So that was something," Risren said. A very, very drunk human and a group of her very drunk friends, trying to get him very drunk for a favor. Probably a one and a million chance of that happening again, but you never knew.

Nalas' eyes widened when he heard Risren talk about the spacism he faced. Wow, yeah Orions were definitely not respected by a lot of humans. That 'Orion love slave' stereotype was still strong. He shook his head and took a sip of his tea. "Man, that's shitty. I am not gonna single out humans, but a lot of humans still use Cardassian slurs and it hurts, I know how you feel Rislen," He sighed, it was hard being aliens on a ship full of humans.

Ah, okay, so this boy was Cardassian? Maybe distantly? Mixed somehow? He had a friend once who was Orion and Trill. Interesting combo. "Yikes. That's a big no," He shook his head. "Slurs of any kind...we should be past that in the twenty fifth century," He sighed. "That's so messed up...sorry that happens, man,"

"Yeah, but ya know, the wars weren't that long ago," He leaned his elbows on the table and looked at Risren. "It really tells you something when the nicest people are the ones who were formerly the aggressors and not the oppressed," He said, specifically talking about his experience with Bajorans compared to Cardassians. He sighed again and drank the rest of his tea. "I should get to work, uhh I have a million lates on my record already," He looked down at his PADD and realised he was already running late, shit not again!

"Oh, shit, is shift starting?" Risren realized, looking at the time. "Wait! What am I worried for, I have today off!" He laughed. "Good luck getting to Science on time, Nalas! I'll see you around!" He grinned, flashing a charismatic and friendly smile at the Cardassian.

"Yeah dude, I'm swing today," Nalas said as he stood up and grabbed his tray. "Haha you're lucky. Enjoy your day off. Oh and feel free to PADD me any time, usually I'm available, see ya around!"Nalas said before going to return his tray and darting off to work.

"For sure!" Risren called, then went back to his food. Waffle Time! Fruity Orion eating waffles in the mess hall, what a king. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. This was going to be a good posting, he could feel it in his bones.

1

Somehow Alizati made it to the mess hall in under 5 minutes. He made a bee line for the replicator, which was (thankfully) unoccupied at the moment. "Bio-lubricant in a coffee mug, scone with clotted cream," He ordered, standing straight with his PADD in hand. He still had time before the 5minutes were up, forty six seconds to be exact, and Remun was nowhere in sight. He just hoped he could sit down before Remun came.

Remun was a little early, having been quicker than five minutes. He entered shortly after Alizati and he saw him looking for a table. Before he went to greet him, he went to a replicator as well. “Krei’la and a glass of cold water,” he ordered and took both out of the replicator. Then, he turned around again to see whether Alizati had found a table.

And thankfully he made it just in time. Remun had entered the mess hall and ordered right as Alizati had located a free table. He sat down and looked towards Remun when he turned around. Alizati was tall and he had blue hair, the Orion boy definitely say him. Putting his tray down gently, Alizati made sure to be careful not to bump the table when he sat down. He was honestly not fond of eating in public especially when he could just drink his bio lubricant in his quarters. Still, it was an important bonding activity and he did want to discuss his findings with Remun.

Remun approached the table with his tray in hand, his Vulcan outfit and posture meticulously perfect and ordered as ever. “Lieutenant Commander,” he said in a manner of greeting. As he sat down, he flashed a ta’al to the Android.

He looked up at the Orion, returning the ta’al in greeting and pulled his tray closer so Remun would have more room. He immediately recognised the Krei’la on the other's plate and of course the water, a logical choice for daily nutrients. Being 'born' on earth, Alizati was surprisingly a fan of terran foods whenever he did eat. Mostly breads or simple foods. Perhaps a waste for an android who had the ability to taste whatever foods he wanted, but he only ate if he had to be social. "Hello again, T'Lauk," He greeted as he took a sip of his bio-lubricant. Breathing and blinking were stable thankfully.

Remun was slightly confused by the fact that Dzharok was not addressing him by title, since that was what he would have expected from a Vulcan. However, it didn’t throw him off his tracks. Remun had met more… relaxed Vulcans before. Besides, this was still an Android technically. He took a sip of water, before saying, “Your help is very welcomed, Lieutenant Commander. It will aid me in determining the efficiency of my program.” His expression and tone remained stoic, but it was clearly his version of a ‘thank you’.

He accepted the Orion's words as a thank you, after all they were both Vulcan by upbringing even if neither of them were biologically Vulcan. He gave the other a nod in acknowledgement and picked up his fork to eat his scone. He didn't eat food very often and it probably showed. Despite observing eating habits of countless species, in the end he was still just an android. In fact, until the academy he had never eaten anything. It was illogical to seek out additional nutritional supplements when all he needed was bio-lubricant. After silently chewing his piece of scone with clotted cream he took another sip of the rather odd brown coloured fluid in his mug. Perhaps it could pass as coffee, but unliked coffee it was odourless. "Your programme is very well made. I believe it is sufficient. I am no security expert though, but from an engineering perspective I found it to be quite the challenge. In particular the unique sequences, I believe even a super computer would struggle with the input," Alizati put his mug down and looked at Remun. His dark pupils catching the light as his eyes subtly vibrated as they focused on the Orion. He timed his blinking just right so that the vibration wouldn't be so obvious, it was one quirk he could never get rid of.

Remun nodded, eating his breakfast as well. He ate very carefully, his movements, yes even his chewing seemed measured. Admittedly, he couldn’t comprehend why the android would seek nutritional intake in anything other than lubricant. It was illogical. He wondered why Dzharok put so much effort into appearing like an organic life form. However, that was no topic he was here for. “I am pleased to hear that assessment. It must be accurate, as it comes from you,” he said after swallowing. It was the only remark he made about the Lt. Commander’s ‘species’. “How long exactly did it take you to break through the firewalls?”

Subtly, or not so subtly (he had a habit of staring) he watched Remun eat, taking note of the way he performed each action with measured calculation. His whole life he observed many Vulcans who seemed focused on behaving like a well oiled machine, but here he was a full android who would do anything to seem organic. He caught himself staring a little too long, which also caused him to forget to breathe. He took a small breath and looked away from Remun and down at his food. As it comes from you. was a strange statement. Did that mean Remun knew? He probably did, after all it would be illogical for him not to have looked up Alizati's name on the roster. Still, he was going to keep up his act until he was absolutely certain of the other's knowledge "It took me exactly twenty five hours, thirty six minutes, and two point zero ten seconds," Alizati replied, not missing a single beat as he spoke without so much as a single breath. He made eye contact with Remun again, studying the other's expression although he knew he would get nothing. Remun and himself were both very emotionless in every way.

Remun gave a small nod, obviously saving the the exact information in his head. He swallowed down another bite of his Krei’la. It wasn’t as good as the homemade one that his mother used to make back in the day. Not that it mattered. It was irrelevant to think about at the moment. Remun studied Dzharok for a second with his cool, cognac colored eyes and then he added, “Lieutenant Commander, may I make a personal inquiry that is unrelated to our current discussion?”

Alizati blinked and looked away from Remun when he caught himself staring again. It was not unusual for Vulcans to hold eye contact for so long, however he was all too aware of his eye movements and prolonged eye contact increased the risk of that being noticed. He grabbed his mug of bio-lubricant and calmly sipped it. Being Vulcan made it easy to hide the (minor) stress he felt from having to remember to breathe and blink all the time. "Yes, you may," His eyes met Remun's again, jet black pupils that seemed to blend in with his darkened irises. He looked the other with curiousity, there was no fear or uncertainty in his voice even if those emotions were swirling around somewhere in his mind. Well, did he even have emotions? He blinked twice.

“For what reason do you find it necessary to put this much effort into appearing like a biological life form? It is clearly not pertinent for an Android to blink, breathe, or eat; and yet, Lieutenant Commander, you engage in the named activities.” Remun blinked back at him. With the slight difference that he had to blink. “I find it difficult to comprehend this behavior.” ’Because it is illogical.’ He didn’t say it out loud, but it was definitely there in his tone of voice.

So he had noticed, or read his file. Either way, Alizati was not surprised nor going to deny the truth. He looked down at his mug of bio-lubricant as his mechanical brain was forming a reply. "There is much prejudice against 'synths' as they say. As chief engineer I have to work closely with all types of people and it would only be logical that I adjust my behaviour to not alarm them," Spoken like a true Vulcan, monotone and emotionless, as if he were reading from a script. "The debate whether artificial life is sentient is still ongoing ever since the trial involving the late Commander Data on stardate 42523.7, it is logical for me to emulate organic life as best I can in order to become an equal in society," For once he was not deflecting. In fact he was being quite genuine. There was no change in his voice, but now that he wasn't breathing or blinking, it was clear he had his full focus on their conversation. In many ways he spoke more like an organic life form when he didn't bother trying to seem like one.

Remun took a moment to consider this. The Lt. Commander’s logic was quite flawless, as far as he could see, as least if his goal really was to connect to his coworkers — something Remun would never bother putting this much effort into. However, he nodded. “I believe I understand.” He took another sip of water before adding, “Nevertheless I will have you know that keeping up an appearance is not required in my presence. I have no negative opinion on androids that would affect the way I treat you, Lieutenant Commander.” If it hadn’t been for his completely stone cold voice, it would have sounded almost nice. He ate another bite of his Krei’la.

Alizati stared at Remun, actually stared at him. The other really didn't care? But he was Vulcan raised-- well it was logical to treat all sentient life with respect, especially when said life was a superior officer. Alizati stopped breathing and blinking, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. Still, he kept his rigid posture and his face free of emotions . "I wished others felt the same way," And that was all he had to say about that. No need to go into any more detail. Alizati picked up his cup of bio-lubricant and drank it slowly. "How is the replicated Krei'la?" He inquired, putting his mug down.

Remun found himself being stared at blatantly. Apparently, Dzharok was not used to this amount of indifference or respect in regard to his species. Remun felt like he could relate in some strange way, but that was an emotion and he quickly ignored it. It was simply logical to respect the Lt. Commander to some extent. He was a machine, but the complexity of his program made him close enough to a sentient being that he was able to climb the ranks of StarFleet. And that, in Remun’s eyes, was an achievement to be respected. Receiving the question, Remun’s eyes slid down to his half-empty plate. “It is sufficiently nutritious and pleasant enough to consume,” he said, which was the Vulcan equivalent of ‘It’s fine.’ “However, in comparison to the Krei’la that I had as a child on Vulcan, it can not compete.” And there it was again, that slightly judgmental tone. Like he was blaming the replicator or the engineers who had programmed the replicator. The sentiment of judgement or dismay wasn’t very emotional or passionate, but it was there in his eyes, as he remember the way his mother used to prepare Krei’la dough with him in the kitchen. His green hands white with flour, he would tell his mother about his current studies at school, always trying to cover up the fact that the other kids looked at him with such suspicion in their eyes… He took a sip of water and reigned his memories back in.

It was strange, it really was. To be met with complete indifference when his species was known. Perhaps it was because Remun was also a non-conventional Vulcan although one thing Alizati lacked was a non-traditional Vulcan childhood. In fact, he didn't even have a childhood so to speak. He spent his "early days" in a lab in Daystrom Institute, helping his mother with her projects and doing self-maintenance. He looked down at Remun's food and then back at him, observing his every movement. Not to judge, but to learn and hopefully perfect the art of being organic. "I am not surprised. I find that no matter how good technology is it no replacement for the real thing," Alizati's tone was still just as monotone as ever, that is until the last couple words that he stressed ever so slightly. "My father also makes Krei'la, but I have never tried it," He looked down again, his voice becoming a little softer. Ironically this was the time he sounded the most organic, when he wasn't worried about breathing or blinking, or putting up his organic act in any way.

Remun considered the Lt. Commander’s words. It was logical of the Android to come to the conclusion of technology being inferior to ‘real’ things — food, people… Remun made no comment on the matter. It was not his job to console the Android, or to disagree with him. If his words about the food had upset or offended the officer, it was not Remun’s intention, but he didn’t care enough to say as much. Instead, he ate the last piece of his Krei’la and then he said, “I am assuming you view your programmer and developer as your father. May I ask his name?” Professional interest in his tone, no judgement for once.

It didn't take long for Alizati's expression to return to the neutral emotionless state it was normally in. Thoughts about his family's opinion on 'synths' were quickly pushed aside as he watched the Orion eat his last piece of Krei'la. It looked delicious, Dzharok also enjoyed Krei'la. He took a sip of his bio-lubricant, now happy to be able to completely forget about his scone. It was illogical to ingest anything other than his bio-lubricant, he did not need any other nutritional supplements. That's when Remun asked about his creator-- or well his father. "No, my father is a scientist who adopted me. His name is Sorn and he works at the Vulcan Science Academy," And that was all the information he thought he needed to give. His history was a bit involved, not for this conversation. Remun accepted him being an android, but he knew that if he found out Alizati's original purpose it would definitely stir up some judgement. He never mentioned it to anyone, it was something even he wished to forget. "And I assume you were also adopted by Vulcans?"

Remun nodded slightly as he listened to the Lt. Commander. “Your assumption is correct,” he said, “I was adopted at the age of one year old after my biological father passed away, and grew up on Vulcan.” He didn’t enclose why he hadn’t been given to his mother. Why he didn’t say it was anyone’s guess. He took another sip of water. “Perhaps, Lieutenant Commander, we should return to our original topic of conversation. I would be interested to know how your synthetic brain worked through my security program.”

"It is fascinating to meet another Vulcan with a similar experience to mine, I find adoptees have experiences vastly different than children who grow up with their biological families," Alizati did not comment on the fact that he never actually "grew up", he looked the same when he was 1 day old as he does now. He did find it curious that Remun did not mention his biological mother, but he understood that parents and family were sensitive topics for people so he did not push it. He nodded when the other suggested they return back to the topic at hand. The programme, that's what they were here to discuss. "My brain, or really it is a network of components can process data at 30 petaflops per second. It is very effecient at running probability and guessing sequences. I believe had I been an organic life form it would have taken much longer to try out ever possible combination. As I said before, even a super computer would struggle with it." He explained and took another sip of bio-lubricant. Super computer, Alizati could be considered one, but he did not think there was anything 'super' about him.

“That is reassuring information to me. I will study your logs and try to perfect the program even further,” said Remun. Clearly, the man was an over-achiever. He wanted to be seen as diligent; and he was used to the fact that he had to work twice as hard as any other person to earn the same amount of recognition. Maybe it was his intense focus on work that made him so unsociable. Not that he cared about being sociable, of course. “Your participation has been helpful, Lieutenant Commander.” Then, he finished his glass of water and stood up rather abruptly. There was no logical point in dragging out the conversation any further. They had discussed what they had come here for. Remun had other things to do, such as perfect his program. “If you should ever deem it pertinent to continue our conversation, I will be available via PADD.” Whether that was an indication as to the fact that Remun had enjoyed the talk, was anyone’s guess. Maybe he had. Who knew whether Remun was even capable of enjoyment?

"Please do and likewise, I am also available via PADD. As an android it is easy for me to share my processes and I would be willing to lend assistance for any other task you may have," Alizati's tone had remained uniform throughout most of their conversation, but there was an ever so subtle change in his demeanor. He seemed more confident now that he did not have to hide the fact that he was an android. If he was human perhaps one would say he seemed happy he didn't have to hide anymore, well, at least around Remun. "It was a challenge and I look forward to seeing more of your work, Lieutenant Junior Grade," Alizati said, taking the other's words as a 'thank you' and sign that the interaction was a success.

Remun gave a small nod. There was something like appeasement in his cognac coloured eyes — almost a warm expression, but only in his eyes and only very subtle. “I look forward to sharing more of my work. Goodbye.” He raised his hand, forming a ta’al. Then, he picked up his tray. (edited)

12:11

Having bid his goodbye, he left the mess hall.

[D] There was a memory gap in his mind - it began with him re-entering the Viola, talking about something with someone, when they heard sounds. He must have said something, something loud and excited, and then... then Saren blinked, and found himself lying in a bed, staring up at a white ceiling, feeling awfully numb. His stay in the medbay was short, thankfully. Saren was lucky, this time - with zero bruises and a suggestion to, like others, visit a counselor (he politely nodded at that but said nothing), he soon was let go. Saren made his way back to the middle habitat ring, feeling a bit like a piece of crumpled up cardboard that someone stomped on - the result of painkillers exiting his system, he guessed absent-mindedly. He also didn't have his uniform, instead donning some black pants and a blue sweater, which made him feel very naked and very out of place. But he couldn't bother himself with a uniform right now - he was off-duty and fresh out of the hospital ring, and honestly who cared? Well, he did. But not enough to actually do something. So here Saren was, in a mess hall. His brain at some point decided that he needed to stop here to just... sit down. Feel through his emotions, at least attempt to make sense in his jumbled up, post-expedition mind. To look less like a crazy person, Saren got himself a glass of cold water, holding it by the rim - and let himself drift.

1

Renakir was crawling to his quarters in the middle habitat ring via the jefferies tubes. It was cramped but he didn't mind, in fact he felt more at home in tight spaces. It felt oddly safe to him. In a closed space he could easily see what was in front and behind him. Of course if he were to be attacked he couldn't easily escape, but Renakir was confident in his abilities to hold his own. The tubes were h is domain, well, the turbolift was but the tubes were close second. Feeling confident he had reached his quarters, Renakir popped the hatch only to find himself in the middle habitat ring! The poor Romulan-Reman boy pushed his sunglasses back up on his face and looked to see the unlucky sod he probably scared crawling out of the tubes. "En--Ensign Saren, hello?"

He heard the metallic pop - and that brought him back to the reality. Saren startled, somehow managing to not spill water all over the table, and quickly turned towards the offending sound. He saw the opened hatch, and a very familiar head peeking out of the jefferies tubes... "Oh, Re-" he almost blurted, but quickly collected himself, "Hello to you too, sir. Feeling well?" He tried to sound and look nonchalant - emphasis on "tried". Yeah, no, the ensign was a bit of a post-op mess. Though, meeting someone he knew did cheer him up, just a bit; the younger Romulan's gaze seemed more coherent now, when he wasn't staring off into the void. Saren turned towards the ops officer, one hand still holding the water glass in a tight grip.

Naturally Renakir's brain was telling him this was planned. Saren knew he was going to be there and wanted to throw him off his guard-- but taking a second look at the ensign's face told him there was nothing to worry about. If anyone was doing any plotting Saren was not the guy. Two Romulans running into each other yet again, not a plot. Just coincidence. Renakir stood up and brushed some dust off his uniform before taking a seat across from Saren-- leg over chair Riker-style. "Well, I suppose," Renakir lied, but this time he made it obvious with the furrowing of his eyebrows and obvious frown. His statement sounded more sarcastic than an attempt at deception. Dark sunglasses completely covered his eyes, but with his hair pulled back and forehead ridges fully visible it wasn't too hard to discern his emotions. "But you, well-- you look terrible," He leaned forward on the table, his words were casual and a bit silly, but any Romulan would be able to tell he was being caring.

His gaze followed Renakir, who decided to walk over and... oh. Oh? And just like that, he too started to overthink - was this pity for his sorry, vulnerable, and so very unprofessional state? Or, maybe something more sinister was going on, with sunshine glasses over here popping out of the hatch so conveniently when Saren's-- OH COME ON, he agressively cut off that train of thought, while giving Renakir a slightly puzzled expression. Stop being such a paranoid asshole, asshole. He's just sitting there, non-menacingly. Saren blinked, considering the voice of reason, and finally deciding to agree with it. His shoulders relaxed, and he eased his grip on the poor glass. There was no need to be so alert. Renakir's answer made him smirk: "Yeah... yeah, I agree. It still kinda feels like I got hit by a console..." he lifted his gaze for a short second, "... wait, no. It happened the other way around, actually. Damn, I hope whoever designed those things stubs both of his toes." He coudn't help but notice that Renakir... was expressing care? Oh boy. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened on your side? After the whole operation went..." he used his hands to mimic an explosion. It still felt surreal.

In all honesty, Renakir was doing his best to push his Romulan paranoia away for this one time. Sure he totally thought this was a staged meeting. They were not in the same department, not even the same rank, but they were both Romulan. Sure 777 was on the doorstep of Mol'Rihan and sure a lot of Romulans passed through the station every day, but why them? Why did they always run into each other? The puzzled look, the way he blinked-- Tenakruvek, even the way he breathed, it was taunting him. Maybe this was a set up? He let out a sigh of relief when the other relaxed his shoulders and his grip on his water glass, alright, he was definitely over thinking this. "Yeah, heard you guys took quite a beating down there. I only saw the end of it, I was on the transport shuttle," Renakir said as he made some weird gesture with his hands like he was squeezing a spring between his palms. Uh-- it was supposed to mean the shuttle was cramped. Well anyway. "We were adrift in space. Crazy I know. Umm... The human pilot bit me and kneed me in the stomach-- nothing like you guys, but I have to say I did not expect to be bitten by a human that day," Renakir was trying to lighten the mood with some light hearted humor, not even noticing he was laughing a bit too much as he spoke. The tips of his pointy teeth peeked out as he grinned.

Beating was an understatement, honestly. He now intimately knew what shades of blood his colleagues had, he knew which part of the Caitian doctor's face was now a prosthetic, and his roomate's damn hand was still somewhere in all that spaceship rubble. Those people saw him weak, they saw his softer, more human side, it was... "It was wild, literally and figuratively," he supplied, tracing the glass' rim with one finger. "The nature was pretty, though. Shame I didn't have enough time and resources to document it." Renakir's story came as a welcome distraction. Saren scrunched up his nose: "Bit you? I hope you got that treated," a beat, and then he fumbled: "Shit, wait, it wasn't a joke about him being human, it was about rabies-- oh that still sounds bad, uh... well, forget it, my brain's still catching up and is still a bit doped up. Sorry about that." He seemed a bit more... honest, right then. "The adrift in space bit does sound terrifying, though..." he looked down at the water, "That expedition was really something, huh. I hope some of our team go and get counseling, they will be needing it."

3

Renakir listened closely when Saren talked about his experience on the planet. He may not have known what exactly when down, but he had an idea and haering Saren's statement reaffirmed his theory. It was violent. And not the natives. Renakir saw the injuries, he saw Saren, Doctor M'ow, Bright. Their physical injuries may have been healed, but considering the amount of time they were all given off there were deep mental scars that would take a while to heal. "I remember catching a glimpse when the shuttle landed," Renakir said as he watched Saren trace the rim of the glass with his finger. Hmm, was this a sign? Was Saren plotting something? No, no, he was not going to let his paranoia get to him. Thankfully Saren's terrible attempt at a joke was enough of a distraction, causing Renakir to actually laugh out loud. He smiled wide, pointed teeth showing before he realised what he was doing and quickly covered his mouth. "Saren-- You know this is why aliens think we're strange," He said in a low voice, almost a whisper. "No no, I just didn't expect someone to bite me. Being a Romulan from the Republic in Starfleet I was prepared to get kicked or beat, but not bitten. Well, the pilot was having a panic attack, I don't hold it against him," Renakir shrugged. "It was a wild ride for sure, I assume you are not seeking therapy?" He raised an eyebrow, knowing very well Romulans seeking therapy was about as likely as a human ordering jumbo Romulan mollsuk. Renakir actually had seeked therapy during his academy years, there were some things Zhal Makh couldn't solve after all.

He got a short glimpse of Renakir's smile, for the second time since they met. Saren still remembered their first talk in the turbolift, the barely hidden anger at his words in that grimace - but this time it was, dare he say... friendly? He was probably imagining things. Romulans didn't really do "friendly" - such vulnerable feeling was reserved for family, usually. The Lieutenant was merely... tolerating his existence, he had to, after all they lived and worked on the same starbase. Besides, Saren simply didn't deserve this half-Reman's trust - not with that rotten, violent bloodline of his. He shrugged, suppressing a smile and willing for the darker thoughts to go away. "I do! I mean... humor is weird in general. And I'm kinda bad at it. I do hope he's fine now, though." The mention of the forbidden t-word made him pause. Saren put his hands together, clearly struggling to come up with an answer. "..I, hm. I don't feel the need?" he offered, tentative, "I was worried about my fellow officers and about our survival, yes, but that's normal in that kind of situation. But I don't feel like there's anything... worth to go over. I have survived worse, and it would be better for counsellors to spend their time on people who need the help. I am going to sound very Vulcan, but in my opinion, it's only logical."

3

Renakir rested his arms back on the table as he relaxed his posture and he returned to his neutral expression. He let out a soft sigh, his eyes drifting away from Saren momentarily before they locked with the young Romulan once again. Did he see? The intrusive thoughts were back and now he was reconsidering his past actions. Maybe he was too casual-- Saren probably thought it was a plot. "Humor is weird, I don't grasp it much myself," Renakir stated, his voice had slipped back into a Vulcan-like monotone which was now apparently his default. "I have to agree with you there. The needs of Vulcanoids are very different than that of other species," He said as he ran his fingers through his hair. Some dust falling onto the table, which reminded him he was literally just crawling in the tubes. "Valleka hasn't given you any other troubles, right? She's spacist, by the way."

3

To be fair, they both were acting awfully casual. Just two officers, chitchatting away in the mess hall. He was glad that Renakir agreed with him and no objections followed. Which realistically wasn't good at all, actually, but this Romulan scientist was too much of a dumbass to realise that. "I don't think humans fully grasp that concept either. You can wiggle a finger at some of them and they will lose it. Trust me, I've checked." He lifted his eyebrow. "Your lovely spouse? Haven't seen her since that turbolift incident, where she tried to gaslight me into thinking that you both are lowkey evil. Why, did something else happen?" he inquired with a bite of sarcasm, yet a frown appeared on his face - he didn't even try to hide his concern.

"You've checked?" Renakir was trying not to laugh again, covering his mouth as he smiled. If they were literally any other race but Romulan, maybe they would be friends, but no, they were Romulan and there was still a voice in the back of his mind telling him not to get too close. "You shouldn't underestimate humans, I mean, one bit me," Renakir looked away for a moment so he could rub the small tears forming in the corners of his eyes from holding back laughter. For a very brief second Saren would have seen his tiny beady eyes and dark circles, but they were soon covered once again by his sungalsses. "Not yet. And I don't think she ever will be," Renakir looked back at Saren, noticing the concerned look on his face. This is a set up, this is definitely some sort of plot, his mind screamed. There was no way this ensign could actually be concerned for him. He was suspicious, very suspicious, but he was going to play along... For now. "She told some ensigns that I was a dirty Reman. And to think my Reman family trusted her to represent their interests in the senate."

"In the Academy. I was curious," he explained with a shrug, a note of smugness in his voice. If he was a little bit proud of making his colleague laugh, he didn't show it: "You're right, though. I'll be more careful next time. Don't want to get my hand bitten off..." Saren trailed off, taking care to look away from Torre'vnau when he took his glasses off. While he was curious - he always was, to the fault - he didn't want to invade the ops officer's privacy. The man would probably grow suspicious of him. He knew he would... But Saren snapped back to attention when Renakir answered, realizing the seriousness of that subject. His face became blank, completely neutral, at the answer. One, two, ten seconds- In a blink of an eye he got up from his seat, accidentally bumping the table with his knee; the glass fell and rolled, leaving an arc of water in its wake. He slammed both of his hands on the table, looking the Romulan-Reman man straight in the eyes. "She called you a WHAT!?" he roared, scandalized, raw fury evident in his features, "Well guess what, sunshine, in one hour you can add assassination to my work resume!" Later, much later, Saren would blame his violent emotional outburst on the meds still coursing through his veins - because confessing that he felt hurt and unjust for Renakir would be too sincere, too human. But right then and now, he was too pissed to think about that. Irok would be thrilled to know that his darling grandson gave into his explosive personality and was seriously considering a fight with a Mol'Rihan senator.

4

"Yeah don't--" Renakir was just about to comment about the humans again when he felt the table shake from under him. Clack, the sound of the water cup hitting the ground rang in his ears causing the Romulan-Reman boy to wince at the sharp pain it sent through his temples. His eyes squeezed shut as he gripped the table to keep himself from falling forward from al lthe sounds. The banging of Saren's fists against the table accompanied by the booming sound of the younger Romulan's voice seemed to shake the room. Renakir naerly lost his glasses as he was now trying not to fall back from the sheer shock of it all. "S-Saren," When he finally came to his senses again, Renakir looked up at the science officer, his worry and shock clear as day on his face. "Shh,"Now the whole mess hall was looking at them, great. There went his low key relaxing day. One moment he was reading cat murder storybooks with his favourite Vulcan Bajoran Cadet, now he was trying to keep this science ensign from breaking the laws of two big galactic powers. "We.. Probably should talk about this outside," Renakir wasn't about to tell his friend not to throw hands in his name (honestly he would attend that fight), but he also recognised two Romulans in a mess hall, one threatening to commit murder, yeah, definitely not going to sit well with the other species. Renakir stood up and gestured to Saren to follow him.

He was making a scene, Saren knew that. Didn't mean that he gave a damn. He probably scared someone witless, and people were looking at him, a Romulan, being emotional and unhinged. Well, so be it! See his true colors, his stormy nature, he didn't. care. They can hate him, fear him, whatever - it would be nothing new to him. Renakir's face was the only thing that forced him to deflate and to uncurl his clenched white fists. He blinked, looking vaguely surprised at his own outburst. "She has no right!.. And don't you shush me..." he snapped quietly, almost defensive. He shot a glare at some ensign whose gaze lingered on them for a moment too long, and then followed after Renakir, back straight. He felt like he would need to justify himself. Fine. He can do that. Not the first time that that would happen.

3

Finally outside of the mess hall (well they were actually off to the side in a corner), Renakir sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. More dust fell from what he could only call s dead Tribble on his head. He had started the day with his hair pushed back, but it was already horrible tangled and messy. Now it was time to address that whirlwind of emotions that just unfolded. Renakir's suspicions of Saren sabotaging him had been eliminated, but he still had a few paranoia-fuelled conspiracy theories brewing in his mind. "I am not telling you not to feel, but we need to be respectful of others-- we are here to break stereotypes, not reaffirm them," The Romulan-Reman boy was rubbing the tips of his floppy ears between his fingers. A nervous habit and a sign that he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with this situation. * "I am... surprised at your reaction. And.. it's oddly comforting," Renakir stared at Saren, for once there was no subterfuge in his voice. No deception. His tone was genuine.* "And the nickname is amusing, Sunshine? You know they used to call me Soleil at the academy because my Romulan name sounded like 'sun' in French,"He said, trying to lighten the mood a bit and get Saren to cool down. Mostly for the ensigns sake, after all it was the younger who nearly died on an alien planet not more than a couple days ago. (edited)

2

Saren stood before Renakir with his arms behind his back, looking a bit like a student who was expecting to be told off but felt zero remorse for his actions. Well, he did feel guilty for the outburst itself, but was completely justified in his negative emotions. How else could you react to that? "I understand and I'm trying, but it's not everyday you learn from your colleague that their bethrothed is being kinda shitty to them, don't you think?" he retorted, noticing the ear-rubbing. Huh. Valleka also did that, "I think it's an expected reaction. I just... was fully honest with it." If only you knew how much of a Romulan stereotype I actually am, he thought bitterly. If Renakir did, they probably wouldn't be interacting like this. If anyone did, Saren wouldn't even be here, period. People didn't like his relatives very much, then why would they continue to tolerate him?.. The next sentence made this self-loathing spiral of thoughts screech to a halt. Saren looked at the ops officer as if he grew a second head. Comforting? Comforting? No no no. Saren was anything but comforting. He was angry, and bitter, and this guy was getting it very wrong. "How else was I supposted to react? Nod and say "wow, what a shame?" No!" he sputtered, defenses were up, "Wouldn't anyone react like that?" "No, actually", was a very obvious answer. But Saren was too embarrased and in denial to accept that. The ensign was silent for a bit, as if considering if the next bit of information should be uncovered. "...It's the sunglasses... It was the first thing I noticed about your appearance," he confessed, looking at some invisible point on the ground, "I do realize the irony of it, but it quickly stuck."

"I know, and I am not telling you that you are wrong. That is why I am going to cancel the engagement," Renakir said, hoping that reassuring Saren that Valleka was going to suffer consequences for her actions would help him feel more at ease. Despite being a mix of two very violent and emotional races, he could not condone violence. Even against someone who clearly deserved it. “I appreciate your concern for me and in turn my fellow Remans," He looked at the younger boy and sighed. He knew the science officer was more angry because he knew Renakir, but a part of him wanted to believe that the boy was also reacting in disgust for the spacism against Remans. His gratitude for that was apparent in his tone of voice. This was one of the few times he didn't like being Romulan. They were highly emotional, passionate, fiery temper. All of them. Well, except Satok, but that was a different story. Renakir shook his head, noticing the change in expression of the younger boy. It then just occurred to him he may have used the wrong word-- 'comforting'. Ahh, that probably sent the ensign's Romulan defenses spiraling out of control. Or maybe Saren secretly hated him. Renakir furrowed his brows and put is head in his palm, truly the face of an exhausted man. "I don't mind about the nickname. I got used to it at the academy and well, the irony makes it amusing. You may continue," He looked back at Saren, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. "I think you should.. Really get some rest. Valelka is leaving tomorrow so there's no need to commit crimes, she won't be my betrothed much longer."

"Oh," well, it was weirdly reassuring to see that Renakir was really serious about all of this and knew what to do. That made this... confusing, ball of emotions in Saren's mind dissipate a bit, "It's a better solution than what I suggested, I guess. I am not an expert in these things, far from it, but I hope they find you someone less... you know, inclined to say such things." His only example by which he could judge were his parent's relationship, and that bar was very high. But this situation didn't need much thought, in Saren's opinion - all was obvious. "You deserve better, is what I am saying. Not just because of your ancestry, but..." he gestured at Renakir, "you. And if the next whatever one is shitty I ain't holding back, you hear me?" What was up with Saren meeting people on this station that brought up such emotions out of him? He felt a similar surge of protectiveness towards Bright, and that weird moment of understanding with the Captain, and that twinge of concern for that Bajoran weirdo, and more, much more... Saren felt like such a fraud. "Glad you don't find it... bad or whatever," he replied, once again not voicing his concerns, "And rest... sounds good. This catastrophe of a mission brought up some not so nice memories, I would love to, hm, work on them. No murder to commit then, what a shame."

The other's body language showed that he was calming down, good. Renakir took another slow and steady breath, rubbing the tips of his ears with his fingers. His face was probably a lovely shade of green at that point, all of this excitement was too much for this Romulan-Reman boy. "My father has a lot of connections. Perhaps my next mate will be Reman," Renakir theorised. Actually, he was hoping for a Reman. As much as he cared about his and Valleka's family relationship, he had a feeling finding a completely spacism free Romulan family would be difficult. 'You deserve better'-- what was he saying? Not because of his ancestry, so... Was Saren trying to tell Renakir that he deserved better because Renakir himself was... In Saren's eyes, worthy of respect? This was strange, a Romulan was telling him he deserved better than someone like Valleka? Say what you want about her morals, but surely Saren knew Valleka was a powerful politician and well liked amongst Romulans and Remans. To think he thought Renakir deserved more now that Valleka's spacism had been exposed. Wow. "Shh, Saren you shouldn't say that too loud, you'll scare the humans," Renakir joked, shaking his head. He turned his head once again so he could take his sunglasses off to rub his eyes. Man was he tired all of a sudden. "I'll hold you to that then. Next time anyone says anything bad about me or Remans, I'll call you to throw hands," He fixed his sunglasses back on his face and gave the young ensign a nod. "Really, go get some rest. I have some lanterns and a Zhal Makh holodeck programme if you need."

To be honest, Saren found this arranged marriage tradition thing weird. He grew up in a remote, runaway colony, where some Romulan customs were not so closely followed, he hadn't had personal experience with such things - most of what he knew about this topic came from his parents. And he made up his made rather quickly - doing stuff like this for gain was stupid. Important, undeniably, but stupid. And it sucked that people like Renakir had to deal with this. At least he could cancel it, for which Saren was glad. None of your business Morvar, an inner voice reminded him. Get out. "I'll just be saying their thoughts out loud. Like many other species, they're quick to judge. I got passively called a spy multiple times in the Academy," another shrug, voice neutral. He was considering Renakir's offer, would this man really offer Saren something like that?.. "And yes, you absolutely should. Use a commbadge, I'll arrive faster than a ship on maximum warp speed. And about the holodeck... if it doesn't get better, then... sure, why not." In that moment, an idea visited his mind. He would have to think about it later... "And, hm. It was nice meeting you after all of this. A meeting outside of turbolift, what a surprise," he had to tease, it would be a very not-Saren thing not to do so.

2

He caught himself staring at Saren again, trying to figure out what the other could possibly thinking. Conspiracy theories swam through his mind as his ears twitched ever so slightly when he heard the other say the word spy. That word hit close to home as well, maybe even moreso than being called dirty. The look of discomfort was clear on the Romulan-Reman's face as he pursed his lips for a split second. "Likewise, Saren. If anyone calls you that I'll be there too," In their attempt to foil stereotypes were they actually reaffirming them? The two Romulan-raised Romulans not only knew each other, but had each other on speed dial. Oh, Shinzon, this was turning out to be quite the meeting. "I have lanterns too, my father sent them from Mol'Rihan," He added, in case Saren was interested in doing his meditation somewhere more private than a holodeck that was shared by everyone else on the station. "Proof that this isn't a plot," Renakir teased back, partially poking fun at his own doubts. Making it into a joke would make him feel less nervous right? Right. "Jolan tru, ensign," He gave the other a polite nod and headed down the corridor, he was ready to relax in his room after all this. Little did he know he was only in for an even wilder ride in his quarters that evening.

2

"I will be fully expecting you to pop out of a jefferies tube," he smiled one of his more sincere smiles, because... well, because he just wanted to. He nodded at Renakir's words: "Jolan tru to you too, Lieutenant..." He watched as Renakir walked away, pondering his rollercoaster of an overreaction. It wasn't anything new to Saren, no, but... that strong of emotions he felt only towards his family and... oh sweet Elements, was he considering the older Romulan a friend? Were other people also his friends?? Oh these poor, poor bastards! Saren turned on his heel and went in the direction of his own quarters. Rest, he needed rest. And to check up on Bright, if possible - that man was very accident-prone, he had to make sure that his roommate didn't somehow lose his other arm, too. The scientists didn't know that he also had a surprise, waiting for him in his room...

1

4

The young nurse walked in with a wide smile painted across his face. He quickly made his way over to the replicator to get some food. He couldnt quite decided what he would get until he though that perhaps a taste of home was what he wanted today. So when he arrived at the replicator. He asked. "Let me get a lobster bisque please Mr replicator, just like they used to make back home in Maine."

1

The replicator quickly generated a bowl of soup in a nice ceramic bowl. It was steaming a lot, must've been quite hot.

Hawkeye greedily grabbed the bowl of soup with both hands. He was incredible eager to get himself some soup. The moment he touched the bowl though something clicked in his brain. oh shit the bowl is super fucking hot "Agh shit!" He quickly dropped the bowl and tumbled backwards at the same time, his hands were covered in second and third degree burns. The bowl must've been atleast 160 degrees (70 celsius) when it settled it landed directly on his chest. He screamed out in pain as he quickly thrashed around in an attempt to get the scalding bowl off of him however the liquid inside was just as hot, it spread out burns across his abdomen. The worst part was it wasn't even lobster bisque... it was crab bisque. (edited)

6

4

Another officer had been enjoying not-soup nearby and saw the incident. They ran over to help the man, grabbing napkins from a table and trying to use them to at least get the very hot soup off of the man. "Uh, uh, fuck shit uhhhhhh uhhhh, @Medical to the middle habitat ring mess hall, please!" They finally managed to say after hitting their commbadge.

Doctor Rik’Mut burst in through the doors like 6.2 feet of slightly intimidating medical support. “What’s the situation?”, he demanded to know, looking around the room. But he quickly found the man who’d burnt himself and he jogged over, kneeling down beside him.

"This dude got hit by some mega hot soup!" The other officer very eloquently declared.

5

"Agghhh..." The nurse tried to put together some words. He knew full well what he wanted to say but it was deeply painful. "Third Degree..." He avoided touching his stomach. He didn't want his clothes to get stuck in the burns.

3

Oh, a hurt medical officer. Adill immediately understood what the Ensign was trying to say. He seemed to pay no mind to the eloquence of the other person there. “Third degree burns?” He took out a device with which he could clean the burn, cool it a little, but not ice it. That would have been bad.

He nodded slowly and gulped down some saliva. Quite frankly moving at all really hurt. "Yeah..." He winced after speaking. Everything from his throat down was in great pain. He wanted to ask for some pain killers, he had never been on the receiving end of a medical officer. Though he also knew that he should leave things up to Adill.

“I will give you a mild hypo against the pain, might take a few moments to set in,” said Adill as he pressed a hypo into the other’s neck. Then, he took out a dermal regenerator and started healing up the burns right then and there. No use carrying the man to sickbay if Adill had all the supplies he needed already in his kit. “How did this happen anyways? The replicators are supposed to follow safety regulations concerning temperatures.”

"Things are super glitching," the miscellaneous officer said while looking down at Ensign Pierce, wincing at the sight of him in pain. What was a cool distraction. What was a cool distraction. Uhhhh... "Do you uh, like, want some of my sandwich or somethin'? It's probably better than soup."

“I’d advise against eating,” grumbled Adill. “You’ll only get crumbs on the wound.”

4

He nodded slowly to signal he wasn't quite in the mood for food. Chewing and swallowing would probably hurt too much for him anyways. "Soup... too hot." He was still trying his best to keep his words short and sweet in the face of the dermal regenerator.

“Yes,” said Adill, “Okay, stop talking. Don’t move, don’t put any strain on your abdomen or arms.” He kept regenerating the skin.

He knew the drill, atlease he knew it from the other side of the dermal regenerator. He kept slightly tense as he allowed the other man to treat him.

When Adill was finally finished with the wounds, he put away the regenerator and said, “Okay, Ensign, you’ll have to be careful with that fresh skin. Let someone help you get back to your quarters and then rest. You’re officially relieved from duty for the next six hours. Doctor’s orders.” He looked at the other officer, the one with the eloquent vocabulary. “You, help him walk back to his quarters. Be slow and careful. Try not to move his upper body or arms and hands too much.”

"Wait..." He stood up, he knew he probably wasn't fine but he needed to help if he could. "Look, I'm sure there are more people having issues like me. I'm sure that I can help, I don't want to be relieved of duty and allow anyone else to get hurt."

Adill gave a small, grumbly sigh. “Fine, you’re relieved for three hours. Not a second less. Use it to rest, or I’ll personally knock you out with a hypo. Once that time’s up you can report to sickbay and help out.” (edited)

He narrowed his eyes at Adill. "Fine! But you can't expect me to be happy about it. If anyone gets hurt that I could've helped, I'm gonna be pissed." With that he decided to go march off to his quarters.

Adill grumbled something about humans being even worse than Klingons and then he packed up his medical kit and left.

[D] Jack strolled into the section 1 mess hall to grab himself a mid day snack. He knew this wasn't his section technically but the other one had a lot of people in it. When he arrived at the replicator he asked simply. "Replicator, could I please get a bowl of extra extra large grapes!" He was kinda partched but in Jack's head grapes had liquid in them so why not eat large grapes instead of drinking water.

4

[D] Allan was also in the section 1 mess hall for some reason, particularly because he had just woken up and wasn't too extremely up for social interaction while he was just waking up. He had just gotten some eggs and toast and fruit from the replicator, nothing too special, when he watched the guy beside him... extra extra large grapes? He blinked for a moment, watching as the replicator .... indeed gave extra extra large grapes. "Are those... even edible...?" Allan said, looking at the bowl curiously. What the fuck was going on in this guy's mind?

Jack shrugged. "Probably!" He spoke with a heavy layer of excitement in his voice, he was about to find out one way or the other. "You're welcome to watch if you want, I might have come up with the next big food trend!" He quickly ran over to a seat so he could dig into his food, though he waited to see if Allan would be joining him.

Allan briefly raised an eyebrow at the other, particularly the other's excitement so early in... wait, no, it was mid-afternoon, Allan had just woken up late. Right. He sat down across from the other, definitely intrigued in these... extra extra large grapes. "Well, they're certainly big," Allan noted, starting to eat his own food. "By the way, I'm Allan."

"I'm Jack McLellan." He said as he allready began to wrap part of his mouth around the massive grape. Allan would be able to barely hear Jack. As he took his first bite Jack's face was one of pure ecstacy, he didn't even bother to chew. Jack seemed to enjoy the Grape so much that he wanted it to be lodged in his throat. He began to pound on his chest and emit a gargling noise. Seeming air wasn't making it into his system, no only grape was filling the halls of his throat.

4

"Nice to meet ya Jack, you should probably b-" But by the time he'd said that, Jack had already attempted to swallow the grape whole and gotten it stuck in his throat. "Oh my - you've got to be kidding me," except he wasn't, and so Allan got up and attempted to perform the good ol- Heimlich maneuver on the man, with a classic 5-and-5 technique for good measure. Was this really going to be the second person in 24 hours he had to make his best attempt at keeping them from death for? Because of fucking extra extra large grapes?

After a few moments the piece of grape was freed from the depths of Jack's throat after a few deep breaths he said. "Agh, thank you so much for saving me." Then he grinned as he took down anouther large grape. This time however Jack was actually able to get the mammoth of a fruit down. Afterwards he just looked back up at Allan with an innocent smile.

"Yeah no problem, just don't-" He watched as Jack just downed another grape, but did manage to get it down, and he took a deep sigh of relief as he sat back down. "You... should probably be a bit more careful with that, but um... how do they taste?"

"Its crazy good man, it's like if juice was an explosive that went off in your mouth. It just sorta slaps you in the face when the grape pops." He then ate yet anouther grape. "Wanna try one?"

"Yeah?" Allan asked, before nodding and taking the grape the other offered to him. He made sure to actually bite down on it and hopefully -not- choke, which luckily he was quite skilled at not choking. After eating the grape, he looked back at Jack with a smile. "Damn, you weren't wrong. It's like... an explosion of juice, yeah. You might actually have a new food trend here."

"Thanks again for saving me though." He smiled at Allan. "Now I just gotta figure out how to get the word out about these... though I suppose there may be some issues with safety concerns. Clearly it's quite easy to choke on these."

"It's no problem, really, I mean - I wasn't just going to watch," he laughed a little, looking at the grapes again. "I mean, maybe decrease the size by just a bit ... get a warning label... but a good way to get the word out lately, I've found, is to just stand out in the promenade and get people's attention. I mean, that's how I've been getting signatures for the Starfleet Shorts petition, that is."

"Starfleet shorts petition? Like letting us wear shorts during work time." He nodded. "I'm always so uncomfortable with how tight my uniform is, I would love to just kickback in a pair of shorts while on the clock."

"Yes, exactly that!" Allan said, standing up to show off his own shorts. "I actually made a machine with a colleague that'll change your pants into shorts within seconds. We've got 82 signatures already, I dunno how many we have to get to change the rules but... we're getting somewhere!"

He smiled. "That's good for you." He leaned back in his seat. "How'd you put together a machine like that? Must've taken a hell of a lot of spare parts to build."

"Well, I basically started with a sort of guillotine model but with a laser-cut instead, and then got my friend to use sewing expertise to be able to get the machine to act like an impromptu sewing machine to hem the edges so you don't have all these random strings flayed around. A really simple process, actually," Allan explained with a smile. He was very glad he actually got to build things like that here on the base.

"Pants guittine?! Thar sounds pretty cool!" He nodded to himself. "So you're manufactoring the pants and trying to get them into starfleet use?" Jack was quite knowledgeable of buisness but he hated that side of himself, it always made him scared that he'd become more like his dad.

3

"Yes, exactly! Pants guillotine." Allan grnned. "Well, it's more like if you want shorts, you just come to my quarters and we make them for free. Trying to get them into starfleet use is more of a personal objective, since they're the same length as the skirts it only makes sense, in my opinion." To him, it wasn't a business, simply ... getting people their due rights to bare thighs?In non-skirt form? Something like that.

"Yes however you have cornered the market on the station." Jack rubbed his fingers on one of his hands against eachother. "That would be quite the lucrative opportunity wouldn't it be?" Jack had a more serious expression on his face now. "In spite of the replicator you have branding and consumer loyalty, you could really make a killing." JACK REALLY HATED THIS SIDE OF HIMSELF yet he could control it.

3

2

"I guess.." Allan thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Don't really know what I'd spend extra money on, though. Maybe to spoil my friends or something, I guess, but usually the allowance carries pretty far. Plus, I'm thinking of maybe starting a band soon," he said casually, at least he was planning on it! It'd take time, but it would be worth the wait.

"Band equipment and venues and whatnot can get quite expensive quite fast especially if you're looking to get good stuff. Extra money also never hurts to have." He sounded like a financial advisor giving a well practiced speach. "Suffice to say if you need an extra investor I've got the latinum to help."

4

"I guess, but... I'd feel better just giving to people for free, unless they're a jerk or something." Brief flashback to that spacist lady who came in that one time. "Then I either refuse service or I could charge, I guess, but... I appreciate the offer, I'll let you know if I change my mind about it," he said, offering the other a genuine smile.

He shrugged. "Either way please keep me in mind if you want the latinum." This is when Jack would pass over a buisness card if he had ever made any, luckily he hadnt. "Good luck in your endeavor."

4

"Good luck in yours, too," he said, gesturing to the grapes. "They're not bad aside from the... safety hazard," he laughed.

Jack gave the man a smile and a nod before exiting the mess hall, he wanted to head home for a little while.

1

My green man walked all the way to his and Rennie’s quarters. I’m running out of transit post ideas.

He arrived in the mess hall and walked straight up to the replicator. This would be his first time eating in such a public space alone-- and also his first time being in the mess hall since that conversation with Saren. Dressed in his uniform, looking pressed and clean, Renakir stood in the line and thought about what to order. Unfortunately solid food would be out of the question, but a drink with a metal straw would be fine. He did need more sustenance than just a drink though.

[D] Why is Sauk in the first section mess hall? Because he can be, so sue him. His entire demeanor is cheerful after what was presumably some very gay fluffy times in his quarters with Jack. He made his way over to the replicator, also in his uniform, his loyal service animal by his side as he ordered plomeek soup and a Vulcan spice tea. Aware that this was the messhall for Lt JGs and Lieutenants, he was afraid he wouldn't see any familiar faces, but then he spotted Renakir and waved enthusiastically from the line on the other side of the room. He moved towards the other, stopping about a foot or two away, hopefully what Renakir would consider out of stabbing distance.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he saw a familiar face waving at him in the mess hall. He recognised the cadet and gave him a wave before turning back to the replicator. He had to make a decision. "Romulan ale. Reman chilly, two toasted baguettes," He ordered. The replicator popped out a tray with his food. "Hello Cadet Tral, it is nice to see you again. I am surprised you are in this mess hall though, exploring?" Renakir was a little suspicious what the Cadet was doing in this mess hall, however he did not let that suspicion show on his face. It wasn't that he suspected this boy of being a Tal Shiar agent or anything, no, but it was quite the coincidence that they would meet at this time... The first time Renakir was eating alone, in public. Was this some sort of plot to-- give him company? Friendship? He had to stay on his guard.

"Oh- The other one was really loud, I couldn't handle all the noise. Sorry, am I not allowed to be here? I can leave..." Sauk shuffled his feet awkwardly. Was he going to get sued? If so, he just had to pray they didn't send Dipoto after his ass, or he'd be Vinced before he got the chance to apologize. "Also...exploring, I guess? I don't know, I thought it would be neat to see, since I probably won't be posted here when I graduate." That was the thought he kept shoving away, the fact that he would eventually be separated from his best friends and the love of his life, once he was an official officer. It hurt to remember, so he tried not to.

1

He grabbed his tray and nodded at the other, finding the answer acceptable, however... He was still on his toes which was evident from his tense posture. "Alright, Tral. Then we can eat together, there is an open table over there," He kept his distance from Sauk as he lead the way to a table towards the back of the room. The best thing about it was it was against a wall so less people to watch. A couple heads turned, finding it odd to see a Vulcan/Bajoran cadet with the scary Romulan/Reman lieutnant.

"Okay!" Sauk agreed, following after with steps that were practically bouncing. He really was feeling incredible after spending some time with Jack, it had done wonders for his mental health. He sat across from Renakir, with his back to the crowd (something a Romulan would probably never do), blissfully unaware of any spacist activity as he stirred and lightly blew on his meal of plomeek soup. He looked back up at his friend and grinned, totally missing the eyes on them. "How've you been, Renakir?" He asked in a friendly voice, nothing in his body language conveying any hidden motives.

Once they got to the table, Renakir took the seat facing the crowd. He was thankful the Vulcan-Bajoran boy took the seat opposite him. He did not trust the general population in the mess hall, he was too Romulan for that and thus would rather eat towards them than away. "I have been... Fine. I saw my uncle at Surak Snacks, he gave me new sunglasses," Renakir put his tray town and pointed to his sunglasses. They fit his face nicely and these weren't as dark as his old ones. The silver glow from his eyes was barely visible under the dark lenses. "How about you, Cadet?"

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"I'm great!" Sauk said, clearly meaning it. It was strange to him that Renakir kept calling him 'Cadet' and not 'Tral', but that was...whatever, he supposed. "I finally got to spend some time with Jack, it'd been, like, a month since I'd seen him. I've told you about Jack before, right?" *He noticed the glasses, they seemed to both fit and frame his face very nicely. Sauk approved. He grinned at his friend, hoping to convey this nonverbally, per this weird book he'd been reading about Social Interaction For People With Autism. Apparently nonverbal communication was very important. *

He noticed the peppiness in the Cadet's voice and quickly connected the two together. Interpersonal relationships, that was something Renakir was terrible at. Despite that, there were a number of people on the station he called 'friends', Sauk being one of them. "I am glad to hear you got to spend time with your mate," Renakir said as he lifted his cup with the metal straw and began drinking. Romulan ale through a straw, interesting, but it hid his teeth. The other's grin took Renakir by surprise. Was this a compliment? It was true nonverbal communication was important, but Romulan nonverbal communication was much different than that of other races. "This is my first time eating in public, I apologise in advanced. I do not want to ruin your meal with.. Being Reman"

Sauk was very much caught off gaurd when Renakir referred to Jack as his 'mate'. He had really only heard that used in Warriors, and as far as he was aware, it typically referred to some kind of sexual relationship, which Sauk, as an asexual, did not have. "O-oh, it's no problem, Renakir! I don't really mind, I'm sure it's nothing weirder than eating a meal with Vulcans. You literally cannot do anything but eat. Dead silence, for the whole meal. It's so awkward," He said, moving away from the thought track Renakir sent him down.

Renakir stared at Sauk's expression, trying to figure out what he was thinking. The boy was very emotional, but also an enigma. There were a lot of cultural difference between the two of them, but so was with everyone else on the station. A Romulan from Rator III, much less a Reman in Starfleet was not exactly something that happened every day. * "I can only imagine. The only times Romulans eat in silence is if the other person is-- Wait, I won't scare you, I'm sorry cadet," *Renakir caught himself before he mentioned assassination. He glanced around the room, filled with people from all over the galaxy. Thankfully no one was looking at them. He took another sip of his ale and put his cup down. His bowl of Reman chilly was getting warm and the ice was melting. Yes it was water with some ice cubes floating around-- it had spices in it though.

Tral was...very...worried, now. "Um...why are you calling me 'cadet'? Did I do something? Are we not friends anymore?" he asked, his expression concerned, he clearly valued his friendship with Renakir. "I-I'm sorry if I did," He added, playing nervously with the chain of his earring, needing something to do with his hands. Overthinking like always, Sauk had immediately assumed that this was Renakir's way of subtly alerting Sauk to the fact that he was no longer interested in being acquainted with this Vulcjoran. Which, most likely, wasn't true, but Sauk's fear of abandonment was rooted in his blood.

"Is that not your title?" Renakir looked at Sauk, very confused. He furrowed his brows and readjusted his sunglasses. The tone in the other's voice indicated he was nervous, perhaps a little scared? Of course his first instinct was to look left and right to see if there was anything strange about their situation. "Would you prefer I call you Tral? I am unaware of this social custom," There was no plot or hidden agenda, Renakir was just oblivious and terrible at socialising or even having friends. It was a miracle that he even had any to be honest.

"Well- I mean- you always called me Tral before. Never cadet. so- I mean- It was just weird. You can do what you want, I don't care," Sauk dismissed it, realizing now that he was being stupid and doing what a human might call 'making a mountain out of a mole hill'. His human teachers accused him of that far too often for his taste. His golden brown eyes stayed fixed on his soup, and he took another bite to avoid saying anything else that was foolish or unnecessary. He needed to stop finding problems where there were none. Maybe he needed therapy, too, or something, for those abandonment issues.

"Perhaps it is the result of me spending too much time with my Vulcan roommate. He honestly makes my blood boil," Renakir said as he scooped up some of his Reman chilly and took a bite out of the ice cube. Sharp teeth visible, munching on the ice. It was replicator food, but the taste was still nostalgic. He noticed the younger boy looked a little sad, was it really that big of a deal? Renakir was good at reading people-- good at reading Romulans. For other races, not so much.

Sauk was too focused on his own emotional problems to care about Renakir's cool pointy teeth. "O-oh. Vulcans." Yet another source of trauma for the poor boy, an entire race of people, of which he was considered a part of. "It's fine either way. I don't care. Just like my actual name, whichever one works!" He laughed nervously, taking yet another bite of plomeek, stress eating what happened to be his comfort food. And he had chosen plomeek with absolutely no spice, just like how his dad used to make. Blandest soup he'd ever had, but he loved it, for some odd reason.

"Yeah, my roommate is very Vulcan. Honestly, I fucking hate that guy," Renakir said as he took another bite of Reman chilly, the cool ice felt very good in his mouth. It was so hot in the mess hall, in fact, the whole station was a desert to him. "How were you during the storm? I haven't seen you since. I was stuck in a turbolift and Takov had to bail me out," Renakir said casually, not even realising he called his roommate 'Takov', the Vulcan word for handsome. He said it so casually, it was second nature to him. Strange how he said he hated the guy but then in the next sentence used such an endearing term for him.

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Sauk, very much fluent in Vulcan, his second language, immediately raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry...did you just call him the Vulcan word for 'handsome'? One, since when do you speak Vulcan, and two, I thought you hated him? Why would you call him handsome if you 'fucking hate that guy'???" Sauk was very, very confused. He completely ignored the question about the storm, probably not even registering it after Renakir's...interesting behavior. He was staring at his friend with a baffled expression, not even sure what to say anymore. Confused.jpg, it was Sauk.

Renakir's eyes widened (not that Sauk could really see, although his glasses were not completely black) when Sauk asked about the term. His face turned green and he ended up bumping the table with his knees, causing their trays to shake. Renakir was way too long for the tables, his legs barely fit under them. "I-- Well it's just a nickname," Was it a smooth save? Not really. "I call him that to mess with him, I guess I'm just used to saying it. There's nothing going on between us if that's what you're thinking, he's judgmental and always makes the room too hot-- and then has the audacity to tell me not to walk around in my underwear but what can I do?" The cool and collected Romulan image Renakir usually had completely went out the window when he began to talk about Remun. His roommate, whom he hated, so much. What a jerk!

"I...o...kay?" He literally knew nothing about romance, being demiromantic, so he just accepted the words at face value. Because what else was he going to do? Call up this Vulcan and ask him? He shuddered at the thought. No, sir, not with his Vulcan induced trauma. He was quite content to take Renakir's word for it. "Um. I was with Lieutenant Whidbey, on the holodeck, when the storm hit. I had to pry the doors open. Well, I mean, we did. But Vulcan strength helps, you know?" For such a twig-ass motherfucker, Sauk's muscles were extremely dense-- he was a strong boy, basically. "I helped. I didn't do all the work. At all." He ended with, because he was not the type of person to brag, and he definitely wasn't going to say that he was stronger than the CoS of the Eventide. He would be caught dead before he did that.

And just like that, Renakir's expresison went back to the normal unemotional Vulcan-esque state. He grabbed his spoon and slowly began to sip the Reman chilly once again, crunching on ice creams every so often. Sauk did not make any comments about his teeth so it was easy to forget his own insecurities for a brief moment. "Yeah, Vulcan strength, I am glad you got out. I was thinking about you, but I always worry. That people won't treat you well here," Renakir admitted. "I'll take care of anyone who gives you trouble, now that my uncle is on board any bullies will need to go through two Remans to get to you."

Bullies...? Sauk hadn't experienced anything but positive interactions since he'd arrived, apart from the occasional second glance to confirm yes, he had pointed ears and a riged nose and Bajoran earring. It was tiring, but not...hurtful...should it be hurtful? He frowned. "Um...why...why wouldn't they treat me well?" He asked anxiously, taking a bite of his own food, his plomeek soup, made exactly the way his father would prepare it: Blander than water.

”Because you're different-- I mean we are different and I said I would protect you," Renakir said as he grabbed his baguette and began taking giant bites out of it. Full on hangry Reman mode, just munching away. It felt very freeing to eat like this in public, and Sauk wasn't reacting so clearly the other was okay with it, right? Just two bros enjoying lunch. "Eshen too, we all gotta stick together."

"I wonder if there are any other mixed people on board, besides us three," He mused. It would be fun, meeting someone else with parents of two different species, in his opinion. They could form a club of kinds, maybe. Just...promise to stick together, maybe. Nothing big. It would be interesting to have more friends like him, who were children of two worlds, as the term coined with the respectable Admiral Spock went.

"Well, there are quite a bit," Renakir said, recalling the roster that he had totally read recently. He finished his baguette and went back to sipping Reman chilly. It was an oddly filling meal even if it was just literally bread and water. The Romulan ale provided some additional nutrients. Synthol but still had a kick as if it were the real thing. Not intoxicating at all though. "The new chief engineer is also a mixed Vulcan," He was trying to remember who it was, but his mind was only pulling up a list of races, no names.

"Oh...really? I thought he was just Vulcan..." Alizati...looked Vulcan. Was he half Human? It was confusing. "I wonder if there are any other mixed Bajorans." Vulcan seemed to be quite common...those Vulcans sure got around. But Bajoran? Sauk had never heard of another mixed Bajoran, it was odd. Was his mother the only child of the prophets to have a destiny with someone who didn't walk the same religious path? Excluding Sauk himself, of course. That was a brief thought- what would it look like if he and Jack somehow had biological children? "Alizati Dhzarok is the CEO, right?" He asked, clearly not as familiar with the roster as Renakir. In fact, Sauk hardly ever looked at it, unless he was glaring at the Vulcan part of his species registery and manifesting it to disappear.

"Mixed Bajorans? Hmm I think there is one-- Eco Comet? I remember their name but I can't think if I have met them or not," Despite not having many 'friends', he sure did talk to a number of different people. "And that kid, Nalas Za'ari, I think he's mixed, he has a Cardassian name," And he also ate like a pig, Renakir remembered the couple of times they had interacted and he couldn't really say he was very impressed. "Yeah-- Oh Tenakruvek, him," A soft clank was heard when Renakir dropped his metal spoon into the half empty bowl. "Yeah, that guy is... Friends with Takov. Android, but also Vulcan, counts as mixed to me, but all logic and snobby."

"Our CEO is an android?" Sauk blinked. That explained the rumors he'd heard about the man being odd. There were surprisingly few rumors on such a large starbase-- Sauk wasn't one for gossip, seeing as it often involved him, but it did get boring without the occasional scandal. Earth had been interesting that way; Vulcan was nothing like it in that aspect. "Eco Comet...Comet could be literally any species, they probably chose that name," He recognized the Bajoran surname, but that was it. Maybe they were human? It would make sense, humans liked picking weird names when they changed theirs. Colors, nouns, anything was fair game. He once had met someone named Arson.

"Yeah, disgusting, right?" Renakir picked up his spoon again and resumed eating his Reman chilly. “Imagine your boss is just a really smart-- smart roomba. Be careful around him, Tral. Androids are literally super computers, they know everything and anything," He said, gesturing with his hand, waving it around as he spoke. "Yep, human, at least from the roster. The CEO's name is also human Alizati is Chinese," He explained. "I heard from the Romulan mollusk slime trail that Comet hangs out with the gardener a lot, they seem pretty chill," Renakir said, of course Romulans found a way to corrupt the phrase 'heard from the grape vine'.

Disgusting...? What? "Renakir...don't you think it's a bit bigoted and maybe hypocritical to call androids disgusting, considering what people say about Remans?" He said carefully. He understood that Renakir was likely just suspicious of the man, like he was with a lot of the crew, but it felt...wrong to him, calling an entire person disgusting simply because they were a certain thing. Because if they did that, they may as well be spacist. Sauk had a big heart, he noticed things like this.

"I would never say that about a person, but androids? They are very suspicious," Renakir said, not really seeing the issue with his words. After all, it wasn't like robots had feelings. Sure Data and other prominent androids did 'feel', but it was all code and fancy programmes. "The Romulan suspicion never dies, you know we're not very trusting of AI's. Anything that has that much knowledge and capabilities is just... Makes my skin crawl, you know?"

This conversation was making Sauk's skin crawl. He frowned and tried to think of something else to change the topic to. "Um- is your...food any good?" He asked awkwardly, taking a bite of his ~~cardboard~~ spiceless plomeek soup. He glanced at Renakir's plate/tray: a baguette and a bowl of ice, it appeared. Interesting. Baguettes were a very good food, in Sauk's opinion. He was a walking asexual stereotype, bread was a weakness. Maybe he would visit Dich's later-- he wanted to grab a couple dozen cookies, but it would be good to see if she had any bread. Then maybe he could read aloud to Shoe...the perfect night.

"Sorry, I will be nicer to them, but I think that's just one bit of Romulan paranoia I can never get over," Renakir sighed, realising he had made his friend upset. He didn't think there was an issue hating androids, people hated toaster, vaccums, etc. all the time. But for the sake of getting along with his fellow crew mates he would keep his mouth shut about the matter. He was still suspicious as hell. "Yeah, it's Reman chilly,” Renakir showed Sauk now that almost empty bowl of water and ice with some light seasonings. "Your soup good? It looks like something out of Surak Snacks, not a bad thing."

"Yes, it's a Vulcan soup. But I opted for no spice, because that's how my father always prepared it. He believed you had to earn enjoyment," Sauk confirmed, nodding and taking a bite. Maybe he needed a new comfort food, because remembering this fact was turning it into a discomfort food. Something vegetarian, preferably. Or maybe he could just get wasted on chocolate chip cookies or glazed donuts. There had been no sugar in his house growing up, he had a small addiction now.

"What? That is next level abuse," Renakir said, immediately getting defensive for his young friend. Coming from a house with a loving single father, he could not stand bad parents, especially Vulcanoids. "And you... Like it? I guess it would be nostalgic, but Tral, that's really sad. I'd offer to fight your father if well-- yeah. Sorry I keep threatening violence, I care about you." Renakir knew that was not how normal people demonstrated their trust and friendship, but it was the only way he knew to show he was serious.

"Cool of you to offer to fight a corpse," Sauk said with a laugh that was only slightly bitter. "I guess I probably shouldn't be enjoying this. I don't know, apparently a lot of the stuff my dad did was not great and I'm only just now realizing that it wasn't normal," He shrugged. "It's just...familiar. Sometimes I need something familiar. It reminds me of the lunch he brought with us that one time we took a hike to a little rocky outlook, a couple days before we moved to Earth. That was one of the only times he was a kind of okay dad."

"Even abusive parents have their moments-- and yes I would fight a corpse. You forget we have two genders in Romulan culture, dead or alive. Both are open to fighting," He laughed, he was joking but he was serious. If there was ever a zombie apocalypse he'd be first in line to fight Sauk's dad. "If my father ever comes to-- actually, no my father is a good Romulan father, but he is a Romulan," Renakir was thinking about Cerrub, the man who brushed his teeth every night for four years but also murdered in cold blood. Very conflicting father. "I guess you wouldn't wanna go to Surak Snacks? My uncle works there."

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"I mean...I still like Vulcan food! But I enjoy flavor, which my dad didn't use. Which is stupid, because that's not even the right way to cook Vulcan food. So, I mean, I'd love to meet your uncle, so sure! I'd go to Surak Snacks! I've heard some pretty good things about it from the ACMO on Shelp." In fact, if you looked at Surak Snacks on Shelp, half the reviews were from Lieutenant M'ow, since they'd been forbidden from tipping. It truly touched Sauk how much the people on this station cared. The fact that Renakir was probably only half-joking about fighting Fuck's corpse meant an insane amount to the little Vulcjoran, and he only hoped that others got something out of their friendship with him, and that there wasn't just a ton of one way relationships revolving around Sauk. That would probably crush him.

"Yeah, his name is Tiravurik, he's uhh Reman," Renakir said, trying to explain. He finished up his Reman chilly and drank the rest of his ale. He hoped he was being a good friend, whatever that meant to aliens at least. He never had 'friends' growing up, of course no one would wanna be seen in public with a Reman. He had a few in the academy, but it was less friendship and more 'i can tolerate you'. "If you wanna go I would be glad to take you. Tiravurik really likes meeting my friends. He met Takov, although I think he thinks Takov is my mate or something," Renakir laughed at the thought. Mates with Remun? Then it would be the sixth coming of Reman Turbo Jesus!.... Unless?

Why...did Renakir keep using the word 'mate'...it was...weird. "I-I'd like that, I struggle meeting people," Renakir probably knew this because of first hand knowledge, the Cadet was socially awkward with practically every person he knew, but new people were the worst, because they had no clue who Sauk was and were judging him from mostly appearance. and he never looked confident. It was a struggle, having severe social anxiety. But Shoe made it somewhat better, of course. She was a very dedicated and hard working service cat.

Little did Sauk know Renakir was clearly not as well versed in Standard as he liked to believe he was. French accent evident in his words as he spoke. However he did notice the slight change in expression and the stuttering in the other's voice as he spoke. Was there something he did? Renakir debated speaking French or Rihannsu through his translator, maybe it was the accent that was making the other nervous? "It's okay, I do too-- Sauk can you understand me?" Renakir asked, seemingly out of the blue. He furrowed his brows, a little concerned he had said something to upset the boy. He already made the mistake calling him 'Cadet' before. Renakir considered himself good at language, but maybe he wasn't as good as he thought he was. Standard was his fourth language after all.

He was a bit confused at this. Could he understand him? He spoke seven languages, figuring out accents was nothing. "...Yes?" He said, more than a bit puzzled. Had he hurt Renakir somehow? Had he portrayed some kind of offensive emotion outwardly with his body language without even meaning to? What if he had permanently damaged his relationship with Renakir, just because he was being weird about the way he was wording one single thing? He always did this, he always screwed things up, every friendship that had ever crashed and burned was his fault. "W-why do you ask?"

"I believe there is some cultural misunderstanding. What may be normal for Romulans is a faux pas for other races. I am hyper aware of others but in return I feel like other may mistake that as judging them? I'm not sure," Renakir looked down at his empty bowl. "I am equally not really good at getting along with people... If I ever do anything to offend you or make you uncomfortable please tell me, I'm not good with social or nonverbal cues." He said as he readjusted his glasses. He didn't want to tell the other he sensed uneasiness, but at the same time he couldn't be silent about all of this. He was just scared. Scared of ruining another friendship. "This is why I had issues making friends, especially on earth."

"That...sounds a lot like autism," Sauk nodded. "So I get it," He wasn't going to confront Renakir about his use of the word 'mate', not with his social anxiety that made him break down into tears when he was telling people something made him uncomfortable. "We're similar in a lot of aspects, I guess. Mixed, Operations division, social cues are foreign..." It made him wonder what else was similar between the two as he took another bite of Flavorless Plomeek. Definitely not his favorite dish anymore, thinking about it.

"Does it?" Mental health was certainly not something talked about amongst Romulans, in fact, it was a death sentence to even mention it. "Yeah, we are really similar, I guess that's why I'm so defensive of you. Because well-- For Remans especially, friends are everything. We don't even have family names, because there are no clans no 'houses', we're all standing as one united family," He explained the weird ways he showed affection. Despite his rejection for a lot of aspects of Vulcan culture, Sauk was clearly not a fighter. Renakir always felt at odds being from a warrior race and a sneaky murder race, both who were not very nice to outsiders. "I still mean it about taking you to Surak Snacks. Tiravurik is nicer than me, he's Reman but very kind. On Mol'Rihan he is the one who used to be in charge of our family garden, he grows a lot of different flowers and veggies and feeds the wild epohhs."

"Oh...he sounds nice," Sauk said, smiling. "I...I mean, a lot of people find me weird, but I think I'd like him...I'm not quite sure about the reverse, though," He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he spoke. He hadn't actually looked at Renakir's face for the entirety of this conversation because eye contact made him uncomfortable, so it might look like he was trying to avoid seeing the man's face. But that was a just another one of Sauk's quirks.

"Nah I am sure he will. He likes all of my friends-- he likes... Everyone. He's even friends with a lot of Romulans, after all he lived with my father and my Romulan family since the reunification," Renakir reassured his friend. He wanted Sauk to have more friends, just like so many people had helped him. The people on this starbase were a lot more accepting than others and he thought Sauk deserved to have some great experiences before he went back to the academy. "You can PADD me whenever you're free, ok?" Renakir gave Sauk the softest as smiles, this time showing his sharp teeth.

Sauk had just barely glanced up and saw the smile, which turned out to be infectious, because he grinned back. "Okay," He nodded. What a life, on a space station near the Klingon and Romulan borders, making plans with a half-Reman half-Romulan to go to a resturaunt selling Vulcan cuisine so he could meet the Romulan-Reman's Reman uncle. Prophets bless you if any of that made sense. And speaking of the academy, that was something he was done thinking about, he was not going to upset himself like that.

"And if my father ever does visit, I will introduce you to him too. He's nice even if he is a bit messy. It's only because he cares," Renakir stood up and grabbed his tray. "Jolan tru, Tral," He said before heading back to the replicator to recycle his tray. He had to go to work now, which he was oddly looking forward to. Something to take his mind off things.

Sauk nodded and went to finish his seansonless plomeek before heading to work as well; another shift in the COMM labs. Something to fill his day, working on communication links, monitoring the strength of different subspace channels, and whatever else COMM officers did. Definitely something, that's for sure. He recycled his tray and left.

2

[D] Ensign Sauk Tral entered the mess hall for a celebratory plate of his favorite chocolate chip and unspecific-brand-of-candy-coated-chocolate cookies. Yes, just a plate of cookies. He walked over to the replicator and ordered said cookies, then sat down at a half-full table. He was building confidence! There was plenty of space by him, but he was Part Of Society, for once! He began eating his cookies, feeling very confident with his life choices up until this moment-- every single decision. Making his friends, dating Jack (he was very happy with that decision), committing to his job the way he had, and particularly, getting an entire plate of cookies to eat. Life was good.

Nalas lined up at the replicator and ordered himself a baguette with some tomato soup. Look at that, terran food for once. Once he got his tray he headed over to an open table where he noticed his friend was munching some cookies. Nalas was dressed in full uniform, his hair was combed, he looked like a proper Starfleet Officer. Of course there was an occasion, he needed a reason to look this good. "Hey Sauk, long time no see!" He greeted his friend in Bajoran this time, trying his best as always. His accent was native-level, and actually everything else sounded good too. Maybe he was really learning.

Sauk looked up and grinned. "Hello, fellow ensign!" He grinned. Even if his hair looked a mess (like always) his uniform was neat and tidy, and there was a single pip there, displayed proudly. Sure, maybe he was kind of bragging, but he was proud of himself, could you blame him? Oh- he hadn't told his Marnah yet, she would be ecstatic. Maybe he would call her tonight, to let her know, as well as check in to see how she was settling on Bajor. She'd retired from Diplomatic duties recently, and was living with their extended family.

"Fellow ensign!" Nalas exclaimed as he put his tray down, splashing the soup just a little. It was alright, it only splashed on his bread. He sat down and began to rip the baguette into smaller pieces so he could eat it. He did not have sharp Reman teeth that could tear through the bread so he had to break it. "Conbobulations! You got a premonition. You really deserve it, you work so hard!" Nalas gave his friend a warm smile, his eyes making the literal ^w^ emoji as he did so.

"Thanks! I was really surprised when I got it- I got a star cross too??" Sauk sounded genuinely baffled by this. "It was kinda cool, to be honest," He said, shrugging and taking a bite of cookie. "So...how've you been? Is your research with that Vorta lady going well?" He asked in a friendly voice, bouncing his leg under the table. He glanced at Nalas's food, he loved bread, but he and tomato were mortal enemies.

"Star Cross? Wow yeah, that's so cool man," Nalas nibbled his bread with his soup as he listened to his friend speak. He munched silently for once. It was as if he were trying to make a good impression on someone, although there was no one else they knew in the mess hall. You would think Nalas was being filmed or something by the way he sat and acted. "My bee search is going well. Actually, Aella and I are friends and she is leafs ponding well to the medicine," He explained before grabbing his spoon and silently sipping soup. "I got the eight tension of some Bajoran scientists too."

1

Sauk noticed something off about Nalas's pattern of speech, but said nothing, because he was non-confrontational. He just grinned. "Oh, that's great! Maybe you could get a paper published," Sauk mused, now swinging his legs instead of bouncing them. He gave the tomato soup a brief evil glare before returning to the cheerful expression he had previously. He finished a cookie and grabbed another, glad Nalas wasn't judging him. Because this definitely wasn't normal.

Nalas was really trying to speak Bajoran, but of course his actual skills at speaking the language were terrible. He could make himself understandable at best, but it was clear this boy had no idea what he was actually saying. He noticed his friend giving his soup a glare and tilted his head ever so slightly. "Yeah, I hope so-- are you gonna fight my soup?" He asked in a lighthearted manner, but he was really curious. He noticed his friend had a place of very delicious looking cookies too.

Sauk laughed. "I mean- I wouldn't not throw hands with a bowl of tomato soup," He shrugged. "A tomato wronged me as a child," He said in a voice that made it hard to tell if he was joking or not. "I'd prefer to stick to my cookies," And with that, he took another bite, grinning. "Would you like one? I don't mind sharing," He added, realizing that was the polite thing to do in that situation.

"A tomato longed you as a child?" Nalas laughed at that and nearly dropped his spoon in his soup. Thankfully he caught it just in time and resumed munching his bread with the soup. He pulled his tray a little closer to him, as if he was scared the soup was going to throw hands back at Sauk. "Oh yes pweese-- wait they have salt. Are you gonna be okay?" He asked as he eyed his friend curiously. He knew it took more than just a couple sugary treats to make his friend sugar-drunk, but he was also worried seeing him eat so many. Also, Nalas had no idea he was definitely speaking Bajoran all wrong, he got a big E for effort.

Salt....what....oh, he must mean sugar? Was he...speaking Bajoran right now? Sauk knew so many languages, it was hard to tell what was the translator and what was him actually knowing a language. "Oh, I'll...probably be fine..." He shrugged it off, handing one to Nalas. He was beginning to feel....things, but he was sure he'd be alright. After all, this was his first time eating this many. And he was just coming off duty. So he should be totally alright! Even if he did get sugar-drunk.

"Okayy." Nalas said as he pushed his tray to the side and took the cookie from Sauk. He nibbled it slowly, trying to eat neatly that day. He didn't want to get his uniform dirty and he was partially practicing for a future event. "MM,,, this is umm-- Beautiful?" Nalas said hesitantly, clearly very worried if he was Bajoran-ing alright. "I love biscuits-- well cookies, and I will gladly shoulder this burden if you start feeling sugar-drunk," Nalas stopped speaking Bajoran and just spoke French. It was so much easier and he wanted to make sure he was understood. "Sauk... I gotta learn Bajoran."

Sauk blinked. "Oh?" He said, startled. "How come? You were speaking it...alright, earlier," He tilted his head. "What specifically do you need Bajoran for?" He had learned many languages, but he wasn't sure he was the best teacher. He had specific ways he learned-- his brain connected words that meant the same thing, he never had to struggle for the right word.

"Yeah but I'm not good at it," Nalas said, still speaking French. It was the only other language he was really fluent in and he didn't want to speak Cardassian. "Um... A couple of Bajoran scientists are interested in my work. Kinda. They're interested in how I synthesized the Rippleberry enzyme into a medicine that the Vorta could eat and be able to taste," He explained as he finished the cookie. "I looked them up and umm... Yeah they're really Bajoran and they are outspoken against Crell Moset, that Cardassian who experimented on Bajorans. I mean, he did bad things, yeah, and I'm scared they're gonna hate me if they find out I'm a Cardassian exobiologist-- I don't wanna be compared to Moset, I'm not doing crazy experiments on people without consent."

Sauk nodded. "So you want to...pretend to be Bajoran?" He tiled his head. "Well...I mean...I'd do my best to teach you, obviously, but I'm probably a horrible teacher, honestly," He admitted sheepishly, reaching for another cookie. "I mean, I learn by hearing a language spoken," He shrugged. "I would try! Of course, I'd definitely try...do you want me to teach you? Is that why you're telling me?"

"I am Bajoran, but yeah. I don't wanna seem Cardassian at all, I wanna make a good impression," Nalas said as he grabbed some pieces of his baguette and nibbled them. He seemed nervous as he spoke, like he was unsure that he really wanted to go through with this. "I just want to practice the language and umm.. Some culture things. I know that one Bajoran exobiologist with the changeling, right? Was he a good guy? Oh Sauk, I don't know about this, I don't know if I'd make a good Bajoran, I'm terrible," Nalas shoved the rest of the pieces of baguette in his mouth, screw trying to eat nicely, He was Cardassian and he was going to eat like one.

"He was...okay? I'm sure you'll be fine, Nalas!" He said, giving him a sympathetic look. In truth, that 'guy with the changeling' wasn't Sauk's favorite person. He literally tortured the changeling he was studying, which was a big no in Sauk's book.

"Just okay? I mean, the only other exobiologist I really know is Crell Moset and yeah, I can't say I like him. I can't say anything Cardassian," He sighed and slowly sipped his soup and watched Sauk eat his cookies. He did feel comfort from his friend's sympathetic expression, Sauk was always supportive. Even during Nalas' spacist era, and that in itself deserved a lot of applause. "And I have to go back to Bajor soon to see my Marnah. I'm scared, Bajorans besides people on this station are scary. You're from Kendra province, right? What are people there like? Do they act like you?"

"Well...I mean...there was the....Kendra Valley Massacre, so there's...some sore feelings...but you met my Marnah, didn't you? Or no? Anyways, she's really nice, and my family is really only spacist to Vulcans," Sauk shrugged. "You can say him, he's pretty celebrated by Bajoran scientists," Sauk added, tapping his fingers on the table in a pattern.

"Yeah I met her briefly," Nalas confirmed. He was finished with his soup and bread and now he was eyeing the cookies. Despite being Bajoran, he had the appetite of a Cardassian. Probably because he was so hyperactive, he needed the energy. "Okay, Mora Pol I think his name was, "Despite being a scientist himself, Nalas was pretty terrible at remembering names of other scientists. Well, Bajorans that is. Bajoran names were hard, including his own. "And Yeah we learned about Kendra Valley in school. Cardassian education is... Half of our history is just self shaming, I mean, I understand why, but it was super awkward being the only Bajoran-looking kid in class when we were learning about war crimes."

"Yeah, the people in my mom's village are super nice, though," He grinned, taking another cookie. He was starting to feel tipsy at this point. "Like, great. They did ask me a ton of questions about my ears, but that's easy, I can just cover them with my hair," He demonstrated, moving his thick hair over the pointed tips of his Vulcan ears. "Ta-da!!" He grinned. His grin faltered some when Nalas talked about the war crimes. "Hey, it wasn't your fault," Sauk said empathetically. "You didn't do the war crimes, so you shouldn't feel anything bad about that," he said in the same voice his dad used to use when he dropped what he called 'logic-bombs'.

Nalas nodded and watched his friend fluffing his hair. Sauk was so cute, of course he had to laugh at his friend's attempt to cover his Vulcan ears. He had always wondered what it would be like with pointy ears, maybe. "Yeah yeah, I know, it is just.. Uh weird. That's why I wanted to look Cardassian-- but I decided to stay as I am. Oh I should get to work. The Bajoran scientists are interested in the Rubberwood tree? Never heard of it, but I got a sample to test."

"Oh, okay, good luck!" The very much tipsy Vulcjoran said. Maybe he could go find Jack, he still hadn't told him about the promotion. He grabbed another cookie. Life was good, he'd made the right choices.

2

Rigel sat in the mess hall, shoveling ice cream into his mouth with all four hands. Apparently he was a black hole when it came to food- and a bit of a junkie too. How was this man still fit? Terrellian magic.

[D] In strolled the southern security sweetheart, her steps light and bouncy as always. She was in this mess hall because her normal one was crowded and much too loud for her sensitive Caitian ears' taste. She made her way over to the replicator. "Biscuits and gravy, please, and fried chicken," She said with a smidge of a southern accent. The food was a familiar recipe, her human mother had made it for her all the time when she was younger. As the plate materialized, she took it in her paws and made her way over to a table with a Terrellian Lt. JG. and no one else. "Hello there, sir! Do you mind if I sit with you?" She said in that same slight accent, giving Rigel a big, friendly grin that reached her vibrant yellow eyes. Her sand-yellow fur and dust-brown patches looked dull in the artificial lights-- she wasn't anything special, just a spotted Caitian girl from Texas.

“Oh hey!” Rigel laughed, waving her over with one (1) free hand, the others still busy with ice cream activities. “Free federation, do as you like.”

03:57

His uniform was open, jacket unzipped to the navel and undershirt unzipped to the collar. “Don’t see many of you kitties around here. What’s your name?”

"Uh- kitties? Just so you know, it's a hurtful stereotype that Caitians are cats. We're not, we're felinoids and sentient beings who deserve respect," P'Nelar said like she'd rehearsed this with her Caitian mother before. Because she had; even in the 25th century, Texas still wasn't free from bigotry. "And my name is P'Nelar S'Tera, pronouns she/her and xey/xem," She added.

“Rigel Hel’jin-“ He lifted his hands up in a surrender gesture, wry grin still seated on his face. “My apologies, Mx. P’Nelar. I didn’t know that was a hurtful word- won’t happen again.”

"No problem. Thanks for apologizing, you're more understanding than most people I've had to correct," P'Nelar said with an unaudible purr, sitting down and wrapping a fluffy tail, decorated with a yellow bow, around one leg. She wore a flowy, goldish orange dress with 'spaghetti straps' and orange leggings. Strangely, she pulled the color off. "And to return your observation, I don't see many Terrellians," She quipped, leaning in with a grin.

“You might have seen more than you realize-“ Rigel laughed and set down the second of four spoons, resting his chin on a closed fist. “Some of us show our arms, some don’t.” He gesticulated with a untenable mildly- “If you dislocate your secondary shoulders, no one would notice under a Starfleet uniform.”

"That....sounds incredibly painful. But four arms is...super cool, not gonna lie," She said with genuine fascination and warmth in her voice. "I wish I had four arms sometimes- I multitask way to much," She giggled as she began to cut into her Very Southern Meal™️, drowning her chicken and biscuits (American Edition™️) in gravy. It was unhealthy, sure, but so, so delicious. Plus. Man was shoveling icecream into his mouth with four arms.

No food judgement here! Rigel obsessed over a new junk food every week. It became a joke in the Academy. “I mean you get used to it after a while- only brought out the ol’ secondary grabbers after I graduated from the academy. Felt better that way.”

04:11

“Didn’t want any of the other cadets thinking I was cheating-“ Rigel laughed.

"Well, that's stupid. I mean- if they did, so what? I'd think you were too cool to ever cheat, in full honesty," She giggled again, non-folded ear twitching in amusement as she took a gravy-drowned bite of pure delicious southern fat. What would go good with this? A tall glass of sweet tea. She purred audibly at the thought. That's autism in Caitians for ya- looking like idiots in front of people you wanted to befriend. And boy did P'Nelar want to befriend this Rigel Hel'jin-- he looked so cool and was so approachable and so obviously huggable that she was wondering where he'd been for all her life.

“Well you’re right about one thing missy- I am too cool to cheat,” He sneakily stole a bite of biscuit from her plate. “But it’s lonely at the top, yeah? Had enough people gunning for piloting valedictorian already. Didn’t need any cheating accusations rolling around- well, any more than normal, anyway.” Rigel shrugged, fluffing his hair a little- he was running out of ice cream. “Plus, it was a challenge for me. Kinda enjoyed it.”

P'Nelar glanced down at her plate as he yoinked a biscuit but said nothing. "Huh. Well, whatever stars your fleet," She shrugged, beaming warmly at him as she got a bite of biscuit for herself. First impressions were everything, yes, but P'Nelar was friendly and cheerful almost twenty-four seven...she could be pretty scary at certain times.

“I like that phrase- I’m gonna have to use that!” He laughed warmly and cleaned out his bowl, leaning back in the chair with his primary hands laced behind his head. “I like your vibes.”

Her vibes!! Her vibes were excellent, it's true. If you woke her up at the ass-crack of dawn after she fell asleep during an all-nighter to to show you a cool rock you found, she'd probably thank you. Cool rock supremacy. "Thank you!! I like your vibes! You seem very huggable, and not just because of the four arms," She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a bit plump; most Caitians were. But that just made her huggable as well.

Right she was! Heavier set people are far more fun to cuddle. “Well same goes for you- you probably get this all the time, but how soft is your fur? Looks like a fluffy blanket-“

(( as a heavier set person, I fuckin love you

1

P'Nelar just giggled at that. "I don't actually get that very often! I have a very intricate routine to maintain this, so it is basically like being covered in a fluffy blanket, yes," She replied, holding out a dust-colored paw to demonstrate.

His eyes flit between her paw and her face, eyebrows raised. “May I? I don’t wanna be disrespectful again-“

"You may," His consciousness of her feelings, as an extreme empath, honored P'Nelar. "Thank you for asking," She added with a kind smile, yellow eyes shining somewhat.

“Yeah of’course! Consent is more important than the Prime Directive, in my book. There’s situations in which breaking the PD is moral- not so true with consent. Sorry, I’m rambling-“ He smiled nervously and scratched the back of his neck, gently taking her paw in two left hands. “SHIT THATS LIKE HEAVEN-“

2

1

P'Nelar, who definitely wasn't touch starved, was somewhat startled when he exclaimed, but was quickly purring. "Well- thank you," She said, smiling. She had been listening to his opinion on consent versus the Prime Directive and wholeheartedly agreed- but she was too taken aback to reply to any of that.

“Sorry, sorry- never touched anything that soft in my whole damn life- …maybe that says something about my sleeping habits, but that’s a conversation for another day…”

Her purring became a sort of purr-laugh combo as he made a comment about his sleeping habits, and her tail twitching happily as she was in continued contact with another sentient being. Nope, not touch starved in the slightest. "Well, I guess now I know my routine is working!" She said cheerfully.

“The stuff you said about being huggable is really sounding good about now-“ Rigel blinked a few times, pupils dilated. Definitely not touch starved- nope!

3

P'Nelar had to genuinely consider what she was going to say to this. This man she had met but a mere ten or so minutes ago was offering to hug her. The dilatation of pupils was mutual-- yellow was swallowed by black as she processed his words. "I'm in agreement," She said with some uncertainty. This was unexplored territory, but it wasn't like P'Nelar to be nervous about that.

“Agh- CMERE YOU ADORABLE THING-“ Well it turns out Rigel was shockingly strong- P’Nelar finds herself hoisted clearly over the table and set down again, wrapped up in four arms.

3

"Oh-" She exclaimed as she was hoisted over the table, but found that surprise soon replaced with a feeling of contentment as she was wrapped tightly by those four arms. She purred once again, shifting the smallest bit and causing one ear to brush Rigel's chin.

“Tickles-“ Rigel giggled slightly, before realizing something. “Hey- is it okay if I scratch behind your ears? I don’t know if that’s a no-no zone-“

3

3

"O-oh," P'Nelar managed. That definitely wasn't a no-no zone, in fact, quite the opposite. Letting someone touch behind your ears was considered a display of trust in Caitian culture. She had never shared that trust with anyone other than her family. "It would be okay, yes," She nodded, looking up with two bright eyes, ring of yellow barely visible. Her one folded ear and one ear that was straight up was a 'quirky' characteristic, but it seemed to make her more endearing in this moment.

“Awwww look at you-“ Rigel grinned down at the shorter Caitian, tilting his head slightly. “Adorable, seriously.” A primary hand scritched behind her unbent ear, and he smiled maniacally. deadass he’s having such a good time- serotonin is going BRRRR.

Serotonin go BRRRR indeed-- as soon as a hand came up behind her ear, the volume of her purring increased significantly. "You're pretty good-looking, yourself," She replied around the motorboat rave emanating from her throat. It seemed as tho the party was being crashed by a gang of chainsaws. This was very much 'like heaven', as Rigel had put it.

Rigel raised an eyebrow. Well that was a turn of compliments- “Why thank you-“ *He laughed. * “So the ears are a good thing?”

"Yes, they are," P'Nelar confirmed. "Typically, this type of thing is a sign of trust between to Caitians-- friends, family, or partners," She explained. Then realized that she had just told him that she basically gave someone who was almost a stranger her complete trust. She felt her face grow hot.

“Glad to know my vibes are good enough to deserve that.” He smiled serenely, scritching both ears now. “I hope I can prove you right-“

2

"This is probably gonna sound super weird, so I hope it doesn't but I hope so too," She replied, her tail wrapping around his leg unconsciously as a way of her stabilizing herself.

“You alright cutie?” He rested his chin on top of her head, grinning at the softness. “I won’t judge.”

2

"I- I'm fine just- not used to...closeness, like this, I guess," She replied, her words becoming harder to find. "I just...I hope you can prove me right, too, is what I meant...I really like you," P'Nelar said, nearly melting at all the affection, even if it was most likely platonic.

Well joke’s on you, Rigel would date any one of his friends in a heartbeat because He’s Just Built That Way- and love is love no matter what kind. “To be honest, I’m not either. Used to it, I mean. I grew up in a refugee camp- not exactly a super great place to get affection beyond your own family. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great- but sometimes you need someone on the outside too.”

P'Nelar one hundred percent agreed. "You're so right," She nodded, leaning into Rigel, sighing contently, very happy to just...stay in his arms for the rest of her life. It was warm; safe here. She missed that feeling; the feeling of full and complete safety, that she would be protected, even if she could do it herself now, as a security officer in Starfleet. It was nice.

“You uh- y’a wanna sit down? I’m cool to keep hugging but my legs are gonna get tired eventually.” He laughed softly, running a hand through the longer hair on her head.

"Sure," P'Nelar giggled, unconsciously leaning into the hand in her hair. This was bliss, truly, she could stay here for the rest of her waking days. Maybe even her sleeping ones, whatever the hell that meant.

He sat back down in his chair, helping the Caitian get comfy with him. “You’re safe. I gotcha. Anyone who tries to make you sad will meet these fists with their faces-“ Rigel joked affectionately, braiding tiny sections of her hair.

1

"Oh, I- well, thank you," P'Nelar's face heated, taken aback by this comment. "I'd do the same for you, Rigel," She added. As a security officer, it was her duty to protect the officers aboard the station. But maybe Rigel was more important, for...reasons.

“Well yeah, Madam Security- you kinda have to-“ Rigel giggled into her hair. “So sorry; you’re stuck with me now. I’m gonna want more hugs.”

"I know it's my job!" P'Nelar retorted, not at all upset. "And don't apologize, you're stuck with me, too. Though I hope it isn't just because I give excellent hugs, Mister Command,"

He wrinkled his nose- Mr. Command didn’t really sound entirely innocent but- it was cute anyway. “Well, the hugs are a solid percentage…”

2

P'Nelar fake pouted, not at all noticing what Mister Command could insinuate. "I see how it is," She said, pretending to be hurt, when she was very much playing.

“It’s only around uh-“ He leaned his head back to gauge her reaction- “Fifffff-“

"Hey! Don't laugh!" She said, but couldn't help but giggling too, her laughter shaking her shoulders as she shut her eyes and wrinkled what the roleplayer assumed could be called a snout.

He scritched the little area between her eyes and her snoot, resisting the urge to boop the snoot. “Forty percent, only forty I promise-“

"Hmm....that's rater high..." She said, looking up into Rigel's eyes with an accusatory expression. "I suppose forty percent is fine, I'll just raise my 'be stuck with Rigel because hugs' percentage to match," She said, sticking out her tongue.

“…thirty-five?” He grinned, “I mean, I don’t want my winning personality to take a backseat to my arms- now that would just hurt my ego-“

P'Nelar giggled. "I can assure you, it's not," She told him, reaching up and patting one of those said arms, just because she could. "Your ego can remain undamaged, for better or for worse,"

“Oh definitely for worse~” Rigel giggled and buried his head in the crook of the Caitian’s neck.

"Maybe that's why the universe wrote itself so that I'd meet you-- to balance you out," P'Nelar suggested, ear twitching in amusement. Her brain didn't seem to want to answer what type of feelings she had for Rigel, just platonic or romantic as well. It was a struggle.

“Eh? Balance me out?” Rigel raised an eyebrow in joking indignation. “You seem pretty high-energy too, I dunno- were probably gonna end up enabling eachother’s chaos-“

"That, too...Either way, I'm here for it!" She said with a high-energy smile, confirming Rigel's assumption. "Chaos is fun, sometimes," P'Nelar shrugged. "The good kind, of course,"

His face went serious for a moment, in a very Vulcan-esque way- “This is getting dAnGerOuSly close to HiJiNkS -“

5

4

P'Nelar tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably. "Hijinks?" She laughed. "Was that your impression of a Vulcan?"

“Was it good?” He broke the impression with a wheeze laugh.

"I mean, it was decent," She giggled. "I don't think I've ever heard a Vulcan say 'hijinks' before..." She pointed out.

“Oh you’d be surprised! They’ll have comments about *everything-“^

"You have experience then?" P'Nelar asked, leaning into Rigel's chest, feeling very much at peace in his arms. If P'Nelar had trust issues (she didn't) she would definitely categorize him as safe. But she was touch starved and was savoring every second of this in case it ended.

“I mean yeah, my only friend in the academy was full Vulcan. She was a handful, lemme tell y’a-“ He chuckled. P’Nelar’s purring was having a soporific effect on him for sure- he yawned tiredly.

"Oh, interesting!" P'Nelar replied. "Oh, are you getting tired? I can let you get back to your quarters to get some rest, Command is exhausting, I've heard," She said, noticing his yawn and not at all connecting it to the purring.

“Nah- I mean, I can pretty much fall asleep anywhere on a whim, but I am tired- mostly because that lil’ noise you’re making is kinda makin’ me sleepy. Not that it’s a bad thing-“

"Oh- stars, I'm so sorry- do you want me to stop?" P'Nelar hadn't even realized she'd been purring-- but now that she had, it stopped immediately. It was embarrassing, for her. That was the kind of thing that let people think it was okay to call her a kitty. She met Rigel only about an hour ago-- was he really so charismatic that she'd thrown caution to the wind? What if she was making him uncomfortable?

“NONO- it’s about the most relaxing thing I’ve heard since- well since ever,” He laughed. Well- he could think of one other thing, but mentioning it would just make the conversation depressing. The sound of his mother’s voice as she sang an old Terrellian lullaby to him in their refugee camp when he was a boy- he’d never forget the melody.

2

"O-oh," She blinked. That had stopped her panic dead in its tracks. "Well...umm...would you like me to stop, or...?" She asked less urgently, giving him a small smile, hoping she didn't look to shaken. She didn't care much about other peoples' opinions...unless she wanted them to enjoy her presence.

“Just do whatever makes you the most comfy, okay beautiful?” Rigel’s signature grin reformed on his lips as he pulled the Caitian against him again, finding some solace in the proximity. He’d made sure to say something complimentary that didn’t have anything to do with her cat-like traits. Cute and adorable both fit her too- but those were things you’d say to pets. She wasn’t a pet.

2

P'Nelar's smile grew as Rigel called her that-- beautiful. She blinked slowly up at the Terrellian, the purr starting up again, less noticable- for now. She couldn't help it, he was just...so kind, so safe.

Rigel’s smile grew in kind to match hers, giving her a small scritch under the chin. His thoughts started to wander off. Soon he finds himself fighting the urge to laugh as an old Terran form of communication leaps into mind- something known as the “meme”.

06:36

One “Meme” in particular had him tickled- and it applied to him and P’Nelar quite aptly. A reference old Earthlings would label “cringe”, to an Avril Lavigne lyric. He was a punk, she did ballet The thought of the two of them in that “meme” sent him into a giggling spiral.

"What's funny?" She asked, tilting her head. Before even getting the answer, she joined him in giggling, because laughter was one of the most contagious things. "You better not be laughing at me," She said with a giggle.

“I’m not I swear, im just laughing at my own thoughts-“ He managed to tamp down his giggles, hugging the Caitian a little tighter. “Maybe I really do need some shuteye.”

"If you need it, maybe you should go get some?" P'Nelar suggested, hiding the fact that she was the slightest bit disappointed that their cuddle session would be over if he agreed.

“Mmm yeah, you’re right. Let’s go-“ And he just- suddenly stood up, effortlessly carrying P’Nelar in his arms.

"Oh-" We? P'Nelar hadn't expected him to take her along, but she wasn't about to protest! She wrapped her arms around his next and primary shoulders to keep herself from rolling out of his arms.

“…I don’t know where my quarters are. Slight problem.”

She giggled. "Problem erased, I can guide you! Your surname is Hel'jin, right? It's on this ring, so just look for your last name!" She gestured out to the hallway with her tail, the small bow visible as she flicked it to the door.

“I- yeah-“ He blushed deeply in embarrassment. “I guess I didn’t think that one through-“

"Hey, it's alright. We all make mistakes," P'Nelar assured him. "Onwards, then?" She thought, for a second, about adding an endearment, but she wouldn't know where to start with that without sounding weird.

“Yeah-! Onwards. Lead the way-“ He laughed again and started walking, using her tail as a compass.

1

The Bajoran yawned and tucked long red hair out of her eyes as she sauntered into the mess hall. After a long, boring day all she wanted was a good hasperat soufflé - and that was what she got, two of in fact, and sat down at a table to eat...

She should probably still be sleeping but, for some reason unknown to her she'd woken up two hours before her alarm and couldn't fall back asleep. In an giant way oversized hot pink cardigan and leggings she was now replicating herself the most spicy breakfast she could think of. Once she had that, she turned around to the room and picked a person to sit with, because sitting on your own was never quite as delightful as having company was. Only a few steps later she came to a halt across the table from Rinne. "May I sit down here, dear?"

Rinne looked up from her dinner at the Orion. Weird taste in clothes, she thought to herself, what with that bright pink cardigan. Hell, she'd never be caught dead wearing one herself. It looked almost odd against the woman's green complexion. "'Course you may." She said. "I don't mind company."

"Thank you, dear." She let herself fall into any empty chair and placed her food in front of herself. Normally she wore parts of her hair in a bun so it wouldn't fall into her face, but as she hadn't had the time to make one yet, she simply pushed her hair back behind her ears. "I'm Mirrim, it's nice to meet you."

"Rinne." The redhead replied. "So uh. What do you do on board? Don't see very many Orions on board. Hell, you're the first I've met on this station period."

Mirrim smiled brightly and tilted her head to the right "Oh I'm in medical, junior doctor and counsellor at your service, dear. And I'm sure there's a few Orions around, I hope I'm not making a bad first impression for us, hm?"

"Aw, you're making a pretty swell first impression for the rest of your people, trust me." She replied. "Counsellor, eh? Your patients must like ya a lot."

@Evoras┊Konstanze┊Mirrim