Star Trek: Starbase 777 - co-tr’torre’vnau﹢lt-tr’torre’vnau

[D] After a rather emotional goodbye to Rapture, Rai made his way to the station. It was much different being here knowing this was his new home. He had only visited in the past. The long corridors filled with people from all parts of the galaxy still filled Rai with anxiety no matter how many times he had walked down them. Rapture was a little easier with its much smaller crew, but on the starbase there were tons of civilians too. From merchants to tourists, Rai was secretly glad he had never been stationed on a Romulan starbase during his service in the Navy. At least on a Starship, most people were crew. Maybe it was just Rai's mind playing games with him, but he couldn't help but feel like everyone was staring at him. He was a very tall Romulan in a Starfleet uniform, it was surely that and not his birthmark. He hoped it was just him being tall that turned heads. Rai couldn't have been more relieved when he reached the door to his quarters. Torre'vnau-Torre'vnau, looks like his brother had gotten around to putting in that request for them to live together. Rai wasn't sure if he would want this to be a long-term arrangement, but the idea of living with family made the switch to 777 just a little less daunting.

The automatic doors opened with a loud 'whoosh' to reveal a tastefully lit room, not too bright, but not too dark either, neatly organised. It was pretty standard Starfleet design without many decorations. There was an epohh tower and a tiny tent obviously for Kali-fal, as well as a small basket of toys for her. In the centre of the room on the coffee table was a very large ice sculpture that was slowly melting. The sculpture was carved into the shape of a bagette and placed into a bowl so it wouldn't melt on everything. It was a simple display, but curated with care.

"WELCOME HOME DINAM!" Renakir said, doing a tactical barrel roll from behind the sofa and jumping up to greet Rai. Today he was clad in-- a pair of frog pajyamas to match Rai's. He threw his hands up and rushed over to his dear brother who stood at the entry way, looking at the sculpture with a look of pure terror on his face.

".... DINAM!!!" After a few seconds of staring, Rai's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open. First the gift of bread, now this ice sculpture baguette? Was his brother trying to make him relieve his most embarrassing and cringe moments? His expression softened once Renakir bounced over to him, still horrified at the sight of a baguette ice sculpture, but greeting his brother whom he hadn't seen for six months meant more to him in that moment.

"Holy Tenakruvek, dinam, what the fuck happened to you on Rapture? You look like you just lost a fight! Are you okay?!" When he moved closer to Rai, Renakir realised the discolouration on his face was not a bad lighting angle. It looked like his brother had been punched in the face. Did he get into a fight with an ice sculpture whilst on Rapture? Renakir put both his hands on Rai's shoulders (which was a little hard with Rai being nearly half a foot taller than him) and leaned in closer to get a good look at the mark on the left side of his face.

Rai opened his arms for Renakir, assuming his brother was coming for a hug, and that's when his brother commented on his birthmark. He had meant to warn his brother about it beforehand but with all the administration work he had to do before Rapture's docking, it simply slipped his mind. Almost in an instant, Rai grabbed his brother's arms and pushed him away and did a complete 180 turn. "I-It's.... Dinam," Rai felt like he could cry, Renakir's words hit him like a knife through his heart. He knew Renakir didn't mean anything malicious and that he was just worried, as would anyone, but the way he phrased it was... Disheartening. The words of his conspirator flew through his mind in that moment. 'You're shiny too', and 'you're the sweetest bread', the kiss on the left side of his face, the words of affirmation Zero and the rest of the crew had given him over the past six months, all of that confidence had seemed to disappear. With tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, Rai knew he couldn't face his brother like this. There was a part of him that still felt like he had to play big brother and always be confident and strong in front of Renakir, he couldn't let him see any weakness. So Rai said nothing more, he couldn't say anything more. The taller of the two then booked it for his quarters and locked the door behind him, leaving Renakir alone in the common area.

From under the coffee table waddled the blue girl herself, Kali-fal Madeleine. The epohh looked at Renakir and then towards Rai's door, completely oblivious to what just happened. With her antennae wobbling about she hopped onto the coffee table and began to lick the ice sculpture-- somehow not getting her tongue stuck. Renakir seemed oblivious to his epohh's actions as he just stared at the closed door, confused and very concerned he did something wrong.

From: Solait To: Rai

Dinam, I want to apologise for what I said earlier and for the ice sculpture. It was insensitive and I had no malicious intent. I saw your comment in the chatroom joking about the ice sculpture so I thought you would take the joke well, but I took it too far. I'm sorry and I just want to know that you're alright. And you don't have to tell me about the bruise, as long as it was an accident and not anything we should talk to security about I won't ask you to explain.

Stepping out from his quarters for something that was not work or food for the first time in nearly a week, Rai made sure to check his surroundings before fully stepping into the common area. Thankfully his fringe was long, which allowed him to hide his birthmark although it did prevent him from seeing out of his left eye. He just hoped no one would ask him about it.

Upon hearing the doors swoosh open, Renakir stepped out into the common area, determined to make things right with his brother. He didn't want any awkwardness on his birthday or at the very least, when they saw the rest of their family. "Dinam hey," Renakir had no problem seeing his brother clearly in the low lighting of the room. He wondered if Rai thought he was being sneaky by trying to leave in the pitch black room, the dark was nowhere to hide from a Reman.

"Solait I--" Rai wasn't sure he was ready for this interaction and he instinctively covered his face with his hands. "I.. I'm going home I-- I'll see you later, please, don't look, I'm ugly," And without another word, Rai darted out of the room, way too fast for his brother to follow him.

Rai stepped into his quarters to find Renakir in the common area, building what appeared to be an epohh tower. It was a ceiling-high structure with tunnels and platforms with padding all around, perfect for a fluffy blue girl to explore. The structure not only extended to the ceiling, but by the looks of it, it also led to a loft that Renakir had only marked off with some wires. "Solait," Rai said, stepping into the room and looking at his brother.

Renakir turned when he heard the doors open to see Rai standing there. Tall as ever, with his birthmark now in full view under the dim lighting. One good thing about living with his brother is he didn't need to worry about the lights because Rai liked them low as well. Maybe it was the Torre'vnau genes, but they all seemed to have excellent night vision. "Dinam," His hands immediately stopped what they were doing and he stood up so he could walk to greet his brother. "Welcome home. And I wanted to see you," Renakir wasn't exactly sure how to go about this apology. He wanted to convey his sincerity, but he also didn't want to risk upsetting Rai again.

"Me too, how.. How about we sit down, I'll pour us some ale," Rai offered as he gently nudged Renakir by his shoulder towards the sofa. Whilst his brother was getting settled, Rai opened their mini fridge where they kept their Torre'vnau RPA's and poured each of them a tall glass of the bright blue liquid. He placed the glasses on the small coffee table before he took a seat beside his brother. "Happy birthday, again, Solait. No matter how old you get, I'll never forget the tiny kid with the messy hair who used to claim his territory by licking things," Rai delivered the phrase with the most unemotional and deadpan look, but he was sure his brother could catch his humor.

"Rai S'Kivux, and I'll never forget the awkward guy who told me, out of all things, the Free State gave him bread trauma," Renakir said, mimicking his brother's serious tone and then laughing. He grabbed the glass of ale and drank it like a shot glass because that was Renakir's style. "But for real, Dinam. I want to apologise for what I said. I know how serious you take your appearance and I should have chosen my words better," Renakir remembered the words of his mother when she told him that Rai had felt hurt by his word choice. That was never his intention, but he couldn't ignore the fact that ill intentioned or not, he should have practised more sensitivity when making any appearance comment. "Ri'ranov didn't tell me any of the details and I am not going to ask you if you aren't open to telling me. I just wanted to tell you that I think you're beautiful and I am and will always be proud to call you my brother. Your looks are only one part of you, there is a lot more bread to love than just one aspect. You have your looks, but also your confidence and hard work, I can see Rapture crew agree, they really admire you, dinam."

"Solait..." Rai felt lke he could cry. He was going to drink his own glass of ale like a shot, but when he heard the wonderful words of affirmation from his brother all he could do was stare at him with tears in his eyes. "I.... T-That means a lot to me, thank you. I appreciate you and I cherish our bond, I wish I could have been in your life more when we were younger," Rai put his glass down and reached his hand out for his brother to take if he so wished to.

And Renakir did! He placed his empty glass down and held Rai's hand in his own. Brothers, holding hands, bonding! "It's alright, Rai. Those three years meant a lot to me. You have always been a good brother to me, I'm sorry I was a bit of a... Little bitch, as they say in Standard," Renakir laughed when he said that, prompting Rai to laugh as well.

"No no, not at all. You were a child, I think all children get a free pass to be annoying," Rai tightened his grip on Renakir's hand and sighed. It was nice to reminisce, but he also wanted to be open and honest with his brother in this moment. "I want to tell you... About everything. First, my face.. It's a birthmark, it's called Cehlaer Ehrhe (Galaxy Skin). I was born like this, if you can imagine," Rai let go of Renakir hand so he could pish some hair from his face so his brother could clearly see how far the hyperpigmentation went. "My mother, Kaleek, she called it unsightly. Her sister screamed when she saw it for the first time," Rai explained, placing his hand over the left side of his face. "I was taught to be ashamed of it because it was imperfect. I was the heir to the Torre'vnau house and also a Khellian. If anyone found out I had any imperfection, both families could lose face in society. So I used make up to hide it, did everything I could. I hid it from everyone, even my own brother," Rai moved his hand away from his face and looked at Renakir face on. "I regret lying to you, lying to everyone. I was so obsessed with trying to be perfect that I was fearful of being myself. And look where that got me. I spent my whole life trying to appease people who would never accept me or love me, I've been exiled from the Khellian house since I killed Riov Arriufvi. I still remember what my aunt said to me... Aunt Eviess of the Khellian house, she told me the Khellians would never have an ugly child," As Rai told the story, he tried to keep his cool and not cry, but he was certainly crying now. It was a good thing he wasn't wearing much make up because it would be running right about now.

"Dinam, no," Renakir reached for Rai's hand again and uesd his free hand to gently wipe away his brother's tears. "I forgive you, it's alright. I know how life was on Rator III. It's not like we had much choice," Renakir said, having never held his brother's actions against him. Rai always had a good heart, even if he did not go about it in the best way. But more importantly he was remorseful for his past mistakes nad was willing to make amends and own his past, not try to avoid it. "I think your birth mark is beautiful, Dinam. It's pretty cool how you have the whole galaxy on your face. I am glad it's not an injury or any serious condition, I was worried you were hurt," Renakir lowered his hand and brought it down to hold Rai's other hands so they were sitting face to face, holding each other's hands.

"I... Felt pressured by everyone. I wanted to be the perfect older brother for you, the perfect image of the next generation of the Torre'vnau house. I thought if you saw anything but perfection.. That you would leave me too, just like the Khellians did," Rai looked down at their joined hands and sighed. "That is why I want to make things right. I don't want to hide my birthmark anymore, I want to embrace my imperfections," He said with a slight smile. "I even got my profile photos updated in medical so they can track the progression of the mark. It.. Typically doesn't grow past adulthood, but it does put me at great risk for... The Standard term is gladiator coma."

As emotional as their moment was, Renakir could not hold in his laughter at the horribly butchered word 'glaucoma'. He had already corrected Rai on it and wasn't sure if his brother was just repeating it to be funny or if he genuinely forgot the term. "Glaucoma, dinam. Unless you're planning on going into professional ring fighting and being knocked out, I don't think you're at risk for a gladiator coma," He ressured Rai with a squeeze of his hands before letting go so he could pull his brother into a hug. It was a little difficult considering Rai was so much larger than he was, Renakir really was a gangly bitch next to his brother. "I love you, Dinam. You're beautiful inside and out and I will always be here to support you," Renakir gave Rai a pat on his beck, trying to hold on but Rai had very wide shoulders, it felt like hugging a giant rock.. Or a stale piece of bread.

Rai let out a small 'oof' when Renakir pulled him into a hug. He did not expect this reaction from his brother, but he did not dislike hugging. "I want to be a better dinam to you. I know in Romulan tradition we usually don't show our affections in such a positive way, but i am willing to learn. As long as you agree to spar, at least some times. And maybe who knows, you may be the one who needs to sleep with your third eye open."

To that, Renakir pulled away and made an expression of feigned shock. "You prank me? You're on, dinam. If this is going to be some brother vs. brother prank war, you're gonna have to step it up," Renakir snapped his fingers and shot finger guns at Rai, pairing it all with a cheeky grin.

"Just because my true name is Gullible, doesn't mean I'll be easy to prank... Well, maybe it does, but I am no stranger to defending my honour! We should probably have rules to keep it fair, first rule is--"

"No Kianarix. He's too smart, for either of us. And he has too much of a conflict of interest."

"Fair, but we should be able to have a single accomplice for each prank," Rai threw out his suggestion, nodding in agreement to no Kianarix. The funny Romulan-Reman fiance of Renakir was very good at coming up with pranks and creative ideas to orchestrate them, but considering he was close to both Torre'vnau brother it would surely not be a good idea to recruit him.

"One accomplice per prank? Sounds good. And lastly pranks can only involve each other, and only take place off duty," Renakir threw out two more suggestions.

"Fair, and for our home base, it'll be our private quarters, but this communal area is fair game."

"Gotcha. Loser buys dinner. May the best man win." And with that the two brothers bumped elbows, then fists, then shook hands, and finished their Torre'vnau 'handshake' with a strong headbutt, clacking their bumpy foreheads together.

[PADD] To: MrEclipse From: 69

Hi can you site to site transport Fissh back to the lakes and ponds area? Or maybe to the fish tank in xenobiolgy because he's very sick, he has a really big bubble in his body. I don't want anyone to eat him.

Allan had everything he needed, really, in his bag. His hair dye tools, a towel, and some snacks - including some wings from that new bar in the promenade that could easily be smelled and for a moment, he hoped Kali-fal wouldn't be able to smell them, although he did kind of hope he'd get to say hi to the epohh and possibly her owner if they were here - he'd brought some macarons just in case her owner was, at least. Wearing a simple red cropped t-shirt and some shorts with converse, he arrived at the door, waiting for Rai to get notified he was here and let him in, in which case he would enter the room, of course.

Rai bounced over to the door when the buzzer ringed to notify him that someone was there. He was dressed in all black as he was anticipating the hair dye to be messy so a loose black t-shirt with black shorts that were definitely a few sizes too small. Rai was pretty bad at using replicators, especially for clothing so he never bothered to update his sizing on his profile. Yes he was really out here using the same measurements from when he was 18 and just enlisted in the Romulan Navy. As he made his way through the common area, all of the shuffling seemed to have woken up the blue girl who was sleeping in her little 'epohh hammock' that hung just to the side of the room. Rai didn't seem to notice as he opened the door and without warning, he was nearly knocked over by a very strong headbutt to the backs of his knees! "Welcome A-- AH!" Rai leaped backwards as Kali-fal rushed to greet Allan. The little epohh jumped up and down, her antennae wiggling and all six beady little black eyes blinking! "Jolan tru, Allan, please come inside," Rai stepped to the side to allow Allan to enter the room. There was an epohh tower towards the back of the room along with some little tubes and a slide that led to a plush epohh bed and some bowls of food and water. Also in the back sat the infamous disruptor water gun, although it was firmly mounted on the wall amd the tip of the weapon had been painted bright green.

"Hey!" Allan waved and smiled at Rai after the door had opened, laughing as his favorite epohh rushed through past Rai to greet him. "And hiiii, Kali-fal, you- has she been good?" He leaned down to give her a pet to the head before walking inside, making sure Kali-fal followed him instead of running out the door or something - sometimes pets could surprise you. "Oh- yeah, um-" he took another look at Rai after he'd walked in and couldn't help but notice that the other's attire was - were those shorts ... intended to be that tight on the other? After looking at them for what was probably a moment too long, he redirected his attention to Rai's hair and smiled again. "Hey, Rai, nice to- see ya, um, what... what color were you thinking of getting, again? Sorry, forgot, but I, uh - have everything here we'll need," he said as he set down his bag on the couch, then walked over to where Kali-fal's box of treats was, simply standing by it before receiving a confirmation if the epohh had been well behaved or not - if she had been, then he would get out a treat and give it to her, of course.

Kali-fal ran around Allan's feet and followed him inside, jumping and making her little epohh noises that sound like soft yips and mews. "She's been good, she was sleeping before you arrived. She was training Solait earlier today," Rai told Allan with the most unenthusiastic tone and look on his face. He was very excited, but it was always difficult expressing emotions. Kali-fal seemed not to mind as she happily wagged her tail and wobbled her antennae, waddling towards Allan as she sensed it was treat time. Rai, of course, provided no reaction towards the epohh's antics. He was not nearly as overtly affectionate as his brother, choosing just to stand around watching Allan. "Blue, I was thinking of dying my hair blue like... Kali-fal's," Rai attempted to smile right back at Allan but he ended up only being able to curl half his mouth into a weird half-smile. "By the way your outfit is... Violently hitting the wall," Rai looked Allan up and down, checking out the shorts and the crop top. He was slowly getting used to giving casual compliments with fear the other person would think he was planning to murder them. His brother had reassured him that his friends were all very okay with being complimented, hence why Rai was attempting to use a terran slang that his brother had told him would be a hit! "I like it, you are very attractive is what I mean," He repeated his compliment, this time in plain Rihannsu just in case his slang was bad.

"Hmmm, alright then," Allan said, before laughing as he realized just how Rai had phrased that last bit. "W-wait, she was training him? On what, how to twerk better?" He asked, opening Kali-fal's treat box near the wall and handing her a treat. "Ooo, shit, that's perfect, actually," after walking back to the couch, he took out his hair dying device and walked back over to Kali-fal, giving her another treat - and scanned her hair color with the device as he did (luckily, the device didn't need to touch her at all to do so). "Violently?" It was simply instinct that caused Allan to whirl around to see if he was actually, somehow hitting the wall violently with his outfit - maybe he'd kicked the wall accidentally when he gave Kali-fal her treat? - but once he learned that he was not, he looked over again as he noticed Rai look him up and down and then say - "Ohhhhhh, you mean - right, thank you, the same's true about yourself," he said, it was starting to make sense what Rai had said, although he was confused why his every-day outfit was one that Rai thought looked particularly good. "It's a common opinion on the station, you know. For - for the both of us."

"Oh you didn't know? Kali-fal is training Solait. He thinks he's training her but I see him doing tricks a lot more than her," Rai attempted to laugh but it just sounded like hiccups. Oh well, he tried. Kali-fal wrapped her long tongue around Allan's fingers when he gave her a treat. She had flat teeth and a rough cat-like tongue that was extremely long. Even if Rai lacked energy, Kali-fal made up for it by bouncing around. "Yes! It is a slang," Rai suddenly worried that he had remembered the phrase wrong or that... Oh no, maybe his brother bamboozled him again. Maybe he needed to double check his sources before trying to use phrases his brother told him. "And thank you Allan, I am honoured you think I am attractive. I am aware that you and my brother kissed and I admire your bravery to do such a thing in public when there could have easily been an assassin hiding under the table," Rai said as if that was a completely normal fear. It had happened before, which was why he was so guarded. Rai may not have been very emotive, but his cheeks did flush when Allan said it was a 'common opinion' and that he thought Rai was attractive too. Rai was still trying to find confidence in his appearance. "How does the hair dying process work? Should I sit on the floor or get a towel or what happens?" Rai asked as he noticed Allan was scanning Kali-fal's fur. Was hair dye tech really that good? Rai had always just rocked his natural brown and most of his colleagues also stuck to their natural hair colour and that ugly Vulcanoid haircut.

"Ahhhh, okayyy, I'll be sure to keep that a secret from him, then," Allan chuckled, he clearly was not going to keep a secret from his best friend but it was but a jesterly joke. Perhaps he'd tease the other a little later about it. "Huh, don't think I've heard it before - violently hitting the wall? Off the wall, maybe? But I wouldn't say this outfit's quite off the wall, um," nor did off the wall necessarily mean attractive, either... "You're quite welcome, but if either of us is the brave one, I'd honestly say it's Renakir, I mean - he's the one who started it, you know?" And God did he Start It. The hair dying process, though... right. He took the device in his hands and held it up in one hand, it looked a little like a 21st century hair straightener but much more compact, "oh, it's eaaasy. You can actually just sit on the couch, okay? Unless the floor's more comfortable for you. Towel also not necessary, it's a pretty clean and straightforward process." For him, at least. "Basically, this thing applies the color I just scanned from her to your hair. Easy stuff, really, and then I do the same - well, did you want your eyebrows to match? Or stay the same?"

"I feel like Solait already knows," Rai was never entirely sure what was intentional and what was accidental with his brother. What is a lie, what is the truth, the eternal questions with Romulans, especially siblings. "Off the wall? No I don't think that was it.. Maybe it was... Was it slaps? Your outfit slaps? I think that was the word," He said with a little head tilt and a thoughtful stare off into the distance. He felt bad he only understood a small fraction of the slang that his brother taught him. They were only ten years apart, but why did Rai feel like they were fifty years apart sometimes. "Solait did? That is.... Actually not surprising. He also does mildly concerning dances, I do not know if it is really safe for him to be shaking his butt everywhere," His brother was an adult so Rai wasn't going to tell him no, but he did think sometimes he got too into dancing that made him more vulnerable to possible assassins. "I just hope no one stabs him in the butt or something," He said, voicing his very real concern! When Allan told him he could sit on the sofa or the floor, he decided to take the sofa option. He was quite tall, but if Allan was standing it wouldn't be a problem. "Oh! That is some cool tech. None of my friends or anyone I knew ever did it so this is my first time hearing about such tech. Oh and I grew up on Remus," Rai told Allan, hoping that would explain his lack of hair knowledge. He didn't really have many friends on Romulus and his mother's family, the Khellians thought he was ugly no matter what he did so hair dying never crossed his mind. "And for my eyebrows umm.. We can try? Whatever you think would look... Sexier."

Wow, so he knew and hadn't told Allan yet? Quite the bummer. Allan was about to get Kali-fal to teach Renakir a new trick, perhaps. Or two. "Ooohhh, slaps... yeah, that'd make sense," he laughed, smiling up at Rai as the other told him what slang he'd actually meant. "Mhmm, he totally did. And God, I'd love if he were to-" he paused, then laughed harder as he registered what Rai had said about stabbing in the butt or something like that. "Wait, I- I'm sorry, what - you... hope he doesn't - I mean, no guarantees," after all, Sar- "but uhhh, I think he's pretty good? On that front?" He sat down on the sofa as well when Rai did, sitting so that he was sitting towards Rai as he got set up. "Ahh, Remus. Yeah, that would explain it, I was the one who taught Chadrix how to dye his wigs," he said with a chuckle, turning on the device and then looking at the back of Rai's head, "so uhh, I'm just gonna start doing this, but eventually I'm gonna move around to the front to get your bangs and roots and shit, but uhh, for now.." he sat on his knees to be tall enough to do it while still sitting down. "Sexier? I mean, that's up to you. Or we could phone a friend?" Perhaps Zero?

Rai nodded when Allan repeated hte phrase. It was slaps! He was proud of himself for remembering as he was surprisingly forgetful outside of work. Memorising tactical drills or command protocols came easy, but slang and how to act in social situations was very much not. "If you shake your butt all the time it is an easy target for an assassin, right? I am just worried Solait will.. Shake his butt at the wrong person," Rai expressed his very legitimate fear (at least to him). "I am glad he has you as a friend, you and Dion and everyone are all very cool," Rai told Allan as he straightened his posture and mentally prepared for the hair dying. “Remus was a very nice place, I especially loved the crystal caves. They had crystal berries that grew in the cracks between the rocks, very delicious although it was very cold," Rai reminisced about his time on the icy planet. Surprisingly, he did not know Renakir during that time. It was weird to think about he was living in the same village and was friends with the same people, yet never met Renakir until after Hobus. "Oh, I can.. Phone a friend. Wait, I have my PADD," As if he were some cartoon character, Rai shoved his hand between the cushions of the sofa and pulled out a PADD. "Zero is the sexiest person I know, surely they will know what I should do," And with that Rai input Zero's comms code and held his PADD out in front of him with the camera on.

Zero's face came up on the screen. In the background, you could see brief glimpses of Zadki mulling around. They'd both just been playing a cyberpunk tabletop game together; Zero narrated the world and its characters, and Zadki hacked, pickpocketed, burgled, and otherwise stole things from them all. Now Zero was sipping some sort of electric blue energy drink. "Hi, Rai! What's up? Hey, wouldja ever want to play a game with me and Zadki?"

Rai's face lit up when he saw Zero. He didn't smile, but opened his mouth in an attempt to show his elated emotion. "Jolan tru, Zero!" He said with a slightly more enthusiastic tone than how he normally spoke. As Rai said this, Kali-fal hopped up on the sofa and jumped onto his lap to try and get a glimpse of whoever he was talking to. "A game? I would love to play sometime," Rai happily agreed as he tilted his head as if that could give him a better look at his conspirator's surroundings. He noticed Zadki in the back and wanted to wave to them, but they seemed preoccupied. "Hi Zadki," In lieu of waving Rai just said hi and hoped they could hear him. He lowered the PADD slightly so Zero could clearly see him, Kali-fal, and Allan. "I am dying my hair blue! Do you think it would look sexy if I dyed my eyebrows too? This is my first time and Allan," Rai leaned to the side so Allan was fully in the frame. "Has been so kind as to offer to help me. I want to be blue like my brother's epohh, she's a great colour!"

"Ummm..." Allan was genuinely unsure of how to respond to Rai's queries about butt shaking and being an easy target for assassins, a smile on his face yet also just incredibly confused. "Yeah! Yeah, definitely glad he's in my life, that's for sure. I've heard about the crystal berries, Brokuk had a few, they were... interesting," he said as Rai took out his PADD to call Zero, laughing when he said Zero was the sexiest person he knew. "Oh, they are very up there on the list of sexiest people I know as well," he said, either before or after Zero had picked up the call. Woops. After Rai had greeted Zero and Zadki and said that Allan was dying his hair for him, he waved and grinned at the camera, putting his arms around Rai's shoulders so he could rest his chin on whichever shoulder happened to be closest to the PADD. "Yeah, totally! I mean, I think that Rai looks sexy no matter whaat, but as to what would look best - oh, if I could just..." he held a piece of Rai's hair near the front and gently held it up to the hair-dyer-device, and if Rai had no objections, he ran it through - a very speedy process - and then held the now-blue up to his eyebrow on that same side. "Hopefully this gives the both of you a better look? This is the same color," he explained, keeping the hair in place there so that Zero and possibly Zadki could see if they wanted to. "Oh, and like, I know I'm not Rai, but I'd love to play a game with you all, literally any game, any time, just so you know."

They studied the 'eyebrow', taking note of his place on the sexy people list. "Sure thing! Zadki likes you, so -" There was a shout from Zadki and they looked over their shoulder - "yes, Zad you do like him. Anyway, both of you are always welcome to join us." Well, mostly. There would be a few scenarios when they wanted to be alone with Rai. Date scenarios. "As for the hair - well, I think matching eyebrows would be nice. Maybe a slightly darker blue, though?" Eyebrows generally tended to be slightly darker than your hair was, at least with some lighter hair colours, so that would sort of sell the illusion of actual blue hair, which some aliens did have. "I think that would be very sexy." Zadki made vomiting noises in the background.

Rai didn't visibly react to Allan calling Zero one of the sexiest people he knew, but he was amused by the comment. It made him proud that other people thought Zero was attractive because it reaffirmed his own feelings for the liberated Borg El-Aurian. This call was also a chance for Rai to show Allan how cool Zero was and judging from the human's enthusiasm to play games with Zero, it was working! Rai stayed perfectly still when Allan rested his head on his shoulder. He didn't mind, but his body always tensed up when physical contact happened, no matter how small. He agreed to Allan dying a bit of his hair to show as an example to Zero and did his best to hold the PADD steady so Zero could see. "Dark blue? I think we could do that, right Allan?" Rai wanted to turn his head to look at Allan, but he also was afraid to move with the other holding his hair. "I want to be very sexy. I have not felt very sexy for most of my life and I want to change that," Rai said, referring to all of his years he spent trying to hide his birthmark. The blue really did contrast against the dark greens of his hyperpigmentation. "Thank you, Zero. You are handsome and beautiful and I trust you," Rai said, shooting out all of the words of affection he could think of in that moment. "And Zadki, I appreciate you," He added, fully knowing that he would never graduated from 'cringe' according to them. That was okay though, he was cringe, but he was free.

Allan had simply naturally assumed that the 'likes you' was you plural until Zero had said 'like him' just after, which seemed pretty singular, but then it was followed up with 'both of you' so he simply focused on the more important thing at hand here: the hair dying. "Oh, we could definitely do a darker blue for the eyebrows," he said, and as he said it he had adjusted the color to be one that was slightly darker than the one before it, and re-dyed the small strand of hair and held it up again. "Oh, yeah, very sexy indeed," he agreed, dropping the piece of hair after dying it back to the original Kali-fal color. He leaned back and started dying some other strands as Rai continued to talk, one hand still on his shoulders. 'I want to change that,' was a phrase Allan silently noted in his head, although someone on the other end of the PADD call may have noticed the slight change in his expression when he did so, which only further changed into a warmer smile as he listened to Rai list off those words of affection for Zero and Zadki. "Do you-" he waited to ask until after Zero had responded to Rai, holding one of Rai's side pieces in his hands again as he continued to dye the other's hair, "sorry, it would be - easier if you leaned back some so it's easier for me to get the front pieces of your hair," same sponge different day. Aka this man was never going to learn that the way he dyed hair was asking for someone to practically lean against his chest as he put their arms around them and gently brushed their hair, essentially. Whew. He had a few brain cells though, genuinely. Just not when it came to this, apparently.

"Thank you, I think that will work. And thank you Zero for your input, you're-- very appreciated," Rai said as he carefully balanced the PADD on the sofa so Zero could watch him getting his hair dyed. He stayed perfectly still throughout the process, afraid to move for fear of Allan's hand slipping and dying his skin blue. Actually, he wasn't even sure if that was possible, but his whole body felt stiff nonetheless as a general reflex from anyone touching him, friend or otherwise. Even when he touched Zero, he struggled to relax as the paranoia in his brain would constantly tell him danger was near even if he knew logically it was not. "O-Oh.. Umm, yes I could do that," Rai's eyes widened at the suggestion and a dark green blush filled his cheeks. He was not opposed to more physical contact with Allan, in fact, he welcomed the closeness because Allan was kind and gentle with him. It was just he was so new to it all, even leaning against someone's chest made him feel flustered. He slowly shifted his position to lean back against Allan's chest, looking like a high school boy who just spoke to his crush for the first time. "How is this? I like the blue so far , you're hot-- I mean it looks.... I think it will make me look hot, " Rai said, stumbling over his words. He was a little nervous about Zero watching him babble on. Not that Zero would mind him calling other people hot, but he didn't like people seeing him be nervous or awkward. He wanted to be confident!

It was possible to dye one's skin blue, sure, but it was quite unlikely - but, if it did happen, there was a very easily replicated dye remover that could rid the skin of the dye in one single wipe of a cloth. He noticed the way Rai felt stiff in his arms and held a piece of his hair he was currently dying still. "You're sure?" Allan asked, for clarification, just to make sure Rai was still okay with this. There were, actually, other methods of dying hair out there that involved less closeness. He wasn't as experienced with them, but they still existed. When the other did adjust and lean back, though, and asked him- oh, he couldn't help from laughing, nodding as he chuckled, glanced briefly at the PADD screen again, and then back down at Rai as he continued to dye his hair. "Yes, we're both very hot," he affirmed, "but yes, the blue will look very hot, too. I mean, it already does - so it definitely will once it's done," he said, tilting Rai's chin up very gently and running the dye through the edges very carefully, being careful to not apply it to the skin on the other's forehead, and then, of course, the eyebrows. "In fact... we are almost done, you might want to close your eyes, not to say I'm not good at this, but like, just in case?"

Rai was trying to keep his paranoia under control, but it felt so scandalous to be leaning against Allan's chest like this. There was no way a good friend of his brother's would ever try and hurt him, but his body wasn't so easily convinced. He took slow and deep breaths to try and focus his mind. He focused on the feeling of having each cluster of hair get run through the dye machine. Allan was going well with keeping his movements predictable and even-- that is until he chuckled and his chest vibrations pulled Rai out of what he called the 'autozone'. "I... Yes," Rai's mind had a minor malfunction when he felt the other's fingers lift his chin. "I- sure," And with that he closed his eyes and his whole body went tense. Just when he was starting to calm down too! Rai was mentally scolding himself for not keeping the same level of calm as before, but with his eyes closed in such close proximity to someone else, maybe Allan was going to pull a knife on him. "T-Tell me when you're done," Rai kept his eyes closed, he was going to trust Allan, there was no logical reason to be scared. Allan was a friend, and he was very handsome! His brother wouldn't be friends with anyone who wasn't safe to be around. "I'm sorry Allan, I... Am just not used to being this close, I want y-- I mean I want this," Rai's eyes opened and now he was looking straight at Allan. It was a good thing he had his hyperpigmentation because it made it harder to see how green his face really was.

Allan tried to keep his movements just as even and predictable as when he was dying the majority of the man's hair as he dyed the roots and the eyebrows after Rai had closed his eyes, nodding slowly as to not create much movement as he noticed the other still seemed sort of tense. Pausing, he wondered for a moment if Rai was like, actually okay with this, because... well, he wanted to be absolutely sure of that. It wasn't any fun for either of them if one of them wasn't having fun, sooo.. "I will, b-" he was about to ask again, when Rai's eyes opened again and he moved his hands away slowly from the other's face, just to really make sure he wasn't going to get dye in his eyes. Rai wasn't... oh. Well, that was... an awfully familiar sentiment, wasn't it? It was almost like the last time he died a Captain's hair, he said he wasn't used to being that close yet wanted it still... hm... "That makes sense," he said, "this is... I'll do whatever you want, then," and that was the most genuine statement he could offer, "though - if this is what you want, I do recommend closing your eyes again before I finish," he said with a bright smile.

"O-Oh, alright," Rai was none the wiser to Allan's previous captain hair dying adventures, but it wouldn't surprise him if he had known. Rai closed his eyes as instructed to let Allan continue. Internally, Rai felt very proud of himself for allowing someone to do this for him. The process was painless and the small glimpse he had gotten earlier of what it looked like, it seemed he was going to get a good result! Rai kept his breath steady and instead tried to focus on how he was going to brag to Solait about this. Oh, would his brother get a shock. "How is it looking?" Since Rai couldn't see he could only trust Allan, but his friend would never tell a lie and hurt him. "It doesn't look too weird with my freckles, does it? I know it... is a bit silly, but I care a lot about my appearance," As was obvious by the fact that Rai always wore a full face of makeup up. Everywhere he went.

"Perfect," Allan said when Rai closed his eyes again, finishing his eyebrows, running his own fingers and the tool along them gently before sighing and looking closely at them, nodding after he determined they looked just fine. "It's looking fantastic, I'm- going to lean over a little to put this up," he said, leaning over putting the tool on the side table and shutting it off, but then moving right back to where he was before. "I mean, you can open your eyes and look in the PADD camera now, we're done, but - I don't think it's silly at all, you look damn good, Rai, for real," he said, completely meaning that. "The freckles don't make it weird at all, they all - combine in a way, it's - sort of like art, if you catch my drift?" As tempting as it would be to wrap his arms around Rai in a hug right now, he didn't, he simply kept his arms casually by his side now that he was done, letting Rai handle the brushing of his hair to see if it looked good different ways, but - the color? Oh, it looked amazing.

What felt like fire also ran across his brow bow as Allan's fingers worked their magic. His muscles were relaxing too, as if he were getting a massage. It was no secret Rai was touch starved. Despite his initial apprehension, he really did want this. It felt nice to be cared for by another, someone who wasn't family. Not that he didn't appreciate all his brother did for him, but connections with others was something refreshing and new. "O-Oh! That was quick," He lied, it felt like a million years, but he was actually surprised that the process was painless. He felt bad for getting awkwardly tense, but he was very proud of himself for undergoing the whole process. "I.. Yes. Thank you," Rai's brain somehow stopped making words when he opened his eyes and gazed at himself in the mirror. He did look good, really good. The Kali-gal blue worked well with his freckles! He had completely forgotten the image in the iPad was a video call window and that Zero (and Zadki) could see him styling his hair. "I like the colour a lot! Oh-- Allan ummm.," Rai turned to face his friend, reaching an arm out with much hesitation. "Uhh.. Remans we... Usually headbutt or rub each other's uhh.. shoulders? Head? To express gratitude. I will not ask for a head butt with your smooth forehead but... Can we... What is the Terran action, the opposite of stabbing, getting in close quarters with someone unarmed and with wholesome intentions to draw them close," Rai was certainly having a bread moment, he completely forgot the word 'hug' existed. 'Opposite of stabbing' was close!

Allan shrugged. "I think it took as long as it normally does, but - maybe it was quick? That's... a good thing, right?" He usually liked to take his time, after all, but Rai seemed to be the sort of person who liked things done quickly, perhaps? "You're welcome, though, it really looks beautiful, it- and I - I mean that literally, too, you're very welcome, I'd love to do this all over again if you ever wanted to change things up again, or even, just, you know, hang out or something," he smiled proudly, very much impressed with the results here, but then Rai reached his hand out to him - that's what Allan was interpreting this as, at least, and asked to ... express gratitude ... by.... getting in close quarters? Perhaps Allan was misunderstanding, but that sounded a lot like... "Well, Rai, I-" he looked a little shocked, actually, but he still smiled, just - in amused disbelief, really- "you know, I - I actually don't mind headbutting at all, I'm- I'm not sure if I actually mentioned to you before, I spend every summer down in Mol'Rihan with my friends Chadrix and Brokuk, they're uhh- we do headbutts and shit all the time, really, I don't mind, but I think..." eyes glancing at the PADD again, he decided to whisper now, hovering his palm centimeters above Rai's own. "If you're interested in the more, umm, 'close quarters' sort of stuff, I - I think it's not just unique to Terrans, we- I'd.. be more than willing to do that with you, if that's what you want."

"It is, I umm, i have never had my hair dyed so I was unsure what to expect," Rai stated with a nervous smile. Now he was blushing enough that the difference in colour between his cheeks and the rest of his skin was obvious. "Just hang out-- umm yes," Friendship felt weird, close friendships felt even weirder. Now he was starting to understand why Solait liked Allan so much and he had to ask his brother just how he dealt with these new emotions because he wasn't quite sure how to process them. They were positive for sure, but he was struggling to convey them. And whats when Allan hovered his hand above Rai's, making him even more flustered. "O-Ohh yeah, the beach house. Umm.. I don't want to hurt you though," Rai was fully aware his forehead was hard as a rock and would do quite a bit of damage if he wasn't careful. But then Allan repeated his words, 'close quarters'... "U-Uhh umm.. I mean now, I want to... Embrace you unarmed, in a display of affection and trust," Rai remembered that Zero was watching this! Oh no, his conspirator was going to be scandalised with this hand holding. "Can I?" Light silver eyes looked directly at Allan with a pleading look. Such a gentle loaf of bread, Rai's expression was awkward and nervous, but no less caring and genuine.

"Welll, now you know what to expect, unmatched beauty," Allan said, chuckling as he let Rai take his hand and tell him he didn't want to hurt him. He was getting more used to hand holding now actually, for some reason people were doing this more casually with him now. "Rai, I don't think that... I mean, even if you did hurt me," he tilted his head to the side, and offered Rai a very light head butt with a goofy grin on his face, "I'd probably like it, actually." Rai then kept talking about embracing him unarmed in a display of affection and trust which, in his opinion, sounded a lot less innocent than the other man was probably thinking, and he nodded, although a little confused, because of the way Rai had been acting prior to this. "Absolutely," he whispered, and then he looked off to the side in the direction of where Rai's door was (he knew where Renakir's was, so simple deduction logic there). "Should we move to your quarters in case Rennie comes by, or...?"

Rai felt overcome with so many emotions. Part of him wished he could call his brother and ask what these feelings were but part of him was glad Renakir wouldn't know about this until after the fact because he knew his brother would tease him endlessly. Little did Rai know, his brother was also going to get in 'close quarters' with Allan a little later. "O-Oh... You would?" He raised an eyebrow in a very Vulcan-like fashion. The gears in his squishy bread brain were turning. Although he was probably going to hold back with the more aggressive forms of affection, it was nice to know Allan was open to Reman intimacy. "My private quarters--" Rai said as he glanced over at Kali-fal who was in the corner in her epohh hammock, clearly ignoring whatever was going on with the two humanoids. "Just for embracing? Will that really upset Solait?" Rai liked to believe that he knew his brother well, but Allan and Renakir were not only besties but also much closer in age. "Wait, did you want to do more than that? I really want that-- I don't want to upset Solait, would he be upset?" Renakir would most certainly be completely for Rai and Allan, but of course Rai was scared of upsetting his brother. He looked into Allan's pretty green eyes with his light gray ones. The same eyes that Renakir had, although unlike his Reman brother, he didn't need to shield his eyes with sunglasses. He also had thicker hands than his brother, shorter fingers, but with the same firm grip. He was not a touch telepath, but he hoped his 'good vibes' would be conveyed through his touch.

Allan did find it just the slightest bit humorous that he was being proposed this idea by Rai rather than Renakir, because of the two's seemingly very different personalities. "I would," he confirmed, nodding with a totally serious look on his face in response to the other's eyebrow raise. He really meant it; after all, he did regularly do similar things with his Reman bros, and he was also dating and therefore often in 'close quarters' with Eshen. Nuff said. He didn't really notice why Rai said 'just for embracing', in fact, the engineer with a head full of rocks seemed to think Rai meant that he thought what they were about to do for some reason would not upset Renakir. He supposed Reman families were very casual about things like that - after all, he'd seen what Cerrub's active encouragement was like - but still... "More than...?" He asked, and then slowly but surely, as Rai continued and said both that he really wanted that and asked if it would upset Renakir again... the gears slowly turned in his head to put two and two together. "Ohhh- Rai, hey, I-" he laughed, holding Rai's hand with both of his now and shaking it, looking into those pretty silver eyes, "I did mean that, yeah, and if that's what you want, then - I am like, one hundred percent sure Rennie wants the best for you. And me. Like, I've told him how hot his entire family is, that of course includes you, like... and so-" divider

05:37

He pulled Rai's hand closer to himself as he leaned forwards, not wanting their faces to touch immediately but wanting to still be close enough to whisper, and he spoke softly, his voice filled with warmth and sincerity. "Listen, Rai, you're amazing, and if it's what you want, it's exactly what I want. And, trust me, there's nothing I want more than you, right now, in those private quarters." The smirk came to his face once again, and, of course, if Rai said yes, they would go to his private quarters and, if Rai said yes maybe about a few more times, got into quite 'close quarters' with one another as fate intended.

[D] A while after the above events, there had been a ... quite interesting holodeck party that Ace had hosted, in which he'd mostly ... well, primarily been kissing people. Mostly Renakir. Especially Renakir. And naturally, it was his best friend's bed he'd woken up in the next morning, and after some very enjoyable, soft and sleepy renditions of the previous night's activities, Allan had leaned over and kissed Renakir gently, thanking him and, of course, informing the other that he'd be making breakfast. So, that's exactly what he did - first, he fed Kali-fal her breakfast, which he'd done before if he'd come to hang out with Renakir early in the day, and then started actually making something for Renakir. He opted not to give the man more ale and instead some water and a nice fruity juice blend (if his bestie didn't like it, simply, he'd drink it instead). And the actual food was a croissant, and an egg baguette bake with cheese and bits of sausage/bacon strewn inside of it. After cutting it into halves and getting some fruit together for a Balanced Breakfast™️, Allan headed back to the bedroom and set the breakfast down on a nearby surface until pulling up the tray on the side of the bed he had been sleeping on and setting it there instead, leaning over to kiss Renakir on the forehead and shake him awake a little. "Heyyy, Rennie, breakfast - breakfast's ready," he said, "time to wake uppp, again."

[D] Renakir also had an interesting time in the holodeck. Not only did he feel more confident at the start, but he was able to keep that energy up too. After a whirlwind of one thing leading to another, Renakir was awakened by a kiss and his friend telling him he was going to make breakfast. Before his half-asleep brain could even ask if Allan was going to feed Kali-fal, his friend had already headed out to go make breakfast. Kali-fal had spent the evening in her little palace in the common area. She had a nice hammock there along with some toys if she ever got bored during the night. As much as Renakir liked playing with her, he took the vet's words to heart and made sure to give her space to rest. Kali-fal happily awoke when she heard the sound of someone entering the common area. The blue girl rushed to Allan, eager to be fed. She was surprisingly a slow eater, mostly because she found out if she ate slower, that meant Renakir would spend more time with her. She was content to eat her food whilst Allan returned to Renakir's bedroom. Back in the Rennie room, Renakir had fallen asleep, but upon the sounds of Allan returning and the kiss on the forehead, he opened his eyes and sat up. "Oh wow, this smells amazing," Renakir was not expecting a whole baked baguette but here Allan was with just that! "You really remembered what I said about the baguettes? And what's this-- juice? It smells good too," Although Renakir did enjoy his ale in the morning, he recognised it wasn't the most nutritious thing. Even drinking synthahol, the taste easily overpowered whatever other food he was eating. "Thank you this is just... Can I kiss you again? I appreciate this, really."

Allan was quite happy to feed the happy epohh, giving her her food and perhaps even playing with her for just a moment before re-focusing on getting Renakir his breakfast. It was always kind of fun to see the different ways animals ate though, for example Kali-fal ate one way, but Bandit ate in a different way, but they were still somewhat similar... he always wondered why many developed silverware and others didn't, but that was a brain rabbithole he'd go down some other time, not now when he had breakfast to make and a fella to kiss. He smiled warmly when Renakir's eyes opened and he said it smelled amazing, laughing when Renakir commented about the baguettes. "Um, yeah? How could I forget? I literally get you fresh baguettes from France every birthday of yours, these aren't - it would be kinda hard to procure those at such late notice, but uh- hopefully they're still good, you know... yeah, fruit juice, pretty good for breakfasts in my opinion," he explained, actually taking the cup and taking a small sip from it. It was, in fact, good. "Oh, Renakir," he laughed again when his friend asked to kiss him again, "please, I don't think I'll ever say no to a kiss from you, not after," he paused, trying to think of the words 'not after knowing how good kissing you is', but his tired brain didn't think of that, "everything, right, I- yes. Please do kiss me again."

It was common knowledge to everyone that Renakir was French and took his baguettes (and other bakery foods) very seriously. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't enjoy a nice toasted baguette or a croissant. Still, the thought and care Allan had put into preparing his meal did not go unnoticed and he made sure to show this appreciation when their lips met once more. It started off as just a chaste peck on the lips and a long gray hand combing through Allan's hair. Then when he leaned in for a second kiss, that's where the affection poured out. The same affection from the previous night and earlier that morning. He made sure not to get too intense with it, but he wanted to show his affection either way. "Mmm, thank you, Allan. I look forward to trying this," Renakir pulled away and picked up the bread to get a good look at the gooey cheese with little specks of brown and red scattered throughout. A light green blush covered his cheeks as he caught himself staring at the bread and then at Allan. Not stalling any longer, Renakir opened his mouth and took a medium sized bite. It was pretty hot, but not too hot to eat. He chewed slowly, wanting to taste every flavour. The saltiness from the cheese mixed with the aromatic juices from the bacon, all soaked into the soft bread that lay below it. The crisp outside made a satisfying crunch as he chewed and also provided insolation to keep the gooey insides warm. After a couple seconds of chewing and pondering the taste, Renakir swallowed and gave Allan a head nod of approval. "Woah... Yeah, this is really good! Have you tried it? I have never tasted anything like it. It's so fresh!"

"No, no, thank you," Allan said, taking his hand out of Renakir's hair after they pulled apart from the kiss and simply leaned against his friend's side as he sat next to him. "For, well, everything," he said, smiling wider when he caught Renakir looking back at him after looking at the bread. "Go ahead, I won't be jealous of the bread," he joked, not even having noticed that he had rhymed that phrasing. He sipped idly at some more of the juice - it was actually pretty good - and then smiled proudly when Renakir said it tasted good, glad he'd made a good choice. "Oh, yeah, it's - pretty good, I think I had it once when I was up in Maine for a weekend, of all places. Maybe it's so close to Quebec they had more baguettes? I dunno," he shrugged, and thinking of the weekend, he looked at Renakir again, thinking of something else related to the calendar. "Wait, hey, man, it's... it's still ghost month, right?"

"Jealous of the bread, what, my brother?" Renakir joked, knowing very well that Rai appreciated all the bread jokes. The funniest thing was knowing for a fact that for a long time, it was Rai who was jealous of him because of his confidence. "Mmm, that's right, Quebec has so many baguettes. I remember one of the scientists here was from Canada, I forgot which part though," Maggie, Renakir was talking about Maggie. He didn't get a lot of opportunities speak French, it was pretty much only Eshen, although there were a couple of crew members who also spoke the language, but they weren't close with him like Eshen was. He took a few more bites of his bread and then sipped the juice. It blended with the flavours of the baguette moreso than the ale did, but that wasn't going to stop Renakir from drinking ale in the morning. When the other asked about ghost month he turned his head and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, it is, until the 16th, on the terran calendar. Ninth month, 16th day," Renakir could not for the life of him remember what the ninth terran month was. They had a lot more months in the Rihan calendar, all named after elements, of course. "Why? Don't tell me you want to... Romance some spirits?"

Allan laughed and shook his head. "No, no, not - not Rai, I mean - I meant you biting the bread, I - it was silly, yeah, I," he just waved his hand for Renakir to ignore him at that point and keep eating the bread. "Ooh, there are a loooot of scientists here from Canada, a lot of scientists in general, most of them sexy... oh, you might be talking about Maggie? I don't remember her being from Canada, but I can, like, totally see it." He mostly remembered talking about her about Puerto Rico, but maybe that was because he never shut up once he got started talking about something. "Oh, well.." he looked off to the side like someone who was Definitely Not Guilty of thinking exactly what Renakir had asked. "I meaaaan.... maaaaybe? Like, theoretically, if I was finna romance some spirits... likeee... would that be bad, or...?" He looked at Renakir, genuinely wondering what his friend would think about the idea. "Like, I mean, we don't gotta even romance, hell, we could probably do stuff with 'em, right?"

Renakir was chomping off another bite of the bread with his sharp teeth easily cutting through the toasty bits with a loud crunching noise. He didn't feel an ounce bit nervous about eating in front of Allan, especially not when he knew just how much his friend liked his sharp teeth (and he knew Allan really liked them). "Mmm I think so at least? She speaks French," Renakir shrugged as he set the bread down on the plate so he could drink some juice. He purposefully ate slower than usual so he could properly enjoy how all the flavours worked tegether. When Allan said 'oh, well', Renakir's curiosity grew into suspicion and he narrowed his eyes. What crazy plan was his friend thinking of now? He stayed sipping his juice as he listened to Allan's wild thoughts about romancing some spirits. "..... Well," Renakir put his empty glass down and sucked in a deep breath. "We'd probably have to give offerings and burn hell money. We don't use money, but they spirits probably did," Renakir was now debating the ethics of getting funky with some phantoms. "You would probably want to focus on one type of ghost, like choose a region or something. We're close to Klingon and Romulan spaces so you'd have better luck finding a spirit from those two places than a human. Uhh, any preference?" Renakir was not saying yes, but the way he spoek about it, he was certainly not trying to stop his friend from romancing some ghosts. In fact, maybe it would be fun?

While Renakir was enjoying the bread, Allan took the opportunity to lay on his side, leaning his head on his friend's shoulder before inquiring about the ghost romancing. One arm around the other's waist, he tilted his chin up when Renakir started talking about how it would actually work, genuinely really surprised as he looked up at him. Was he actually going to tell Allan how to romance ghosts? Holy fucking shit. "H-.. hell money?!" Allan asked, not knowing what the hell Renakir meant by that. He laughed, and then Renakir kept going with the explanation. "Um, maybe..." The human thought about it very seriously as he pulled Renakir closer to him, looking into those silver eyes to show him how Serious he really was about this. "You said these were dead - I mean, obviously, they're ghosts, but is there any way to target like... an age range? You know, because um- depending on how old they are, they might, you know, not be uh, so cool," he explained, while the grander meaning of 'not uh, so cool' meant 'not at all friendly and quite violent to humans or possibly participated in the active murder and slavery of some of my best friends' families', depending on who you were talking about.

Renakir somehow managed to keep calm even with all the skinship Allan was doing. He very much enjoyed the little squeezes and caresses, but he was still in disbelief that this was all happening. As he munched his bread he admired how handsome Allan was as he expressed his shock with the word 'hell'. He had almost forgotten what the terran connotation was for that word-- or well, what the Standard meaning was. He was pretty rusty with his mandarin, but he knew very often 'underworld', which was a neutral term, usually got translated as 'hell', a commonly negative word. "Well, ghost month is usually for umm, old ghosts. And you certainly can target specific individuals," Renakir mused as the green blush on his face only grew darker. "Actually.... The Torre'vnau house. I know how much you like my family, we had a umm.. Not part of our house, but they were friends of ours. The Rllaillieu house, they're Romulan but were banished to Remus for being a little too outspoken," Renakir explained, thinking it would be a little awkward if they summoned one of HIS ancestors, but there was no issue with a friendly house. "Alternatively we could try for some sexy Klingon warrior spirits, they're probably super fun but maybe heavily combative so we may need to work a little harder to get them on our side," He chuckled at the idea of them romanticing a Klingon. Through all this chatting he didn't even realise he was leaning closer to Allan, clearly very comfortable with this position.

"Riiight, definitely old ghosts, but like, you know, depending on if they died when they were like, in active war with the Federation, or... you know..." he kept his chin leaning on Renakir's chest as he listened to his friend say his family's house name, chuckling and giving his friend a kiss on the cheek as he did. "That's true," he said, and then his eyes lit up with interest as he mentioned the other house. "Mhmm," he was glad at least to hear that this other house Renakir spoke of seemed to be composed of mostly friendly people, that was always a good thing. "Definitely depends which Klingons, you know, because of the war thing and all, it does sound incredibly fun, too, though-" he laughed again, turning to lean over his friend and give him a good kiss on the lips this time, "what do you want, hmm? I assume we'd be doing them together," he said, fully intentional with his choice of words this time, "so this is your choice as much as it is mine... I'm curious to hear more about the Rllaillieu house, though."

"Ah, I mean, if we're looking at Klingon or Romulan," Renakir gave an awkward chuckle to that, not forgetting that it was Remans who had fought two great skirmishes with Starfleet. First it was Nero and then Shinzon, ironically both were not Reman by blood, but by community. Still, it was something Renakir always made sure to be sensitive of when talking about his Reman heritage. Renakir let out a deep chuckle when Allan kissed him on the cheek, returning the gesture with an equally loving head nudge. The next thing he knew, they were smooching again and Renakir happily returned this gesture. He was no longer shy about his sharp teeth, especially after his friend had reminded him how much he liked them many times "I wouldn't mind getting down with some Rllaillieu ghosts. They must be lonely, they died fighting against the Empire," Renakir was not too knowledgable on house politics and it was incredibly embarrassing seeing he would need to as head of house. "I only heard about them a little from Tiravurik, but... They were apparently very friendly-- but like," Renakir paused, wondering how to say this and keep it as PG-13 as possible. "Like... They really enjoyed fraternising with other houses, I think they'd be interested in us, if we can summon them that is," Were they really going to summon some ghosts to get freaky with? Well, even if the ghosts weren't real, they had each other and they were both very much alive. Renakir pushed the tray of food to the side so he could fully devote his attention to Allan, peppering his face with more kisses and pressing his ridged forehead against his friends' smooth one. "I hear if you lean against the wall, a ghost may take that as an invitation to wrap their arms around you," He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

Allan was, in short, quite happy about how Renakir no longer felt shy about his sharp teeth - after all, it was always to know that you helped your bestie be more confident in themselves, whatever way that might be. "Lonely, huh," Allan said softly, thinking about the... possibilities before his eyes lit up when Renakir mentioned Tiravurik. "I mean, if Tiravurik knows them, that's all I need to know," he laughed, it was good to know they were friendly from the perspective of someone he trusted like Tiravurik. "Even better to know they'd be interested in us, though, that's... I mean, that's the best we can ask for, yeah?" Returning every single one of those peppered kisses right back to Renakir was an easy task, holding him close to him as he did so, and eventually their foreheads were pressed together and Allan kissed him once more, for good measure. "Is that so?" He asked him, a smirk also on his face as he leaned over so he could whisper into the other's ear. "If that's really the case.." And then followed the rest of the whisper, which was much too blunt for its display in this post. "Or the other way around, I'm not picky.." he laughed and leaned back to kiss Renakir again, and then leaned back further to take a sip of the fruit juice again. It was some good fruit juice, okay? And maybe being a fruit made him want more fruit juice, somewhat more of a subconscious thing. Who knew, but before he knew it he went back to kiss Renakir again. "... as you would know."

"Tiravurik seems to know everyone," Renakir said with a chuckle, thinking about how his father seemed to know everyone in Biscae and beyond. The returned kisses and then the final one made his body tingle all over. Even though they had been kissing nonstop since they began the day before, the sensations felt just as strong as ever. Maybe this was what people meant by Vulcanoid emotions being much stronger than other humanoids'. That made Renakir wonder if Allan felt the same, well-- fuck if he didn't, Renakir would make sure he felt everything he was feeling. Renakir was not prepared for the salaicious invitation Allan whispered in his ear and it was evident he was so surprised by it that the tips of his ears even turned green! "That..." He paused as he tried to think of a calm way to respond without sounding overly eager. Or maybe he wanted to sound overly eager. The smell of the fruit juice only made this moment more... Fruity. "I think that is a good idea, I don't know how we can summon the Rllaillieus specifically but we have been talking about them, maybe that'll encourage them to join us?" Renakir grabbed the cup of fruit juice from Allan's hand and took a sip of it as if they were doing some weird bonding ritual that would summon the Rllaillieus. Totally not, but maybe their words would actual manifest reality? "Shall we?"

"We have something in common, then," Allan chuckled, he felt like he also knew everyone sometimes - or, rather, he at least had that as a life goal. To know everyone, or everyone he could possibly know, at least. Even though Renakir and him had been practically kissing nonstop since the day before and since they woke up today, even, that simply did not stop him from doing it even more. Sure, there was always some enjoyment to be had for Allan from this sort of thing, but there was always something a bit more when it was someone he trusted and, truthfully, loved, as much as he did Renakir. He chuckled again when he saw Renakir blush that hard and gave him a small kiss on the tip of his ear he'd just whispered to. "Yeah? I think it's a good idea too," he agreed, and then carried on this odd ritual by taking the cup of fruit juice from Renakir's hand and tipping it upright to drink the little bit that was left like a shot. "We shall," he gave Renakir a parting kiss as he got up off of him and stood up next to him, offering him his hand so they could go to ... the wall, where apparently ghosts loved to be summoned according to Renakir, "and hey- if they don't show up, we'll still have a great time, yeah?" [D] And, after they eventually finished breakfast, they went to the wall and... attempted to attract ghosts. That was definitely all they did against the wall. Yup. Made ghosts come and nothing more.

[D] After the hair dying events and some other things that had happened in the joined Torre'vnau quarters, Rai was in the common area duel wielding baguette swords. They were replicated of course, so they were able to keep their form whilst still being edible. He also knew his brother would be utterly devestated if he was using authentic baguettes. Rai stood in a dark green robe, his face and hair covered with gloves on his hands so his brother would not know the identity of the bread warrior.

[D] And Renakir was returning home after his shift, thinking nothing was up at all. He actually had no idea his brother had dyed his hair, they were in different divisions so unless they happened to leave the room at the same time, they never met. Renakir passed through the automatic doors of his shared quarters with his brother only to be met with,

*WHACK, Rai used both his bread swords to hit Renakir as hard as he could. They were powerful blows but it was still bread so there wasn't any real damage.* "I AM THE BREAD GHOST, YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME," Rai said in his best 'ghost' voice. Little did he know, Renakir (and Allan) had ACTUALLY summoned ghosts not too long ago. "I HAVE POSSESSED THIS BODY TO ENACT MY REVENGE FOR MY FALLEN BREAD BRETHREN!"

And for a split second, Renakir believed him. Oh shit, did him and Allan accidentally summon another spirit? Who was possessing his brother's body? In all of the smacking, his sunglasses fell off, allowing his brother to see the pure terror that washed over him as he continued to be assaulted by baguettes.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID! I WILL FREE THE SOULS OF MY FALLEN COMRADS!" Rai proclaimed, really hoping he was selling this well. He loved seeing his brother so scared, but his arms were starting to grow tired from all this whacking, and the bread was also clearly getting tired too as it was beginning to crack and become soft.

And that's when it hit him. Wait, if this is the bread warrior then, ".... The bread warrior speaks Rihannsu?" Renakir grabbed both floppy pieces of bread and ripped them from Rai's hands. "And ghost month has been over for a week, dinam," It was a nice attempt to try and scare him, but Renakir was smarter than his brother.

"Why yes I have possessed this Romulan body so of course I speak Rihannsu," Rai tried to keep up the act, but without the bread swords he did not seem nearly as intimidating.

"And what's with the hair?" Renakir used one of the stolen baguettes to flip up Rai's hood. "You look good, by the way. You are always super handsome in my eyes, you can rock anything," Renakir thought the blue looked a little silly because Rai's hair was the same colour as his epohh's but he also didn't want to suck away his brother's confidence if he liked the colour. "Anyway, it's kinda late. I didn't even realise the time. I gotta wash Kali-fal and give her evening vitamins, that was funny, dinam," He said before taking a giant chomp out of the baguette and walking off to his private quarters.

"Thanks, Allan did it for me," Rai replied wit a confident smile. "And yea it is late, have a nice evening, I'm glad you liked my show," Rai wished he could have kept up the act a little longer. Maybe next time he could try speaking in a fake language to sell the act more. As his brother walked away with both baguettes, Rai replicated himself a tall glass of Romulan ale and went into his room. He was planning on reviewing tactical drills when he opened his PADD to realise-- he had a meeting! He was so focused on staking out for Renakir's return that he didn't even realise he had an important meeting! Rai quickly pulled off his hood and set up his PADD on his bed so he could prepare for the video call. Thankfully, he wore his uniform all the time so he was dressed for the call, very ready! He also made sure to move his dozens of frog plushies from view of the camera, that was not very professional.

[D]Interestingly, there was a chime at the door.

Rai stood up very quickly, knocking his PADD off of his bed and onto the mountain of frog plushies that lay at the foot. Was this his brother trying to get him back for the bread prank? "I'm not falling for your trick, dinam, I'm not as stupid as you think," Rai called out, determined not to let his brother ruin his very important video call!

There was no response, save for another chime of the door.

His brother was really trying to clown him, but Rai wasn't going to go unarmed. He grabbed his biggest and softest frog plushie and walked slowly towads the door. What was his brother going to throw at him this time? A bread sword? RYE bread? "Okay, I'm coming, but I have defense," And with that Rai clicked the button to open the door, bracing himself for impact with his soft friend shielding his face.

On opening the door, Rai was greeted by an older Romulan man (much older actually, but he would never admit that. He had grey flecks in his black hair, and his face showed an expression of mild confusion. One of the more interesting things about him was that he was also wearing an older uniform, one that looked like it had been stitched together in the early days of the Republic (which of course it had). Looking up at Rai, the man cracked a small grin. "I assume this is for something I don't have context for?"

As soon as Rai looked at the face of a man who was not his brother, he felt his soul slowly leave his body. He was about to be one with the rest of his Reman family, just another spirit. He slowly lowered the frog plushie and just held it in a tight embrace against his chest. ".... I-I am sorry, sir!" Rai was not expecting this meeting to be in person, maybe he should have known such an important meeting would be conducted face to face. "Please. come in," Rai glanced around his room for a moment, noticing all of his frog plushies were tossed to the ground and littered the floor. He gently put the plush in his arms onto his bed and grabbed a chair for his colleague to sit on. "Jolan tru, I apologise for... All of this. I was chatting with my brother earlier," Rai knew this probably looked wildly unprofessional, but at least he was in his uniform and looked somewhat presentable. The blue hair and his hyperpigmentation fully visible, he was nervous how this other officer would see him. This was the first time anyone from the Republic would see him without the concealer. Also the blue hair was certainly a unique choice when most of his people chose to wear their natural hair and a terrible bowl cut.

The man walked in behind Rai, who placed a satchel full of Romulan PADDs on to the chair, opting to stay standing, at least for now anyway. "No need to apologise, I wasn't aware you hadn't been informed of the change. My name is Riov T'Horrath, and as I'm sure you're aware by now, I'm here to conduct your review." There was an air of interest at Rai's decision to dye his hair, but Enriah was far from a traditional Romulan himself; he didn't have a bowl cut either, and his uniform was long out of service. The expectation to be uniform had died with the Star Empire, although he did admit that blue was an interesting choice. As for the hyperpigmentation, Enriah declined to mention it; he was old, maybe it was a trend that went over his head. Going over to the window and briefly glancing out into the stars, Enriah quickly turned back to Rai. "I wanted to start by congratulating you on a year of service in the exchange; not many people decide to continue it for so long." A semi-true fact, at least regarding the officers who started an exchange at the same time as Rai.

"I should have been more prepared, I'm sorry," Rai never knew what to make of his colleagues. Some were very by-the-book, leftover habits from the Star Empire, whilst others were more relaxed and enjoyed a nice chat over a pint. He got the feeling this guy was a little close to the former, which wasn't a bad thing but Rai was secretly hoping to see a familiar face. Still, he bowed his head out of respect to show his appreciation for this other officer taking time to visit him. "Thank you so much, sir," Rai bowed his head again, overcome with nervousness. Not that he had done anything wrong in his year at Starfleet, but that this man was possibly here to take him back to the Republic. He knew this was a temporary assignment and was expecting a the Republic to call him back any second, especially since he was no longer commanding the Rapture. "It was not an easy decision to stay. I miss my home and our people greatly, however I have made many friends here and the memories I have made with them are things I will never forget."

"I read over your file before I came here, you do certainly have a number of accomplishments under Starfleet. Which reminds me..." Walking back over to the chair, Enriah picked up the satchel resting on it and handed it to Rai. "Some of your old crewmates caught wind of my coming here, and asked me to give you these." Inside the satchel was a stack of PADDs, each one with different updates from the crew of the Tenakruvek. "It seems your old ship misses you, as much as you miss them." One particular PADD of note displayed the Tenakruvek's recent ship logs; one of the Reman crew members who served under Rai had been made it's Captain, and a Klingon from the officer exchange was making friends with practically everyone on board. Enriah gave Rai a few moments to read over the letters/updates, before magically revealing an empty PADD of his own. He pressed a few buttons on it to start the review and looked back up at Rai. "Starfleet records aside, in your own words, how would you describe your exchange has proceeded up until this point?"

Rai looked towards the chair and then at the stack of PADDs that were handed to him. He had been in Starfleet so long he had almost forgotten what the Romulan design of the PADD looked like. When the other captain mentioned the Tenakruvek, Rai felt a surge of emotions wash over him. He missed his old ship and her crew, especially the crew. He remembered all his wonderful colleagues, Romulans and Remans alike. He remembered 'fight nights' when they'd spar or debate, holodeck adventures, they were like another family to Rai. He took a moment to read through the reports, smiling to himself as he read of his former crew's accomplishments. Marriages, professional accomplishments, personal goals achieved, it was all there. He was happy to hear they were all doing well, but it was really sinking in that there was so much he was missing. He loved 777 and serving with his brother, but this was a temporary home. He missed being surrounded by his own people, speaking his own language. Havrannsu that is. Ironically his Reman brother did not speak the language well enough to converse in it regularly, but everyone on the Tenakruvek spoke it. After he finished reading through the files, he placed the PADDs back on the chair. x_divider

01:07

"My exchange has been wonderful. I made friends outside of Romulan space for the first time, kissed for the first time, even dyed my hair," Rai pointed to his hair when he said that, very bright blue, it was hard to miss. "I became captain of a Federation starship and got to lead my crew in times of danger. I also participated in alien traditions, secret santa, winter balls-- which is not what happens in your pants when it gets cold as I was informed, and being bread. It is typical for those in Starfleet to make puns on their name, such as a pilot named Ace-- the flying ace who is also asexual," As Rai spoke he looked visibly different than before. No longer stiff and nervous but happy and relaxed as he recounted his previous adventures. He appreciated every last one of his colleagues, from the rock loving T'Asha to the romantic and accepting Zero, everyone he had met had a profound impact on him and he could only hope they felt the same towards him. * "I... Don't want to list a bunch of names, but I could not have made it this far without the support of my friends. They call me cool and sexy," *Mainly Allan and Zero had say that to him on a daily basis, but there were certainly others. "And... One person called me daddy? I felt honoured I exude the energy of someone who could become a father," He was talking about Nokkul who had called him that twice. "One officer I respect immensely shared a bottle of Irish... Whiskey? Was it? It was not very good, but that was besides the point," Rai remembered how much anxiety he had leading up to the whiskey sip, but Shane had been kind and patient with him the whole time which was all he could ever ask for. "And we have a number of Romulan officers here, one very dedicated exobiologist,"* Saren.* "On the topic of science, a close friend enjoys rocks and jewellry making, she even made a ring for my parents to exchange," T'Asha! "I have a friend who paints too-- people in Starfleet have hobbies!" (edited)

01:07

Rai said as if Romulans never had hobbies. Or well, it was just him who didn't have hobbies. In the Republic he was eternally married to his job."O-Oh I think you mean accomplishments. I led away missions and even helped mentor a tactical cadet who completed their Academy training during his time on the base," Rai said, referring to Randy who was bright and full of hope. "I am willing to provide references for all of the things I stated before. My crew here will also tell you how I have proudly represented our people. I have a clean discipline record and some crew members may even call me funny! I have never been a source of humour in a positive way before. And lastly, I have enjoyed spending time with my dearest brother and his daughter, the blue epohh Kali-fal Madeline," Rai concluded, realising he was monologuing way too long, but he simply loved his friends. (edited)

If Enriah were Vulcan, there would have been a lot of eyebrow raising at a few of the things Rai said; though it wasn't his place to judge, everyone led their own lives. That said, Enriah knew how to read faces, and Rai was clearly missing the Republic; he was split between the two organisations, that much was clear. Taking down notes of what Rai had been saying (in an abridged form, he wasn't going to be able to recite that word vomit verbatim), Enriah started pacing around the room. Externally, he didn't really seem to react to Rai's answer; instead he elected to continue with the review. "Do you feel that your time in the exchange has benefitted you; that is, in terms of new experiences and lessons that you may not have encountered had you stayed in the republic?"

Rai was well aware that his musing were unusual, especially considering his reputation in the Republic. He had always been known as the man married to his job and focused on work first and foremost. The officer who never knew what to do in his free time aside from sparring and studying tactical simulations. There was a brief wash of heightened tension as he watched the other Riov take down his notes. Was he going to tell the Republic that Rai had become too soft? Or rambly? Well, everything Rai had said he felt was true to his inner feelings. "Yes, most certainly. I am glad I took this opportunity. I will admit I was hesitant at first. I am sure you have read in my file I have always been committed to our people and improving our society so the decision to step away from all that was difficult. I am happy I took the chance though, this past year has honestly been one of the best in my life," Rai thought about how happy he was to be able to connect to his brother again. They were ten years apart so they didn't have much in common during their younger years, but now with them both as adults it was easier to relate and bond over shared experiences. "Proconsul D'Tan congratulated me on my promotion and command of the USS Rapture, that is certainly a once in a lifetime thing and I do not think I would have been awarded such an honour had I not participated in the exchange programme."

D'Tan. The name rang in Enriah's head for a while. Everyone had their idols, sure, and D'Tan was practically a celebrity on Mol'Rihan. But he didn't sit well with Enriah. Now, he was by no means anti-Republic - like everyone in pre-Hobus society Enriah had been affected negatively by the Tal Shiar and the Star Empire as a whole, and he'd like nothing better than to see every Romulan world under the Republic banner - it was just that D'Tan had been pushing for Romulan-Vulcan reunification since forever, and Enriah was vehemently opposed to it. In his opinion Romulan society was fragile enough without trying to merge with a polar opposite ideology. A discussion for another time though, as Enriah grounded himself back into the room to continue the review. Taking down Rai's response (much shorter this time, thank the elements), Enriah moved on to the next question. "Over the past year, is there anything during your exchange that made you feel like you fell short; that you feel you could have improved on?"

As the other Riov took notes, Rai tried to calm his mind by focusing on something else for the short gap of silence between them. He grabbed all the frog plushies he had haphazardly tossed on the ground when he had thought this was going to be a video call. The smiling green creatures were tossed onto the bed softly and rolled around a little. At least the floor was clean now. "Many times," Rai stopped his movements when the next question was asked. "I often struggle with forms of address, I understand it is common in Federation Standard to address others with their family names, which is a direct opposite to what I have done my whole life. Being of Remus," Not Reman, although Rai considered himself Reman and his friends all certainly considered him Reman, but by blood he only had Romulan DNA. "I take great pride in respecting my colleagues as individuals, but I understand that is not always preferred. I made a few other faux pas," Rai wondered if he wanted to tell his supervisor about that incident. Well, it wasn't like he did anything illegal and he certainly didn't want to hide anything. "Last year at the winter ball, I was overcome by the beauty of the ice sculpture display. As is typical on Remus, I decided to lick the ice sculpture to determine it's make up, however I became stuck and it was incredibly embarrassing,* "Rai had spoken about the incident enough times that he could say it without blushing or becoming flustered.* "There are also many slangs and terminology I was unaware of. As you know, I grew up under the Star Empire with the Khellian house and they were very loyal to the state. I will admit I had trouble relating to my colleagues at first, but each and every one of them has been patient with me and for that I am very thankful."

Okay, the ice sculpture thing elicited a slight reaction from Enriah; more than the other things Rai had said. It wasn't his place to judge, but he found himself going over the several improbable scenarios in which that could have taken place. Aside from that - hard to move past it but he had to, for the sake of the review - Enriah himself related to the struggle to fit in at first; the Republic was practically a culture shock immediately after his own escape from the Star Empire. It was something Enriah had mused over constantly, for a very long time at that. Taking the time to note Rai's rather varied response in the log, he finally moved on to the final question - arguably the most important one of the entire review. "I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that concludes the review, I'll be sending the results plus my assessment to both Starfleet and Republic Naval Command." Time for the kicker. "Now that your year of exchange has passed, you have a choice to make. You can continue to serve in the Officer exchange, or you can return to the Republic with me." For the first time in the review, Enriah wore an expression of compassion on his face. "After hearing your responses, in my opinion the Republic navy would be proud to have you in our ranks again." Enriah knew he couldn't force Rai to return if he chose to stay, but there was a part of him (alright a rather large part) that hoped he would come back willingly. (edited)

Rai felt a pit in his stomach at the other Riov's reaction to his ice sculpture story. It was surely an embarrassing moment, not just for himself, but for the Republic too because he was wearing his uniform at the time. No one had said anything, but he could only imagine the gossip that followed about the Romulan officer who got himself stuck to an ice sculpture. When the man said the review was over, Rai breathed a sigh of relief and his shoulders relaxed. He didn't even realise he was tense to begin with. He grabbed one of his larger frog plushies and carried him over to the chair where the PADDs still were sitting. He put the PADDs on the table and the frog in the seat. "Oh, yes, well," Now came the hard part. He could go home and be back with his colleagues, probably on a new ship with a new crew, or he could stay on 777. "I think I want to stay here. I've only been here for a year and I know that's the length of a normal exchange, but... I have only just started to adjust to life in Federation space, I don't know if I want to deal with another big change so soon," Rai's service within Starfleet had been excellent so didn't think there would be a problem asking Starfleet command to allow him to continue the exchange. Plus, the Republic was technically enjoying peace time. There was some bad eggs (lterally) still running about, but the Tal Shiar was slowly becoming just a hazy memory of the past and the Republic was clearly thriving.

Ah well, it was worth a shot. Enriah walked over to grab his now-empty bag, placing the PADD he was using inside before slinging it over his shoulder. Turning to face Rai, he held out a hand to shake; his expression warming just ever so slightly. "Well Riov, it was a pleasure to meet you." Interesting too, but he declined to mention that. He was a Romulan, but he was also polite. "I will say it is a shame you aren't returning to the Republic, but I'll respect your decision." At least until the next review, where he will absolutely be trying again.

"The pleasure was all mine, thank you," Rai bowed his head to his colleague. Feeling happy to be able to stay, but he had a feeling next year will be a little harder to convince the Republic to let him stay another year. But he would cross that bridge when he got there. Maybe then he would be ready to come home, he really did miss his friends in the Republic. "I will continue to do my best work here so that when I return I'll be able to be an even better officer than before," Rai told Enriah with a very slight smile as he thought about requesting the Tenakruvek back once he was finished with the exchange programme. He didn't even mind the possibility of a completely new crew, he just missed his ship. "Have safe travels back, jolan tru," He said with one last bow. He was going to tell Zero and his brother about this right after!