Star Trek: Starbase 777 - lt-th’islador﹢arn-tr’arriufvi

[D] Look who's back! Back again! Lung man is back! Tell a friend! Chyun was back on 777, but looking a little different than when he first left the station. His pure white medical division uniform had been switched out for the weird tacky beige slightly disco-ball texture Republic uniform. He fringe was short, exposing his funky forehead with his Barzan forehead ridges. Chyun was still trying to grow his hair out, although it had only been a week since it was cut. His hair grew fast, but not that fast. He didn't have any bags or anything in his arms, he had requested it all be transported before his arrival. The exchange programme orientation on Mol'Rihan wasn't very long, but what did take more time than expected was saying goodbye to his family. Not that his father and sister couldn't visit him on 777, but his father took it especially hard. Maybe it was because he still felt at fault for the accident. Anyway, Chyun walked with confidence down the corridor, scanning the names on the doors. Was there a particular order or any of these? Soon enough, he found his name and stopped in front of the door.

[D] They had just finished their first shit in the intelligence station, something they had both eagerly anticipated, and had slight apprehension about, both natural reactions to a new posting. However, the longer they spent on the station, the more they were pleasantly reminded of the sounds, the rythms of daily life, and the low-level mental buzz of the thousands of inhabitants, living and working across the station. As much as they did enjoy the social aspect of being around so many people, there eventually came a point at which it started to become slightly tiresome. Especially after as busy of a shift as they'd had, Ayr wanted nothing more than a warm meal, some light meditation, and bed, becuase of that, they had come directly to their quarters, excited at the prospect of some solitude. What they hadn't expected however, was the mental prescence, and as they rounded the corner to stop in front of their quarters, the 'sight' of an individual they'd hadn't met as of yet. They made sure to approach slowly, knowing that their somewhat intimidating physical and metal prescence could be...much for some people, espeically as they were now, their tall, broad form squeezed into the equally intimidating purple uniform of the intelligence division. Their face, as usual, was as neutral and dispassionate as ever, however, when they turned to 'look' at the stranger, they put on a soft smile, hoping that, as well as some more positive mental energy, could help ease the way for their interaction. When they spoke it was in their low, gravelly voice, forever rough from its lack of use for most of their life. "May I help you?" They asked, still very curious to know why the stranger was standing in front of their quarters.

Chyun was just about to step through the doors of his quarters when he heard a voice and quickly turned his head. For a brief moment he looked incredibly shocked and a little jumpy, but he quickly found his calm and took a deep breath. His light blue eyes looked from the stranger back to the sign on the door-- th'Islador, and this person looked Aenar. Probably his roommate. The quick deduction only took a second before replying, "I just arrived, I assume you are my roommate, Lieutenant Ayr th'Islador?" He spoke with confidence in his native Rihannsu, which still sounded weird to him who had been exclusively speaking in Standard for pretty much his entire adult life. Unlike Chyun of the past, now he made sure to do research on everyone he would be inteacting with. The whole medical department and his roommate. He was still getting through all the medical profiles though and to be honest he had only skimmed Ayr's profile. "I'm Chyun-Maiell tr'Arriufvi, exchange from the Romulan Republic," He told the person as if it wasn't obvious from his different uniform. It felt so weird saying that when he was literally a Starfleet officer a week ago. One benefit of having been in Starfleet was he already knew what the pips and uniform colours meant. His roommate being in intelligence was... He was trying not to let his paranoia get to him too much. "We can go inside and chat," He stepped through the automatic doors as they opened and headed inside, thinking it would be better than taking up space in the corridor.

When the stranger turned, it was quickly apparent that they were their roommate, having finally arrived. When they had read his intel file prior to their arrival onboard, they had been quite surprised at the interesting dual nature and prior service history. Having expected that their own personality would be quite different to whomever they would end up berthed with, they were pleased to note that the one they'd been given seemed to be an amiable sort...or, well, they hoped he would be. "You would assume correctly." They said simply, accompanied by a slight incline of their head and the most slight incline of their soft smile. Their response to Chyun's introduction was the change from a soft smile, to a slightly teasing grin, and a minute loosening of their mental shields. When they spoke, their voice was as emotionless as ever, the only way to tell that they were being anything less than fully serious difficult to notice for non-telepaths. "...I know..." They said, restraining themself from chuckling at the slight bit of teasing they'd allowed themself...small indulgences. At the offer to step inside, Ayr held out one huge arm, gesturing for Chyun to enter. "Please do make yourself at home." They said, following him in, mentally cataloguing the prescence of new items, and a distinct change to the aura of the space, feeling how having another individual had it feeling completely different than the sterile, empty it had been initially.

A weird tickling sensation on the back of his neck travelled down their spine as they stepped into the room. Just what had he gotten himself into. It made sense that he'd be paired with an intelligence officer given the nature of their service record but that didn't calm the suspicion that his 'roommate' was here to do more than just fill the extra bedroom of their suite. He didn't say anything when the other said 'I know' and just proceeded into the shared living space. Starfleet quarters were just as he remembered. Spacious, gray, and a bit dull with the decore. Probably because it was expected that the occupying officers could add their own flavour to the room. What even was Chyun's 'flavour'? "It's nice," Chyun looked around as if pretending this was the first time he had ever seen Starfleet quarters. Even though he had seen this sight a million times, it felt.. New. "I will admit it is rather amusing that a Romulan and an intelligence officer are roommates. The start of a very humorous buddy cop film," Old Chyun would probably entertain pleasantries first, but Chyun-Maiell was direct and blunt. It was a trait that he had always held but scared to express for fear of seeming too... Pushy-- or really too Romulan. "I'm a doctor, pulmonologist. I know you can't discuss the nature of your job, but I am fascinated by your field. Is there anything you need me to do or.. Any questions? I do not want to accidentally do anything that crosses any boundaries or makes you uncomfortable," Whilst this was something past Chyun would say, Chyun-Maiell chose this phrasing carefully to try and pull out as much information as possible in a single inquiry. Chyun had always been keen on grabbing information, but as a caring friend and colleague, not as an act of self defense (at least he thought all of this could be a plot).

The intense feeling of paranoia that radiated off Chyun had Ayr genuinely shocked, something that, in their line of work did not happen very often, given that the sight of the purple uniform alone could often be enough to arise suspicion. Ayr, in response adjusted their mental presence to something much more calm and measured, not wanting to put their new roommate any more on edge than he seemed to be already. Being both an Aenar and an intelligence officer had Ayr’s ‘bullshit detector’ a finely calibrated machine, and because of that, they could tell almost instantly when someone was ‘pretending’ (amongst other things), a fact that they made sure never to telegraph, especially to other individuals who may generally tend to be more paranoid than others. Instead, they were more than fine to play along, especially if it made Chyun more comfortable, knowing firsthand how much one’s living situation could affect their life in so many ways. They were nearly unable to contain their amusement when Chyun finally addressed the elephant in the room, the only giveaway being a slight uptick of the corners of their mouth and a frenetic twitch of their antennae, their tone laced with slightly more emotion as they spoke. “It is rather ironic isn’t it? It’s almost as if fate…or something else had a hand in it.” They said, letting the awkwardness hang in the air for a few moments before letting out a low, hoarse chuckle, eyes crinkling slightly in a show of purposefully telegraphed affability. x_divider

19:33

One other such skill that came from being an intelligence officer more than anything, was knowing when they were being needled for information, whether it was maliciously or not. In this case, they knew it was likely a simple case of Chyun being curious, and some good old fashioned Romulan guile, something they respected and found endlessly amusing in equal measure. In response, Ayr carefully thought through their words, wanting to see how much Chyun would reveal to them. Their tone slightly more amiable than it had been before. “Why don’t we leave the ‘shop talk’ for another occasion? After all, we are just now getting to know each other, and I am sure you have some…interesting stories to tell do you not?” They asked, conveniently sidestepping any of Chyun’s probes for information, and instead putting the pull on him instead.

Aenar were telepathic, weren't they? Although their molecules were back together, the state of Chyun's mental barriers and control was significantly weaker than it once was. Not too long ago he was crying himself to sleep every night, it was a time in his life that he would need much more therapy and time to fully recover from. Pretending this was the first time he had ever stepped foot on a Starfleet establishment was not something Chyun consciously did. He was genuinely impressed by everything and even though it wasn't his first time, it sure felt like it. "I would like to think it's fate," Chyun fiddled with one of the arms on his breather to give him a bit more air. He was nervous and it was hard to hide that. It was ironic that between his Romulan and Barzan side, it was his Barzan side that had more emotional control. He was trying not to think too hard when Ayr chuckled, maybe this was a big mistake. He should have told the Republic he just wanted to stay there. "That's fine, and I do not really have many interesting stories, I'm afraid," Chyun's eyes narrowed slightly at the Aenar's response. He realised since he was dealing with a telepath he would need to be more careful about how he lied or avoided the truth-- at least until his mental state was better. He was a bit confused by the term 'shop talk' but decided to leave it for now. He wished he had remembered more Standard, but unfortunately he was stuck being monolingual now. "Where are you from, Ayr? I don't want to assume Andoria, but I will say if you would like to adjust the temperature in the room to be a little colder I am perfectly fine with that."

Even amongst those trained to quiet their mind and keep a hold on their emotions, there were just some that ended up being...louder than others for different people, something that they worked hard to ignore in order to give some semblance of privacy when they could. They knew that even at the best of times, the prescence of a telepath, especially one as strong as an Aenar, could cause apprehension, even amongst the most iron-willed indiviudals, however, in the case of Chyun-Maiell, they knew that his mental barriers were likely weaker than they had been before. In an effort to calm the other, and provide a sense of equity to their interaction, Ayr implaced their own mental barriers, tightening their mental prescence as close as they could, something that their people rarely did, as it left them virtually closed off to the outside world. Making a snap decision, Ayr relaxed their body language as much as they were able and replaced their smirk with a soft, genuine smile. While they were sure, based on Chyun's file, that he had many stories to tell, they respected the fact that the two of them had just met, and that some things were just too difficult to share sometimes, ice-spirit knows that Ayr was the same way, espeically given the nature of their duties, and instead just nodded, appreciative for the change of subject, and for a first step toward amicable commuications between themself, and the person they'd be living with day-to-day. x_divider

05:41

At the mention of Andoria, Ayr's antennae twitched, their focus momentarily drawn away from their roommate, to the glittering ice and busy streets of their home, an unreadable expression coming across their face for just a moment, before flashing back to the pleasantly neutral expression they had adopted before. When they spoke again, they let a slight bit more emotion leak into their tone, only enough to convey how much their home meant to them however. "I am indeed from Andoria, I grew up in the capital city, called Laikan." They said simply, antennae twitching toward the viewport momentarily, almost as if they looked hard enough, they could see and feel their home, all those lightyears away. When they drew their focus away from the viewport, and leveled its full intensity back on Chyun-Maiell, they gave a soft grin again, nodding slightly. "If you can tolerate it, a few degrees cooler would be preferable." They said, once again lowering their proverbial hackles enough to show that they were indeed a person, rather than their uniform, and that they could be trusted. "Are you generally amenable to cooler temperatures? I know that New Romulus is slightly warmer on average than Romulus was." They said, showing that they knew some about the new Romulan homeworld, but not necessarily letting on just how much.

Chyun was fully aware that he was 'loud' mentally. A swirl of emotions with slightly different flavours. He had the calm and collected demeanour of his Barzan side along with the more volatile emotions of his Romulan side. Both traits seemed to be fighting against one another in the same mind that was now Chyun-Maiell. "Alright, computer, set temperature 17 C," He said as soon as he was given permission to change the temperature. He was trying not to think about the fact that Ayr probably read his entire file and probably had many questions about that. Determined not to let the paranoia get to him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a mango plushie to place on one of the shelves. It was an item given to him by a previous roommate. Ironically it was the only thing he took with him when he enlisted in the Republic. "I see, I have been there before, briefly, but I enjoyed my stay," Chyun said, referring back to his time in the traveller's club, something that Ayr or really anyone else who read his file would have probably known. "I've never been to Romulus so I can't speak for the weather there, but Barzan II is quite cool," Chyun said, wondering how Ayr would react to this suddenly change in focus. Ayr was probably hoping Chyun would mention Romulan space or something like that, but it was his habit of skillfully dodging any mention of his Romulan heritage that helped him here. But instead of dodging the subject due to his own shame in his mixed heritage, it was because he knew he couldn't talk about his time on Mol'Rihan without a flurry of emotions. "I take it you are probably well travelled as well, are you?" Chyun asked as he gave the mango plush a few squeezes before letting it rest on the shelf in peace. He turned to look at Ayr, posture calm and relaxed jut like the Aenar's was.

The moment the temperature started to drop, Ayr let out a breath they hadn't even realized they'd been holding, almost as if they felt like they were being given permission to start to relax, only after the temperature lowered to something comfortable. Something that Ayr, and likely others that hailed from Andoria had in common was the compromise they all made for the sake of the greater whole. While they would not say so directly, they did make a specific point of letting the sense of gratitude pervade the mental space of the room, grateful to Chyun for something not many would do. They watched with rapt attention as Chyun pulled out a fruit shaped plushie, something that he clearly valued immensely, and that itself had quite the strong emotional aura hanging out it, clearly there was a story there, one that they were now intensely curious about, but out of politness, would not ask about...just yet. Ayr too an item that they were intensely sentimental about; their ushaan-tor, one of the few gifts that they had ever been given by their parents, in this case when they turned 18, the year of their majority. Though, for now, that is something they would keep stored away, the memories around it too painful for casual conversation. x_divider

06:52

They were not surprised when Chyun-Maiell quickly changed the subject from Romulus, as it was a topic that was very clearly difficult, purely based on his body language, and sad, almost shameful mental aura when Ayr had brought it up. "I suppose we will both benefit from a lower temperature then. It is quite agreeable to have a roommate with similar preferences to my own. You will find, should you ever enter my bedroom, that it is a similar temperature and humidity to Laikan in the summer...what many others would consider frigid." They said, a soft, gravelly chuckle following, their vocal cords clearly unaccustomed to such an act, thinking nothing of the possible connotations to their words in the moment, much of their focus still on giving Chyun mental privacy. "I am likely more well travelled than most..." They said, unable to elucidate further due to the classified nature of much of their travel, and partly to keep the conversation on level ground, nothing both of their reluctance to speak on deeper levels, atleast until they became better aquainted.

Looking at the little mango on the shelf, Chyun couldn't help but feel a tinge of emptiness. A gift given to him by his former roommate, a kind woman who even offered to play a TTRPG with him. As much as he still wanted to take her up on that offer, he was still trying to figure out what hobbies he still had and which he had lost interest in after hte accident. His focus now on the Aenar, he sat on the arm of the sofa and stared at them the same way he stared at everyone. It was nice to know that something never changed after he became whole again. "On the topic of bedrooms, I keep mine locked at all times due to my unique breathing needs. Although the gases will not harm you as long as you are not standing inside my room without protective gear. I just wanted to inform you in case you... Needed to go into my room for anything," He tried to stay calm through all of this, steeling his mind as best he could from any emotions that threatened to flood back. He didn't know why the thought of someone entering his room made him so nervous, there was nothing to hide. The only thing he cared about was the mango plushie which now resisded safe and sound on the shelf in their communal area. x_divider

07:22

"I would imagine intelligence has you in all sorts of places. Anyway, if you have any suggestions for decore I am open to them. I am sure you have read whatever sort of file Intel has compiled about me. If it is alright with you, I would like to properly get to know you over a meal or something in the future, but at least for a little while I plan to spend time resting in my room. It was nice to meet you, Ayr," Chyun had a feeling this intelligence officer was looking for information about him just as Chyun wanted to know more about Ayr, but in his mental state he knew his mind would only stress out the Aenar. It stressed him out, he could only imagine what a telepathic or emphathic species would be feeling. He glanced at the mango plush and then back at Ayr, debating if he wanted to keep the plush out in the common area or take it with him. In a last minute decision, he grabbed the mango plush and held it firmly between his hands and walked towards his private quarters, giving the intelligence officer a slight head bow before going inside.