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

[D] After a typical string of events over the course of a long night, it was now... morning, it seemed, or so Allan's internal clock seemed to tell him as he woke up here, in Renakir's bedroom, next to the man and legend MC Tenakruvek himself. Naturally, Kali-fal was also resting away at the end of the bed, curled up next to her father's legs, even though every time she did that, if Renakir rolled over she'd have to move - such was the life of an epohh, though. The engineer's arm was still draped over his bestie as he blinked his eyes open slowly, instinctively pulling Renakir a little closer to him and giving him a soft kiss to his head before he heard the chime of the quarters announcing someone was at the door. Not wanting the chime to happen again and wake up Renakir, he figured he'd answer - it wasn't like Rai was here right now to do so, probably. So, he carefully unwrapped himself from his friend and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek as he slowly got out of bed and stood up. Allan ended up grabbing some shorts and a... whatever he picked up from Renakir's closet, a tank top? Looking down, it seemed to maybe be a Kali-fal shirt. Sure. Went well with the black shorts, and so he went to the door and answered. "Hey-" he was going to say more words but he simply was a little taken aback by the person standing opposite himself. Aside from being ... incredibly tall, they were incredibly gorgeous, and the engineer, in all of his 27 years of living, still hadn't figured out how to use his words properly when waking up in the morning after a good night and instantly seeing a hot person when you answered the door - a surprisingly frequent occurrence. "Hey, um- I really like your hair, um. The - it's really nice."

[D] Assuming Rai was in the Torre'vnau 'party room' (disclaimer: Rai's words, not theirs), Rilek made their way towards the door they had been avoiding since they stepped foot on the station. Although them and Rai had been civil towards each other in the couple of past interactions, the fact that there was still many words unsaid between the two of them was slowly eating them apart. Rilek may have held themself as confident and professional, but they had quite severe anxiety most of the time and any thought that someone harboured ill feelings or a grudge toward them made them feel uneasy. As officers serving Starfleet, Rilek wa ssure Rai would never do anything outright mean or needlessly cold, but the irrational thought still remained. They were both in the command division and they were tired of feeling this unshakable guilt every time they saw the Romulan captain. Dressed in a shiny gold blouse with plain black trousers and fancy dress shoes to match, Rilek waited for a response at the door and to their surprise the person answering was neither Torre'vnau, but a human? It was a good thing Rilek wasn't wearing heels, they always felt a bit awkward towering over others. "Jolan tru," Rilek greeted with a slight bow of their head with their hands held behind their back. This guy was not Romulan (they assumed) so he probably wouldn't assume Rilek was hiding weapons behind their back. "Oh, thank you, I like your hair too," Rilek smiled in amusement to the comment, another redhead? How lovely. "I am here to speak with Rai S'Kivux if he's around. Or... I suppose if he is not, I would like to leave a message. I assume you are.. A friend?" Rilek was pretty shocked to see someone who was not a Torre'vnau, but upon second glanced realised this was the ACEO! "I have cake, or well, a replicator recipe for one."

Allan was still quite captivated by the Romulan, even their choice of clothing being something that ... was quite nice. His eyes darted back upwards when they spoke, though, smiling in return. "Thanks! Yeah, uh, Rai is off on a shift right now I think, not here though, uh- yeah, you can leave a message, I'm... pretty sure I'm a friend?" He usually just assumed he was a person's friend until told otherwise. He wondered what this person could possibly have to tell Rai, but it could really be anything, he reminded himself. Including a work related matter, so he probably should have been a little less casual. But was he? No. This was Allan H. H. Allen. "Oh my God, cake? Hell yeah, I'm always down to take a good replicator recipe. Mm, speaking of-" he gestured to the couch for Rilek to come inside and sit down there. "I have a... quick breakfast to make for a certain Sleeping Beauty who's still here, but please, feel free to like, talk while I do, his room's pretty soundproof," he was sure of that aspect of the quarters, "so don't worry about waking him up or anything."

Rilek blinked rapidly for a couple seconds as they tried to make sense of the expression on this guy's face. Was there something on their shirt? Or was it the extreme height difference? Surely if this human was friends with the two Torre'vnau brothers he was used to Vulcanoids and their height, especially Rai's. Rilek remembered seeing Rai a couple times and man, it seemed like the bread-based Romulan grew every time their paths crossed. "You do not know if you are a friend?" came Rilek's very Vulcan-like response paired with a single eyebrow raise. Rilek had to keep herself from laughing at the sudden break of professional when the guy said 'hell yeah'. Rilek so much wanted to reply with an equally enthusiastic 'hell yeah', but technically they were still 'in public'. Once they were invited inside, that's when they allowed their shoulders and expression to relax. "Sleeping.. Beauty?" Rilek was unfamiliar with the phrase, but it sounded like someone was sleeping, probably Rai's brother, Solait. "Yes, hell, cake," Rilek totally messed up the usage of the word, making them sound awfully Vulcan when they weren't even trying to be. "I will be mindful of the other Torre'vnau. What will you make for breakfast? Perhaps I could be of assistance? I cannot cook, but I can replicate some drinks or a tray," Rilek offered, feeling like this would be a good opportunity to do something nice for the Torre'vnaus and perhaps make a new friend doing so. "My name is Rilek, Rilek Khellian, by the way. I am Rai's sister. I assume you are our ACEO, Allan.. allen? Two first names, interesting."

Yes, Allan was used to Rai's height. And others. However, that didn't make it any less hot, okay? "No, I - I definitely am, sorry, I - just woke up, so my words are maybe a little wacky," he said with a nervous laugh, fully knowing that waking up was not the cause of that. "Yeah, Sleeping Beauty, it's a uhh, Terran phrase, I think? Just means someone who looks pretty when they're sleeping. Beautiful, even." He laughed some as they said 'yes, hell, cake', looking over at them as he took the replicated toaster oven and set it on top of the nearest surface, whichever one he typically used to make breakfast on. "And so, um, yeah, I was referring to Renakir," he said, looking off to the side where Renakir's door was with a soft smile and a slight blush before replicating some baguettes and cutting them before putting them in the toaster oven to warm them up a little bit. "Cheese and egg bake, with some bacon bits in it," he said as he started to whisk some eggs in a bowl, gesturing to the replicator, "if you insist, some strawberry juice is what I was thinking for the drink." The engineer paused for a moment when the other said their name... Khellian? "... yeah, Allan Allen, Allen is actually... a common last name on Earth," he said, sprinkling the cheese slowly into the egg mixture along with the bacon bits, taking the baguettes out and pouring the mixture into them before setting them in the oven once again to cook for a while. "Khellian isn't a very common surname, though, is it? Wait, wait- Rai's sister?" He blinked and looked at them for a moment. "Well. Um. That might... explain uh, some things."

"I see. Technically, Solait is my brother too," Rilek said in response to the term 'sleeping beauty' and the fact that the term was used for the younger Torre'vnau. So Allan thought Solait was beautiful when he slept? That hinted at some sort of intimate relationship, but it wasn't Rilek's place to say anything about that. Solait and Allan were adults, they could engage in whatever sort of relationship they wanted. They observed as Allan began to prepare breakfast, what a kind gesture. Him and Solait probably had a wonderful relationship, good for them, Rilek thought. She walked over to the replicator and listened to what Allan had planned for drinks. Strawberry juice? Rilek had never had strawberries before, probably a terran fruit of some sort. "Strawberry juice, three glasses, on a tray" They said and in an instant three glasses of juice were replicated on a tray! She added the tray because no way her delicate hands could carry three glasses. A loud clacking noise echoed through the common area of the room when Rilek's metal finger guards touched the plastic-like surface of the tray. The guards were only on her right hand, but they still make hella noise when clicked together. "I am not familiar with terran naming practices," Rilek brought the tray over to the coffee table in the middle of the room. "No, not anymore. Explain some things? What do you mean? I will not be upset if you tell me, Rai's feelings towards my-- well, our house are completely valid, I am actually here to apologise for those things, everything. I am the matriarch of the Khellian house and it's my responsibility to right my house's wrongs," When Rilek placed the tray down she let out a sigh and clicked her fingers together again.

"Ah," Allan nodded at Rilek saying they were Renakir's sister too.. well, that put them on the chart, didn't it... maybe. If they were nice. Well, they were in Starfleet, right? Unlike that egg man. "Oh, thank you, the - the tray is helpful, yeah," he smiled as they actually did replicate the strawberry juices, which was a really kind gesture, honestly, considering that they didn't have to do it at all. They simply didn't give Allan the message and leave, they actually seemed... interested in the company, from Allan's perspective. "Explain-" he'd already forgotten what he had said, so distracted by the strawberry juice and the baguette bakes which were still baking, "oh, I just mean, like - it explains why you're Rai's sister, if you have like, the same mother, or something," he sat down back at the couch, there would be quite a bit before the baguettes were done cooking after all - they had to be baked slowly so that the bread got nice and crispy, but that the eggs did not burn. "...apologize," he tilted his head as he picked up one of the juice glasses and sipped at it, the juice was thankfully not too sweet, "I mean, yeah, I can take the message, um - I might not phrase it as... eloquently as you would though, so I probably should write it down or something like that...? Just so Rai like, knows it's sincere, 'cause if I phrase it in my own words it might not seem the same."

Rilek plopped down on the sofa and turned their body towards Allan with one arm resting on the back rest and the other resting on their side. It probably looked like they were trying to flirt with the nice human in the Torre'vnau quarters, which would not be entirely untrue. Rilek did like the man's red hair and if he was close with the Torre'vnaus and ACEO then he must have a good character. Silly as he seemed, Rilek liked silly men. They were happy to help Allan in his breakfast making adventure. If anything, they wished they had more cooking experience than just giving orders to a replicator. "Yes. I think in terran terms we would be cousins, our mothers are sisters," Rilek paused as she thought about what the term was in Standard. The Khellian family tree was unfortunately not very simple. "We have one more, his name is Valak and he is my half brother. We were... Hmmm, close when we were growing up," Rilek tilted their head slightly, seemingly hesitant or maybe just unsure how to refer to their estranged brother. "I don't really care much about eloquence. As long as Rai knows," Rilek was very elegant in her mannerisms and way of speaking. Even though the UT, her words were light and melodic. A bit of an unusual cadence, but the meaning came through all the same. "Have you see Rai lately? He looks different, i mean like," Rilek paused and held her hand over the left side of her face, not sure how else to refer to the hyperpigmentation on Rai's face. Rilek's left hand was the good hand, the right was the one with the pointy metal finger guards. "With the green spots on his face. What do you think of it?"

The thing about flirting to Allan is that he was so used to it by now, that sometimes he hardly noticed it. He sat down in the exact same way after all, mirroring their actions unintentionally. "We would be cousins?" Allan asked, raising an eyebrow in a quite Vulcan-like fashion before realizing what Rilek was actually saying. "OH- you mean... you mean Rai and... yes, that... that would... make more sense," he laughed and took another sip of the strawberry juice, leaning over to look back at the little oven - nope, still more time left. "Valak... oh, that rotten egg motherfucker," he said, not even caring to have a single ounce of etiquette when it came to referring to that guy. Why would he? He'd tried to hurt his friends, and he fucking shot Elwyn, with the full intent to kill her. As he remembered that whole.. debacle, it sort of put him in a sort of mood that made him rather out of it when Rilek asked him if Rai looked different. "Like, his hair? I helped him dye it, it's blue like Kali-fal," he chimed in, trying to force a smile at the change in subject, but then he frowned again when they mentioned that it was about. Hm. "...what I... think about it?" His expression came across as some sort of mix between confused and upset. "I mean, it doesn't really matter what I think, but it's just... it's just Rai? Like, I-I dunno, that's just like. That's just, literally, it's just him, and he - I mean, I know he's your cousin or whatever, but you're asking me, and so - my opinion, if you really need it, is that he's incredibly fucking hot, is that... what you wanted?"

Rilek couldn't help but laugh when Allan said they would be cousins. No way! Unless Allan secretly had some Romulan in him. Although Rilek did wonder how Allan would look with some pointed ears, maybe if they ever did a holodeck programme together they could convince him to try out the look? "You know him?" Rilek raised an eyebrow to that, assuming it was Rai who told Allan about Valak. She had no idea Valak was the one who tried to take over the station, for obvious reasons whenever he spoke to Rilek he was wise to omit that detail. Rilek had been fully convinced that Valak was just put into jail because of his Tal Shiar past, not any specific actions. "No, not his hair," Rilek took her hand away from her face and shook her head. "I am glad you think he's attractive. He really needs people to hype him up," Rilek told Allan with a soft smile, slowly leaning in closer to him. To a Romulan, maybe it looked like Rielk was moving closer so they could stab them, but Rilek was unarmed, the only weapon she had were her finger guards which had dull tips and would probably not cause much damage. "According to Romulan tradition, families are matriarchal. Rai's mother is a Khellian, which would mean he would be a Khellian and not a Torre'vnau, right?" Rilek began to explain, wondering just how much Allan knew about the whole situation. Maybe Rai never spoke about it? "But... My mother, who is Rai's aunt, did not like the mark on his face. She said it made him imperfect and was... An embarrassment to the Khellian house. The reason Rai was never a Khellian was because my mother thought he was ugly," And with a sigh, Rilek looked at Allan with sadness in her eyes. x_divider

01:34

"I want to apologise to Rai on behalf of my mother and the Khellian family. I also want to invite him back to the Khellian house if he wishes to join it. I feel bad for what had happened and I want to make it up to him, I just don't really know how," Rilek sighed again and scooted a little closer to Allan, now they were... Well within stabbing range. So close she could smell the scent of Allan's strawberry juice on his lips.

"Nope. Never seen him, never hope to, he fucking ... tried to hurt, kill even, my friends, ended up wiping one of them's entire memory of being on the station so... yeah, no, don't know him and don't ever fucking want to." The engineer looked down at his socks and then focused in on the glass of strawberry juice in his hand, and sort of just... stared down for a second as Rilek continued to explain the thing about Rai. Right, Rai... the house stuff... all that. When he looked up, he noticed that Rilek was a lot closer to him, but he didn't flinch, he simply looked back into that ... sadness? It looked sincere, at least. And their apology sounded equally as sincere, well - sincere as he could trust someone to be, especially someone from a seemingly problematic Romulan house. And so... he had to remind himself that this again, was a message for Rai, he had to remember this, the way that Rilek was speaking, how sincere he thought it was, and he had to not get distracted by anything- That thought was interrupted by Rilek scooting even closer. "An... invite back is a kind gesture, I think," he said slowly, carefully placing his glass of strawberry juice back onto the tray. "But I think that you know, um, accepting him in general would be good, too. Like, as a friend, just - making him feel welcome in general? To be around, to be himself. That sort of thing?"

"The.... Oh," Rilek looked visibly surprised and concerned by this. Their expression then turned to that as sadness as they took a few moments to process what Allan had told them about their brother. It was at this moment they realised that they had yet again fallen for their brother's lies. The two of them weren't very close anymore, but Rilek really thought Valak was trying to be more honest and geuine ever since being sentenced to prison for his Tal Shiar crimes. Perhaps she gave him too much credit. "Accepting him.. In general? I have no ill feelings towards him nor have I ever treated him poorly. I am glad he has people like you who have accepted him for who he is, you have a good heart.. I think," Rilek had only known Allan for less than an hour, but already she could tell he was a good friend to Rai (and Solait). "I mentioned I had a cake recipe for him, but do you think that would be enough? I know you get along with a lot of different people on the station, I admire that. Also, I apologise for my brother Valak. I had no idea he caused trouble for this station. He told me a completely different story, but I suppose you cannot trust an egg," Rilek laughed at her own joke and looked at the tray of strawberry juice. "I am the matriarch of the Khellian house, but to be honest I am not entirely sure how to clean up the mess my family made. That is why I am willing to do anything you think would help better my relationship with the Torre'vnaus. I.. Do wonder, how did you get close with them? Rai is very shy and awkward, not to judge him but he does not strike me as someone with a lot of... Rizz," Rilek narrowed their eyes when they said that, trying to remember the proper term. Yeah, Rai had like, negative Rizz.

"Yeah, I mean like, you know, just continuing to accept him like, into your life, I guess - the cake recipe's a really nice start," Allan really did think that, "maybe offer to have some tea over it or something. Make it a thing," he laughed lightly at her egg joke, not wanting to dwell much more on that. "It's kinda like... not about cleaning up, it's about like.. going forwards with a clean slate. Like, you can still acknowledge the past, but like, as long as you're gucci, you're gucci, you know?" "I think a good step is just like, hanging out, right? So like I said, like, maybe having the cake with Rai or something. Inviting him when you have a fun holiday event or something. Things like that, I mean-" he laughed as he remembered how him and Renakir actually met, "honestly, Rennie and I just uh, well we met after I told him his bitch-ass ex-fiance Valleka was being spacist as hell, but then we uh, continued to run into eachother a lot more after that, and then you know, suddenly we're twerking at imprisoned Section 31 agents in the brig and kissing at parties and making out and -" he paused, realizing that was not what Rilek needed to know. "Rai does actually have a lot of rizz, though, like, I dyed his hair and he was the one to ask for things afterwards, so," he shrugged. "Nah, but like, for you, you're family, so all you gotta do is like... ask to chill."

"I am... Gu... Gucci? I do not know what Gucci is but it sounds like it must be a good thing," Rilek shook their head slightly at the word, not entirely sure what they were saying. Despite being raised Romulan within Romulan society, there were a lot of aspects about Rilek's mannerisms and body language that suggested a more Vulcan heritage. The way their voice would shift from monotone to animated, often awkwardly between their phrases, was quite unique to them. "I do not know if he will think an invitation to tea is... An attempted assassination, to be honest," Did Rai still think everyone was out to murder him? Considering Allan suggested it, maybe the bread-based Romulan was actually more open. "Valleka," Rilek held a hand up and shook their head. "Valleka t'Rylov. The murderer? She killed her own father and her sister," Rilek was glad she and Allan could agree that Valleka was messed up, but they weren't sure just how much Allan knew about her aside from her spacism. "Twerking at... Oh, oh my elements," Rilek looked like a Vulcan who had just heard about the most scandalous hand holding of all time. She turned away and covered her face, clearly feeling embarrassed hearing about this. "Well-- I am glad you and Solait had fun," Rilek's laughter filled the room, a mix of high and low tones as they seemed immensely amused hearing that Allan, the ACEO on 777, was out here twerking with the future heir of the Torre'vnau house. "And dying Rai's hair, how nice of you, he looks good in blue by the way. I, personally, prefer red," They gently pushed some of the red strands of hair from their face and smirked at Allan, assuming he shared their opinion too that red was best. x_divider

04:56

"But the blue makes him happy. Well, I think you and I should get to knwo each other and-- Hmm, I think I will ask Rai and Solait to.. Chill, wait was that a reference to them being Reman? I do not actually like cold temperatures," And Rilek's Vulcan-ness returned once again, their laughter ceasing and their eyes just looking curiously at Allan.

“Oh, yeah. It just means good, actually, is what it means, so - yeah,” Allan said, squinting when Rilek said something about tea and attempted assassination, before realizing that was probably just some Romulan thing. “Yeah, it doesn’t have to be tea exactly, but like, you know, at least the cake, like… everyone loves cake. If cake is attempted assassination, then I’d love to be assassinated.” He hoped nobody would take that seriously, especially if the room was somehow bugged. “Oh, speaking of cake, I’m gonna give Renakir his breakfast real quick-" he got up and went to the small oven, taking out the baguette bake and the third glass of strawberry juice and setting them on a tray that would both keep the food (but not the drink - technology!) warm and be covered so that Kali-fal wouldn't try to eat it. When he had everything in the tray, he wrote a small note on a little sticky note and put it on the tray, grabbed some epohh snacks, and went back into Renakir's quarters, glad to see that the man and his epohh daughter were still fast asleep. As he was about to leave the room, he took the pen he'd written the note with and added a quick '<3, Allan' at the end of it, and gave Renakir a kiss on the side of his head before actually leaving, the epohh snacks having been left next to the bed. When he came back from that quick little detour, though, he did not expect to hear Valleka's name followed by... divider

22:05

"Murderer!? You're - fuck, what-" he covered his mouth and hoped for everyone's sake that nobody but Rilek and himself had heard him shout the word murderer, but... "her father and her sister, she..." Allan sat down next to Rilek again, sort of letting his brain move past what she commented on the twerking and the hair dying and he did smile a little and comb through his own hair when she said red was the best, but... "you're not joking, are you? Like... and... how..." he paused, uncertain of how to ask any of his questions about that. He'd just met Rilek, maybe it was best to not ask them any of his questions. People who tended to question too much like himself often winded up... hm. "Noo, no, chill is just like, y'know, you're cool, you're chill, you don't give a fuck," Allan tried to explain, hoping that would get across. "I'm not a huge fan of the cold either, to be honest."

"True, I am unsure what sort of cake he would like. Considering you and him are friends, you could sneakily ask him? He really may think I am plotting to kill him," Rilek chuckled when Allan said if cake meant assassination then he'd gladly be assassinated. Had they been in Romulan space a few years ago, that would probably be the case. They were not, thankfully, and Rilek had not a single violent bone in their body. They nodded when Allan left to deliver the breakfast to Renakir, smelling the sweet scent of the breakfast baguette. Rilek had already eaten earlier than morning and as per some Vulcan tradition, they typically skipped lunch and opted for light snacks throughout the day instead. When Allan came back and Rilek told him about Valleka, she was surprised to see such a big reaction. Maybe it was because Rilek had spent most of their life with other Romulans, but they were not expecting Allan to be so.. Surprised. Rilek also was unaware how involved with the Torre'vnau's Allan was. "Not joking, sadly," Rilek lowered their gaze and sighed. "Mmm.. Valleka framed it on her brother in law too, I feel bad for him. If you are curious how I know, I was his defense lawyer," Rilek was Fleet Liaison, but they also had a law license in both the Federation and the Romulan Republic. They had considered getting certification within the Cardassian Union, but to no surprise it was not easy to get a license there as an alien. "Valleka's sister's name was Doha, she married S'Tcaevra, a very kind hearted Cardassian-Romulan man who was only framed because she thought it would be easy to spin the violent and angry Cardassian narrative," Thinking back to the case, Rilek was pretty disgusted with how it all went down. She sighed once more and twirled the longer strands of red hair around her fingers. Maybe it was best not to ramble too long about the case, there were a million things Rilek wanted to say more about Valleka, but that was for another time. (edited)

"And thank you, Allan, I like being 'chill'," Rilek looked at Allan and gave him a flirty wink and then a soft giggle. "I take it Solait is still sleeping? Do you make breakfast for him often? I now feel like I've been missing the party, I do hope things between me and Rai improve. I do not care if he doesn't want to rejoin the house, I just want to get rid of this awkward vibe between us if you get what I mean."

Resisting every urge to say that he knew what kind of cake Rai liked, but not in terms of the baked delicacy, Allan smiled politely and nodded in response to Rilek's question. "Yeahh, yeah, no problem, I can totally ask him," he'd said, and after coming back and seeing that Rilek was surprised by his reaction to learning Valleka was a murderer, he was even more confused than he was by the fact that Valleka was a murderer. Was this just normal behavior? He knew that it wasn't, that was just a stereotype, it wasn't reality, right? "On her... his... defense lawyer, okay, yeah, um.." he honestly wasn't sure how to process all of the information that they continued to share with him, with the names of the people and the way Valleka had tried to frame the guy and... "I, uh, she- wouldn't happen to..." he wasn't sure how to ask the question. He didn't actually know why Valleka killed her father and sister, and he wasn't sure if he should ask that, but if it was for some petty reason, he was perhaps just a little worried about his own sake. And Renakir's. Especially moreso Renakir's if anything. "Like, the chances of her murdering someone again are uh... low.... maybe... um-" he gave up on trying to phrase it, again turning to other topics. Like being chill. Yeah. That was better. "Yeah, he's fast asleep," and safe, "I usually make him breakfast when I spend the night, he uh... usually I wake up first, and that's really only because my boyfriends get up so early, and so I've sort of adjusted to that at some point," he said with a laugh, the thought of both Renakir and his boyfriends bringing the positive emotions back into his head. "I'm sure it will! Like, really, as long as you're nice, Rai will like you, I'm sure of it, I don't think they'll be any awkward vibes, unless - unless you bring up the ice sculpture licking. Then there might be some awk vibes."

"Thank you. I don't usually like playing this game of murder whispers, but I am a little nervous to ask myself," Rilek said, unaware that the game name was 'telephone' in Standard and that the UT was probably going to translate the Romulan game literally. Despite voicing their concerns, Rilek seemed rather calm when speaking about Rai and everything else in general. They were good at masking their emotions, they had to be as a lawyer after all. "Yes, they are low. Valleka is a senator now anyway, I don't she's going to be killing anyone else," Rilek reassured Allan with a soft smile. She raised both eyebrows when he mentioned making breakfast for his boyfriends, what a kind person Allan was. Rilek was curious to know who the other boyfriends were though. "That is very kind of you, Allan," Rilek complimented with a soft smile. "Ice sculpture? Ah... I think I heard of it? What possessed him to do that? Don't tell me you were there too? I suppose then an ice sculpture cake would be in bad taste? ... Pun intended," Rilek could barely even say it with a straight face before they bursted out laughing. Allan getting caught up with the Torre'vnau boys was her favourite anime. He seemed like a perfect match for both of them and she hoped this was a good sign for them to start a friendship too.

Noted. Ask Rai what kind of cake he liked. Of the food variety, he would have to make that clear as well. He chose not to comment on the game thing, it made sense enough. Murder whispers. Sure. Words weren't real anyways. "Phew, okay, that's... good. I mean, not good that she's a senator, what the fuck, but um, good that nobody else is gonna get murdered by her, um. Yeah." The thought of Rennie getting hurt still made him shiver even though the chance was low as Rilek had just said, but the smile on their face did in fact reassure him. "Nah, I wasn't there, but like... it was notoriously the gossip of the starbase for like, weeks, and like... people still reference it, and - yes, oh my God, that's-" he laughed at the idea when Rilek did, shaking his head with a smile as he looked up at her. "No, no, hellll no, don't - don't, but- I mean, it's funny, but... he might... not like that, yeah." He paused for a moment, and then tilted his head as he leaned back on the couch, significantly more relaxed than before. "Do you um... happen to know any more uh, goss on the Torre'vnaus? Or like, am I the source of it? Or.."

"It is what it is, I am equally lukewarm on the current batch of senators at the moment. You know, Allan," Rilek put her drink down and leaned in closer to Allan again, getting a little closer than before. "I wish you were a Romulan citizen, I'd tell you to vote for me, or well, for the non-problematic candidates," With the founding of the Republic, literally anyone could run for the senate. There was a pretty good mix of Romulans and Remans, which was a positive thing. Rilek was fully aware that a Khellian in the senate could possibly ruffle some feathers since they were a pretty strong political power back during the Star Empire, but they still wanted to try. "Torre'vnau goss?" Rilek raised both eyebrows at the term, not quite sure what Allan meant by 'goss' until it clicked-- gossip, Right. "I don't know anything else. I think you know more than me, to be honest. That just means that we'll have to meet up more often to share secrets," Rilek extended both hands towards Allan. Their right hand had the long metal finger guards (to conceal the fact that two of their fingers were non-functional prosthetics) and their left hand bare of accessories. This was either a threat or a salacious invitation, but given that Rilek was smiling it was probably the latter.

A Secret Santa gift arrived for Rai: A small painted wooden box, simple in design and clearly hand-made by someone with little experience, was delivered to Rai. On top of it was a note, handwritten in Federation Standard with Rihannsu printed underneath it.

Captain Torre'vnau, I didn't know what to get you, but I heard from a friend you were at the drag show, and once I saw a recording of your performance I thought perhaps I could do something with that. Handmade gifts are usually alright, right? I hope you enjoy it! If it breaks, just bring it to me, I can fix it back up. Kind regards, Lente Summer, engineer.

Inside the box was a little mess of wires and wooden frame. When taken out, it clearly resembled a puteketeke bird, with the long neck and the crest and the frills on the side of the face. A small plate on its back had an easily peelable sticker reading "press me!" on it, and, when pressed, the bird would start waddling on its flat feet, the frame jointed in all the right places to make its feet move. If you stayed watching for a while, the body would eventually expand and rattle a bit, as if the bird was shaking out its feathers, before stopping entirely and standing still. Underneath it in the box was a small charging port it could rest on, so that it wouldn't ever run out of steam.

Allan tilted his head curiously when Rilek put her drink down and leaned closer to him to tell him ... that they wanted go run for senator? Maybe? Or something like that? "You're... running? I mean, I'm not a Romulan citizen, but... I know a lot of them, so... you know, if you did run, or.. are running? Or um, something, I could definitely put in... a good word for ya!" He would have to do a little more research into her background since he'd just met them after all, but... they seemed nice, and the more they leaned close to him, the nicer Rilek seemed, so... "Yeaaah, Torre'vnau goss, you know, anything about the uh, incredibly attractive Torre'vnau family, although... I suppose uh, I've been... noticing... several, other ... other unusually attractive houses, actually, it's funny how that works, and -" he took a moment to pause and figure out what the hell he was trying to say, because he hardly ever knew, but the words didn't really come back to him once Rilek had extended both of their hands to Allan. "Secrets," he echoed at a whisper, hesitantly reaching forwards as well until he was gently holding her hands in his own, "is there any kind of secrets you'd like to share first, Rilek?" He said with a smile just as genuine as their own.

"In the future, not now," Rilek replied with a smile and a wink. "Thank you Allan, I knew I could trust you," She said, putting strong emphasis on the word 'trust'. Perhaps it wouldn't come through the UT, but she made sure to use the more poetic term in Rihannsu rather than the more common one. Rilek's form of speaking was a bit odd, even with the UT so maybe Allan picked up on it. "Attractive Torre'vnau family," They leaned back slightly and chuckled. It was endlessly amusing how attracted Allan was to the Torre'vnau boys and just, people in general. It was something Rilek didn't experience often and she liked his attitude. When Allan asked for secrets Rilek leaned in closer, much closer, the two could almost kiss with how close they were. "Mmm.. Well there's a particular engineer on this station that I just met that I would really like to know better. He's got the prettiest green eyes and gentle hands. I feel almost... engulfed by his presence," Rilek chose to use the Vulcan word for 'engulfed' which just sop happened to be 'Shon-ha'lock', a very specific term.

Allan did absolutely take note of the strong emphasis on the word, and even with the UT, he still recognized, due to others he knew that used that same term, how it sounded, how it... how it was incredibly interesting, actually, how Rilek, a Romulan who had just met him, was already saying something like this. Sure, stereotypes and all, but... even still, it didn't seem all that likely for someone raised in a very untrusting culture to be so easily- The thoughts rambling in his mind came to a quick halt when Rilek leaned closer again and whispered, about... about him. She was talking about him, about his eyes, his... hands. Fuck, that got him blushing, even despite being human and dating another human for so long now again, he still was susceptible to blushing as if he, too, thought handholding was scandalous. And it was. "I-" he attempted to say something, but couldn't get it out as they continued to speak, to say that word that was indeed very specific, and a term that he... knew. A term that someone had used to describe how he had felt towards them, a word that, he supposed, came to bite him in the ass later, although... there was a bunch of things surrounding that. And there were a bunch of things, then, surrounding this, here, now. The present. "I don't... usually ... hear that," was all he said, staring down at their hands, still holding hers in his own.

Perhaps it was her undeniable attraction to Allan or maybe just hearing that he was so close with the Torre'vnau's, but Rilek did not have any second thoughts about her phrasing with the word 'trust'. Allan had yet to stab her and even if he were to do just that, Rilek would be into it. Sexy stabbing, that is. Allan seemed unarmed, unless he was planning an attack with baguettes. They tightened their hold on Allan's hand to only further drive home the words they had salaciously whispered to him. "I am only a small part Vulcan but... Hmm," Rilek moved closer, now whispering softly in Allan's ear. Her breath was hot against the skin, close enough to nibble the edge of the man's round ear. Now thinking about it, this was the first time they had been so close to a human as they had only had one partner before Allan, and he was Romulan. "You're so alluring, I do not know how else to describe the feeling," Rilek backed away so they could look into Allan's eyes. "I definitely would like to know you better, perhaps we can plan a meeting in the near future?" As much as Rilek was down to give into her emotions in that moment, this was not the time nor place, not in the Torre'vnau quarters, at least, not without proper planning and making sure neither Renakir nor Rai could walk in on them.

Allan was, thankfully, not planning an attack with baguettes - no, if he wanted to attack at all, he was an engineer, and could most certainly come up with far better methods than some baguettes. That aside, he was not planning to attack at all. The only threatening thing right now was his mind towards himself as he tried to bring himself back to the present and the now and ignore whatever else his head tried to tell him right now. His expression could be best read as... nervous, that was for sure. And now she was tightening her grip on Allan's hands, whispering close into his ear... it didn't even matter what they were saying at this point, their actions were enough to his brain to put it at ease, calm it down... "We-" he kept as firm a hold on their hands as they did his, and he looked back at Renakir's quarters door, and back at them, a small smile on his face again. "How near future are we talking about? I know... a few different places." That neither Renakir or Rai would be at. Well, actually, there was a chance of Renakir being in the tubes, but that was only one place, and he knew Renakir's shifts by now!

"As early as you'd like it to be," Their words were still hushed, paired with a curious eyebrow raise. Considering Allan was an engineer and ACEO no less, he probably knew all of the best places for hidden trysts around the station. Anywhere away from prying eyes. There was something fun about salacious rondez-vous outside one's quarters. Rilek's grip began to loosen, allowing Allan to pull his hand back should he choose to. Should he not, well, Rilek had no problem continuing to hold his hand. "I am free tomorrow, I took the day off to settle some family matters, but I can easily plan that around your schedule," She assumed that as ACEO, Allan would probably be the most busy between the two of them. As fleet liaison, Rilek got to work more or less similar hours to her family on Mol'Rihan, but Allan had a lot more responsibility. "If not tomorrow, I am sure we could arrange a little tryst before the end of the week," Rilek smirked and wiggled her eyebrows when she spoke. (edited)

"I ... I wouldn't want to interrupt anything important," he said with a chuckle, before he looked down at the way her hands were still holding his, and truly, it did still make him blush to just be doing something like this so... it was happening a bit fast, no? Maybe, but.. well, as long as Rilek was okay with it being that way, so was he. And of course... he did know some good places around the station for this sort of thing, though they would have to obviously follow the rules. But outside of those rules, well... the possibilities were pretty much endless. "But I'm free anytime after 1100 hours, sooo.." he looked down at their hands again before he moved closer to the man, if he even could. "Anytime then.. works for me? Is there any time you'd prefer? I'd want to... work around your schedule, instead of the other way around." His words were noticeably just a little bit more calculated, had a little more thought put into them before he said them. A little mix of being nervous about the way his words sounded right now in comparison to what they were doing, and genuinely wanting to.

"I wouldn't mind being interrupted by you," Rilek repsonded back with a faint glimmer in her eyes as she said it. Perhaps it was all happening fast, but Rilek rarely met people who were not only capable of keeping up with them, but could do so without breaking a sweat. Allan also had the added benefit of being good at his job. Even though Rilek had never actually seen Allan at work, considering he was ACEO told them that he was doing something right. Allan being careful with his words made him seem more attractive, if that was even possible. The blush on Rilek's face grew and she closed her eyes for a moment to think about what she was going to say next. "That's fine. Hmm, 1600 hours then.. Tomorrow? Where? Don't say the tubes," They joked, now close enough to touch noses with Allan, how scandalous. Right in the middle of the Torre'vnau quarters common room too! "But I won't say no to the tubes.... I may be a little too tall for that though."

"Ohh, I won't say the tubes," Allan said with a laugh, taking just one of his hands away from Rileks' as he got out his PADD. "Nobody's too tall for them, but... honestly, for what we could get up to? Not too great. However, I-" he handed the PADD over to them after bringing up a photo gallery, "do have this lovely gallery curated just for the purposes of being... eligible locations. If you can find one you like, perfect. If not, my quarters are always just fine, but.." In the photo gallery were, indeed, several points throughout the station, including some in various docked shuttles and such that were usually open for various personal uses. It seemed... quite an extensive menu he'd put together, really. Like he somehow knew all these places as if he'd gone to them all himself... or something. "I'll see you tomorrow at wherever you decide. 1600 hours." He carefully took her right hand, the one he was still holding, and lifted it to his lips, looking up at Rilek with a small smirk. "May I?" And if he said yes.. well, he'd kiss their hand, obviously, a very simply kind gesture in human culture, but... well, he knew how it went in others.

Rilek took the PADD from Allan to see the list that he had compiled. It realy was extensive, just how many hookups did Allan have? Maybe they shouldn't even try to guess. "Not your quarters, if we can avoid it," Romulans were often called spicy Vulcans and spicy Rilek was. They were tired of tradition in every sense of the word. They wanted excitement, be it in their work life or in their off duty relationships. The shuttles seemed like a good location, equipped with comfortable surfaces such as sofas or beds, along with a lot of empty walls. Due to their lack of features, a lot of shuttles had the bare minimum when it came to living spaces, but that was good for what him and Allan were planning. "1600 hours," Rilek handed the PADD back to Allan and let the man take his hand. "Of course," Rilek blushed a deep green at the sight of Allan kissing her fingers. It was a pretty normal gesture for most humanoids, but to Vulcanoids, well, it was practical second base for them. "See you then, Allan," And with that Rilek winked at Allan and stood up from the sofa to head out the door.

In the Torre'vnau quarters, Renakir was in the common area with his boombox set up. Kali-fal was also there, jamming along as her father danced. "One-two-- hey Kali-fal, you're supposed to twerk with me here!" Renakir looked at his epohh daughter who was just calmly swaying back and forth. He wasn't sure why she didn't like to listen to him. He had even promised her a baguette if she did well, but clearly the epohh did not understand and was doing no twerking. "Kali-fal, okay, you need to do it like this. Your ass goes up- then down, then up again, and you sway your hips side to side like this," Renakir bent his knees and demonstrated the optimal twerking method.

At that instant, the doors to the Torre'vnau quarters opened and there was Rai tr'Torre'vnau, captain bread coming home from work. He stared at his brother twerking for a couple seconds and then at Kali-fal who seemed to be content just watching the display. ".... Solait? What are you doing?" Rai was no stranger to seeing his brother practice his dancing routines in their quarters, but he could not think of why Renakir would be twerking in front of Kali-fal. Was this a new trick she was teaching him?

Renakir quickly stopped when he heard Rai's voice and shook his head. "Ugh, I'm just so disappointed in Kali-fal," Renakir said with a heavy sigh as he switched off the music. Kali-fal waddled over to Rai and nuzzled her head against his leg. "Jolan tru, dinam," He greeted Rai with a wave and went over to the treat bucket to grab some treats for Kali-fal and handed them to Rai.

Disappointed? Oh, so twerking must be a thing for merryment and disappointment. That was interesting how an action could be used in both scenarios. However, he was also aware that many alien words, phrases, and actions, were often used in both positive and negative settings. For example being the shit and being shit were two opposite phrases, despite the inherit meaning being the same. Rai tucked this bit of knowledge away and fed the treats to Kali-fal. "Speaking of rapping and twerking-- I was wondering about an MC name. You know, you're MC Tenakruvek, I was thinking I should have a persona too."

Renakir began to fluff up the pillows in Kali-fal's bed so she could lay down after she was done eating. "Yeah? An MC name? Well, you can just use your name. MC S'Kivux sounds sick," Renakir suggested, thinking that just using his real name would probably save his brother from making a really embrrassing name.

"Sick? I am feeling fine," Rai replied, confused at the suggestion. Kali-fal was soon done with her treats and waddled over to her bed to lay down. "I was thinking of something that isn't my name. I... think i should keep my real name professional. So an alias."

"No no, dinam, sick means cool. And yeah sure, we can think of a different name. I'm MC Tenakruvek, maybe you wanna be another legendary Reman?" Renakir headed to the Torre'vnau mini fridge poured him and Rai two tall glasses of ale. It was nice having a brother who had similar tastes! "Have some ale," He handed the glass to Rai. "You could always modify an existing name or a phrase. Like some famous rappers in history are like... G-Dragon, like gangster dragon? Uhh.. Snoop Dogg is just like , terran dog? I don't know. There are a lot of cool Remans."

"Sick mens cool... Sick... Sick... Obisek... Obisick....." Rai took the glass of ale and pondered for a moment. "MC Obisick... Like Obisek. He was very cool, he is the one who bargained for Reman citizenship and the end to slavery in 2387!" Rai smiled when he thought of the name, he thought it was cool!

Renakir was ready to shoot down Rai's idea but upon hearing the suggestion, actually that sounded cool. "Obisick.. Okay, you know what dinam, that is cool. He was a cool Reman," Renakir snapped his fingers and laughed. So it was possible his brother could have a not cringe idea! "MC Tenakruvek and MC Obisick, coming to a rap battle near you!" Renakir raised his glass.

"Yes!" Rai clicked his glass against Renakir's and smiled. "We'll be unstoppable in the... rap den? I do not know where people rap. Maybe we can just show our friends to start," And to that Renakir nodded and the two enjoyed their ale and chatted more about rap ideas.

Renakir was looking forward to spending the next couple of days relaxing as he had already requested time off before he would leave for Mol'Rihan for the weekend to spend with his family to celebrate the Romulan Lunar New Years! The doors to his quarters opened with a swoosh to let him in. He heard the familiar noises of Kali-fal rushing towards the entryway to greet him! To his surprise, what he saw when he entered the room was... Rilek? His brother's Khellian sister? Renakir honestly had no opinoins of Rilek. He detested the Khellian house as a whole, but Rilek was a Starfleet officer and Allan wouldn't have chatted with her if she was spacist or something. As a Torre'vnau, he was fully aware that a problematic house does not always equal problematic person. "Jolan tru?" Renakir was trying to think of a reason Rilek would be in the Torre'vnau quarters, unless it was official business which could also explain why she was in uniform.

"Jolan tru," Rilek greeted with a bow of their head. "I have some... Bad news," Rilek looked left and right and then at Renakir. "I have turned Rai into a loaf of bread by accident." She said as she stepped aside to reveal a brown loaf of bread sitting on the coffee table. The bread seemed to be 'wearing' the Republic uniform, it had a little pouty face and a splotch of green over one eye and blue hair. It looked eerily similar to Rai that Renakir had to take his sunglasses off to try and get a better look. "I was practicing a new spell and I think I said the words wrong,“ Rilek sighed and crossed their arms, seeming way calmer about all of this than Renakir did.

"What?" Renakir laughed out loud at the statement. Turning his brother into bread? He knew that was a running joke, but it was physically impossible to change someone into a loaf of bread. He walked up closer to the table to get a good look at this literal 'Rai Bread'. It seemed Kali-fal was faster than him and she quickly darted to the table to sniff the bread Romulan. "My brother is NOT bread," Renakir crouched down next to the table and looked at the loaf of bread that was supposedly his brother. Kali-fal sniffed a little more before opening her mouth and taking a giant CHOMP ofthe bread.

"OWWWW!!! My elements! Get her away from me!" Came Rai's voice when the epohh bit into 'him'. The loaf did not move, nor did Rai's 'mouth' or 'face', but the voice was undoubtedly his brother's. He wasn't sure where it was coming from though, it really did sound like the bread was talking which was.... Bizarre.

"Like I said, Rai is bread. I don't know how to change him back," Rilek crouched down next to Renakir and with her long fingerguard hand, she poked the top of the loaf.

"THAT TICKLES! Ahahaha!! Rilek stop! Solait, tell her to stop!" Rai bursted out laughing, the bread jiggling a little but that was probably due to Rilek poking him and her knees hitting the side of the table softly.

"Rilek, how in the Romulus..." Renakir couldn't believe his brother was bread, he didn't even think that was scientifically possible. He was aware of common transporter incidents, clones, body swaps, the like, but bread. One thing transporters couldn't do was change someone's species or... Literal atomic make up. He looked at the red haired Romulan with concern. "We need to tell his conspirator, Zero. What will they say? How can Zero have a relationship with a loaf of bread? How long will he last before he goes moldy? I can replicate a bread box so he stays fresh," As soon as he said 'fresh', Kali-fal took another 'bite' out of the bread. (edited)

"SOLAIT! GET HER AWAY FROM ME! Bad epohh, bad BAD epohh!" Rai shouted, scaring Kali-fal away and making her hide behind her father.

"A couple days I think, probably will last through new years," Rilek said in a casual tone. She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head, for some reason she looked way too calm about this than she should have been.

"Wait-- new years, that's right. What am I going to tell our family? HOW am I gonna explain this to Allan? My fucking elements, I need to tell Allan," Renakir reached into his pocket to pull out his PADD and aimed it at Rai.

"Hey, Solait! Don't you dare take a picture of me," Rai's voice growled when Renakir took out the PADD.

Renakir leaned back to snap the photos and when he did, he noticed something on the underside of the table. He paused what he was doing and put his PADD down and looked under the table.

"Oy! What are you doing?" Rai shouted and when he did, Renakir realised the voice was coming from a speaker under the table!

Kali-fal rushed out from behind Renakir and bumped her head against the speaker and squeaked. "..... Dinam, you're not bread. Where are you hiding? Where's the cameras? This is a fucking walkie talkie!" Renakir ripped the device from the bottom of the table and shook it. Rilek began to burst out laughing at the scene unfolding, clearly having a jolly good time watching this.

"I got you good, Solait!" Rai emerged from his quarters holding the other walkie talkie and spoke into it. "This is payback for the ice sculpture, the finger wiggle dance, and the baguette incident from 10 years ago!" Rai said into the walkie talkie. Rilek was literally rolling on the floor laughing at all of this. She knew she was going to be helping Rai with a prank, but she had no idea how deep this Torre'vnau prank rivalry went. She initally felt bad that Rai was kicked out othe Khellian house for being 'ugly', but maybe it was more fitting for him to be a Torre'vnau. "Who's the gullible Torre'vnau now?" Rai smirked and put the walkie talkie very close to his face. "You just got RAI'D!"

Kali-fal lept ontop of the table and began to munch on the 'Rai bread'. "I can make you a bread too, Renakir," Rilek finally was done laughing enough to sit up. She shoo'ed Kali-fal away from Rai bread and held him in her arms. "What do you think of Rennie Baguette?"

Renakir was face palming so hard at how cringe his brother was, he almost didn't realise Rilek was talking to him. He looked up at her and then at the loaf of 'Rai' in her arms. ”I'm down, I don't think we could fool Allan, but we can certainly try to it on the Torre'vnaus. Torre'vnau breads, let's do it!"