Star Trek: Starbase 777 - paehhos｜paehhos-rehabilitation-centre

"Alrighty here we are Del!" T'Vim said jubilantly as he pulled up to the front of the gate. He put the van in park and stood up so he could give his son a lil pep talk. "You look soooo cute! Miral is gonna be blown away by your stunning looks! Wait-- I'll get some ribbon!" T'Vim bounced off to grab some gold ribbon and tied a little bow at the base of Lhi's right implant and weaved it around the Liberated Borg's cable and then tying it off with another bow at the end. "If you need anything just ping me! Don't assimilate the entire complex!" T'Vim said before suddenly realising what he said. "A-Ahh-- not like that, Del, s-sorry, I forgot. Anyway, I love you," T'Vim pulled his son into his arms and gave him a very loving hug!

"Thanks, di'ranov," Lhi was trying not to look distressed at the Borg comment but he could feel his mood quickly slipping downward. "I'll see you tomorrow," He weakly hugged T'Vim back and held the embrace for a few seconds before pulling away and heading out of the van towards the guard station.

As Lhi approached the guard station he clasped his little gift bag in his hands. It was full of things he thought Miral would like, a few snacks, some flowers, and a couple of astronomical devices such as a sextant and a star chart! "Hello, I am here to visit Miral ir-Levitasz tr'Valdore," Lhi told the guard as he presented his gift bag for scanning as he assumed was probably protocol. He didn't think he was bringing in anything dangerous, no knives or other items that could be weapons-- unless Miral was gonna sextant-and-a-sock a bitch in the centre. The guard was polite and scanned the bag as well as held out a PADD for Lhi to give his fingerprint. "My name is Lhi erh’fvi-Deletham e-Lla’mne tr'Ahaefvthe," Lhi told the guard and soon the gate opened to let him walk into the facility. "Thank you, jolan tru," Lhi replied with a wave that made the guard tilt his head as that was not a very common Romulan gesture. Lhi had spent so much time on Starfleet ships he had picked up a number of non-Romulan mannerisms. Lhi proceeded into the centre which looked much nicer than he expected. The building was clean and tidy with a few people walking around. Some were guards and some were inmates, but overall the vibes were calm. Lhi got a little mixed up as he attempted to find the visitor's rooms. He saw the main visiting hall where there were a few families sitting together, eating and chatting away. He saw couples chatting away and exchanging gifts. He continued down the corridor where it had what appeared to be suites for private visitation. After another security check with the guard he continued down to the door labelled 'Miral tr'Valdor, Deletham tr'Ahaefvthe'.

Sitting in the kitchen area of the suite was Miral. A very tall blue eyed man with snow white hair. He had wide shoulders and a piercing gaze with sharp features. He certainly looked the part of ex-Tal Shiar commander. However those days were over and here he was just another inmate doing his time to atone for his past wrongdoings. As soon as he saw Lhi he stood up from his seat and briskly walked towards the entrance with his hand extended. "Dele..." Miral began to say before he heard the automatic doors whoosh close behind Lhi. "Stelam."

Lhi's face may not have had much movement, but his mechanical eyes seemed to light up when he saw his fiance and trusted Conspirator. He extended his hand just like Miral did and very lightly their fingertips touched before Miral's much larger hands cupped themselves around Lhi's smaller and daintier one. "Mhr'vaat-- I.." Lhi's breath hitched as he practically fell into Miral's arms, nearly crushing his gift bag in the process.

"Stelam, my e'lev, ullienen, the brightest star in my galaxy," Miral let go of Lhi's hand so he could steady the other by his shoulders to prevent him from falling forward. Maybe Miral was a little too forceful with his hand holding , it was easy to forget that Lhi did not have the best balance. "You look so stunning today, I love the ribbon. Your outfit is also gorgeous, you could make even the 24th century Navy uniforms look beautiful," Miral joked as he took a step back to get a look at his fiance's attire. With his body draped in deep red fabric with gold accents, Lhi looked like a vision from a dream. With floor length robes and chiffon head scarf it wasn't difficult for Miral to imagine how Lhi would look on their wedding day. Swearing loyalty to each other, their fingers intertwining as they exchanged words of affection. It didn't feel like he was in a prison anymore, for just this one evening the universe melted away, leaving only him and his beloved to celebrate their wonderful bond together.

"Oh! I have gifts for you, ummm... I wasn't sure what you needed here so..." Lhi gently tugged on his cable that kept getting tangled in his veil before handing the bag over to Miral.

"Thank you," Miral took the bag and set it down on the kitchen table. He slowly picked out each item one by one as Lhi watched with anticipation. Unlike his fiance, Miral wore his expressions clear on his face as he seemed appreciative and surprised at each item he pulled. "A sextant, how lovely. I bet you I'll have ten guys up in my bunk asking to borrow this," Miral mused with a soft chuckle. He clicked the item and looked through the glass only to see Lhi's face which made him laugh again. "And snacks, what's this, KFH? You sure got a lot of food," Miral pulled out the bags of food and quickly headed to the fridge to toss them inside so they could eat it later. Once the bag had been completely emptied, Miral walked back over to Lhi and pulled the shorter man into his arms. "Beautiful, Stelam. Everything is so lovely, thank you for thinking of me, I love you," Miral whispered the phrase a couple times, his embrace holding Lhi so firmly.

Lhi offered small claps with each item Miral revealed from the bag. His fiance gave him a slightly quizzical look when he first started doing the claps before he realised it was a happy gesture. Once the bag was empty, Lhi did a little fist pump, something he had learned from his time on Rapture and 777 to show happiness. The alien gesture made Miral laugh and a few seconds later he found himself pulled back into the taller man's arms. "Mhr'vaat.." Lhi uttered his conspirator's true name, the words seemed to float from his lips. ".... We have something to talk about..." Lhi separated from Miral and stood back, giving him a very serious look. Miral nodded and ushered Lhi towards the living space where a plush sofa and a coffee table sat. The walls had some abstract murals on them, it was a visitor suite so it lacked a lot of personal touches.,

"Stelam, will you sit with me?" Miral asked as he extended his hand for Lhi. Once their fingertips touched, Miral pulled the smaller man onto his lap and wrapped his arms around his waist. The two were now face to face with Lhi straddling Miral, his light green eyes looking as radient as ever before. It almost felt unreal that after 16 years he finally was holding his beloved again. It felt like forever since he looked into those green eyes, even if he had to serve the rest of his life in prison, knowing that he had the heart or someone so beautiful made every day alone worth it. "I know this... Is not how you wanted to be reunited," Miral began, his eyes shifting around the dull beige walls of the room, the weird statuettes on the table, the lack of personal decor. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do. First, I am fully prepared to serve out every day of my sentence. I did not invite you here to ask for any favours or pity, I invited you here because I'm in love with you, Stelam. I have been for 16 years. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of when we would be reunited again," Miral spoke softly as he lifted one hand to touch Lhi's cheek, although at this advance Lhi moved his face away, causing Miral to cease his action and just keep his hands on the other's hips. "I'm sorry," Miral sighed and turned his head away. "I committed a crime and I regret it. I regret everything I did on the Tagor and every person I hurt during my time serving the Empire. I am not proud of my past, but most importantly, my biggest regret is that my actions have kept us apart all these years," His gaze went back to Lhi who seemed visible distressed at this point.

Even in Lhi's silence, his lack of eye contact and sudden cold demeanor spoke volumes. He was happy to see Miral was alive and well, but he also took the accusations of 'war crimes' very seriously. Although Lhi didn't think he could bring himself to outright reject Miral or leave him, he was waiting for the other's explanation before consenting to anymore advances.

"It's.... Five people. You, Sei, S'anra, Verelan, and Jaeih. Three cases of involuntary manslaughter, two of negligence and coersion to commit a crime and treason against the Republic," Miral said all in one breath, reciting the charges and the names of those involved in a robotic and rehearsed fashion. "I pleaded guilty and I am in the process of paying my restitution to all of the families, including yours. I am sure you heard my family will be fully supporting the Ahaefvthe house," Miral's tone was serious and steady as he explained the case. He wanted to show that he was not hiding anything and that he was fully prepared for any backlash Lhi would give him. Not that Lhi was likely to do anything impulsive, but Miral would hold nothing against him if he did. "I am thankful the Republic let my crew go, the Tagor was innocent... I testified on behalf of them and took all the blame because it was my idea to board Sphere 72, it was me who..." Miral began to say before he noticed Lhi's expression had turned from seriousness to sadness. He paused for a moment before lifting his hand once again to gently touch the long cable that stretched from the right side of Lhi's head to his shoulder blade. "I'm so sorry, Stelam. I did this to you and it is something I regret every day," Miral's expression fell to mirror Lhi's with tears welling up in his eyes. "You can hate me, Stelam. I won't hold it against you if that's what you think of me."

"Mhr'vaat," Lhi's eyes found their way back to Miral as he lifted his hand to place it on top of his fiance's. He let Miral touch the cable, and then cup his face, the gap between them slowly closing. "You're right, you hurt me. I will never get back my eyes or my ears, I will always look... Like this," He spoke softly with an airy tone, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I see you are committed to building a better future for yourself and atoning for your sins. I... Don't think I could ever bring myself to hate you, Mhr'vaat," Lhi stopped himself before he got too close to Miral, their foreheads barely touching now.

"Beautiful Stelam, I remember when I first saw you laying on the biobed. I was stunned by your beauty. I thought, there could never be someone this beautiful in the galaxy, you must be an illusion," Miral reminisced on their first meeting with a gentle smile on his face. He was glad Lhi wasn't pulling away anymore, but he kept his movements slow and predictable just in case his fiance changed their mind. He never wanted to seem like he was pressuring Lhi into anything.

"... I didn't feel very pretty then," Lhi admitted, shifting uncomfortably on Miral's lap as he gently pushed the other's hand away and turned his head to the side. It had been so long, he forgot what it was like to be showered with compliments. It wasn't that they weren't welcome, it was just not something Lhi was used to hearing from anyone but his parents. And his parents had... A weird way of complimenting him.

"You were and you still are. The prettiest Borg I had ever seen, everything about you is like a dream," Miral rested his hands to his sides, thinking maybe now was not the best time to try and touch Lhi even though that's all he wanted to do. He longed to hold his fiance's hands, press their foreheads together, whisper more words of affirmation and passion into his ear.

"... Can.... Miral, plaese don't call me that," Lhi hugged his arms to his chest and began to rub his elbows in a self soothing motion. "I'm not Borg.. I never want to be Borg," Lhi couldn't hold back his tears anymore, he had been trying to desperately to keep his feelings to himself when his fathers would casually mention the Borg or the Tal Shiar. He rememberd Vrilh's comment about the Supernova too or T'Vim telling the KFH staff that 'his son was Borg'. "M-My parents called me Borg, now you call me Borg, we are not Borg, we were brainwashed by the Borg, they hurt us and... Made us hurt other people," Lhi quickly got up, pushing Miral's hands away and turned his back to the other, now just facing the wall and sobbing. "We aren't Borg..... we are too imperfect to be Romulan... We... We are just, Lhi."

"No-- no no, Stelam, I'm sorry that's not... Stelam, please," Miral made a move to try and pull Lhi into his arms but he was pushed away. He retracted his hands and let out a soft sigh of defeat. As much as he wanted to chase after Lhi and pull him back into his arms, he knew that would only irritate his fiance more. He never wanted to force Lhi into an uncomfortable situation, even if it broke his heart. In the end, it was Lhi's choice whether to accept Miral back into his life and no matter what he chose, Miral was going to respect it. "Lhi," Miral said softly. "You are perfect to me, always have been."

"I'm not though. I have one ear, no eyes, I-I can't even move properly without getting my own wires tangled. It's been 16 years and my skin is still gray, w-what about this is beautiful? I... All I see is Borg," Lhi said through his tears, shaking his head and tugging on his hair which only got his cable and hand implant more tangled up in the loose strands of purple.

"Stelam no," Miral couldn't bare to watch his fiance in so much distress so he decided to take a shot and rush to Lhi's side to grab him by his wrists to try and calm him down. With the most care he gently untangled the strands of Lhi's hair from his implants, a faint smile spreading across his lips. "Your implants are a sign of your resiliance and the strength you possess. You are always beautiful in my eyes, I love you so much Stelam, you are the prettiest Romulan I have ever seen," Miral gave kisses to both of Lhi's hands, making sure to leave a few extra on his left hand, the one with the implant. When Lhi didn't pull away, Miral took this as a good sign and just stayed there holding his hands and keeping his gaze steady.

"Mhr'vaat," Even though he had only threw his little tantrum for a few seconds, Lhi quickly grew exhausted from so much movement. He had long been able to feel extreme emotions, but they still took a lot out of him whenever he expressed them. His breath was uneven and each time he binked more tears fell from his artificial eyes. ".... I... I'm sorry," Lhi spoke quietly, his voice laced with sincerity and regret that he acted so negatively towards Miral when the other was just trying to compliment him and show his affections. "I... My parents keep calling me Borg and.. I know they hold no malicious intent but I just think about the Artifact and the Reclamation Project, they called us Borg," Lhi was trying to explain, but he had to pause every few words to catch his breath. It was becoming almost impossible to stand on his own two feet and he soon fell foward. Thankfully Miral was there to catch him and lifted him into his strong arms so he could carry him back to the sofa where the two could sit down again. "I'm still scared of them, of everyone, but I'm trying not to be. I heard there's another liberated Borg in science on 777, I want to talk with them one day," Now that they were sitting down it was a lot easier for Lhi to focus on regaining control of their thoughts. He had his arms wrapped tightly around Miral's neck and his head on the older man's chest. He didn't say it, but he was very attracted to Miral stronger physique, it made his chest the perfect pillow.

"I understand and you can take things slowly. I never want to force you into anything," Miral reassured Lhi as he brought a hand up to gently rub his fiance's shoulder. "I am glad to hear you have such a diverse crew on the station, you should definietely seek out other liberated Borg. I think connecting with others with similar experience will be very rewarding for you and Stelam," Miral paused and stopped his movements. "I think you should try and make new connections. I love you, but it would be unfair to ask you to wait for me."

Lhi was glad that Miral seemed supportive of his desires to befriend other liberated Borg on 777. He knew Miral would be supportive, he always had been. Even during their time on the Tagor, Miral made sure to take their relationship slow, one day at a time. Perhaps it seemed a little odd that the first officer of a Tal Shiar ship was head over heels for a former Borg drone, but Lhi never felt unsafe around Miral. Even if the older man slipped up with his language or seemed awkward when trying to express his feelings, there was never time where Lhi thought Miral had any intention of harming him or any of the other liberated drones on the ship. Yes, Miral was rightfully held accountable for the deaths of his cousin and two others and the botched liberation of him and Sei, but Miral was committed to atoning for those crimes. It was that honesty and willingness to take responsibility that Lhi was attracted to. "I will wait for you, Miral. H-However long it is," Lhi told him as he held out a hand for Miral to take.

"Lhi.." And Miral gladly took his hand and grinned from ear to ear. "I promise you, once I am finished serving my sentence, we'll get married. I want to dedicate myself to you, wherever you are. If you're still on 777 or somewhere else, I'll follow you. I'll find a job or I can just stay at home-- actually, if it's allowed on 777, I would love to just live on the station. Being a house husband would allow me to focus on giving back to the community," Miral kissed Lhi's hand once more before leaning forward and kissing both of implants around his eyes. Even Lhi couldn't stay completely stoic at the endearing gesture and he let out a soft giggle. Miral felt relieved when the tension between them slowly dissipated. He wanted nothing more than to spend the evening showering his fiance with compliments and affection. Lhi deserved all of it, he deserved to know how much he was loved.

"Mhr'vaat, Miral... Miral ir-Levitasz tr'Valdore, I would like nothing more than for you to be my husband."

"Then it's settled, once I get out we'll get married and I'll proudly proclaim my loyalty to you. Until then please enjoy your freedom. I know you don't need my permission, but I want you to know you can love other people," Although Romulans were culturally polyamorous, Miral didn't think he would ever love anyone as much as Lhi. He had a wife, but their relationship was closer to that of close friends than the intimacy that his and Lhi's relationship had. However that didn't mean he expected Lhi to be the same way. Compared to Miral, Lhi was quite young and had a long life ahead of him and Miral never wanted to hold Lhi back from his own ambitions. "Make other connections, see new things, explore new worlds and new civilisations. The universe is yours, Stelam. My star, my radiant sun, the prettiest Romulan and the most perfect Lhi erh'fvi, I love you," And with that Miral captured Lhi's lips in a passionate kiss as he tightened his grip on his hand. He was serious about his promise and looking forward to the day he would be able to fulfill it.