Star Trek: Starbase 777

The lounge had a grandieur sort of aesthetic, something one could find in some fancy mansion - big paitings, busy decorum, and the ever-present red flowers. Just like the rest of the area, the lounge was also designed in the red-blue duotone, and bathed in the soft lights of the starlit ceiling; with soft carpets and comfortable red chairs and sofas, as well as a large, warm fireplace, this area was perfect for people who preferred the more passive, calmer ways of spending their Winter Ball - perhaps in a group of friends, or new acquaintances, and with a glass of drink from the nearby-located bar.

Having departed from the events hall with a certain haste, Vara'l might have been caught sagging slightly in relief when he'd entered the Lounge and happened to find it quiet. Or well as quiet as a lounge in a winter ball happened to get, many chairs empty as he'd surveyed the room. Many sofa's too. It was a sofa into which he settled after a moment, the sofa slipped into quietly, his position in it adjusted carefully after a moment as he'd worked to ensure it'd be hard to get behind him. That something he happened to not particularly like in big events like this, something that likely betrayed itself in the position he eventually settled properly into.

Having seen that the Event Hall itself was rather lacking in any good prey for her social appetite, Anair had decided to wander into the lounge. Her blue gown swished around her as her taloned feet clicked upon the wooden floor only to be silenced by the soft carpet. It was even more empty here than it was at the Event Hall. That is except for a single Romulan on one of the couches. Her target has been spotted and locked in. "You don't mind if I come and bother you, hmmm? I didn't want to intrude on the love birds in the main hall. Didn't seem.. Polite. My name is Anair! Just arrived here on the station! What is your name?" She strode up to the Romulan, her wings fluttering with excitement and feathers on her head lifting high into the air. She spoke with a soft, almost song like quality. Her green eyes glowed from beneath her mask as she eyed the man there.

Blissfully unaware as he had been until the other proceeded to make their way closer, Vara'l had been in a world of his own. Deep in thought as he had watched the room and its proverbial world go by in the moments before his storm grey eyes settled on someone. Someone who had pulled him firmly out of that deep thought as he had realized someone approached him. Realized that and as he also realized they were alone,relaxed slightly. That happened to make the task of hearing and listening when one happened to be getting used to new tech a easier prospect. Something that had lessened the anxiety then. "I..dont mind" Vara'l responded simply then. A smile mustered in a compliment to his words. "I admit, part of why I came here was on account of avoiding interrupting the lovebirds as well" He admitted simply then. "..Welcome to the station Anair, I'm Vara'l tr'Hara, I'm the Assistant Chief Tactical Officer, it's good to meet you" He informed them as he introduced himself

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance Vara'l! And thank you for the pleasant greeting that you have given me." Anair moved then to one of the seats across from the couch, her wings folding in gracefully and the feathers upon her head sticking excitedly up. She glanced around the lounge for a moment and was quite surprised to see that it was still rather empty. Maybe she truly was the early bird.. And here she thought that she was late. "So a Tactical Officer, hmm? That usually means I will end up patching you up at some point. Maybe reattach a finger or two." Anair waved a hand at herself, her head tilting. "I myself am a trauma surgeon. I am glad that the first time we get to meet is at something like this and not with you on my operating table. Though, I can assure you that if you did end up on my operating table you would be just fine!" She gave as reassuring a smile as she was able to with her beak. "How long have you been on the station?"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance to.. and you are welcome." He'd responded in the moments before she proceeded to say that being a tactical officer usually meant that she'd end up patching him up at some point. A comment that while it perhaps happened to be accurate, happened to also be one that Vara'l was briefly forced to suppress the urge to quirk an eyebrow at. That given its nature and what happened to be the ball they happened to currently be at. Not that he intended to comment on that. "..Given my duties I...hope that the time when someone needs to operate on me will be quite a ways into the future if ever, though I wont deny that my job can come with risks." "And.. I'm glad this is where we've met for the first time also." Vara'l had then added on the subject of 'operating table meetings', not particularly moved one way or another by their words at present, given that they happened to be someone he'd only just met. "And, I've been on the station for a little bit now, around a year if I'm right though...recent events rather threw off my calculations on that point" Vara'l indicated. "I'm quite new in this role though, I'm a Tactitican, mainly."

Anair noticed what she thought was uncertianty in the other officers. She realized that it must be over the way that she introduced what she did. "Apologies if I made you uncomfortable at all. A bit of medical humor you see." She chuckled, a bit awkwardly as she shifted in her chair. These high back chairs always left her wings feeling confined but she would deal with it for now. "A year huh? Wait.. What happened recently that might have caused you to under or over estimate that?" Anair hoped that that line of questioning wasn't too awkward and hoped that it also did not spoil the conversation at all. She just wanted to enjoy socializing for once in a much more lax environment. She suspected that this officer wasn't the most talkative or at ease when it came to his duty. "What did you do before?

"Ah.. no need to apologise there." He'd responded then as he mustered a warm smile. "And well, a away mission happened, given what occurred on it my grasp of how long I've been on the station has slipped a tad." The Romulan briefly looked haunted then before he recovered his composure and said. "Its approximately been around a year If I'm not mistaken, though I may be." The Romulan shrugged a bit then before he looked about a moment and said. "I'm rather intending to check my record later on to double check, in all honesty." As his gaze returned to the other, Vara'ls hearing implants likely briefly caught the light in a assymetrical sparkle. The two bits of metal clamped to his different in many ways since what had happened on the away mission, one of them borg and the other now something that carried a more Starfleet shape to it. A shape he'd decorated for the winter ball with carefully overlaid leaf spirals set upon a background of red. "Before I was the ACTO, I was one of the stations field tacticians, I was something similar on my last posting for Starfleet." The Romulan allowed himself a slight chuckle then. "I've enjoyed both roles" He commented then before he smoothly asked. "May I ask how you've found the station so far, has it been to your liking?"

"So far? I have absolutely adored it! I requested this posting you know! I wanted a place where I could interact with many, many different species and situations! Though, I haven't had my first shift yet. Nor have I met my room mate. Just the assistant chief medical officer!" Anair stopped and took a deep breath. She found herself talking long, quickly and with a bit too much excitement. She had to remind herself that not everyone could keep up with an Aurelian when they were super excited about something. "Now, let me turn the question around on you! How do you enjoy the station? What are some of your favorite parts about it?" She leaned forward curiously, the fox mask that lay over her beak flopping forward and almost slipping off. It, afterall, was not designed for her head shape.

Positively overjoyed on the inside about the fact that his question had succeeded in directing their focus away from what had happened which had caused his grasp of the how long to wander slightly, Vara'l watched the other carefully. While beaks were pretty much impossible to deal with if one happened to need to make do with a mix between lipreading and hearing implants somewhere loud, the Romulan happened to have done reasonably well in working out what she'd said so far. * *Most of it parsed accurately despite the teething problems of having a new part to one of his implants. "Happy to hear you've adored it so far, given what you've said and what you've yet to do, you've got quite a few more good things to enjoy following this" The smile the Romulan mustered at that point warm and utterly real. After all, while the other happened to have him slightly overwhelmed by how outgoing they were, it always happened to make his day to hear that people were doing quite well. When they then turned the question around on him, Vara'l managed to maintain that smile of his and to even conceal the fact his anxiety tried to make it..brittle. "I do, I really do." He responded sincerely then before he continued. "And well, I've quite enjoyed the environmental ring, the botanical garden there is utterly stunning.. though the aquarium is also quite good in and of itself." Vara'l mused then as he listed the two places he enjoyed utterly on part of the station and then admitted. "Though.. given the different places I've seen so far on station and those I've yet to see, what I can say is that those are the two areas I've most enjoyed so far." He chuckled for a moment as he considered the question further. "..Though you said parts about it...so I've got to say, I've also rather enjoyed the work atmosphere here, everyone is really nice."

"I absolutley have adored it! Truly! Though I have only been here a couple of days none of my other postings would have allowed for anything like this. Too much work and always being in the thick of catastrophes left very little time for celebrations." She crossed her legs over each other and bounced the one that dangled. Anair listened with rapt attention as he discussed his favorite parts of the station. All of them were places that she had yet been able to make it to herself though she had been very curious about the environmental ring. She hoped that it was large enough for her to be able to fly. "It sounds like I must make a trip to the environmental ring then! Maybe it is big enough for me to stretch my wings so I don't have to rely on a holodeck for that. Not that I really mind the holodecks, you can experience so many unique things on them." She chuckled softly at that, eyeing him over curiously. Her green eyes specifically focused on the implants that she could see. Recognition played out in her futures and she leaned in a bit closer. "Were you part of the collec- Wait.. No I am sorry. That is not an appropriate question to ask."

"I'm Very glad to hear it!" He then chuckled a tad then before the other commented about all the catastrophes and the like. "...I'm sorry to hear that your other postings were like that, though I imagine this'll be.. a tad calmer with your last postings being as they were." Vara'l commented then, calmer now as he started to get more comfortable with this conversation, with this person despite the fact that they happened to probably be able to talk for Starfleet. When the other had then proceeded to say about taking a trip to the environmental ring, Vara'ls smile had actually widened a bit, the mask he usually wore over his emotions and the like having slipped slightly. He'd started to risk letting loose a bit, actually meeting conversation with conversation as things had progressed. "I imagine its probably your best bet I suspect, for large open spaces other than holodeck generated ones I mean...and aye, holodecks have quite something to them." He then had proceeded to fall silent as the other started to look closer at him...and then looked like they recognized something. Then they'd...said that. Asked that. Asked about...that, asked about something that was...a touchy subject. Something that probably declared itself as his expression dropped from a smile to something more neutral. "....I was a part of the collective, aye." Vara'l responded then, it not having then taken much for him to then grab for the out from that subject they'd offered then, the realization it...wasn't a good subject. "...And...its alright.. though I'll ask for your understanding as I say..thats not a subject I'd like to go into if thats okay."

Anair clicked her beak in annoyance at herself. Why did she have to bring up such a sore topic for those who survived the collective? In her years of service she had interacted with many and none were happy to talk about what happened to them in the past. Why would she mar this night with such a question? "Sorry.. Sometimes my beak moves quicker than my mind. I am sorry that you had to go through that but at least now you are free. Free to enjoy a night like this." She gave him an apologetic look, the feathers on top of her head falling down against her head. She finally lifted up a hand and removed the mask from her face to reveal her red and brown markings. "I do not understand how anyone wears those for extended periods of time. Maybe I should have looked for something that fit me better... She sighed and shook her before giving him another smile. "Lets talk about something else, hmmm? What do you enjoy doing when your not busy being tactical? Hmmm?"

"Its alright... and well." He had proceeded to smile then, a slightly brittle one given his time as a member of the Collective that he'd only just been reminded of. "...At least I am.. and this has been quite the night." Vara'l continued as he watched the other, noted the click of their beak and idly wondered what that might actually be meant by that. Their apology as it was, appreciated all the same despite the gesture he happened to not entirely recognize. "I've quite enjoyed things like this since my transfer over from the Republic." When the other gave them an apologetic look, Vara'l smiled once again and proceeded to remove his own mask in response to the other having proceeded to do so. "You've my sympathies there if you'll permit me to offer then,, though I imagine my problems with masks are significantly different to yours." He smiled a tad there before, when they asked about talking about something else, Vara'l had then nodded. The offer of a change of subject appreciated. "That sounds agreeable." He responded simply. "Though well, I'm not the best at maintaining alot of pastimes myself." He chuckled then as he briefly considered how Telim had opened him up to actually considering more hobbies than he'd restricted himself to. "I practise martial arts, meditation and continue to keep my skill as a smith and metalwork in practise, got a few projects I'm working on at present in between enjoying a good book or two.." Vara'l had shrugged then slightly before he smiled and proceeded to ask. "May I ask what you enjoy doing in your free time also?"

"The Republic hmm? So you are one of the loaned officers or are you with Starfleet on a permanent basis? Also, how do you feel about Starfleet compared to the Republic? Personally I enjoy operating and working with species of many different origins so I couldn't imagine serving anywhere but Starfleet. Maybe the KDF but I don't think I would fit in very well with them." Anair let out a little chuckle at that statement. She barely was able to make due when her superior officers were more military and less explorers or civilian like. Another reason why she was glad to be part of Medical. There were very few by the book Medical officers. "A man of many talents I see. I believe the humans might describe you as a renaissance man. What type of projects do you enjoy working on? And what type of books do you enjoy reading? Sorry if I ask a lot of questions, I just like to know as much about the people around me as I can!" This time a soft giggle and another flutter of her wings which had relaxed significantly since she had asked the question before. "As for me? I enjoy catching up on the latest medical journals. Exploring different cultures. Socializing like this and well stretching my wings! When I am in a more tired mood I enjoy reading as well or maybe experiencing the latest holo novel."

After having grabbed a drink nearby Gregor silently entered the lounge wearing a formal three piece black suit and a worn chrome mask surrounding his eyes though he had his jacket hung over his shoulder to cool down a bit. Gregor didn't look around much instead he just sat himself down in one of the unoccupied sofas with his drink in hand taking a few sips every now and then as he enjoyed the more calmness of this room, less people and less noise to focus on and the less drain on his social battery though he did enjoy spending time socializing with new people but big groups just drained the life out of him if it wasn't work related. He silently hummed on a song, the same song he was humming a few days earlier while responding to that distress call, annoying how it came by every now and then to live rent free in his head it was a good song but not one that you'd want to have on repeat for hours on end. "Hope I'm not disturbing the two of you." Gregor said apologetically having stopped his humming as soon as he had noticed the two sitting in the same room. (edited)

"I transferred service, so I have come over permanently as a member of starfleet." He responded with a smile then before he then responded to the others question after a moment passed in careful thought. "..Its certainly different as a service, a bit more military like in my eyes at least though thats..cause of how things have been for the republic and where I served." Vara'l allowed himself a slight shrug then. "So..I suppose I feel that they're both different services that I like and respect." The Romulan mused before the words that followed caused him to smile slightly. Man of many talents, renaissance man, those were compliments or well words he'd decided to take as such that improved his mood yet further after the collective blip. "Thank you for the compliment and well, I enjoy bookmarks, though I also sometimes make weapons and the like, its something my house did and continues to maintain the tradition of doing." Vara'l responded, a tad overwhelmed by all the questions but having resolved to stick it out and entertain them as the other happened to be pretty polite about it all. "And book wise, I tend to enjoy detective novels though I used to enjoy some of the old fantasy books and still do sometimes read them every so often if I've got the chance, also started to listen to audiobooks again since I learned how to make that work." He'd chuckled a bit then as continued to watch the other and smiled at the flutter of wings. "Have you encountered any good holo novels recently that you might recommend if you don't mind my asking?" "Been looking for an new one to enjoy" He'd then turned as another had arrived, their approach spotted out of the corner of one eye, the Romulan careful as he turned to position himself so he happened to be able to see them both semi clearly. "I don't believe you are, we were just chatting, feel free to join us."

The new comer was noticed and given a brief smile by Anair when they entered the lounge. The Aurelian had a japenese kitsune mask in her lap and was wearing a soft blue gown detailed with silver patterns of stars. Her wings were freed at the back and were, at the moment, fluttering contently. When the new comer interjected she waved a hand toward one of the closer seats. "Please! Join us! We were just getting to know each other! I would love to make another friend here tonight." Anair's attention switched back to Vara'l and that smile tugged at the corners of her beak again. "Hmmm, there was an adaptation of a Trill romance novel that I absolutely adored growing up. Of course, if that isn't your style there was also an adaptation of an old Earth movie called War in the Stars. That was also interesting! Though.. If I have to be honest.." She leans in almost conspiratorialy. "I actually do enjoy a few Klingon operas. The amount of emotion and feeling that they put into their performances can be stunning even if Gagh is an acquired taste." Her green eyes moved to the new comer again and she motioned at herself. "My name is Anair. How about you? What sort of Holonovels do you enjoy experiencing?"

Gregor nodded as he heard the invitation to join them and so he did taking a seat a bit closer so one didn't have to yell all of their words, he took off his mask as well as it was annoyingly in the way as he sipped at his drink. "Glad my humming didn't disturb you." He said with a faint smile before taking yet another sip from his glass he knew his almost constant humming had annoyed a few people in the past especially when it was the same song he was humming on, sometimes he could have gone on for hours on end. "I'm Gregor McGuire." "And Holonovels?" Gregor repeated as he thought for a good moment while carefully swirling the liquid in the glass around and around. "I admit I haven't tried many holonovels but the ones I have and like are.. mystery ones like Sherlock Holmes.. and sometimes horror." He said with a shrug he had honestly only tried a few ones as he mostly preferred reading instead but if he found a good horror holonovel he'd most definitely try it out as soon as he could to get that adrenaline kick and forget about the horrors of reality.

The elements silently thanked as the other proceeded to take off their mask as they accepted the invitation to join the duo, Vara'l continued to watch the engineer with steel grey eyes. "Admittedly, I didn't really hear the humming, currently breaking in a new bit to one of my hearing implants at the moment if thats the right way to put it." He responded simply then, his tone level as he idly wondered if he should have retrieved a drink before he settled into his current location, perhaps it'd have been better to have done so early he'd mused to himself before his mind had highlighted that it was far to late to worry about it now. If he started to really want a drink, he'd have to go in search of a drink later. "Its good to meet you Gregor McGuire, I'm Vara'l tr'Hara." When the other then proceeded to address Holonovels, Vara'l listened to what they had to say carefully and proceeded to make a mental note of what they'd happened to have said. Mystery holonovels rather sounded like something that could be good to look at, he'd reckoned. Might be a fun change from reading a paperback book. "I have heard that the Sherlock Holmes series had a number of good holonovels produced based on them, might have to try one out, been looking around for other holonovels to potentially try in all honesty."

"Horror? Oh no. I never could do that. Maybe an actual horror novel but not in a million years could I do a holo novel based on horror! I might legitimately have a heart attack if I did!" Anair shook her head, feathers puffing up on her head as even the thought of a horror holo novel was enough to fill her with anxiety. "Despite your interesting choice of novels it is a pleasure to meet you Gregor! What do you do here on the station? Looking back toward Vara'l, Anair gave him a small, mischievous smile. Perhaps we could experience some more together, hmm? They are always more enjoyable as a group! Maybe I could even stand to do a horror novel if I had a couple of others with me. She laughed at that, seeming to be in very good humor at the moment.

"Hearing implants? I don't know how that feels but I know how it feels to adjust to ocular implants.. It takes quite some time to adjust to implants and changes to them." Gregor said with a faint smile as he took a sip from his drink. It had been a while since he had a drink that wasn't water, coffee or tea, he raised his glass in response as if saying likewise to meeting Vara'l. "There's a lot of holonovels on Sherlock Holmes cases, I don't think there's a single poorly written one at least not that I have encountered over the years, I strongly recommend to try at least one or two." Gregor would probably pay a visit to the holodeck within the near future to jog his memory a bit and to get his creativity and imagination running on new fuel. “Well If a horror holonovel gets to.. frightening, just remember to take deep breaths and repeat ‘This is not real’ over and over in your head, just a little trick I learnt. And I’m a Maintenance Engineer, what about you?” He said finishing off with a question of his own, this was usually how he spent events such as this. Away from large groups of people and instead just casually chatting with a smaller group.

"Aye, managed to damage one of mine on a recent away mission.. so have effectively started the whole process all over again" He'd responded then as he'd chuckled. "..So I suppose I can say its a bit of a journey, adjusting to such things, at least it has been this time round." He then proceeded to fall silent for a moment then as he once again wondered idly to himself if he should have acquired a drink for himself before he'd headed into the lounge like this. He'd not ended up with a headache or something yet but knowing him he reckoned that one happened to be on the horizon, after all, it took alot of effort to focus on two people in conversation in a room that happened to not entirely be silent, like this one. "I'll likely follow that recommendation, the books were quite a good read and if the holonovels are anywhere near as good they'll be quite enjoyable." He mused as he idly reflected on how the books happened to differ from Romulan ones, one of the differences being the marked reduction in..stabby. "A refreshing change from Romulan literature of a similar genre." He'd then looked back to the medical officer for a moment before he'd smiled and said "Admittedly never used to like horror novels myself either, for a similar reason though I'd be willing to do that, try one out in a group" That comment followed by a turn as he looked back at the engineer and listened for a moment before he then after he smiled again, proceeded to say. "..That's quite the useful trick there." As he had then settled back to listen to the two converse.

"Me? Oh! Sorry! I suppose that I should have introduced what I do and my rank! Full name as well! Lieutenant Anair Rendi-Os, Trauma Surgeon. Hopefully you never need my services because if you do then something has gone very, very wrong. I assure you, though, that you will be fine if you are under my knife!" Anair gave Gregor a smile as best as she could, her wings fluttering in excitement. She enjoyed talking about what she did even though what she did could cause others a bit of discomfort. "Just remind yourself it isn't real.. That could work but... I have also heard many horror stories about the safeties failing on holodecks which turned them into very real situations. But.. Well, if I had both of you there then it should be okay. Though, it would have to be something simple first! Like.. A ghost story or something." Anair glanced between the two of them, her head feathers rising again in excitement. "So! Craziest stories that you have during your time in Starfleet or otherwise! Lets hear them!" She offered, grinning wide.

"Oh that's a tad annoying having to start over on something like that." He said knowing quite well how annoying it could be to adjust to something new that's meant to replace part of one's body, he finished his drink with a last swing then sat it down on a small table in front of him he thought of going to get another drink but maybe he'd let the first one get time to cool down a bit so he wouldn't over indulge. "Well it depends on what you like but a book lets you conjure up the scene and characters in your head using a lot more imagination than a holonovel though holonovels place you right in the scene.. I myself like a bit of both. And, horror novels get your adrenaline pumping and your mind to stay alert in a way it challenges you.” Gregor said with a shrug as it was different from person to person, it had been quite a while since he himself had run up a horror holonovel mainly because he hadn’t had the time before but maybe now he did. “Then let's hope nothing goes that wrong , at least nothing should go wrong anytime soon.” He said with a smile as nothing should be able to go wrong since he did his work with utmost care everyday. “I don’t believe safeties failing is that common nowadays so I wouldn’t be too worried about that.. and a simple Ghost story is a good start.” Gregor paused a bit as he heard the question he had to really think through when it came to the craziest story during his time in Starfleet since he had decades of stories to tell.

"Indeed it is, though alternative outcomes to that damage occurring in all honesty make it one of the more preferable of the bad outcomes." Vara'l responded then with a slight smile as he once again found that he regretted not getting himself a drink before he arrived at the lounge. "I'll be through the adjustment period before I know it I'm sure." He chuckled softly then as he idly considered if he might be best to head off and go get himself a drink at some point soon. When the other then proceeded to speak on the subject of holonovels and the like, Vara'l listened intently as he watched the other and tried to stop his mind from being so focused on drink. "I've found from what I've encountered of holonovels about different books I've liked that while in some cases it's been hit and miss... in others I've ended up liking both the book and the holonovel of it but for different reasons." He mused partly to himself then as he considered the prospect of a sherlock holmes holonovel and then added. "...And..I suppose that the adrenaline rush of horror holonovels does sound appealing in some ways." He had then turned as he listened to the medical Lieutenant or more specifically, tried to divide his attention between all individuals involved in the conversation. "While the prospect of safeties failing doesn't...appeal Gregor does have a point regarding the safeties." The Romulan trailed off a moment. "And I'd be game in trying out a ghost story with a group, in all honesty." He commented with a smile before the question about stories from during his time in Starfleet or elsewhere then truly proceeded to hit home. "..Well, I've been ...around I believe the correct word would be.. hmmmm." Vara'l dropped into deep thought then after he'd proceeded to say that. "Thats quite the question there.. got to have a think.."

Anair was more than happy to take a back seat in the conversation for a moment as the two men talked. She realized that she may have been controlling the majority of the conversation and though Vara'l most likely would never say she was sure that he appreciated a bit of respite from the interrogation he had been receiving. "If you both are sure that the safeties wont fail then.. Well I guess we should all go together! More enjoyable that way, hmm? Vara'l, I say we let Gregor here choose the holonovel for us since he has so much more experience in horror than us!" Anair glanced between the two. Neither of them seem ready to tell a crazy story which left her in the spot to lead the conversation. SO she had to rake her own brain and figure out which story she should tell. "Well, when it comes to Medical I think the thing that surprised me the most when I first started was the amount of... Issues I had to deal with that involved dalliances between species. Though, that isn't a proper conversation here." Anair let out a little sing song chuckle at that before continuing. "No, I think the craziest thing that I had to deal with happened a year ago. We were responding to a distress call to a Tellarite trading vessel. When we got there several of the crew were.. Fused to the walls but still alive. Having to perform surgery away from Medical and on such a strange situation has truly been the strangest thing I have encountered." She smiled and went quiet then, ready to hear what the others had to offer for crazy stories.

"Sherlock Holmes would be a hit If you already like the books and an adrenaline rush every now and then helps your mind to stay alert.. Just don’t overdo it till the point you become an adrenaline junkie.” Gregor said the last part as a kind of warning as it wasn’t good for one's health to continuously subject oneself to adrenaline rushes. But horror holonovels had helped him quite a bit during his early days in Starfleet to keep calm and in control of oneself in difficult situations “Trying out a horror novel in a group would honestly be something new to me but it certainly is.. appealing as you said, I think I even have one in mind right now and as said I’m quite sure the safeties won’t fail. I could even double check if you want.” He said with a reassuring smile. Gregor thought of a story but nothing really crazy Engineering way he could come to think of other than a few unexplained happenings that always seemed to break the laws of physics though he wasn’t sure they’d understand some of those stories without knowing the technology as he did, he listened to Anair as she told her story. “Did you find out what caused it?” He asked curiously as he had heard a similar story but that was years ago. “I think my craziest story would be more of a funny one. I think it was back in.. 2369 while on an exploratory mission we caught some sort of computer virus If I remember correctly but the replicators went wild you didn’t get what you ordered.. One Ensign who wanted pancakes with syrup got spaghetti with maple syrup and another Plomeek soup with ketchup, the Universal Translator decided it was time to translate everything into a different language and if that wasn’t enough the whole ship played techno music.. We had a field day fixing everything to the way it was but it was with laughter.” *Gregor chuckled at that memory sure the language barrier had been quite difficult but luckily a few of his Engineering buddies knew Standard sign language and others were abl

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e to translate.*

"Does sound rather good...though I've learnt long ago to avoid overdoing it to use that way of putting it" Vara'l responded initially as he continued to watch Gregor, then looked over to Anair. "And, I'd find that agreeable, trying out a holonovel of that sort as a group like that, together and..you do rather have a point there." He smiled then, their happy approach to this conversation something that had caused his mood to improve. Something he happened to not mind at all. That improvement to his mood one that stuck around as Anair started their story. A story he listened to intently, one he winced at when they said about how the crew fused into the walls like that. As someone who'd once been Borg, Vara'l happened to have more experience than some might have had about certain things. So..when they said about that about people being fused into walls, he happened to be able to approximate a reasonably good mental image of such things. "Elements, I must admit, that is..quite strange aye." He muttered then. "And..painful." He'd then listened to the story from Gregor and once it reached their end, Vara'l smiled slightly. "Both of those are quite good stories, can't say I'm sure mine'll be as good." He paused a moment there and his jaw twitched a moment before he began. "My craziest story is from my time in the Republic, around 2410, we'd just completed an away mission and thought..everything was fine until we started to notice that the computer happened to be talking strangely." He paused and then elaborated further. "You'd ask the replicator for a drink and it'd go, 'Sure sir whatever you say or something else, act all childish." It'd probably be apparent at this point that Vara'l happened to struggle with story telling..or well with crazy stories. "Eventually it even started to replicate the wrong things or take you to different decks." "Investigating and fixing it ended up a breath of fresh air for everyone involved."

Anair giggled at Gregory’s story. The thought of the universal translator being that messed up to the point that not only would no one on the ship could understand each other but the computer itself was also unable to understand any of the crew led to several funny scenarios in her head. “I guess that story just shows how much we rely on the universal translator! The Federation especially! Personally I would be lost if no one else on the ship spoke Trill.” Anair listened quietly to Vara’l’s story and smiled at the similarities between the two. “It sounds like we would all be lost without the computer no matter the situation. Honestly I don’t know if I could live without the comfort brought on by it. Though if anything these stories are encouraging me to study other languages so that I can speak to others.” Blinking, Anair realized that she had been asked to elaborate more on the situation she had spoken about. She thought for a moment before responding. “All I remember is that it was a combination of warped deflector dish, sub space anomaly and warp core misalignment. A perfect storm our engineer had reported.”

"It really does, aye." Vara'l agreed in the face of the first story from Gregory before he added. "I'd admittedly be lost, less so these days than when I was younger but still." Vara'l chuckled a bit then before he'd then launched properly into his story. Once he'd completed the story and Anair commented as she did, Vara'l smiled again and nodded slightly. "I suspect you're right there, on the being lost front, though perhaps not when it comes to every situation though, just for the shipboard and starbase related ones." Vara'l paused then when the other commented about studying other languages. "On the languages front, I've personally found the study of languages to be quite interesting, even past their usefulness, its well worth it." He then looked to Gregory as they asked for elaboration on Anair's story and then back to Anair as he then listened to what they had to say. When they'd finished speaking, Vara'l winced slightly and said. "..That does rather sound like a perfect storm I must admit, a not at all pleasant one there..." The Romulan once again started to wonder if he should have acquired a drink before he arrived in the lounge then, as he started to not that he'd begun to feel parched.