Catching Up

Posted on 13 Jul 2023 @ 9:19pm by Lieutenant JG Thex sh'Zoarhi & Ensign Drevas

2,988 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: S3 Episode 5: Diplomatic Incident/Hydaransz Again (Main)
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 24

- ON -

Color Drevas a teeny bit surprised when he'd messaged Thex with a dinner invitation set that evening, and she'd responded that she'd be more than glad to attend. He'd thought that she would be busy with post-mission repairs still, but apparently not. A good thing, all things considered.

Therefore he'd waited for her in the mess hall in casual attire: a dark red polo shirt, jeans, hooved shoes. Casual but smart.

Thex had been tired after her long days getting the ship back to a working order. When she'd seen Drevas dinner invite she's jumped at the chance to take her mind of her tiredness.

After getting a quick shower she dressed in a black t-shirt and matching leggings and some black knee-high boots. It didn't take her long till she was in the mess hall looking for her friend.

Drevas waved her over as soon as he saw her. The all-black look looked good on her, he thought, very good in fact. Kind of like an edgy aesthetic. "I hope work hasn't been too hectic." He said in Andorii. Perhaps it might make her feel more relaxed hearing her own language, he'd reckoned. "May I order for both of us? You look exhausted."

"Mostly removing the gell packs and reinstalling the old systems. So many of them to do and even more tommrow." Thex said as she took her seat well aware of the eyes on her. She had an uncanny ability to look good in anything. " I'll have an orion starburst and a shot of rum. Royal Pusser's Rum if they have any."

Drevas smiled and placed their order with the bartender on duty. He understood perfectly the crushing feeling that came with having finished a colossal amount of work one day and having even more to do the following day - every department of the ship did, he knew that, especially now post mission. Wanting temporary relief before reality hit hard the next day was an accompanying feeling entirely familiar to him.

He had to bring their orders over in two trips: her rum shot and starburst first, his glass of reddish iced tea the next. Spilling her order while trying to do it all at once wouldn't have been very good, after all. "I'll have to assist with maintaining the phaser arrays tomorrow." He said. "In preparation for the next mission, of course. I'll be working with Engineering throughout the day. How about you?" He sipped from his drink while studying her, blinking golden amber eyes once.

" For the moment simply removing the gell packs and giving the ship's systems a once over. " Thex replied as she dumped the rum shot into the starburst. The green liquid began fizzing from which the andorian took a long swig from. " Ah, that hits the spot." She said with a happy sigh of relief.

Drevas nodded and sipped his tea. Two seemingly simple tasks that would take up her entire day with ease. Especially the once-over. A Starfleet vessel no matter how big or small had a lot of systems to be checked and she needed to be vigilant while doing so. Errors no matter how small could make great impacts on the performance of the ship after all.

"Ah. I see. How have you settled in so far?" He asked. Not too well, he suspected, given how the two of them had been given barely enough time to throw their things down before being thrown into action with the rest of the crew. Drevas himself hadn't gotten much time to acclimatize either.

" Well enough I guess. Still not had a chance to meet my boss, but the rest of the team seem decent enough." Thex replied taking another sip from her still fizzing drink. " What about yourself?"

"Neither have I. Everyone is busy, it seems, though some more than others. I met with ensign Autumn the intelligence officer yesterday; we had a rather pleasant time on the holodeck exploring Kelpien culture together." He replied. "She and I shared some Kelpien dishes as well - and I think she found them quite pleasing to eat. As many visitors to our homeworld often do." Drevas sipped from the glass of tea in his hand. "This, for example, is fredalia tea. It is well known practically everywhere for its sweetness and its ability to calm nerves, or so most drinkers say. Would you like to try some?"

" Sure always up for trying something new." Thex said as she pointed to her own drink. " Want to give this a try? It's very sweet, but has a kick like a torpedo. "

Dunamis didn't often drink; in fact he preferred not to unless socially and even then not too much lest he need to go back to duty at the drop of a hat. That being said he didn't quite mind trying Thex's drink, though the mention of 'kick like a torpedo' was quite worrying. He ordered a smaller version of it and took a sip; immediately he blinked hard at the beverage's intense kick. "It's good. If somewhat strong for my tastes." He admitted.

" It's an acquired taste, but one I wouldn't trade for anything. Reminds me of my first assignment." Thex said as she watched her fellow crewmate drink it down. Taking her own sample she took a careful sip before a longer one. " Very nice." She added after swallowing. " Is it native to your homeworld?"

"Yes. Fredalia tea, popular with most visitors to Kaminar. Some buy entire tins of its leaves and bring it home to sell or consume themselves." Drevas set the intense alcoholic drink aside. One sip was quite enough for him, and he wanted to be sharp if he needed to go back to work, mind. "Some bartenders even make mocktails with it, if you'd like to try one. I know one or two of those."


" Sure just let me finish this." The andorian girl raised her half drunk starburst as she replied.

Drevas nodded. "What do you do for a hobby? I am genuinely curious to know. I know that Andorians have numerous sports and such - but among their greatest achievements are in literature and drama. Am I correct?"

" Oh, all sorts. Anything my friends want to do I'm game for. " The andorian took another sip from her drink before leaning in closer. " Though my main hobbies are building old electronics, swimming both free diving and synchronised and last is dancing. Been a cheerleader back at the academy and trained in two different orion styles."

"Dancing? You know Orion dance styles?" Drevas asked, seeming quite surprised. "From whom did you learn, may I ask? I don't know very many people trained in them." Drevas felt a tinge of warmth creep to his cheeks as she leaned in closer to him. Thex was an incredibly pretty woman, no doubt about that...

Thex chuckled softly noting his reaction. " My mentor at the academy. Let's just say my own parents weren't the best in the universe. I came to the academy as an angry hurt woman. Nainaa saw that and helped me work out my issues. Hell, she was more of a parent than my own zhavey and shreya were. She was the one who taught me. " She chuckled again. " I was so embarrassed the first time. Feels like a lifetime ago."

"And you have certainly turned out the better for it." Drevas remarked kindly. "Don't we all wish that all parents were loving and devoted the time we need to us? My mother and father were terribly busy even as enlisted personnel and would put me in classes while they worked." The Kelpien sighed softly. "They loved me very much when they weren't busy, however, and for that I am grateful. If it's not too much to ask..." He felt a bit more warmth creep onto his cheeks. "...would you be willing to dance for me one day? I've honestly never seen it in person." He expected her to slap him, maybe, and remind him that it wasn't for some erotic display - which he didn't expect it to be, mind. His intent was to watch with respect anr appreciate and that was all.

" Sure big guy. " the sapphire girl said giving him a reassuring smile. " Just book a holodeck and let me know when i'll need to suit up." She chuckled at his reaction. " Relax Kelpien compared to places I've had to dance a federation starship is nothing."

Drevas decided not to ask her where she'd had to perform before. Part of him felt like asking at this stage in their friendship would've been taking things a tad too far. More distracting was the warmth in his cheeks that seemed to intensify with her tone of voice. "How about... tomorrow evening." He suggested. "1900 hours, in holodeck two."

" I'll see if I can make it. Engineering does have a habit of throwing your schedule off." Thex replied as she leaned back in her chair. " Now enough about me. What hobbies do you have?"

"Chess. Reading, mostly poetry and fiction from all over the Federation. I cook my own meals quite often and I'm hoping to do so here on the Tomcat." He replied. "I spend time in the gym occasionally if I can. Work takes up most of the rest of my life, though I'll spend time with my friends if they invite me." Drevas smiled. "I can make you Andorian dishes if you like. I am personally rather partial to bluefish pie and know how to make it from scratch."

" Sounds like you have an interesting hobby life. If you ever need a partner and I'm free I'll see if I can help out. As for my cooking skills, I could burn water." the andorian replied with a chuckle.

"I'd like that - and I could help you out in that aspect if you like. Consider it an exchange: you dance for me once and I'll teach you to cook and improve if you'd like. How about it?" Drevas offered. "I might not be the best cook, but you'll at least not burn any more water when we're finished."

" Sounds like we have a deal." Thex said rasing her glass.

Drevas clinked his glass of tea against hers and drank deeply from it. God, was he glad to get the taste of that sweet but radically punchy drink off his tongue. Mental note: never order one by himself.

"We could start with Andorian cuisine if you like, though I find human dishes easier to prepare for a start." He remarked. "Likewise. Let me know when and where you'd like your lessons and I'll do my best to accommodate you."

" Sounds good." Thex said toasting her friend as she downed what was left of her drink. " Speaking of food I'm starving. Anything you want?" she said looking over to the replicator.

"Andorian bluefish pie. Since we're speaking of food I'm craving some." Drevas smiled.

" Sounds good. Make sure it has extra sauce. " Thex added with another grin on her face

Drevas smiled and ordered one large pie for them to share from the replicator. A delicious herby, cheesy smell hit the air immediately as the pie materialized, making his mouth water as he brought the pie to the table and cut into it, removing a slice of golden crust and light bluish meat filling. Delicious. "Now, isn't that lovely." He murmured happily, handling her the slice and a fork.

" Smells lovely." Thex said pushing slightly as a few emotions and memories briefly came to the surface before being pushed back. Looking at her friend she smiled and asked. " Can you pass the salt?"

"I wasn't aware that it was eaten with extra salt." Drevas passed her a salt shaker nonetheless with a smile. "Did you commonly have it eaten that way when you lived on Andor?"

" Please my family back home wouldn't serve anything like this. " The blue girl replied as rather painful memories came to the surface. " Cold, dried grubs and water was what kept me alive."

One thing to keep in mind: not all families were as fortunate as he had been. Some lived in poverty, whatever that counted for in this day and age, struggling to get by with whatever meager supplies they had. Perhaps Thex's parents had been just one group of thusly disadvantaged people, he reckoned, which only made his respect for her grow. To get here from a place like that was the result of plenty of growth and hard work.

"I see." Drevas cut a piece for himself and waited for her to take the first bite. It felt only polite. "What changed your situation, if I may ask?"

" I ran for it first chance I got." the Andorian replied as she took a bite from the pie. " Made it to the nearest city and got on the first ship for death. My family were doomsday cultist," she added seeing his confusion.

Ah, yes. The creepy cultist family with radical family values. The perfect reason to want to run away and start your own life. "I was not aware that there existed such sects on Andor." He admitted. "It must not have been easy to go against their beliefs - especially when it might've been everyone you know and love. Or used to know and love."

"Oh, they exist. Religious freedom being part of the federation constitution and the andorian government needs them given the birth rate issue plaguing my species. So they generally leave them alone." Thex replied grimly.

As unpleasant as the truth was Thex was right. Part kf him wondered what exactly being part of a doomsday cult meant for an Andorian. What was Doomsday to an Andorian? Did they worship it like a deific entity perhaps, like a cleanse that would make Andor clean and new? Maybe they tried to bring it about sooner through malicious means. Or maybe, just maybe, they were an extremist group that committed violence in the name of bringing Andorian society one step closer to doomsday.

None of those options were good at all. He could see why Thex would want to run away from it, and honestly in her shoes, he'd have done the same.

Drevas hummed softly. "Unfortunately." He muttered. "I'm sorry. This conversation has become somewhat of a downer, hasn't it. Shall we move on to something more pleasant on both our ears?"

" Sure," Thex said perking up. " Why don't you tell me about your family?"

Oh, wow. Drevas was silent for a few minutes, a melancholic sort of silence, before replying, "My father and mother are both enlisted Starfleet personnel of good standing. Or... I believe by now the appropriate term would be were. I have not spoken with or seen them for almost ten years. They disappeared when I was eighteen years old, and Starfleet has never given me information on what happened to them."

Thex pushed for a second as she heard his words. " That's very odd. Is the case still open?" she asked.

"I've tried enquiring. I did so during my Academy days..." He tapped on his PADD, pulling up a long, verbose message that basically said 'you don't need to know or care, focus on your training' and showed it to her. "Starfleet refused to answer. I wonder why. Sometimes I wonder what their assignment is that needs so much secrecy."

" Must have been very important if they can't even tell you what they were doing. " Thex said reading it over. " Any word since then or have they still kept giving you the cold shoulder?"

"I'm afraid it's the latter. It's almost as if they don't want me to know what happened to my parents." Drevas sighed. "Well, I suppose there's a good reason behind it. What can I realistically do if I keep being told that it isn't my business to know?"

" Have you tried asking if someone with higher clearance could take a look?" Thex enquired after another bite of pie.

"I have, and been snubbed exactly the same way." Drevas sighed. "Perhaps an ensign like myself simply doesn't have enough authority to convince someone so far up. Perhaps one day, when have moved beyond my currrent position."

"Let's move on, shall we." He decided. No use dwelling on a topic that wasn't within his power to close. "I don't think you've ever been to Kaminar, have you?"

" Na i'v not. Not had much free time to travel the galaxy other than where the fleet takes me." Thex replied honestly. " Heard it has some great oceans."

"It does. I don't think there is anywhere else lovelier than it, in fact. Except perhaps Risa." He remarked with a soft chuckle. "But even then Risa is quite developed; Kaminar's beauty is natural. Wouldn't you say then that the more untouched somewhere is the more beautiful it is?"

The andorian nodded. " Indeed. My home may be a frozen iceball, but the beauty in the oasis around the hot spring is something to behold. "

"You'll have to take me there someday... well, if you're willing that is." Drevas said, standing to clear his plate. "The night's been quite long, I'd say. Shall we meet again another time?"

" Sounds good. I'll see if I can get a holodeck booked and let you know." Thex replied as she finished her drink and stood up. " It's been nice talking with you Drevas."

"As it was with you. See you around, my friend." Drevas smiled up at her as she stood and prepared to leave.

" See you later Drevas." Thex said as she stood up and headed for the door.

 

RSS Feed