A New Start

[Kirok]

[Observation Lounge]

Zex had settled into her temporary quarters quickly.  Given that she had taken to living out of her suitcase made it even easier.  She was excited to meet her new crewmates!

The Deltan headed to the Observation Lounge and ordered a cold beverage.  Then she settled into a booth facing the door.  The Star base could be seen threw the large window.

"Goodbye for now my Star base friends" Zex murmured.  A hint of sadness plagued her voice.  Recently, she seemed to be saying goodbye a lot.  But when one door shuts she reminder herself.

[Jiseth]

[Observation Lounge]

Too often Jiseth was reminded of the boundaries that she had to maintain, in this case those at home. Ghost was asleep in his basket, her partner Dr. Zero Alpha was busy with research, and their daughter watching a documentary series on her PADD. Since her recovery, if it could have been called that, the Romulan seemed to lack something in her life. A hobby.

Still, with her new position she made at least the appearance of being more social with the crew. Considering she had recently expelled several flight deck personnel to the starbase for transfer, she was perhaps the least people-friendly individuals on the ship. She was in her usual off-duty clothing which consisted of a a grey tank top and black cargo shorts with her artificial lower legs on full display to remind people the price she has had to pay already for the uniform.

After arriving at the bar, she ordered her usual stout beer. The bartender began pouring it, but seemed quite distracted. After a few moments she tilted her head and glanced over to the focus of his attention.

"...Oh, the Deltan. Our new medic."

"More like angel. Have you ever seen someone so beautiful?"

"Yes, I had a kid with her-"

Jiseth's attention was brought back to the sound of her drink over flowing and splattering around. Slowly her gaze rose like a volcanic plume toward the man who was still quite enthralled. She was aware of the effects the Deltan pheromones might have on individuals, but she had spent so many years around aircraft that the harsh fumes of various fuels and exhausts had dulled her sense of smell. Slowly she reached over and swatted the man in the back of the head.

"Hey! What was that fo-oh my I'm so sorry. Hold on let me clean this up."

"You're like a plebe cadet on their first trip to Risa..."

She waited for him to wipe down the glass and there was no small tinge of hate for how much precious, dark bitterness had just been wasted. She put a slip of latinum on the counter and took her pint glass in hand. Alcohol still messed with the nerves in her legs connecting to the circuitry, but it was becoming more manageable with time.

There was the zzt zzt of her servos as Jiseth strode, which impeded her previous ability to stalk around nearly silently, from the bar to the booth where the newcomer sat.

"Pardon, would you mind some company?"

[Kirok]

[Observation Lounge]

Zex smiled as the newcomer arrived at her booth.  "Certainly.  I'm Zex" the bald Deltan replied.  "I love your hair" she added as as she motioned to an open spot.

She was dressed simply, but elegantly.  A blue dress that cut off at the knees accented her blue eyes.  It also hugged her body nicely.

"I'll be working in Sickbay for awhile" Zex added and then lifted her drink from the table.  It was a red, fruity color and was adorned with a small umbrella.  "I see you prefer beer over fruity drinks, cheers" she suggested as she held her drink out.

[Jiseth]

[Observation Lounge]

For a moment, Jiseth was caught completely flatfooted. A comment about her hair seemed completely inane and it took her a moment to remember that the person next to her had none whatsoever. Her blue dress and eyes were darker than Zero's. In her mind she saw the two as Neptune and Uranus respectively and she was a little surprised at how much the comparison made sense. The former was a favorite of many while the latter seemed nearly featureless and behavior that was simply odd.

As she sat down, the second comment came and her own intelligence gathering mission seemed to be met with someone making observations of their own. However, what could be gleamed from cranial follicles  and a liquid beverage was probably just hubris. It was two data points, but at least it was a mystery she could figure out along the way as to how this Deltan sorted the world around her.

"I don't, well... I don't usually like beer, but this one grew on me and it hits you slower than the hard stuff. If it wasn't so painful I would go towards something with rum in it or vodka or both. On Romulus we have kali-fal which Humans mistake for whiskey, but it's far more akin to a hybrid of gin and cognac."

She took a quick sip of the beer, dabbing a napkin to her lips to remove the foam that had remained.

"I'm in the flight department... For awhile too, I suppose. What did you do previously?"

[Kirok]

[Observation Lounge]

For a moment, Jiseth was caught completely flatfooted. A comment about her hair seemed completely inane and it took her a moment to remember that the person next to her had none whatsoever. Her blue dress and eyes were darker than Zero's. In her mind she saw the two as Neptune and Uranus respectively and she was a little surprised at how much the comparison made sense. The former was a favorite of many while the latter seemed nearly featureless and behavior that was simply odd.

As she sat down, the second comment came and her own intelligence gathering mission seemed to be met with someone making observations of their own. However, what could be gleamed from cranial follicles  and a liquid beverage was probably just hubris. It was two data points, but at least it was a mystery she could figure out along the way as to how this Deltan sorted the world around her.

"I don't, well... I don't usually like beer, but this one grew on me and it hits you slower than the hard stuff. If it wasn't so painful I would go towards something with rum in it or vodka or both. On Romulus we have kali-fal which Humans mistake for whiskey, but it's far more akin to a hybrid of gin and cognac."

She took a quick sip of the beer, dabbing a napkin to her lips to remove the foam that had remained.

"I'm in the flight department... For awhile too, I suppose. What did you do previously?"

[Observation Lounge]

"I love flavored vodkas, pineapple especially.  I had a pineapple martini when I was at the Academy that was to die for.  It was oh so good" Zex replied in her animated manner.  She rolled her eyes and took a breath in to highlight just how good the drink had been.

"I've never had kali-fal, but I would be willing to try it sometime.  Especially if it is sweet or full of flavor" the Deltan added.  She paused just long enough to take a sip of her drink, but visibly blanched when she hard the question about her past.

She sat her drink down and stared at it for long moment.  She felt as if her new acquaintance was seeing straight threw her - all the way down to the Deltan's worst secret.  "I was a coroner on the Star Base" she finally replied in a voice much more reserved than before.

It was an honest answer, but not the one that she cried about almost every night before sleep finally found her.  "Flight control is a good department.  It must be fun being in control of the ship" she added, trying to change the subject.

[Jiseth]

[Observation Lounge]

Tilting her head up and looking around above them, Jiseth pondered Zex's question. Was it fun? Define fun. It certainly was not as ungainly as the flying sarcophagus of a Sternbach-class that was the second Churchill. The first had perhaps been her favorite. An Intrepid-class that had survived everything she could throw at it and in many ways was an over-sized runabout.

By comparison, the Akira-class was the modern equivalent to the destroyers of old flotillas. They could escort the larger cruisers and packed enough firepower to easily dispense pain to the harassing smaller ships. Groups of them could easily overwhelm much larger ships and retain the flexibility to tackle smaller targets while able to withstand far more punishment than the Intrepid. It was the epitome of a ship built by committee to handle almost every task and that versatility gave the Discovery's Romulan pilot no small sense of comfort.

"Well... I miss being able to land on planets with the first ship I was assigned. I remember quite clearly um... It was Valentine's Day. Walked into the lounge not dissimilar to this one. Saw a guy there, just by himself. Henriks was his name. He was in medicine too and such a joy to be around. Not half an hour later the ship was destroyed."

She looked down to her drink and took a very long sip. Then another. Henriks would live that day, but Jiseth could never muster the courage to say yes to him. Not that it mattered now as her partner in life would be working with the newcomer she sat next to.

"And relax. I get that your previous job was a morbid one and not exactly pleasant to talk about, but I promise to keep myself from being another stiff for you to examine. Besides, pilots tend to really like medics. Namely because you're the people who fix us up to fly again when we do silly things. Besides, if you got on this ship, you must be good. If my guess is right, you weren't the type to simply study to just pass a test and get out. You know damn well that you're going to be the barrier between somebody's loved one and death itself. Here's to you, Dr. Zex."

Jiseth lifted her half-empty pint glass and gave what her equivalent of a smile was, though barely greater than a smirk.

[Kirok]

[Observation Lounge]

Tilting her head up and looking around above them, Jiseth pondered Zex's question. Was it fun? Define fun. It certainly was not as ungainly as the flying sarcophagus of a Sternbach-class that was the second Churchill. The first had perhaps been her favorite. An Intrepid-class that had survived everything she could throw at it and in many ways was an over-sized runabout.

By comparison, the Akira-class was the modern equivalent to the destroyers of old flotillas. They could escort the larger cruisers and packed enough firepower to easily dispense pain to the harassing smaller ships. Groups of them could easily overwhelm much larger ships and retain the flexibility to tackle smaller targets while able to withstand far more punishment than the Intrepid. It was the epitome of a ship built by committee to handle almost every task and that versatility gave the Discovery's Romulan pilot no small sense of comfort.

"Well... I miss being able to land on planets with the first ship I was assigned. I remember quite clearly um... It was Valentine's Day. Walked into the lounge not dissimilar to this one. Saw a guy there, just by himself. Henriks was his name. He was in medicine too and such a joy to be around. Not half an hour later the ship was destroyed."

She looked down to her drink and took a very long sip. Then another. Henriks would live that day, but Jiseth could never muster the courage to say yes to him. Not that it mattered now as her partner in life would be working with the newcomer she sat next to.

"And relax. I get that your previous job was a morbid one and not exactly pleasant to talk about, but I promise to keep myself from being another stiff for you to examine. Besides, pilots tend to really like medics. Namely because you're the people who fix us up to fly again when we do silly things. Besides, if you got on this ship, you must be good. If my guess is right, you weren't the type to simply study to just pass a test and get out. You know damn well that you're going to be the barrier between somebody's loved one and death itself. Here's to you, Dr. Zex."

Jiseth lifted her half-empty pint glass and gave what her equivalent of a smile was, though barely greater than a smirk.

[Observation Lounge]

"Was Henriks tall, dark, or handsome" Zex asked tentatively.  "Tell me more" she added.  Then she picked up her glass again, hoping that her nervousness about her past had gone unnoticed.

After Jiseth finished her last statement, Zex finally released some of the tenseness she had been holding and let out a long breath.  She wanted to hug her new acquaintance, but thought better of it.

"Thanks" the Deltan said.  She clinked her glass against Jiseth's.  "Here's to avoiding death" she added and then took a sip of here fruity drink.

Zex enjoyed the drink and the feeling it was giving her.  She was also enjoying Jiseth's company.  "So are you seeing anyone?  Are there many singles aboard?" she asked. 

[Jiseth]

[Observation Lounge]

"Henriks was... No, dark, not at all. If anything, one of the few beacons of light I've met in my life. The story book underdog hero who starts out with little confidence and then wins the day. That's him. Tall, dark, and handsome goes to this Klingon who I was on the Churchill with as well. A Klingon scientist of all things. Tough, yet tender."

Jiseth looked down at her glass and closed her eyes for a moment, savoring a few fond memories that had come up.

"I haven't been single for years and don't really pay attention to what pairings there are or have ceased to be. Come to think of it, the Chief Science Officer is going through a divorce, so I know of at least one potentially single person on the ship. My partner is someone you'll be working with, Dr. Zero Alpha. She's brilliant and I expect she'll have her own research lab one day. We have a daughter together who's about two years old though she's developed rather quickly due to the genetics on Zero's side. Callion may as well be a four-year old in terms of mobility and way beyond that in cognitive ability. Sorry, if I'm rambling, this has been my first night out in quite some time."

[Kirok]

[Observation Lounge]

Zex sipped her drink while the Flight Officer spoke.  Then she placed it back on the table.  She pulled the tiny umbrella out of her drink, sucked the liquid off the tooth pick, and then placed the tooth pick above the lobe of her ear so that the umbrella looked like a decorative item for the face.

"I love Klingon's.  They are so rough and tough.  But you will have to introduce me to Mr. Chief of Science.  Divorced men are so....pliable" she relied with a slight giggle.

But when the conversation turned to the discussion of Jiseth's family, Zex dropped her playful nature.  "They sound like a great family.  You must be very happy.  Having your family here on the ship with you - must be like a dream come true" she said and then leaned back into her seat.

[Jiseth]

Jiseth gave Nevir a brief thought as to whether he should have any say in the matter. The result was simple: he should not. After all, life was short enough and although the Deltans were known for their almost Andorian level of sexuality, they were still a very spiritual people. Perhaps the gods of Delta IV and Bajor were not too dissimilar even if the Romulan had no such beliefs to empathize with.

"Well, just be gentle."

She gave a genuine chuckle as it was rather refreshing to find another as devious as herself.

"...Nightmares are dreams too, remember. I'm a lot more adamant about checking my work a second time over because they're on board and I would like to grow old with them instead of accidentally crashing into a star while at warp. Still, I know plenty who don't see their families for months at a time and there's something to be said about coming off a shift and they're there."

[Kirok]

[Observation Lounge]

Zex raised her hand as if she were taking yet another oath.  "On my honor" she replied.  She chuckled as she lowered her.

She grabbed her drink and sipped on it a bit while Jiseth talked.  In a way she envied the woman for the family that the Deltan would likely never have.  "It sounds divine" she admitted.