S3-M9: Downtime

[Skargarr]

[Arboretum]

Kirok offered nods to those who just joined the gathering.  He acknowledged their arrival as such.  He was was already in conversation with Kyle and didn't want to interrupt their talk.

[EQ Kimball]

EQ saw Skar split off from the group.  As an XB he knew more than most how hard it was to fit in with 'normal' folks.  "Wanna play corn hole?" he asked the Gorn.

Skar merely grunted at the mention of 'Corn hole' Mostly because he had no idea what it was to begin with.  As his society had little time for petty games and was more into survival.  He scanned the growing crowd for immediate threats and after the Tosk/hunter incident, anytime, Skar was in the same room with Kirok.  His senses were heightened to keep his immediate superior safe.  Whether they were on ops or not, Skar felt like it was his duty regardless.

[Amarande Xiiv]

[Katra station - BBQ]

While he was paying attention to Xiiv Balan had noticed he was wearing was to formal. He somehow messed up.

"œThat is interesting. As being a Allasomorph we have slight different appearance which a normal eye can't see. There is something of a creation which made us unique. I think we will never get the answer where it all started. I personally enjoy studying detail of life. And then try to understand it from it point of view," then he looked down at his Apple cider before he took a sip. "œI guess I could been a scientist asking questions but being poor finding answers." He chuckled.

Then he realized people had some Barbecue and he had noticed it was messy. "œWearing white was a bad choice," he said. Then he removed his jacket and walked over to chair and placed it on the back of the chair. That was when the Engineering Asian from Hong Kong came to say hello to him.

"œIt's a pleasure meeting you," he replied. Earth was an interesting planet. Earth seemed to have many different types of people. Which grew with difficult and peace in their history. One day he will dig into more Earth. Right now he was interested in Xiiv because she was being open and nice. Then he felt concern for her about her sister. Strange as it to him. He never thought he would have feelings for someone. It was weird. Strange. And the thoughts about her.

"œI will be looking forward to seeing you later," he told Lieutenant Serena King. He will have to ask her about her surname being king. He wanted to know how it evolve. Was she from a Royal family.

Then he return to Xiiv. "œI am going to attempt to try eat the barbecue"¦Looks good but very messy," he told Xiiv.

[Katra - BBQ]

"It's an interesting way of looking at life," Xiiv murmured, sipping at her cider as he greeted others. "Barbecue is definitely messy but very tasty when done right. I was content with what I had earlier, it's very good."

She paused to sip at her drink a little more. It was just sugary enough to help keep her in the moment and not thinking about the trip a head of her. Balan had expressed interest in joining her, though she hadn't gotten confirmation he was actually coming. She touched his elbow gently for only a moment.

"Are you still coming with me to New Bajor? I can't remember if we settled on that or not. I know you expressed an interest."

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Arboretum >

Even as she processed the words, she smiled wryly: "Are you trying to tell me I'm soft on the outside, hard on the inside?" Patting herself down, she rummaged into her pockets. She knew Rihannsu treated symbolism and gifts. Which... Had symbolism.

Sirol chuckled and slowly shook her head.
"œWell no, that was"¦ At least not my intention.
I happened to have the bag of fruit with me, and the colouring of this one reminded me of your uniform. This and you"¦ Pardon me stating this"¦ Smell mysteriously fruity..."
She awkwardly cleared her throat and gave Serena an apologising look.
She did not want to appear like someone who would go around and intentionally sniff people, but - as someone from a planet with no sunlight - her nose was quite sensitive, even without her deliberately searching for something.

Finally, she pulled out what she was looking for: a sugar coated lemon, wrapped in a layer of keep-fresh plastic. It wasn't the same one she had originally, she had eaten them in turn before they could develop mold and bacteria. Still, the gesture would count, even if the meaning was lost.

Raising one eyebrow, her eyes seemed to widen as Sirol followed the small object Serena presented to the scientist.
"œOh. ...OH!
This, in fact, explains a lot actually."
Her smirk grew again as she leaned over a little and - discreetly - took in the smell. It was refreshing and pleasant.
"œWhat is it? I am still learning about many of the Federation food items. Is it something from your home world?"

"Ahh," he said. "Good to meet you again...Sirol, was it? As Serena said?"

He turned to Serena to explain. "I saved her life in my first few days on Katra. There was a fire in the shuttlebay and I got her out. I feel bad I didn't see her again; been busy flying and all. And when I met you, the most beautiful woman in the quadrant."

Sirol tilted her head and did a polite bow towards Lieutenant Drake.
"œThe pleasure is all mine, Lieutenant. It is good to see you save and healthy after all that happened recently."

She paused for a moment while he explained the circumstances of their first meeting to Serena.
Yes, back when the pain caused by the violent detachment of the anomaly had become overbearing, and she had lacked the strength to fend for her own survival, it had been him to do it on her behalf. He had pulled her out of a pile of debris and had brought her to sickbay.
Long before the Tholians had saved her soul by giving her purpose, Drake had saved her hardware, and she never - in all those months - had gotten a proper chance or a suitable situation to sufficiently thank him.
Until now.

Reaching out one hand towards him as an offer, she did a calm bow towards Drake.
"œCausality never permitted us to properly speak ever since. But I owe you my sincerest thanks, Lieutenant.
Without you, I would be dead today.
I am very thankful for you possessing the quick reflexes and courage to assist me. I suppose a situation like this would normally call for a more"¦ Sophisticated speech - Unfortunately I was not aware of us meeting today, hence me having nothing prepared.
Nothing but my honest gratitude, and assurance, that - whenever you will need a helping hand - I will be with you at a minute's notice."
She smiled at him,  and repeated her bow, before she once more paused, and - as discreetly as possible - looked over her shoulder to check whether Captain Eydis or Specialist Freeman had already arrived, since she did not want to keep either of them waiting.
Luckily, so far they were not yet around, so Sirol had all the chance needed to properly converse with both, Lieutenant Drake and Serena.

[Balan]

[Katra - BBQ]

"It's an interesting way of looking at life," Xiiv murmured, sipping at her cider as he greeted others. "Barbecue is definitely messy but very tasty when done right. I was content with what I had earlier, it's very good."

She paused to sip at her drink a little more. It was just sugary enough to help keep her in the moment and not thinking about the trip a head of her. Balan had expressed interest in joining her, though she hadn't gotten confirmation he was actually coming. She touched his elbow gently for only a moment.

"Are you still coming with me to New Bajor? I can't remember if we settled on that or not. I know you expressed an interest."

[Katra - the bbq of the universe]

Balan blinked twice when Xiiv was confirming that he was going. He thought he said he was going. Or was he not that all clear when he told her. He blushed and his cheeks turned red. He tilted his chin a little and his eyes was slightly under the hood of his eye  lids. "œYea. I guess I should had said so in better words," he said to the doctor and he placed his right hand on his own chest and bowed his head. "œYes, I will join you," he replied.

In a way, he thought someone should be with her if these religious orb from Bajor allow her see the future which might good or bad. There was a chance that the viewer mind might be trick to believe it's real and true. He had wanted to try it himself.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Katra Station | Aboretum ::

The invite had mentioned a picnic in the arboretum. Sufficed to say this was no "staff meeting" where there would be reports and the accompanying boredom that came from a group of grups sitting around a table babbling about status updates and crew performance reviews. The last one was especially good since Kyan still hadn't been able to understand why writing "You're terrible at your job. You should quit and do something else." on a crew evaluation was a bad thing. It was honest, direct, and constructive. He even told the guy how to fix the problem, which is what they said to do!

But this wasn't going to be one of those meetings. Nope! Kirok had said that it was a get together for the crew, so that they could enjoy one another's company, and eat food. AND it was in the arboretum, AND he was off duty! That all added up to off duty attire, several large bags of assorted potato chips, which he carried in a large sack and a cooler full of root beer that he pulled along behind him. He'd gotten the root beer and chips from Cloten, who knew a guy.. someplace. Kyan couldn't really cook, and he has a suspicion that other people would be bringing foot too, but he was certain that no one would be bringing chips or root beer since not many of Katra's senior staff were fully Human. He also suspected that none of them had probably been to a proper "cookout".

When the doors parted, Kyan pulled the cooler in behind him and took his contributions over to the big table where everything was laid out. After putting the chips on the table and opening the cooler, Kyan looked around the arboretum. Seeing Skargarr standing with EQ at a Cornhole setup, and Balan speaking with Doctor Xiiv, he noticed that the two of them were in uniform, and Balan was wearing his whites! Kyan shook his head and heaved a sigh. It was obvious that since no dress code had been given that they'd each decided for themselves what was best to wear. To someone who stood on ceremony and things of that nature, Balan's choice might have been impressive...caring about impressions or something.

Kyan wasn't one of those people. He hated ceremonies (except for Klingon ceremonies) and despised the white dress uniform. But he couldn't be too hard on the crewman. He didn't know afterall. Maybe he even liked the oppressive things. Who could say? Grups were weird like that. Kyan also saw Serena King and Gideon Drake talking to Sirol. Drake was wearing his whites as well. Of course Kyan attributed that to the fact that he was still trying to impress King. And hadn't he saved her life once? AND he was a pilot? Gods! What else did the poor guy have to do? Kyan didn't get grup mating patterns at all. The whole thing, from courtship to coitus, was a mystery. And if some girl thought he was going to torture himself by wearing those stupid whites just to impress her so that they could go on a date or something... she'd had another thing coming! "Poor Drake." he thought.  Kyan made a note to buy him a pint in Cloten's place later and try to talk some sense into him.

Kirok and Briggs were also there, conversing amongst themselves. Kyan decided to leave them to it. It was probably boring anyway. Kyan imagined their conversation.

"Oh... Hi Commander..." Imaginary Kirok monotoned. "Did you make sure that they EPS conduits were fixed in a most logical order after the Hunters attacked us? And did you also get the Alpha one a pillow... because we're Starfleet and we gotta be nice to everyone... even if they tried to kill everyone and blow the place up!"

And then Imaginary Briggs, the Starfleet posterboy, right down to his shiny boots, plastic hair, and overstarched uniform nodded. "Yes Sir!" he answered. "And I also posted all of the Starfleet Regulations in front of every toilet on the ship, so that even when people are pinching one off they can do so within the regulations!"

Imaginary Kirok replied. "Very good Mister Briggs! You will get a commendation for that. It's only logical."

Kyan grinned and shook his head. "Grups" he muttered.

But now it was time to go and socialize, which was the worst part of the whole thing. He never knew what to say to grups after the "Hi... how are you" part was finished. Completely lost on him was the grup art of "small talk". He decided that out of the whole lot of them, Drake and King would be the most... interesting. Interesting like a crash scene that you didn't really want to look at, but couldn't help but look at. And since Sirol was also there, that might be something else. Like.. was Drake trying to impress them both? So it was settled. Kyan grabbed a root beer for himself, and then one for each of them and made his way over to where they were standing.

"Merry Met to ye all the now." he offered cheerfully. "And good tae be seeing you alive and all. Will ye have something to drink?" he offered them the three glass bottles. "It's root beer so, and not real beer or synthahol, the which is gross."

[Serena King]

[Lieutenant JG Gideon Drake | Arboretum | Katra Station]

Gideon turned to see a familiar Romulan woman approaching...then he remembered where he saw her. He had saved her on his first few days on Katra, when a bomb went off destroying part of the station.

"Ahh," he said. "Good to meet you again...Sirol, was it? As Serena said?"

He turned to Serena to explain. "I saved her life in my first few days on Katra. There was a fire in the shuttlebay and I got her out. I feel bad I didn't see her again; been busy flying and all. And when I met you, the most beautiful woman in the quadrant."

< Katra Station / Arboretum >

Sirol chuckled and slowly shook her head.
"œWell no, that was"¦ At least not my intention.
I happened to have the bag of fruit with me, and the colouring of this one reminded me of your uniform. This and you"¦ Pardon me stating this"¦ Smell mysteriously fruity..."
She awkwardly cleared her throat and gave Serena an apologising look.
She did not want to appear like someone who would go around and intentionally sniff people, but - as someone from a planet with no sunlight - her nose was quite sensitive, even without her deliberately searching for something.

Raising one eyebrow, her eyes seemed to widen as Sirol followed the small object Serena presented to the scientist.
"œOh. ...OH!
This, in fact, explains a lot actually."
Her smirk grew again as she leaned over a little and - discreetly - took in the smell. It was refreshing and pleasant.
"œWhat is it? I am still learning about many of the Federation food items. Is it something from your home world?"

Sirol tilted her head and did a polite bow towards Lieutenant Drake.
"œThe pleasure is all mine, Lieutenant. It is good to see you save and healthy after all that happened recently."

She paused for a moment while he explained the circumstances of their first meeting to Serena.
Yes, back when the pain caused by the violent detachment of the anomaly had become overbearing, and she had lacked the strength to fend for her own survival, it had been him to do it on her behalf. He had pulled her out of a pile of debris and had brought her to sickbay.
Long before the Tholians had saved her soul by giving her purpose, Drake had saved her hardware, and she never - in all those months - had gotten a proper chance or a suitable situation to sufficiently thank him.
Until now.

Reaching out one hand towards him as an offer, she did a calm bow towards Drake.
"œCausality never permitted us to properly speak ever since. But I owe you my sincerest thanks, Lieutenant.
Without you, I would be dead today.
I am very thankful for you possessing the quick reflexes and courage to assist me. I suppose a situation like this would normally call for a more"¦ Sophisticated speech - Unfortunately I was not aware of us meeting today, hence me having nothing prepared.
Nothing but my honest gratitude, and assurance, that - whenever you will need a helping hand - I will be with you at a minute's notice."
She smiled at him,  and repeated her bow, before she once more paused, and - as discreetly as possible - looked over her shoulder to check whether Captain Eydis or Specialist Freeman had already arrived, since she did not want to keep either of them waiting.
Luckily, so far they were not yet around, so Sirol had all the chance needed to properly converse with both, Lieutenant Drake and Serena.

[Katra Station | Aboretum | BBQ Day]

"We've been living together for four months. In some cultures, we'd be married with children."

Serena looked oddly at Gideon, then turned back to Sirol. "It... Is a metaphor for life. As we talked about so long ago, the uh, fishing rods for honour combat after drinking refreshing beverages, this would go hand in hand with those."

[Kirok]

Skar merely grunted at the mention of 'Corn hole' Mostly because he had no idea what it was to begin with.  As his society had little time for petty games and was more into survival.  He scanned the growing crowd for immediate threats and after the Tosk/hunter incident, anytime, Skar was in the same room with Kirok.  His senses were heightened to keep his immediate superior safe.  Whether they were on ops or not, Skar felt like it was his duty regardless.

[Arboretum - EQ Kimball]

Kimball simply shrugged in reply.  Corn hole wasn't for everyone.   But it was for sure safer than horse shoes.

He would  know since he still had a scar from the last time he played it.  Stitches were involved, but he still won the game.  And that's all that really mattered in his eyes.

[Skargarr]

[Arboretum - EQ Kimball]

Kimball simply shrugged in reply.  Corn hole wasn't for everyone.   But it was for sure safer than horse shoes.

He would  know since he still had a scar from the last time he played it.  Stitches were involved, but he still won the game.  And that's all that really mattered in his eyes.

"Kimball, How are the repairs coming to Ops and the docking ring? its been quite some time.  Once their finished, security can start working up updating the security measures for the docking ring to ensure a bombing never happens again." Skar said striking up a conversation with the odd looking humanoid trying to figure out what species he actually was.

[Xasik]

[Katra Station | Promenade â†' Arboretum]

< Katra Station / Arboretum >

Sirol chuckled a little while listening to Xasik's response and him getting interrupted by an overly enthusiastic little squeaker in the background.
It was a shame that they did not bump into one another back on the promenade. She would have been interested to learn about Xasik's likes and dislikes when it came to food, and browsing the little nooks and shops had been enjoyable to her but would certainly have been even more so together.
"œOh, I hear, someone's stimulated already!"
Sirol spoke in a cheerful tone, referring to Emerald's enthusiastic chirps.

Once more the scientist chuckled a little and - instinctively - did a calming hand gesture.
"œWell, then we better not keep them waiting much longer, shall we? I am looking forward to meeting you two. Bring some appetite."

Xasik

Xasik chuckled at Sirol's comment about Emerald already being stimulated. It was true, the little one was already very excited.

"œWe'll meet you there soon, and don't worry, I'll be sure to bring my appetite." 

Making his way through the promenade and towards the Arboretum was a simple matter for Xasik. He weaved around people standing in the way but was careful not to rush and accidentally bump into anyone. In the ECS in his arms Emerald chirped happily as they took in all the sights and sounds along the way.

Upon finally entering the Arboretum, Xasik looked around and resisted the urge to hiss in discomfort. It was far too bright in here, but luckily he always brought his shades with him. He spotted a bench by the group of gathered people. He made a beeline to it when he noticed Sirol's lab coat on it and the Uropygi "˜guarding' it, making sure to give everyone a friendly wave as he walked. He was far too tired to be very social at the moment. He smiled as he approached the bench

"œHello, friend," he greeted the Uropygi as he dumped his bag down and placed Emerald down onto the ground to explore before sitting. He rifled through his bag and pulled out his shades and put them on to block out some of the harsher light in the Arboretum. He let out a massive yawn as he watched his child head directly for Sirol.
Typical Emerald.
Xasik had to smile. He offered the Uropygi a gentle stroke to the top of her head before focusing on Emerald again, going full speed towards Sirol and the group she was conversing with.

Emerald

As soon as they were on the ground, Emerald was off, rolling towards The Soft One as fast as they could. They had spotted her as soon as they had entered the area and had been mad that The Sharp One hadn't taken them over to her. But it didn't matter. The Sharp One had released them and they would simply take themself over to her.

"œPEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP!" Emerald chirped as loud as they could in excitement as they rolled faster than they ever had before, so fast in fact that they tripped along the way and had to scuttle back to their feet before taking off again at high speed. They were going so fast that they couldn't stop in time and crashed into The Soft One's foot. Deciding this was in fact fun, Emerald rolled their ECS into her foot again and again, laughing with delight as they did.
"œChirp chirp chirp! Chirp! Peep!" They laughed as they bumped into The Soft One's foot, ignoring The New Ones with her for now.

[Serena King]

[Katra Station | Promenade â†' Arboretum]

Xasik

Xasik chuckled at Sirol's comment about Emerald already being stimulated. It was true, the little one was already very excited.

"œWe'll meet you there soon, and don't worry, I'll be sure to bring my appetite." 

Making his way through the promenade and towards the Arboretum was a simple matter for Xasik. He weaved around people standing in the way but was careful not to rush and accidentally bump into anyone. In the ECS in his arms Emerald chirped happily as they took in all the sights and sounds along the way.

Upon finally entering the Arboretum, Xasik looked around and resisted the urge to hiss in discomfort. It was far too bright in here, but luckily he always brought his shades with him. He spotted a bench by the group of gathered people. He made a beeline to it when he noticed Sirol's lab coat on it and the Uropygi "˜guarding' it, making sure to give everyone a friendly wave as he walked. He was far too tired to be very social at the moment. He smiled as he approached the bench

"œHello, friend," he greeted the Uropygi as he dumped his bag down and placed Emerald down onto the ground to explore before sitting. He rifled through his bag and pulled out his shades and put them on to block out some of the harsher light in the Arboretum. He let out a massive yawn as he watched his child head directly for Sirol.
Typical Emerald.
Xasik had to smile. He offered the Uropygi a gentle stroke to the top of her head before focusing on Emerald again, going full speed towards Sirol and the group she was conversing with.

Emerald

As soon as they were on the ground, Emerald was off, rolling towards The Soft One as fast as they could. They had spotted her as soon as they had entered the area and had been mad that The Sharp One hadn't taken them over to her. But it didn't matter. The Sharp One had released them and they would simply take themself over to her.

"œPEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP PEEP!" Emerald chirped as loud as they could in excitement as they rolled faster than they ever had before, so fast in fact that they tripped along the way and had to scuttle back to their feet before taking off again at high speed. They were going so fast that they couldn't stop in time and crashed into The Soft One's foot. Deciding this was in fact fun, Emerald rolled their ECS into her foot again and again, laughing with delight as they did.
"œChirp chirp chirp! Chirp! Peep!" They laughed as they bumped into The Soft One's foot, ignoring The New Ones with her for now.

[Katra Station | Aboretum | BBQ Day]

"Specialist, little one."

Serena disengaged herself from the conversation she was having to bow to the Reman and the Tholian... Child? Since she couldn't sing, she resorted to a sort of spoken poem to the small child in an encounter suit: "Teach your children well. Their father's hell did slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams. The one they pick's the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why. If they told you, you would cry. So, just look at them and sigh, and know they love you."

[Amarande Xiiv]

[Katra - the bbq of the universe]

Balan blinked twice when Xiiv was confirming that he was going. He thought he said he was going. Or was he not that all clear when he told her. He blushed and his cheeks turned red. He tilted his chin a little and his eyes was slightly under the hood of his eye  lids. "œYea. I guess I should had said so in better words," he said to the doctor and he placed his right hand on his own chest and bowed his head. "œYes, I will join you," he replied.

In a way, he thought someone should be with her if these religious orb from Bajor allow her see the future which might good or bad. There was a chance that the viewer mind might be trick to believe it's real and true. He had wanted to try it himself.

[Katra Station - Barbeque]

"It's alright, I just wanted to make sure, no harm done," she said quietly, folding her hands behind her back for a moment. There was a sparkle in her eyes as she leaned forward a little in confidence and anticipation.

"Kai Hirin will put us up at the monastery when we arrive. I did ask for accommodations for two and for a guide, so we'll have some exploring to do as well. I think it will be an enlightening trip for both of us."

[Kirok]

"Kimball, How are the repairs coming to Ops and the docking ring? its been quite some time.  Once their finished, security can start working up updating the security measures for the docking ring to ensure a bombing never happens again." Skar said striking up a conversation with the odd looking humanoid trying to figure out what species he actually was.

[Katra Station - Barbeque]

The XB stared that the Gorn for second before replying.  He was in 'off duty mode.'  So it took him a second to switch gears.

"Ah.  They are going fine.  Should just need another day or two to finish up things" EQ replied.

"You planning to put in mettle detectors?  Maybe sensors to detect bombs?  Something like that" he guessed.

[Kirok]

While talking to Kyle, the half Vulcan noticed Xasik come in.  The Romulan civilian scientist had been somewhat of a recluse.  Kirok offered the man a nod as he passed by.

"Excuse me" he said to Kyle.  "Everyone, please help yourselves to food and drink.  No need to wait for us, this is a casual affair" Kirok announced to the others.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Arboretum >

"Merry Met to ye all the now." he offered cheerfully. "And good tae be seeing you alive and all. Will ye have something to drink?" he offered them the three glass bottles. "It's root beer so, and not real beer or synthahol, the which is gross."

As Lieutenant Mackenzie joined their little group, Sirol's smile widened, and she gave him a friendly, respectful bow.
She had only ever briefly worked with him, yet had had the honour of private interaction with him, and her instincts told her that he had a good aura. He was of wit and honour.
"œHow welcome of you to join us, Lieutenant. It is good to see you again. How have you been holding up since the latest"¦ Incidents?"
She hesitated, then awkwardly cleared her throat. As a security officer, he had been one to endure the pinnacle of fear and terror. Months of stress in the first row of the "˜action'.
She could only speculate about what this could do to his very unique Miran psyche, but she doubted it would be healthy in any way"¦
She gave him a warm look, then her eyes wandered over to the bottles he had brought with him and had offered to the group.
"œI am always interested in trying out new flavours."
...And in the worst case of yet another anaphylactic shock, Doctor Xiiv was within audible range of any potential groaning-, coughing-, or gurgling-noise"¦

Reaching into her bag, she then pulled out a Kiwi fruit and offered it to the Security Lieutenant with a little smirk.
"œIt may look like a shaved Tribble on the outside, but I guarantee you the inside tastes far better. Unless you eat Tribbles that is of course, but I see you as an officer of culture actually." She chuckled, attempting to mark this as a deliberate joke, then gave Kyan Mackenzie a grin.

"We've been living together for four months. In some cultures, we'd be married with children."

Serena looked oddly at Gideon, then turned back to Sirol. "It... Is a metaphor for life. As we talked about so long ago, the uh, fishing rods for honour combat after drinking refreshing beverages, this would go hand in hand with those."

Sirol then looked back at Serena, and gave her friend a warm nod.
"œFour months is a long time indeed.
Many opportunities can arise and be left aside in such a time.
Four months spent in harmony can be worth a lifetime. Four months spent in stagnation and despair can take lives...."
She once more smirked, then walked a little closer towards Serena and Gideon.
"œAlways make sure to use your time wisely. It is the only resource we can not trick others into handing over to us..."

With a chuckle she then once more smelled the fruit in her hands and nodded.
Yes, she remembered their first team effort aboard the Holodeck and them wildly swapping bodies and stress testing software capabilities, spiced up with trivia from both of them"¦
She was certain that sooner rather than later they should repeat that, or maybe even get the program to the next stage and invite more people too, such as Gideon, Kyan and Eydis.

Speaking of the Captain, she once more turned around to see whether Eydis and/or Xasik had arrived yet, and while Captain Eydis was still on hir way, Xasik in the meantime had arrived and taken a seat on the bench the scientist had claimed.
She returned his wave and did an inviting gesture towards him to join the group, yet upon processing the weakness of of aura and his droopy body language she could tell that he was incredibly exhausted and hence had chosen to just sit there for a while.
Of course - after all he did not just perform a job, but also served as a father to a child that needed constant care and monitoring at this stage, and she respected that by leaving him his freedom to wind down and gather energy by himself.
The Uropygi for her part seemed to be happy to see him, and joyfully booped his leg in a playful manner, before she then curled up next to him as if guarding her new friend along with the lab coat.

Once assured that Xasik was calm and content, her eyes then quickly scanned for Emerald.
Granted, the Arboretum was safe and child proof, but she still wanted to have an eye on them, for the simple sake of making sure the hatchling would not get lost and/or scared by the many new faces around.
To her great joy, she could instantly notice them, bumping their Baby Bubble into her foot enthusiastically.

They were going so fast that they couldn't stop in time and crashed into The Soft One's foot. Deciding this was in fact fun, Emerald rolled their ECS into her foot again and again, laughing with delight as they did.
"œChirp chirp chirp! Chirp! Peep!" They laughed as they bumped into The Soft One's foot, ignoring The New Ones with her for now.

e.

Sirol chuckled as she saw the little one bumping the ECS over and over and being noticeably amused by it.
Children were easy to entertain, no matter which culture they stemmed from, and it was - in an odd way - a bliss to look at.
Eventually though, she hunkered down to pick up the Baby Bubble and gently wrapped one arm around it as if tightly hugging the little one she, then tapped it with one finger to catch the hatchling's attention.
"œHello, my little forerunner." She warmly spoke towards the little one, then reached out to them via the Lattice, filling their vicinity with the love and happiness she felt when they were around.
She then turned around to Serena, Gideon and Kyan again, pointing at each of them.
"œSee? These are my colleagues; my friends, and they are your friends too..." She wondered whether Emerald would be able to remember Kyan from their hatching day"¦
"œSay hello to them..." She then softly added, almost even in a whispering tone, before looking back at the trio of officers.

Serena disengaged herself from the conversation she was having to bow to the Reman and the Tholian... Child? Since she couldn't sing, she resorted to a sort of spoken poem to the small child in an encounter suit: "Teach your children well. Their father's hell did slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams. The one they pick's the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why. If they told you, you would cry. So, just look at them and sigh, and know they love you."

Sirol's smile widened as Serena came closer and began to recite a piece of (Earth-?) poetry to the little one.
She carefully held their ECS closer to Serena, so the child would be able to hear it. Although they were yet too young to understand complex speech, they were undoubtedly perceptive and empathic, and would certainly understand that Serena sought to interact.

She musingly listened and maintained her smile, although the poem made her oddly thoughtful.
The piece reminded her of her own situation in life and the "˜contact' she and her brother had managed to maintain to their mother back before the destruction of their home worlds.
Musingly she stood there for some more seconds before she looked at Serena again and gave her a friendly nod.
"œThat was very beautiful and profound, is there a backstory to this piece?"

[Skargarr]

[Katra Station - Barbeque]

The XB stared that the Gorn for second before replying.  He was in 'off duty mode.'  So it took him a second to switch gears.

"Ah.  They are going fine.  Should just need another day or two to finish up things" EQ replied.

"You planning to put in mettle detectors?  Maybe sensors to detect bombs?  Something like that" he guessed.

"Metal detector for sure however, their are minerals out there that can be used to construct devices out of that actually prevents sensors from detecting the contents of an item.  I plan on making sure the sensors can detect these minerals to ensure explosives cant be snuck onto the station.  The real problem is their masking technology.  They were able to get a hunter past our sensors without tripping off any sensors, bypass our security fields to place the explosives and then managed to get a assassin into place to try to take out the Captain.  These are holes that need to be plugged."

Perhaps going a bit low tech and use triggered traps or motion sensors that are so finite in their detection that a fluctuation sets off the trap.  Even a cloaked being needs to move and though we cant see them with our naked eye a sensor so finely tuned could be made to detect those fluctuations.  Make the traps activate and beam the object or person into the brig.  I would also like to have additional forcefield emitters around key locations and air vents along with jefferies tubes that we can activate the next time we have dignitaries around.  This way the forcefields would slow pursuit and the traps would nullify their numbers.  Also set up sensor traps in the docking ring that detects anything non federation and deactivates them to be inoperable.  Blades would be a problem as they dont suffer from such firing mechanisms like phaser and disruptors do." Skar said as he thought on other security measures to implement to make peoples days worse if they tried to attack Katra again.

Skar wasnt much for socializing so he chose to talk about work instead to get past such difficulties as 'small talk' wasnt his strongest trait.

[Balan]

[Katra Station - Barbeque]

"It's alright, I just wanted to make sure, no harm done," she said quietly, folding her hands behind her back for a moment. There was a sparkle in her eyes as she leaned forward a little in confidence and anticipation.

"Kai Hirin will put us up at the monastery when we arrive. I did ask for accommodations for two and for a guide, so we'll have some exploring to do as well. I think it will be an enlightening trip for both of us."

[Katra - aboreteum]

Balan too placed his hands behind his back, but leaned in like Xiiv.  He was mirroring her without his own knowledge. The two of them going to see a religious monastery with a tour and staying there.

Funny he had not thought about staying. There was no way they just going to pop and visit and go back. There was much more to see.

He saw Kyan stroll in with food, and he saw someone else bring food too. He frowned. "œI did not bring food like the others," he shared. He scratch the back of his neck with his right hand.   He felt silly and he truly did not know. "œWhat does one do in this situation?" He asked the doctor.