Just Desserts
Posted on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 @ 6:31pm by Lieutenant Siora Carberos & Commander Dominic Aldrich
Mission:
A New Beginning
Location: Mess Hall, USS Majestic
1231 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure
Food time. Was there truly ever a better time in this world than when one could stuff their face with fresh yummy goods? No, the answer was no.
Siora's stomach rumbled. She had a habit of skipping breakfast when on the move, she had a habit of not eating full stop and her mother always let her frustration voice on that front. So, mess hall called and Siora had made her way to the mess hall and got herself something unhealthy and hardly worthy of a lunch... unless you had a sweet tooth.
Chocolate fudge sundae. Ever wanted a way to Siora's heart? Through chocolate.
As she looked for somewhere to sit she struggled. It was busy to say the least but she noticed an empty seat close by and made way for that.
"Hi." she said to the man who's head was down either focusing on his food, or what he was reading. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked holding on to her dessert protectively.
Dominic looked up at the officer and gestured to the seat, "Please, have a seat." As she took the offered chair, Dominic said, "I'm sorry, I don't recognize you. I'm trying to learn the new arrivals on board. There is a lot to keep up with now that my duties have expanded." He put his hand out, "I'm Commander Dominic Aldrich, the new First Officer aboard."
"Thank you." Siora replied as she sat down and placed her sundae on the table, the large spoon clinging to the cream for dear life. "I had heard there was a recent man placed into the position, congratulation sir. I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Siora Carberos, the Majestic's new Chief of Operations." she said taking his hand, as was Human custom, and giving it a firm shake. El Aurian custom was to bow but as she was sitting she gave a courteous nod and for a moment got caught admiring the frames he wore around his eyes.
He noticed the lingering stare and raised an eyebrow, "Is there something on my face, Lieutenant? Your eyes seem heavily focused."
"No, you have a lovely face." Siora countered with a smile. "I was just admiring your eye equipment. Are they decorative or do they serve a purpose?" She asked.
Dominic smiled, "You wouldn't believe how common that question is." Taking a sip of his drink he continued, "They actually are functional. I developed near-sightedness when I was around the age of six. Most kids would have just gone in, had the problem surgically corrected and be on their way with perfect vision for the rest of their lives. Not this kid. He didn't feel the need to be like everyone else. So, I decided to wear glasses. I've never given them up. They make me feel more human. They remind me that I am not perfect and I should be humble and patient with others because we all have something, right?"
Siora nodded at his explanation. "I admire those that want to be different. To stand out against normality." she said taking a spoonful of her sundae. "I suppose that is one reason why I keep my hair like this, with bits of pink through it but I have noticed Humans like to be as different as they can be sometimes. Your 'glasses' frame your face nicely, bring attention to your nice brown eyes." she remarked.
"Well, thank you," Dominic said with a kind smile. "I will say, it is odd, in a good way, to meet an El Aurian with a sense of personal style as such."
"Oh I agree." Siora replied. "Sometimes I think my people are so afraid of backlash from what happened with the Borg that they try so hard to blend into the background. No thank you." She said holding her hands up in protest.
"But isn't blending into the background the 'wrong' lesson to learn from encountering the Borg who don't want individuality?" Dominic asked the question carefully, given the topic.
"Our 'Federation' was vast, powerful and we mixed with a great many species. Lived in harmony under the one banner and pursued things together as a network of species to improve the way we lived." Siora began. "The Borg wanted to erase such individualism, make us clones of themselves as you already know. As a people, the El Aurians, we put a sleep code in their collective and the froze in time for many decades. When they began to wake, we weren't quick enough and they hit us with a vengeance I did not know they were capable of. They did not just assimilate my world, they obliterated it as a reminder." she could feel the emotion in her bubbling. It was after all her sleep code that put them to sleep and some of her feels a little guilty for what came after.
"So, sometimes blending in isn't always a bad thing and my people have became quite reserved in their behaviour to stop attracting attention to ourselves until we are ready to face the galaxy as a whole people again. We are not carbon copies of each other, but more 'muted' in our display of who we are... or some of us are." she said with a small smile as she flicked some of her pink locks with her hand.
Dominic considered her story for a moment before thoughtfully replying, "I had never really heard the story from a first person account. The records in Memory Alpha are, of course, clear, but that is no substitute to actually hearing the emotion from someone who can speak of things they've experienced." He then grinned, "I for one a glad of your pink hair. It will make you easier to spot when I need to call on you."
"Most of us don't like to talk about it. Some of us, like myself, were embedded in it, up close and I think talking about it is a bit like therapy for me. A little bit of my heartache escapes." Siora said with quite a sad tone to her voice. "But thank you." Her smile returned. "Pink is definitely my colour, and I am sure you know you can call on me for what ever you like. Have a very open door policy."
"We all have a past, Lieutenant. It's what we do with who the past made us in the future that matters most." Dominic sat back in his chair and grinned. "I believe as the XO, you just stole my line about and open door policy."
Siora laughed, she hadn't even thought. "Sorry, I just used to say that to my engineering team on my last ship, the Madeira. It is good to know that your door is as open as mine is." she smiled softly at him as he arm bracelet chimed reminding her of something she had to see to. "Well Commander, this has been nice. We should do this again, but I have to go see a gremlin about a conduit." she said using the old Earth description for when things didn't work properly. She gave him a quick bow and he returned it with head nod before Siora left the mess hall.
Remember kids, NEVER feed them after midnight and DON'T get them wet! (I mean gremlins, not the command staff... always feed the command staff) ;)
