Lunch And Tutorials

Posted on Tue Feb 7th, 2023 @ 1:25pm by Lieutenant Hadir Prenar & Lieutenant Siora Carberos

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: Two days after "Lunch Among Friends"
2352 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Hadir walked into the Holodeck holding an old fashioned picnic basket. In the basket was lunch, Hadir thought that it would be nice to bring some food in that he made and show Siora the nicer side of Cardassian culture. It was not often that he could enjoy some home cooked versions of his favorite dishes from home. He saw Siora already working the console, "Good afternoon Siora!" Hadir smiled at her. "I am ready for my first lesson, and I have brought a few of my favorite dishes from home. Here we have Zabu Stew, a bottle of Yamok sauce, a thermos of Red Leaf Tea, and Larish Pie for dessert. I am not sure if you have ever had the chance to taste Cardassian food, but here is an assortment of what I believe is a sampling of the best."

Even though Siora could sense the emotions, the presences of others, she still got a little startled by Hadir's approach and rather booming announcement of his arrival. She had been that engrossed in what she was doing she hadn't even realized her surroundings had an additional member. "Hadir!" she grinned. "I was about to put out a search party... thought you'd stood me up!" She joked. "But no, I haven't ever tried Cardassian food before, so this will be a first for me." she said eyeing both the food and the man up.

"Stand you up, never. I do not believe that I could not pass up the chance to spend one minute with you." Hadir smiled a rather broad smile. One that took up most if not all of his face. "So, let us eat and work. My mind is an open book. I am looking to learn as much as I can about how systems work and integrate. It may help me understand the data retrieval process and help with certain acquisitions." Hadir began to lay out the food and plates picnic style on a table that he had asked the computer to produce for him. "I thought we could have a picnic as we work. So, I am all yours."

"Well, charm will get you everywhere Hadir." Siora replied with a smirk in kind with his large smile. "How long have you been an Engineer?" she asked gauging his experience. After all, they had only recently met, and she didn't know much about the man. "Need to see what I'm working with. I mean if you've got lots of years of experience I'd think you know a good deal about our systems already, or you wouldn't be Chief." she winked. "I know I'm so much in your mind and you want to steal my attention." she teased. "But I'd rather not teach you to suck eggs, just rather s---, well you know." now her grin was cheek to cheek.

"The last time I worked in anything engineering related was at the Academy. Due to my previous experience before entering the Academy I was fast tracked into Intelligence. SO I only took the required engineering courses. I know about data retrieving systems and of course encryption, as well as how security works in certain systems. It is our job to break our way into a computer sometimes." Hadir mimicked her wink in an attempt to be flirtatious however, he feared it looked weird coming from a Cardassian. "Perhaps that could be a lesson for another time..." Hadir said in response to her comment about sucking eggs. "I think learning how all systems integrate could be a good place to start."

"So, you are here to steal my secrets?" Siora mocked him slightly and placed her hands on her hips. "I do always think men need to know more and I am always an advocate for inter-department learning. She noticed his wink and whereas from a Cardassian it was rather strange to see, they were always so forward and blatant with their emotions, she did not dislike it.

"I am always stealing someone's secrets comes with the job." Hadir began by way of a joke. "I do agree with the interdepartmental learning. I feel that we Intelligence officers tend to get locked away in our own offices and do not learn about the people or systems around them. I only wish that I could share with you how I do my job. However, if I did that I would have to kill you." He poured some of the tea for both of them. Hadir was clearly attracted to her and used jokes to appear less awkward. It usually worked.

"Well my secrets are much harder to steal sneaky." Siora teased. "I like having different people to interact with sometimes. My team can are just so much the 'engineer' they forget to think outside the box for different things. That's why I bring my poking stick to prod them every so often to think differently." she grinned as she accepted the tea. "Kill me? So you've poisoned this tea then and plan to do away with my little lovely body?" she asked hovering the cup in front of her mouth as if almost teasing the possibility of death by tea cup.

"There are many stereotypes about my people. The one that is most truthful is our love for the finer things in life. That said I could hardly harm you for that would be akin to destroying a work of art. Now I have to ask. Is there a method to the madness, that is a methodology to how you make sure the ship keeps functioning etc." Hadir looked at her and could tell that she was a strong woman. She could hold her own in a conversation, which was a prized attribute for Cardassians. He found himself genuinely interested in what she had to say about any subject.

For once Siora actually blushed a little. He was on a charm offensive and it was working for the moment that was for damned sure. "There is always a method to the madness." she commented ."Unlike main engineering who are more hardware and component based, we in Operations try to keep balance." she brought up a holo-display of the Majestic. In it could be seen the various power relays and conduits all working in harmony with each other. It reminded her of a Human Christmas tree with all of it seemingly being consumed by lights and trinkets.

"Everything on this ships draws power." Siora put her hand inside the holo-display and pulled out the holodeck they were in. "This is us." she gestured to the now larger 'box' that was the holodeck. "In this room alone we are using life support, we are using energy to power the emitters that are showing you this image. We are using the environmental systems to keep us warm, keep us comfortable. We have artificial gravity to keep us on the deck and not the ceiling." She smiled. "I have officers that keep these in check, keep them balance so that one doesn't take from the other and we end up with a power failure, or worse a cascade that would cause damage. Sorry... I could talk for hours on this." she laughed softly to herself.

Hadir actually found what she said to be not only interesting but fascinating. It seemed to him that it was a constant battle to maintain a form of stasis within the ship. He smiled "Allow me to apologize for the amount of power my quarters draw then. We Cardassians do like our homes rather warm." He laughed at his joke. "This is rather interesting. Is it safe to assume that the Captain decides what is most important in terms of where power is to go and why. No need to apologize but I can listen to you talk for hours." He reached to hand her a glass of tea and for the briefest of moments he rather like the way her darker skin looked against his pale skin.

"That's alright." Siora mused. "I like nice warm quarters... and don't tell anyone but my environmental controls are a little higher than they should be as well." she gave him a cheeky wink. "As for the Captain deciding... well he thinks he does and if we are ever in the heat of a battle and we are ordered to bolster a system, such as shields, then we will do so." she pushed the holodeck back inside the Majestic and simulated the movement of power to the shields system and a focus bubbles formed around the ship. It was pretty to look at, she'd alternated it so that it changed colours just to make the mood little more. She then took the cup of tea from him and their fingers touched for a brief moment.

"But commonly I am in charge of major allocations during normal operations. The Captain doesn't like to be bothered with things like the cargo bay needing more power because they are doing a lot of anti-grav moving, or sickbay's research lab needing a bit more because they have live experiment going on." she shrugged. "I am a powerful woman you know." she brought the tea up to her mouth and sipped it whilst eyeing up Hadir.

Hadir smirked as he sipped his tea with her. "I can see how much power you wield and I counter with the ability to learn anything and everything that I would like about you in the blink of an eye. However, I would much rather learn directly from the source. So, care to tell me about yourself." He handed her a bowl of the stew and the small bottle of Yamok Sauce.

"Me?" Siora was a bit shocked by the sudden personal interest but she knew that Cardassians did like to pose rather direct questions at times. "I am nearly 300 years old if you can believe it." she said flicking a stray pink strand of her back behind her. "I was born on El Auria before The Exodus and was part of a group of engineers that created an Borg assimilation repellent that was distributed amongst our people. That got me into the big leagues where I created nanobots that when injected into the Borg put them to sleep. That's where I got this..." and she pulled her jacket off to show a large scar on her shoulder where a Borg drones knife like appendage struck her. "There's still a piece of Borg tech in there as well." she pulled the strap a bit showing it off for Hadir to see.

Hadir looked at the injury and felt a wave of electric excitement pass through him. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her skin. To feel all the slight imperfections that may be there. "Well you seem to have led quite the life. I wonder what someone could offer someone like you." Hadir knew little of the El Aurian species, well he only knew what was on record.

"That's only part of it honey." Siora laughed a little. "You can touch it if you like." she added still teasing a little with the strap of her top. "I promise you you won't get assimilated... I'd be a drone by now if that was that case. It's only like a sharp stabby implement from a drone arm."

Hadir reached out and touched the wound. Not because he was interested in it, but more because it was an excuse to touch her. As his fingers made contact with her a jolt of warmth passed through him. His cheeks flushed for a moment as his cold blood warmed. He allowed his hand to linger there for a moment as he traced the wound. As Hadir withdrew his hand he spoke. "I must say that I am grateful for the Borg. For a person is a product of their experiences and so without that experience you would not be the person you are today. And you are one hell of a lady..."

"Well that is true, Hadir." Siora replied modestly. "I can see by your flushes cheeks you are liking what you see, and feel." she teased as she traced his neck ridges towards his hair. "The Borg couldn't handle me... I'd be interested in what our Chief of Intelligence could do." she bit her lip and closed her eyes as she looked away. She was getting ahead of herself. She always dived in head first and the consequences be damned. The scar was a prime example of that.

It seemed to Hadir that all pretenses of the class had been dropped. If that wasn't an invitation he had no idea what one was. In a delft and swift motion he took her into his arms and kissed her. He relished in the warmth as her body pressed against his. The butterflies, the nervousness had all gone away and were now replaced by a feeling of something like electricity. As all caution had been thrown into the wind Hadir did not want to end the kiss, unsure of what her reaction would be. But, after a time he did. His pale skin now flush with the warmth of her, a warmth that he hoped would not go away. "I am sorry if I overstepped... It was just something that I had to do."

"Shut up. You're such a pushover." Siora grinned and pushed him over hard with both of her hands. Hadir fell on his back and Siora moved to straddle him. She threw one leg over his body so she could sit on him and started undoing his jacket. "Overstepping..." she ripped open the jacket. "Now, you can stop me if I get too rough?" she teased.

As he gave himself to her administrations there was only two things for Hadir to do. "Computer seal the holodeck." A soft chime acknowledged the order. Now there would be no risk of being interrupted. He reached up to caress her with an ear to ear smile as he knew his life on this ship was about to get a whole lot better.