Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Side Sim: SB 157 Holodeck - Mischief and Mayhem

Posted by Ensign Juvri Dei (Security Officer) in Side Sim: SB 157 Holodeck - Mischief and Mayhem

Posted by Ensign Viyara Nazeen (Scientist) in Side Sim: SB 157 Holodeck - Mischief and Mayhem
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Juvri smiled, allowing herself to be pulled towards Viyara. If the movement might’ve been awkward, Juvri was too excited to notice. “Yeah! I’m usually too… scared to try things like that. If you hadn’t noticed…” she said, her voice trailing off at the end. “It’s a nice view, isn’t it? We could enjoy it for a bit. Maybe have a quick snack?” She suggested.

~ Ensign Juvri Dei, Security

“Nothing wrong with being afraid at times and it means that can be even prouder of yourself right now,” Viyara replied sincerely. “And a snack does sound good. Anything in particular you’d like?” she asked curiously as she let her gaze trail over the magnificent landscape in front of them.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

One item instantly popped into Juvri’s head, bringing with it memories of home world, a human colony planet. The idea made her a little sad, but also happy she’d managed to get away from it.

“There is a special kind of salad made from foods we had on my home planet. It’s sort of like… oh, what was that earth thing called?” Juvri thought about it for a long minute. “Leftover soup! It’s like leftover soup! But it’s supposed to be that way, and there’s no broth.” She explained. “And we’d usually make bread to go with it from the grains we grew.”

~ Ensign Juvri Dei, Security

“Sounds good to me,” Viyara replied with a grin. “Since you know what it is, why don’t you order it for both of us from the replicator?” she suggested. It was a good thing that Holodecks came with replicators as well, or they would have to leave to get something to eat and that would be a shame. “Would you like something to drink to go with the leftover salad?” she added.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

“Yeah! Water goes fine with leftover salad.” She said, and then she told the holodeck replicator what to make, causing the.... interesting looking meal to appear in front of them. Despite its appearance, it did not smell half bad, well seasoned with a well cooked variety of foods, most of which were plant based but there were a few dairy or meat based ingredients as well.

~ Ensign Juvri Dei, Security

Once Juvri had replicated the salad, Viyara got a bottle of water and two glasses for the both of them. Sitting down on the rocky ground, she poured some in both there glasses and then asked curiously, “What made you decide to go become a Starfleet Officer and to pick security?” As much as she always tried to deflect personal questions, she did like to learn more about other people.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

“Wh-what? Oh, um…” Juvri shifted, uncomfortable once more. She wasn’t very good at deflecting questions, leaving her with two choices: uncomfortable silence, or answering the question. She hated uncomfortable silences. “It was the best way off my home planet. And learn about my father’s culture.” She said, as she filled her glass from the bottle of water. She looked back over the ledge, at the view beyond their cliff.

~ Ensign Juvri Dei, Security

“Huh,” Viyara said softly and before she could think better of it. “So you wanted to get away from your homeworld, too? Why did you want to leave?” As she spoke, she looked out over the cliffs as well. Both to give Juvri some privacy, but also to make it easier for herself to hide her expression. Usually she was good at keeping her trademark smile in place; even when talking about the place where she grew up. But sometimes she slipped. So not looking at the other woman was better.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Juvri took a deep breath, never moving her gaze from the view over the cliff. “It was a human colony world - and a still small one. None of them had ever seen a Betazoid before, so when I started to get my abilities, even though they are very weak, it freaked everybody out.” She told Viyara, trying to force emotion out of her voice. She hated that it bothered her so much. Many people had much worse pasts than her.

Juvri was only half Betazoid, and she hadn’t inherited too much of the latent abilities of her father’s species. She usually just tried to pretend they didn’t exist. But back home, that wasn’t enough. None of the other kids she grew up with wanted to talk to her anymore, and none of the adults knew what to tell her, so they avoided her. All except her mother, who told her stories about a planet a long way away.

The memory of that loneliness - intense, unending loneliness, for years, made her tear up, so she turned her face away from Viyara. She didn’t want anyone to see her cry, especially not someone so much stronger than her, so much braver than her.

~ Ensign Juvri Dei, Security

“Maybe,” Viyara replied vaguely, not wanting to delve into her own past. “But that doesn’t mean that what you’ve been through hasn’t impacted you deeply. Words or the absence of words can hurt much more than broken bones. So this weird old saying from Earth ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can’t hurt me’ certainly isn’t true. Broken bones heal easily, but the wounds cut by words run much deeper and heal much, much slower,” Viyara said in an uncharacteristically soft and tender voice. She saw that Juvri was crying and understood the need to hide those tears only to well. And even though she felt unable to show her own vulnerability and open up, she knew that that was not healthy. Feeling suddenly very protective towards Juvri again, she wanted to do something, anything to comfort her and take the pain away.

Sliding over to her, Viyara wrapped her arms around Juvri and pulled her gently towards her. “It’s okay to cry and to hurt because of what happened to you,” she whispered and tenderly stroked her head. “It’s just the two of us here and I’m not going to judge you. I know what it’s like to get hurt. So when you’re with me, you can let go.

~Ensign Nazeen, Scientist

Juvri let Viyara hug her, sniffling. “I haven’t heard that saying before, but you’re right, it’s not a very good one.”

“I can always remember, at least I never have to go back. This is my first ship, but it’s been amazing so far, ” she told Viyara quietly. “Thank you.” She felt a little better, and she said, with a little smile. “The leftover salad is still good, though.”

~ Ensign Juvri Dei, Security