<SNIP>

Ensign Donivas looked over as the other Scientist approached. The man seemed a bit older than him, and had the pips of a Lt J.G.

Khiryn was an Akaali, with a medium skin tone and notably defined anterior crests symmetrically located on either side of his forehead. The younger man had a spare build, a prominent nose, and a mop of dark brown hair on his head.

He also wore glasses, wich had been fairly uncommon for a couple of centuries now.

“Is it that obvious?” Khiryn let a rueful grin show. “This is my first real ship posting, but I did just go through some pretty intensive familiarization training on Starbase 17. Hopefully it was enough to keep me from embarrassing myself.”

Khiryn extended his hand. “Ensign Khiryn Donivas… nice to meet you, Sir.”

OOC: Not at all! I tagged the science dept because I thought there might be a chance other people would be in the general lab when I arrived.

Ensign Khiryn Donivas - Science Officer - U.S.S. Athena

James gave a reassuring smile as he tapped his own temple, “I’ve only seen glasses like that on academics. Too much time pouring over data and text.” His tone was light and teasing. “And you can relax with all of that Sir stuff with me. There’s a time and place to be formal, and there’s a time and place to be social.” Rowe smiled genuinely and clapped the younger man on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about embarrassing yourself… it comes with the territory for all of us. We’ve got our different backgrounds and expertise areas… I’m relatively new to the science department myself… and my expertise tends to lean more into the practical, so how about I lean on you when things get too academic for me and you lean on me in some of the application areas. That way if we embarrass ourselves, we do so together?” Rowes smile reached his eyes which wasn’t always the case.

Rowe

Khiryn laughed. “Oh, the glasses do help with all the ‘data and text’, though I must admit they are about half affectation, since I like the way they look.”

At the invite to be casual, Khiryn relaxed a bit. He’d gone into this thinking like he was dealing with very senior, and very opinionated, academics. That did not seem to be the case with Lt Rowe. “Easy enough. I’m Khiryn… do you go by James?”

Ens Donivas liked the offer to share experiences, especially the way Rowe phrased it. “So we’ll be partners in humiliation then! I can deal with that.”

Khiryn took a beat to absorb what James had said, and then paused briefly before deciding to broach the subject. “If you don’t mind the personal question… why the shift to Science? I mean, I shifted from Medical to Sciences, so I’m not throwing stones… but it seems like you may have made the decision a little later in life than I did.”

The comment about being more experienced with the ‘practical’ side of things suggested this was a fairly significant shift from his previous field.

Ensign Khiryn Donivas - Science Officer - U.S.S. Athena

James nodded as Khiryn admitted that the glasses were as much aesthetic as they were function, “Well they suit you.” He said honestly.

When asked about his name, Rowe responds, “James works, but most people just call me Rowe.”

When asked about shifting to science, he quipped “I got old” and let out a genuine laugh. “Honestly most people I know would start in science and then branch out based on their interests, I guess I just came at the whole thing backwards.” He shrugged, “Honestly I saw a lot of things in previous postings and I thought perhaps it would be good to see what they looked like before they became on the ground issues.”

“What about your transition? Most people’s parents would get very upset when they’re no longer able to tell all their friends ‘my boy’s a doctor.’”

• Rowe

Khiryn chuckled. “Still a doctor, though many would argue pathology doesnt really count. My dad’s a scientist himself, so the career change didn’t really phase him. My mom is in government, and very practical. She just reminds me to not burn any bridges and keep expanding my network of contacts and influence.”

He thought for a moment… thinking about his first few research projects post academy. “I still find Exobiology fascinating… but it wasn’t long before I realized I didn’t want to limit myself. Science is the study of everything… and some of the most impactful discoveries that have been made were multidisciplinary efforts. So thats where I shifted my focus.”

“Being out here on an exploration vessel… I feel like I’ll be stretching my abilities and forcing myself to grow.”

Ensign Khiryn Donivas - Science Officer - U.S.S. Athena

Rowe nodded along as Donivas spoke, “That’s a great mindset to have” He replied honestly. “Out here things tend to become everyone’s problem anyway.” Rowe shrugged before his eye looked around the lab again.

“I know you’re here to see the Chief, they must be caught up somewhere.” Rowe nodded back towards the station he was working at before Khiryn walked in. “I’m actually knee deep in some ‘data and text’” Rowe smirked at the callback. “If you don’t have anything else going on, would you have any interest in taking a look while you wait?”

• Rowe