Posted by Ensign Skye Shepherd (Scientist) in Side Sim: Crew Lounge After Shift Change

Posted by Ensign MJ Shau (Security Officer) in Side Sim: Crew Lounge After Shift Change
SNIP

Ensign Shau’s shoulders tensed for a moment when it sounded like Skye didn’t like the idea. Hearing that she was open to carrying forward some old traditions, or creating new ones, was a huge relief.

A warmth filled his chest as her insights resonated within him. “I feel like I’ve been in a state of limbo… even after all these months. Like I hadn’t fully committed. I think it has to do with your father’s saying. We might be onboard the vessel itself, but the crew doesn’t feel like family yet, so the ship doesn’t feel like home.” He looked her in the eyes and gave a faint smile. “We need to take the first step. Do something to actually feel like part of the Chimera

The Risian eyed her for a moment. He was well aware that she’d been doing most of the talking. Ensign Shepherd had shared more of her past while MJ had offered only general ideas and withheld most of the details. And yet, he was the one pushing to ressurect an old tradition from his previous ship.

“Is there something in particular from your time on the New Jersey you’d like to honor by bringing forward in some way?”

Ensign MJ Shau - Security Officer - USS Chimera

---

Skye sat in silence while allowing him to do the talking, her posture seemed relaxed as she leaned back slightly on her chair. The ensign’s face had remained neutral at first, but eventually there became a mischievous smile. “There is no party without a dog.” That was the moment in which she picked up her PADD a second time, scrolling through the picture gallery until an image of a Bernese was brought up. Zephram, her service dog.

But when MJ brought up her father, all the hybrid could do was look away through the viewport. Hoping it wasn’t too obvious how homesick she happened to be. As an only child who had grown surrounded by adults, where her only friend was an Aenar, the one survivor who had made it off the shuttle alive. Along with her. No other children lived onboard the old vessel, which many had claimed as a Time Capsule still in service. Turning back, she opened her mouth to explain, but the Risian happened to be already talking once more.

When her gaze met his, both hands had clasped together over the table. Of course traditions would be considered strange on a vessel voided from modern Starfleet technology. “There were sometimes we would do movie nights in the crew lounge for everyone to join. New Jersey’s crew wasn’t that large. But we enjoyed each other’s company.” she admitted. “It’s a ship filled with life where technology didn’t reach us with all the knickknacks Chimera holds. Replicators were only beginning.”

She couldn’t help but laugh when remembering how many times modern technology had brought confusion to her as a Neanderthal in a modern setting. A story which the Science Officer had shared a few times before. That was the moment in which the Trian stood up, approaching a replicator mounted against the wall to order on a pair of drinks. Tragedy struck the minute the second glass hit the tray as the machine overflowed to soak her uniform. There was a look of disbelief before Skye actually started laughing at herself.

Ensign Skye Shepherd
Science Officer
U.S.S. Chimera - 98730 (Mjolnir Class)

MJ chuckled. “If you think you can convince the Captain… I can get behind a pet.”

The mention or old movies made him think of the Ferengi trideo dramas one of his old friends made them watch on the ,Picket. They were terrible… but he’d come to miss them.

“But movies… I think that’s a good idea. Good stories transcend format… and a lot of people will appreciate them more for the throwback aesthetic.”

The Risian thought about their options. “We can see what it would take to set something up in the lounge… but it might be easier to have the holodeck recreate a theater or something. At least until we generate enough interest.,”

Ensign MJ Shau - Security Officer - USS Chimera

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With lemonade now soaking her uniform top, there was nothing else left to do by the hybrid but actually laugh at how ridiculous the moment had been. Skye raised a finger, attempting to speak between laughs. “Service dog.” She explained, “He’s a medical device… technically.”

Earthen movies had been something that shaped her childhood. Explaining how far space exploration had come since the 21st century, when Vulcans first provided aid for humanity to reach warp speeds. A whole new perspective had been created since. Founding the United Federation of Planets. Four founding stars. Earth, Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar Prime had been the first. Several others eventually followed their example. Having grown in a ship devoid of technology, it was one of the good things which the old vessel had to offer. Just like Captain Archer’s crew before them.

As the two survivors to a shuttlecraft accident, both she and that Aenar cadet had learnt to rely on one another. Complimenting their strongest abilities where one happened to be lacking. Though there was something Ensign Shepherd had yet to share… learning to see through someone else’s eyes. After all, he had been the one to teach her music. How to slowly thread her fingers through a piano’s keys.

Skye accepted the fresh glass the replicator produced on its second attempt, though she gave the machine an exaggeratedly suspicious look first.

“Behave.”

This time it complied.

She returned to the table, easing herself back into the chair with an embarrassed smile that had yet to completely fade. “See? This is why I still don’t trust these things.”

Taking a careful sip, she let the quiet settle between them for a moment.

“The holodeck could work,” she admitted. “Though… there was something about squeezing half the crew into one lounge that made it different.” Her eyes drifted around the room they already occupied. “People couldn’t disappear into separate programs. You watched the same terrible movie together, complained about the ending together, and argued over who got to pick the next one.”

A grin tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“Somehow the arguments became part of the tradition.”

Her expression softened again.

“I think… that’s what my father meant.”

She tapped one finger lightly against her glass.

“A ship isn’t home because of the hull or the engines. It’s home because people keep choosing each other when they don’t have to.”

The words surprised even her. They sounded remarkably like something Commander Castel would have said.

Shepherd glanced out the viewport once more before looking back to MJ.

“When I was growing up aboard New Jersey, there weren’t any other children.”

She didn’t say it with sadness anymore—just simple fact.

“So most of my friends were officers who’d already lived half their lives.” A small laugh escaped her. “I probably knew more about stellar cartography than playground games.”

She paused.

“And…”

The hesitation lingered.

“There was one other cadet.”

Her smile became quieter.

“An Aenar.”

For just a heartbeat she seemed somewhere else entirely.

“He couldn’t see. Not the way most people do.”

Her fingertips unconsciously traced invisible piano keys across the tabletop.

“I used to think I was helping him navigate corridors. Then I realized he was doing just as much for me.”

She looked down at her hands.

“He taught me that seeing isn’t always done with your eyes.”

A slow breath.

“He listened to rooms… to people. He could hear things I’d never notice. Tiny changes in someone’s breathing. The rhythm of footsteps. Whether someone was nervous before they admitted it.”

Her fingers stopped moving.

“And he taught me music.”

A warm smile returned.

“My first piano lesson lasted nearly an hour before he let me actually play anything.”

She laughed quietly.

“I kept staring at the keyboard waiting for him to tell me which key to press.”

Her blue-gray eyes met MJ’s again.

“He just smiled and said, ‘Don’t look at it. Feel where your hands belong.’”

Another small pause.

“I thought he was joking.”

“He wasn’t.”

Skye flexed her fingers instinctively.

“So I learned to stop watching my hands. I learned what the distances felt like instead.”

She shrugged modestly.

“I never became an amazing pianist…”

“…but I learned how someone could share a part of their world with another person.”

The ensign looked around the lounge again, at the empty tables that would eventually fill with officers finishing their shifts.

“Maybe that’s all traditions really are.”

She smiled.

“Little pieces of ourselves that we hand to the next crew.”

Raising her glass in a small toast, she looked toward MJ.

“So…”

“If we’re going to make Chimera feel like home…”

“…I suppose we’d better start handing some of those pieces around.”

Ensign Skye Shepherd
Science Officer
U.S.S. Chimera - 98730 (Mjolnir Class)

The conversation had dredged up some painful memories for Skye, so the Risian was glad to see her smile at the lemonade incident and the dog comment. Like him, her melancholy thoughts never seemed to be far from the surface. MJ found himself listening quietly again as she shared the story of the other survivor from the shuttle accident. The Aenar that seemed to have meant a lot to her… and taught her about connecting with other people.

After she was done talking, MJ returned her toast. He agreed with her sentiment but he was conflicted about how to go about it.

Her memories of her Aenar friend were powerful. Intimate connections like that were some of the most impactful. It was thoughts of his lost friends that kept him from opening up to others. But… he didn’t think they could jump straight to that level of connection. Those types of relationships grow overtime and were strengthened via shared experiences.

“You’re right… we need to share first. Invite others in… but we need to take it slow. Not out of fear… but…” MJ paused as he sought the word. “… out of patience. A desire to do things right.” The Risian tried another analogy. “You can’t simply crank up the temperature and hope the food cooks faster. It’ll just burn.”

“I agree that a holo-deck might be to cramped… but until we generate enough interest it might be difficult to commandeer a lounge. Not for two people.” A new idea game to him. “There are actually three general rooms on decks 20, 21, and 22. They’re mostly open areas and are designed to be modular so they can be reconfigured for anything from storage to VIP offices. Let’s see if we can get permission to set one of those up as a theater of sorts. That way, anybody that’s interested can drop in and check the movies out. Maybe advertise it in the ship’s internal calendar. We may be starting small… but we have to start somewhere.”

Ensign MJ Shau - Security Officer - USS Chimera