Posted by Crewman Ngokav Sega’a (Yeoman / Steward) in Deck 6 – Trying to blend in (Tag: Zayne, Sega’a)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Umbri Zayne (Weapons Officer) in Deck 6 – Trying to blend in (Tag: Zayne, Sega’a)

Posted by Ensign Kastarak (Doctor) in Deck 6 – Trying to blend in (Tag: Zayne, Sega’a)
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻

snippety-snip

Umbri could tell that Kastarak was confused by the concept. So they tried their best to give a logical answer. “In a way, being at the beach is a great way to be social and interact with other people. As for what you should wear, I’d say wear whatever makes you comfortable. Don’t worry about what other people might think. The same thing goes for what you should do. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to. No one is going to judge you, and if they do, ignore them,” they said.

Lieutenant (j.g.) Umbri Zayne, Weapons Officer

While Umbri was speaking, Kastarak was preparing the tea. Now was the best time for it, it had steeped perfectly well. He poured his guest a cup, and then one for him, leaving Sega’a’s cup empty for now. He did not remove Sega’a’s cup, he still wanted him to come and expected him to do so. He gave no indication that he was missing him, however.

“You provide rich information,” he said, commenting on Umbri’s lecture. In one way, he found comfort in their preaching that whatever would be comfortable for him would be the best attire, but at the same time, he wanted to challenge himself – that was the purpose of this experiment of fitting in. “What would be most comfortable for you, when being on the beach?”

Kastarak had so many questions. He wondered also about swimming. Do people go swimming? Is it expected? He knew how to swim, but he had never swum out in nature before, only in a swimming pool, but only rarely. He did find much logic to its exercise – sure, it was good exercise, but it appeared to him as if it was a lot of effort necessary to make it so. As such, he preferred other methods of exercise, such as martial arts and calisthenics, which he could practise on his own, wherever he found himself. He was unsure whether he could swim with big waves rushing on. All those questions, however, were left un-asked.

– Ensign/Dr Kastarak

Umbri thought about Kastarak’s question for a moment. It had been a long time since they had gone to the beach. “Personally, I like to save my swimming for when I’m in a pool. The waves can make things a little too chaotic for me mentally. Instead, I like to talk to people, meditate, and just relax on the sand,” they said.

Lieutenant (j.g.) Umbri Zayne, Weapons Officer

Sega’a was running late… and by ‘running’, he was dashing through the corridors with trousers and collared shirts and shoes flailing like a cape behind him. “Sorry!” He sidestepped a passing Ensign, accidentally smacking another with a sleeve. “Coming through!” He wiggled between a pair of engineers exchanging goods between Jefferies tubes. “Ooph!” Sega’a yanked his cloak close to his chest and twisted around an Andorian glued to a finicky commpanel, barely missing her antennae. “Pardon me!”

No, no, no… he sped up to catch the turbolift doors before they sealed behind a medical officer, whose face contorted in utter confusion. Frankly, he couldn’t blame them. He’d also be confused if a massive Orion barged into the turbolift with dappled cloths and a wild look in his eyes. “Uh…” Sega’a stumbled to the wall and made a quick glance at the chronometer, “deck six!”

The turbolift all but crept to its destination, producing clicks and groans that had Sega’a praying it wouldn’t decide to malfunction then and there. He narrowly awaited the doors to hiss open before he leapt from its belly with a flighty farewell to his 10-second companion and darted down the hall. Fewer people dotted this deck, making it easier to locate and pursue Kastarak’s door. He halted heartbeats later and jabbed the chime before he could bother catching his breath. 18:14. He was late. But he hoped fashionably so.

— Sega’a

When the door chimed, Kastarak felt a reaction in his gut. It was as if there was air in his intestines trying to move upwards, yet, he did not feel gassy. Had he been infected by a parasite? No…, he concluded, was it an emotional reaction? Hopefully not.

And when he had issued the command, “Enter”, and the doors opened, he saw Sega’a: more visibly flushed green than usual, with laboured but fast breathing. On Sega’a’s neck, he could see the pulse having increased more than standard for an Orion. Kastarak studied Sega’a’s appearance, and experienced concern for his friend’s welfare. His first thought there was that Sega’a had become ill.

However, a second later, Kastarak regained his logic. Sega’a had run.

Sega’a wore a wisp of a smile and wagged a winded finger, “…hey Kastarak!”

“Welcome, Sega’a. Come, have some tea, sit down with us.”

– Ensign/Dr Kastarak

“Mmm! I can taste it already,” he straightened and stepped into Kastarak’s quarters. Sega’a approached the dining module and shimmied the drapes from his back, lifting them slightly. “I brought a couple of outfits to try,” his gaze wandered, “where do you want them?”

After he tenderly - as not to introduce a single wrinkle to the cloth - set down the outfits, he bimbled over to Umbri with arms outstretched. “Umbri!” He bellowed, excitement glittering in his eyes, “I wasn’t expecting you.” Sega’a twisted about his heel to stand beside Umbri while facing Kastarak. “Are we teaming up to find Kastarak the perfect shore leave attire?”

— Sega’a

With his friends having gathered, Kastarak experienced a sense of peace. His agenda has worked. Sega’a had brought some outfits for him to try on. He tried glancing at the clothes that Sega’a had brought, but it was difficult to ascertain what they might actually entail. A sense of curiosity came over him. What would it be like to dress un-Vulcan-like?

A sudden thought came to Kastarak, which he registered with interest: What if he tried a different hair style? What would that mean? How would people take him, if they did not instinctively see him as Vulcan?

He had gotten the sense, earlier, that it was difficult for aliens – that is, non-Vulcans – to approach him and his fellow Vulcans. The Vulcan way of logic was alien (when thinking this, Kastarak noticed this pun, and thought to use it later, should he ever need to elaborate on it at some other point), and probably off-putting for them. Nothing but collegial or for a specific purpose – which suited Vulcans. Vulcans did like to keep to their own – at the very least before the destruction of their homeworld.

After the destruction of their homeworld, it had become even more complicated for non-Vulcans to approach Vulcans, Kastarak had understood from his interactions with Vulcans who had stayed off-world before (and in many cases, during) the destruction of Vulcan. It was as if people had known even less how to approach Vulcans, due to the trauma of the entire Vulcan nationhood, reducing the topics of appropriate conversations even more.

Kastarak had experienced something similar when he was at the Academy. Very few people did approach him for anything other than required interactions (group work, medical work, patient work, teaching, etc.). His Andorian roommate was the only exception, as living together for three years required interaction of private character. Kastarak regarded him – Shravyk – as his first non-Vulcan friend.

Now Kastarak had two more – Umbri and Sega’a – and it was a novel experience for Kastarak, as these friendships had developed much faster and already appeared comfortable and safe enough for Kastarak to try and test what it would be like to be more approachable, to be a little different from what people might expect Vulcans would be like.

It was not as if he wanted to stop being himself – but Kastarak knew that he appeared very Vulcan – one of the smallest sentient species in the Federation – yet the one species (save for perhaps humans) that everyone else had preconceived notions of what Vulcans would be and how they appeared, and that made it difficult for Kastarak – who regarded himself as both curious and extraverted (by Vulcan standards). He decided to use a psychological technique, used in certain forms of psychotherapy, to test this notion. Should he appear more approachable, might it change the way people perceive him? Will he be more welcome? Might he be able to form other meaningful relationships that were not professionally grounded? That would be something new for him.

He missed “normal” people – people he had not encountered since before the destruction of Vulcan – and they were almost all Vulcans, but since the destruction, no Vulcan was normal any more. They were all forcibly taken away from their home planet, their families, relations, and friends. Their entire identity had become hardened, more enclosed, and “more Vulcan” than Vulcans, and some groups more fundamentalist, reminiscent of the logic extremists of not too long ago.

Those were the thoughts that brought Kastarak here, to a tea session with his friends.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding first to Sega’a as a gesture for Sega’a bringing clothes, and then nodding to Umbri as a measure of thanks for them both being there today.

“The agenda for today is to discuss different outfits for various casual situations that I might encounter in Risa. I have booked a trip to a beach resort, and I should like to spend time on the beach, and among the other beachgoers at the amenities that exist close by. I look forward to experiencing recreation, leisure, and the formation of new relationships with, for me, new people of various species and walks of life. Following that, I have given thought to experimenting with a new hairstyle while on Risa. I trust the input of you both in finding appropriate clothing that will challenge my comfort zone but also bring me more out with new people. Shall we begin? I will now listen to your preliminary assessments.”

– Ens/Dr Kastarak