Posted by Civilian Jason Reilly (Assistant Director - Colonial Intelligence) in Not So Lonely Adventure

Posted by Lieutenant Hannah Lori Asimina (Asst. Chief Medical Officer) in Not So Lonely Adventure

Posted by Civilian Jason Reilly (Assistant Director - Colonial Intelligence) in Not So Lonely Adventure
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Jason looked at her and said Want to go… shopping… with me? and he held his hand out to her with a smile. Or would you… want… to go somewhere… and talk?

Reilly

Yes, you said you need furniture and dishes if you want the company. She smiled and took his hand. Her head tipped to the side. Shop, then lunch and talk?

Asimina

Perfect. He held her hand as they crossed the park and went into the shopping district.

Several hours later, Jason had furniture, linens, dishware, a few rugs and art pieces- including one by some anonymous artist they saw in a gallery window- and he had made arrangements for his stored items to be moved to the new penthouse. He had been on his PaDD often, chalking it up to finalizing purchases and real estate paperwork; but he always turned his attention directly back to Hannah when he was done, and his hand was almost always in hers. And his signing was improving rapidly.

He learned fast, but he had told her he was good with languages. That skill didn’t always extend to non-verbal languages. He was even picking up some of the more technical signs. It was fun and such a pleasant exchange for Hannah. It didn’t happen often. Plenty of people were curious, but never stuck with it for long. And he was funny.

So it was they found themselves in a place called ‘Jul’thek’s Bistro’, a quiet little spot that was mostly empty as it was past the business lunch rush. Jason pulled out her chair and then took a seat opposite her. Shopping is done. Now we talk? Or now we talk around what is happening and pretend its not happening? he signed with a smile.

Reilly

Hannah shook her head. Talk. No reason not to. Avoiding or pretending only causes regrets. Time is too short for that. When the waiter came with menus she ordered ginger ale. Then she turned back to him. I am sure you have questions.

Asimina

Many. But no pressure. he signed. Share what you want, the rest can come later… if you there is going to be a later, which I hope is the case. When the waiter returned with their drinks, ginger ale for her and iced tea with lemon for him, he ordered some appetizers and asked them to take their time with them. He looked backat Hannah and said Why don’t you start at the beginning. Tell me all about Hannah. Where she is from, what took her to be a doctor in Star F-l-e-e-t… what her favorite color is. You know… the easy stuff. and he smiled as he took a drink.

Reilly

Would you prefer to talk than sign? He was picking it up quickly and was signingbwith a speed that indicated a few years of moderate use already. But he had been kind enough to sign most of the day with her, she could certainly wear her implants for him.

“Whatever is most comfortable for you.” he said to her, signing as he spoke.

Hannah sipped at her drink and then set it down. “I grew up on a small Colonial research world, Catawba. Developmentally it is the equivalent of Earth’s prehistoric Era. The city is a large hovering complex in the sky. There is a small nature preserve for camping, hiking, and such. Limited space, and usually booked out for a year. Our real economy comes from the scientific and medical research. There are multiple observation stations. We have some farming to harvest the plants for medical research and medicines. A lot we have to go out and harvest. That is how I learned to climb. We don’t use shuttles or ground vehicles. Disturbs the environment and scares the animals.”

“I was born deaf. The colony was young and my parents were not able to take me to a Starbase for the surgery until I was 8. Everyone in the colony learned sign for me. It became our primary language actually. Opting for visual comms rather than audio. My mom said they chose to do that so that everyone was fluent and I would never miss out because they didn’t know how to explain.”

“I was always fascinated by the work the visiting scientist did and bothered them non-stop. But it was getting my implants that decided me on medicine. I was fascinated by the idea of these tiny circles that I could wear and hear sound. That would fix my ears. Until they turned them on and I hated the doctors.” She smiled and shook her head at herself. “It was very overwhelming and I would go weeks, at first, refusing to wear them. I didn’t master speaking until I was almost 10. It is why my voice is so strange. I learned too late.”

Asimina

Reilly listened, truly engrossed in her story. Your voice isn’t strange.. its actually quite lovely. and he smiled. So tell me about your career. Or, ask me questions. But if you do, you will probably need your aides. I am not sure I could sign much in response. and he laughed.

Reilly

She grinned and shook her head. Her voice was strange and she knew it, but it was part of her and was part of her identity. She wouldn’t change it, just like she wouldn’tchange being deaf. You are doing very well. You learn fast. I am impressed. Hannah grinned as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the two round pieces and clipped them into place. There was that same momentary pause as the implants started working, and even with them on she still signed. “When I was in the hospital for my first surgery I met a lot of people with prosthetics and I was really fascinated by the concept of making people whole again. So when I entered the Academy that was my focus. I picked up search and rescue on my first ship, Fearless. It was a science and medical support ship. We were helping with a natural disaster relief and they needed someone to go down a cliff in some caves. I have more climbing experience than most. So I went, decided to do the certs after that.“

“What about you? Where did you grow up? You said you lived a lot of places?” She picked up her drink, sipping at it slowly.

Asimina