Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in The Second Meeting

Posted by Ensign Dradvia (Medical Officer) in The Second Meeting

Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in The Second Meeting
Posted by… suppressed (68) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Sisnil was in the galley getting food. Disinterested in socializing with the crew, he fully intended to return to his quarters to eat his depressing, Not-Vash’s-Cooking meal in peace. But apparently it was ship supper time because the galley was busy and getting his food took forever.

~ Zoi

So much for a quick all in one check in. Not that Dradvia minded. It kept her mind solely on the work. She entered the Galley and looked around. The line was long for the two replicators, but she had to wait. It wasn’t like she had an option of getting food in her room. Not that she wanted to be alone in her quarters.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Right behind him in line was… The Risan from earlier. What a coincidence. Sisnil turned around. “It seems the gods like the idea of us meeting.” He said, looking at her.

~ Zoi

Dradvia looked up, wary, how in the world was he right there? Except she was behind him in line so he hadn’t followed her. “You didn’t strike me as the type to believe in fate.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Fate? No. Fate and gods are two different things,” Sisnil replied with a shrug. He picked up on her wariness. Did she really think he’d follow her around? Heh. “Ready for the food? Trust me, it’s depressing.”

~ Zoi

It wasn’t that she really thought he would follow her around. She was just having an off day. Everything seemed to be setting her on edge. It wasn’t the man’s fault. She shrugged again, “Is it really though? Fate means that things are inevitable. Isn’t a god putting things in motion also inevitable? If they are, all powerful, that is.”

“Betazoids don’t believe our gods are all powerful.” Sisnil replied with a shrug. “They exist to guide us, but they aren’t all powerful or all knowing.”

She rocked her head at him, a hint of something flashed, “If they aren’t all powerful or all knowing then how and why would they want us to keep running into each other?”

“Look, I don’t know, I didn’t come here to have a philosophical debate about my religion,” Sisnil said, annoyed.

She withdrew into herself. There was an overwhelming urge to apologize, minimize the consequences. She tapped down on it. She didn’t have to do that here. She changed the subject instead.

Dradvia peeked around him. “I guess compared to some. I don’t mind it. I guess you are used to fresh and professionally cooked?” At one time, she hated replicated food too. But after being fed inedible scraps or going hungry for days, you appreciated it.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Not professionally, but fresh cooked, yeah. I have a- friend. That cooks.” There was a lonely and sad expression on his face quickly hidden away. “Whatever. I’ll get used to it.”

~ Zoi

“You haven’t seen them in awhile?” She asked. Compassion filled her. She knew what that was like. She missed Kryssa.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil shook his head. “My crew… My ship. They’re out there somewhere, and they don’t know where I am. I don’t even know if they know I’m alive. I have a twin - but we must be far far away because I can’t feel him out there.”

~ Zoi

His crew and his ship? Her stomach churned slightly. “Why don’t you just send them a message? Was your ship attacked or lost?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Not exactly,” Sisnil said. “I was.... borrowed by Starfleet. And not given a choice on whether to accept being… ‘borrowed’ or not.” He explained, a little cryptically, because he guessed she might not trust a ‘pirate’.

~ Zoi

Her brows drew together. “So your boss made you come help? Sorry. That’s not a fair shake. And you don’t have any work to do? No wonder you’re wandering around aimlessly.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I am my own boss, I am my ship’s Captain.” Sisnil said firmly. “Commander Morris and his Starfleet brass goons made me come. And no, I’m not Starfleet, and have no pertinent skills, so I’m not doing anything specific.”

~ Zoi

She didn’t want to think about the implications of that. On many, many levels it was all wrong. She felt slightly ill over the things she didn’t want to think about.

He also seemed angry again. She should have stayed quiet. It seemed like simple conversation. Well not so simple, but safe. “My misunderstanding,” she mumbled. She looked past him again and then behind them. “Ummm, it… it’s your turn.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He stepped forward and got some food for himself. Then stepped aside and waited for her. He wasn’t sure why, he just didn’t want to be alone he guessed. “You ummmm… You’re scared of me, aren’t you?”

~ Zoi

Deny it or admit it? What was the safer option? Was she scared? The ship was safe. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be allowed to wander about unescorted. She was being unfair, just because he was intimidating. While she thought it over she stepped up to the replicator and scanned through the offerings. She sighed, they didn’t have what she wanted. She had no idea how to program a recipe either. Well she knew the basics but she didn’t know the program for what she wanted. She sighed again and chose something else. It didn’t really matter, it was all nutritionally balanced and would fill her up and keep her healthy. That was a blessing. She took her tray and moved out of the way.

She didn’t have to be afraid of him. She was safe here. She would not be afraid. “No, you’re just very intimidating.” She was sure he was quite aware of that fact as well.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He chuckled. As a five foot four skinny dude, ‘intimidating’ wasn’t a descriptor often used. Intense, sure. Dangerous, maybe. Intimidating? Not really. “Well, I guess I can’t help that.” He commented. “I’m.... sorry? I guess?”

~ Zoi

She shrugged again. It seemed to be her go to response when she was uncertain or slightly anxious. “No need to be sorry. You are who you are. Being intimidating is useful I imagine.” Maybe if she had ever learned how, she could have saved herself and the others. She glanced quickly at him, “Thanks for saying it, though.”

She stepped further out of the way of the crowd and scanned the area for an empty place. There didn’t seem to be one.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Most people don’t think I’m that intimidating,” Sisnil admitted. “Commanding? Sure. Intense, sometimes. But how I look prevents ‘intimidating’.” He shrugged. “Don’t care either way. My crew respects me. That’s enough.”

~ Zoi

“Only fools think intimidating is proportional to physical size,” Dradvia said still looking around. She really didn’t want to eat aline in her quarters, but it looked like that was the only option today.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

That was Sisnil’s plan, to eat alone in his quarters. But he heard her thoughts, she was thinking the same. And didn’t want to eat alone. With how she seemed to feel about him, he didn’t think she’d feel comfortable being alone with him privately. “You know what I used to do, in school? I’d pick a spot in a quiet hallway and sit there and eat.”

~ Zoi

“Don’t like crowds?” She wasn’t prying, she was just trying to keep the conversation going. She could have remarked on how crowded her own school lunch room had been. Or eating together at the orphanage. Or how sneaking away to eat in her room was not quiet because she shared a room with 5 other kids.

“No, I don’t. They’re too noisy. Too many people, too many thoughts and feelings. I prefer the company of a few.”

His words brought back the memory of Kryssa. Dradvia didn’t know what it was like to be telepathic, but she had seen the results of too many minds on a telepath. “I guess animals empty hall was more comfortable.”

She looked around, it was almost too crowded, “I never used to either. Now I do.” Now she sought them out. There was safety in numbers. Even if that safety was only an illusion.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Why’d you change?” His tone was curious. He wasn’t meaning to pry either, but it was something about her tone, and the feelings with the words. “Where do you want to eat, then?”

~ Zoi

She shook her head, lips a thin line. She clamped down on the terror, fear, desperation, hopelessness the memories brought. “They’re just better.” How could she tell this stranger about the darkness, the he!! she had only barely escaped. That followed her awake and asleep? This man that was alternately social and angry, rude and conversational, that kept talking to her, but said a little young Officer wasn’t worth it.

She got it, she wasn’t, but she had a feeling the question was only polite. Maybe he could handle the darkness that still existed in the universe, maybe he couldn’t. But she couldn’t bring herself to say to a complete stranger, someone she didn’t know.

“I guess I’ll have to eat in my quarters. That’s alright. I should probably ‘unpack’ anyway.” Not that she had anything.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Oh. Okay,” Sisnil said, seeming put out with that answer. He didn’t push her, not verbally, not telepathically. He let her be. But one thought he did hear, passively. “I don’t have anything either. It’s all back on my ship.”

~ Zoi

“You can’t have anything sent?” She sighed and shook her head, “Replicating isn’t the same. The things don’t have the same history. I guess I’m lucky. I never had anything sentimental.” Then she looked at him. She hadn’t said that. She thought it. Her brows drew together. He was very much unlike any other Betazoid she had encountered. Was she so easy to read?

For him she was. He and his brother had quite a bit of telepathic ability, and he was used to simply reading those around him without much regard. Not to mention the need to breach mental boundaries when one was a criminal. The Syndicate had asked him and Noril to do things like that more than once.

He seemed disappointed in her reply. She couldn’t figure out why. Maybe he was lonely? “I suppose a quiet corridor would work. I don’t want to walk all the way there to sit and come back 10 minutes later to return it.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“You can pick a place. Wherever you’re comfortable,” Sisnil offered.

~ Zoi

She didn’t want to leave alone with him. But Sisnil could tell it wasn’t him. Nothing he had done or the fact she found him intimidating. She was anxious, afraid, to go off with strangers, any stranger.

“I think there is a larger junction two sections down, port side. That would work. Probably.” She tried not to be obvious about the fortifying breath she took as she stepped out of the corridor with her tray and headed in that direction.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil followed without another word. When they reached the place, he settled in on the floor and set his tray on the ground in front of him.

~ Zoi

She leaned against the bulk head, but then realized how paranoid that looked. So she sat and set her tray on her lap. She ate quietly and quickly. She never talked much during meals.

It was replicated, but it was good if not great. A full meal was always something for which to be grateful.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

It was fine. Food was good. He finished quickly and set his tray aside. Sisnil sighed softly. “I uh… I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you. I don’t know… I guess I don’t want to be alone.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia shrugged glancing up at him through her lashes. “You didn’t bother me, really. I don’t really want to be aline either, but… I just don’t do well with strangers.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil chuckled lightly, “I noticed. I’m telepathic and I can’t tell whether you want me here or want me to leave you the hell alone.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia shrugged, bigger than before. She was embarrassed. “Sorry, really. It’s not you, specifically. It’s just me. I don’t really know what I want either.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Guess I haven’t been super clear, either.”

~ Zoi

She thought he had been. He had made it quite clear he didn’t want to be there and he found her slightly annoying. Or maybe he was just taking his annoyance at his situation, whatever that was, out on her.

She looked down at her empty tray and the stood in one swift quick movement. At one time it was probably graceful, but now it was quick, rushed, as if not wanting to be caught idle or towered over. “I guess I need to return this.” Then back to her horribly empty room.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Yeah, me too.” He stood with his, a slower, but fluid motion. Then he looked at her. “Uhm. We don’t have to go together, if you don’t want.”

~ Zoi

She blinked at him, confusion crossing her features. She wondered if he was trying to be nice or was just ready to be rid of her. “Not much we can really do about that. I don’t really feel like taking empty dirty dishes back to my quarters. You don’t seem the type to be untidy either. We’re both on the same ship. There are lots of people we’ll be coincidentally in the same place, doing the same thing with. It’ll just happen. I’m sure it will happen to the two of us again.” She was rambling.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil just started heading back towards the galley. “Well, come on, then. Trays won’t take themselves.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia followed behind him. She entered the Galley and waited in one of the lines at the reclimator. She set her tray inside and hit the button. She wandered back out, not paying attention to much. She really didn’t want to sit in her empty quarters so she took the long way around the deck to the turbolift.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil did the same, pressed the button, then headed straight to the turbolift. But when he reached the deck with JO quarters, he couldn’t bring himself to go inside and sit in that boring, depressing room. So instead, he leaned against the wall with a sigh and watched either way down the hall.

~ Zoi

Dradvia came down the hall, slowly, taking her time. She felt the vibration of the ship change as they went to a higher warp. She rubbed her arms up and down. A wave of uncertainty and fear rolled off her. She closed her eyes and gave herself a stern mental talking to before rounding the corner. She paused at the figure leaned up against the wall, almost opposite of her door. Well a few further down. She wondered if his theory on gods was true.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He felt her presence approaching, but he didn’t look up till she came close. The ship moved to high warp. What a comforting feeling.... Except he couldn’t let go of the feeling he was getting further and further from his brother. He sat on the floor, still leaned up against the wall. “Decided to come back to your quarters?” He questioned, not actually looking at her.

~ Zoi

She didn’t know it, but that feeling of getting further away was exactly what caused her so much terror. Further and further away from home and safety.

“Had to eventually. Can’t show up to my first shift sleep deprived.” Though she doubted she would sleep much tonight. She would adjust, eventually. She missed Kryssa even more.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Suppose not,” Sisnil commented. “I can’t sleep, so… I’ll probably hang around a little longer.” He looked at her. “Well, night.”

~ Zoi

He might intimidate her, but Dradvia was still a compassionate person. She put her back to the bulkhead by her door and looked at him. “Why can’t you sleep?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil hesitated for a long moment. He watched her, judging, careful. Paranoid. “I… Can you keep a secret?”

~ Zoi

“Yeah I can keep a secret.” Plus since she had asked a health related question, they could call it a medical consultation and she couldn’t be ordered to reveal anything.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil grinned, having heard the thought. Maybe he’d like her after all. “I’m a twin. I can’t sleep because he’s not here.” He admitted.

~ Zoi

“Oh,” but understanding filled her. Twins were very common on Risa. Dradvia had known many, and they were always very very close. She had always wondered if she was a twin, but there was no way to ever find out. “I’m sorry, Sisnil. That must make this assignment so much worse. No wonder you hate being here.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “He’s… I’m the leader between us. I can’t imagine how lost he must feel considering the way I do.” He shook his head. “Some twins put an emphasis on individuality, separation… not us. We’ve always been close. Share a room. Do everything together. We’ve never been apart this long.”

~ Zoi

“It doesn’t feel right, being alone at night when you are most vulnerable.” Empathetic understanding filled her. No pity, it didn’t do any good. Maybe that wasn’t it, she didn’t know, but it was for her. “It’s too quiet all alone.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No,” Sisnil agreed, voice soft. “Too quiet. Too… lonely.” He huddled into himself. “I miss him.”

~ Zoi

“I’m sorry Sisnil. That’s hard. How long is this assignment?” Surely he would get to see his brother again soon.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I don’t know.” Sisnil replied. “Forever?”

~ Zoi

Her brows drew together. That didn’t make sense. He was just a consultant, and even if he was Star Fleet, tours weren’t forever. She didn’t know what to say to that. “I’m sorry,” and she was.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil felt her confusion and sighed, “Dradvia, right?” He said and looked at her. “I”m a freighter Captain - the kind with Syndicate affiliations. I work for the Fleet, or I get sentenced by the Federation. And I can’t contact my crew - including my brother - lest I bring them all down with me.”

~ Zoi

Syndicate. That was all that registered. It evoked an immediate and overwhelming terror in her. Not that vague kind based on rumors, but very personal experience. She side stepped slowly, her eyes darting around. There was no one. Her hands fumbled the lock at her door behind her.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Whoops. He should’ve expected that. This must be someone who wasn’t as fortunate as Vash. Sisnil and Noril had been offered Vash, and part of the reason they’d taken her, was so her father wouldn’t sell her to someone else. “I’m not a slaver, Dradvia. It wasn’t even our choice to join the Syndicate. But if you’ll have nothing to do with me… Then fine. I’ll leave you alone.”

~ Zoi

His words didn’t do any good. Dradvia wasn’t in the corridor with him anymore. She was years in the past, with another Syndicate captain who’d had very specific requirements of her. The consequences for not meeting them were far worse.

She was going to hyperventilate from the terror that raced through her. She had to get away, but there was nowhere to run, and she was alone with him. But the him wasn’t Sisnil.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil stepped up to her and set his hands gently on her shoulders. “Dradvia. You’re on the Wolverine. You are safe. No one is going to hurt you.” He was calm. Exuding calm. Until even she began to feel the calm radiating off him. His gaze was level and flat. “Whoever you’re thinking of, I’m not them and I’m not like them.”

~ Zoi

She flinched when he touched her. She didn’t scream. She wouldn’t show fear. It made him mad, but it was the only control she had. He could feel the tremors racing through her.

Eventually, the calm reached her. Dradvia couldn’t reconcile what he said with what she experienced. No he wasn’t Lokhar. She wanted to believe Star Fleet had saved Sisnil too. She needed to believe that. She didn’t ask because she was certain the truth would be unbearable.

She was never one to hide from the truth, but right then she was sure she wasn’t ready to hear it. She didn’t quite look him in the eye at first, but then made herself. She nodded once. It was the only response she could give. She’d blubber and cry if she said anything, and she refuses to do that.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil kept a hold of her for a moment longer before letting her go and stepping back. He still let calm wash over her. “I’m not a slaver. I wouldn’t hurt you, okay?” He said gently. “Noril and I… It wasn’t even our choice to work for the Syndicate.”

~ Zoi

She swallowed once and nodded again. She’d heard that. A lot of people were forced, controlled, into working for them. It seemed that was everyone’s excuse. She’d always wondered why people didn’t fight back, why they didn’t run away. Of course that was before. Now she knew first hand how it happened. The Syndicate had a long arm and lots of money and power and influence. They never let go of what they thought of as their property. She was always afraid that they would come back looking for her.

Of course she’d also seen people who shared that story but were still cruel and evil. They fit right into that depraved organization.

The calm exuded allowed her brain to start processing again. She really didn’t know if she could trust him. She didn’t know him, but she admitted she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to trust him, even if he proved she could. Something to talk about in therapy. But if he really was forced, he was just a different kind of slave to them, wasn’t he? “I hope your brother stays safe Sisnil, and you can get back to him.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil sighed, “Me too.” There were a lot of worries on his mind. That the Syndicate would try to kill him, here. That they’d kill Noril to send a message. Loyalty was the Syndicate’s highest value. It was baked deep in Orion culture. “Can I ask what happened to you? I… I won’t pry. Promise.”

~ Zoi

She didn’t want to, that was clear, but she looked him in the eye with defiance. It was a shield to get through it. “When we were 14, Kryssa and I were abducted on our way back to the orphanage from school. I was there two years before we were rescued. Kry… Kryssa didn’t survive.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I’m sorry.” And he meant it. It was obvious he did. “I don’t know what I would do if they did something to Noril.”

~ Zoi

She swallowed again. “We grew up in the orphanage together. We were the closet thing to family we had. Kryssa… she was half Betazoid. She couldn’t… they… Lokhar, he knew she couldn’t block it. He made sure everyone knew. They were crueler after that. When she tried to kill herself, they punished me to punish her.” Dradvia paused, she wouldn’t cry in front of him. “They wanted to desensitize her. Lokhar said he could have gotten a lot of money for her, but he wanted to keep the two of us. Eventually Kryssa… she succeeded in killing herself. She escaped the only way she knew how.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

A dark look crossed Sisnil’s face. “Betazoids are a commodity to the Syndicate. You do what they say.... Or they make you.” It was why he was so used to just reading people without regard. “Even if it goes against Betazoid ethics and morals.”

~ Zoi

“What the Syndicate does goes against most cultures’ ethics and morals.” The dark look made her nervous even though she was certain it wasn’t directed at her. “They used you too. I’m sorry for that. You probably think Kryssa was weak for not enduring.” He’d survived, but maybe they had been easier on him. She hoped they’d never done to Sisnil and his twin what had been done to Kryssa.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No,” Sisnil said. “Not weak. A better person than me, maybe.” He shrugged, “We used each other. That’s the only way to survive. That and absolute loyalty.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded once in agreement. “You obey so you can survive, but at some point they break you. You know it will never change, but obeying has become instinct and you just keep doing it. You can’t remember anything before you fought back.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer